Film Appreciation

A quick “how-to” guide in analyzing film

By Mrs. MerrittEdited by Mr. Egan

Analyzing Film

• Composition: The arrangement of all the elements within the screen image to achieve a balance of light, mass, shadow, color, and movement.

• Camera Work: This includes the details on where the camera is situated and whether it moves or not.

• Editing: The mixing of shots into a holistic movie

• Lighting: The amount, intensity, color, and direction of the lights.

• Sound: The sound effects and musical score of a film.

Composition• Scene: The basic thematic unit of a film.

Definition: one of the subdivisions of a film which presents continuous action in one setting.

• Mise-en-Scene: A term used in the theater to refer to the staging of a scene, in relation to the setting, the arrangement of the actors, the lighting, etc. In film, the term is used to describe the arrangement of elements within the frame of a single shot.

Composition (cont.)

• Shot: The basic visual unit of a film is the shot. Not a set length, the shot is a single, constant take made by a camera, uninterrupted by editing, or cuts.

• Shots are usually described in terms of camera distance with respect to an object within the shot. There are seven fundamental types of shots:

CLOSE-UP

• In a close-up, the subject is framed by the camera, filling the screen. This connotes intimacy.

MEDIUM CLOSE-UP

• A medium close-up shows one or two characters framing the shoulders or chest and head.

MEDIUM SHOT

• Medium shots frame a character from the waist, hips or knees up. The camera is sufficiently distanced from the body for the character to be seen in relation to his or her surroundings.

MEDIUM LONG SHOT

• Half way between a long and a medium shot. If it frames a character, the whole body will be in view in the middle ground of the shot.

LONG SHOT

• In long shots, the subject or characters are at some distance from the camera. They are seen in full in their surrounding environment.

EXTREME LONG SHOT

• Extreme long shots show the subject or characters very much in the background of the shot. The surroundings have as much if not more importance, especially if the shot is in high-angle.

SHOT/COUNTER SHOT

• Also known as a reverse angle shot, it is most commonly used for dialogue. It consists of two alternating shots, generally in medium close-up, framing the two speakers.

Camera Work

• The shot angle is the direction and height from which the camera takes the scene. The convention is that in “factual” programs, the subjects should be shot from eye-level only. A high angle makes the viewer feel more important or detached from the character. A low angle exaggerates the character’s importance. Overhead shots are made from directly above the action.

Types of Shots

• Dolly Shot: A shot taken while the camera is in motion.• Establishing Shot: A shot showing the location of the scene or the

arrangement of the characters. Often the opening shot of a sequence. (ex. Any Star Wars film, as the ship places down on the planet, or characters enter a new cantina)

• Panning Shot: A shot in which the camera remains in place but moves horizontally on its axis so that the subject is constantly re-framed.

• Reverse-Angle Shot: A shot taken by a camera positioned opposite from where the previous shot was taken.

• Subjective Shot: A shot that represents the point of view of a character. Often a reverse angle shot, preceded by a shot of the character as he or she glances off-screen. (ex. The Crow, when director wants us to relate to the character)

CUTTING RATE

• Frequent cuts may be used as deliberate interruptions to shock, surprise, or emphasize.

• A cutting rhythm may be progressively shortened to increase tension. (ex. Star Wars)

• Cutting may create an exciting, lyrical or staccato effect in the viewer.

Lighting

• Soft and harsh lighting. Soft and harsh lighting can manipulate a viewer's attitude towards a setting or a character. The way light is used can make objects, people and environments look beautiful or ugly, soft or harsh, artificial or real. Light may be used expressively or realistically.

• Backlighting: Lighting which comes from directly behind the subject, placing it in silhouette A romantic heroine is often backlit to create a halo effect on her hair.

• Colors: Many directors use colored lighting in order to affect the mood more viscerally (ex. The Crow in the flashback scenes.)

SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC

• SOUND EFFECTS: Any sound from any source other than synchronized dialogue, narration, or music. Dubbed-in effects can add to the illusion of reality.

• The Score: Music composed for the film. This music helps establish the pace of the accompanying scene. The rhythm of the music often dictates the rhythm of the cuts, and the emotional coloring of the music reinforces the mood of the scene. Conventionally, background music accelerates for a chase sequence, becomes louder to underscore a dramatically important action. Through repetition, it can also link shots.

Figurative language

• Directors often try to create images which work like figurative language in fiction and poetry.– Symbolism—the placement of people or objects on

the screen can create symbols that are greater than those people/objects.

– Allusion—this same placement can “remind” a watcher of something in history or literature, making the objects work on two different levels.

– Motif—directors may work in an object several times in order to drive home a theme which they are trying to convey (reflections in Matrix b/c all of “reality” is a reflection.)

ASK YOURSELF:

• Why has the director framed the shot this way?

• How does the shot influence my connection to the characters?

• What is the camera’s point-of-view? Why?

• Why does the director want me to identify with this character or see things from this perspective?

REFERENCES

• The “Grammar” of Television and Film, www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/gramtv.html

• Connections: A Hypertext Resource for Literature, www.math.grinnell.edu/~simpsone/Connections/Film/Shots/cuts.html

• Dartmouth Writing Projecthttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/humanities/film.shtml#camera

• http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/