Film Studies

Elements of Film Form in Short films Wasp (Arnold, 2003) Contrapuntal music. Music doesn’t match their life as a family Council estates Contrast of small children in a pub car park Hand held camera Extreme long shot of motorway Fast pace at the beginning - straight into a fight scene Extreme close up inter changing edits fo their faces Paragraph homework on ‘Wasp’ short film The short film ‘Wasp’ by Andrea Arnold 2003 uses cinematography techniques to depict how unsteady and chaotic the life of this single mum and her four kids is. Throughout the short film, Arnold uses the handheld camera effect, this element of cinematography makes it so the filming looks quite shaky and unstable which mirrors the unstable living circumstances for the family seen in the short film as they seem to be living on benefits which can be quite unstable (like the camera movements). This may make watching stressful and difficult for the spectators, yet this allows them to get a grasp on what the famil...

  Article on ‘rise’ and ‘fall’ feature article Homework The ‘Golden age’ of Hollywood happened around the time of the rise in studios which was in the year of 1910. The studios that started to get popular back then still stand with the dominant studios today, these studios are 20th century fox, Universal, Paramount, MGM and Warner brothers. By the 1920s the ‘Studio System’ was established and the studios named before were named the ‘Big 5’ as they dominated film production. The ‘Studio System’ consisted of very powerful studios who were vertically integrated. The production line these companies followed consisted of producing, then distributing then exhibiting their films, this was compared to the production of Ford cars on a conveyor belt. The studio consolidates all the production too. These studios only focused on one type of genre film because it was formulaic and fulfilled audiences expectations. Furthermore, the ‘Start System’ played a big part in the ‘Hollywood Golden age’. ...

Aesthetics Aesthetic considers how all aspects of film form are combined artistically. For example: Individual shots, framing, mis en scene The aesthetic is the distinctive look or style of a film Auteurs - Peoples who’s films are instantly recognisable due to distinctive look or style Examples of directors aesthetics Tim Burton Gothic style: muted, dark colour palette; fantastical elements; use of make-up; recurrent use of same actors (Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter); chaotic, busy sets; surreal outlook  Wes Anderson Limited colour palette; symmetrical composition of shots; use of tracking shots; whips; use of ‘hand-made’ art direction; flattened backgrounds David Lynch Small-town America; dream sequences; the use of red curtains; strong use of colour; surreal settings; spot-lit stages; deserted highways

  Sound Music Music can just very gently suggest that what you’re seeing has got a larger resonance than just the two or three people there. The Double Life of Veronique (Kieslowski 1991) Kieslowski once claimed that Preisner would recommend including music in unexpected moments in a film, and excluding it where one might expect to find it. Watch the ending of the film without sound. What emotions/Feelings are present when watching it in silence? A lot of confusion Contrapuntal Sound​ Music that contrasts the action in the scene Music that seems to clash with the onscreen action, thereby creating a particular effect on the audience (compare parallel sound)  Non-Diegetic sound and voiceover Non-diegetic means that the characters in the movie aren’t hearing the music, only the spectators. Voiceovers are classed as non-diegetic. Whilst there are many memorable passages of dialogue, and some extraordinarily photographed...

  Homework How do key elements of film create meaning and response in selected sequence? The Key elements of film like editing, sound, lighting and Mise en scene are crucial to create meaning and to get responses out of the spectators. In my chosen sequence from the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody”, the key elements listed above played a very important part in setting the tone and mood for the scene. Starting off with the editing in the chosen scene of when Freddie leaves Paul after he put him through a very toxic lifestyle. A major part which set the tone was the fact that there were jump cuts between both characters when talking as they weren’t in the same shot. This creates tension between the two characters which therefore could create feelings of tension and perhaps even sadness in the spectators as the jump cuts represent how they have broken up, and how Freddie no longer wants Paul in his life. However whilst Paul was in the same shot as Freddie in the beginning, he was behind Fred...

  Bohemian Rhapsody - Freddie leaves Paul (2018) Editing There are jump cuts the whole conversation between Freddie and Paul when they talk to each-other, which ultimately could symbolise how they have now drifted apart, and Freddie doesn’t really want to be associated with Paul anymore so they’re not seen in the same shot. (Unless Paul is behind Freddie in which case he’s still out of focus which shows how he’s fading as a part of Freddie's life). Adding to the point above, Freddie never turns to face Paul Zooms in on Freddie’s back (Kens burns effect?) which is kind of building up to him finally ‘snapping’ and telling Paul all thats wrong with him. Zooming in on Pauls face as he progressively looks more and more worried as Freddie is becoming aware about how bad of a person he is. (Only this time he doesn’t have a ‘breaking point’ as per se, but he yells “I didn’t mean it” only to watch Freddie walk away afterwards). Pauls face is still being zoomed in on until we jump cu...

  Tuesday, 15th September 2020 Key Elements of Film Form   Sound Meaning and Response For each film clip please consider 1) Type of sound used 2) Unravel - meanings 3) Link and connect to spectator response ‘Psycho’ (1960) Shower scene. Genre - Psychological Thriller Before the shower moment there was quiet sombre piano music so we have no idea about what’s to come. Non-diegetic piano music. There wasn’t any speech or sound really at the beginning. There was the sound of ripping up paper, then she got in the shower. When the woman started screaming, there was sharp, shrieking violin sounds (Genre influenced) which influences a very strong emotional reaction from the spectators. There was an absence of sound other than the diegetic sound of the shower. The high notes of the violin matches and almost mimics the screaming. This could reflect the pain and fear. The violin compounds the horror. They use a voice over for her screams so they could increase the volume ...

  Editing Editing Techniques The Kuleshov Effect The Kuleshov Effect is the basis of Soviet Montage cinema. The idea is that by editing different things together, it is possible to create meanings that didn’t exist in either of the images put together - constructing ‘sentences’ and ‘texts’ out of film. This can be used to give inanimate objects personality. Rhythm and Pace Why do older films often seem to be slower paced when it comes to editing? Is this merely stylistic? Older films seem to be slower paces because there are very few jump cuts and ‘editing’ compared to films we see today. This could be due to the fact that before modern day editing softwares we created, jump cuts were made by cutting the film strips that the scene was recorded on and physically gluing them back together with the scene you wanted to jump to. In addition, today we have a large variety of editing techniques and it’s way easier to create jump cuts. For example, we now have CGI where we could ...

  Cinematography and Aesthetics Previous lesson review -Lighting creates emotion/s -> Pans Labyrinth back lighting creating atmosphere -Hand held camera in Fish Tank represents the family’s conflict -Motif of yes in Pans Labyrinth / No shoes in Fish Tank (Mia) -Pans Labyrinth -> canted angle to canted something is not right - not as they should be  -In Pans Labyrinth camera tracks Ofelia -> We see everything as she does Working title: With close reference to each film sequence, explore how cinematography as a key element of film form creates meanings and generates responses in the spectator. Cinematography Meanings and responses  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Schnabel, 2007) Locked in                          -Were in a POV (seeing it through the characters eyes) which allows spectators to relate -Pull focus and shallow field of depth. Makes us feel vulnerable as...

  Exploring cinematography Camera angles Camera shots Camera movement Camera shots CU (close up) ECU (extreme close up) MLS (medium long shots) Crane shot Camera movement  Tracking Panning International film - Opening sequence ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ (Del Torro, 2006) SCENE 1) -Dolly movement at a canted angle -The camera dolly’s left which can signify going back in time (and maybe political views) -We were level with the girl lying on the floor -At the outset-eye-level we sake the narrator’s perspective -Close up, then zooms into extreme close up -Colour is symbolically representing the duality of the two worlds (War was dark and gloomy,         and the countryside was bright and saturated) SCENE 2) -Birds eye shot to establish setting -Over the shoulder view -Transitions into a POV -We see Ofelia at eye level whilst we see the mother at a lower angle which makes us feel more            equal w...

  Cinematography The micro features - Introduction & shot sizes 4 main ‘micro-features’ in film studies: Cinematography (including lighting) Mise-en-scene Editing Sound These elements when combined, give the film a certain ‘look’ or ‘feel’- this area of film studies is known as aesthetics. Cinematography Broken down into: Camera movements Shot size Camera angle Shot sizes XLS - Extreme long shot LS - Long shot MLS - Medium long shot MS - Medium shot ECL - Extreme close up CU - Close up BCU - Big close up ECL - Extreme close up Camera Movements Pan - The camera LENS turns either left or right JUST THE CAMERA LENSE MOVING Tracking - Where the WHOLE of the camera moves back/forward/left/right You can pan whilst tracking Tilt - Where the lens tilts upwards or downwards Dolly - Wheeled device moving on the ground with the camera mounted Zoom - Zoom in or out focusing on different things Cran - Camera on a crane. You can crane up or crane...