Screen studies 3 act structure, styles (realism, formalism,, etc.), documentary, post modernism, star image, experimental film

3 act structure

when and where the plot occurs, imbalanced

Act 1

beginning- plot point 1. is largely exposition

inciting incident

NOT WHEN THE CONFLCIT BEGINS. when the protagonists gets a whiff of the conflict/first contact with the major conflict

Plot point 1

triggers act 2 - “irreversible commitment to the quest”

Plot point 2

triggers act 3- “a moment when everything we know about the nature of the conflict is turned on its head” a race to the finish

Plot point 3

climax - EXISTS IN PERFECT PARALLEL WITH PLOT POINT 1

Denouement

small space after third plot point. space of ZERO CONFLICT. “ride off into the sunset” moment

Midpoint

highly emblematic of act 2 (pp1) conflict. middle of the film

Realism

IMR Hollywood filmmaking. super seamless and immersive. forget you’re watching a movie

Naturalism

gritty and real, “seeks to replicate the mundane qualities of everyday life”

Formalism

“self reflexive in regard to film form” when the film is self aware of itself and the audience becomes aware of unnecessary jump cuts, camera angles, etc.

Postmodernism

relies on the knowledge of modernism in the audience to then subvert expectations. A reference of a reference. THINK APPROPRATION. “CLEVERLY STUPID”

Star image

connotative value of a stars performance

Range

can play a variety of roles in a variety of genres

Relativity

There can only be one person occupying one spot in Hollywood at a time

Recognition

How in demand the star is at the moment

Publicity

what the press finds out about the star’s private life- about the star not the film

Promotion

Press specific to the film- paid for by the studio- is incredibly intentional

Experimental film types

Associational and Abstract

Abstract

Non narrative, nothing recognizable story wise. Heavy use of graphic editing, nothing to make sense of

Associational

Dreamlike quality, form and content are equally important

3 documentary types

Story, argument, observational

Hierarchy of discourse (most to least compelling)

Voice of god, feeling of objectivity, presentation of evidence

Interview

tells stories, basis of docs, almost always 1st hand accounts

Direct observation

seeing live events, occurring or things being recorded

Graphics

pics, newspapers, charts, etc

Voice over

voice of god or character

Found footage

home movies, places events in time

Kinescope

old way to film tv by setting up a camera in front of the tv

reenactment

reenacting the scene come one queen

Vox populi

“Voice of the people” usually asking 1 question and getting many responses in a sequence