Film 100 KMS NOOOOOOW

Causation Argument

If a photograph can occur without human intention, and since art is the intentional expression of personal meaning, then photography is not art.

Control Argument

If the camera can only perfectly capture objective reality, and since art is made through the artist’s control over their imaginative freedom, then photography is not art.

Aesthetic Interest Argument

If photographs are simple transparent representations of objective reality, then we are only aesthetically interested in the reality represented by the photo—not the photo itself. Thus, photography is not art.

Aesthetic Interest Definition

Interest that we take in something for its own sake, that is, because of the kind of thing it is

Causation Argument Rebuttal

Fallacy of Alethic Modal Logic → Just because some photographs can occur without human intention, does not mean all photography do not have artistic intention behind them.

Control Argument Rebuttal

Photographers can control the lighting, subject, angle, and other elements of a photograph to create meaning. Plus, all artforms, including traditional limit the control of

Aesthetic-Interest Rebuttal

Photographic Transparency

Capacity of film and photography to be “windows” to the past

Invisible

Belief that photographic transparency means that we must always see past the photograph and only at the subject without a focus on artistic mediation.

Skeptic’s First Premise

Photography lacked the capacity to create proper art

Skeptic’s Second Premise

Thus, if photography cannot be art and since film is an extension of photography, film cannot create proper art

Story

Chain of events in chronological order

Plot

Chain of events visibly and audibly presented in the film

Three Narrative Aspects

• Causality

• Time

• Space

In Media Res

“In the middle of things” → Plots start in the middle of the story

Backstory

Story events that took place before the plot

Exposition

Portion of plot that lays out the backstory

Climax

Highest and tensest point of the plot where causal issues are typically resolved

Narration

Moment-by-moment process that guides viewers in building the story out of the plot

Unrestricted/Omniscient Narration

Narrative POV that has "all-knowing" access to every character, scene, location, and event in the plot

Restricted Narration

Narrative POV that limits the audience's knowledge such as by anchoring on what one or more characters know, see, or hear

Sound Perspective

Hear sounds as the character would hear them

Perceptual Subjectivity

Perceive things differently and subjectively based on the sound and images a film gives us

Mental Subjectivity

Go beyond senses, and can hear the character’s inner mind and thoughts

Optical Standpoint

See what the character sees through their POV

Classical Hollywood Plot

• Focus on 1-2 central character with a goal

• Traces a process of change

• Psychological causes motivate most events

• Objective story reality with room for perceptual and mental subjectivity

• Strong closure in ending

Fil

Pattern of Narrative Elements

Form a plot and story

Stylistic Elements

Camera movement, color in frame, use of music, etc.

Referential Meaning

Tangible meanings referring to things, places, characters in our real world

Explicit Meaning

The point of the film

Implicit Meaning

Personal perceptions and inerpretations of the film

Symptomatic Meaning

The set of values and social ideology embedded or revealed throught the film

Criterion

Standard that is applied to judge a work

Principles of Film Form

• Function

• Similarity and Repetition

• Difference and Variation

• Development

• Unity and Disunity

Function

The purpose fulfilled by elements in a film for the sake of the “larger whole”

Motivation

What justifies anything (character, element, theme, etc.) being in the film

Similarity and Repetition

Repetition of elements to establish patterns and formal expectations

Motif

Significant repeated element that contributes to overall form

Parallels

Compare two or more distinct elements by higlighting their similarities

Difference and Variation

Break patterns by creating change, variety, and diversity to maintain interest

Development

Progression that places similar and different elements within a pattern of change

Unity and Disunity

The interweaving and separation between the relationships of each element

Diegesis

The reality within the world of the film

Mise-en-scene

Aspects of film that overlap with theater such as: setting, lighting, costume and makeup, and staging and performance

Components of Mise-en-scene

• Setting

• Costume and Makeup

• Lighting

• Staging → Movement and Performance

Performance

Consists of visual elements (appearance, gestures, facial expressions) and sound (voice, effects)

Movement

How the actors and other elements move and place themselves across the screen

Mise-en-Scene and Space

Mise-en-scene controls how we perceive elements of the film in 3D space

Depth Cues

Suggest spaces has both volume and several distinct planes

Overlap

One of the most basic depth cue

Size Diminution

Elements farther away from us are seen to get proportionally smaller

Mise-en-scene and Time

Mise-en-scene controls what we see, when we see it, and for how lon

“Writing in movement”

Cinematography

“Writing in light”

Photography

Tonality

Control of the image’s range of tones and shades

Contrast

Comparative difference between darkest and lightest areas in the frame

Exposure

How much light passes through the camera lens

Underexposed

Too dark

Overexposed

Too bright

Speed of Motion

Framerate → Depends on:

• Rate at which film was shot

• Rate of projection

Ramping

Varying the frame rate during shooting

Perspective

Set of spatial relations organized around a viewing point (POV)

Focal Length

• Distance from the center of the lens to the point where light rays converge to a point of focus on the film

• Alters size, proportions, and depth

Deep Space

The frame is organized in order to have different layers of image and action on it

Deep Focus

Everything in the frame is in focus

180-Degree Rule

• The axis of action, the center line, or the 180° line.

• Creates spatial continuity in film by keeping the camera on one side of an imaginary line (the "axis") during a scene, typically between two characters talking

Angle

The frame positions us at some angle on the subject

Level

The frame can be more or less level—that is, parallel to the horizon

Height

The frame is positioned higher or lower than the subject

Distance

The frame of image is situated close or far from the subject

Editing

Lets the filmmaker decide what shots to include and how they will be arranged

Graphic Relations between Shot A and Shot B

If you put any two shots together, you’ll create some interaction between the purely pictorial qualities of those two shots

Rhythmic Relations between Shot A and Shot B

The filmmaker can adjust the lengths of any shot in relation to the shots around it. That choice taps into the rhythmic potential of editing.

Spatial Relations between Shot A and Shot B

Permits the filmmaker to juxtapose any two points in space and suggest some kind of relationship between them

Temporal Relations between Shot A and Shot B

Editing can manipulate the time of the action presented in the film

Crosscutting

The plot alternates shots of story events in one place with shots of another event elsewhere

Continuity Editing

• Presents story events in 1-2-3 order

• Presents events only once

• Follows 180 degree system

• Eye-line match

• Match on action

Temporal Continuity

• Narrative progression of scene has no gaps

• Use of purely diegetic sound

• If an action carries across the cut, we assume that space and time are continuous.

Temporal Ellipsis

When editing skips or ommits “time” between scenes (over seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, etc.)

Montage Sequence

Shots joined together to create a quick, regular rhythm, and compress lengthy series of actions into a few moments

Kuleshov Effect

Cutting together portions of a space in a way that prompts the spectator to assume a spatial whole that isn’t shown onscreen

Sound Shapes Our Understanding of Images

Audience will construe the same images differently, depending on the voice-over commentary

Sound Guides Our Eye and Mind

Sound shapes our expectations and emphasizes a film’s visuals

Loudness

The amplitude, or breadth, of the vibrations produces our sense of volume

Pitch

The frequency of sound vibrations and the perceived highness or lowness of the sound

Timbre

The harmonic components of sound that give it a certain color, or tone quality

Dimensions of Film Sound

• Rhythm

• Fidelity

• Space

• Sound Perspective

• Time

Rhythm

Involves a beat, or pulse; a tempo, or pace; and a pattern of accents, or stronger and weaker beats

Fidelity

Extent to which the sound “matches”/is faithful to the source on screen

Space

Sound comes from a source set in a 3D dimension

Diegetic Sound

Sound that has a source in the story world

Nondiegetic Sound

Sound coming from a source outside the story world

Offscreen Sound

Diegetic sound coming from a source outside the frame

Sound Perspective

Way a film suggests the placement of the sound in the story world

Time

Sound can represents and relate with the passage, duration, or chronological order of events

Temporal Relations of Sound in Cinema

• Nonsimultaneous Sound from Earlier in Story than Image

• Sound Simultaenous in Story with Image

• Nonsimultaneous Sound from Later in Story than Image