Film Notes

sensorial reshaping of reality through cinema

tensions btwn narrative and spectacle, visual displays rather than storytelling

psychological reshaping of reality through cinema

tensions btwn manifest and latent, cognitive dissonance, the uncanny, familiar suddenly strangely familiar and vice versa

manifest

conscious

latent

subconscious

uncanny

tension btwn manifest and latent, not everything is as it seems, German expressionism

social reshaping of reality through cinema

tensions btwn determined and content, early modernity, optimism towards rational planning, industrialization

form

a pattern, a set of structured relationships among a films parts, creates expectations, curiosity, suspense, and surprise

stylistic system of film form

filmic system of film form

referential meaning of film form

meanings that refer to prior familiarity with content presented with the film

implicit meanings of film form

themes of the film, ideas about the film that result from interpretation (the film’s story about …. (implies)….)

symptomatic meanings in film form

an interpretation that argues the film reflects certain social values (the films story is a symptom of…)

screening report

description of the film that organizes viewing notesovie reviewm

movie review

for general audience, evaluates more based on various criteria

theatrical essays

for film scholars, offers explanation of films relationship with history, society, etc

critical essay

for peers in a film studies class, not a movie review, searches for the deeper meaning, applies analysis and theories of form, formal analysis

audiovisual essay

structured like a critical essay, but uses aural and visual emmets from the films themselves to make its argument

referential form in Rashomon

(reference to something else)

Samurai era

explicit form in Rashomon

(explicity given to you) different for each character

implicit form in Rashomon

relativity of truth and perception, good and evil not absolutes

symptomatic meanings

ambivalence towards japan’s future in the post-war era (tells us something about the period it was made)

story duration

how long the characters story takes, time passed in the story

plot duration

amount of time explicitly represented on the screen

screen duration

how long the movie is, narrative

frequency

number of times the story is presented

omniscient narration

unrestricted narration revealing a wide range of story info the the viewer

restricted narration

limits viewer to a few points of view

depth of story info

objective or subjective pov

multiple narratives

uses a variety of perspectives

unreliable narration

raises questions not accuracy of story being told

reflexive narration

calls attention to pov of story to call questions to narrators authority 

character centered narrative

plot only shows events of causal importance, cause and effect imply change, motivation as clear and complete as possible objective story reality

objective

factual, verifiable, and based on evidence

subjective

based on personal feelings, beliefs, and opinions

implicit meanings in Citizen Kane

tension btwn individual and society, individual’s illusion of society broken 

film noir

existential hopelessness, emerged in 40’s/50’s, lack of truth/trust

symptomatic meanings in citizen kane

brokenness of American dream, patriarchy, illusory nature of enlightenment ideals, truth distorted by media,

mise-en-scene

everything appearing in the frame, the diegetic environment, allows us to interact with narrative content

list everything in mise en scene

props, setting, lighting, staging, costumes/makeup

narrative content

plot, characterization, themes

key light

primary source of lighting

fill light

fills in shadows

back light

creates rim of light to separate subject from background, creates halo/silhouette

background lighting

lighting for set background and chords

top lighting

used for multiple camera set ups, shows vulnerability, unflattering/harsh, vulnerable, grotesque, sad, horrific, regret

side lighting

sculpts characters

lowkey lighting

high contrast

highkey lighting

low contrast

hard lighting

crisp shadows

soft lighting

blurry shadows

low lighting

almost exclusively fear/huanting, creepy, horrific 

frontal lighting

no shadow, flat lighting

what do warm lighting colors show

agressiveness, violences, stimulation, cozy, warmth

what do cool lighting colors show

tranquility, aloofness, serenity

thing in center of frame

typically most important

everyone in mid ground

everyone equal

deep staging

foreground, mid ground, and background all present

flattened staging

everything almost flattened plane

proxemic patterns

spatial arrangement of actors suffuse relative social positions

full frontal view of actors while staging

intimate, revealing, confrontal

quarter turn view of actors while staging

intimate but less emotional involvement

profile view of actors while staging

more objective and distorted

three quarter turn view of actors while staging

actor turns away from viewers, can only see ¼ of their face, unfriendly

full back view of actors while staging

sense of alienation from the world, mystery, concealment, vulnerability, 

profilmic space

space within the frame

objects in foreground

dominate/impress power on midground

objects in background

dominated by foreground and mid ground

density of texture

how busy the screen space feels, has weighted areas (areas of higher density) sometimes

German expressionism

theatrical mise en scene, extremely stylized, painted backdrops, heavy make up, slow editing, presentational acting style, unchained camera

German expressionism in sunrise

city busy and chaotic but almost surreal and magical but scary, morally corrupt- uncanny

circle motif

something uncanny abt the scenes bc a lack in harmony 

antagonists - morally corrupt flappers and people in city 

horrific tragic tone

German Expressionism in all that Heaven Allows

carry’s house has fake warmth, chaotic cabin has natural warmth

club with rich people - fake happiness, dinner party - real happiness

shadows on half her face - facade, and her discomfort, confliction

warm colors in suburban ife - too warm, facade

myth of simplicity - painted backdrop of country

cinematography

complements mise en scene, narrative functions not just artistic, focuses attention, furnishes visual motifs, builds tones, themes, and characterization

elements of cinematography

camera mechanism, lenses (glass, in front of camera), film stocks (actual reel of film)

elements of both mise en scene cinematography

color, composition, and lines, framing, camera movement, camera position, aspect ratio

intermittent motion

stop motion

slow motion

capture more frames by second than normal playback

fast motion

capture kess frames per second than normal playback

depth of field

selective focus, deep focus, or racking

narrow depth of field

one subject, rest blurred

large depth of field

everything in focus but still one subject

wide angle lens

<35 short focal length, increased relative scale btwn objects, distortion near edges, larger differences in scale for movement, can show how small character is in setting, emptiness,

standard lens

standard focal length, 40-70 mm, medium shots, real life sense of relationships

telephoto lens

long focal length, take large spaces & shrink/compact them, decreased relative scale, flattens space, smaller difference in scale for movement

rectilinear convention

geometrical rig or in shots, very linear and symmetrical, shows feeling of constriction

oblique compositions

diagonal cuts through the screen/storyline, shows tension

separation conventions

something in background/foreground separating characters

enclosure conventions

create a cage/enclosure around some of the characters

canted

camera tilted

narrative reframing with long takes

direct attention to certain objects

technicolor years

1932-1954, dye transfer process, JA Ball, red green and blue

kuleshov effect

object then actor, shows actors reaction to the subject, film shapes meaning not just the actor shapes the meaning 

continuity editing conventions

continuous graphical elements, constant tonality, action always occupies central zones, DW Griffith, analytical breakdown of space, rhythm of cutting adjusted to scale of shots, can give different feeling just for the cuts, long shots have longer durations

cross cutting

expand range of narrative information, action scenes need more cuts/fast transitions

fraction scenes

use fast cuts, but need consistency stilll or gets confusing

continuity editing

continuous actions and psych development

intensified continuity 

faster cutting, intensified emotions, slightly unclear development of action

temporal relations

editing manipulates story time

rhythmic and temporal relations

editing affects order, flashback/flashfoward, duration, frequency, rhythmic editing - very important for action scenes

soviet montage

Sergei Eisenstein, montage of attractions, dialectical montage, conflict and collisions of shots to reconstruct reality

montage of attractions

sharp and jolting transitions, shots clashing to produce intense and physiological impact, discontinuous graphic relations, chaotic, wide to close shots a lot to explain and create chaos