Anatomy of Film

1
Anatomy of Film

• Based on text by Bernard F. Dick

2
Film, Movie or Cinema?

• Movie suggests popular culture
• Cinema suggests art culture
• Film encompasses all

3
Reading Critically

• Jaxtaposition
• Visual elements
• Sound elements
• Context
• Time Place
• Social Interaction

4
4 Formal Structure Systems

• Mise-en-scene
• Cinematography
• Editing
• Sound

5
Narrative Film

• Narrative told through sound and image, that
  builds to a climax and culminates in a resolution
• Does not require dialogue
• Images themselves can tell part of the story and
  can carry as much weight as words

6
Time-Space Relationships

• Conflict is heard and seen
• Visually represents events unfoldingsome
  occurring at the same time

7
Movie Time

• Must tell a story within a certain period of time
• Manipulates real time
• Is elastictime compressed or prolonged

8
Employs many forms of art

• Print
• Dialogue
• Music
• Camera movement
• Settings
• Costumes
• Performance

9
Graphics

• Logos
• Main titles, credits, precredits sequences and
  end credits
• Opening titles and end titles
• Other print materials letters, signposts,
  street signs, newspapers, plaques
• Minimizes the need for expository dialogue

10
Sound

• Actual Sounds
• Sound Effects
• Noise
• Silence
• Commentative Sounds
• Music
• Synchronizationsound and image are related
  contextually, spatially, and temporally
• Asynchronizationsound and image are related
  symbolically, metaphorically, or ironically
• An Introduction to Film Sound
  http//www.filmsound.org/marshall/index.htm

11
Overlapping Sound

• Sound or dialogue that either carries over from
  one scene to the next or anticipates the new
  scene
• Can build narrative
• http//imv.au.dk/pba/Homepagematerial/MMproduktio
  nmateriale/Raskin20Sound2020Paper.pdf

12
Sound Overview

• http//imv.au.dk/pba/Homepagematerial/MMproduktio
  nmateriale/Raskin20Sound2020Paper.pdf

13
Voice-Over Narration

• The Narrating I
• Absurdly overused
• The Voice of God
• An authoritative voice that belongs to no
  charactercompletely disembodied
• Weaves in and out of the action, commenting,
  reflecting, even questioning
• Imparts a feeling of objectivity
• Can insinuate itself into the characters, noting
  their moods and emotional states

14
Voice-Over Narration

• Epistolary Voiceplot through letters
• Allows the audience to hear the other characters
• Plot device whose contents must be heard
• Subjective Voicethe inner voice of the character

15
Voice-Over Narration

• The Repetitive Voice
• The Voice from the Machine
• Deus ex machinagod from the machine, of Greek
  theater

16
Film process

• The Shot
• The Scene vs. The Sequence
• Appear to be virtually synonymous
• Chief differencethere can be scenes within a
  sequence, but not sequences within scenes

17
Camera Movements
http//www.fis.ie/
18
The Shot

• Defined in terms of distance, area or the
  subjects they contain

• Types
• Close-up
• Extreme Close-up
• Long Shot
• Full Shot
• Extreme Long Shot
• Medium Shot
• Establishing Shot
• Two-shot, Three-Shot
• Shot/Reverse Shot
• Over-the-shoulder shot

http//www.fis.ie/
19
Shots
http//www.fis.ie/
20
The Shot

• High-angle Shot
• Gods Eye
• Suggest entrapment or frustration
• Low-Angle shot
• Makes subject appear larger
• Suggests dominance or power
• Objective-view of camera
• Point of View Shot

http//www.fis.ie/
21
The Moving Shot

• Pan shothorizontal
• Tilt shotvertical
• Mobile Camera shots
• Swish panunusually rapid produces momentary
  blur
• Tracking Shotgreater area and more detail
• Dolly Shot
• Crane Shot

22
The Moving Shot
http//www.fis.ie/
23
Zooms and Freezes

• Zoom in/Zoom out
• camera does not move
• Represents deceptive motion and distorts size
• Freeze Frame
• Stopped motion
• Suggests stasis
• Implies immobility, helplessness or indecision

24
The Sequence

• A group of shots forming a self-contained segment
  of the film that is, by and large, intelligible
  in itself
• Types
• Linear Sequence
• Associative Sequence
• Montage Sequence

25
The Linear Sequence

• Beginning initiates the action
• Middle adds to the action
• End follows and completes the action
• Elliptical linear sequence
• Certain details omitted
• Viewers must make connections

26
The Associative Sequence

• Scenes linked by an object or a series of objects
• http//mcel.pacificu.edu/JAHC/JAHCV2/ARTICLES/davi
  d/david.html

27
Montage Sequence

• A series of shots arranged in a particular order
  for a particular purpose
• Rapid succession telescoping an event or several
  events
• American Montage 30s 40s
• Collapses time as shots blend together, wipe each
  other away or are superimposed
• Calendar pages, headlines, etc.

28
Montage Sequence

• Feature of both linear and associative sequence
• Can be unified by images
• http//www.vsmu.sk/rybarova/unit_7.doc

29
Cuts

• Verbterminate a shot
• Nouna strip of film
• Film stages rough cut ? directors cut ? final
  cut

30
Cuts

• Joining of two separate shots
• Straight cutone image replaces another
• Contrast cutimages are dissimilar
• Crosscut (Parallel)2 actions occurring
  simultaneously
• Jump cutbreak in continuity
• Form cuta cut from one object to another of
  similar shape
• Match cutone shot complements or matches the
  other, following smoothly without any break in
  continuity of time and space

31
TransitionsBridge Scenes

• The Fade
• Fade-out Fade-in
• Denotes demarcationthe end of a narrative
  sequence
• The Dissolve
• denotes continuity by the gradual replacement of
  one shot by another
• No sooner said than done

32
Transitions

• Synecdoche or metonymy
• Two images blend in such a way that their union
  constitutes a symbolic equation
• However, the result is a metaphorical dissolve
• A sign replaces the signified
• http//afronord.tripod.com/theory.html

33
Transitions

• Form Dissolvemerging two images with the same
  shape or contours
• Easy on the eyes
• Can relate to plot
• The WipeLine traveling vertically across the
  scene
• More fluid than a cut and faster than a dissolve
• Ideal for presenting a series of events in quick
  succession

34
The Iris

• Masking Shot or Iris Shoteverything blacked out
  except what is to be seen telescopically
• Irising In/Irising Out

35
Editing

• Selecting and arranging the shots based on
• Their place within the narrative
• Their contribution to the mood of a particular
  scene or to the film as a whole
• Their enhancement of the films rhythm
• their elucidation of the films deeper meaning
• their fulfillment of the filmmakers purpose

36
Continuity Editing

• Assembling shots so that they follow each other
  smoothly without interruption
• Preserves the illusion of an ongoing narrative

37
Eisensteins Theory of Montage

• Based on contrast and conflict
• http//www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/0
  4/eisenstein.html
• http//afronord.tripod.com/afronord/eisen.html

38
Continuity Editing

• Rhythmvariations in speed, movement, and pace
• Timeparallel cutting depicts two concurrent
  actions
• Spaceparallel cutting affects sense of space as
  well
• Toneprimarily light, shade and color
• Themejuxtaposing contrasting shots can deepen a
  films theme

39
Role of the Editor

• Takes what has been shot and improves on it
• The directors alter ego
• Controls the rhythm and tone
• Primary purpose is to bring to completion an
  artistic work already in progress

40
Mise-en-Scène

• French phrase used to describe the staging of a
  play
• In filmcomposing a shot or a sequence with the
  same attention to detail (set, lighting,
  costumes, makeup, positioning of actors within
  the frame, etc) that a state director lavishes on
  a play
• A form of framingthe art of composing a shot
• http//www.mediaed.org.uk/posted_documents/Teachin
  g_mise_en_scene.htm

41
Framing

• Framestrip of celluloid on which the image is
  captured
• Shots can be framed
• In terms of horizontal, vertical and diagonal
  lines
• Geometrically
• Iconographically
• In deep or shallow focus
• From a high or low angle
• In a frame that has been masked or doubled

42
Framing

• Tight framing
• Subject appears to be confined withing the
  horizontal and vertical borders of the frame
• Not a hint of offscreen space
• Gives a feeling of oppression
• Canted shotframe looks lopsided
• Geometrical compositions can be symbolic as well
  as visually interesting

43
Iconography

• Framing a shot to imitate a painting or sculpture

44
Focus

• Deep Focus
• foreground, middle ground and background are
  equally visible
• Conveys a greater sense of depth
• Minimizes the need to cut from one shot to
  another
• Brings out meanings that otherwise not be
  apparent
• Shallow Focus
• Foreground is more distinct than background

45
Takes

• Long take
• A shot that lasts more than a minute
• Steadicam

46
Color Lighting

• Color palettes and lighting sets tone and mood
• Lighting has a direct bearing on the way an image
  is perceived

http//www.fis.ie/
47
Special Effects/Visual Effects

• Art never improves, but . . . The material of
  art is never quite the same.
• --T. S. Eliot

48
Film Genres

• The Reflexive Film
• The Womans Film
• The Documentary
• The Horror Film
• Science-Fiction

• The Musical
• The Western
• The Crime Film
• Film Noir
• Combat Film
• Comedies
• Romantic Comedy
• Screwball Comedy
• Farce
• Satire

49
Subtext

• Infranarrative
• A complex structure beneath the narrative
  consisting of the various associations the
  narrative evokes in us
• Films dual nature
• Level of meanings found in
• Symbols
• Image patterns
• References/allusions
• Reading critically

50
Mythic Associations

• Operates on an unconscious level, presenting us
  with
• Characters
• questers
• the enchanted and the enchanter
• ogres
• scapegoats
• monsters
• talking animals
• Apparitions
• Themes
• The homeward journey
• The quest
• Ancestral curses
• Revenge
• Patricide
• Matricide

• Settings
• Caves
• Wastelands
• Subterranean rivers
• Enchanted islands
• Flat-topped mountains
• Ominous castles
• Desolate moors
• Lost worlds

51
Myths

• Tap into our collective memory
• Themes of myth are universal
• Return of the hero
• The desire for forbidden knowledge
• The quest for identity
• Coming of age
• Rebellion against tyranny
• Transcends time and place
• Ultimate truths about life and death, fate and
  nature, gods and humans

52
Film and Myth

• Speak the same languagepicture language
• Both are oral and visual
• Both are intimately associated with dreams
• Making a mythic association involves remembering
  a pattern of experience that is universal.

53
Mythic Types

• The quester
• The convert
• The foundling
• The exile
• The knight-errant
• The blessed damsel
• The earth mother
• The lost child
• The eternal child
• The alien
• The shadow selfdoppelganger
• The liberator

54
Mythic Themes

• The descent to the underworld
• The quest for the grail, sword, ring, or chalice
• The journey into the unknown
• The homeward journey
• The birth of the hero
• The life force versus the force of reason
• Wilderness versus civilization
• The transformation myth
• The savior myth
• Good versus evil

55
Visual/Iconic Associations

• Icons dual nature
• Depicts not just a person but a person who stands
  out from the ordinary

56
Icons

• Definition http//www.bartleby.com/65/ic/iconogr
  a.html
• Greek Icons http//web.uvic.ca/grs/bowman/myth/i
  nfo/attributes.html
• Australian Icons http//www.jintaart.com.au/icon
  ography/iconhmpg.htm
• Christian Icons http//www.traditionaliconograph
  y.com/
• Cemetery Iconography http//freepages.genealogy.
  rootsweb.com/txcemeteries/symbol.htm

57
Intellectual Associations

• We relate the film as a wholenot just one aspect
  of itto history, to another medium such as
  literature or opera, to another film, or even to
  an earlier version of itself.
• Intertextuality

58
Musical Associations

• Music has 2 main functions
• Advances narrative
• plot device
• not subtextual
• Enhances narrative
• functions as subtext
• Deepens the narrative by bringing it to another
  level of interpretation

59
Music

• Capable of forging ethnic and national
  connections
• Has the power to reinforce stereotypes
• Can evoke certain associations
• Classical music can constitute the entire subtext

60
The Film Director

• The Auteurdirector as primary creative force
  behind a film
• May collaborate with a screenwriter, a
  cinematographer, a composer, an actor, an editor,
  a producer, or a studio

61
Literary Techniques

• Flashback
• Flash-forward
• Dramatic foreshadowing
• Point-of-view
• Omniscient narrator
• Implied author
• Film Adaptation

62
Analyzing Films

• What techniques did the filmmaker use to create
  the feeling of a complete film rather than a mere
  collection of scenes?
• Could it have been anything other than a filma
  novel, a short story, a play, for exampleand
  still have been as effective or was film the
  medium in which it reached its level of
  excellence?

63
Analyzing Films

• How much of the film is told through images or
  camera movement, without recourse to dialogue?
• Does the use of film deepen or enhance the story
  being told?

64
Analyzing Film

• Do the camera and the script work together, each
  doing what it does best, so that word and image
  are allies rather than enemies?
• What is the subtext, or infranarrative? How does
  it enrich the film?

65
Rebel Without a Cause

• The Director Nicholas Ray talks about heros  
  http//www.youtube.com/watch?vWcZU1WYfzJYNatali
  e Wood interviewhow she got role  http//www.yo
  utube.com/watch?vpY9Lf_7o-94featurerelated

66
Credits

• Material taken from Bernard F. Dicks Anatomy of
  Film, Fifth Edition. Boston Bedford/St.
  Martins, 2005.
• Presentation by Patricia Burgey

67
On-line Guides

• Readfilm.com http//www.readfilm.com/HTRBook/HTR
  3.pdf
• Yale Film Studies http//classes.yale.edu/film-an
  alysis/
• http//www.cwrl.utexas.edu/hogan/fall04/FilmAnaly
  sis.doc
• http//www.filmsite.org/genres.html
• Film Terms
• http//homepage.newschool.edu/schlemoj/film_cours
  es/glossary_of_film_terms/glossary.html
• http//www.psu.edu/dept/inart10_110/inart10/film.h
  tml