Film Techniques

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Film Techniques

• AP English 11
• Trimester 1

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Films are a kind of text

• FILM
• Not just content (actors, costumes, sets)
• Film technique (shots, editing, special effects,
  lighting, color, sound)
• Technique enhances message

• FICTION/NONFICTION
• Not just story (characters, setting, plot)
• Language technique (syntax, detail, diction,
  imagery)
• Technique enhances message

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Types of Shotsfrom Reel Conversations and Seeing
and Believing

• Long shot
• Medium shot

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Types of Shots (cont.)

• Close-up
• Extreme close-up

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Shots Camera Angles

• High Angle
• Eye Level
• Low Angle
• Singin in the Rain

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Shots Camera Movement

• Pan
• Tilt
• Tracking/dolly
• Boom
• Zoom

• Side to side, fixed base
• Up/down, fixed base
• Moves to side, but remains in same plane
• Up/down through space
• Not movement, but shift to come swiftly close or
  far

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Duration of shots

• Subliminal (a few frames)
• Quick (less than a second)
• Average (more than a second but less than a
  minute)
• Lengthy (more than a minute)
• Rear Window Alfred Hitchcock

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Framing of Shots

• Draws attention to specific aspects of the shot
• Framing devices can include windows, doors,
  arches, etc.

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Arrangement in a Shot

• Foreground
• Middle Ground
• Background
• Out of Africa

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Editing

• Cut
• Fade-out/Fade-in (loss of/gaining consciousness,
  e.g.)
• Dissolve (One scene superimposed over another,
  suggests a link)
• Wipeflip, iris, star, etc. Can be
  gimmicky/melodramatic (Star Wars)
• Unbreakable Memorial Service

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Sound

• Voice-over narration Stand By Me
• Dialogue advances plot, develops character,
  sets mood
• Sound effects sets mood
• Soundtrack music sets mood, establishes
  motifs/links, communicates message (if you
  recognize the music)
• Seabiscuit (11 mins)

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Lighting

• Spot draws attention to small field of the shot
  (face, key element)
• Concentrated draws attention to aspect of shot
• Diffused obscures (smoke, fog, filter)
• Seabiscuit (39.30 mins)

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Color

• Saturation intensity of a specific color within
  a shot
• Emotion behind color

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Sample film analysis Opening Scene Citizen Kane

• As you view the film clip, determine the
  following
• What message is behind the dying man holding a
  snow globe and what he truly owned?
• How do the following techniques contribute to
  that message?
• Camera movement, shot type, camera angle,
  editing, sound, framing
• Citizen Kane

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Sample film analysis The Mushrooms Scene,
LOTR Fellowship of the Ring

• As you view the film clip, determine the
  following
• What message is being sent about the safety of
  the Shire?
• How do the following techniques contribute to
  that message?
• Camera movement, shot type, camera angle,
  editing, sound, framing
• LOTR