Lesson 13 Narrative Part 2 & Intro to Assessment 2

Narrative: Some key terms and concepts

Narrative Refers to the strategies, codes and conventions used in organising and presenting a story on screen

Plot Refers to the basic events of a story and the order in which those events are presented on screen – this can be either linear (events are represented in their chronological order; the only exception to this is the use of the flashback and / or flash forward, the only means of disrupting the chronology of the plot in a linear narrative) or non-linear (plot is presented in non – chronological order e.g. Memento, Pulp Fiction)

Story The reconstruction (in the mind of the spectator) of plot events into their correct chronological order, which enables the audience to understand the relationship between events ( the ‘chain of causality’) i.e. how and why each plot events happens

Plot point An event or incident in a plot which takes the story in a new direction

The classic narrative system Refers to the narrative structures developed in the early days of cinema and perfected during the ‘golden age’ of Hollywood in the 1930’s and 1940’s. The classic narrative system relies heavily upon enigma resolution or creating and then solving problems within the world of the film. Other features of the classic narrative system are cause and effect, which describes the linking of events in the plot to each other in a meaningful way (i.e. event A causes event B to happen, which in turn causes event C and so on) and verisimilitude. The plot in the classic narrative system is developed or propelled by human actions.

Verisimilitude A term used to refer to the illusion of a ‘’realistic’’ or plausible world on screen created through use of mise-en-scene, editing, cinematography, and consistency in the narrative arrangement of time and space

Diegetic A term used in film criticism to describe the world depicted in the film which should be plausible to the audience as a result of verisimilitude (this is known as the diegetic effect or diegesis)

Non diegetic A term used to describe elements of the film which are not part of the filmic world – such as a musical score, title cards, and credits

Did the film have a classical style?

• High degree of narrative closure (loose ends tied up, protagonist achieves goals, enigma resolved, order restored). Doesn’t always have to be happy though.
• Motivations of characters move story along – usually male protagonist sets narrative in motion
• basic structure of enigma/resolution or equilibrium/disequilibrium/equilibrium
• linearity + cause/effect logic
• high degree of narrative closure
• psychologically rounded characters as active narrative agents
• spatial & temporal verisimilitude/realism

• Opening of a film – typically plunges us in to an immediate understanding of individual character who is causal agent with specific desire or goal.
• Chain of action proceeds from this character’s goal.
• SUTURE!?
• Shouldn’t notice shots
• Space should seem natural
• Scene should introduce basic setting and characters
• Moves from wide establishing to ms and then cu
• General understanding of the space is preserved by set of rules: 180 degree rule….
• Usually use shot-reverse shot. Eyeline matches
• At every point in the narrative the viewer will know exactly what he or she is supposed to be looking at.
• Classical narrative gives viewer optimal view for every scene.
• 3 point lighting – idealises characters and stars – maximise their beauty
• Lighting is used to fit the situation

Ending scene of AATR – and discuss the continuity of direction and what techniques are employed to ensure that the audience isn’t confused.

Propp: Narrative functions and character types; did we see these in An Affair to Remember?

• Preparation
• Complication
• Transference (change)spatial transference between two kingdoms, guidance: hero is transferred, delivered, or led to the whereabouts of an object of search (G)
• Struggle
• Return
• Recognition

Any of these in AATR? Other films seen?

• the villain, who struggles with the hero
• the donor, who prepares and/or provides hero with magical agent
• the helper, who assists, rescues, solves and/or transfigures the hero
• the Princess, a sought-for person (and/or her father), who exists as a goal and often recognizes and marries hero and/or punishes villain
• the dispatcher, who sends the hero off
• the hero, who departs on a search (seeker-hero), reacts to the donor and weds at end
• the false hero (or antihero or usurper), who claims to be the hero, often seeking and reacting like a real hero (ie by trying to marry the princess)

Next assessment:

Assessment 2: Class Test (Written)

TO TAKE PLACE: Friday 6th February 2015 at 10am

Analyze and discuss the use of camera, editing, mise-en-scène, and narrative in the extract shown from Citizen Kane (dir. Welles, 1941).

You must perform a close textual analysis of the extract and use the terminology you have been taught throughout the course. Do not simply describe what is being shown; you must analyze the extract’s formal properties and discuss how these contribute to the meaning of the extract, and, as appropriate, to the film as a whole.

Remember that your response must be expressed in continuous prose, and that you must avoid personalization and uncritical vocabulary. Poor spelling, grammar and punctuation will be penalized, and consistent errors will result in a fail.

***The clip will be unknown until the day of the test***

Word length: there is no set word length for this assessment

Assessment weighting: 20%

Coming up after Christmas… 

  

Citizen Kane analysis

Preparation for class test

Mock class test

Class test

Sound in film

Intro to final assessment

The Conversation (dir. Coppola, 1974)

Music in film

American Graffiti (dir. Lucas, 1973)

Preparation for final assessment

Lesson 12 Narrative

Narrative = a story or account of events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious.

Today’s lesson:

• Definition of narrative
• Classical Hollywood narrative
• Alternative narratives
• Evolution and timeline of narrative cinema
• Propp characters and narrative structure
• Analysis of opening scenes to decipher whether they are classical or alternative narratives
• Screening of An Affair to Remember (dir. Carey, 1957)

*Check out the PowerPoint for more detailed contents of the lesson*

A classcial opening of a film – typically plunges us in to an immediate understanding of individual character who is causal agent with specific desire or goal.

It also should include the following elements:

• Chain of action proceeds from this character’s goal.
• are resolved.
• SUTURE!?
• Shouldn’t notice shots
• Space should seem natural
• Scene should introduce basic setting and characters
• Moves from wide establishing to ms and then cu
• General understanding of the space is preserved by set of rules: 180 degree rule….
• Usually use shot-reverse shot. Eyeline matches
• At every point in the narrative the viewer will know exactly what he or she is supposed to be looking at.
• Classical narrative gives viewer optimal view for every scene.
• 3 point lighting – idealises characters and stars – maximise their beauty
• Lighting is used to fit the situation

Does the following clip exhibit these elements?

Bonnie and Clyde (dir. Penn, 1967)

Alternative narrative can be seen in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (dir. Gondry, 2004)

Alternative narrative can also been seen in the following films:

Memento (dir. Nolan, 2000)

Groundhog Day (dir. Ramis, 1993)

Questions on narrative: to be answered after film screening in preparation for next week:

• What happens in the film?
• Over what period of time?
• Where’s the film set? What spaces are used in the film?
• Does the film have a three act structure?
• Does the film have an alternative structure?
• What is the story of the film?
• What is the plot?
• How do they differ?
• How does the film move through time?
• Are there flashbacks or flash-forwards?
• Is there a narrator in the film?
• How does the narration function?

Reminder! Final deadline for Sweet Sixteen assessment is next Friday 12th December 4pm!

Lesson 11 Do the Right Thing & Mise-en-scene

Spike Lee on the film:

 

Today’s Lesson (All info on PowerPoint in resources section)

• Introduction to Spike Lee (background, company, hallmarks)
• Legacy of Do the Right Thing
• Mise-en-scene recap
• Applying mise-en-scene analysis to the film
• Character discussion and analysis
• Scene analysis & mise-en-scene

Sneakers Scene

• Buggin’ Out’s damaged shoe is highlighted by a hilariously overwrought reverse crash zoom (revealing subtle green, red and gold above-lace detail) and subsequent low-angle shot of the horrified “victim”, mouth agape. The incident soon provokes an impromptu street-corner symposium on the nuts and bolts of gentrification. Upon the cyclist’s anguished exclamation “…but I was born in Brooklyn!”, Lee cuts to a wide shot of the disbelieving herd with arms aloft, exhibiting Carter’s expressive costumes in a vibrant shoal of blues, oranges, pinks, limes, purples and yellows; clashing yet unified against this green-jerseyed outsider. The image, perhaps more than any other in the film exemplifies the “AFROCENTRIC” brightness desired by Lee, while underpinned by brilliant costume choices; the sequence explores themes of authenticity, community and masculinity.

 

• The idea of sporting allegiance evinced through clothing (as introduced by Mookie’s Bulls and Dodgers jerseys) returns in a key scene freighted with thematic significance. A white cyclist (John Savage) barges past amateur politico Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito), seemingly scuffing his brand new Nike Air Jordan 4 Cements. The cyclist is coded as an outsider not only by his waspish pallidity, skimpy shorts and ponytail, but crucially by his deep green Boston Celtics jersey bearing the name and number (33) of one Larry Bird, a (white) player later described by Lee as “the most overrated player in NBA history”.

The above is taken from this site: http://clothesonfilm.com/style-identity-in-do-the-right-thing/24545/ this is excellent for close analysis of mise-en-scene, particuarly costume in this film.

Another useful link on the film: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/07/20/spike.lee.right.thing/#cnnSTCVideo

REMEMBER! Mise-en-scene is an element that will be covered in your next assessment. The tasks and discussions we do in class are all vital preparations for this. Please always remember to take notes and make as many notes during the activities as possible.

REMINDER: Next Friday 5th December is the draft deadline for the Sweet Sixteen assessment. This is the last chance you’ll have to give me this draft. I won’t be able to accept any drafts after 4pm on that day. Once I’ve looked at them I will send them back to you asap. The final deadline date is FRIDAY 12TH DECEMBER 2014 by 4pm.

Lesson 10 Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scène – what is it?

“put into the scene”. In other words, mise-en-scène describes the stuff in the frame and the way it is shown and arranged.

Settings in films; what can they reveal in a film?

• Genre
• Location
• Time period
• Character’s state of mind/ personality
• Can create a sense of mood

Location vs Set: advantages and disadvantages?

Advantages of using sets…

• controlled environment
• potentially economical
• sets can be reused; redressed
• studios keep a variety of (common) sets

Jaws (dir. Spielberg, 1975) ran in to all sorts of problems whilst shooting on location (over-budget & over-schedule)

Location shooting:

• environment is much less controlled/controllable
• requires permits, insurance, adherence to various rules/regulations cf. control of Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting in New York
• remember: filming on location doesn’t necessarily mean filming in the place the action is set other locations can be cheaper/easier cf. Dominican Republic for Cuba in The Godfather Part II & Ireland for Scotland in Braveheart
• affords authenticity

Thelma & Louise: what can you say about the contrast of the settings here?

• Film about space…both the wide open space of the American West and the confining interior space of the home. Opening shot – road – and reappears at the end of the film…
• Establishes early on in the film the importance of both the road and the landscape to its story.
• Moves quickly from that wide open space to the cramped interiors of Louise’s restaurant and Thelma’s dark house.

Costumes

• What a character wears in a film can rapidly communicate all sorts of information about them to the audience
• their position in society
• the particular social group they belong to
• whether they may be threatening or sympathetic
• We can pick up clues from jewellery, hairstyle, shoes, the colour of a particular shirt or dress.

Make up

• Basic (reduces shine…)
• Character (Virginia Woolf)
• Glamour
• Physical states (e.g. stressed/ sweating)
• special effects
• expressionism

Props

• Shortened form of ‘properties’ and is borrowed from theatrical staging.
• Can show genre
• Signifiers of meaning. Not just to make sequence look right.
• Attention can be drawn to particular prop: Notorious.
• Can anchor characters into particular meanings…

The Worst toilet in Scotland

Metaphor: Trainspotting (dir. Boyle, 1995)heroin habit has dragged his life into a cesspool we are continuing to watch we are descending into some of the flithiest lives . A warning that the film is never going to censor itself

White Plastic Bag 

White plastic bag in American Beauty (dir. Medes, 1999) : Majesty of the mundane we so often overlook. To Jane it reveals the majesty within Ricky that those who think him an outsider weirdo also fail to see. Symbol of traces of sublime we can see around us every day

Performance:

(Stylised performance in The Artist)

• How the text is interpreted
• Realistic performance retains the illusion of the fictional world of the film.
• Sylized performance. E.g. musicals.
• Preparation for the role. Methods. Investigating the character’s motivation and connecting to what they are feeling.
• ‘Emotional memory’…actor recalls events from own experience and uses for fuel for performance.
• METHOD ACTING.method acting – an acting technique introduced by Stanislavsky in which the actor recalls emotions or reactions from his or her own life and uses them to identify with the character being portrayed

What to look out for with performance

• Expressions
• body movement and positions
• Body language
• Acting style

DeNiro in The Deer Hunter (dir.Cimino 1978) above: an example of a method actor at work!

Actors who go above & beyond!

Daniel Day Lewis:

• Day-Lewis is known to do extensive research before any and all of his roles.
• He refused to leave his character’s wheel chair in “My Left Foot” even after filming was finished.
• All of the slumping caused him to eventually break two ribs.
• Later, for “The Last of the Mohicans” Lewis spent six months in the wild teaching himself to build a canoe and trap and skin animals.
• In his latest role as the 16th president in “Lincoln” the British actor kept his higher-pitched American accent going the entire shoot, and began signing texts “Yours, A.”

Anne Hathaway:

• The actress told Vogue she ate nothing but dried oatmeal paste for two weeks to lose 25 pounds for her role in “Les Misérables.”
• “I had to be obsessive about it — the idea was to look near death,” s
• The actress also cut off all her hair

Heath Ledger:

• Ledger nearly descended into madness for his Oscar-winning role as The Joker in “The Dark Knight.”
• The actor locked himself in his apartment for a month prior to filming and estimated sleeping two hours per night for a week during filming because he couldn’t stop thinking about the role.
• Crew members also worried about the actor claiming he refused to speak to others out of character.
• “If you tried to communicate with him normally instead of The Joker, he would just ignore you,” a source told Fox News. “He would often come to the set to hang out even on his days off, freaking everyone out. Towards the end of filming, he was warned by people that he had gone too far.”

Michelle Williams:

• Williams listened to interviews of Marilyn on her iPod for months and even tied a belt around her knees to get her strut down when prepping for “My Week With Marilyn.”

Christian Bale:

• Bale is the master of extreme weight loss and gain on screen.
• To make himself look gaunt and sickly, Bale willingly dropped to 122 pounds for his role as insomniac, Trevor Resnick in “The Machinist” only eating a can of tuna and an apple a day.
• Bale quickly gained nearly 100 pounds of muscle afterward for his role as The Dark Knight in “Batman Begins.” However, director Christopher Nolan saw that as too bulky for the Caped Crusader and ordered the actor to lose 20.

Jack Nicholson:

• Nicholson told Esquire he once shared with Sean Penn that he believes he’s the king of Method acting … but no one else really gets that.
• “There’s probably no one who understands Method acting better academically than I do, or actually uses it more in his work. But it’s funny — nobody really sees that. It’s perception versus reality, I suppose.”
• There are rumors that for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” Nicholson underwent ECT therapy like his character

Analysis questions for mise-en-scene…

1. How does the setting work? Shot on location/ studio?
2. How does the setting express elements or themes of the story?
3. How do the costumes illustrate aspects of character? Are they used to contrast different characters?
4. Are they used to show a character’s development over time?
5. How do the costumes serve thematic functions?
6. How is make up used?
7. Special effects?
8. How does it define characters?
9. What props are used?
10. What function do they serve in the narrative?
11. Are the props used to comment on the themes of the film?
12. Can you assess the performance of the actors?
13. Are the performances realist/ heightened realist or stylised?

 

Screen Language Lesson 8 & 9

Today’s Lesson

• Recapping analysis of opening scene of Sweet Sixteen
• Going through the (many) rules and tips for your assessment
• Discussing and analysing the final scene of the film (see analysis below)
• Beginning to think about planning and structuring for the assessment
• Signposting what’s happening next and what’s to come from this module

Remember you can make references to other parts of the film (if they are relevant to the opening scene you are being assessed on). Do this briefly if you decide to. Remember the opening scene is the focus of the exercise.

Ending scene:

• But this is not the tragedy of a boy getting in over his head, as so many filmmakers would have done it.
• This is the tragedy of an economic system that gives the boy little choice but this.
• That is for the thesis though, and comes after the film has finished.
• The sea, the elemental force living on its own terms, represents a freedom worth striving for by any means.
• Of course this is an illusion; the tides are controlled by the moon’s unseen hand.
• This knowledge does not make the illusion any less brilliant, though, and the same could be said of this film.

Finally, Liam winds up by the sea, like Antoine in The 400 Blows, considering – what? His future? His past? His present seems pretty hazy, at all events. And behind it all are the drugs: no one is shown taking them – not even the self-destructive Pinball – but the invincible economy of heroin drives everything.

• There are no authority figures here: no teachers, no police other than the hapless, helmetless copper, and no real parents. Poor Jean is more child than mother and Liam’s granddad is literally toothless.
• In his highest and lowest moments, Liam is drawn to the river. It’s where he can dream and let his imagination run wild; and where he has to reflect on the choices he’s made which will change his life for ever.
• Although Liam’s story is told in a town with a very particular personality it will have echoes for many beyond these shores

Key Deadline dates:

Draft deadline for assessment: Friday 5th December  2014

Final deadline for assessment: Friday 12th December 2014

Useful documents to refer to:

• PowerPoint from today’s lesson
• PowerPoint and notes from Lesson 7
• Your own analysis notes from class
• The Screen Language Recap guide (for terminology)
• The module guide
• The assessment brief

Lesson 7 Sweet Sixteen (dir. Loach, 2002)

The above features many of the things we were discussing in Lesson 6 on Editing. Elements such as ‘montage editing’, editing effects and meaning generated in film through editing. Check out some of the films mentioned over half term if you can.

This week’s lesson:

• Introduction to Ken Loach & his trademarks
• Background on Sweet Sixteen
• Close textual analysis of key scenes

Sweet Sixteen

Themes

• Individuals marginalised by mainstream society. Grim vision of a deprived urban estate.
• Gritty realist drama
• Elements of society rarely depicted in commercial cinema
• Family, drugs, friendship, escape, trapped

Mise-en-scene

• Mundane tone of the visuals
• Universally visually bleak; reflecting the hopelessness of the situations the characters live in
• Muted grey palette
• Imposing grimness of concrete sprawl of the area
• The flat/ the beach/ the caravan all representing the possibility of escape: possible route out of his desperate situation.
• Contrast between concrete landscape & feeling trapped within and the natural landscape that offers potential escape
• There are some times with aesthetic beauty which offsets the grimness
• In exterior shots – grey landscape seems to bear down on Liam – overwhelmed by surroundings

Camerawork & lighting

• “I emphasised the darkness of the story by lighting it naturalistically and exposing the film darkly. There is an intrinsic beauty when you use the camera completely functionally”. (Barry Ackroyd: Cinematographer)
• In key moments: hand-held camera is used – jerky quality – realist aesthetic
• Wide angle shots – expanse of the bleak landscape – stretches for miles

Narrative

• Told from Liam’s POV
• Liam’s reliance on crime as his source of income
• Deprived area of Scotland is brought to the forefront: social problems

Loach’s Filmmaking Style

• “Real world” and non-cinematic, populated with characters who appear to inhabit the same fraught universe we do, with grit and integrity.
• Loach immerses us in human situations or conflicts
• Loach is not out to impress anyone with technique
• No-frills visual style
• Humanizing but not idealizing people who endure hardship and oppression, and whose ragged lives are anything but glamorous

Opening scene analysis:

REMEMBER this is the scene the first assessment is based on. Remember the following when analysing the scene:

Perform close analysis of the scenes. Discuss the use of camera, lighting and editing in the opening sequence from Sweet Sixteen. Don’t just describe or identify the techniques but explain why and how they are being used.

Things to consider when analysing the opening scene:

• Always refer to the formal elements: camera, lighting, editing
• Are these formal elements being used to foreshadow events?
• Are these formal elements setting up themes/ characters/ story?
• Why does the film open with a black screen?
• Is there a traditional establishing shot?
• What sort of focus is there?
• Who is the audience introduced to? How are they introduced to these characters?
• What level is the camera at and why?
• Is the camera moving? Why? How?
• Can you see any of Loach’s trademarks in the formal elements?
• What can you say of the lighting?
• How involved are the audience?
• Who’s POV are we seeing events from?
• Are there cut-aways? Cut-ins?
• What is in the frame? How is the frame organised?
• What does the night sky represent?
• Why has Loach edited these two scenes next to each other?
• Are the two scenes contrasting scenes?
• Is a third meaning generated by cutting these two scenes together?

 

Lesson 6 Editing

Today’s lesson

• Early films: no editing. Discussions on what editing can bring to a film.
• Editing in Jaws (dir. Spielberg, 1975)
• Editing terms
• Continuity and discontinuity
• 180 degree rule
• Discontinuity Editing effects
• The Kuleshov Effect
• Montage editing

Jules et Jim (dir. Truffaut, 1962) Use of freeze-frames

It Happened One Night (dir. Capra, 1934) Use of continuity editing

Requiem for a Dream (dir. Aronofsky, 2000) Use of time: condensing time to show effects of drugs.

Shoot the Piano Player (dir. Truffaut, 1960): Use of Iris

The Godfather (dir. Coppola, 1972)

The montage suggests Michael’s dual nature and commitment to both his “families”, as well as his ability to gain acceptance into both on their own terms — through religion and violence.

The Kuleshov Effect

The Kuleshov Effect is a well-documented concept in film-making, discovered by Soviet film editor Lev Kuleshov in the 1920s. Kuleshov put a film together, showing the expression of an actor, edited together with a plate of soup, a dead woman, and a woman on a recliner. Audiences praised the subtle acting, showing an almost imperceptible expression of hunger, grief, or lust in turn. The reality, of course, is that the same clip of the actor’s face was re-used, and the effect is created entirely by its superposition with other images.

More generally, the Kuleshov Effect is the basis of Soviet montage cinema, and is used in many many films since. The idea is that, by editing different things together, it is possible to create meanings that didn’t exist in either of the images put together – constructing ‘sentences’ and ‘texts’ out of film.

 

Sidewalks of New York (dir. Burns, 2001) Use of jump cuts

Timecode (dir. Figgis, 2000) Use of unusual editing and split screen

180 Degree Rule (An element of continuity editing)

The 180-degree rule of shooting and editing keeps the camera on one side of the action. As a matter of convention, the camera stays on one side of the axis of action throughout a scene; this keeps characters grounded compositionally on a particular side of the screen or frame, and keeps them looking at one another when only one character is seen onscreen at a time. The technique allows for an expansion of the frame into the unseen space offscreen. It is referred to as a rule because the camera, when shooting two actors, must not cross over the axis of action; if it does, it risks giving the impression that the actors’ positions in the scene have been reversed.

There are instances when the 180-degree rule is violated. For instance, the director Yasujro Ozu often tampers with sight lines and crosses the axis with ease. Ozu reverses camera angles, breaking with convention, and creates an almost purely cinematic tension within scenes. We are forced to see characters with reversed screen placement, sight lines, and even movement. While the continuity of the scene holds, this change of placement serves to make the audience both uneasy and attentive.

Editing Terminology

• Cut

One shot is replaced by another without any transition effects being used. Basic edit. Several rules to ensure that cuts look smooth to audience and don’t ‘jump’

• Cut in/ cut away

CU of an object/ small part of preceding shot. This is used to draw attention to significance of the object/ to avoid a jump cut

 

• Fade in/ fade out

Image gradually disappears and is replaced by black (can suggest loss of consciousness – used to communicate passage of time)

 

• Shot reverse shot

Used mainly as convention of dialogue sequences. POV alternates between two opposite positions

 

• Elliptical editing

Shot transitions that omit parts of an event, causing an ellipses in plot and story duration

 

• Graphic match

Cut emphasising something similar in first and second images – usually by placing them in similar screen position. Like dissolves, graphic match is used to suggest relationship between two scenes

 

• Cross cutting

Cutting back and forth between two or more events or actions that are taking place at the same time but in different places. Cross-cutting is used to build suspense or to show how different pieces of the action are related.

 

• Parallel editing

Cuts repeatedly between two different locations or two different characters/ objects

in motion. Suggests relationship between them.

 

• Iris in/ iris out

A round, moving mask that can close down to end a scene (iris-out) or emphasize a detail; or it can open to begin a scene (iris-in) or to reveal more space around a detail.

 

• Wipe

New image pushed across screen – over top of previous one. Style of edit – draws attention to itself very strongly.

 

• Dissolve to/ dissolve from

A transition between two shots during which the first image gradually disappears while the second image gradually appears; for a moment the two images blend in superimposition. Dissolves can be used as a fairly straightforward editing device to link any two scenes, or in more creative ways, for instance to suggest hallucinatory states)

 

• Eye – line match

See character looking in particular direction, then look from character’s POV. Almost always followed by a reaction shot

 

• Match on action

Cut between two angles on the same action

 

• Point of view editing

Shots edited together to simulate someone’s POV

• Freeze-Frame: At a chosen point in a scene, a particular frame is printed repeatedly, given the effect of halting or “freezing” the action.

 

• Jump Cut: A cut where two spliced shots do not match in terms of time or place. A jump cut gives the effect that the camera is literally jumping around.

 

 

 

Lesson 5 Sweet Sixteen

Sweet Sixteen (dir. Loach, 2002)

The scene below is what your first assessment for Screen Language will be based on. Remember you will be closely analysing the following: camera, lighting and editing.

Next week we’ll be carrying out close analysis in preparation for your assessment.

Lesson 4 Lighting

Low key lighting in Se7en (dir. Fincher, 1995)

Effects of lighting in film:

• Set tone
• Used for realism
• Used artistically
• Create a feeling or a presence
• Coloured light could be symbolic
• Can affect audience responses

Low key lighting in noir films

Things to consider when analysing lighting:

• Source
• Direction
• High/ Low key
• Use of shadows
• Revealing/ concealing: what does the light show/ hide?
• Colour of light & what this communicates

High key lighting in 500 Days of Summer (dir. Webb, 2009)

Example of creative use of light:

• Example: Light vs dark
• Chiaroscuro: technique sharp contrast between dark and light. Heightened dramatization in scene. Can show good and evil.
• Willard – assignment to terminate Kurtz. Opening scenes show Willard on brink of madness himself. When Willard locates Kurtz. Question is will he kill him or not. Examples of how this type of lighting used in scene:
• Shot 1: Willard kneels before backlit curtain – waiting to interview Kurtz. Curtain is lit, Willard seen in silhouette. Kurtz’ unseen presence dominates. Backlit curtain gives kurtz mystical quality.
• Shot 2: Cut to Kurtz behind curtain. Rises from rest – head emerging from darkness. Rest of frame is black making head appear detached from body…suggests madness? Kurtz straightens head. Only rim of skull is lit. Allears like the sliver of moon or ‘lune’ suggesting lunacy.
• Shot 3: Last shot – Kurtz rinses head…while Willard explains that Kurtz’s superiors believe he is mad. Kurtz’ head in full spotlight. Water associated with cleansing. He can’t rid himself of his demons. Disturbing.
• Chiaroscuro dramatizes Kurtz’s insanity with its high contrast lighting, the backlighting often associated with moral goodness, is subverted to suggest madness.

Example 2: Creative Use of light

• Example: High key lighting: TV lighting
• Conventionally bright, flat, shadowless. Scene takes known medium and stands it on its head. Seeing this dark content injected into a sitcom format makes subject matter even more repulsive.
• Scene is effective: welcomes us with familiar format and shows us things we don’t want to see.

Example 3: Creative Use of light

• Candlelight: Important properties. Flatters face, smooths skin, adds warm tone. Suggests romance, festivities, harmony. The usual connotations of candlelight are subverted in this scene.
• To show dysfunction of protagonist’s family life. Exploits properties of candlelight. It appears harmonious. Warm, glow to symmetrical image. Elegant table, lighting almost too romantic for family dinner. As characters begin to speak, we realize family dynamics are far from harmonious. Characters are probably more appropriately positioned under florescent lights of divorce court. Candlelight mocks Lester’s wife’s attempt to create picture perfect life. Romantic setting underscores what husband and wife have lost in marriage.
• By subverting traditional associations of candlelight able to show audience how far from idealized life Lester and family have travelled.

Example 4: Creative use of light

• Moving light.
• This evokes fear – represents an approaching antagonist. When a light source is carried it has an unpredictable quality. It can imply anything from chaos to madness. Our fear can be progressively heightened as a moving light can suggest the closing of the gap between the antagonist and protagonist.
• Moving lights can also represent safety: torch and oil lamp can represent rescue, light can silence our fear of the dark.
• Chaotic beams of light produced work well to pique our fears
• Chaotic movement of light naturally sets of fear in audience. Can be exploited to raise our sympathies for the protagonist. Moving light can also be romantic e.g. a flickering candlelight. Much depends on the nature of the movement, our instinctual response, and the scene content.

Example 5: Creative use of light

Given that this character is close to death, what effect does the lighting have on this scene?

Character is terminally ill, last shot we see of her in the film…she’s speaking to her son. Someone else draws curtain to shut out some of the light. Scene darkens – shadows of curtain on character’s face. Logically we understand that the light has been blocked by the curtain to create this effect…we can also see its use as symbolic in articulating an important moment in the story – if literally the sunlight is blocked, figuratively it is Isabels light and life that is fading.

Short extract from documentary about lighting:

Lighting Terminology

Lighting

This term refers to the way in which lights are used for a given film. Lighting, in conjunction with the camera, sets the visual look for a film. The key light is the main light used for a scene; back light refers to a secondary source, usually placed behind the actors; and fill refers to a light placed to the side of the actors. This system is called three-point lighting and was very common in classical Hollywood films. You may also run across the term low-key lighting, which means that the film was shot often using only the key light at a very low setting. This low level of lighting creates dark shadows on the faces of actors and is particularly moody when used with black-and-white film. It is most often associated with film noir but is not exclusive to that genre.Lighting is responsible for the quality of a film’s images and often a film’s dramatic effect.

Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro refers to strong contrasts between light and dark.

Three point lighting

Lighting style associated with Classic Hollywood cinema. The shot is lit with three different kinds of light: a key light, the brightest and primary source of lighting, which casts dominant shadows. Fill light, fills in to eliminate or soften shadows created by the key light. Backlight, illuminates from behind the photographed objects, outlining or highlighting the contours of the figure.

High key lighting

Bright, even illumination with low contrast and few shadows. Associated with comedies, musicals, and light entertainment.

Low key lighting

General low level of illumination with high contrast, stark shadows, and atmospheric pools of light. Associated with mysteries, thrillers, Expressionism, and film nor.

Backlighting

The main source of light is behind the subject, silhouetting it, and directed toward the camera

Fill light

An auxiliary light, usually from the side of the subject that can soften shadows and illuminate areas not covered by the key light

Key light

The main light on a subject. Usually placed at a 45 degree angle to the camera-subject axis. In high key lighting, the key light provides all or most of the light in the scene. In low key lighting, the key light provides much less of the total illumination.

High key lighting in The Wizard of Oz (dir. Fleming, 1939)

Questions to consider when analysing lighting:

Ultimately with this type of analysis; you are finding meaning behind the lighting. Why has the scene/ shot been lit in this particular way? What does it tell us the audience? How else could it have been lit?

• What does the lighting reveal? What does it hide?
• What does the lighting emphasise?
• What does it reduce in importance?
• Does the lighting create contrasts between particular elements of the mise-en-scene?
• Does the lighting create mood?
• Does the lighting appear to be ambient or artificial?]is the lighting high/ low key?
• Does the lighting produce soft/ hard?
• Is lighting coloured? What effect does this have on the scene? What does it communicate?
• Is artificial light inside or outside frame?

 

Lesson 3 Camera & Framing

Breaking the fourth wall: Fourth Wall

A very common fictional concept is that the characters are unaware of the fact that they are characters in somebody else’s work of fiction.This separation between the characters’ world and the audience is the Fourth Wall — named for the imaginary wall at the front of a stage play beyond which the actors are (usually) not supposed to cross. Breaking the fourth wall is when a character acknowledges their fictionality, by either indirectly or directly addressing the audience.

Watch the top ten examples of films breaking the fourth wall: http://www.watchmojo.com/video/id/12246/

Today’s Lesson:

• Camera continued
• Framing
• Composition

Composing the frame video:

Scenes screened:

The Seven Samurai (dir. Kurosawa, 1954) : Editing and camerawork to involve audience in the battle.

Now whilst we concentrated on camerawork editing plays a vital role in the above scene. Watch for analysis.

The Graduate (Nicholls, 1967) : Shapes and positioning of characters

Mrs. Robinson’s leg, framing Benjamin’s body, visually reinforces the film’s “triangulation” of romance conflicts: Benjamin is trapped into an affair with Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father’s business partner, then later falls in love with her daughter, Elaine

Taxi Driver (dir. Scorsese, 1976) : Camerawork

Scorsese has said he believes that the most important scene in Taxi Driver is the one showing Travis on a payphone in a hallway, trying to speak to Betsy. As this one-sided conversation takes place, the camera moves from Travis to a shot of an empty hallway around the corner. No people or motion fill the shot, and the hallway has no visual elements to attract the eye. This camera move prevents us from looking at Travis in his shame at losing Betsy, and the fact that neither participant in the phone conversation is visible conveys the fact that no real communication is taking place. The hallway suggests the path the film will take from this point on. Soon after this conversation, Travis changes from any lonely man to “God’s lonely man,” on a path toward what he views as his destiny—a path as straight and narrow as the hallway

Framing

Pattern: Arrangement of shapes and colours on the screen. What is big? Small? What colours dominate?

Weighting: This is an element of pattern. In American and European films there is a hierarchy in screen positioning. This is related to the way our written languages read left to right, top to bottom. Conventionally, the upper part of the frame is more powerful than the lower; screen right is weaker than screen left.

Where are your characters positioned and why?

Space: the placing of objects in relation to each other.

What is in front of what? What is near? What is far away?

Open & Closed framing: The open frame tends not to look too composed; it seems more informal, as if the camera has been pointed at a segment of life. A scene that is framed in an open way creates the impression that the world exists outside what we can see, beyond the frame.

Closed framing looks much more formally composed. There is a sense of design and balance within the rectangle of the frame which creates an impression that the world we see is complete in itself.

Many prison films have closed framing to highlight themes of   entrapment, fate and imprisonment.

Watch Wes Anderson’s compositions in this clip

This clip is also excellent for character positioning and framing. Think about the background/ midground and foreground; positioning the characters on each three planes of action is symbolic as it shows their importance or power at this time in the narrative.