Introduction to Film Analysis

What is a movie?

The most popular art form today

What is a movie?

It is a complex form of artistic representation and Communication

What is a movie?• For most of us most

of the time, movies are a break from our daily obligations-a form of escape, entertainment and pleasure

• But underneath their surfaces, all movies, even the most blatantly commercial ones, contain layers of complexity and meaning that can be studied, analyzed and appreciated

Looking at Movies vs. Watching Movies

• You will learn to LOOK at a movie not simply WATCH a movie

In this class you will learn to be active and not passive

• You will learn to Analyze-understanding the language of movies• By breaking it up into parts

Analysis- the act of taking something complicated apart to figure out what it is made of and how it all fits together

• Usually we are lulled into PASSIVE viewing

• In analysis we are looking for the “invisible aspects:

• Camera work, composition, editing, lighting, sound, acting, narrative structure

• Always look for the why.

• WHY did that section scare you? Make you cry? Have you in suspense? Bore you?

• WHY were these specific choices made by the director?

• As we move forward in this class, you will be expected to apply what you learn to your analysis. Each film will focus on a different element(s).

• You will learn that films have multiple layers, each with a multitude of meanings.

• Before you begin analysis, however you must understand a few key concepts

Content• The subject of an artwork

• The means through which that subject is expressed

Form

The Relationship between form and content is a central concern in ALL art

Let’s look for example at the human body as the content

Same content, different forms:

The content of all three of these is the human body

The forms are different and shape our emotional and

intellectual responses to the subject

Same content, different forms:

•Less about recording a particular man and more about describing an ideal form

•It’s an idealization and therefore no more real than the other two-it is just as much an interpretation!

Hermes Carrying the Infant Dionysus by Praxiteles

Same content, different forms:

Because of its exaggerated

form, conveys a sense of isolation,

even anguish

Seems to reach for

something that lies

beneath the surface of human life

and the human form

Walking Man by Alb erto Giacometti

Same content, different forms:

Relies on stylized and almost cartoonlike form. Seems

more playful and mischievous than the other

two

Self Portrait by Keith Haring

Appears to celebrate a sense of joy

Form and Content in film• Heist (2001) is a great movie to explore form and

content: In one scene a bank robbery (the content) • is seen in two different forms-• the surveillance footage of the • rob robbery and the robbery itself

If we were to watch the roberry just from the surveillance footage, we would miss a lot. Because surveillance footage only shows us what is happening

Form and Content in film The careful choices of the

director however, which includes 81 shots (editing), juxtaposition of points of view, close-ups, camera angles, set, acting, music do more than just tell us what is happening, they shape our experience with film form: develop character, establish dramatic tension, give explicit information and give implicit meaning

Form and Content in film• The three shot sequence that reveals that the employees have been

drugged with coffee implies a great deal of preparation on the part of the criminals and let’s us know these are not your run-of-the-mill crooks• The next five shots establish Joe (Gene Hackman) as the

ring leader • The next shots establish Joe’s character and show’s his

thought process when he spares a woman’s life all while forgetting to put his mask back on

• The rest of the shots establish relationships, communicate Joe’s agony at realizing the surveillance camera’s caught his face, and establish urgency (by panning to the clock several times)

Form and Expectations• Our decision to see a movie is almost always

based on expectations:

• director’s previous work• actors• publicity• friends or reviews

• Even if there were no expectations (which there almost always are) as soon as the opening credits roll, we immediately form expectations and begin to create questions

Form and Expectations• As the movie continues, we experience a more

complex web of expectations

• Very often a movie starts with a “normal” world, which is altered by a particular incident or catalyst, that forces the characters to pursue a goal.

• Once the narrative begins, we ask questions about the story’s outcome

• At the beginning of Jaws, we ask ourselves: “Will they catch the shark?”

• American Beauty:– In the first scene Janie’s boyfriend volunteers to kill her

father– Then her father’s voice says he will be dead in less than a

year

• This shapes our expectations for the rest of the movie

• As we learn more about Ricky’s rebellious nature, we wonder if he would use a deadly weapon

• Our suspense is heightened when we see his relationship with his abusive father

Narrative

• The last two examples show narrative creating an expectation

• Narrative- the events in a movie and how they connect to each other

• Other qualities that affect our expectations: color schemes, sounds, length of shots, movement of the camera (To be discussed later)

• Our expectations are heightened or confused by the establishment patterns

Patterns ABCABCABCABCIn film, a pattern can create a connection

In Way down East (1920) we see the following shots: a woman on the ice (A) A man jumping from one ice to another trying to catch her (B) and Niagra Falls (C)

Because of the pattern of the shots, we assume the river that they are on flows over Niagra falls

In reality however, these actors were never close to Niagra Falls. The form of the scene, established by

the pattern of parallel editing has created an illusion of connections among these various shots, leaving us

with an impression of a continuous, anxiety producing drama

Patterns

What happens when something breaks a pattern?

ABCABCABCABCACB

When a pattern is broken on screen it can catch us unaware or create a surprise (or twist)

PatternsThe Silence of the Lambs (1991)

(A)-shots of the FBI surrounding a house

We see the patterns ABABABAB and again we make the connection that they are connected

(B)-shots of the killer in the basement of a house arguing with his victim

However, the filmmaker has deceived us! Watch how this sequence concludes here (watch the first 20 sec)

This pattern and then break of pattern creates twice the suspense. First because we think the killer will finally be caught and the

victim will be saved and then because we know that Clarice (Jodie Foster) is at the

killer’s house with no backup

Paying attention to patterns will be important in your analysis. We will later talk about nonnarrative

patterns as well (repetition of images or sound)

General Principles of film form• Movies manipulate space and time in unique ways

• They can move seamlessly from one space to another

• They can fragment time as in slow motion or montages

• Your relationship to space as a viewer: close-ups and landscape shots

• Space outside the “lens”-we see a shot of the corner of the bar but we know that the space extends past what we can see

General Principles of film form• Movies depend on light

• It enhances the texture, depth, emotions and mood of a shot

• It can make a character’s face look attractive or unattractive, manipulating the way we feel about them

• Movies provide an illusion of movement• There is no actual movement in film. It is only a

series of photographs• Filmmakers can manipulate this to create special

effects. (Like in The Matrix)

Realism & Antirealism

• Not every film strives to be “realistic”

• Today however a lot of movies mix the real and the fantastic, especially those in the science fiction, action and thriller genres

Donnie Darko shifts back and forth between showing a realistic depiction of the life of Donnie Darko and his fantastic take on it.

When he is in control, he’s the smartest kid in class, when he looses control he listens to a huge demonic imaginary rabbit

The movie asks more questions than it answers and leaves the viewer with a provocative vision of how close the line between the real and the fantastic can be

Verisimilitude• A convincing appearance of truth

• Even when events or people in a movie are not realistic, if the filmmakers’ vision is consistent it gives us the sense that in THAT world these things COULD HAPPEN

• But this is not the same as realism

Cinematic Language• The systems, methods or conventions by which

films communicate with the viewer• Examples:

• We know that a dissolve between two shots usually means the passage of time

• Characters shot from below usually indicate that they are superior or threatening

• We know that color can create meaning or importance This class will teach you

how to identify and analyze cinematic language

Types of Movies

• Narrative Films (or fiction films)• Non Fiction Films (or documentaries)• Animated Films• Experimental Films

Genres of Narrative Films

• Action• Biography• Comedy• Fantasy• Film Noir• Gangster• Horror• Melodrama

• Musical

• Thriller

• Science Fiction• Romance

• Mystery

• War• Western• Buddy Movie

• Coming of Age• Road Movie

• Genres are often mixed or evolve and adapt to meet the expectations of a changing society

The six major American Genres

Knowing the genre

• Can help you because each genre has it’s own set of conventions. If you know these, you will be able to analyze more quickly and more deeply

Types of Non-Fiction Films• Instructional Films• Documentary • Propaganda

Introduction to Film Analysis