Film And Arts Entertainment – Humanities
This chapter is about Film And Arts Entertainment – Humanities.
Movies
– popular entertainment with a mass circulation
– the audience being largely passive
– made to entertain
Film
– is not aimed for profit but has an artist message
Examples of Film
– Blue Velvet
– Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Types of Shots
What the camera records over a particular period
– Master Shot
– Establishing Shot
– Tracking Shot
– Long Shot
– Mid Shot
– Close-Up
– Extreme Close-Up
– Two Shot
– Over the Shoulder Shot
– Direct Address
Master Shot
Shot with whole scene of action, to facilitate editing
Establishing Shot
Long shot that establishes details like time, place, relationships, etc.
Tracking Shot
Follows actors or action without stopping or cutting away
Long Shot
Considerable distance
Mid Shot
Shorter distance, close, from the waist up
Close-Up
Very Close, face only
Extreme Close-Up
Super close, not whole face, just one feature
Two Shot
Two people in frame
Over the Shoulder Shot
Close up taken over the should of another actor, shoulder in frame
Direct Address
Technique whereby an actor appears to address the audience directly
High Camera Angle
A camera angle which looks down on its subject making it look small, weak or unimportant
Low Camera Angle
A camera angle which looks up at its subject, it makes the subject seem important and powerful
Point of View Angle
A camera angle which looks up at its subject, it makes the subject seem important and powerful
Reaction Angle
– A shot of someone looking off screen
– A shot of someone in a conversation who is just listening to the other person speak
Types of Editing
– Cut
– Cut within the Frame
– Crosscutting
– Dissolves
– Wipes
Cut
Change from one shot to another
Cut within the Frame
Use movement of actors or focus pull to avoid editing process
Crosscutting
Determination between 2 separate actions that are related by theme, mood, plot, and occur at the same time
Dissolves
Means of ending a scene
Focus
What is clear in the shot
– Depth of Focus
– Rack/Differential Focus
– Pull Focus
Depth of Focus
Everything in the scene is in focus
Rack/Differential Focus
Main object/person of interest is in focus, rest of scene blurred
Pull Focus
Change focus in the scene to move scene
Types of Movements
– Track
– Pan
– Tilt
– Dolly
– Zoom
Depth of Focus
Everything in the scene is in focus
Pan
Camera rotates horizontally on a fixed axis
Tilt
Camera moves vertically or diagonally on a fixed point
Dolly
Move the camera to and from subject
Zoom
Change focal length instead of moving the camera
Types of Audio
– Music
– Score
– Soundtrack
– Sound Effects
– Voice Over Narration
– Dubbing
Music
Enhance theme, mood, rhythm, etc.
Score
Original composition for a film, often instrumental
Soundtrack
Songs chosen for a film
Sound effects
Sounds of actions happening
Voice Over Narration
A recorded voice narrating a story played over the action
Dubbing
When an actor says lines that are played over the scene, done to censor language, when recorded dialogue is unclear ,outdoors shots, etc.
What are the four factors that are involved in the changes in film processing?
– Current events & achievements (political climate)
– The creativity of the film-makers
– The technical developments that could be exploited
– The capacity of a sufficient audience to appreciate the results
George Melies
Realizing the potential of a good story (1861-1938)
Utilized film to create fantastic stories that took his characters and audiences to the moon and beyond
The Expressionist Films
Sought to convey the inner, subjective experience of its subjects
Initially born out of Germany 1910s
Track
Camera moves with action
What was expressionist film based on?
the premise that film becomes art only to the extent that the film image differs from reality
What type of film would go on to influence some of the most important filmmakers of the 20th century?
Expressionist Films
(Alfred Hitchcock, Werner Herzog, and Tim Burton)
What are the two most influential films of the Expressionist era?
– Metropolis (1927)
– The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Who are some American comedians?
Charlie Chaplin & Buster Keaton
When did many European filmmakers begin experimenting with the absurd and wild aesthetics of German cinema?
Early 1920s
Charlie Chaplin
– Among the first to write, star and direct his own films
– Chaplin’s mix of slapstick and sentimentality effectively invented the “dramedy”
Citizen Kane
Written, Directed and Starred Orson Welles in 1941
– Ground-Breaking movie
Which movie has been considered the greatest movie of all time?
Citizen Kane
Before Citizen Kane, how were movies organized?
Most films were organized chronologically: they began at the beginning and ended at the end
– Citizen Kane begins at the end
How does Welles illustrate the passage of time?
Using editing to show the breakdown of Kane’s first marriage with a montage of scenes of Kane and his wife at the breakfast table
What type of camera technique did Citizen Kane use?
Used “deep-focus” camera techniques
Including special film, lenses, and lighting developed especially for Citizen Kane
Made everything on screen appear in focus at the same time, an unheard-of practice in Hollywood
French New Wave
Early 1950s by film critics and ‘nerds’ who turned filmmakers
Belief that film should be treated as highly intellectual art
Originating from the philosophy of ‘auteur theory’; a film is the director’s absolute imaginative and inspired aesthetic vision
Inspired the cult of the director as artistic icon on a par with writers and painters
What did the French New Wave reject?
traditional linear tropes of storytelling and created a new language of film
What did movies during the French Wave feature?
– Unprecedented methods of expression, such as long tracking shots
– Existential themes, such as the acceptance of the absurdity of human existence
To save on the cost of film during the French New Wave, what stylistic innovations occurred?
Jump cuts, improvised dialogue, rapid changes of scenes
Camera was used to play with audience expectations
What 70s American filmmakers were inspired by the French New Wave?
Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola
Akira Kurasawa
1910-1998 Japanese filmmaker
Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema
His style was ground-breaking at the time and truly defined the way many modern film-makers present their work
How many films did Kurosawa direct?
30 films in a career spanning 57 years
Rashomon
– Directed by Akira Kurosawa
– Released in 1950
– Marked the entrance of Japanese film onto the world stage
– Known for a plot device that involves various characters providing alternative, self-serving and contradictory versions of the same incident
Buster Keaton
– Physical comedy
– Using Camera and editing to help with the joke
– The Art of the Gag