All about films
Important difference
• Film theory debates the
essence of the cinema
and provides conceptual
frameworks for analyzing,
among other things, the
film image, narrative
structure, the function of
film artists, the
relationship of film to
reality, and the film
spectator's position in the
cinematic experience.
• film criticism is more of
evaluation and judgment.
Although there are
exceptions, film critics
tend to review movies
(good? bad? how many
stars?) while film theorists
tend to analyze the
medium's fundamental
structure
 Space
• The representation of space affects the
reading of a film. Depth, proximity, size
and proportions of the places and objects
in a film can be manipulated through
camera placement and lenses, lighting,
decor, effectively determining mood or
relationships between elements in the
diegetic world.
 Classical film theory
• The Italian futurist Ricciotto Canudo is considered to be
the first true theorist of the cinema. He published The
Birth of the Seventh Art in 1911
• So-called classical film theory (from the 1910s through,
approximately, 1970) arose in the silent era and was
mostly concerned with defining the crucial elements of
the medium.
• It largely evolved from the works of directors like
Germaine Dulac, Louis Delluc, Jean Epstein, Sergei
Eisenstein, Lev Kuleshov, Dziga Vertov, Paul Rotha and
film theorists like Rudolf Arnheim, Béla Balázs and
Siegfried Kracauer. These individuals emphasized how
film differed from reality, on how it might be considered a
valid art form.
 Who is Eisenstein
• Sergei Eisenstein was a revolutionary
Soviet film director and film theorist noted
in particular for his silent films, Battleship
Potemkin and Oktober. His work vastly
influenced early film makers owing to his
innovative use of and writings about
montage
Eisenstien- pioneer of the montage
• Eisenstein was a pioneer in the use of montage, a specific use of
film editing.
• He believed that editing could be used for more than just
expounding a scene or moment, through a "linkage" of related
scenes.
• Eisenstein felt the "collision" of shots could be used to manipulate
the emotions of the audience and create film metaphors. He
developed what he called "methods of montage":
• Metric
• Rhythmic
• Tonal
• Overtonal
• Intellectual montage
 Intellectual montage
• Eisenstein argues that montage, most especially intellectual
montage is an alternative system to continuity editing. He argued
that "Montage is conflict" where new ideas emerge from the
collision of the montage sequence

• In his film Strike, Eisenstein includes a sequence with cross-cut

editing between the slaughter of a bull and police attacking workers.
He thereby creates a film metaphor:
assaulted workers = slaughtered bull.

• The effect that he wished to produce was not simply to show images
of people's lives in the film but more importantly to shock the viewer
into understanding the reality of their own lives. Therefore, there is a
revolutionary thrust to this kind of film making.
 Narration:
• the process through which the plot
conveys or withholds story information.
The narration can be more or less
restricted to character knowledge and
more or less deep in presenting
characters' mental perceptions and
thoughts.
 Diegesis:

• In a narrative film, the world of the film's

story. The diegesis includes events that
are presumed to have occurred and
actions and spaces not shown onscreen.

• Diegetic sound:
Any voice, musical passage, or sound
effect presented as originating from a
source within the film's world.
 Linear or non linear ?
• Always ask yourself why has the director
chosen a particular way of telling the story.
• Used well, and with the right material, non-
linear structure can be a very powerful
technique.
• Used poorly, it just makes a crappy movie
harder to follow.
 “Basic Elements of a Film"

• Frame:
Frames in essence are still images that are collected in quick
succession, developed, and projected giving the illusion of motion.
Each individual, or still, image on motion picture film is referred to as
a frame.
• Shot:
In the process of photographing a scene a shot refers to one
constant take by the camera. It is most often filmed at one time with
a solo camera.
• Sequence:
Segments of a film narrative that are edited together and unified by
a common setting, time, event or story-line.
• Sound Track:
That portion of the sound film medium to which are recorded the
dialogue, music, narration and sound effects.
 Narrative style /treatment
• Subjective treatment. The camera treatment is called 'subjective' when the viewer is
treated as a participant

• Objective treatment. The 'objective point of view' involves treating the viewer as an
observer. A major example is the 'privileged point of view' which involves watching
from omniscient vantage points. Keeping the camera still whilst the subject moves
towards or away from it is an objective camera effect.

• Parallel development/parallel editing/cross-cutting. An intercut sequence of shots

in which the camera shifts back and forth between one scene and another. Two
distinct but related events seem to be happening at approximately the same time. A
chase is a good example.

• Mise-en-scene. (Contrast montage). 'Realistic' technique whereby meaning is

conveyed through the relationship of things visible within a single shot (rather than, as
with montage, the relationship between shots). An attempt is preserve space and
time as much as possible; editing or fragmenting of scenes is minimised. Composition
is therefore extremely important. The way people stand and move in relation to each
other is important. Long shots and long takes are characteristic.
 Narrative style /treatment
• 'Invisible editing'. This is the omniscient style of the realist feature films developed in
Hollywood. The vast majority of narrative films are now edited in this way. The cuts
are intended to be unobtrusive except for special dramatic shots.

• It supports rather than dominates the narrative: the story and the behaviour of its
characters are the centre of attention. The technique gives the impression that the
edits are always required are motivated by the events in the 'reality' that the camera is
recording rather than the result of a desire to tell a story in a particular way. The
'seamlessness' convinces us of its 'realism', but its devices include:
– the use of matched cuts (rather than jump cuts);
– motivated cuts;
– changes of shot through camera movement;
– long takes;
– the use of the sound bridge;
– parallel development.
– The editing isn't really 'invisible', but the conventions have become so
familiar to visual literates that they no longer consciously notice them.
 Narrative style /treatment
• Montage/montage editing.
- the juxtaposition of short shots to represent action or ideas - , simply cutting
between shots to condense a series of events. Intellectual montage is used
to consciously convey subjective messages through the juxtaposition of
shots which are related in composition or movement, through repetition of
images, through cutting rhythm, detail or metaphor. Montage editing, unlike
invisible editing, uses conspicuous techniques which may include: use of
close- ups, relatively frequent cuts, dissolves, superimposition, fades and
jump cuts. Such editing should suggest a particular meaning.

• Tone. The mood or atmosphere of a programme (e.g. ironic, comic,

nostalgic, romantic).
 “Basic Elements of the Camera
Setup"
• Camera Angle:
Terms appropriated for these various angles include eye-level angle, high-angle, low-angle,
sideview angle and the "Dutch" angle.

• Distance:
Distance refers to the amount of relational space between the audience and the character on the
screen. Though the characters are two-dimensional and the audience is distinctly separate from
the screen by dead space the camera's perspective, in effect, attempts to provide the amount of
space desired subject to the director's discretion. This space often results in the interaction and
psychological connection between the characters and the audience. The connection is achieved
through the dynamics and varying degrees between long shots, medium shots and close-ups.

• Establishing Shot {a.k.a. "Master Shot"}

the audience has established, or been given the opportunity to surmise an orientation. It also
helps to establish the distinctions between the general locale and the specific details -- from
subsequent shots -- within the general context.

• Perspective:
Spatial relationships. Height and breadth come naturally to the surface but the added dimension
of depth must be constructed through cameras, lenses, sets, and designs during composition
 Basic camera movements
• Pan
• Tilt
• Dolly
• Track
• Crane
 Lighting
• HIGH-KEY LIGHTING
• A lighting scheme in which the fill light is
raised to almost the same level as the key
light.
• This produces images that are usually
very bright and that feature few shadows
on the principal subjects. This bright image
is characteristic of entertainment genres
such as musicals and comedies
 Lighting
• LOW-KEY LIGHTING
• A lighting scheme that employs very little
fill light, creating strong contrasts between
the brightest and darkest parts of an
image and often creating strong shadows
that obscure parts of the principal
subjects. This lighting scheme is often
associated with "hard-boiled" or suspense
genres such as film noir
 Use of sound
• Direct sound./ location sound. This may have a sense of freshness, spontaneity and
'authentic' atmosphere, but it may not be acoustically ideal.

• Studio sound. Sound recorded in the studio to improve the sound quality, eliminating
unwanted background noise ('ambient sound'), e.g. dubbed dialogue.

• Selective sound. The removal of some sounds and the retention of others to make
significant sounds more recognizable, or for dramatic effect - to create atmosphere, meaning
and emotional nuance. Selective sound (and amplification) may make us aware of a watch
or a bomb ticking.

• Sound perspective. The impression of distance in sound, usually created through the use
of selective sound.

• Sound bridge. Adding to continuity through sound, by running sound (narration, dialogue or
music) from one shot across a cut to another shot to make the action seem uninterrupted.

• Dubbed dialogue. Post-recording the voice-track in the studio, the actors matching their
words to the on-screen lip movements. Not confined to foreign-language dubbing.
• asynchronous sound . Sound which was self-evidently recorded separately from the
visuals with which it is shown.
• Parallel (synchronous) sound. Sound 'caused' by some event on screen, and which
matches the action.
 Use of sound
• Commentary/voice-over narration. Commentary spoken off-screen over the shots shown. The
voice-over can be used to:
– introduce particular parts of a programme;
– to add extra information not evident from the picture;
– to interpret the images for the audience from a particular point of view;
– to link parts of a sequence or programme together.
– The commentary confers authority on a particular interpretation, particularly if the tone is
moderate, assured and reasoned. In dramatic films, it may be the voice of one of the
characters, unheard by the others.

• Sound effects (SFX). Any sound from any source other than synchronised dialogue, narration or
music. Dubbed-in sound effects can add to the illusion of reality: a stage- set door may gain from
the addition of the sound of a heavy door slamming or creaking.

• Music. Music helps to establish a sense of the pace of the accompanying scene. The rhythm of
music usually dictates the rhythm of the cuts. The emotional coloring of the music also reinforces
the mood of the scene. Background music is asynchronous music which accompanies a film. It is
not normally intended to be noticeable. Conventionally, background music accelerates for a
chase sequence, becomes louder to underscore a dramatically important action. Through
repetition it can also link shots, scenes and sequences.