Sine SOsyedad

Unit
Unit 1:
1: Introduction
Introduction to
to
Film
Film and
and Society
Society
 The
Fundamental
s of Film
 What
What is
is aa
•
Film?
Film?
This also called movie, motion picture or
moving picture, is a visual art-form used to
simulate experiences that communicate
ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty,
or atmosphere through the use of moving
images. These images are generally
accompanied by sound, and more rarely,
other sensory stimulations.

• Film is a remarkably effective medium in

conveying drama and especially in the
evocation of emotion.
Types
Types of
of Film
Film
● The Documentary

● dependent on world events and is therefore

more haphazard and more difficult than the
fully controlled process of making fiction films
in studios.

● The documentary mode incorporates those

films relying primarily on cinema’s power to
relay events in the world.
a. Travelogues and ethnographic film
b. Newsreels and documentaries
c. Propaganda
Types
Types of
of Film
Film

● The experimental and Animated

film

● exploring the new technology’s

potential outside or beyond the
mainstream modes.

● - avant garde films

 Types
Types of
of Film
Film

● Animated film

● the process involved filming a series

of still drawings or objects so that,
when projected, an illusion of
movement was created.
Types
Types of
of Film
Film

● Fictional genres

Films made by the use of

imagination
 Types
Types of
of Film
Film

● Hollywood Genres

American Popular Culture

 Types
Types of
of Film
Film

● The Serial/Prequel

a type of movie that explicitly

requires an audience to return
episode after episode.
Types
Types of
of Film
Film ● Films of Art and the Art Cinema
Genres
of Film
Action
Action
● One of the earliest film genres in existence.

● the action genre has close ties to classic strife and struggle narratives
that you find across all manner of art and literature.

Some of the main sub-genres include:

• War and Military Action
• Spy and Espionage Action
• Martial Arts Action
• Western Shoot ‘Em Up Action
Comedy
Comedy

● one of the most flexible, as its roots have made their way into the very fabric of
cinema and the many other genres contained within.
● the art of warming a heart and bringing a smile to a viewer’s face will never be lost.
● Some of the main sub-genres include:
• Slapstick Comedy
• Screwball Comedy
• Parody Comedy
• Black Comedy
Slapstick
Slapstick comedy
comedy

● comedy characterized by broad

humor, absurd situations and
vigorous chases, often violent in
action.
Screwball
Screwball
Comedy
Comedy
● It is seen as primarily an American film genre because it came from American
censorship and only lasted as long as the code. The code started to weaken in the 1950s
due to foreign films which did not have the same regulations, and filmmakers tried
harder and harder to push the envelope of what they could do and say in their films.
● The Screwball Comedy genre came from censorship, but the films seem to unlock a
different type of creative expression, one that may not have come about without this
original restriction. These films had to rely on innuendo and banter between the leads as
a replacement for physical displays of sexual tension.
● Screwball Comedy films also include a variety of other features including: witty, fast-
paced dialogue, misunderstandings, the battle of the sexes, and the struggle between
different social classes. They tend to end in happy endings, which may seem undeserved
to a fan of films where the romance is taken seriously, but these paint the picture of a
traditional screwball comedy.
 Parody
Parody

● A parody film or spoof film is a subgenre of comedy film that

parodies other film genres or films as pastiches, works created by
imitation of the style of many different films reassembled together.
Although the subgenre is often overlooked by critics, parody films are
commonly profitable at the box office.
 Black
Black Comedy
Comedy

● Black humor is a literary device

used in novels and plays to
discuss taboo subjects while
adding an element of comedy.
 Black
Black Comedy
Comedy

● defines it as a non-serious way of treating or dealing with serious

subjects. It is often used to present any serious, gruesome or
painful incidents lightly. The writers use it as a tool to explore
serious issues, inciting serious thoughts and discomfort in the
audience.
 Black
Black Comedy
Comedy

● In literature, this term is often associated with tragedies and is

sometimes equated with tragic farce. In this sense, it makes the
serious incident or event bit lighter in intensity. Although it is often
inserted to induce laughter, it plays a significant role in advancing
the action of the play or novel. Etymologically, black humor is a
phrase of two words black and humor. The meanings are clear that it
is a humorous way of treating something that is serious. It is also
called black comedy, dark comedy or gallows humor.
Horror
Horror

● one of the more recent film genres to come into existence, elements of horror have long
been a bedrock of classic cinema, dating back to some of the earliest — and eeriest —
days of filmmaking.

● Some of the main sub-genres include:

• Zombie Horror
• Folk Horror
• Body Horror
• Found Footage Horror
 Sci-Fi
Sci-Fi
● One of the most experimental and thought-provoking of the classic genres
● Remained one of the most popular mediums for showcasing mankind’s technical
advancements, as well as a means to wrestle with higher concepts like alien life forms,
artificial intelligence, and humanity’s place in the universe.

● Some of the main sub-genres include:

• Space Travel
• Time Travel
• Cerebral Science
• Robot and Monster Films
• Disaster and Alien Invasion
The
The Western
Western

● The western could technically be considered a sub-genre of the action film

genre, in large part due to its huge popularity and its own exploits.
● The western genre is very much the narrative of classic Hollywood

● Some of the main sub-genres include:

• Classic Western
• The Revisionist and Anti-Western
• Contemporary and Neo-Western
• Fantasy and Space Western
• Modern Western
Romance
Romance

● The romance genre has underlying themes that branch into every single
film genre.
● Countless stories of love and courtship.
● Some of the main sub-genres include:
• Historical Romance
• Romantic Drama
• Romantic Comedy
• Chick Flick
• Paranormal Romance
Elements
of Film
 Character
Character
● A person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, film, movie, video game. The
character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, in which case the distinction of a
"fictional" versus "real" character may be made.

● Protagonist - works toward the central story goals.

● • Antagonist - works against the goals.

Kinds of Characters

a. Confidante Character -someone or something the main character confides in.

b. Dynamic or Developing Character -someone who changes throughout the story Due to some events
c. Flat or Static Character -A flat character is the opposite of a dynamic character. A flat character doesn’t change
much or at all throughout the story.
d. Foil character - a foil character is someone who is the opposite of another character. Your main character can be
sweet and caring and the foil character will bring out that side by being nasty.
e. Round Character -A round character is similar to a dynamic character. They change throughout the story gaining
new traits, some traits opposite to who they used to be.
f. Villain Character - A villain is similar to the antagonist, but they are evil.
 Plot
Plot
● The plot is the series of these events, from the beginning, through the middle, until the end.

● It gives us the feeling of the forward motion (or motionlessness) of the story. The most important
events of the plot are often significant irreversible incidents that change the course of the plot and
push it further ahead.
 Scene
Scene
● A scene is the building block of a screenplay, its most basic unit that has its own independent,
whole existence.
 Dialogue
Dialogue

● One that we use from creating characters that we worship forever to conveying the biggest plot
truths, from bringing out the internal and external conflicts to establishing the significance of a
powerful resolution, from constructing the internal drama of the scenes to being wonderful
transitional devices.
Cinematograph
Cinematograph
yy

● Defined as “writing movement”

● Based on photography. How something is being filmed is just as important as what is being
filmed.
● The way in which a shot is framed, lit, toned, and colored is a story of its own just as it is
photography.

● Includes: Camera angles, camera movements. Shot sizes, lighting, composition.

●
●
Mise-en-scene is everything that appears in a frame. Mise-en-Scene
Mise-en-Scene
Sets, locations, actors, props, costumes, light, and shadow are all part of mise-en-scene.
● Can be realistic or abstract, purely background or an interpretative active element.
● Contributed to by a variety of talents on the film crew – production designers, make-up artists, set
builders, cinematographers, actors – everything on screen in a film has been deliberately included
at an artist’s direction and for a purpose.
Editing
Editing

● “the key to cinema” as it is the only formal element that is unique to the medium.
● An editor uses time and continuity as tools in presenting the narrative.
● It is the editor’s job to piece the whole movie together from all of the scenes and different
cameras.
● The editor connects one scene to the next, and sometimes several shots in the same scene, with a
few different editing techniques.
Sound
Sound

● Arguably the most subtly influential aspect of film.

● There are three components of sound in the film: dialogue, sound effects, and music
● Music is often the most evident and recognizable component of sound – what are some films with
recognizable music?
● Dialogue and sound effects, while more subdued in effect than music.
● Essential in bringing us into the world of the film and suspending our belief.
Importance of film in
the contemporary
society.
 Importance
Importance of
of film
film in
in the
the contemporary
contemporary
1. Movies inspire us society.
society.
● A good movie will entertain, educate, and inspire the viewer in many ways.
● They encourage us to conquer personal pains and to impact positively on other people’s lives.

2. Movies can create awareness on multiple aspects of life.

● It warns us of what is happening in the society or what will happen in the society.

3. Movies mirror culture .

● They are an integral part of us; they mirror what we believe in and how we coexist as people.

4. Movies shape culture

● Besides mirroring our diverse cultures, the film has for a long time been shaping our beliefs and values.

5. Movies teach us history

● Most history movies are fact-based and, even for the few that are fictional, they still depict a realistic and fantastic
picture of how the world was before the invention of the audiovisual devices that we know today.
 Importance
Importance of
of film
film in
in the
the contemporary
contemporary
society.
society.
6. Desensitization of sympathetic feelings
● Movies erode sympathetic feelings in people by making violence and the suffering of other
people seem acceptable.

7. Parenting challenges
● There are also genres that normalize stealing and dishonesty. But parents can’t seem to find
reliable, foolproof strategies to stop their kids from accessing it.

8. Film reflects the eternal human search for truth, a process where we can discuss it as both cause
and effect.