Introduction to Film Studies - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Introduction to Film Studies

Mise

-en-scèneSlide2

Framing

Camera height, distance, angle and level can be changed within the shot – mobile framing – a unique aspect of film

The change of framing is achieved by moving the camera during filming.

Several kinds of camera movement

Pan, Tilt, Tracking,

and

CraneSlide3

Framing

The

pan

turns the camera

horizontally on a vertical axis - horizontal scanning of space pscychoThe tilt moves the camera vertically up and down on a horizontal axis Rear WindowTilt up and tilt downSlide4

Framing

In the

tracking

(

dolly

or trucking or traveling) shot, the camera as a whole change positionDay for Night Pan & Travelling shot Day for NightIn the crane shot, the camera moves above the ground level, being carried by a crane.Slide5

Framing

Example of tracking shots Martin Scorsese’s

Age of Innocence

Behind the Scene

Tracking shotSlide6

Dynamic crane shot in Luc

Besson’s

LeonSlide7

Framing

Example of the combination of tracking and crane shot in Orson Welles’s

A Touch of Evil

Opening shotSlide8

Framing

The shot size can be changed without moving the camera – zoom shot

The zoom lens with adjustable focal length permits the photographer to change the shot size

Impression of perspectival depth changes

The ShiningSlide9

Framing

When zooming in, the depth of field

become

shallow and the perspective narrow, when zooming out, the depth deepens and the perspectives widens.

Dolly zoom; or vertigo shot – zoom in and track out at the same time The Goodfellas Goodfellas Slide10

One more example of dolly zoom in

Jaws

Raft scene

Slide11

Origin of dolly zoom – Vertigo effect Alfred Hitchcock’s

Vertigo

Vertigo effect

Slide12

Introduction to Film Studies

Montage Slide13

Montage

The editor discards unwanted footage

e.g. The editor of

The Net

(1995) dealt with 300 reels (3,000 minutes or 50 hours) and culled them to 12 reels (120 minutes or 2 hours)Then the editor joins the desired shots, the end of the one to the beginning of another. David LeanSlide14

Montage

A shot is joined to another in various ways

A

Fade-out

gradually darkens the end of a shot to black

A Fade-in gradually lighten a shot from black Citizen KaneA dissolve briefly superimposes the end of shot A and the beginning of shot B, while shot A gradually gives away to shot BCitizen KaneIn a wipe shot B replaces shot A by means of shot B moving across the screenSeven SamuraiSlide15

Dimensions of Film Editing

The film editor consider four aspects of editing

1. Graphic relations between shots

2. Rhythmical relations between shots

3. Spatial relations between shots

4. Temporal relations between shotsGraphic RelationsEditing permits the interaction, through similarity and difference, of the pictorial qualities of shots (lighting, setting, costume, behaviour, framing, photography, and camera movement)Slide16

Graphic Relations in Editing

Montage connecting

two shots with the same

graphic quality – folded hands, hand of a Japanese lover and a hand of a former German lover in Alain

Resnais’s

Hiroshima mon amour 18.00 Slide17

Graphic Relations in Editing

The mos

t bold graphic match: cut from a bone to a spaceship jumping millions of years over two shots. Stanley Kubrick’s

2001, Space Odyssey

bone and spaceshipSlide18

Graphic Relations in Editing

Cutting on action

or

matching on action

– the editor cuts from one shot to another in the way that the action in the second shot matches the one in the first.

A variation of the graphic match editing techniqueG.W. Griffith’s Orphans of the Storm 2.50Slide19

Graphic Relations in Editing

Two people in conversation is typically filmed in one shot showing both without cut, or in shot-reverse-shot (a character shown looking at another character and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character).

The conversation without editing

Play it Again, SamSlide20

Graphic Relations in Editing

Shot and reverse shot: two people in conversation shown not together but individually.

Woody Allen’s

Manhattan

endingSlide21

Graphic Relations in Editing

In a shot-reverse-shot

a

djacent shots do not have to be continuous graphically

Mild discontinuity may appear in widescreen composition in shot-reverse-shot (shots showing characters facing each other)

Wim Wender’s Paris, Texas Slide22

Each shot centres

on the action (the flaming trail and Melanie’s face), but movements thrust in different directions. Contrasts between stillness and movement

BirdsSlide23

Rhythmic Relations in Editing

Acceleration

A group of people talking: 1,000 frames, 41 seconds

Melanie looking out the window 309

fr.

13 sec.Exterior shot of a gas station: 55 fr. 2 1/3 secMelanie joined by Mitch and the Captain: 35 fr. 1 ½ sec.The shot length subordinated to the internal rhythm of the dialogue and the movement in the images.Slide24

Rhythmic Relations in Editing

Melanie’s horrified reaction to the racing flames

70 frames (Flaming car) – 20 frames – 18 frames – 16 frames – 14 frames – 12 frames – 10 frames – 8 frames – punctuate the scene by the two shots with the identical length - 34 frames (Cars at station explode) - 33 frames (Melanie covers her face) – a long shot of the city over 600 frames (pause or reverberation) Slide25

Rhythmic Relations

in Editing

Rhythmic factors include beat, accent and tempo and are supported by

mise

-en-scène

and sound.The tempo of cutting is getting quicker and quicker as the day is getting more hectic in the helicopter sequence of Goodfellas.Jump cuts, rock music with strong beats, clock

GoodfellasSlide26

Rhythmic Relations in Editing

Tempo

of

cutting is slow matching the lugubrious and lethargic mood of the scene, the slow motion movements, and monotonous waltz music in Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love.Each shot is long lasting over 10 seconds – long take first encounter Slide27

Continuity Editing

Graphic qualities must be kept continuous from shot to shot – once composition is fixed, it must be maintained; the overall lighting tonality must remain constant

The rhythm of editing has its own rules: long shots are left on the screen longer than medium shots, and medium shots are left on longer than close-ups

The aim of continuity editing is to create a smooth flow from shot to shotSlide28

The 180° system or rule

‘Axis of action’, the ‘

centre

line’ or the 180° line

Only the shots taken from the camera placed in the 180° area on either side of the axis of action (the white area) must be edited together.Slide29

Continuity Editing

Once the axis of action is established, the camera stays on the same side.

Annie HallSlide30

This ensures some common space from shot to shot.

The

180° system

ensures constant screen direction.

Once upon a Time in the WestSlide31

Continuity Editing

Eye-line Match

- in one shot a person is shown seeing off screen in one direction and in the next what he/she is seeing is shown

Dario

Argento’s The Stendhal Syndrome a girl looks out of frame to her left, and there is a cut to the painting that she is supposed to be looking at. Art gallerySlide32

Continuity Editing

The 180° rule and the eye-line match are carefully observed and give the viewer consistent sense of direction in Alfred Hitchcock’s

Rear Window.

Jeffrey is a photographer on wheelchair and kills his time by looking into the apartments across from his.

Eyeline matchSlide33

Continuity Editing

Match on action

or

cutting on action –

the first shot is cut to another shot in the way the action started in the former continues in the latter and matches the action in the latter.

In Stephen Soderbergh’s Traffic, a man jumps in shot A and lands on the ground in shot B.Slide34

Continuity Editing

In

Bringing up Baby

, the shot in which Katherine Hepburn strikes a match is cut to the shot in which she is lighting a cigarette.

The action is continuous and matching.