Film Appreciation - Lecture notes 1-25 PDF

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These are all notes and quiz preps that I recorded throughout the semester...

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Film Appreciation Lecture Notes, quizzes and final review 9/10 Form & Content  Content – subject of the film  Form – the means or method/structure in which the subject is expressed Form & Expectations  Filmmaker and or stars  Reviews  Subject matter (content)  Genre – inherent structure (form) The filmmaker uses our expectations to help craft the story Realism and Antirealism/abstract  Representational – representing the real  Presentational – presenting an interpretation  Verisimilitude – appearance of truth Formal elements of film  Camera proximity to subject – the shot  Camera angle  Camera movement  Lens/camera choice  Editing choices – how do we move through the story  Narrative structure – how is the story told 9/12 Realism and Antirealism  Realism – most movies such as The Graduate o Representational – representing reality o Presentational – presenting an interpretation but acknowledging that it is a movie – Ferris Buehler’s Day  Antirealism – non real such as The Grand Budapest Hotel  Verisimilitude – appearances of truth o Any movie that offers reasons for the world presented making it seem real – Jurassic park A Narrative is…  A story – the whole world of the movie o Diegetic – all things in the movie that the characters can see or hear

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o Non-diegetic – all things in the movie that are external, such as credits, soundtrack, titles Fiction films Films arranged in cause and effect structure Way to discuss events in our culture

Patterns  Look for patterns in the graduate  What patterns have we seen so far with? o Composition (characters in the frame) o Editing o Camera (focus, zoom, movement) o Editing and sound o Dialogue and dialogue patterns 9/17 Narration and narrators  Narration = telling a story  Narrator = the story teller o Voice over or camera  Omniscient vs. restricted  First person narration – a character  It only takes one person to hear the narrator to be considered first person rather than third. (Will Ferrell hearing narrator example)  Third person - not a character  Direct address – characters address the audience Characters  Who are some great film characters?  Round vs flat or 2 dimensional  Protagonist vs. antagonist  Character arc – character changes through the story ex: rocky 9/19 Dramatic structure – classical paradigm and narratology  Exposition, rising action/conflict, climax/turning point, falling action, resolution

Narrative Terminology  Story o All events presented on screen

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o All events that are implied but not presented o Diegesis – total world of the story o Diegetic elements – sound, setting, actions, characters, objects o Non-diegetic elements – sound track, credits, titles, voice over narration Plot o The structure of diegetic and nondiegetic elements o Subplot – subordinate sequences of action Order o Story is always chronological events, like life o Plot is the order of the presentation of events Duration o Story duration o Plot duration (similar in time to the story) o Screen duration – shortest  Summary relationship – summed up/brief  Real time – equal time between plot and screen time  Stretch – screen time takes longer than plot duration Tension – Armageddon o Surprise – Meteor shower on earth o Suspense – will the big one hit? Repetition – Forrest Gump o Sitting on a park bench telling the story o Repeating shots explaining how Gump is important to our history

9/26 What is Genre?  From the French – meaning type or kind  Aristotle began defining in 4th century BC  Polonius line in Hamlet  Agreement between audience and filmmakers on shared expectations or conventions What are some Genre’s  Comedy  Western  Melodrama (music-drama) – drama  Horror – subgenre’s  Crime drama  Science fiction  Musical  Action What genre’s are these movies?

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Jaws o Thriller, crime drama, monster movie Lion king o Musical, drama, drama should have some comedy The Godfather o Crime drama

Early Genres, what was the first?  Science fiction – A Trip to the Moon  Comedy – slapstick Chaplin, Keaton  The Western – The Great Train Robbery  Horror – Nosferatu, Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy  Screwball comedy – came from The Depression era: stalk market crashed so movies about former millionaires, scientists Gangster to Film Noir  What two events lead to the advent of the gangster? o Prohibition 1919 o Stock market crash 1929  Production code wouldn’t allow crime to profit  Rags to riches  Rises in ranks due to brains and guns  Gets greedy and some new punk takes over  Two women, the mom or sister and the Moll Gangster Films  Little caeser 1931  Public enemy 1931  Scarface Declines during WW2 (started to support government)  White heat  Bonnie and Clyde  Scarface  American gangster Film Noir  French for Dark Cinema o Popular in France  Began in 1940’s as veterans returned home from WW2  Novels by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett turned into films (pulp fiction) o Phillip Marlowe – The Big Sleep o Sam Spade – The Maltese Falcon o Thin Man

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Hayes Production Code – rules that governed film industry

Characteristics of Film Noir  Existentialist themes/sense of doom  Feeling of disorientation – plot  Love is dangerous and risky  Cynicism about life  Urban gritty feeling 10/1 Quiz prep 

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Where is the climax in a three act structure o Act 2 – inciting incident o Act 1 – o Act 3 – resolution What do we call the first conflict that upsets the status quo? Which of the three types of movies is the least known? o Abstract Fictional is the most mainstream for movies Prohibition and stock market crash led to what genre? o Gangster The agreement between the audience and film maker on film conventions defines? o Genre Bringing Up Baby and It Happened One Night are examples of which type of genre? o Screwball comedy (should be romance but finally at the end they get along) Screen duration: between plot and story, which one is always the longest? o Story always the longest – involves all background info and anticipating future

Characteristics of Film Noir  Existentialist themes/sense of doom  Feeling of disorientation – plot  Love is dangerous and risky  Cynicism about life  Urban gritty feel  Voice over narration Visual aspects  Dark low key lighting  Use of shadows as extension of evil  Wet rainy or foggy urban streets  Oblique/dutch angles and claustrophobic framing

Noir Characters  Male protagonist o Veteran sometimes often a private detective o Hard boiled/loner o Lost part of his world o Has a code separate from society’s Females usually and antagonist – great roles for women!  Sultry, overt sexuality  Often disguised by appearance of innocence  Strong, ambitious, manipulative Noir Films  Early o Citizen Kane (41) Orson Welles o The Maltese Falcon (41) John Huston  Classic o Casablanca (42) Michael Curtiz Bogie/Bergman o Double Indemnity (44) Billy Wilder o The Postman Always Rings Twice (46) o The Big Sleep (46) Hawks (Bogie and Bacall) o The Lady from Shangai (48) Welles o The Big Combo (55) Typical B Movie o Touch of Evil (58) Welles – considered the last true  End of Film Noir o Rise of Suburbia o Relaxation of Code o Advent of Television o “Noiresque” –  Breathless  Chinatown  Blade Runner – hybrid sci fi and noir  Raging bull  Roger rabbit – hybrid comedy and noir clip  LA confidential

The Western  Evolution of a Genre o Beginning Films – The Great Train Robbery 1903 o Classic – genre reaches zenith o Introspective/revisionist

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 Introspective looks to the genre structure  Revisionist looks to change our view of subject Parody – pokes fun at genre conventions Often the genre fades – fewer films made Return to classic – viewers miss the genre Earliest genre because it was still going on 1903 The Great Train Robbery Modern mythology American Identity Civilization vs. wilderness  Protagonist is often outside of law  Antagonist is often the sheriff, why?  Role of women in the West – not very good

Off shoots o Hybrid westerns – genres merge  Science fiction Westworld, Star Wars, Cowboy’s & Aliens  Samurai Magnificent 7, Sukiyaki Western Django  Comedy Cat Ballou, Support Your Local Sheriff o Subgenres?  Tenderfoot learns the west  Who Shot Liberty Valence?  Gunfighter with a heart of gold – stagecoach  Early West The Big Sky  Woman as backbone Western o The Great Train Robbery – early o Stagecoach – classic  Group of typical western types on journey o High Noon – introspective  During height of red scare/McCarthyism  Gunfight is anti-classic/sheriff rejects town o Little Big Man – Revisionist/parody  Man who survives the West corrects misconceptions o Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid  Introspective  Popular Music

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The Musical o During silent era music accompanied projection

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 Usually a Wurlitzer organ o Broadway had not yet invented ‘The Musical’ There were musical reviews, operas, etc. o Began with first advent of sound, The Jazz Singer ’27  Al Jolson Two types of musicals o Backstage musical  Justified singing and dancing through ‘putting on a show!’  Broadway Melody  Gold Diggers of 1933  Busby Berkley o Integrated Musical  Characters emotions justify breaking into song and dance  Showboat was first Broadway integrated musical  Paul Robeson Ol Man River  Mamoulian’s Love Me Tonight was one of the first in 1932

10/8 The musical  Integrated Musical o 42nd Street – 1933 o The Wizard of Oz – 1939 – considered one of the best years for movie making o Meet Me in St. Louis – 1944, Singing in the Rain o The Broadway Musical  Oklahoma, The King and I, Music Man etc.  Musical Genres – Hybrid Musicals o Paint your wagon – Western o Rocky Horror Picture Show – sweet transvestite  Horror/Sci Fi  Recent Musicals o Grease - 1978 o Moulin Rouge -2001 o Chicago – 2002 o Once – 2007  Irish film  Few actors, guerilla filming  Music written by stars  Now a Broadway musical  New Musicals o Les Misérables – from Theatre o Across The Universe – Beatles songs o La La Land

10/10 The musical  Once – 2007 o Irish film, directed by John Carney o Budget of 112,000 Euros, made 29 million  Shot in 17 days, small crew o Music written by stars (formerly swell season)  Glen Hansard  Marketa Irglova o Won 2008 Oscar for Best original song  Falling slowly o Soundtrack nominated for Grammy o Musical won 8 Tony Awards

10/15 History of Animation  Gertie the Dinosaur – Winsor McCay 1914  The Dinosaur and the Missing Link – Willis O’Brien 1915  Steamboat Willie – Walt Disney 1928 o First sound animation  Snow White – Walt Disney 1937 o First Feature Film Types of Animation  Hand-drawn – Snow White o Animation process  Stop motion – the nightmare before Christmas o The evolution of stop motion  Computer animation – Shrek o Tech of Shrek 2 o Go Behind the Scenes of Moana What are these two current popular types?  Spirited away, The wind rises o Hayao Miyazaki  Moana o Walt Disney studios

Animation in non-animated films  Life of Pi  Pirates of the Caribbean  Wild  Jurassic Park Series Written film review formats  Goethe’s three questions o What were they trying to do? o How well did they do it? o Was it worth doing?  Beginning, middle, and end o Introduction o Body o Conclusion Film review format  Intro – thesis o Avoid plot o Introduce topic/hook reader  Body o Each sentence supports your thesis o Use specific examples to support  Conclusion o Draw conclusion based on your support

Mise en Scène Definition? o Where do we get the phrase Mise en Scène? quiz o Put it on stage – early way to look at making a movie, similar to a play o From the French theatre, putting on the scene or staging o How does it apply to film? o Overall look and feel of the movie o Everything the audience sees o Two components quiz o Design  The process of creating the visual aspects  Establish style or vision  Create time and place  Create mood  Character’s state of mind  Relate to themes of the film and to the narrative structure

o Composition (what shot it is)  Organization, distribution, balance, and relationship of the actors and objects within the space of each shot  Framing  Kinesis

Evolution of Screenplay  Treatment – one page description of an idea for a movie, specifies how many actors will be involved, location, style, story line  Story conferences > rough draft – fix dialogue, if it gets green light then they will produce it, 1/10 scripts get to this point of green light, studio will pay screenwriters to make script by buying rights to it even if they don’t plan on making it just bc they don’t want others to make it  Storyboard – script ready, but no idea how to do movie. Director decides plot, story made up already. Hire storyboard artist to create storyboards; A series of sketches (looks like a comic book)  Shooting script – put together in the order that it is going to be shot. Not really ever shot in order. Efficiency – have to plan according to number of people, weather and places. o Location – interior/exterior o Setting – specific place o Type of shot – close-up, long shot o Editing technique - fade, cut, dissolve o Daily shot lists  Shooting schedule – working progress, no one has to do what the screen writer said, things change often. Art Department  Production designer – working with director and cinematographer, lighting director and storyboard artist o Art director – draws and builds models of sets and works with construction teams  Set dressers, properties, greenery, location scouts, scenic painters  Who is the number person in charge of the look of the movie? Production designer***  properties (all those things actors touch)***, anything an actor touches is properties, that is where the word comes from. o Lighting director – works w cinematographer  Grips – ppl who move things, grab things  Gaffer – chief electrician, set up all lighting. Always lights.  Best Boy – their first assistant to the gaffer. o Costume designer – supervises overall look of the characters  Makeup, hair/wigs, makeup, SFX makeup, wardrobe

 Stars have their own people o Elements of design  Setting  Décor  Properties  Lighting  Costume  makeup  hair Composition  organization, distribution, balance and general relationship of stationary objects and figures as well as light, shade, line and color within the frame  Rule or thirds Balance  Our brain/eyes strive to find equilibrium  Rule of thirds, divides screen into 9 areas o Groups of 3  Top, middle, bottom  Left, center, right  Foreground, midground, background Frame – top third  Eyeline  Head room  Eye room Frame depth  Deep space composition  3 planes of depth o Foreground o Midground o Background Framing – what we see on the frame  The frame is constantly changing, moving and then being reframed  Framing implies POV or Point of View Onscreen and offscreen space  Dynamic relationship between what is in the frame and what is outside the frame  The viewfinder is the boundary to this relationship  Nöel Burch: 6 infinite areas around our frame

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Left Right Up Down Forward or in depth Or behind camera

Open and closed format  Open o Characters are free to move anywhere o Less symmetrical framing o Characters more important than setting o More like real world experience  Closed o Characters acted upon, seemed posed, like in a painting o Symmetrical framing o Settings may dominate shot o More presentational, artificial Kinesis – movement  Movement of objects within the frame o Blocking – the positioning of actors o Singing in the rain o Crouching tiger, hidden moon  Movement of the frame itself o Apocalypse Now

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Capturing the moving images 3 root words o Kinesis – Movement o Photo – light o Graphy – Writing

DP – director of photography  Gregg Toland o ‘fit the photography to the story’ o Citizen Kane Cinematographer Key Terms and Crew

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Shot – one interrupted run of the camera Take – number of times the shot it taken Sequence – several shots that tell a story Scene – made up of several sequences Setup – one position of the camera, lighting scenery, blocking, everything! Camera Crew o Camera operator – shoots the ‘footage’ o First assistant cameraperson (CA) – equipment, lenses, tracks o Second Assistant – loads film/memory, slate

Cinematic properties  Film stock o Black and white vs. color o Gauge – width, 8mm, 16mm, 35mm, 65mm, 70mm o Speed – the degree to which it is light sensitive  Slow: needs lots of light  Fast: good in low light

11/5/19

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o Thr e e poi nts y s t e m:Ke y , Fi l l ,a ndBa c k  Ke yi st hebr i g ht e s t  Lo wKe y -l i t t l eorn ofil ll i gh t  Hi ghk e y -l i t t l ec o nt r a s tb e t we e nk e ya ndfil l  St y l e Fr a mi n goft h es ho t  As pe c tr a t i o  Pr o xi mi t y–c l os e u p,me di um, e t c  De pt h  Ca me r aa n gl ea n dh e i gh t  Sc a l e  Ca me r amo v e me nt 11/7/19 Lighting  Source  Quality  Direction o Top, side, front, back, below o Angle of each o Three point system: key, fill, and back  Low key – little or no fill light  High key – little contrast between key and fill Framing of the shot  Aspect ratio – size of our projection. o 3 basic ones  NTSC TV - Historical 1.33:1 (4x3) - early film and TV  Film (U.S.) – 1.85:1 American widescreen  Film (U.S.) - 2.35:1 – Panavision/Cinemascope Proximity

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Extreme long shot – figure too small to recognize Long shot – full body but with space above and below Full shot – full humane figure, feet to head Medium long shot – knees up Medium shot – waist up, full body if seated Medium close-up – middle chest and head Close-up – shoulders and head Extreme close-up – head or very close to an object

Camera Angle  Subject in relation to height of the camera  Eye Level is normal public POV  Deviations from Eye Level have meaning  High Angle makes subject look weak or vulnerable  Low Angle suggests that the character is strong or powerful, in control  A Dutch Angle or Oblique suggest that the world is out of balance  Aerial or Bird’s Eye implies observers omniscience Scale  Relationship of objects to human figure Camera Movement  Constant reframing  Pan shot – lateral rotation from fixed position  Tilt shot – vertical rotation from fixed position o Dolly shot – camera moves on vehicle o Tracking shot – vehicle rides on tracks o Zoom – shifting of focal length of lenses o Crane shot – camera mounted on crane Speed and length of the shot  Typical shot length? o 5 seconds in silent era o 10 seconds in sound era  Long ta...