1. Mise en Scene2. Cinematography3. Editing4. Sound5. Narrative and Characterization6. Representation7. Documentary 8. Animation9. Quebec Cinema

Intro to Film

Mise-en-SceneFilm excerpt: Citizen Kane (1941), dir. Orson Welles

Article: “Mise en scene” Introducing Film by Graham Roberts & Heather Wallis (2001)

Elements include:

1. Setting

2. Costume & Make-Up

3. Figure, Expression & Movement

4. Lighting

CinematographyFilm: Run Lola Run, dir. Tom Tykwer

Article: “Cinematography”Film: A Critical Introduction, by Maria Pramaggiore & Tom Wallis (2006)

1. Camera Height2. Camera Angle3. Camera Distance4. Camera Movement

Each can convey: information, motifs, introduce ideas, create mood

Canted or Dutch angle

vs. vs.

EditingFilm: Run Lola Run, dir. Tom Tykwer

Article: “Editing”Film: A Critical Introduction, by Maria Pramaggiore & Tom Wallis (2006)

1. The Kuleshov Effect

2. Interaction between characters

3. Graphic similarities between shots

4. Adjusting the tempo

5. Shot transitions

SoundFilm excerpts:

Raging Bull vs Fight ClubRear WindowPsychoRequiem for a Dream

Article: “Sound”Film: A Critical Introduction, by Maria Pramaggiore & Tom Wallis (2006)

Terms:

1. Foley artist: creates sound effects

2. Soundtrack: ALL the sound within the film (dialogue, effects, music)

3. Direct sound: sound recorded on location / while the film is being shot

4. Sound Effects: any noise other than dialogue and music

5. On-screen vs. Off-screen sound

6. Objective image vs. Subjective sound

7. Diegetic: what the characters CAN hear

8. Non-Diegetic sound: what the characters can NOT hear

9. Image Time vs. Sound Time

10. Image Mood vs. Sound Mood

Sound cont’d…

Sound cont’d…

On-screen vs.

Off-screen space

Objective image vs.

Subjective sound

Psycho

Sound cont’d…

Diegetic vs. Non-Diegetic sound

Image Time vs. Sound Time

Requiem For a Dream

Like a sound “dissolve” where sound from one scene “bleeds into the next scene.

Sound cont’d…

Image Mood vs. Sound Mood

Pulp Fiction

Narrative & DetailsFilm: Do the Right Thing (1989), dir. Spike Lee

Articles: “Detail” & “Narrative Form”Film: A Critical Introduction, by Maria Pramaggiore & Tom Wallis (2006)

What is a narrative?How do details in a film shape the narrative?

1. Motifs

2. Parallels

3. Turning Points

4. Repetition

Narrative & Detail cont’d…

Motifs • Details that repeat in a film • Can provide info about the character or reinforce a significant idea

Do the Right Thing

Parallels• When two characters, events, or location can be compared in

a film

Narrative & Detail cont’d…

Turning Point• Typically a pivotal moment in the film/narrative that changes

the course of things to come

WHAT IS THE NARRATIVE OF “DO THE RIGHT THING”?

REDHow often, when, where did you see the colour RED in the film?

What did the colour symbolize to you?

MUSICWhere and when did you notice music being played and/or not being played within the film?

Did you notice/catch what was playing on Radio Raheem’s boom-box repeatedly?

LOOKING INTO CAMERAWhat were the characters saying when they were speaking into the camera?

How did you feel as the viewer?

TURNING POINTWas there a turning point in the film?

If so, when did it appear?

RepresentationFilm: Do the Right Thing (1989), dir. Spike Lee

Articles: “Film and Ideology”Film: A Critical Introduction, by Maria Pramaggiore & Tom Wallis (2006)

How is the director representing the issues in their narrative?

What is the ideology being transmitted to the audience?

1. What is an ideology?

2. How would you describe the ideology/ideologies in the film Do The Right Thing?

3. How do you feel this film depicted class & cultural differences?

4. Describe the gender differences in the film. How were the men and women depicted?

5. What were the characteristics that the various cultural groups depicted have in common with each other?

DocumentaryPrior to 1907: films were non-fiction/documentary

2. L'arrivée d'un Train en Gare de La Ciotat /The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station (1896, RT 30sec)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dgLEDdFddk

Directed & produced by August and Louis Lumière/ “The Lumière Brothers” :

1. La Sortie des Usines Lumière à Lyon/ Workers Leaving the Factory (1896, RT 46sec)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO0EkMKfgJI

“Documentary”Who coined the term?

The first Commissioner of the National Film Board of Canada!

Documentary Form/Structure

1. Voice-over narrationPoint-of-ViewBalanced or Propaganda?

2. Talking Head doc’sInterview heavy

3. Director-ParticipantFilmmaker in the film

4. Direct Cinema/Cinema Verite/Cinema of Truth“Observational Documentary”Minimal intrusion from the filmmaker

5. Self-Reflexive DocumentaryShowing the filmmaking team & process

Animation

3 Forms

1. Hand-drawn or Celluloid

2. Stop motion

3. Computer (2D & 3D)

Rapid display of images in a sequence To create the illusion of movement

Frankenweenie (2009)dir. Tim Burton

• Definition of ‘THEME’: the central idea of the story

• How is the mood of Frankenweenie conveyed? What production elements allow the mood to be conveyed?

Discuss: Mise-en-scene, sound & cinematography.

• Identify the theme(s) of Frankenweenie

Discuss how these themes are established in the opening sequences.

Quebec Cinema•In late the 1930’s QC cinema consisted mostly of work by amateur filmmakers who were mostly priests.

•The QC mandate for cinema at that time was to produce mostly propaganda and educational films.

•Many films made for a QC audience were produced in English and dubbed in French.

•Eventually, a French filmmaking team emerged at the NFB in the mid 1940’s, post WWII, and a surge of films were being made about QC identity through the mid 1950’s.

•Highlights of QC cinema emerged in the 1970’s-80s when cinema verite/direct cinema was being largely used.

Form Mise-en-scene (acting, lighting, costumes & make-up, setting) Cinematography (camera height, angle, distance, movement) Editing Sound

Content: The narrative, the plot… what the film is about

Form + Content = Film

C.R.A.Z.Y (2005)dir. Jean-Marc Vallée

1. What is the narrative of this film?

2. What motifs did you identify?

3. How was religion used in the film? Or, describe how the narrative incorporated religion.

4. Describe the relationship between Zac and his:

• Father• Mother• Brothers• Religion

•Form

•Narrative

•Plot

•Theme

•Ideology