Critical Approaches to Film Essay Preparation & Critical Approaches recap.
Critical approaches - modes of address
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Modes of address
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Transcript of Critical approaches - modes of address
Modes of address
Is how the film communicates with us, the viewer.
There are three ways we can look at how the film communicates with the viewer:
1. Its formality (or social distance)
2. Its point of view
3. Its directness
In film we can identify the formality of part of a film through its use of shot types in a scene.
these shot types effect how emotionally attached or detached the viewer feels to the characters.
Lets watch this scene (link here).
The formality can either be;
◦ Intimate (or informal)
◦social
◦ Impersonal (or formal)
INTIMATE(or informal)
We put the viewer into the subjects personal space by closing down the distance between the camera and the person we’re filming.
Does this makes us feel emotionally attached or detached to the character?
social
This shot is social, we are able to relate to the characters without being uncomfortably close to them, or so far removed that it is hard to relate to them.
Impersonal(or formal)
This shot is impersonal because we are far away from the subject, meaning we are emotionally detached from them.
Directness refers to whether the subject of the video looks / talks directly to the viewer.
This is described as either direct or indirect.
What format of video can you think of where the presenter directly addresses the audience?
Do the presenters talk to the viewer using a voiceover?
https://youtu.be/FtghP5HJNww?t=3m29s
Do the presenters look directly at the viewer down the camera lens?
https://youtu.be/Xc0z1KTy71U
Is it just in news & factual programming that we expect a direct mode of address?
https://youtu.be/a5Ha3IWeXOo
Why might we want to directly address the viewer?
Point of view refers to whose perspective the narrative is told from.
In film it is less obvious than in books whose point of view a story is being told from, however if we look at how scenes are filmed and the use of voiceover we can identify this.
1. Subjective
2. Selective
Often referred to as a POV shot, it is where we directly see the scene through the characters eyes.
This is where the film mainly follows one character, but the camerawork is not from their actual viewpoint.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h2BB1vo27s
Working alone, watch one of the movie scenes on moodle and explain the modes of address the film-makers have used to communicate with their audience.
You will need to think about:◦ Formality
◦ Point of view
◦ directness
