Film Chapter 3

Hybrid Movies

• The flexibility of film form has made cross-pollination among experimental, documentary, and narrative films an inevitable and desirable aspect of cinematic evolution. • Some narrative films incorporate documentary techniques such as small crews, natural lighting, handheld cameras, and even non-actors to lend their gritty narrative films the sense of authentic realism associated with documentary techniques.

Narrative Movies

• To most of us, a narrative movie is just a movie. • Narrative films tell a story, whether fiction or nonfiction. Even nonfiction narratives shape or modify the true story in order to fit the conventions of narrative structure.

Animation

• While animation employs different mechanisms to create the multitude of still images that motion pictures require, it's just a different form of moviemaking and not a singular type of movie. • Storytelling is storytelling, no matter the medium. Process is the only difference.

Direct Cinema

• Documentary that replaces on screen interviews and/or narration in order to fully immerse the audience in reality, as much as possible. • Small, often hidden, cameras and microphones record reality for period of time so as to capture something that could not be acted or amended.

Experimental Films

• Experimental is the most difficult of all types of movies to define with any precision, because experimental filmmakers seek to defy categorization and convention. • Originally called avant-garde, a French phrase to describe scouts and pathfinders. • Common qualities: • They are not commercial. • They are personal. • Don't conform to conventional expectations. • Exploit the possibilities of the cinema. • Critique culture and media. • Invite individual interpretation.

Six Major American Genres

• Gangster • Film Noir • Science Fiction • Horror • Western • Musical

Generic Transformation

• Generic Transformation is the process by which a particular genre is adapted to meet the expectations of a changing society. • Arguably, genres that don't evolve lose the audience's interest quickly and fade away.

Genre

• Genre refers to the categorization of narrative films by the stories they tell and the ways they tell him. • Common genres include: western, horror, science fiction, musical, and gangster. • Also included: action, biographies, melodramas, thrillers, romances, romantic comedies, and fantasy.

The Uncanny Valley

• If a filmmaker strives for a very high level of verisimilitude in computer-generated characters, he may risk taking the humanlike resemblance too far. • Our emotional response to these "almost human" characters will be unease and discomfort, not pleasure or empathy - a negative reaction known as the uncanny valley.

Documentary Movies

• If narrative film begins with a commitment to dramatic storytelling, documentary film is more concerned with: • 1. Recording reality (factual films) • 2. Education (instructional films) • Political or social analysis (...)

Types of Movies

• Movies can be broken down into three main categories depending upon the intent of the filmmaker and the film's relationship with the viewer: • Narrative Movies • Documentary Movies • Experimental Movies

Narrative

• Narrative is a story. • Narrative is a type of movie. • Narrative is a way of structuring fictional story. • Narrative is a broader concept that surpasses these applications.

Genre Conventions

• Story/Plot Formulas • Theme • Character Types • Setting • Presentation • Stars