Intro to Film Final

Western

Good guy: White Hat; Bad Guy: Black Hat

Proxemic Patterns

Intimate, personal, social, public relationships

Rosebud

Loss of innocence (his sled). Separation form his family. In part the film is based off of Hearst but also the live of Orson Welles (ONLY 25 YEARS OLD WHEN HE MADE THIS FILM!)

Trained Professionals

Stage and screen performers who are capable of playing a variety of roles in a variety of styles

Primitive Stage

Stage of a drama that is usually naïve, though powerful in emotional impact, due to novelty of form. Many conventions or rules of the genre are established in this stage (The Big Trail (1930))

Mimesis

Storytelling that consists of the showing or acting out of events, for example, LIVE THEATER

Diegesis

Storytelling told by a narrator of some type

Formalistic Films

The author is overtly manipulative, sometimes scrambling the order of the events to build a specific theme. A more specific point-of-view. RUN LOLA RUN

Story

The general subject matter or the raw materials of a dramatic action in chronological sequence

Realistic Film

The implied author is virtually invisible, as the events unfold on screen speak for themselves. Typically in chronological order: start at point A and go to Z.

Implicit

The protagonist and antagonists represent conflicting value systems, but these are not dwelled on. The audience must infer what the characters stand for. It might be slanted toward one viewpoint, but with no one spelling out the moral of the story The Graduate

Classical Films

The shaping hand involved in telling the story is more evident. Boring gaps in the narrative of classic film are edited out. Discrete film maker who keeps the action on track. THE SEARHERS.

Parodic

The stage of a genre that offers an outright mockery of a genre's conventions (Blazing Saddles (1974)) Airplane!/Zero Hour Writing Some Like It Hot (1959)

Classical Stage

The stage of the genre that embodies such classical ideals as balance, richness, and poise. The genre's values are assured and widely shared by the film makers and the audience. (Stage Coach (1939))

Revisionist

The stage where a film is more symbolic, ambiguous, and less certain in its values. More complex, appeals to the intellect and undermines pre-established conventions (The Searchers (1956))

Plot

The storyteller's method of super imposing a structural pattern over the story

Narratology

The study of how stories work. How we make sense of the raw materials of a narrative, how we fit these pieces into a coherent whole

Explicit

Thematically oriented movies that aim to teach or pursued as much as to entertain. Usually an admiral character articulates the values that are really important.

Iconography (for actors)

What a star represents or symbolizes to the general public

Script Doctors

Writers hired to improve or punch up a script Usually no screen credit

Shooting Script

Written breakdown or reinterpretation of a movie story in to its individual shots, often containing technical instructions. Used during production. Developed by Director and Crew.

William Randolph Hearst

Yellow Journalist; Son Simeon: Hearst Castle; Marian Davies (Hearst's mistress): Suzan Alexander

Citizen Kane Symbolism

"No Trespassing": No way to trespass and find out what truly makes people tick and what they are all about - Puzzles: Symbolic of finding deeper meaning. Film is also structured like a puzzle. Each person has separate impressions of Kane, each is their own puzzle piece -Orson had never been on a sound stage before Citizen Kane- Watched Stage Coach over and over again to teach himself how to make a film- Toland makes it work "I have no idea how to make a newspaper work im just going to try and make everything work"

Good Dialogue

-Writer should have a good ear for how people speak- Understand people's rhythm's of speech - Right choice of words for a particular character - Understand the length of real world sentences - Know when to use jargon, slang, etc.

His Girl Friday (1940)

1 page of screenplay: 1 minutes of movie 191 pgs: 92 minutes Figurative Technique

Ideology

A body of ideas reflecting the social needs and aspirations of an individual, group, class, or culture. A set of values and priorities offered in a film. Do the Right Thing (1989)

Star (classic)

A film actor of great popularity. Box office earnings. Number of fans in a fan club (official fan clubs)

Faithful Adaptation

A film based on a literary original which captures the essence of the original by using cinematic equivalents for specific literary technique

A Loose Adaptation

A movie based another medium which only a superficial resemblance exists between the two versions. Clueless: Emma Lion King: Hamlet

Literal Adaptation

A movie based on a stage play in which the dialogue and actions are preserved more or less intact.

Star Vehicle

A movie specifically designed to showcase the talents and charms of a specific star

The Classical Paradigm

A narrative structure that has dominated fictional film since about 1910 in which a protagonist initiates an action that is resisted by an antagonist

Genre

A recognizable type of movie, characterized by certain pre-established conventions in style, subject matte, and values. Western. Sci-Fi.

Allusion

A reference to an event, person, or work of art usually well-known. The Graduate: Ben (pounding on glass in church, similar to crucifixion)

Original Screenplay

A script that was written expressly for a film that is not adapted from any other literary source or medium, including a novel, short story, magazine article, play, TV show, biography, etc.

Actor Star/Character Star

A star that can play a greater range and variety of roles. Johnny Depp, Robert DeNiro, Nicole Kidman, Robin Williams.

Personality Stars

A star who tends to play only those roles that fit a preconceived public image Tom Hanks: Typically, the good guy (All-American). HE IS WOODY FROM TOY STORY

Silent Acting

A style of pantomime acting; Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, etc.

Script (Screen Play)

A written description of a movies dialogue and action, sometimes in detail, rarely including camera directions. The main theme can be established in the screen play

Extras

Actors used primarily to provide the sense of a crowd (Assistant Director known as a "herder", gathers extras)

Nonprofessional Performers

Amateur players who are chosen not because of their acting ability but because of their authentic appearance. Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Persona

An actor's public image (or) the image that an actor projects to the public

Technical Acting

An approach to acting in which the performer thinks through requisite gestures and emotions and then exhibits them. Technical actors do not draw from personal experience or emotion. (White Heat (1950))

Method Acting

An approach to screen performance derived from Russian stage director Stanislavski, in which the actor seeks to portray a character by using personal experience and emotion as a foundation for the portrayal. (feel the role rather than think the role) White Heat (1950) clip Streetcar Named Desire (1951) clip

Metaphor

An implied comparison between two otherwise unlike elements, meaningful in a figurative way rather than a literal sense The searchers: "Ethan": The Buttes (rugged, isolated, immobile)

Symbol

An object, event, or cinematic technique that has significance beyond its literal meaning, which is determined by the dramatic context

Motif

An obstructive technique, objects, or thematic idea that is systematically repeated throughout a film Crisscross: Strangers on a train

Petting the dog

Beginning of film, protagonist will preform, some kind of act that will position the audience on his or her side for the rest of the movie

Shakespearean Acting

Considered the most difficult due to its archaic language

Mise en Scene

the arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a film

Cinematographer Greg Toland

Dies in his 40s, instrumental in the deep focus shot. Helped significantly with Citizen Kane

Neutral

Escapist film and light entertainment movies that exclude the social environment in favor of a vaguely benevolent setting that allows the story to take place smoothly. Some Like it Hot/Strangers on a Train

Stars

Famous performers who are widely recognized by the public

Citizen Kane (1941)

Film about yellow journalist, taken in by a wealthy man and becomes a news paper tycoon.

An Andalusian Dog/Un Chien Andalou (1929)

Film by Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali that was meant to have no meaning what so ever and show that film did not need structure.