TFM-160 Quiz 1: Study Guide

Cut

A direct change from one shot to another as a result of cutting; that is, the precise point at which shot A ends and shot B begins.

Mise-en-scnee

Comprises design elements such as lighting, setting, props, costumes, and makeup within individual shots.

Film Noir

In the early 1940s, the outlook, tone, and style of American genre films grew decidedly darker with the emergence of film noir ("black film"). The same war (WWII) that helped delay the arrival of film noir also helped give birth to the new genre by exposing ordinary Americans to the horrors of war. Film noir fed off the postwar disillusionment that followed prolonged exposure to this intimidating new perspective (low budget "B" movies). 1.) Its emphasis on corruption and despair was seen as an unflattering portrayal of the American character (defined by more subtle qualities of tone and mood) 2.) Like the eggs they are named for, the hard-boiled characters in film noir have a tough interior beneath brittle shells. 3.) The themes are fatalistic and the tone is cynical. 4.) Film noir may not be defined by setting, but nor films are typically shot in large urban areas. They contain gritty, realistic night exteriors, many of them filmed on location. 5.) The film-noir protagonist is an antihero; however, unlike his gangster equivalent, he rarely pursues or achieves leadership status and is an outsider (if he is a criminal, he is usually a lone operator caught up in a doomed attempt at a big score or a wrongdoer trying to elude justice) → Whatever his profession, the noir protagonist is small-time, world-weary, aging, and not classically handsome → He is self-destructive and thus fallible, often suffering abuse on the way to a story conclusion that may very well deny him his goal and will almost certainly leave him unredeemed (not weak or unattractive per say) 6.) Perhaps as a reflection of men's fear or resentment of these newly empowered women (after WWII), film noir elevated the female character to antagonist status (instead of passive supporting players, the femme fatale ("deadly women") role cast women as seductive, autonomous, and deceptive predators who use men for their own means (far smarter - and thus formidable - opponent for the protagonist) 7.) Distinguished by its visual style. Noir movies employ lighting schemes that emphasize contrast and create deep shadows that can obscure as much information as the illumination reveals. Light sources are often placed low to the ground, resulting in illumination that distorts facial features and casts dramatic shadows (exterior scenes usually take place at night and interior scenes are set during the day behind drawn shades that cast patterns of light and shadow splintering the frame [unstable quality]) 8.) Film nor plot structure reinforces the feeling of disorientation. The complex (sometimes incomprehensible) narratives are often presented in non chronological or otherwise convoluted arrangements (plot twists deprive the viewer of the comfort of a predictable plot; goals shift, and expectations are reversed; allies are revealed to be enemies [and vice versa]; narration, even that deliver by the protagonist, is sometimes unreliable) 9.) Fatalistic voice-over narration telegraphs future events and outcomes, creating a sense of predetermination and hopelessness for the protagonist's already lost cause

Instructional Film

Seek to educate viewers about common interests, rather than persuade them to accept particular ideas.

Shot

Unlike photography or painting, films are constructed from individual shots - an unbroken span of action captured by an uninterrupted run of a motion-picture camera - that allow visual elements to rearrange themselves and the viewer's perspective itself to shift within any composition. 1.) A movies movement extends beyond any single shot because movies are constructed of multiple individual shots joined to one another in an extended sequence. With each transition from one shot to another, a movie is able to move the viewer through time and space

Low Angle Shot

Viewers' shared experience of literally looking up at powerful figures - people on stages, at podiums, memorialized in statues, or simply bigger than them - sparks an automatic interpretation of movie subjects seen from this angle. Depending on context, we see these figures as strong, noble, or threatening.

Propaganda Film

When persuasive documentaries are produced by governments and carry governments' messages they overlap with propaganda films which systematically disseminate deceptive or distorted information.

Gangster

The gangster genre is deeply rooted in the concept of the American dream: anyone, regardless of how humble his organs, can succeed (anyone with intelligence and spunk can rise to great riches or power through hard work and bold action; rags-to-riches). 1.) American West had already established the hero as an outsider who lives by his wits and is willing to break the rules to achieve his goals. Two historical events provided the remaining ingredients needed to runs these working-class notions into what we know now as the gangster genre → 18th amendment (1919) banned the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol. This ill advised law empowered organized crime, which expanded to capitalize on the newfound market for suddenly forbidden beverages (many of the criminal entrepreneurs who exploited this opportunity were Irish, Italian, and Jewish immigrants!). Prohibition legitimized unlawful behavior by making outlaws out of common citizens thirsty for a beer after quitting time (common people began to identify with the bootleggers and racketeers) → The stock market crash in 1929 and the resulting economic depression further cemented the public's distrust of authority and the allure of the gangster 2.) In many of these films, violent crime was both celebrated and condemned. Movies that had audiences sympathizing with criminals (or at least their goals) at the start would ultimately turn an exhilarating rags-to-riches story of empowerment into a cautionary tale of the consequences of blind ambition. → Central characters would achieve their goal, only to be killed either by the law or their own equally ruthless subordinates 3.) Most gangster protagonists are killers, but their initial victims (such as the thugs responsible for the protagonist's initial humiliation) are usually portrayed as deserving of their fate. This pattern shifts as the hero reaches his goal to rule the criminal syndicate. His ambition clouds his vision; he becomes paranoid and power-hungry, and begins to resemble his deposed adversaries. Before he self-destructs, he often destroys (figuratively or literally) characters that represent his last remaining ties to the earnest go-getter who began the story. Frequently, the protagonist expresses last-minute regrew for what he has become, but by then it is almost too late (nearly always male) → More sympathetic secondary characters often see to humanize the gangster antihero (mother or sister; love protagonist for potential humanity) → Other female is usually a fellow criminal or gangster groupie called a moll (loves him for his potential power and wealth) → Often has a sidekick who makes the journey with him (may be responsible for giving the protagonist his first break in the business, only to be eclipsed by the hero later. he is often instrumental in the protagonists downfall, either as a betrayer or as a victim of the central characters greed and lust for power) 4.) Antagonists come in two forms: → Law enforcement agents (portrayed as oppressors who are corrupt, incompetent, or both) → Fellow gangsters (a current kingpin who lacks the imagination or courage of our hero) → However, the ultimate antagonist in many gangster movies is the protagonist himself! 5.) Set in urban locations because organized crime flourishes primarily in large cities (slums → downtown → luxury penthouses) 6.) The actors most closely associated with early gangster films were diminutive and relatively unattractive *Typically follow this rags-to-riches-to-destruction formula!*

Editing

The joining together of discrete shots, or editing, gives movies the power to choose what the viewer sees and how that viewer sees it at any given moment. *Editing juxtaposes individual shots to create sequences (a series of shots unified by theme or purpose), arranges these sequences into scenes (complete units of plot action), and from these scenes build a movie*

Protagonist

The main character of a film.

Factual Film

Present people, places, or processes in straightforward ways meant to entertain and instruct without unduly influencing audiences (some of the first movies made).

Close-up

A shot that often shows a part of the body filling the frame traditionally a face, but possibly a hand, eye, or mouth.

Theme

A unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work.

What do we mean when we describe cinematic language as "invisible"? What are some of the reasons why cinematic language is invisible?

Most scenes in most films that most of us watch rely heavily on largely invisible techniques that convey meaning intuitively. It is not that cinematic language is impossible to spot; you simply have to know what you are looking for. We experience a movie shot, which is capable of delivering multiple layers of visual and auditory information, for the briefest of moments before it is taken away and replaced with another moving image and another and another. If you are watching a movie the way it is designed to be experienced, there is little time to contemplate the various potential meanings of any single movie moment.

Genre

Refers to the categorization of narrative films by the stories they tell and the ways they tell them.

Western

Some of the earliest motion pictures were Westerns. American history inspired the Western, but the genre's enduring popularity has more to do with how Americans see and explain themselves than any actual event. 1.) Westerns are a form of modern mythology (certain aspects of the history of the American West have been amplified and modified to serve a collective cultural need) that offers narrative representations of Americans as rugged, self-sufficient individuals taming a savage wilderness with common sense and direct action (the concept of the frontier as a sort of societal blank slate is at the heart of this mythology → The Wild West is a land of opportunity - both a dangerous, lawless country in need of taming and an expansive territory here anyone with the right stuff can reinvent himself and start a new life 2.) Civilization-versus-wilderness conflict provides the Western's thematic framework. The tension produced by this conflict is an essential ingredient in virtually every Western narrative. The wilderness can take the form of antagonistic forces in direct conflict with the civilizing settlers 3.) Many Western characters reverse or combine the thematic elements of order and chaos 4.) Cowboys - quintessential Western characters - also embody the blurred borders between the Western's thematic forces. Cowboys may fight the Indians, bu they are also symbols of rootless resisters of encroaching development. Whatever his particular stance and occupation, the Western hero is typically a man of action, not words. He is resistant to - or at least uncomfortable with - the trappings of civilization, even in those common cases where he serves as a civilizing agent 5.) The actors associated with the genre reflect the quiet power of the laconic characters they repeatedly play (outsized but relatively subdued performers) 6.) All the tertiary character types found in Westerns have a role to play in this overarching conflict between the wold and settled West. → Native Americans are both ruthless savages and noble personification of dignity and honor → Prostitutes are products of lawlessness but often long for marriage and family → Schoolmarms are educated and cultured, yet are irresistible drawn to the frontier and the men who roam it → The greenhorn character may be sophisticated back East, but he is an inexperienced bumbler when it comes to the ways of the west (his transformation into a skilled cowboy/gunfighter/lawman embodies the Western ideal of renewal 7.) More than any genre, the American Western is linked to place. The genre may be set on the prairie, in the mountains, or in the desert. But whatever the setting, the landscape is a dominant visual and thematic element that represents another western duality: its a deadly wilderness of stunning natural beauty (dominated by daylight exterior shots and scenes; on location)

Form

The means by which that subject is expressed and experienced.

Processing

The second stage of creating motion pictures in which a laboratory technician washes exposed film (which contains a negative image) with processing chemicals. Processing is preceded by shooting and followed by projecting

Why is verisimilitude important to both anti realism and realism?

Verisimilitude is important to both because it convinces the audience that the things on the screen - people, place etc. are "really there". The movie's vision seems internally consistent, giving the audience a sense that in the world onscreen, things could be just like that. 1.) The difference between realism and anti realism is that, in the first case, (established by the French filmmakers Auguste and Lumière), it involved an interest in or concern for the actual or real, a tendency to view or represent things as they really were. It is a way of treating subject matter that reflect everyday life. It always involved mediation and, thus, interpretation. While Méliès's anti realism was in relation to an interest in or concern for the abstract, speculative or fantastic.

Horror

(Started in Germany after WWI) Born out of a cultural need to confront and vicariously conquer something frightening that we do not fully comprehend (those frightening somethings are aspects of our existence: death and insanity). Both represent the ultimate loss of control and a terrifying, inescapable metamorphosis (we experience the exhilaration of confronting the dreaded other without the devastating consequences). 1.) Death takes the shape of ghosts, zombies, and vampires - all of which pose a transformative threat to the audience. The only thing scarier than being killed or consumed by the other is actually becoming the other (werewolves, demonic possession, homicidal maniacs) 2.) A typical horror narrative begins by establishing a normal world that will be threatened by the arrival of the other. This monster must be vanquished or destroyed in order to reestablish normalcy 3.) Often, the protagonist is the only person who initially recognizes the threat. Because the other is so far removed from normalcy, the protagonist may reject her own suspicions before she experiences the other more directly and announces the menace to those around her. When her warnings are ignored, the central character is directly targeted by the other. She must either enlist help or face the master on her own. In the end, the protagonist may destroy the other - or at least appear to. → This structure might be varied: the protagonist may actually be directly or indirectly responsible for summoning the other, a violation that places even greater responsibility on her to restore the normal world/the protagonist may also have to enlist the help of a mentor or apprentice, or even sacrifice herself, to defeat the other/sometimes the protagonist actually becomes the other → The protagonist is often a loner, someone socially reviled who must save the community that rejects her (we identify with her because she is usually fearful, a weakness that allows us to the greatest possible identification with her struggle 4.) Horror narratives tend to feature resurrections and other false resolutions. 5.) While a significant number of horror-film antagonists are one-dimensional killing machines, many of these others are actually more compelling characters than the protagonists charged with destroying them 6.) Horror movie settings tend to fall into two categories (at night!; lighting is cast from below): → Normal world (hyper ordinary place) → Remote rural areas that offer potential victims little hope for assistance → Foreign environment

What are the four different ways of looking at Narrative? ("The Idea of Narrative")

1.) *A narrative is a story* → When people think of any medium or form - whether it is a movie, a joke, a commercial, or a news article - that tells a story, we consider that story a narrative → Under the facts and details of any given news item is a story → We use stories to arrange and understand our world and our lives 2.) *A narrative is a type of movie* → A categorical term for those particular movies devoted to conveying a story, whether they are works of pure fiction or a fictionalized version of actual events 3.) *Narrative is a way of structuring fictional or fictionalized stories presented in narrative films* → Narrative is often used to describe the way that movie stories are constructed and presented to engage, involve, and orient an audience → This narrative structure - which includes exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement - helps filmmakers manipulate the viewer's cinematic experience by selectively conforming to or diverting from audience expectations of storytelling 4.) *Narrative is a broader concept that both includes and goes beyond any of these applications* → Any cinematic structure in which content is selected and arranged in a cause-and-effect sequence of events occurring over time → Any time a filmmaker consciously chooses and organizes material so that one even leads to another in a recognizable progression, that filmmaker is employing narrative in its most basic sense (narrative is not simply the telling of a fictional story, it is a structural quality that nearly every movie possess) → Movies do not have to arrange events in conventional order to employ narrative organization → Contemporary documentary filmmakers often exploit their ability to select and arrange material in a cause-and-effect sequence of events → Most experimental, or avant-garde, movies try to break from the formulas and conventions of more mainstream narrative and documentary films. Even so, they employ narrative according to our most general definition of the concept, despite being more concerned with innovation and experimentation than with accessibility and entertainment *Thus, nearly every movie, regardless of how it is categorized, employs at least a loose interpretation of narrative*

How do the two filmmaking technologies - film and digital - differ from each other?

1.) *Film technology*: Film is an analog medium in which the camera (1) creates an image by recording through a camera lens the original light given off by the subject, and (2) stores this image on a roll of negative film stock (we call it analog cause the image is analogous, or proportional, it the input). Film involves a mechanical system that moves this film stock through several machines: a camera, a processor, and a projector. These three machines bring images to the screen in three distinct stages, and light plays a vital role throughout: → Shooting: the camera exposes film to light allowing that radiant energy to burn a negative image onto each frame → Processing: the negative is developed into a positive "work print" that the film editor can cut. When the edit is completed, the edited work print is then used as a guide to create a matching edited version of the original negative, a process called "conforming the negative." This conformed negative is used to create a final positive film print for screening → Projecting: the final print is run through a projector, which shoots through the film to beam of light intense enough to project a large image on the movie screen 2.) *Digital technology* → Involves an electronic process that creates its images through a numbered system of pixels (which we can think of as the binary numbers 0 and 1) → Unlike the analog images, digital images do not have a physical relationship to the original. Indeed, they are not exactly images but rather thousands of digits stored on a memory card. These digits are reconstructed into visual images each time the movie is edited or shown and, unlike film stock, can be manipulated endlessly → Digital technology, like film technology, is used in all three stages of filmmaking: preproduction, production, and postproduction *When making conventional theatrical motion pictures, both system shoot single, discrete images at a standard 24 frames per second. Every camera uses a lens, an aperture, shutter speed, frame rate, and so on - whether it shoots film or digital. The essential difference comes down to how the light is captured as an image. Digital uses a sensory (the bigger the gauge or sensor, the more information can be recorded with each frame), which transfers light as data onto a memory chip; film uses silver nitrate particles embedded on celluloid* *Film is a physical thing; digital is a virtual representation; film stock runs through a mechanical device and is subjected to a chemical reaction when light form the lens strikes silver-nitrate crystals on the stock which must be kept away from light and must be processed by a lab and edited on a work print. Digital takes the same light from the lens and processes it through a sensory chip into pixels, which were traditionally put on various types of tape but increasingly are now recorded directly onto a memory card or a computer hard drive. It does not have to go through a laboratory for processing and can be manipulated with complete freedom on the computer*

What are the three basic phases of making a movie?

1.) *Preproduction*: consists of planning and preparation. It takes a long as necessary to get the job done - on average a year or two. Initially, filmmakers develop an idea or obtain a script they wish to produce. They may secure from a publisher the rights to a successful novel or buy a writer's "pitch" for a story 2.) *Production*: The actual shooting, can last 6 weeks to several months or more. Although the producer and director continue to work closely together, the director ordinarily takes charge during the shooting 3.) *Postproduction*: When the shooting on a film has been completed. Postproduction consists of three phases: → Editing (assembling the visual imaged and sound recordings, adding the musical score and sound effects, integrating special effect, assembling the sound tracks, and doing any necessary dubbing) → Finishing (mixing the many tracks of sound into one unified composite sound track and color grading the edited images to create the visual look of the film and maintain consistency of brightness and color from shot to shot) → Bringing the film to the public (marketing and distribution; setting the release date and number of theaters, finalizing distribution rights and ancillary rights, and finally exhibiting the film)

What are the four basic approaches to documentary films?

1.) Factual films 2.) Instructional films 3.) Persuasive films 4.) Propaganda films *Regardless of their intent or message, most documentaries draw from the same set of basic elements. Footage that documents subjects (the people the documentary is about) in action and events as they unfold is called b-roll (offer the most immediate and engaging images and sounds in any documentary)*

What are the three fundamental principles of film form?

1.) Movies depend on light 2.) Movies provide an illusion of movement 3.) Movies manipulate space and time in unique ways (done by the power of editing)

What are the three categories of movies explored in the reading? ("Types of Movies") Be familiar with the general characteristics for each category of movie.

1.) Narrative 2.) Experimental 3.) Documentary

What are the six genres explored in your reading? Be familiar with the defining elements/conventions of each of these six genres. ("Six Major American Genres")

1.) Western 2.) Horror 3.) Science fiction 4.) Musical 5.) Gangster films 6.) Film Noir

Analog

A medium of film in which the camera creates an image by recording through a camera lens the original light given off by the the subject and stores this image on a roll of negative film stock. Opposite of digital.

Critical Flicker Fusion

A phenomenon that occurs when a single light flickers on and off with such speed that the individual pulses of light fuse together to give the illusion of continuous light.

Motif

A recurring theme or idea throughout a film. 1.) Juno: The empty chair that frames - and in some ways defines - the story. In the opening scene, accompanied by Juno's voice-over explanation, "It started with a chair," the empty, displaced object represents Juno's status and emotional state and foreshadows the unconventional setting for the sexual act that got her into this mess. By the story's conclusion, when Juno announces, "It ended with a chair," the motif - in the form of an adoptive mother's rocking chair - has been transformed, like Juno herself, to embody hope and potential

Parallel Editing

A technique that makes different lines of action appear to be occurring simultaneously. 1.) Giffith shows us Anna on the ice, Niagara Falls, and David jumping from one floe to another as he tries to catch up with her. As we watch these three lines of action edited together (in a general pattern of ABCACBCABCACBC), they appear simultaneous. We assume that the river flows over Niagara Falls and that the ice floe Anna is on is heading down that river.

What is the difference between realism and antirealism in a movie?

Although not every film strives to be "realistic," nearly all films attempt to immerse us in a world that is depicted convincingly on its own terms. *Most films fall somewhere between these two extremes. And the concept of realism should not be confused with a value judgment. Some of the most profound and heartfelt works in cinema could be called antirealist, just as creative innovation can be found in movies classified as realist. Often, our engagement with a movie has less to do with the appearance of realism and more to do with whether we believe it in the moment*

What are the three basic types of animation?

Among the countless possible types and combinations of animation, three basic types are used widely today: 1.) Hand-drawn (traditional or cel animation) 2.) Stop-motion animation 3.) Computer animation (3D animation)

Formal Analysis

An analytical approach primarily concerned with film form, or the means by which a subject is expressed. It dissects the complex synthesis of cinematography, sound, composition, design, movement, performance, and editing orchestrated by creative artists such as screenwriters, directors, cinematographers, actors, editors, sound designers, and art directors as well as the many craftspeople who implement their vision. 1.) The movie meaning expressed through form ranges from narrative information as straight forward as where and when a particular scene takes place, to more subtle implied meaning, such as mood, tone, significance, or what a character is thinking or feeling 2.) Cinematic storytellers exploit every tool at their disposal and that, therefore, every element in every frame is there for a reason. It is the analyst's job to carefully consider the narrative intent of the moment, scene, or sequence before attempting any interpretation of the formal elements used to communicate that intended meaning to the spectator *You do not have to agree with the meaning or values projected by the object of your analysis; you can learn even from a movie you dislike*

Verisimilitude

An illusion of reality or a believable alternative reality within the imaginative world of even the most fanciful movie. 1.) The appearance of being true or real (a movie does not necessarily have to be an accurate portrayal of the world we live in to feel true and real to the viewers watching it) 2.) Oftentimes, this is in the eyes of the beholder! You can be deeply engaged by the physical verisimilitude of the world being depicted and still be unconvinced by the "unreality" of a character - or by the performance of the actor playing him. 3.) The audiences' expectations of believability change over time and across cultures *If we are able to believe in what we are seeing while we are seeing ti!*

Antirealism

An interest in or concern for the abstract, speculative, or fantastic. 1.) Formalism: an approach to style and storytelling that values conspicuously expressive form over the unobtrusive form associated with realism *Contemporary movies that can be considered formalist may use highly stylized and distinctive camera work, editing, and lighting to convey sensational stories set in embellished or imaginary settings*

How do movies create an illusion of movement?

As we sit in a movie theater, believing ourselves to be watching a continually lit screen portraying fluid, uninterrupted movement, we are actually watching a quick succession of still photographs called frames. 1.) Essentially, when viewing successive images depicting only slight differences from frame to frame at a high enough speed, the brain's visual systems respond using the same motion detectors used to perceive and translate real motion in our everyday lives → Projection of at least 24 images per second was needed to present smooth, natural looking movement 2.) Movies create an illusion of movement through the interaction of optical and perceptual phenomena: persistence of vision and the phi phenomenon

Explicit Meaning

Available on the surface of the movie; obvious (what is the plot event we see). 1.) Juno: The movie is about a rebellious but smart sixteen-year-old girl who gets pregnant and resolves to tackle the problem head-on.

Documentary

Documentary films are more concerned with recording reality, educating viewers, or presenting political or social analyses. If we think of a narrative movie as fiction, the best way to understand documentary film is as nonfiction. 1.) All documentary filmmakers employ storytelling and dramatization to some degree in shaping their material (if they didn't their footage might end up as unwatchably dull as a surveillance video recording everyday comings and goings) 2.) No documentary subject who knows she is being filmed can ever behave exactly as she would off camera. So the unavoidable act of making the movie removes the possibility of a purely objective truth (every documentary filmmaker has a personal perspective on the subject matter)

During production, what are some of factors that determine the size of the crew required to film a specific shot? ("How a Movie is Made"/ "Production")

During production, the number of people required to film a particular shot depends on the needs of that shot or, more precisely, on the overall scene in which the shot occurs. Many factors determine the size of the crew for any shot or scene, including the use of studio or exterior locations, day or night shooting, shooting on an uncrowded exterior location or a crowded city street, camera and lighting setups, and the extent of movement by the camera and the actors.

What are the defining characteristics that distinguish movies from other forms of art?

Every movie is a motion picture: a series of still images that, when viewed in rapid succession (usually 24 images per second), the human eye and brain see as fluid movement. In other words, movies move. That essential quality is what separates movies from all other two-dimensional pictorial art forms. Editing's capacity to isolate details and juxtapose images and sounds within and between shots gives movies an expressive agility impossible in other dramatic art or visual medium.

Experimental

Experimental is the most difficult of all types of movies to define precisely, in part because experimental filmmakers actively seek to defy categorization and convention. It is helpful to think of experimental cinema as pushing the boundaries of what most people think movies are or should be (avant-garde). 1.) Fred Campers six criteria that outline characteristics that most experimental films share: → Experimental films are not commercial → Experimental films are personal → Experimental films do not conform to conventional expectations of story and narrative cause and effect → Experimental films exploit the possibilities of the cinema and by doing so often reveal tactile and mechanical qualities of motion pictures that conventional movies seek to obscure → Experimental films critique culture and media → Experimental films invite individual interpretation 2.) Disregarding the traditional expectations of audiences, experimental films remind us that film - like painting, sculpture, music, or architecture - can be made in as many ways as there are artists

What is "formal analysis" and how does formal analysis differ from other types of analyses that explore the relationship between culture and movies?

Formal analysis is an analytical approach primarily concerned with film form, or the means by which a subject is expressed. It differs from other types of analyses as these alternative approaches analyze movies more as cultural artifacts than as traditional works of art. 1.) They search beneath a movie's form and content to expose implicit and hidden meaning that inform our understanding of cinema's function within popular culture as well as the influence of popular culture on the movies. → The preceding formal analysis demonstrated how Juno used cinematic language to convey meaning and tell a story → Given the right interpretive scrutiny, our case study film may also speak eloquently about social conditions and attitudes. For example, considering that the protagonist is the daughter of an air-conditioner repairman and a manicurist, and that the couple she selects to adopt her baby are white-collar professionals, a cultural analysis of Juno could explore the movie's treatment of class → An analysis from a feminist perspective could concentrate on, among other elements, the movie's depiction of women and childbirth, not to mention Juno's father, the father of her baby, and the prospective adoptive father → A linguistic analysis might explore the historical, cultural, or imaginary organs of the highly stylized slang spouted by Juno, her friends, and even the mini-mart clerk. A thesis could be written about the implication of the T-shirt messages displayed by the film's characters or the implicit meaning of the movie's track and field motif → Some analyses place movies within the stylistic or political context of a directors career → Another comparative analysis could investigate society's evolving (or perhaps fixed) attitudes toward "illegitimate" pregnancy by placing Juno in context with the long history of films about the subject

What is the difference between implicit and explicit meaning? (And how do these terms relate to onions, and ogres, and a movie such as Fruitvale Station?)

Implicit meaning relates to the meaning of a scene, while explicit meaning focuses on what is happening at the surface of the scene. These terms relate to onions because ogres, like onions, are made of layers. Every single moment in film art has different layers of meaning, which can be either implicit or explicit. No matter how many different layers of meaning are in a movie, each layer is either implicit or explicit. These terms relate to Fruitvale Station, as the movies explicit meaning is considered to simply be a man trying to make ends meet after getting out of jail, while the implicit meaning is the difficulty of being a African-American male with a criminal record, and how the odds are stacked against him due to his race.

In what ways do movies use patterns to convey meaning? How do they create meaning by breaking an established pattern?

Instinctively, we search for patterns and progressing in all art forms. The more these meet our expectations (or contradict them in interesting ways), the more likely we are to enjoy, analyze, and interpret the work. 1.) The form of the scene, established by the pattern of *parallel editing*, has created an illusion of connections among these various shots, leaving us with an impression of a continuous anxiety-producing drama 2.) Parallel editing is not the only means of creating and exploiting patterns in movies, some patterns are made to be broken. This is achieved by first having a sequence of shots that establish a certain mood, to then change light, color, framing, content, or the world. The sequences most expressive moment comes just when a pleasant pattern is broken. *Narrative patterns provide an element of structure, ground us in the familiar, or acquaint us with the unfamiliar; repeating them emphasizes their content; shot patterns can convey character state of mind, create relationships, and communicate narrative meaning.*

Realism

Is an interest in or concern for the actual or real, a tendency to view or represent things as they really are. 1.) These formal components include naturalistic performances and dialogue; modest, unembellished sets and settings; and wide-angle compositions and other unobtrusive framing 2.) The content tends to concentrate on story lines that portray everyday lives of "ordinary" people *In most movie entertainments, every character and situation serves a preordained function in a highly organized plot structure. Because real life is often messy and complicated, the content of movies that strike for realism often takes a more inclusive, less organized approach to the form in which that story is told*

Persistence of vision

It is a process by which the human brain retains an image for a fraction of a second longer than the eye records it. It gives the illusion of succession.

Phi Phenomenon

It is created by events that succeed each other rapidly, as when two adjacent lights flash on and off alternately and we see to see as single light shift back and forth. It gives the illusion of movement.

Implicit Meaning

Lies below the surface of a movie's story and presentation; implied or suggested; is closest to our everyday sense of the word "meaning" (what is the meaning beneath that event). 1.) In Juno: A teenager is faced with a difficult decision makes a bold leap toward adulthood but, in doing so, discovers that the world of adults is no less uncertain or overwhelming than adolescence

How do movies depend on light?

Light is more than a source of illumination; it is a key formal element that film artists and technicians carefully manipulate to create mood, reveal character, and convey meaning. 1.) Light is responsible for the image we see on the screen, whether photographed (shot) on film or video or created with a computer. Lighting is responsible for significant effects in each shot or scene. It enhances the texture, depth, emotions, and mood of a shot. 2.) Lighting often conveys these things by augmenting, complicating, or even contradicting other cinematic elements within the shot (dialogue, movement, or composition). Lighting also affects the ways that we see and think about a movie's characters

Science fiction

Most science-fiction films are not really about science. The genre's focus is on humanity's relationship with science and the technology it generate (stories are one way that our cultures process radial change). 1.) The genres of horror and science fiction are indeed closely related through their mutual exploitation of audience fears, but the source of the anxiety is different. Horror films speak to our fears of the supernatural and the unknown, whereas science fiction movies explore our dread of technology and change (technological juggernaut that can help us but also has the power to destroy us or at least make us obsolete) 2.) Science-inspired anxiety is behind the defining thematic conflict that unites most science-fiction movies (technology vs humanity or science vs soul) → This theme is expressed in stories that envision technology enslaving humanity, invading our minds and bodies, or bringing about the end of civilization as we know it 3.) The antagonist in these conflicts takes the form of computers, robots, machines, mechanized/dehumanized societies, and alien invaders (otherness of the antagonist) 4.) While most science fiction movies stress the otherness of the antagonist, the opposite is true for the sci-fi protagonist. Science fiction hero are often literally and figuratively down to earth. They tend to be so compassionate and soulful that their essential humanity seems a liability - until their indomitable human spirit proves the key to defeating the malevolent other 5.) The setting is frequently speculative. If those sci-fi movies are set in the present day, they often heighten the dramatic impact of invasion aliens or time travelers. Most commonly, the genre places its stories in a future profoundly shaped by advances in technology (or outer space!)

How do movies manipulate space?

Movies can move seamlessly from one space to another (say, from a room to a landscape to outer space), or make space move (as when the camera turns around or away from its subject, changing the physical, psychological, or emotional relationship between the viewer and the subject). When you watch a movie, your relationship to the space portrayed on-screen can be flexible. You still sit in a fixed seat, but the screen images move: the spatial relationships on the screen may constantly change, and the film directs your gaze. 1.) If one of the two actors in the bar scene were to back away from the other and thus disappear from the screen, you would perceive her as moving to another part of the bar; that is, into a continuation of the space already established in the scene 2.) The motion-picture camera does not simply record the space in front of it: it deliberately determines and controls our perception of cinematic space. In the hands of expressive filmmakers, the camera selects what space we see and uses framing, lenses, and movement to determine exactly how we see that space. This process, by which an agent transfers something from one place to another (in this case, the camera transferring aspects of space to the viewer) is known as *mediation* 3.) When we watch a movie, especially under ideal conditions with a large screen in a darkened room, we identify with the lens. In other words, viewers exchange the viewpoint of their own eyes for the mediated viewpoint for he camera. The camera capture space differently than do the eyes, which have peripheral vision and can only move through space (and time) along with the rest of the body. *On the movie screen, space and time are relative to each other, and we cannot separate them or perceive one without the other*

Cutting on Action

One of the most common editing techniques designed to hide the instantaneous and potentially jarring shift from one camera viewpoint to another. When connecting one shot to the next, a film editor often ends the first shot in the middle of a continuing action and starts the connecting shot at some point in the same action. As a result, the action flows so continuously over the cut between different moving images that most viewers fail to register the switch.

Musical

Tells its story using characters that express themselves with song and/or dance. Musicals feature a combination of music, singing, dancing, and spoken dialogue. 1.) Cinema had to establish a context that would allow for musical performance but still lend itself to relatively authentic performances and dramatic situations, as well as spoken dialogue → *Backstage musicals*: Early musicals placed the story in a performance setting so that the characters were singers and dancers whose job it was to rehearse and stage songs anyways (backstage-musical stories typically revolved around a promising young performer searching for her big show-buisness break, or a talented singer/dancer protagonist pressured by a love interest or family member to leave show business, or a struggling company of singers and dancers determined to mount a big show; these musicals had their own set of character types including the heard-bitten producer, the gifted ingenue, the insecure star, and the faltering veteran with a heart of gold) → *Integrated musicals*: Freed the genre from the Broadway setting and assimilated singing and dancing with conventional spoken dramatic action; characters could now burst into song (or dance) as part of any situation (usually key dramatic moments). 2.) While traditional musicals still tend to use the romantic comedy for their narrative template, contemporary movies have mixed the musical with a variety of other genres and cinema styles

How do movies manipulate time?

The manipulation of time (as well as space), is a function of editing. 1.) In The Godfather, continuity between images tells us not only that these actions are taking place simultaneously, but also that Michael is involved in all of them, either directly or indirectly 2.) Movies frequently rearrange time by organizing story events in non-chronological order (allow filmmakers to create new narrative meaning by juxtaposing events in ways linear chronology does not permit) 3.) Slow motion invites the audience to pause and savor an extended moment of stylized violence 4.) Fragmenting the moment preceding an important action also manipulates time. The accumulation of these time fragments hold us in the moment far longer than the momentum of the action could realistically allow 5.) Freeze-frame: a still image is shown on screen for a period of time (these do more than manipulate time; they visually portray meaning and character growth) 6.) Extra and unexpected time reference: a swooping camera that circumnavigates the slo-mo action at normal real-time speed portrays mastery!

Narrative

The primary relationship of a narrative film to its audience is that of a storyteller. What distinguishes narrative films from other kinds of film form is that narrative films are directed towards fiction. 1.) Even those narrative movies that purport to tell a true story adjust the stories they convey to better serve the principles of narrative structure that the filmmakers use to engage and entertain audiences → Very few "true stories" can deliver the narrative clarity and effect that audiences have come to expect from narrative films 2.) No matter what the source, typical narrative films are based on screenplays in which nearly every behavior and spoken line are predetermined. The characters are played by actors delivering dialogue and executing action in a manner that not only strikes fro verisimilitude but also facilitates the technical demands of the motion-picture production process → This action typically takes place in artificial worlds created on studio soundstage or in locations modified to suit the story and technical demands of production *The primary purpose of most narrative films is entertainment, a stance motivated by commercial intent; many narrative films can be broken down still further into categories known as genres*

What do we mean by cultural invisibility? How is his different from cinematic invisibility

The same commercial instinct that inspires filmmakers to use seamless continuity also compels them to favor stories and themes that reinforce viewers' shared belief systems. And because so much of this occurs on an unconscious, emotional level, the casual viewer may be blind to the implied political, cultural, and ideological messages that help make the movie so appealing. Of course, this cultural invisibility is not always a calculated decisions by the filmmakers. Directors, screenwriters, and producers are, after all, products of the same society inhabited by their intended audience. Frequently, the people making the movies may be just as oblivious of the cultural attitudes shaping their cinematic stories as the people watching them.

Content

The subject of an artwork (what the work is about).

Cinematic Language

The tools and techniques that filmmakers use to convey meaning and mood to the viewer, including lighting, mise-en-scene, cinematography, performance, editing, and sound.

What are the six elements (sets of conventions) that your reading used to define and classify film genres? ("Genre")

These conventions are not enforced; filmmakers do not follow mandated genre checklists. While every movie within any particular genre will incorporate some of these elements, few genre movies attempt to include every possible genre convention. 1.) *Story formula* (the way a movie's story is structures; the plot) 2.) *Themes* (a unifying idea that the film expresses through its narrative or imagery) 3.) *Character types* (genre films are often populated by specific character "types") 4.) *Setting* (where a movie's action is located and how that environment is portrayed) 5.) *Presentation* (many genres feature certain elements of cinematic language that communicate tone and atmosphere) 6.) *Stars* (even the actors who star in genre movies factor into how the genre is classified, analyzed, and received by audiences)

What is the difference between form and content? And why do works of art need both?

We can define content as the subject of an artwork (what the work is about) and form as the means by which that subject is expressed and experienced. The two terms are often paired because works of art need them both. Content provides something to express; form supplies the methods and techniques necessary to present it to the audience. 1.) And form doesn't just allow us to see the subject/content; it lets us see that content in a particular way. Form enables the artist to shape our particular experience and interpretation of that content (form is cinematic language!) 2.) The content of the Juno "waiting room" scene analyzed in Chapter 1 is Juno thinking about fingernails and changing her mind. As we saw in that analysis, a great deal of form was employed to shape our experience and interpretation of that content, including sound, juxtaposition, pattern, point of view, and the relative size and subject in each frame *Because of the different form each sculpture takes, we realize that the content of each has changed: they are no longer about the same subject; thus form and content - rather than being separate things that come together to produce art - are instead two aspects of the entire formal system of a work of art. They are interrelated, interdependent, and interactive*

Persuasive Film

Were originally called documentary films until the term evolved to refer to all nonfiction films. The founding purpose of persuasive documentaries was to address social injustice, but today any documentary concerned with presenting a particular perspective on social issues or with corporate and governmental injustice of any kind could be considered persuasive.

Fade in/fade out

When such a transition is meant to covey a passage of time between scenes, the last shot of a scene grows gradually darker (fades out) until the screen is rendered black for a moment. The first shot of the subsequent scene then fades in out of the darkness. 1.) Viewers do not have to think about what this means; our daily experience of time's passage marked by the setting and rising of the sun lets us understand intuitively that significant story time has elapsed over that brief moment of screen darkness

How does animation differ from the other three basic types of movies?

While animation employs different mechanisms to create the multitude of still images that motion pictures require, animation is just a different form of moviemaking, not necessarily a singular type of movie. 1.) Process is the only difference between animation and filmmaking that relies on conventional photography