Intro to film Chapter 3- Film Fiction and Dramatic Elements

In Media Res

"Into the middle of things." It usually describes a narrative that begins, not at the beginning of a story, but somewhere in the middle — usually at some crucial point in the action.

Flashback

(Sometimes called an analepsis) is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point in the story.

Statements about the aspects of emotional elements or effects in film

- A filmmaker must exercise restraint when using emotional material in films - Reactions to emotional material in films depend on an individual viewer.

Statements in film about symbolic meaning of conflicts in films

- Almost any conflict can be stated in symbolic or generalized terms - The ideas of civilization vs barbarism and change us tradition maybe represented by a films conflict.

True statements about a films title

- In most films the full significance of the title can be understood only after seeing the movie - Many titles elude to mythology, biblical passages or other literary work.

Main theme point in film

- What happened - What is the subject - What about the main character?

Best reflections of a character are a person's

-Actions

What comprises a character's inner actions?

-Daydreams and Aspirations - Memories - Fears and Fantasies - Secrets and Unspoken Thoughts

Parts of a story in chronological order

-Exposition -Complication - Climax -Denouement

In the most general sense.... Is a literary, dramatic, and cinematic technique involving the juxtaposition or linking opposites.

-Irony

A structured film is one that

-Is unified around a central theme

What is true of a story that starts in media res

-It opens an exciting incident that happens after the complication has developed

What is true of a major conflict in a films story

-Its outcome remains in doubt through the greater part of a film -It is of great importance to the characters involved

Characters that remain the same throughout the film are called

-Static characters

What stands for something else in everyday life

-Symbol

The following requirements for film characters to be interesting include the following.

-They must seem worth caring about -must seem real -must be understandable

True or False a film makers communication technique must be as satisfying blend of simplicity and complexity

-True

What is true of film characters

-if characters are truly credible, it is almost impossible for viewers to remain completely neutral toward them - For the most part, the characters in a story are believable in the same way that the story is believable.

Internal Conflict

A character might struggle with an emotional problem such as fear of intimacy or abandonment, for example......is important for characterization, since flaws and .......... struggles make characters more lifelike and sympathetic.

What is the difference between a subject and a theme?

A film may have both a subject and a theme. the subject is a specific topic of the selection. the theme is the generalization about life at large that the specific selection leads you to see.

Complication

A situation or a detail of character complicating the main thread of a plot.

How to Identify a theme

Analyze central thoughts and events and how the events affect the characters. Sometimes it is clearly stated other times it is implied or stated through other elements.

Unlike novels, short stories, or plays, films

Are not handy to study

A film must never

Bore its audience/viewers

In Casablanca a complex and intriguing characterization of Rick (Humphrey Bogart) is provided before the character is ever seen on the screen. This is an example of characterizations through

Conversations and other characters

A filmed sequence that jumps from present into the future is known as a

Flash forward

Nonlinear Structures

In which the author has chosen to jump around in time and the order in which events are portrayed does not correspond to the order in which things happened

Exposition

Is a device used in television programs, films, literature, poetry, plays and even music. It is the writer's way to give background information to the audience about the setting and the characters of the story.

Leitmotif

Is a recurring musical idea (a melody, chord sequence, rhythm or a combination of these) which is associated with an idea, character or place.

Flash-Forward

Is a scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media... They may also reveal significant parts of the story that have not yet occurred, but soon will in greater detail.

Characterization

Is the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character.

What is the order of most difficult to easiest to study in film?

Screen plays, Stage plays, Novels, Short stories

A filmmaker's approach to presenting emotional material is perhaps most evident in the....... Which can communicate on a purely emotional level and thus reflects the peaks and valleys of emotional emphasis.

Musical score

External Conflict

Refers to the conflicts between a character and outside forces

A good film story must be...... enough so that it can be expressed and....... enough to keep the audience interested.

Simple & Complex

Denouement

The final part of a play, film, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together, and matters are explained or resolved.

Climax

Turning point of a narrative work is its point of highest tension and drama, or it is the time when the action starts during which the solution is given.

Irony of a character may present when

a character violates peoples stereotyped view of him/her.

Freytag's Pyramid

a graphic organizer which helps a person to visualize the plot of a story; it consists of five parts: the exposition, the rising action, the turning point, the falling action, and the resolution.

Stock Characters

are stereotypical fictional characters in a work of art such as a novel, play, film, or a movie whom audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition. Stock characters are archetypal characters distinguished by their flatness.

Caricature

exaggeration by means of often ludicrous distortion of parts or characteristics

Stereotyped Character

is one which relies heavily on cultural types or names for his or her personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics.