Ch.3 Types of Movies

Film Noir

(french for "black film") Not defined by genre conventions of setting and conflict but rather of tone and mood dark, downbeat, and 'black' themes due to post world wars A wide range of films reflected the resultant tensions and insecurities of the time period, and counter-balanced the optimism of Hollywood's musicals and comedies. Fed off the postwar disillusionment (big from (1940s-1960) Distinguished by its visual style -lighting schemes that emphasize/create deep shadows, low light to distort facial features. -exterior scenes usually take place at night -characters: 'hard-boiled' - tough interior below brittle shells -Theme: fatalistic -Tone: Cynical (distrust of human integrity) -Not defined by setting but typically shot in large urban areas -Protagonist: antihero -Plot structure reinforces feeling of disorientation: -nonchronological order -lots of plot twists -allies revealed as enemies (vice versa) -narration (even by protag) is unreliable -voice-over narration telegraphs future events/outcomes to create a sense of predetermination and hopelessness for protagonists already lost cause (pg.93)

Genre is not the only way that narrative movies are categorized

-Film industry breaks down films according to studio of origin, budget, target audience, and distribution patterns -Film scholars categorize/analyze a movie based on the movie's specific style, the artist who created it, country of origin, apparent ideologies expressed by style or subject matter, or the particular organized cinematic movement it emerged from (pg.85)

The Idea of Narrative

A Narrative is a story: Narrative is a type of movie: Narrative is a way of structuring fictional or fictionalized stories presented in narrative films Narrative is a broader concept that both includes and goes way beyond any of these applications (pg.68)

Interview

A component of a documentary filmmaking, traditionally shot with the person being interviewed speaking to an off-camera interviewer.

Persuasive Documentary

A film concerned with presenting a particular perspective on social issues or with corporate and governmental injustice (pg.74)

Instructional Documentary

A film that seeks to educate viewers about common interests rather than persuade them with particular ideas (pg.74)

Propaganda Documentary

A film that systematically disseminates deceptive or distorted information (pg.74)

Factual Documentary

A film that usually presents peoples, places, or processes in a straightforward way meant to entertain and instruct without unduly influencing audiences (pg.73)

Stream of Consciousness

A literary style that gained prominence in the 1920s which attempted to capture the unedited flow of experience through the mind (pg.79)

Theme

A unifying idea that the film expresses through its narrative or imagery. Not every genre is united by a single, clear-cut thematic idea (except westerns - conflict btw civilization & wilderness) (pg.89)

Observational Documentary

An approach to documentary filmmaking that seeks to immerse viewers in an experience as close as is cinematically possible to witnessing events as an invisible observer. They typically rely entirely on B-Roll and eliminate as many other signs of mediation as possible.

Expository Documentary

An approach to documentary filmmaking that uses formal elements, a script prepared in advance, and an authoritative narrator to explain subject matter to the viewer

Participatory Documentary

An approach to nonfiction filmmaking in which the filmmaker interacts with the subjects and situations being recorded and thus becomes part of the film.

Performative Documentary

An approach to nonfiction filmmaking related to the participatory documentary. The filmmaker's interaction with the subject matter is deeply personal and often emotional. The filmmaker's experience is central to the way viewers engage and understand the subject matter.

Reflexive Documentary

An approach to nonfiction filmmaking that explores and sometimes critiques the documentary form itself. The documentary production process becomes part of the experience in ways that may challenge viewer expectations of nonfiction filmmaking conventions.

Poetic Documentary

An expressive approach to nonfiction filmmaking that provides a subjective and often impressionistic interpretation of a subject by an emphasis on conveying mood and generating ideas, rather than developing a realistic observational experience or communicating information-driven explanation.

B-Roll

Documentary footage of subjects in action and events as they unfold

Animated Film

Drawings or other graphical images placed in a series of photography-like sequence to portray movement. Before computer graphics technology, the basic type of animated film was created through drawing (pg.111)

6 characteristics of an Experimental FIlm

Experimental FIlms... 1. are not commercial - low budget & no expectation of financial gain 2. are personal -reflects the creative vision of a single artist who writes, directs, shoots, and edits movie w/ minimal contributions (credits are short) 3. do not conform to conventional expectations of story and narrative cause and effect 4. exploit the possibilities of cinema -most conventional films are made to make the audience forget they are watching a movie, experimental films often remind the viewer of that -They embrace innovative techniques that call attention to, question, and even challenge their own artifice 5. critique culture and media -from their position outside the mainstream, they often comment on (and intentionally frustrate) viewer expectations of what a movie should be 6. invite individual interpretation -they resist the kind of accessible and universal meaning found in conventional narrative and documentary films (like abtract paintings) (pg.78)

Hybrid Movies

Fusion of two or more film types - documentary, experimental, narrative, etc. (pg.83)

6 Major American Genres

Gangster Film Noir Science Fiction Horror Western Musical

Types of Voice-Over Narration

It can come from many sources, including: Third person - who is not a character, to bring us up to date First-person narrator -commenting on the action or in a nonfiction film, a commentator (pg.124)

Horror

Like sci-fi born out of the cultural need to confront and vicariously conquer something frightening we cannot comprehend Frightening somethings are aspects of out existence more intimidating than tech or science: death and insanity Protagonist: -may be responsible for summoning the other, or need to summon help to defeat the other, sometimes protagonist becomes the other -usually a loner, weak, social reviled, fearful (helps us identify w/ pro more) Antagonist: -more compelling that protagonist trying to destroy them Settings: -1. normal world- small town -2. remote rural areas- offer protagonist little help of assistence (pg.99)

Narrative Movies

Movies that are directed toward fiction or fictionalized stories

Experimental Movies

Movies that push the boundaries of what most people think movies are or should be Actively seek to defy categorization and convention Not bound by established traditions, and is dedicated to exploring the possibility (pg.77)

Voice-Over Narration

Narration heard concurrently and over a scene but not synchronized to any character who may be talking on-screen. (pg.124)

Archival Material

Preexisting images or sound that is incorporated into a documentary film. This material can be any media captured previously and by different sources, including radio broadcasts, news footage, historical photographs, official documents, and home movies.

Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI)

The application of computer graphics to create images, backgrounds, animated characters, and special effects (pg.114)

Genre

The categorization of narrative films by form, content, theme, or both. (pg.85)

Generic Transformation

The process by which a particular genre is adapted to meet the expectations of a changing society (pg.110)

Story Formulas

The way a movie's story is structured—its plot—also helps viewers determine what genre it belongs to (pg.88)

Setting

Where a movie's action is located and how the environment is portrayed (pg.89)

Character Types

While most screenwriters strive to create individuated characters, genre films are often populated by specific gender "types" ex- antagonist in sci-fi/horror is always some sort of "other" - different from protagonist in form, attitude, or action

Narrarator

Who or what tells the story of the film. The primary narrator in cinema is the camera, which narrates the film by showing us events in the movie's narrative. When referring to the more specific action of voice narration, the narrator may be either a character in the movie (first-person) or a person who is not a character (omniscient) (pg.122)

Reenactment

a staged re-creation of actions and events used in a nonfiction film when authentic documentary footage is unavailable or impossible to obtain. Reenactments are typically filmed and presented in ways that make clear their status as fabricated representations of real events.

Text and Graphics

an element of documentary filmmaking that includes statistics, graphs, maps, and text. Text is commonly used to identify interview subjects, dates, and locations presented on screen.

Gangster

deeply rooted in the concept of the American dream - rags to riches mentality - anyone can do it Hero: an outsider who lives by his wits and is willing to break the rules to achieve his goals Plot: rags-to-riches-to-destruction Protagonist: killer Antagonist: law enforcement & fellow gangsters Stars: small & unattractive (pg.91)

Western

example of modern mythology 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 a societal blank slate at the heart of this mythology. The tension between wilderness and civilization More so than any genre, western is linked to place Whatever the setting, the landscape is a dominant visual and thematic event that reps another Western duality: it's a deadly wilderness of stunning natural beauty Antagonist: wilderness - direct conflict w/ civilizing settlers Thematic elements: order and chaos (pg.102)

Science Fiction

humanity's relationship with science and the technology it creates sci-fi explores our dread of technology and change - we can control science and it is advancing so fast but has the ability to destroy us started in 19th century w/ vast advances with industrial revolution Conflict: science-inspired anxiety (tech vs humanity) Protagonist: down to earth, compassionate, soulful that their essential humanity is a liability (pg.96)

Presentation

many genres feature certain elements of cinematic language that communicate tone and atmosphere. ex- horror movies take advantage of lighting schemes that accentuate and deepen shadows (pg.89)

Genre Conventions

movie genres are defined by a set of conventions - aspects of storytelling such as: -recurring themes and situations -setting -character types -story formula -presentation and visual style (decor, lighting, and sound) -stars (actors typically in one genre) (pg.88)

Three types of Movies

narrative, documentary, experimental

Musical

tells its story using characters that express themselves with song and dance inevitable movement - music and dance had been around for all of civilization part of pleasures is filmmakers dramatic shifts of tone and style required to move btw dramatic and musical performance traditional musicals' narrative template is rom-com (pg.105)

Avant-Garde

term applied to the experimental approach to filmmaking, comes from french phrase used to describe scouts and pathfinders who explored ahead of an advancing army Applied to filmmaking - innovators who lead, rather than followed the pack (pg.77)