A-Level Film Studies - Daniel Kallin

handheld camera close-up shots camera follows people as it moves uncomfortable shots of people fighting or mouths or feet natural daylight - realism diegetic sound - realism Shakespeare road - contrast red dress - makes her stand out depth of field - shows how the mum is putting the man first before her children Wasp uses cinematography to ground the film in realism and makes the spectator empathise with the characters on screen. One way it does this is through the use of a handheld camera which never stays still and rarely focuses on one thing which emulates the hyper-energy of the children as they are clearly difficult to manage. The use of close-ups alongside the handheld camera add to the discomfort of the scene, zooming in on parts of the body such as mouths and feet to create a sense of claustrophobia, similar to the lack of space the family have. Complemented by natural light and, later on, natural darkness, there is nothing artificial about the film, illustrating to the spectat...

  SOME LIKE IT OLD: A HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD’S GOLDEN AGE After Eadweard Muybridge discovered that he could make pictures move it didn’t take long for film to evolve. Starting with minute-long, silent videos of trains and leading to the 1920s where cinema could become a commodity for the masses. Instead of a scientific gimmick, the moving picture became one of the largest industries in America. The 1920s heralded the beginning of the commercial reigns of what were known as the big five; 20 th Century Fox, Universal, Paramount, MGM and Warner. These five had, and still have, almost complete control over all mainstream films. In the 1920s, where mainstream films were just shy of being the only option, The Big Five began churning out films like clockwork, using Ford’s assembly line production methods to mass-produce films into their ‘studio system’. The studio system was a way for The Big Five to keep all their profits, vertically integrating their companies by producing, distribu...

STAR: In the silent era, both male and female stars were archetypal and easily readable. With the introduction of sound, male stars became more complex and their roles diversified, often in a way that the male star was the site around which a genre was defined (i.e. Clint Eastwood for Spaghetti Westerns). Stars are constructed by the film industry but stars have role in how their status is perceived.  Stars reach the spectator principally through their appearance and bodies. The star consists of three component parts: The real person   The 'reel' person   The star's persona The star-image has four parts:   What the industry puts out   What the media says (including critics)   What the star says or does  What we say                                       Stars could be considered as:  a deviant - controlle...

THE GOLDEN AGE Rise of studios around 1910, most of which are still prevalent today. By the 1920s the 'studio system' was securely established with the 'big five' dominating film production. These were: 20th Century Fox, Universal, Paramount, MGM and Warner . Studio system: Powerful studios because they were vertically integrated: produced, distributed and exhibited films Consolidated all production under their studio Studios focused on one genre Produced films back-to-back - had the actors and the set design Compared to assembly-line production on a conveyor belt Highly popular with audiences Dominant genres - formulaic - filled audience expectations The star-system: Particular actors signed up for long and unbreakable contracts to a studio Typed cast in one role linked to genre (e.g. John Wayne in westerns) Hollywood Old and New: An Overview 1920s - 1948: Golden, 'old' or 'classical' age 1948 - 'New' after the decline of the Paramount laws 1960...

means "placing on a stage" Expressionism: an art movement that started around 1910 which presented the world from a subjected view and attempted to shows a distorted view of the world to evoke a mood or idea. The emotional meaning of the object matters, not the physical entity. Expressionist films: Use atmospheric lighting, asymmetrical camera angles and use high contrast between dark and light. Film noir: "black cinema" - dark, downbeat, black themes of American crime and detective films post-war. Blocking/proxemics/staging: where characters stand in relation to one another (proxemics = distances) Offscreen space: space in the diegesis (the film's world) that is not physically present in the frame - the viewer becomes aware of something outside of the frame through either the response of a character or offscreen sound. Rule of thirds:                          Centre of interest : Should have a str...

Music: Music dictates the mood of the film - sometimes silence is more effective Contrapuntal sound: Music that seems to clash with the onscreen action Motif: A recurring musical theme which plays in conjunction to something that happens in the film more than once Voiceover: Can be really effective to involve the spectator into the film or reflect on the events of a film or can ruin a film if used badly, i.e. explaining what the character is thinking constantly Synchronous sound: sound that matches what we can see on screen Asynchronous sound: sounds not matched with a visible source Dissonance: unpleasant sounds lacking harmony Sound bridge: where sound carries over from one scene to the next Ambient sound: sounds of a given location Soundscape: a sound or combination of sounds arising from a particular environment

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u26tUeVITCU Birdman  (Inarritu, 2014) I chose this film as it uses the technique of appearing to be one continuous shot to create and so is full of detail in every second. This sequence is just before the climax of the film, capitalizing off the established tension between the characters played by Michael Keaton and Edward Norton. Key elements include: The use of one continuous shot creates a sense of anxiety as they walk – film is about theatre so is very theatrical A medium close-up of the characters throughout the scene make the spectator feel like they are intruding Drumming in the background makes speech have a rhythm The way the camera stops and starts moving The chaos and business of NYC helps to evoke that feeling in the scene Birdman analysis: One way in which cinematography is used in Birdman is through the use of a continuous shot, with the camera walking with the characters without cutting away. This is extremely effective as it put...

  Sound: Diegetic, non-diegetic, parallel sound, contrapuntal sound Focus on: Type of sound used Unraveling meanings Link and connect to spectator responses Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960) Non-diegetic music - starts off quiet and distant, then stops - Absence of sound - as she goes into the shower AND THEN sharp, dissonant screeching strings - mimicking her screams - creates tension and fear, heightens the horror of the scene - Parallel sound La Haine (Kassovitz, 1995) Non-Diegetic voice-over - sets up moody tone - Non-diegetic music - Bob Marley, lyrics are relevant to archival footage, although song is rather upbeat, almost contrapuntal - establishes the inherent conflict in the film Trainspotting (Boyle, 1996) Non-diegetic music/voice-over - Lust For Life - angsty song with narration CHOOSE LIFE. to set the depressing tone - these people are rebellious - parallel - sense of adrenaline - like the drugs

  The Kuleshov Effect: where a shot can take on a new meaning by taking it into a different context Rhythm and Pace: Digital editing allows for more cuts and more editing in post-production which wasn't easy or even possible with physical film. Conscious crafting of editing: mostly all in one shot, cuts are hidden - sometimes there are no cuts Montage:  A series of short shots which are edited into a sequences to condense space, time and information Graphic matching: The creation of strong, visual similarity between shots, making a connection between them. Jump Cut: A cut in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly, if it all. Elliptical editing: Where parts of the story are deliberately omitted, leaving the audience to 'fill in the gaps'. Cross-cutting:   Editing that alternates between two or more spheres of action occurring in different places, simultaneously. Cuts/transitions: (straight...

  With close reference to each film sequence , explore how cinematography as a key element to film form creates meanings and generates responses in the spectator. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Schnabel, 2007) Cinematography:  camera acts as his eyes - blurry and opening; unfocused distant voices extreme-close ups of doctor's face Meanings and responses:  the extreme close-ups of the doctor's face shows how limited Jean's worldview is - focusing on eyes - one of the few things he can use to communicate with the world spectator's POV is Jean This Is England (Meadows, 2006) Cinematography: close-ups on Shaun as he is getting the most out of the situation music is fun and soulful when the mood is positive but it's sparse and discordant when tension rises and crescendos with the action long-shots make the audience notice the character's insecurities and fears, making the spectator uncomfortable Two-shot of young boy and older man shows contrasting characters  ...

  Pan's Labyrinth (Del Torro, 2006) Camera angles: Tilted upwards Eye-level to start off Bird's eye shot to establish setting  Low angle to view mother See Ofelia at eye level Sense of movement, canted angles followed by a CU and an ECU   Camera shots: Medium-close-up  The shots mimic Ofelia's perspective - the spectator is Ofelia - driving the                                            narrative - CU to her eye Over-the-shoulder shot (their perspective) Camera movement:   tilt and pan, tilt upwards, dolly shot, tracking shots   movement to the left signifies going back in time  COLOUR - countryside - colour symbolic of duality of the two worlds Fish Tank (Arnold, 2009) Camera angles:  fluctuating between eye-level and below the actors (mimics dancing) Camera shots: medium close-up, shaky shots (mirrors chaotic nature o...

Shot Sizes: Camera Movements: Panning shot: camera swivels around left or right (or a whip pan which is a very quick pan) on  a stationary mount Tracking shot: whole camera, including mount, moves left, right, in, back, with or behind - can be used with a pan Tilt shot: camera mounted goes up or down at an angle Dolly shot: wheeled device moves along ground with camera (eg. a railway track or a wheelchair) Zoom shot: camera is stationary but zooms in or out Crane shot: camera is on a crane (typically at the end of a film - up and away from the action, tilting downwards) Camera racking (pull focus): focus is shifted from one thing to another Steadicam: allows the cameraman to move with the camera whilst the camera remains steady Handheld: camera held by cameraman's hand - shaky effect  Static: camera stays still in one place Dutch Angle/Oblique/Canted: camera is not level with action, lopsided Depth of field: action in the foreground and background are both in focus ...