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Film as text

Film as text. Studying Films in the English Curriculum . Why Study film?.

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Film as text

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  1. Film as text Studying Films in the English Curriculum

  2. Why Study film? • Film is a complex text form. The reason for its complexity is that film includes aspects of spoken and visual text forms and can even sometimes include written text forms. It is important to learn each aspect of film before you can fully understand a text. • It is imperative to view the film in the right conditions and only begin your deconstruction & analyses after multiple viewings. • It is not popcorn time!

  3. Film as text How a film is deconstructed for analysis: • Plot • Analyze key moments/scenes in the film • Characters • Closely examine how characters are established and developed • Setting • Focus on where the film is set (time and place) and how it impacts on the storyline. • Themes • Note the underlying meaning and messages of the film. What is the directors intention? • Social Values • How attitudes and ideas of a particular time and place presented

  4. WE ALSO ‘READ’ Film Employing reading strategies to have a greater connection with the text: • Text to Self • Reflect on personal experiences and attitudes to shape your own interpretation of the film • Text to World • Films often reflect real world issues and events; perhaps you can think of a film that raised ideas based on reality (sci fi and horror, even though far removed from realism provide interesting social commentaries). • Text to Text • Many films are adapted from written forms, such as memoirs and novels, including Hugo, others are merely inspired and similar stylistic signatures • Questioning • Throughout a film clues are provided to give audience members an idea of the film’s direction, this known as foreshadowing. • Inferring • Sometimes the viewer needs to draw their own conclusions about the film based on information provided by the filmmakers

  5. The role of the audience • Audience • It is your job to make sense of the film based on your own prior knowledge, beliefs and active engagement. • Story Elements • Production Elements • Genre • Adaptation • Viewing Context

  6. Introduction to film techniques How a film is constructed for greater meaning? • Camera • Shot Types, Angles & Movement • Editing • Invisible Editing, Pacing, Tone & Rhythm, Ellipsis of Time, Juxtaposition, Montage • Mise-en-scene • What’s in the scene • Sound & Music • Diegetic & Non-diegetic • Lighting • High & Low Key Lighting

  7. SHOT SIZES & ANGLES Types of shots: The followings are types of shots commonly used in film, video, and animation. • Extreme Close Up (ECU) • Close Up (CU) • Medium Close Up (MCU) • Medium (MS) • Wide (WS) • Extreme Long (ELS)

  8. Camera Movement The main types of camera movements that are used in film are: • Panning • Tilting • Crane • Tracking • Zooming • Handheld & Steadi-Cam

  9. Film TexT Examples • Psycho - Hitchcock • Raising Arizona – Coen Bros. • Gattaca – Niccol • The Third Man – Wells • Panic Room – Fincher • Inception - Nolan

  10. Introduction to story elements How elements of the story are developed, delivered and interrupted? • Cause & Effect • Setting • Structuring of Time • Narrative Possibilities • Multiple Storylines (plots & subplots) • Character Establishment & Development • Opening Sequences

  11. FILM TEXT EXAMPLES • Where the Wild Things Are – Jonze • Run Lola Run – Tykwer • The Matrix – Warkowski Bros. • The Good, The Bad, The Ugly – Leone

  12. Narrative structure In what order is the story told? • Analysis of narrative structure: • Plot Progressions • Linear • Non-linear • Parallel • Flashback

  13. FILM TEXT Examples • Run Lola Run - Tykwer • Sliding Doors - Howitt • Memento – Nolan • Donnie Darko– Kelly

  14. The role of the audience • Diversity of interpretation • How meaning is created via the viewer’s background • Beliefs • Values • Likes & Dislikes • Cultural backgrounds • Personal experiences • Viewing Context

  15. Social context • A film is a product of it’s time • Influenced by social values of the day • Historical events • Political context

  16. Film Style • Intertextuality - intended or not • Cinema Influences • Genre • Filmmakers – The rise of the auteurs • Cinematic Motifs • Three-Act Structure

  17. Symbolism • What is the filmmaker really trying to say? Finding meaning beneath the obvious. • Representations • Denotation/Connotation

  18. The End

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