The+Language+of+Films

=Lesson 2: The Language of Film=

Since history books are made from language, we can assume that history movies are made from images. In other words, just as history books communicate their messages using words strung together into meaningful sentences and paragraphs, movies communicate their messages using images strung together into meaningful scenes and sequences. We tend to watch movies and intuitively grasp their meaning through these visual cues. But unlike language, we rarely take the time to try to understand the syntax of movie images. What are the structures and visual cues that movies use to communicate? How do different images impact our understanding of the movie? How do those fit into larger scenes and sequences to give us a broader picture? That is what this lesson will address.

The first technical idea to get a grasp of is also one of the most difficult (though, like so much in movies, it seems simple on the surface). That is the mise en scene, or production values, associated with the movie, and with individual scenes within the movie. Below is a really good video clip that explains mise en scene. It is also explained in Ch. 3 of your Corrigan book. Please be sure to read that as, or after, you watch this video clip.

media type="youtube" key="G5bvkvgQDzI" width="560" height="315"

So Mise en scene consists of setting, costumes & makeup, lighting, and acting. Manipulating these things can change the way we view a scene. The use of setting can, for example, communicate multiple messages to the audience. It is often by the setting that we know roughly when, in history, the events in a film are supposed to have taken place. But there can be much more than just chronology packed into a setting. A film like //Dangerous Liaisons// (1988, dir. Stephen Frears), for example, can show the era just before the French Revolution in terms of the opulence and dissipation of the French Aristocracy with costumes, makeup, and setting, while another, such as //Les Miserables// (2012, dir. Tom Hooper) can show the same period in squalor and desperation just by changing these elements.

To see how a recent director thinks about mise en scene, view the part of the video clip below (starting at time counter point 31:53) in which //Selma// (2014) director Ava DuVernay talks about her favorite scene in the film. Pay particular attention to how she characterizes setting, costume, lighting and acting. Try to recognize that what she put in the scene probably comes from both conscious choice, and her own vision of what this real even may have looked like (even though she did not see the actual event, but only learned of it through recorded history). This is how mise en scene becomes part of the narrative, conveying a tremendous amount of information beyond just the words. All of it is loaded with content, and we can look at it as deeply as we want.

media type="youtube" key="EmaTvM2i8qQ" width="560" height="315"

If mise en scene is the background information, dialogue and camera shots are the grammar and syntax of a movie. Although writing dialogue is not easy, the words are the most accessible part of a movie for us. Because we talk, and movies talk, we pay most attention to the words that the characters are saying. For that reason, and because we are used to analyzing language, we won't spend time with it here. That is not to say that it should not be part of your analysis. It should in every way that makes sense to you as you watch. To paraphrase dialogue from //The Imitation Game// (2014, dir. Morton Tildum), you have to pay attention to everything. Here, though, we are going to pay attention to camera shots. These, in combination with the elements of mise en scene, the diaologue, and the arc of the story can have very deep and important meaning. We interpret them, even when we are not aware of it. When we make a conscious effort to understand how the camera angles in a film are affecting our view of the subject and the story, we can learn much about the directors's intentions. This can be very useful when trying to understand a history film.

So what are the basic camera shots that we see in films? Corrigan notes a number of them in Chapter 3. Shots have to do with where the camera is placed in relation to the subject, and how close (or tightly) the frame is to the human subject. Here are some important shots to know:


 * extreme long shot**, or establishing shot - has the camera placed far from the subject and usually used to show the overall setting or location. People rarely play an important role in an extreme long shot.** long shot ** - the camera is placed so that any human subjects can be seen fully, head to toe, and in relation to the setting.
 * medium shot** - the subject is seen from the knees or waist up.
 * close-up** - the subject of the shot is the primary focus, with the frame tightly around the single face, usually including shoulders to the top of the head.
 * extreme close-up** - just what it sounds like. The frame is so tight that you can see only specific features of a face. A good example are the shots of Clint Eastwood's face in the gunfight scene of //The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly//.
 * two-shot** - shot that can show most of the bodies of two individuals in a single scene.
 * pan** - the camera tracks right to left or left to right either to follow movement, or to establish location.
 * dolly shot** - using a camera on rails, the camera moves steadily closer to the subject, or steadily backward from the subject.
 * jump shot** - in several frames the camera jumps from long shot to medium shot to close up.
 * arc shot** - the camera circles the subject.
 * deep focus** - a shot that keeps the foreground, middle ground, and background all in focus at the same time.

Watch the video clip below, then view the website linked here to learn more about camera shots and what they mean. media type="youtube" key="4316BUEVYkE" width="560" height="315"

Now that you have some experience with mise en scene and shots angles, view the video below. This is an analysis of an early scene in Orson Welles' masterpiece //Citizen Kane//. Follow along with the analysis, and see if you have the vocabulary to go beyond the analysis - to use it, but take it deeper, and use more film terms to explain what is going on.

media type="youtube" key="8yuR_HjCLcw" width="560" height="315"

Assignment:
Watch the clip below from Steven Spielberg's film //Schindler's List// (1993). media type="youtube" key="j1VL-y9JHuI" width="560" height="315"

Now for this week's assignment. Go to Discussion and Private Messages, and find the topic "Schindler's List." Post your discussions there. The first person to post a discussion this week should post a description of the first two shots in the scene, including camera angle and mise en scene, and try to explain what those two shots mean - what messages is Spielberg trying to get across? After that, each student should post at least two posts adding to the description until we finish the entire scene, and have described and analyzed shots and mise en scene all the way through. You get 5 points each for your first two discussion posts, and 1 point each for each post beyond that up to another 10. So a total possible of 20 points on this assignment. The discussion will be posted in the Discussion and Private Messages tool under //Schindler's List//.