film reading

8/8/2019 Film Reading

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Film

Reading

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9/3/2010 Template copyright 2005 www.brainybetty.com 2

A. MEANING

1. Theme

2. Intent/Message

3. Metaphorand Symbolism

4. Subtext


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B. BASIC ELEMENTS

1. Title/Opening Credits

The opening creditsestablish a

tone,and oftenare usedto

foreshadow events,themes, or

metaphors --- pay carefulattention fromthebeginning


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B. BASIC ELEMENTS

2. Story/ Plot/ Narrative

standard chronologicaltimenarrative or

not ? whatarethe key moments?

whatisthepace ofthenarrative?

doesthenarrative havea coherent unityordoesitleavetheaudience feelingunfulfilledand confused?


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B. BASIC ELEMENTS

3. Motivation

justificationgiveninthe film forthe

presence ofanelement (charactersarenotrealpeople,anddo notmake choices

outside of whatis conveyednarratively)


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B. BASIC ELEMENTS

4. Motif

the repetition ofanelementin

waysthatacquiresymbolicmeaning fortheelement;amotifcanbeatechnical feature (ashotangle,alightingset up),asoundorpiece ofdialogue ormusic, oran object)


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B. BASIC ELEMENTS

5. Parallelism two ormorescenesthataresimilarto each other

6. Characterization

who arethe central characters? how areminor characters used?

istherea clear orambivalent hero orvillain?

whatvaluesdo the characters representanddothey changeduringthe film?

arethey charactersmeantto play aparticulartype?


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B. BASIC ELEMENTS

7. Point of View

isthe filmingeneraltold fromaparticularcharacterspoint ofview orisit changing?

isthe filmsperspectiveprimarily intellectual

oremotional? how doesthe cameratechnically reinforcethe

point ofview?


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C. MISE-EN-SCENE

meanseverythinggoing onstage which

includes setdesign,lighting,and

charactermovement


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C. MISE-EN-SCENE

1. Settingandsets

isthesceneshotinastudio soundstage

or onlocation?

how isthesettingintegratedinto the

action,both largerbackgroundand

particularprops?

how do particularsettings functionas

signsin orderto convey information?

how are colors used?


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C. MISE-EN-SCENE

2. Acting Style

do particularactors havetheir own

recognizablestyle ortype?

3. Costumes

note contrastsbetween characters, changes

within film; use of colors


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C. MISE-EN-SCENE

4. Lighting key lightusually at45 degreeangle

between cameraandsubject

filllight/auxiliary lightusually fromtheside ofthesubject,thatsoftens oreliminatesshadows

high key lightingandlow key lighting

high contrastandlow contrastlighting

hardlightingand softlighting

backlightingandtoplighting


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D. CINEMATOGRAPHY

camera work


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D. CINEMATOGRAPHY

1. Tone - bright,sharp colors,blackand white, why?

2. filmspeed slow or fastmotion used?

3. cameraangle

4. tracking,panning,andtilt5. shots - full-shot,mid-shot,

long-shot, close-upetc.


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D. CINEMATOGRAPHY

7. focus

shallow focus

deepfocus focusin

focus out

8. Frame theborderthat containstheimage

9. shot composition


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E. MONTAGE

editing


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E. MONTAGE1. Editingpace

2. establishingshot

3. shot/countershot - usedduringdialogue

4. quick cutto pick up characters reaction

5. jump cut a cutthe occurs withinascenethat

removespart ofashot

6. fr eeze frame7. crosscutting ashotinsertedinasceneto

show action happeningelsewhereatthesame

time


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E. MONTAGE

8. Cutaway a cut withinashotto alocationthatlinkstheaction oftheshotand condensestime (forexample,a

reactionshot ofa woman watchingaman climbsomestairs, cutting outaflightinbetweentheshots)

9. match cut a cutin which two shotsarelinked

10. sequence aseries ofscenesthat fit

narratively


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F. SOUND1. Dialogue

isit overlapping,mumbled,soft orloud?

2. Soundeffects

3. Scor e thebackgroundmusic usedthroughout

the film

4. Soundbridgeconnectsscenes orsequencesby

asound

5. Diegetic sound sound which is heard withinthe filming

6. Non-diegetic sound sound outsidethe filming

(ex. Musicalscore,voice over,soundeffects)

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