Film StudiesTransition booklet

Name:

This booklet will help you prepare to study Film Studies at A-Level. Make sure you read it carefully and complete all activities.

DEADLINE: This booklet must be completed and shown to your teacher during the first Film studies lesson in September.

More information on the course can be found on the exam board’s website: https://www.wjec.co.uk/qualifications/film-studies-as-a-level#tab_overview

Glossary of key termsKey term Definition Example

aesthetics The specific ‘look’ of the film. The film’s style.

Consider the ‘sci-fi’ look created by a blue/green colour palette & lowkey lighting in Joe Cornish’s Attack The Block, for example.

auteur From the French ‘author’. A director who has control over the style of the film.

Consider Richard Ayoade’s authorial stamp on Submarine and his homage to the French New Wave through nostalgic, hand held footage and a faded colour scheme.

cinematography Aspects of camera angles, distance and movement. Also a consideration of colour, lighting and texture of the footage.

Consider the use of wide, sweeping, bleached-out landscape shots of the Australian bush in Rabbit Proof Fence, for example.

context When, where, how, and why the film is set. The time, place and circumstances.

Consider that Slumdog Millionaire was made in Mumbai, India in 2008 and shows a dichotomy of life in India – poor, begging children living alongside others in wealth and safety, enjoying the latest technologies due to rapid globalization.

generic conventions

Methods, ingredients, things necessary for the style/category of film.

Consider the use of spaceships, alien forms and communication devices in Spielberg’s E.T.

diegetic

non-diegetic sound

Sound that is part of the film world (car horns beeping, birds singing, telephones ringing).

Sound added in post-production to create a certain atmosphere (sound FX to increase fear, music to underscore emotion).

Consider Justin Hurwitz’s score that is played by the musicians in Whiplash.

Consider the choral music which helps us understand Tsotsi’s redemption, for example.

genre The style or category of the film.

Consider Invasion of the Body Snatchers as sci-fi, Grease as a

musical but also newer genre categories like Me, Earl & The Dying Girl classified as a ‘dramedy’.

iconography The images or symbols associated with a certain subject.

Consider Gansel’s use of the wave action & how it mimics that of the Nazi party salute.

indie/independent Film that is independent of the constraints of mainstream Hollywood. These films are often characterised by low budgets, location settings (rather than studio), (often) inexperienced directors and fairly unknown casts.

Consider that Juno cost $7 million and was only Jason Reitman’s second feature film.

key lighting (high and low)

Lighting design to create different light/dark ratios. High-key lighting is bright and produces little shadow, whereas low-key lighting is used to specifically create shadow and contrast.

Consider the low-key lighting of Eli to create mystery in Let The Right One In.

mainstream Popular, conventional, and/or part of a major film studio system.

Consider Spielberg’s hugely successful work for Hollywood studio Universal Pictures' production and distribution companies.

mise-en-scène Literally, ‘what is in the frame’: setting, costume & props, colour, lighting, body language, positioning within the frame all come together to create meaning.

motif A dominant theme or recurring idea.

Consider the recurring colour motif of a warm centre surrounded by cooler colours in Song Of The Sea echoing Ben’s childhood safety.

plot Different to story, plot is the narrative order that the story is told in.

representation The way that people, places and events are constructed.

screenplay Written by the screen writer, this document tells the story and will contain no camera direction.

story The ideas & events of the narrative whole.

shooting script Written by the director & cinematographer (not the screen writer), this script focuses on planning the camera shots & other practical elements that will bring the screenplay to life.

spectator An individual member of the audience. Although we may view a film in the cinema together, the experience will be individual according to a range of factors.

Task 1:

What is your favourite film genre and which film from within that genre is your favourite?

For example: genre - science fiction and film – Star Wars

Write a minimum of 500 words explaining why.

Consider:

Is it the storylines/narrative within the genre or your favourite film?

The special effects? The cinematography? Mise-en-scene? Stock characters that often

appear within this genre? Anything else?

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Task 2:

Watch a film that was released before or during 1960 and answer the following:

How effective is the cinematography and mise-en-scene in keeping the audience engaged?

Write a minimum of 500 words.

Please use the glossary and try to use correct subject terminology in your essay.

Possible films:

Strangers on a Train (1951) Rope (1948) Double Indemnity (1944)

The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) Singing in the Rain (1952) Casablanca (1942)

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

Film title:

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Task 3:

Watch a film that was released before or during 2005 and answer the following:

How effective is the cinematography and mise-en-scene in keeping the audience engaged?

Write a minimum of 500 words.

Please use the glossary and try to use correct subject terminology in your essay.

Possible films:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) Sin City (2005)

War of the Worlds (2005) King Kong (2005)

The Hateful Eight (2015) The Constant Gardener (2005)

Film title:

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Task 4:

Read the information on the knowledge organisers then answer the questions that follow.

Old Hollywood

1. Three things that audiences in the 1940s wanted were _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

2. The first film to introduce sound was ________________________________________ .

3. The first film in colour was __________________________________________________ .

4. The “Big Five” studios had a market oligopoly. This means _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

5. Many actors had a 7 year contract. This meant that ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ .

6. The Hays Code was a set of industry censorship guidelines that operated from 1930 – 1968. Some of the things that they prohibited were ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ .

New Hollywood

1. Two major changes to the Hollywood industry in 1968 were ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ .

2. In the 1970s family blockbuster such as Jaws and Star Wars were produced. These were typically released in _______________________________________________ .

3. Some important changes to the film industry in the 1980s were ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ .

4. Two notable ‘flops’ that changed the face of Hollywood were ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ .