Name:__________________________________
Rain Man
Film Study Assignment
As you read this short informational text, underline the most important information from each
paragraph. Circle vocabulary words that you need defined.
Character Study
Canadian film director, Norman Jewison, has said that film is the literature of this generation. That
may have been true for the previous generation as well. Rather than bemoan this phenomenon, it
seems more appropriate to take advantage of it. Most of us will see many more movies than we will
read books and in the cinema one realizes that the rhetoric of storytelling is not substantially
different from storytelling in novels and plays. Traditional literary devices such as irony, metaphor,
satire, and parody (to name a few) are used extensively in movies and in recent years, a trend of
quoting other films has also developed.
Still, films are very different from novels; as unique storytelling medium, movies can employ visual
and narrative strategies not available to other story telling media to develop characters, setting
and son on. The most obvious of these strategies is the construction or framing of characters
within scenes or shots. This construction involves types of shots, shooting angles, lighting, editing,
costumes, scenery as well as the acting skills of individual performers. In the hands of a
professional cast, crew and director, there is enormous potential for subtle complex
characterization.
Concepts such as shot construction, shooting angles, lighting, use of sound, mise-en-scene, editing,
etc. can be considered the grammar of film. Film grammar may not be applied as rigorously as in
written and spoken language, but there is more consistency in the use of these film codes than
might be expected by the non-specialist. It is no accident that political leaders, and especially
those with demagogic tendencies, preferred to be filmed from below. From the point of view of the
audience there is something about the act of looking up that confers power and respect on the
person being looked at. Filmmakers have taken this audience reaction and exploited it to great
effect, time and time again.
Now that you are finished reading the text, write down three sentences summarizing the key
points in the space below. 3 MARKS
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Film Grammar
Type of Shot:
There are 3 principal types of shot:
LONG/WIDE SHOT: Panorama scenes to establish where the action is taking place
MEDIUM SHOT and CLOSE UP: Show action or conversation between a small group of
people.
CLOSE UP: The characters head and shoulders—used to show emotions.
Angle of Shot:
Most of the time, characters are shot at eye level.
LOW ANGLE: Shot from below (shows power, strength)
HIGH ANGLE: Shot from above (shows weakness, vulnerability)
Editing: The film editor (in consultation with the director) is responsible for how one scene
follow the other.
Editing or cutting involves decisions about the precise moment (frame) at which one scene
follows another, how the cut is made and the pacing of the scene changes.
EXAMPLE: Cutting quickly between the hungers and the hunted in a chase scene a skillful
editor can emphasize the courage of the hunted.
Scenery:
The most important point to remember about scenery is that nothing is left of chance. Every last
detail in a scene is there because it has a purpose. The use of details in scenery is often very
subtle and complex. In very general terms, scenery is used to locate the movie or scene in a
historical time and place (SETTING).
Character Study:
As with a novel or play, characters play an important part in most movies. The ability to grow
and develop in the course of the story or to be multi-layered is what makes an interesting
character. 8 MARKS
Strategies of Scene
Construction
Charlie Babbitt
Raymond Babbitt
Type of Shot:
What does the close
up show about the
character? Describe
the shot and what it
displays the character.
Close up:
Close up:
2. Angle of Shot:
Choose an angle and
describe it. What does
it show about the
character?
3. Editing:
Describe how the
editing in a scene
reveals something
about a character
4. Scenery:
Describe how a scene
reveals something
about each character.
The Use of Sound in Film
Although film is primarily a visual medium, it is almost impossible to imagine a film with no
sound. Even in the days before it was technically possible to include sound on the film, the
importance of sound (other than speaking voices) to create or enhance mood was recognized.
Every theatre had “live” musical accompaniment on piano or organ.
Diegetic Sound: Sound which comes from persons or objects on screen. Includes dialogue,
ringing of phone, footsteps, breaking glass.
Non-Diegetic Sound: Music or sound from which the source does not appear of film. For
example, galloping horses when no horses appear. More often, music is written specifically for
the film suchs as John Williams’ Star Wars score.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjMNNpIksaI
Use the chart to follow the use of Sound in Rain Man. 4 MARKS
Description of Non-Diegetic Sound
Describe the scene and what kind of music
is playing
Description of the effect that the music has
on the audience