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Chapter 7 - DRAMA – STUDY GUIDE
I. Comparisons between live theater & movies:
a. how time, space & language are used in each medium.
b. Scene versus shot.
c. Acting in each medium.
d. Nudity in each medium
e. The role of the director in film & live theater.
II. The ‘auteur’ theory.
a. In the mid 1950s, the French periodical Cahiers du Cinema popularized the auteur theory, a
view that stressed the dominance of the director in film art. Whoever controls the mise-enscene--the medium of the story--is the true “author” of a movie.
b. On the live stage, the stage director is essentially an interpretive artist. He creates certain
patterns of movement, appropriate gestures for actors & spatial relationships, but all of these
visual elements take second place to the language of the script, which is created by a
playwright.
c. Screen directors dominate pre-production activities, but unlike the stage director, the
filmmaker controls virtually every aspect of the finished work as well.
Films communicate primarily thru moving images & it’s the director who determines most of the
visual elements: the choice of shots, angles, lighting effects, filters, optical effects, framing,
composition, camera movements & editing. also, the director usually authorizes the costume &
set designs & choice of locales.
In handling time & space, the stage is basically realistic in its handling of time & space & the
cinema is basically formalistic.
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III. The role of the spectator in each medium
a. Drama/theater is generally considered a ‘writer’s medium. Theater is a narrower medium, one
specializing in spoken language. Most of the meanings are found in words.
b. Movies are generally regarded as a visual art & a director’s medium --the ‘director’ creates the
images.
c. The aesthetic of film is based on photography & anything that can be photographed can be the
subject matter of a movie.
d. The cinema is well suited to dealing with the relationship between people & nature—(Twister,
A Perfect Storm, Day After Tomorrow).
e. active - theater stage player interacts with audience, establishing a rapport with them, film
actors can’t.
f. the distance between the audience & the stage is constant.
g. passive - film --movable camera’s variable points of view & shifting perspectives allows the
audience to see people & objects from various perspectives—the director determines what is
shown & how.
h. In film, microscopic areas can be explored literally through micro cinematography or
figuratively thru special effects.
i. Theatrical action is usually confined to the long & full-shot range
IV. Settings & decor:
a. dressing the story.
b. actual locations vs the studio.
c. Process shots, miniatures & special effects.
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d. The key influence of German expressionism.
V. Costumes & makeup. The ‘ideology’ of clothing.
VI. Similarities between film & live theater:
a) Both use action as a principal means of communication: What people do is a major source of
meaning.
b) Live theater & movies are also are collaborative enterprises--writers, directors, actors,
technicians (lighting/sound)
c) Drama & film both social arts exhibited before groups of people & experienced publicly as
well as individually. But films are not recordings of plays. Movies have a far broader range
of techniques at their disposal.
VII. Time in the theater vs movies:
a. live theater, time is less flexible than in movies.
b. basic construction in the theater is the scene
c. basic unit of construction in film is the shot & the average shot only lasts 10-15 ‘seconds’ or
as brief as a fraction of a second so the cinematic shot ca lengthen or shorten time more subtly.
d. the amount of dramatic time that elapses during a scene is roughly equal to the length of time
it takes to perform.
e. temporal dislocations, like the flashback are commonplace in movies
f. theatrical time is usually continuous. It moves forward.
g. Time - more flexible in film--flashbacks, flash forwards
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CH 7- Drama Study Guide
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VIII. Space
a. theater is three-dimensional--physically have foreground, middle ground &
background whereas film is two-dimensional (film) which is why nudity is not so
controversial an issue on screen as in the live theater
b. The proscenium arch in live theater is equivalent to the frame in film.
IX. Actors
a. In the live theater, actors are selected not only on the basis of their looks & talent but also on
how well they match up with other actors on stage.
b. In film, camera angles can make a shorter person look taller for instance, or a masculine
leading man appear taller or bigger.
XII. Settings and decor:
What matters the most in a setting is how it embodies the essence of the story materials & the
artistic vision of the filmmaker. The set must present the character before he has even appeared.
It must indicate his social position, his tastes, his habits, his lifestyle, his personality. The sets
must be intimately linked with the action.
SETTING can also be used to suggest a sense of progression in the characters. The changing
setting is a gauge of the protagonist’s spiritual condition.
a. In the best movies & stage productions, settings are not merely backdrops for the action, but
the symbolic extensions of the theme & characterization. What matters most in a setting is
how it embodies the essence of the story materials and the artistic vision of the filmmaker.
b. process shot in scenes (blue screen now) requiring exterior locations. This technique
involves the rear projection of a moving image on a translucent screen. Live actors & a
portion of a set are placed in front of this screen & the entire action & background are then
photographed by a camera that is synchronized with the rear projector.
c. The German Expressionism movement of the post-World War I era emphasized visual design
above all. The sets are deliberately artificial: flat, obviously painted, with no attempt to
preserve the conventions of perspective & scale—eliminates nature for a state of absolute
abstraction. These sets were made to represent a ‘state of mind’. German expressionist
movement lasted only from 1919 to 1923, but its influence has been enormous, especially in
the U.S (Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)
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d. Spectacle films usually require the most elaborate sets. The most famous of these sets
would be found in D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance. The unprecedented monumentality of these
sets is what skyrocketed Griffith’s budget to an all-time high of $1.9million in 1916. The set
extended nearly 3/4 of a mile in length!! This was a realistic set—very authentic for the
period.
e. If a set is needed only for establishing purposes, miniatures are often constructed.
A Systematic analysis of a SET involves a consideration of the following eight characteristics:
1. Exterior or Interior filming locations
2. Style
3. Studio or location
4. Period
5. Class
6. Size
7. Decoration
8. Symbolic Function
XIII. Expressionistic sets
a. Georges Melies’ , called “the Jules Verne of films” because his feats of prestidigitation
astonished the pubic. He used animation, miniatures & a wide range of optical tricks,
charming his audiences with vistas of imaginary realms.
b. Expressionistic sets appeal to our sense of the marvelous.
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CH 7- Drama Study Guide
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XIV. Costumes & Makeup
In most films & plays, costumes & makeup aren’t merely frills, added to enhance an illusion, but
*aspects* of a character & theme. Their style can reveal class, self-image, even psychological
states. Depending on their cut, texture & bulk, certain costumes can suggest agitation,
fastidiousness, delicacy, dignity & so on. A costume, then, is a medium especially in the cinema
where a close-u of a fabric can suggest information that’s independent of the wearer.
Line & color can be used to suggest psychological qualities. Verticals tend to emphasize
stateliness & dignity & horizontal lines tend to emphasize earthliness & comicality.
Earth tones in clothing can represent a more simple people, whereas gaudy colors can indicate
cheapness in the people, poor taste, for instance. Cool & warm/hot colors are also very
important.
Perhaps the most famous costume in film history is Charlie Chaplin’s tramp outfit. The
costume is an indication of both class & character, conveying the complex mixture of vanity
&dash that makes Charlie so appealing. The moustache, derby hat, & cane all suggest the
fastidious dandy. The cane is used to give the impression of self-importance as Charlie swaggers
confidently before a hostile world. But the baggy trousers several sizes too large, the oversized
shoes, the too-tight coat--all suggest Charlie’s insignificance & poverty.
In most cases, especially period films, costumes are designed for the performers who will be
wearing them.
In realistic contemporary stories, costumes are often bought off the rack, especially true in
stories dealing with ordinary people.
Costume & makeup analysis
1. Period
2. Class
3. Sex
4. Age
5. Silhouette
6. Fabric
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CH 7- Drama Study Guide
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7. Accessories
8. color
9. Body exposure
10. Function
11. Body attitude
12. Image.
Non professional actors probably wear the least amount of makeup since they’re chosen
precisely because of their interesting & authentic physical appearance.
Animation offers unlimited possibilities in terms of costumes, settings & special effects
precisely because they are all drawn into the image.
Blade Runner is a hybrid film combining sci-fi, film noir, bounty-hunter western, detective
thriller & love story & the set, décor, costuming represented these influences.