Chapter 2:
Principles of Film Form
Looking at Movies, Chapter 2
Form and Content
• Content is the subject of an artwork, while Form
is the means by which the subject is expressed.
• Consider the following images of humanity
• They offer similar content but a wide variation in
form
The Walking Man, by Giacometti
Michelangelo’s David
Self- Portrait, by Keith Haring
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
Toy Story 3, The Incredibles, Wall-E
Sample Scene: Heist (2001)
• Consider a bank robbery as viewed objectively and
subjectively.
• The objective view would be provided by the security camera on the wall. It is
essentially devoid of form. Imagine watching the entirety of this scene from that
single, fixed perspective. We would be able to see almost everything from the
moment the thieves break in to the moment they leave a few minutes later.
• The action would occur in real time: we would see everything the actors do in
the sequence in which they do it. We would see this from a location far above
and detached from the action.
We will have witnessed content: the content of those minutes presented
unfiltered.
Heist: Form
• From the minute the thieves arrive the film-makers
use formal elements.
• The scene’s action is broken into 81 shots which
control what we see, how we see it, when we see it,
how long we see it, and in what order we see it.
• Some shots are shown from the perspective of one
character, or none; we see reactions to actions. Close
ups isolate and emphasize certain elements.
Mise en Scene
• Composes design elements such as
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light
setting
props
costumes
within individual shots
Sound
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dialogue
music
ambient sounds
sound effects
Editing
• juxtaposes individual shots
• orders these juxtapositions into sequences,
sequences into scenes, and scenes into movies
• often relies on patterns and progressions to build
story and engage viewer interest
Common Editing Patterns
• ABCABCABC
• A= Woman tied to railway track
• B= Hero racing toward woman in peril
• C= On-rushing locomotive
• (relies on parallel editing, which sustains the illusion
that these events are happening at the same time)
• ABABABAB (shot/reverse shot pattern)
• A= First Stranger (on a train!)
B= Second Stranger
Common Editing Patterns, cont’d
• AAAAAAAB
• A=Scenes of Daily life in New England (Pocahontas)
• B= Arrival of John Smith and the English settlers
• AAAABAAABAABABABC
• A= happy July 4th swimmers
• B= hungry shark (cue the music!)
• C= swimmers meat shark/shark meats swimmers
Narrative: Patterns and Expectations
• Narrative is structured into acts that establish,
develop, and resolve character conflict
• The audience often attends a film with certain
expectations.
• Perhaps we have enjoyed previous works by the
director, the screenwriter, or the actors.
• Perhaps the genre (romantic comedy, thriller,
vampire melodrama with squinty female
protagonist) appeals...
Patterns: The Big Picture
• In the broadest sense, film genre provides a pattern for a
film. For instance, what do we expect when we go see
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Romantic Comedies?
Horror Films?
Epics?
Fantasy Films?
Michael Bay movies?
• Often genres provide us with a sense of expectation. As
the film unfolds, we can judge the degree to which it
conforms or breaks the conventional expectations of the
genre. (More on genre later in the course!)
Narrative, continued
Many films strive for an element of verisimillitude, a quality that
suggests a kind of reality. It doesn’t mean a film has to be realistic,
but we need to be able to buy in and believe that in the world
created by the film, the events that unfold are plausible.
• We know dinosaurs aren’t real, but we believe that in the world of
Jurassic Park, they are.
• We start to form impressions very quickly once the movie begins,
sometimes even as the opening credits roll.
• Once the narrative begins, we ask questions about the story’s
outcome, questions we will ask repeatedly and wait to have
answered over the course of the film.
Questions, Questions...
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Will Sheriff Brody capture the shark?
Will Dorothy get back to Kansas?
Will Frodo destroy the ring?
Will the Corleone family go legit?
Will we ever learn what rosebud is?
Who is Keyser Soze?
Will Juno keep the baby?
Who killed (or will kill) Lester Burnham?
Synthesis
• The synthesis of all of these elemental forms
• Mise en Scene
• Editing
• Sound
• Narrative
• (and others) constitutes the overall form that a
movie takes
Sample Scene: American Beauty(1999)
• Within the first 5 minutes of the film, Lester tells us that he will be
dead within a year. He also acknowledges that in some ways, he is
dead already. As the film unfolds, numerous potential suspects
emerge.
• Within the first 10 minutes, however, Director Sam Mendes does far
more than merely foreshadow Lester’s inevitable (?) death.
• Consider the ways that Mendes portrays- largely through imagery
and composition of shots- Lester’s entrapment in his daily life.
• Look for shots, angles, and details that reinforce the idea of a
trapped life, an insignificance, a feeling of impotence... a feeling of
being dead already
Screening Checklist
• A useful initial step in analyzing any movie is to distinguish an
individual scene’s content from its form. Try to first identify a
scene’s subject matter:
• What is this scene about?
• What happens?
• Once you have established that content, you should consider how
that content was expressed.
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What was the mood of the scene?
What do you understand about each character’s state of mind?
How did you perceive and interpret each moment?
Did that understanding shift at any point?
Cinematic Space
• Do you notice anything particular about the
movie’s presentation of cinematic space—what
you see on the screen? Lots of landscapes or
close-ups? Moving or static camera?
• What is the effect of this selection of detail?
Lighting
• Does the director’s use of lighting help to create
meaning? If so, how?
• Consider the role of light and dark, sunlight and
shadow, under-exposure and over-exposure
The Night of the Hunter- “Leaning”
• Consider the role of lighting in the development of
this scene.
• Where does danger lie in this scene? Who is in
danger?
• Where does the hope of salvation lie?
• How does lighting contribute to this effect?
• Consider the duet sung by the preacher and the
grandmother. What does it add to the scene?
Manipulation of Time
• Does the director manipulate our experience of
time?
• Is this condensing, slowing, speeding, repeating,
or reordering of time simply practical (as in
removing insignificant events), or is it
expressive?
• If it is expressive, just what does it express?
The Godfather- “Baptism and Murder”
• This scene presents an excellent example of the
manipulation of time. Coppola cuts between the
baptism of Michael’s son, the preparation for 5
murders, and the murders themselves.
• Each time we return to the baptism, it continues
where it left off, establishing that these actions are
happening simultaneously. Furthermore, it
establishes Michael’s involvement in them.
• Music also adds an element of continuity, rising as
the sequence progresses.
Narrative Patterns
• Do any narrative or visual patterns recur a
sufficient number of times to suggest a
structural element in themselves?
• If so, what are these patterns?
• Do they help you determine the meaning of the
film?
The Camera Lens and You
• Do you identify with the camera lens?
• What does the director compel you to see?
• What is left to your imagination?
• What does the director leave out altogether?
• In the end, besides showing you the action, how
does the director’s use of the camera help to
create the movie’s meaning?
Film Form
• A movie is highly organized and deliberately
assembled and sculpted by a film-maker from
various elements including
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Mise en Scene
Sound
Editing
Narrative
Formal Elements of Cinematic Language
Once you know what happened
and how you felt about it, search
the scene for those formal
elements that influenced your
interpretation and experience.
The combination and interplay
of multiple formal elements that
you seek is the cinematic
language that movies employ to
communicate with the viewer.
Sample Exercise: Opening Credits
• Consider the following 2 credit sequences
And these 2....
And these 2...
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
• Based on the Stephen King novella “Rita
Heyworth and the Shawshank Redemption”
• Released in 1994 to critical praise but audience
indifference, making back only 18M of its 25M
budget
• Nominated for 7 Academy Awards
• Won none! (Forrest Gump/Pulp Fiction)
Redemption, indeed...
• Since then, the film has become one of the most
beloved of all time
• On the IMDB reader’s poll of 250 favourite films of
all time, it currently ranks 1st, with a score of 9.2
(tied with The Godfather, but with more votes)
• Everyone who makes a movie hopes to achieve a
kind of alchemy, in which baser materials are turned
into gold. The Shawshank Redemption achieves this
feat.