Sac 236-Exam 2: Types Of Film

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Verisimilitude

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the quality of realism in something

1 : having the appearance of truth : probable 2: depicting realism

"likeness" according to Feroz

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Rhetorical form film

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Comments to invoke certain beliefs..to persuade

Roger & Me is an example of this

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Expository documentary

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A documentary type film that tries to explain something, like an instructional video

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Cinema verite (documentary)

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Like the Rolling Stones film, no commentary, candid camera, see for yourself

Cinéma vérité can involve stylized set-ups and the interaction between the filmmaker and the subject, even to the point of provocation. Some argue that the obvious presence of the filmmaker and camera was seen by most cinéma vérité filmmakers as the best way to reveal the truth in cinema.[citation needed] The camera is always acknowledged, for it performs the raw act of filming real objects, people, and events in a confrontational way. The filmmaker's intention was to represent the truth in what he or she was seeing as objectively as possible, freeing people from any deceptions in how those aspects of life were formerly presented to them. From this perspective, the filmmaker should be the catalyst of a situation. Few agree on the meanings of these terms, even the filmmakers whose films are being described.

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Associative organization

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Like Un chien andalou (the eyeball sliced surreal film) there are associations between different parts

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Structural organization

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Like "A Movie" there is a certain structure to it

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Film perception

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Film (Cinema) perception refers to the sensory and cognitive processes employed
when viewing scenes, events, and narratives presented in edited moving-images.
Dynamic visual media such as film and television have increasingly become an integral
part of our everyday lives. Understanding how our perceptual system deals with the
differences between these mediated visual experiences and the real-world helps
understand how perception works in both situations. There are many differences between
film and reality but this entry will focus on three:
1. Film creates the illusion of motion through the rapid presentation of still images.
2. Film creates the illusion of continuity across a cut.
3. Film represents scenes and events across edited sequences of shots filmed at
different places and times.

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Semantics (Building blocks)

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Elements make up the meaning

• Locations / spaces - e.g. “the West” in Western
• Characters - e.g. monster in Horror
• Props/costumes - e.g. tommy gun in Gangster Film
• Iconography - e.g. dark cityscapes in Film Noir

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Syntax

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Form construction of the film

example would be editing

• Plot theme - e.g. backstage musical
• Plot structure - e.g. lone hero enters society in Western
• Principles of narrative construction - e.g. suspense in Thriller, emotional
“rollercoaster” in Melodrama

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Pragmatics

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What you take for granted in film--continuity or 180 degree rule, for example

• Industry Discourse
• Systems of Expectation
• Regimes of Verisimilitude

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Surrealist cinema

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a modernist approach to film theory, criticism, and production with origins in Paris in the 1920s. Related to Dada cinema, Surrealist cinema is characterised by juxtapositions, the rejection of dramatic psychology, and a frequent use of shocking imagery. The first Surrealist film was The Seashell and the Clergyman from 1928, directed by Germaine Dulac from a screenplay by Antonin Artaud. Other films include Un Chien Andalou and L'Âge d'Or by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí; Buñuel went on to direct many more films, with varying degrees of Surrealist influence.

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Social realism (UK)..type of film

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1950s social realism in Britain (kitchensink/angry-young-man dramas)
z Precursor to cinema vérité
– Documentary style: uses hand-held
camera, observational style, absence of
verbal or musical commentary
– Later incorporated into narrative film by
filmmakers such as the Dardenne
brothers from Belgium

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Innovation

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Experimenting with the medium

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Perception

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Making us see things in a new light

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Self-reflexivity

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Commenting on the medium

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Westerns and genres and stuff

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• The Great Train Robbery (1903)
• the first Western?!
• A reenactment of contemporary news events?
• A melodrama?
• A violent crime film? A chase film? A railway film?
• When is a Western a Western?
• From adjective (“a Western Romance”) to noun (“a
Western”): Early Studio Discourse on the Western.