Film Analysis:Looking at Cinematic Technique

The main questions you should be asking when watching a film:

•What, cinematically stands out? The film angles? The score? The tone?•Why would the director make the artistic choices he/she does?•How do certain choices, like a specific close up, affect your view of a character or the plot?•How would the film differ if different artistic choices were made?

The beginning point; the categorization of a film is usually sorted into the following genres:

•Comedy•Drama•Horror•Thriller•Western•Musical•Detective

Each genre brings along with it certain expectations that change a viewers’ perception. As a future screenwriter/director/editor, be sure to keep this in mind.

“The representation of space affects the reading of a film. Depth, proximity, size and proportions of the places and objects in a film can be manipulated through camera placement and lenses, lighting, decor, effectively determining mood or relationships between elements in the cinematic world.”

Types:• Standard Three-Point Lighting

•Mainstream movies•Little to no expression/tone to this type

•High-key Lighting•Musicals or comedies

•Low-key Lighting•Film noir, suspense, horror

•Natural Lighting•documentaries

Décor can be used to amplify character emotion or the dominant mood of a film

Can place emphasis on:•Class (wealthy vs. poor)•Sterility/Impersonality

QUALITY•Color

•Black and white – authenticity; drama•Technicolor (The Wizard of Oz) – musicals/comedies•Colors do NOT have exclusive meanings

•Contrast•Focus

•Deep•Shallow

•Crane shot•omniscience

•Steadycam (handheld)•Visceral autorial intervention

•Pan•Connecting places and/or people

•Tilt•Establishing differences between characters (socially, racially, etc.)

•Tracking•Moving with character

•Whip pan•Flashy action-dramas

•Transitions•Cheap Cut•Crosscutting•Dissolve•Iris•Jump Cut•Shot/Reverse Shot•Superimposition•Wipe

•Matches•Eyeline match•Graphic match•Match on action

•Duration