Film Theory and Analysis

Lesson 6

Film Theory and AnalysisManu Scansani

E-maildaskalogiannis81@yahoo.com

Office Hours: (Room 1#511)Monday 11.45/12.45;Wednesday 16.00/17.00

QQ: 1417650393

Niko Brauer

E-mailniko_brauer@hotmail.com

Office Hours: (Room 1#519)Thursday 12.30/14.00

QQ: 1265906802

http://filmanalysis.weebly.com

Film Screening (next week)• Action Films – Monday 17.20/20

1. Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark [ 夺宝奇兵：法柜奇兵 ] (S Spielberg, 1981, 115 min) (Cinema)

2. 007 - Goldfinger [007 詹姆斯庞德 : 金手指 ] (1#410)

3. Ronin [ 冷血悍将 ] (1#412)(J Frankenheimer, 1998, 122 min)

4. Pirates of the Caribbean I (1#416)

• Film Corner – Monday 20.00 (3♯102-1/102-2)

Essay: film choice • What film did you chose for your essay? [10 mins]• Please, remember to choose only an English-speaking

film (No Chinese films).• If you want to write about more than one film, you

need to submit a topic by next week, explaining how you will link the films you chose.

• Learning how to write a good Essay is essential to succeed in your final Dissertation (毕业论文 ).

• Next week (Week 7) Manu & Niko will held a “Essay Clinic”, to help students understand how to write an Essay. [ Tuesday at 7.05].

Film Competition at Star College

• Thursday, April 15, 19.05/20.00 (Week 7) - First introductory meeting.

• Star thinking about an idea, prepare a team and be ready to start.

This Week

• Style 1: Editing. Why do we cut & paste different scenes in a specific order?

• Characterization: recap

• Social Drama: recap

Style 1: Editing ( 剪接 ) • What is “editing”?

Stanley Kubrick noted that the editing process is the one phase of production that is truly unique to films. Every other aspect of film making originated in a different medium than film (photography, art direction, writing, sound recording), but editing is the one process that is unique to film.

Kubrick once said: "I love editing. I think I like it more than any other phase of film making. If I wanted to be frivolous, I might say that everything that precedes editing is merely a way of producing film to edit."

Stanley Kubrick

Editing: Graphic Editing

• Sometimes shots are cut together to achive an aesthetic effect (= a particularly beautiful effect)

• Usually, this aesthetic effect would reinforce the meaning of the film.

• These cuts are often presented as dissolve cuts (溶化 )

• Similarly, often dissolve cuts would be examples of graphic editing

• Clip: 2001: A Space Odyssey [0:15:00]

Editing: Rhythmic Editing

• Sometimes editing is used to set the ‘pace’ of a film. In other words, it is used to give the film a rhythm (slower or faster).

• Rhythmic Editing emphasises elements by placing them in close proximity to other significant elements (shots change quickly).

• When editing was still a very new technique, many directors used rhythmic editing to dictate the pace of their films.

Editing: The Kuleshov Effect

• Clips: Kuleshov Effect, Hitchcock• Editing and context – how does your

interpretation of the expression of the face change depending on the images pasted after it?

• Editing as a tool vs editing as necessity – sometimes editing is used to create a special effect to show; most of the time it is used to hide (eg film roll cut, actors performance, story = Elision [remember Narrative!!])

Editing: what do you think?

• Clip: Un Chien Andalou (Luis Buñuel - 1929)[Surrealism: 超现实主义 ]

• In at least one paragraph (100 words or more) write what do you think about Editing. What can Editing achieve, why it is used and why is important? [10-15 minutes]

Readings for next week

• Must make sure to have read by next week:

• Unit 1: History & Genres• Unit 2: Character and Performance• Unit 3: Narrative• Unit 6: Blockbuster Films• Unit 7: Comedies• Unit 8: Social Drama Film

Films analyzed

• For next week, you MUST have watched at least the following films (if you watch more films, you increase your chances of having a good score in your final essay and exam).

- The Matrix- Forrest Gump- American Beauty