Key Rules and Conventions of Classical Hollywood Style Film Form

Cinematography and lighting 

- matching eye-lines

-180 degree rule (in which an imaginary 180 degree axis is created between the viewer and the shot, allowing viewers to clearly orient themselves within the position and direction of action in a scene) 

- should have framing and shot types for a clear narrative 

 Editing  

- should have continuity editing

- the 30 degree rule (where cuts in the angle that the scene is viewed from must be signifiant enough or the viewer to understand a purpose of a change in perspective)

- no jump cuts as they interrupt the illusion of temporal continuity between each shot

- narrative resolution should be clear

- an establishing shot (which shows the entire location being used when a new scene is started in order to avoid the audience being disorientated when different shots are cut to

- shot reverse shot - where two separate shots o two subjects in a conversation are facing each other and the editor cuts back and forth between the two at particular points so the audience is able to focus on the subjects emotions and the content of the convo. an example of this is in Casablanca when near the beginning of the film where Ugarte and Rick have the conversation about the letters of transit

Mis-en-scene

- should be realistic

- consistent 

- support narrative rather than dominate it 

- what counts the most is what the audience sees, so visual materials are staged only for the audience , an example of this in Casablanca is at the very beginning in a scene where the police officer pulls some (propaganda material) papers rom the man who's shot and when the shot is zoomed in, the officer is holding the papers at an awkward and poor camera angle so he himself has poor vision of the papers, but so the audience has clear staged vision of them

Sound

-should match onscreen action(synchronous), support the narrative and the mood of the film, should create relevant and clear responses in audience 

-

Performance

- exaggerated facial expressions and portrayal of emotions 

- 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Buster Keaton 'One week' and 'The scarecrow' analysis

One week meaning is created in the frame itself, rather than through editing or cuts editing is extremely minimal, as invisible as possible, only present when completely necessary editing used is all for functional purposes rather than to create meaning; for example the opening shot cuts briefly to a close up of a new character before cutting to another long take of them getting in the car. so used to advance the plot rather than have an effect on how the audience view the events. the framing fits the size of the joke, mostly wide shots to show all the action happening, closest shot is the medium shot towards the end majority of, if not all Keaton's emotions and expressions are expressed through exaggerated body language and movement  size contrast is as a comedic effect - Keatons small stature is used to an advantage vs tall fatty man Keaton uses several silent comedy conventions - stuns, falls, special effects, chase sequences, set design, using mis en scene for jokes breaks 4th...
Read more

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN: questions to consider

Do you find the ending of the film to be satisfying resolution ?  Why ? it was not a satisfying resolution at all - the audience does not see any conflicts resolved between Llewelyn and Anton How were you expecting the film to end ?   I was expecting there to be an ending fight scene in which either one of them dies and maybe Sheriff Ed Tom Bell gets involved in some way. Also for there to be a triumph on either sides it was quite ambiguous throughout the film as to who would get the money to succeed. Why do you feel the Coen Brothers decided to have their main protagonist killed offscreen , and then avoid a final climax between Sheriff Bell and Chigurh ?  Consider the effect on the audience in terms of expectations of genre and narrative,  and the  themes of  law and order v criminality , good v evil , heroism etc. I think that the reason the Coen Brothers decided to end the film in this way is because they wanted to demonstrate the idea that as peopl...
Read more