Film lang 1
- 1. FILM LANGUAGE : 1. INTRODUCTIONS • Establish location &setting • Introduction of main character • Establishing genre • Hooks
- 2. ESTABLISH LOCATION AND SETTING An establishing shot in film and television sets up, or establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long- or extreme-long shot at the beginning of a scene indicating where, and sometimes when, the remainder of the scene takes place. Establishing shots could also famous landmarks to signify the city where the action is taking place or has moved to, such as Big Ben to identify London, the Statue of Liberty to identify New York. Alternatively, an establishing shot might just be a long shot of a room that shows all the characters from a particular scene. For example, a scene about a murder in a college lecture hall might begin with a shot that shows the entire room, including the lecturing professor and the students taking notes. A close-up shot can also be used at the beginning of a scene to establish the setting (such as, for the lecture hall scene, a shot of a pencil writing notes).
- 3. INTRODUCTION TO MAIN CHARACTERS In ‘The Great Gatsby’ Leonardo DiCaprio plays the lead role of Gatsby. However until this shot we don’t see a clear media shot like this one. This is the first clear shot we have as an audience and after the mystery of who the figure appearing to narrator nick we are now aware this is Gatsby. • In character introduction, directors will conventionally use a medium shot like this one. • The use of fireworks in the background would insinuate his importance in the film as this would represent his wealth and deal of power in that he can afford such a luxury .
- 4. ESTABLISHING GENRE In film theory, genre refers to the method based on similarities in the narrative elements from which films are constructed. Most theories of film genre are borrowed from literary genre criticism. Besides the basic distinction in genre between fiction and documentary (from which hybrid forms emerged founding a new genre, docufiction), film genres can be categorized in several ways. The setting is the milieu or environment where the story and action takes place. The theme or topic refers to the issues or concepts that the film revolves around. The mood is the emotional tone of the film. Format refers to the way the film was shot (e.g., anamorphic widescreen) or the manner of presentation (e.g.: 35 mm, 16 mm or 8 mm). An additional way of categorizing film genres is by the target audience. Film genres often branch out into subgenres, as in the case of the courtroom and trial-focused subgenre of drama known as the legal drama. They can be combined to form hybrid genres, such as the melding of horror and comedy in the Evil Dead films.
- 5. HOOKS The hook is the nucleus of both a film and its screenplay. It is what grabs the viewer's attention, preferably in the first 5–10 minutes, as a reader might expect to find a literary hook in the first chapter of a novel. In National Treasure, for example, the first large-scale part consists of concrete actions that flow naturally out of the goals. To find the treasure, Ben and Riley and their opponents need the map. The map is on the Declaration of Independence. Ian will try to steal it, so Ben tries to alert the FBI, but he’s considered a crank. He tries to get permission to look at the Declaration, but that effort fails too. So he is obliged to protect it from Ian by stealing it himself. This cascade of choices, actions, and reactions flows logically out of his double goals: to find the treasure and to protect the Declaration. A sound can hook to an image. Usually the sound is a line of dialogue. In CHC, we called this a “dialogue hook.” Lewis Herman, in his indispensable book on screenwriting, calls it a “dialogue transition.”