UNTI FM1 EXPLORING FILM FORM MAINSTREAM NARRATIVE AND FILM FORM How narrative utilises the micro elements The lack of clarity in early films, partly due to the lack of sound, was the reason why inter titles were often used, either to explain the situation within which events were happening or to elaborate upon an interaction between characters. Similarly, the acting in early films frequently seems exaggerated and theatrical rather than naturalistic because in the absence of sound it too could help clarify the narrative. The increasing use of genres helped explain narratives and raise particular expectations in the audience. Common genres at the time were, fantasy, comedy, crime, chase and actuality. 1905 – films were regularly built around narratives which had an identifiable beginning, middle and end, contained motivated characters and concluded with some kind of resolution. However, this highlighted the problem of how to clearly tell a visual story. Bordwell and Thompson have identified this issue and the filmmaker’s response as follows: Filmmakers came to assume that a film should guide the spectator’s attention, making every aspect of the story on the screen as clear as possible. In particular, films increasingly set up a chain of narrative cause and effects. One event would plainly lead to an effect which would in turn cause another effect, and so on. (Bordwell and Thompson 1994, p. 39)
Over the next ten years conventions were to become established which aided the coherent presentation of film narratives.
Q. List two ways early cinema made narrative meaning that we no longer have to rely on? 1. 2.
Q. How does your sequence portray the motivation/s of a central character?
FILM FORM AND CONVENTIONS
Movement takes place over time and within space. It was necessary that time and space be dealt with appropriately if films were to be able to tell stories clearly. Camera and editing techniques proved to be the solution.
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The content and function of shots were clarified through the breaking up of scenes into several takes using different shot sizes and angles. The increasing use of closeups provided information and detail to the viewer and made it easier to identify characters and develop greater characterisation. Variety of camera angels gave a stronger sense of space through the provision of different perspectives on action and location. However, using a greater variety of shot types meant that how the takes were edited together became more important.
Bridget Jones’s Diary (Sharon Maguire, 2001) Consistency in shot content was necessary in terms of speed and direction as well as location and props. An eyeline match also became necessary when editing between one person and another as they interacted with each other. Crosscutting also became more common. The emphasis on consistency between the takes that were edited together resulted in the concept of continuity. The types of shots and the way they were edited together needed to present a smooth flowing narrative that progressed logically and clearly so that the story could be easily understood by the audience. By 1915 these techniques were in common use and were in effect filmmaking conventions identified by Noël Burch as the ‘Institutional Mode of Representation’, as distinct from the ‘primitive’ mode of representation. Film form had changed radically since the birth of the medium.
Two films which sum up the evolution of film form between 1895 and 1915 are Chaplin’s The Tramp and D.W.Griffith’s Birth of a Nation, both made in 1915. The Tramp makes extensive use of the closeup and achieves a depth of characterisation unusual in early cinema. This resulted in Chaplin being recognised and remembered for his ability to get an audience to emphathise with a character. The Birth of a Nation refined the techniques that had been in use since 1895. The use of camera and editing not only provided a clear narrative but also managed to involve the audience emotionally. Variety o shot size and of camera angle were employed throughout the effective use of crosscutting, the principles of continuity editing were applied to ensure narrative coherence, the characters were well developed and given depth not often present in films of the time. The film was an epic, it lasted over three hours and cost $110,000 to make.
an early film: George Méliès Journey to the Moon, 1898. It is important, however, not to see early films as nothing more than a stage in the development of what we now see as important mainstream conventions. Early film existed in their own right as expressions of individual filmmakers’ creativity and expertise, they also had a particular relationship with audiences of their time and reflected aspects of their respective cultures and societies.
SUMMARY o In 1895 film form was fluid as there were no conventions, and early filmmakers had no guidelines – these manipulators of light were working in the dark. o Film as a new medium had a primitive form, narratives were simple and film techniques crude; telling a story via film was difficult and tended to result in lack of clarity. o Filmmakers often simply opted to record the world in front of the camera rather than construct a story on film, and it took several years for film to become the basis of a new industry. (here are links to FM2 Producers and Audiences) o With the gradual development of sophisticated camera and editing techniques, it became possible to present complex narratives on film. o The types of stories and the style of filmmaking in place by 1915 were to make a major contribution to the established conventions that still underpin much of today’s filmmaking. DEFINE THE FOLLOWING: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Eyeline match Crosscutting Actuality Genre Intertitles