Film Art: An Introduction

2020·180.88 MB·English

by  David Bordwell

Cover Page: iii
Title Page Page: iii
Copyright Page: iv
About the Authors Page: v
Dedication Page: v
Preface Page: vi
From the Authors Page: x
Acknowledgments Page: xi
Brief Contents Page: xii
Contents Page: xiii
Part One • Film Art and Filmmaking Page: xvi
Chapter 1 Film as Art: Creativity, Technology, and Business Page: xvi
Art vs. Entertainment? Art vs. Business? Page: xvi
Creative Decisions in Filmmaking Page: xvi
Creative Decisions: A Modern, Old-Fashioned Musical: La La Land Page: xvi
Mechanics of the Movies Page: xvi
Illusion Machines Page: xvi
Making Films with Photographic Film Page: xvi
Filmmaking with Digital Media Page: xvi
Making the Movie: Film Production Page: xvi
The Scriptwriting and Funding Phase Page: xvi
The Preparation Phase Page: xvi
The Shooting Phase Page: xvi
The Assembly Phase Page: xvi
A Closer Look: Some Terms and Roles in Film Production Page: xvi
Artistic Implications of the Production Process Page: xvi
Modes of Production Page: xvi
Large-Scale Production Page: xvi
Exploitation, Independent Production, and DIY Page: xvi
Small-Scale Production Page: xvi
Artistic Implications of Different Modes of Production Page: xvi
Bringing the Film to the Audience: Distribution and Exhibition Page: xvi
Distribution: The Center of Power Page: xvi
Exhibition: Theatrical and Nontheatrical Page: xvi
Ancillary Markets: Taking Movies beyond the Theater Page: xvi
Artistic Implications of Distribution and Exhibition Page: xvi
Screens and Sounds: Stylistic Opportunities and Challenges Page: xvi
Summary Page: xvi
Part Two • Film Form Page: 49
Chapter 2 The Significance of Film Form Page: 50
The Concept of Form in Film Page: 51
Form as Pattern Page: 51
Form Versus Content Page: 49
Formal Expectations Page: 49
Conventions and Experience Page: 55
Form and Feeling Page: 57
Form and Meaning Page: 58
Evaluation: Good, Bad, or Indifferent? Page: 61
Principles of Film Form Page: 62
Function Page: 62
Similarity and Repetition Page: 63
A Closer Look: Creative Decisions: Picking Out Patterns Page: 49
Difference and Variation Page: 66
Development Page: 68
Unity and Disunity Page: 70
Summary Page: 49
Chapter 3 Narrative Form Page: 72
Principles of Narrative Form Page: 72
What Is Narrative? Page: 73
Telling the Story Page: 74
Creative Decisions: How Would You Tell the Story? Page: 72
Plot and Story Page: 75
Cause and Effect Page: 77
Time Page: 80
A Closer Look: Playing Games with Story Time Page: 72
Space Page: 85
Openings, Closings, and Patterns of Development Page: 86
Narration: The Flow of Story Information Page: 88
Range of Story Information: Restricted or Unrestricted? Page: 88
Depth of Story Information: Objective or Subjective? Page: 91
The Narrator Page: 94
A Closer Look: When the Lights Go Down, the Narration Starts Page: 72
Creative Decisions: Choices about Narration in Storytelling Page: 72
The Classical Hollywood Cinema Page: 98
Narrative Form in Citizen Kane Page: 100
Overall Narrative Expectations in Citizen Kane Page: 100
Plot and Story in Citizen Kane Page: 101
Citizen Kane’s Causality Page: 72
Time in Citizen Kane Page: 103
Motivation in Citizen Kane Page: 106
Citizen Kane’s Parallelism Page: 72
Patterns of Plot Development in Citizen Kane Page: 107
Narration in Citizen Kane Page: 108
Summary Page: 72
Part Three • Film Style Page: 111
Chapter 4 The Shot: Mise-en-Scene Page: 112
What Is Mise-en-Scene? Page: 112
The Power of Mise-en-Scene Page: 113
Components of Mise-en-Scene Page: 115
Setting Page: 115
Costume and Makeup Page: 119
Lighting Page: 124
Staging: Movement and Performance Page: 132
A Closer Look: The Film Actor’s Toolkit Page: 111
Putting It All Together: Mise-en-Scene in Space and Time Page: 140
Creative Decisions: Mise-en-Scene in a Sequence from L’Avventura Page: 111
Space Page: 146
Creative Decisions: Guiding Our Attention in Black and White and Color Page: 111
Time Page: 150
Narrative Functions of Mise-en-Scene in Our Hospitality Page: 154
Summary Page: 111
Chapter 5 The Shot: Cinematography Page: 159
The Photographic Image Page: 159
The Range of Tonalities Page: 159
Speed of Motion Page: 164
A Closer Look: From Monsters to the Mundane: Computer-Generated Imagery in The Lord of the Rings Page: 159
Perspective Page: 168
Framing Page: 177
A Closer Look: Virtual Perspective: 3D Page: 159
Frame Dimensions and Shape Page: 181
Creative Decisions: Using Widescreen Framing Page: 159
Onscreen and Offscreen Space Page: 185
Camera Position: Angle, Level, Height, and Distance of Framing Page: 187
Creative Decisions: Camera Position in a Shot from The Social Network Page: 159
The Mobile Frame Page: 194
Creative Decisions: Mobile Framing and Film Form in Grand Illusion and Wavelength Page: 159
Duration of the Image: The Long Take Page: 209
Real Time Is . . . What? Page: 210
Functions of the Long Take Page: 210
The Long Take and the Mobile Frame Page: 212
Summary Page: 159
Chapter 6 The Relation of Shot to Shot: Editing Page: 216
What Is Editing? Page: 217
Creative Decisions: Why Cut? Four Shots from The Birds Page: 216
Dimensions of Film Editing Page: 219
Graphic Relations between Shot A and Shot B Page: 219
Rhythmic Relations between Shot A and Shot B Page: 224
Spatial Relations between Shot A and Shot B Page: 225
Temporal Relations between Shot A and Shot B Page: 226
Continuity Editing Page: 230
Spatial Continuity: The 180° System Page: 231
Continuity Editing in The Maltese Falcon Page: 233
Continuity Editing: Some Fine Points Page: 216
Creative Decisions: Are You Looking at Me? Point-of-View Cutting in Rear Window Page: 216
Crosscutting Page: 244
A Closer Look: Intensified Continuity: Unstoppable, L. A. Confidential, and Contemporary Editing Page: 216
Temporal Continuity: Order, Frequency, and Duration Page: 251
Alternatives to Continuity Editing Page: 252
Graphic and Rhythmic Possibilities Page: 253
Spatial and Temporal Discontinuity Page: 254
Creative Decisions: Discontinuity Editing in October Page: 216
Summary Page: 216
Chapter 7 Sound in the Cinema Page: 263
Sound Decisions Page: 263
The Powers of Sound Page: 264
Sound Shapes Our Understanding of Images Page: 265
Guiding Our Eye and Mind Page: 265
Fundamentals of Film Sound Page: 267
What Do We Hear? Page: 267
Recording, Altering, and Combining Sounds Page: 270
Creative Decisions: Editing Dialogue: To Overlap or Not to Overlap? Page: 263
Musical Motifs in Breakfast at Tiffany’s Page: 278
A Closer Look: Orchestrating Romance in Jules and Jim Page: 263
Dimensions of Film Sound Page: 281
Rhythm Page: 281
Fidelity Page: 284
Space Page: 285
A Closer Look: Offscreen Sound and Optical Point of View: The Money Exchange in Jackie Brown Page: 263
Sound Perspective Page: 294
Time Page: 295
Conversation Piece Page: 263
Summary Page: 263
Chapter 8 Summary: Style and Film Form Page: 303
The Concept of Style Page: 303
Creative Decisions: Style and the Filmmaker Page: 303
Decision Making: Techniques Working Together Page: 304
Watching and Listening: Style and the Viewer Page: 306
Analyzing Style Page: 307
1. What Is the Film’s Overall Form? Page: 307
2. What Are the Main Techniques Being Used? Page: 308
3. What Patterns Are Formed by the Techniques? Page: 308
4. What Functions Do the Techniques and Patterns Fulfill? Page: 309
A Closer Look: Stylistic Synthesis in Shadow of a Doubt Page: 303
Style in Citizen Kane Page: 313
Mystery and the Penetration of Space Page: 313
Style and Narration: Restriction and Objectivity Page: 315
Style and Narration: Omniscience Page: 317
Narrative Parallels: Settings Page: 318
Parallels: Other Techniques Page: 319
A Convincing Newsreel Page: 320
Plot Time through Editing Page: 321
Style and the Viewer’s Response Page: 304
A Closer Look: Gravity: Film Style in the Digital Age Page: 323
Summary Page: 325
Part Four • Types of Films Page: 327
Chapter 9 Film Genres Page: 328
Understanding Genre Page: 329
Defining a Genre Page: 330
Analyzing a Genre Page: 331
Genre History Page: 333
A Closer Look: Creative Decisions in a Contemporary Genre: The Crime Thriller as Subgenre Page: 327
The Social Functions of Genres Page: 337
Four Genres Page: 339
The Western Page: 339
The Horror Film Page: 341
The Musical Page: 344
The Sports Film Page: 348
Summary Page: 327
Chapter 10 Documentary, Experimental, and Animated Films Page: 352
Documentary Page: 352
What Is a Documentary? Page: 352
The Boundaries between Documentary and Fiction Page: 354
Genres of Documentary Page: 355
Form in Documentary Films Page: 356
Categorical Form: Introduction Page: 357
Creative Decisions: Engaging Viewers Using Categorical Form Page: 352
An Example of Categorical Form: Gap-Toothed Women Page: 359
Rhetorical Form: Introduction Page: 364
An Example of Rhetorical Form: The River Page: 366
Experimental Film Page: 371
A Range of Technical Choices Page: 372
Types of Form in Experimental Films Page: 373
Abstract Form: Introduction Page: 373
Creative Decisions: Designing Form in an Abstract Film Page: 352
An Example of Abstract Form: Ballet Mécanique Page: 375
Associational Form: Introduction Page: 380
An Example of Associational Form: Koyaanisqatsi Page: 381
The Animated Film Page: 389
Types of Traditional Animation Page: 389
Types of Computer Animation Page: 391
An Example of Traditional Animation: Duck Amuck Page: 394
An Example of Experimental Animation: Dimensions of Dialogue Page: 396
Summary Page: 352
Part Five • Critical Analysis of Films Page: 401
Chapter 11 Film Criticism: Sample Analyses Page: 402
The Classical Narrative Cinema Page: 403
His Girl Friday Page: 401
North by Northwest Page: 401
Do the Right Thing Page: 401
Moonrise Kingdom Page: 401
Narrative Alternatives to Classical Filmmaking Page: 420
Breathless (À Bout de souffle) Page: 401
Tokyo Story (Tokyo Monogatari) Page: 401
Chungking Express (Chung Hing sam lam) Page: 401
Documentary Form and Style Page: 434
Man with a Movie Camera (Chelovek s kinoapparatom) Page: 401
The Thin Blue Line Page: 401
Form, Style, and Ideology Page: 443
Meet Me in St. Louis Page: 401
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul Page: 401
Part Six • Film Art and Film History Page: 453
Chapter 12 Historical Changes in Film Art: Conventions and Choices, Tradition and Trends Page: 454
Creative Decisions: Film Form and Style across History Page: 455
Traditions and Movements in Film History Page: 457
Early Cinema (1893–1903) Page: 458
Photography and Cinema Page: 459
Edison vs. Lumière Page: 459
Early Form and Style Page: 460
Méliès, Magic, and Fictional Narrative Page: 461
The Development of the Classical Hollywood Cinema (1908–1927) Page: 462
Hollywood and the Studio System of Production Page: 462
Classical Form and Style in Place Page: 464
German Expressionism (1919–1926) Page: 465
French Impressionism and Surrealism (1918–1930) Page: 468
Impressionism Page: 469
Surrealism Page: 470
Soviet Montage (1924–1930) Page: 472
Artists and the State Page: 472
NEP Cinema Page: 473
The Priority of Editing Page: 474
The Movement Ends Page: 474
The Classical Hollywood Cinema after the Coming of Sound Page: 476
Converting to Sound Page: 476
Problems and Solutions Page: 476
Studios, Genres, and Spectacle Page: 477
Deep Focus and Narrative Innovations Page: 478
Italian Neorealism (1942–1951) Page: 479
Leaving the Studio Page: 480
A New Model of Storytelling Page: 480
The Movement’s End and Its Legacy Page: 481
The French New Wave (1959–1964) Page: 481
Critics Become Moviemakers Page: 482
A New Wave Style Page: 482
Neorealism Recast Page: 483
Into the Mainstream and Beyond Page: 483
The New Hollywood and Independent Filmmaking, 1970s–1980s Page: 484
Blockbusters and Indie Pictures Page: 485
The Rise of the Movie Brats Page: 485
Other Paths Page: 486
The 1980s and After Page: 487
Hollywood and Independents, To Be Continued Page: 489
Hong Kong Cinema, 1980s–1990s Page: 490
A Local Tradition Goes Global Page: 490
The New Generation: Two Schools Page: 491
Story and Style Page: 491
Legacy Overseas Page: 493
Film Adaptations Page: 494
Writing a Critical Analysis of a Film Page: 494
Additional Resources for Film Art Page: 1
Glossary Page: G-1
Index Page: I-1