h t t p : / / u w p . a a s . d u k e . e d u / w s t u d i o

VisualRhetoric/VisualLiteracy:WritingAboutFilm

Thishandoutdiscusseswaystoapproachfilmasavisualmedium.Itofferssuggestionsforfocus,prewritingtips,andguidanceonhowtothink criticallyaboutamediummanyofusthinkofaspopularentertainment.Itdoesnotinclude acomprehensive listoftechnicalfilmterminology,althoughitdoesprovidelinkstoseveralsourcesthatdo.Thishandoutdealswithdecodingfilmasaviewer,consideringhowthefilmappearsratherthanhowitwasmade.

Overview:WhatareVisualRhetoricandVisualLiteracy?

Thesimplestdefinitionforvisualrhetoricishow/whyvisualimagescommunicatemeaning.Note thatvisualrhetoricisnotjustaboutsuperiordesignandaestheticsbutalso abouthow cultureandmeaningarereflected,communicated,andalteredbyimages.Visualliteracyinvolvesalltheprocessesofknowingandrespondingtoavisualimage,aswellasallthethoughtthatmightgointoconstructingormanipulatinganimage.

MovingfromPassivetoActiveViewing

Howdowegetfromimagesonascreenandsoundfromaspeakertothevarietyofimpressionswithwhichapowerfulfilmleavesus?Weareallabletorecounttheplotofafilm,usuallyafterwatchingitonlyonce.Itismoredifficulttoexplain how theimagesandsoundspresentedmakeupsuchanarrative,communicatingmeaningnotjustthroughthecharactersactions,butalsothroughframing,cameramovement(reframing),editing,opticaleffects,lenschoice,sound,andanumberofothertechnicalelementsthatoftengounnoticedbyviewerslookingfortheplot. Throughcarefulattentiontowhatisonthescreen(andhowitgotthere),youcan identifythevisualstrategiesemployedbyafilmtoelicitacertaineffect.The bestwaytodothisaccurately,andagoodstartingpointforunderstandinghowanyfilmworks,istowatchitcarefullyandobservantly,totakenoteswhilewatching,andtowatchitmorethanonce.

Thelistofthingsthatgointoanysinglefilmcanbedaunting.Tomakethe taskofapproachingfilmfromananalyticalviewpointmoremanageable,thishandoutaddressesthreebasiccomponentsoffilm:

Image Movement Sound

Image

MiseenscneandFraming

OneofthebestthingsaboutDVDtechnologyisthatitiseveneasiernowthanitwaswithvideotogetaclearstillimage,whichisagoodplacetostarttothinkabouthowfilmbuildsimagesintomeaning.Thetwomainthingstopayattentiontoinafilmicimage are miseenscneandframing.MiseenscneisaFrenchtermmeaningliterallyputinthescene,anditwasoriginallyadaptedfromthetheater.Itreferstoeverythingthatgoesintoafilmbeforeitisphotographed,includingsetdressingorlocation,costumes,lighting,actors,blocking (actorlocationsandmovement),anddialogue.Ifyoulike,itiswhatyouwouldhaveseenifyouweretherewiththecrewwhenthesceneswerebeing filmed.Thecameraaddstothisframing(settingtheboundsoftheimage,usuallyinarectangle)andcameramovement(reframing).Thelatterisdiscussedinthenextsection,butframingisasimportantforstillphotographyasitisforfilm,sinceitworkswith miseenscnetodeterminetheoverallcompositionoftheimage.

MovingfromDescriptiontoAnalysis

Herearethreedescriptionsofthesameimage:

OrsonWelles,TheTrial (1962)

1. K.isaskingtheAdvocateforhelp.

2. K.isframedinthecenteroftheshot,withtheAdvocatedominatingtherightsideoftheframe.Thesettingisfancybutdilapidated,andtherearetwoprominentlightsources,onefromthedeepspacebehindK.andanotherlightingthefacesofthetwofigures.

3.AlthoughK.isframedinthecenteroftheshot,thereisnodoubtastowhohasthepowerhere.TheAdvocatetowersoverhim,interposinghimselfbetweenK.andthecameraanddominatingtherightsideoftheframe.HecastsashadowonK.schest,reinforcing,asdoesthehighanglecameralookingdownonK.,K.slackofpowerrelativetothemanwhosehelpheisseeking.ThelocationofastronglightsourceinthedeepspacebehindK.remindstheviewerofK.sdistancefromhisgoal,andcombineswiththefabrichangingfromthechandeliertocreateasurrealeffect,settingthetonefortheentirescene.

Ofthethreedescriptions,thefirstdescribeswhatishappeningintheshot,butpayslittleattentiontowhatisactuallyonthescreen.Thesecond givesaformaldescriptionoftheimage.Itisnotexhaustive,butitcoversseveralsignificantpoints(framing,setting,andlighting).Itdoesnotmove,however,fromdescriptiontomeaning(althoughtermslikedominatinganddilapidatedgestureinthatdirection).Thethirddescriptiondealswiththesamevisualtraits,butalso explainshowthosetraitscreatemeaning.

Thepointisnotjusttoshowthreeexamplesofincreasing detail,butto considerthese asstepstowardvisualanalysis.Adescriptionofwhatishappeningisafineplacetostart,sinceyouwillneedtoknowhowanimagefitsintothefilm asawhole.Fromthere,trytolistallthevisualqualitiesoftheimagethatyoucan,focusingonbothframing(cameraangleandimagecomposition)and miseenscne(actorsandblocking,costume,setting,lighting).Somewillbemoreimportantthanothersforanygivenshot,buttheimportantthingatthisstageistolistallthatyoucan.Finally,takethislistandtrytoexplaintheeffects

thedifferenttraitsyouhavelistedhaveonyouasaviewer.Thereisnosetruleforthis,soyouwillhavetobecreative.Dontjustmakethingsup,thoughtrytosticktowhatsonthescreenandwhatyoucaninferfromthatwithconfidence.Youwillbesurprisedhowmucheasierinterpretationisonceyouhaveafinitelistoftraitstodescribeanimage.Ifthisstill seemsdaunting,youmightwanttocheckoutourhandoutonphotography,whichgoesintomoredetailonanalyzingstillimages.

Movement

Sofar,thisisntvery differentfromanalyzingphotography.Butfilmisntjustphotography,butaseriesofphotographsshowninsuccession(atarateof24framespersecond)to create theillusionofmovement.Thissectionofferssuggestionsforhowtotalkaboutamovingimage.

Therearetwomaintypesofmovementinfilm: continuous and discontinuous. Theformerinvolvescharactersand/orobjectsmovingwithintheframe,eitherasaresultoftheirmovementorofthecameras.Thelatterisaresultofediting,inwhichtwodiscontinuousbitsoffilmaresplicedtogether(themostbasicformisacut,butthisalsodescribesdissolves,wipes,etc.).Youwillwanttokeeptheseseparateinyourmind,sincetheydescribedifferentaspectsofthefilmmakingprocess(filmingandediting).

Herearesomebasicquestionstoaskwhenthinkingabouttheroleofmovementinthevisuallanguageoffilm:

Whatisthepacinglike?Arethingsmovingquicklyorslowly? Arethecharactersinsynch,orisoneshuttlingaroundthe framewhileothersremainstationary?

Oraretheyallstationarywhilethecameramovesaroundthem? Ifthecameradoesmove,howdoesitmove?Isitquick,slow,jerky,orsmooth? Howlongaretheshots(thetimebetweentwocuts)?Youcaneventime these bythesecond,or

seehowmanythereareperminute.Youmightalsowanttothinkabouttherelativeshotlengthoftwodifferentscenes.

And,thecrucialquestion,whateffectdoesallthishave?

Tips for Analyzinga FilmforItsVisualQualities

Aswithstillimages,thereisnosimplekeyfordecodingtheeffectsdifferenttypesofmovementcanhave.Oneofthebestwaystostartinterpretingthe meaningofmovementistothinkaboutyourownreactiontothefilm andthentrytofigureoutwhatitisinthefilmthatmakesascenefeelcalm,frantic,exciting,depressing,etc.

Ifitishardtoisolatethevisualaspectsofafilmfromtheplot,trywatchingascenewiththesoundoff.Especiallyifthenarrativedependsondialogue,watchingitinsilentmodewillhelpyoufocusonthevisual.Theoppositecanalsohelpyoutoanalyzethefunctionofsound.

Sound

Itmayseemstrangetodiscusssoundinavisualliteracyhandout,butthereisnogettingaroundthefactthatmostfilmsyouwillseehaveasoundtracktoaccompanytheimagetrack.Thisisusuallymadeupofthreemaincomponents:

Dialogue Soundeffects Music

Oneormoreofthesewillbemoreimportantthantheothersforanygivenscene,buttrythinkingaboutallofthemwhenyougotoanalyzeascene.Often,theabsenceofoneofthesewillbeasimportantasitsinclusion.Forexample,alongsceneofdialoguewithoutbackgroundmusicmaymakeafictionfilmseemmorereal.Ontheotherhand,alongdialoguesceneinacrowdedrestaurantwithoutbackgroundmusicornoisemaybedeliberatelyunrealistic,focusingtheviewersattentionontheintimacyoftheconversationratherthanthesetting.Forademonstrationofhowimportantsoundisforafilm,evenandespeciallywhenyoudontnoticeitwhilewatchingcasually,trywatchingthescariestpartofahorrorfilmwithoutthesound.Then,listentothesamescenewithoutwatchingtheimages.Howscaryarebothversions,howdotheyeachcomparetothecombinedimage/soundexperience,andwhatdoesthattellyouabouthowthefilmcommunicates?

RecommendedTexts

Corrigan,Timothy.AShortGuidetoWritingAboutFilm.NewYork:Longman,2001.

PartoftheLongmansShortGuideseries,Corrigandiscussesdifferentapproachestofilmandprovidesusefultipsonwaystobeginwritingaboutfilm.Thebookincludesaglossaryoftechnicalfilmterms,andasectionofthebookdealswiththesetermsinmoredetail.Italsofeaturessampleessaysandasectiononconductingfilmresearch.

Bordwell,DavidandKristenThompson.FilmArt:AnIntroduction.NewYork:McGrawHill,2006.

Firstpublishedin1979andupdatedeveryfewyears,Bordwell&Thompsonsbookhasbecomethestandardtextbookforfilmcourses.Althoughtheauthorspayattentiontogenre,history,production,anddistribution,thebookismostusefulforitsattentiontostyleandhowformalaspectsoffilmscreatemeaning.Itisabitmuchtogetthroughforasinglepaperonfilm,butisausefulresource,featuringaglossaryofdisciplinespecifictermsandclearlydelineatedchaptersondifferentaspectsoffilmanalysis.

UsefulLinks

InternetMovieDatabase(IMDb)www.imdb.com

Forquickinformationaboutafilm,director,actor,producer,orproductioncompany,IMDbcantbebeat.Itisnotanidealplacetoend yourresearch,butitisafineplacetostart.

DartmouthWritingProgramHandoutonFilmhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/humanities/film.shtml

Thishandoutismorefocusedonthewritingaspectofwritingaboutfilmthanonvisualliteracy,anddiscussesdifferentapproachestofilm(filmhistory,ideologicalanalysis,culturalstudies/nationalcinemas,andauteurtheory)notaddressedhere.Italsofeaturesashortglossaryoffilmterms.

YaleFilmAnalysisGuidehttp://classes.yale.edu/filmanalysis/index.htm

AmoredetailedwebresourcethantheDartmouthhandout,theYalesiteisaneasilynavigableguidetofilmtermsthatincorporatesexamplesthroughcolorstillsandevenbriefwmvfiles.Theguidealsofeaturesexamples(in theAnalysissection)ofshotby shotanalysesofscenesfromViscontisRoccoandhisBrothers(1960)andAntonionisIlGrido(1957),whicharequiteusefulforfiguringoutwhatnotesonfilmmightlooklike.

HandoutsintheVisualRhetoric/VisualLiteracySeries

Overview:VisualRhetoric/VisualLiteracyWritingaboutComicsandGraphicNovelsWriting aboutFilmWriting aboutPaintingsWriting aboutPhotographyWritingwithMapsUsingPowerPointandKeynoteEffectivelyCreatingScientificPosterPresentationsCraftingandEvaluatingWebSites

Thebannerimagesatthe beginningofthishandoutareallfromOrsonWelles,TouchofEvil(1958).