Principles+of+Film+Form

= Principles of Film Form =


 * Film Form ** – a system of principles and the relationships of those principles… the overall interrelation among various systems of elements, which fulfill one or more roles in the whole system.

**__5 general principles:__** 1.) Function 2.) similarity and repetition 3.) difference and variation 4.) development 5.)unity/disunity

REMEMBER – Movies are carefully planned and what we see in a movie is supposed to be there.
 * 1. Function ** – on the most basic level, it is simply the purpose of or reason for an element.
 * does not depend on the filmmaker’s intent
 * almost always multiple : narrative (plot and story) and stylistic (genre, production values, director’s influence)
 * motivation: what is the justification for something in a movie


 * 2. Similarity and Repetition ** – establishes patterns and satisfaction of formal expectations
 * able to predict the next step in a series
 * most basic levels: we recall and identify characters and setting
 * more subtly: we observe patterns in lines of dialogue, bits of music, camera positions, characters’ behavior, and story action
 * ** motif ** – any significant repeated element in a film – a color, a place, a person, a sound, lighting or color pattern, character trait, or camera position
 * ** parallelism ** – the process whereby a movie cues the spectator to compare two or more distinct elements by highlighting some similarity.


 * 3. Difference and Variation ** – need for variety, contrast, and changes in a movie
 * motifs are never repeated //exactly//
 * opposition of elements… most often clashes between characters – these are the conflicts that drive or move the story along or create a juxtaposition
 * ** juxtaposition ** – place two like/different things or ideas next to one another for comparison / contrast


 * 4. Development ** – the patterning of similar and differing elements as well as the progression of said elements throughout the movie. Labeled with capital letters (ex. ABCACDADE)
 * formal development can refer to the basic notion of beginning, middle, and end.
 * forms ideas of genre as patterns are evident like a journey, a search, a pattern of mystery
 * ** segmentation ** – a written outline of a movie broken into its major and minor parts marked with numbers and letters
 * scenes – labeled with numbers
 * actions in scene – labeled with small case letters

**“tight”** – a film with unity, has no gaps in the formal relationships
 * 5. Unity/Disunity ** – how the use of elements affect the overall film and how we perceive the relationships as clear and economically (efficiently) used.
 * every element present has a specific set of functions, similarities and differences are determinable, the form develops logically, and there are no unnecessary elements.
 * IS A MATTER OF DEGREE : no film is perfect, each has a puzzling element, a dangling question, an unmotivated action, something left incomplete

Source: Bordwell, David, and Kristin Thompson. //Film Art, An Introduction//. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2001.