INTRODUCTION TO FILM

Inayatul Chusna

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Film is a multimedial narrative form based on a physical record of sounds and moving pictures. It is a performed genre in the sense that it is primarily designed in a public performance.

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Film has its uniqueness:

Its not static. It has various point of view, manipulates time, and conveys boundless sense of space. It communicates directly through concrete images and sounds. it conveys sense or reality, and sometimes has been made to seem more real than reality. Through film fantasy finds the shape.

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 Too many elements happen too quickly in a single viewing make film a complex medium to be analyzed.

So, we should see a film at least twice: watch the film in the usual manner; concern with plot elements, emotional effect, central idea or theme; Focus our full attention on the hows and whys of the filmmakers art.
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Theme
In the context of film analysis, theme refers to the unifying central concern of the film, the special focus that unifies the work. A filmmaker is likely to choose the four major elements he is like to focus on: Plot Emotional effect or mood Character Style or texture All elements are present in all films, but one is predominant
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Plot
In adventure and detective stories, the filmmaker focuses on plot on what happens. Characters, ideas, and emotional effects are subordinate to events. The final outcome is all-important. The theme can be best captured in a concise summary of plot.

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Films focus on plot:

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Emotional Effect or Mood

A relatively large number of films produce mood or emotional effect. Although plot may be important, events are subordinate to the emotional response they produce. Most horror and romantic films have mood and emotional effect.

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Films focus on emotional effect

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Character
Through both action and dialogue, some films focus on the clear delineation of a single unique character. Although plot is important, what happen is important primarily because it helps us understand the character being developed. The major appeal of these characters lies in the qualities that set them apart from ordinary people.
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Films focus on character

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Style or Texture
In small number of films, director tells the story in such a different way that the films style or texture becomes it dominant and most memorable aspect. Such films are often not commercially successful because audiences are not familiar with.

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Films focus on style or texture

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Ideas
Idea may be communicated directly through a particular incident or stated by a particular character. Most often, ideas are presented more subtly. Some categories of ideas: Truth of human nature

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(cont.)
Struggle for human dignity Complexity of human relationship Coming of age/loss of innocence/growing awareness Moral or philosophical riddle Social probles

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Films focus on human nature and human dignity

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Films focus on human relationship and coming of age

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Films focus on moral riddle and social problems

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Identifying Theme
Sometimes describing a film to someone who has not seen it will provide an important clue to the theme, because we tend to describe first the things that made the strongest impression. Identifying theme can be considered both the beginning or the ending of film analysis.
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Evaluating Theme
One standard in theme evaluation is universality. A universal theme is one of lasting interest, meaningful not just to people here and now but to all human beings in all ages.

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