Basics Film-Making 04: The Language of Film

Basics Film-Making 04: The Language of Film explores the means by which film communicates meaning. Most films are a mosaic of fractured images and fragmented narratives, yet we have little problem piecing them together into a complete, meaningful sequence. The average audience is capable of following the most labyrinthine plots, feeling genuine emotion for characters, and believing that their worlds continue to exist even after the film has ended. This book discusses the stories films tell, the sign-systems they deploy, the interpretive contexts we are invited to place them in, and the range of aesthetic elements which contribute to the cinematic image. "Becoming an effective filmmaker involves being deliberately mindful of the structures and conventions that allow film to communicate meaning to a global audience. The Language of Film explores complex topics such as semiotics, narrative, intertextuality, ideology and the aesthetics of film in a clear and straightforward style, enabling you to apply these ideas and techniques to your own analysis or film-making. With full-colour film stills, in-depth case studies and a wide range of practical exercises, The Language of Film will help you to make the transition from consumer to practitioner - from someone who just responds to the language of film, to someone who actively uses it. In the second edition, a new chapter examines how sound contributes to narrative and space to tell stories, create imaginary worlds and shape the realist (and often non-realist) effect of cinema. Along with two case studies from the first edition, Seven (dir: David Fincher) and Citizen Kane (dir: Orson Welles), the second edition also includes five new case studies: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (dir: Ben Stiller), Dead Man's Shoes (dir: Shane Meadows), Hero (dir: Yimou Zhang), Berberian Sound Studio (d: Peter Strickland) and Psycho (d: Alfred Hitchcock)"-- Provided by publisher Basics Film-Making: The Language of Film explores the means by which film communicates meaning to its audience. It will help you understand how films communicate by considering the stories they tell, the sign systems they deply, the interpretive contexts the viewer is invited to place them in, and the range of aesthetic elements that contribute to the cinematic image. Each chapter concludes with a case study in which key ideas are seen in context within a particular film, or a specific scene