Looking at Movies Sixth Edition 6nbsped 9780393674699 039367469x

6TH EDITION
LOOKING AT MOVIES
6TH EDITION
LOOKING AT MOVIES
AN INTRODUCTION TO FILM
RICHARD BARSAM & DAVE MONAHAN
W. W. NORTON & COMPANY

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
RICHARD BARSAM is Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at Hunter College, City University of New York.
He is the author of Nonfiction Film: A Critical History (rev. and exp. ed., 1992), The Vision of Robert Flaherty: The
Artist as Myth and Filmmaker (1988), In the Dark: A Primer for the Movies (1977), and Filmguide to Triumph of
the Will (1975); editor of Nonfiction Film: Theory and Criticism (1976); and contributing author to Paul Mona-
co’s The Sixties: 1960–1969 (Vol. 8 in the History of the American Cinema series, 2001) and Filming Robert Fla-
herty’s Louisiana Story: The Helen van Dongen Diary (ed. Eva Orbanz, 1998). His articles and book reviews have
appeared in Cinema Journal, Quarterly Review of Film Studies, Film Comment, Studies in Visual Communication, and
Harper’s. He has been a member of the Executive Council of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies and the
Editorial Board of Cinema Journal, and he cofounded the journal Persistence of Vision.
DAVE MONAHAN is an Associate Professor of Film Studies at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.
His work as a writer, director, and editor includes narrative, documentary, and experimental films, among them:
Face Age (2016), Things Grow (2011), Ringo (2005), Monkey Junction (2004), Prime Time (1996), and Angels
Watching Over Me (1993). His work has been screened internationally in over seventy film festivals and has
earned numerous awards, including the New Line Cinema Award for Most Original Film (Prime Time) and the
Seattle International Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Best Animated Short Film (Ringo)
v
CONTENTS
About the Authors v

Preface xvii
Acknowledgments xxiii
CHAPTER 1
Looking at Movies 1
Learning Objectives 2
Looking at Movies 2
What Is a Movie? 3
The Movie Director 6
Ways of Looking at Movies 6
Invisibility and Cinematic Language 8
Cultural Invisibility 10
Implicit and Explicit Meaning 11
Viewer Expectations 13
Formal Analysis 15
Alternative Approaches to Analysis 20
Cultural and Formal Analysis in the Star Wars Series 23
Analyzing Looking at Movies 28
Screening Checklist: Looking at Movies 28
Questions for Review 29
CHAPTER 2
Principles of Film Form 31
Film Form 32
Form and Content 32
Form and Expectations 35
Patterns 36
Fundamentals of Film Form 40
Movies Depend on Light 40
Movies Provide an Illusion of Movement 41
Movies Manipulate Space and Time in Unique Ways 43
Realism, Antirealism, and Formalism 49
Verisimilitude 54
vii
viii Contents
Cinematic Language 55
Looking at Film Form: Donnie Darko 57
Content 57
Expectations 57
Patterns 58
Manipulating Space 59
Manipulating Time 60
Realism, Antirealism, and Verisimilitude 60
Analyzing Principles of Film Form 61
Screening Checklist: Principles of Film Form 61
CHAPTER 3
Types of Movies 63
The Idea of Narrative 64
Types of Movies 67
Narrative Movies 68
Documentary Movies 69
Experimental Movies 74
Hybrid Movies 81
Genre 82
Genre Conventions 85
Story Formulas 85
Theme 85
Character Types 86
Setting 86
Presentation 86
Stars 87
Six Major American Genres 88

Gangster 88
Film Noir 90
Science Fiction 93
Horror 95
The Western 98
The Musical 100
Evolution and Transformation of Genre 102
What about Animation? 105
Looking at the Types of Movies in The Lego Movie 109
Analyzing Types of Movies 113
Screening Checklist: Types of Movies 113
Contents ix
CHAPTER 4
Elements of Narrative 115
What Is Narrative? 116
Characters 120
Narrative Structure 124
The Screenwriter 129
Story and Plot 129
Order 134
Events 136
Duration 136
Suspense versus Surprise 140
Repetition 141
Setting 142
Scope 143
Looking at Narrative in Stagecoach 143
Story 144
Narration and Narrator 144
Characters 144
Narrative Structure 146
Plot 147
Order 147
Diegetic and Nondiegetic Elements 147
Events 148
Duration 148
Suspense 149
Setting 149
Scope 149
Analyzing Elements of Narrative 151
Screening Checklist: Elements of Narrative 151
CHAPTER 5
Mise-en-Scène 153
What Is Mise-en-Scène? 154
Design 155
The Production Designer 155
Elements of Design 156
Setting, Decor, and Properties 157
Costume, Makeup, and Hairstyle 160
Lighting 166
Quality 167
Lighting Ratios 168
Direction 169
x Contents
Composition 171
Kinesis 176
Approaches to Mise-en-Scène 178
Looking at Mise-en-Scène in Sleepy Hollow 181
Lighting and Setting 182
Costumes, Makeup, and Hairstyle 184
Analyzing Mise-en-Scène 186
Screening Checklist: Mise-en-Scène 186
CHAPTER 6
Cinematography 187
What Is Cinematography? 188
The Director of Photography 188
Production Terms and Tasks 188
Cinematographic Properties of the Shot 190
Film and Digital Formats 191
Black and White 193
Color 194
Lighting Sources 198
Lenses 199
Framing of the Shot 201
Implied Proximity to the Camera 204
Depth 207
Camera Angle and Height 209
Eye Level 209
High Angle 210
Low Angle 210
Dutch Angle 211
Bird’s-Eye View 211
Camera Movement 211
Pan and Tilt Shots 213
Dolly Shot 214
Zoom 215
Crane Shot 216
Handheld Camera 217
Steadicam 217
Framing: What We See on the Screen 218
Open and Closed Framing 220
Framing and Point of View 222
Speed and Length of the Shot 223
Speed of the Shot 223
Length of the Shot 226
Special Effects 227
Looking at Cinematography in Moonlight 230
Analyzing Cinematography 233
Screening Checklist: Cinematography 233
Contents xi
CHAPTER 7
ACTING 235
What Is Acting? 236
Movie Actors 237
The Evolution of Screen Acting 242
Early Screen-Acting Styles 242
D. W. Griffith and Lillian Gish 243
The Influence of Sound 244
Acting in the Classical Studio Era 246
Method Acting 249
Screen Acting Today 251
Technology and Acting 256
Casting Actors 257
Factors Involved in Casting 258
Aspects of Performance 258
Types of Roles 258
Preparing for Roles 260
Naturalistic and Nonnaturalistic Styles 262
Improvisational Acting 264
Directors and Actors 265
How Filmmaking Affects Acting 266
Framing, Composition, Lighting, and the Long Take 267
The Camera and the Close-up 270
Acting and Editing 272
Looking at Acting 272
Michelle Williams 275
Analyzing Acting 278
Screening Checklist: Acting 278
CHAPTER 8
EDITING 281
What Is Editing? 282
The Film Editor 283
Functions of Editing 285
Fragmentation 286
Juxtaposition and Meaning 289
Spatial Relationships between Shots 292
Temporal Relationships between Shots 293
Duration, Pace, and Rhythm 297
xii Contents
Major Approaches to Editing: Continuity and Discontinuity 300

Conventions of Continuity Editing 301
Shot Types and Master Scene Technique 302
The 180-Degree Rule and Screen Direction 303
Editing Techniques That Maintain Continuity 304
Match Cuts 304
Point-of-View Editing 307
Other Transitions between Shots 307
Jump Cut 307
Fade 308
Dissolve 311
Wipe 311
Iris Shot 312
Looking at Editing: City of God 312

The Opening Sequence 313
Sharpening the Knife 313
The Chicken gets the Gist 314
The Chicken Escapes 315
The Chase, Part 1 315
Parallel Editing 316
The Chase, Part 2 316
The Standoff in the Street 316
Analyzing Editing 317
Screening Checklist: Editing 317
CHAPTER 9
SOUND 319
What Is Sound? 320
Sound Production 321
Design 322
Recording 323
Editing 323
Mixing 324
Describing Film Sound 324
Pitch, Loudness, Quality 324
Fidelity 325
Sources of Film Sound 326
Diegetic versus Nondiegetic 326
On-screen versus Offscreen 327
Internal versus External 328
Types of Film Sound 329
Vocal Sounds 329
Environmental Sounds 331
Music 332
Contents xiii
Silence 338
Types of Sound in Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds 340
Functions of Film Sound 343
Audience Awareness 344
Audience Expectations 345
Expression of Point of View 346
Rhythm 347
Characterization 348
Continuity 348
Emphasis 349
Looking at (and Listening to) Sound in Orson Welles’s
Citizen Kane 350
Sources and Types 352
Functions 352
Characterization 353
Themes 355
Analyzing Sound 356
Screening Checklist: Sound 356
CHAPTER 10
FILM HISTORY 357
What Is Film History? 358
Basic Approaches to Studying Film History 359
The Aesthetic Approach 359
The Technological Approach 359
The Economic Approach 360
The Social History Approach 360
A Short Overview of Film History 361
Precinema 361
Photography 361
Series Photography 362
1891–1903: The First Movies 363
1908–1927: Origins of the Classical Hollywood Style—The Silent Period 366
1919–1931: German Expressionism 370
1918–1930: French Avant-Garde Filmmaking 372
1924–1930: The Soviet Montage Movement 373
1927–1947: Classical Hollywood Style in Hollywood’s Golden Age 376
1942–1951: Italian Neorealism 380
1959–1964: French New Wave 382
1947–Present: Movements and Developments in
International Cinema 385
England and the Free Cinema Movement 386
Denmark and the Dogme 95 Movement 387
xiv Contents
Germany and Austria 388

Japan 389
China 392
The People’s Republic 392
Hong Kong 393
Taiwan 394
India 394
Contemporary Middle Eastern and North African Cinema 396
Algeria 396
Egypt 396
Iraq 396
Iran 396
Israel 397
Lebanon 397
Palestine 397
Latin American Filmmaking 397
Argentina 397
Brazil 397
Cuba 398
Mexico 398
1965–1995: The New American Cinema 399

Looking at Citizen Kane and Its Place in Film History 404
Analyzing Film History 406
Screening Checklist: Film History 406
CHAPTER 11
How the Movies Are Made 409
Money, Methods, and Materials: The Whole Equation 410
Film and Digital Technologies: An Overview 412
Film Technology 412
Digital Technology 415
Film versus Digital Technology 416
How a Movie Is Made 417
Preproduction 417
Production 418
Postproduction 420
The Studio System 420
Organization before 1931 420
Organization after 1931 421
Organization during the Golden Age 422
The Decline of the Studio System 424
The Independent System 426
Labor and Unions 427
Professional Organizations and Standardization 428
Financing in the Industry 429
Contents xv
Marketing and Distribution 431

Production in Hollywood Today 434
Audience Demographics 436
Franchises 436
LGBT Movies 437
African American Movies 438
Foreign Influences on Hollywood Films 438
Looking at the Future of the Film Industry 438
Analyzing How the Movies are Made 441
Screening Checklist: How the Movies are Made 441
Glossary 443
Permissions Acknowledgments 457
Index 461
PREFACE
Students in an introductory film course who read Look- A Focus on Analytic Skills
ing at Movies carefully and take full advantage of its me-
dia program will finish the course with a solid grounding A good introductory film book needs to help students
in the major principles of film form as well as a more make the transition from the natural enjoyment of mov-
perceptive and analytic eye. A short description of the ies to a critical understanding of the form, content, and
book’s main features follows. meanings of movies. Looking at Movies accomplishes
this task in several different ways:
An Accessible and Comprehensive Model Analyses

Hundreds of illustrative examples and analytic readings
Overview of Film of films throughout the book provide students with con-
crete models for their own analytic work. The sustained
Recognized from its first publication as an accessible in-
analyses in Chapter 1 of Juno and the Star Wars saga—
troductory text, Looking at Movies covers key concepts in
films that most undergraduates will have seen and en-
films studies as comprehensively as possible. In addition
joyed but perhaps not viewed with a critical eye—discuss
to its clear and inviting presentation of the fundamen-
not only the formal structures and techniques of these
tals of film form, the text discusses film genres, film his-
films, but also their social and cultural meanings. These
tory, and the relationships between film and culture in
analyses offer students an accessible and jargon-free in-
an extensive but characteristically accessible way, thus
troduction to most of the major themes and goals of an
providing students with a thorough introduction to the
introductory film course, and show students that looking
major subject areas in film studies. In the Sixth Edition
at movies analytically can start immediately, even be-
three chapters in particular—Chapter 5: Mise-en-Scène,
fore they learn the specialized vocabulary of film study.
Chapter 6: Cinematography, and Chapter 8: Editing—
Each chapter also concludes with an in-depth “Looking
arguably the “core” of the text, have been thoroughly
at . . .” analysis that offers a sustained look at a single film
revised by Dave Monahan to be even clearer, more ac-
through the lens of that chapter’s particular focus. A new
cessible, and more enlightening than ever before.
analysis of Moonlight in Chapter 6 and significantly re-
vised analyses of Stagecoach (Chapter 4) and City of God
(Chapter 8) join existing analyses to provide clear models
Film Examples Chosen with for students’ own analyses and interpretations of films.
Undergraduates in Mind
Interactives
From its very first chapter, which features sustained Interactives developed with Dave Monahan provide stu-
analyses and examples from the Star Wars series and dents with hands-on practice manipulating key concepts
Jason Reitman’s Juno (2009), Looking at Movies invites of filmmaking and formal analysis. Students can work
students into the serious study of cinema via films that at their own pace to see how elements such as lighting,
they are probably familiar with and that they have, in all sound, editing, composition, and color function within
likelihood, seen outside the classroom prior to taking a film. A new interactive for the Sixth Edition features a
the course. Major films from the entire history of cinema 3D rendering of the set for the famous cabin scene from
are also generously represented, but always with an eye Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush. Students are able to
to helping students see enjoyment and serious study as move freely around the virtual space with their “cam-
complementary experiences. era” to attempt different shot set-ups and compositions.
xvii
xviii Preface
Available in the ebook and on the Looking at Movies stu- produced in the aspect ratio of the original source—will
dent website, these features can be accessed at digital serve as accurate reference points for students’ analyses.
.wwnorton.com/movies6.
Five Hours of Moving-Image Media
Video Tutorials The ebook and student website that accompany Looking
A series of video tutorials—written, directed, and hosted at Movies offer five hours of video content:
by Dave Monahan—complement and expand on the
book’s analyses. Ranging from 2 to 15 minutes in length, • The twenty-eight video tutorials described above
were specifically created to complement Looking
these tutorials show students via moving-image media
at Movies and are exclusive to this text. Because
what the book describes and illustrates in still images. they are viewable in full-screen, they are suitable
The Sixth Edition offers one new tutorial on the Star for presentation in class as well as for students’
Wars series that expands on the in-text analysis. Help- self-study. In addition to the longer video tutorials,
ful as a quick review of core concepts in the text, these there are also over fifty short-form animations
tutorials also provide useful models for film analysis, based on illustrations in the print text.
thus helping students further develop their analyti- • A mini-anthology of thirteen complete short films,
cal skills. Available in the ebook and on the Looking at ranging from 5 to 30 minutes in length, provides a
Movies student website, these tutorials can be found at curated selection of accomplished and entertaining
digital.wwnorton.com/movies6. examples of short-form cinema, as well as useful
material for short in-class activities or for students’
analyses. Most of the films are also accompanied by
Screening Checklists optional audio commentary from the filmmakers.
Each chapter ends with an Analyzing section that in- This commentary was recorded specifically for
cludes a Screening Checklist feature. This series of lead- Looking at Movies and is exclusive to this text.
ing questions prompts students to apply what they’ve
learned in the chapter to their own critical viewing, in
class or at home. Accessible Presentation;
Effective Pedagogy
The Most Visually Dynamic Among the reasons that Looking at Movies is considered
Text Available the most accessible introductory film text available is its
clear and direct presentation of key concepts and unique
Looking at Movies was written with one goal in mind: pedagogical organization. The first three chapters of the
to prepare students for a lifetime of intelligent and per- book—“Looking at Movies,” “Principles of Film Form,” and
ceptive viewing of motion pictures. In recognition of the “Types of Movies”—provide a comprehensive yet truly
central role visuals play in the film-studies classroom, introductory overview of the major topics and themes
Looking at Movies includes an illustration program that of any film course, giving students a solid grounding in
is both visually appealing and pedagogically focused, as the basics before they move on to study those topics in
well as accompanying moving-image media that are sec- greater depth in later chapters.
ond to none. In addition, pedagogical features throughout provide
a structure that clearly identifies the main ideas and pri-
Hundreds of In-Text Illustrations mary goals of each chapter for students:
The text is illustrated by over 750 illustrations in color
and in black-and-white. Nearly all the still pictures were Learning Objectives
captured from digital or analog film sources, thus en- A checklist at the beginning of every chapter provides a
suring that the images directly reflect the textual dis- brief summary of the core concepts to be covered in the
cussions and the films from which they’re taken. Unlike chapter.
publicity stills, which are attractive as photographs but
less useful as teaching aids, the captured stills through- Extensive Captions
out this book provide visual information that will help Each illustration is accompanied by a caption that elab-
students learn as they read and—because they are re- orates on a key concept or that guides students to look
Preface xix
at elements of the film more analytically. These captions Writing About Movies
expand on the in-text presentation and reinforce stu-
dents’ retention of key terms and ideas. Written by Karen Gocsik (University of California, San
Diego) and the authors of Looking at Movies, this book
Analyzing Sections is a clear and practical overview of the process of writing
At the end of each chapter is a section that ties the terms, papers for film-studies courses. In addition to provid-
concepts, and ideas of the chapter to the primary goal ing helpful information about the writing process, the
of the book: honing students’ own analytical skills. This new Writing About Movies, Fifth Edition, offers a sub-
short overview makes explicit how the knowledge stu- stantial introduction-in-brief to the major topics in film
dents have gained in the chapter can move their own studies, including an overview of the major film theories
analytical work forward. A short Screening Checklist and their potential application to student writing, prac-
provides leading questions that students can ponder as tical advice about note-taking during screenings and
they screen a film or scene. private viewings, information about the study of genre
and film history, and an illustrated glossary of essential
Questions for Review film terms. This inexpensive text is available separately
A section at the end of each chapter tests students’ knowl- or in a significantly discounted package with Looking at
edge of the concepts first mentioned in the Learning Ob- Movies.
jectives at the beginning of the chapter.
Beyond the in-text pedagogy, the abundant resources
that accompany Looking at Movies are designed to help Resources for Instructors
students succeed.
All of the following resources are free to adopters of
Looking at Movies and can be found at wwnorton.com/
instructors or by clicking the Instructor Resources tile
InQuizitive: A game-like, media-rich, at digital.wwnorton.com/movies6. Contact your local
interactive quizzing tool sales representative for access.
Students in an introductory film course are already mo-

Interactive Instructors Guide
tivated to watch movies and discuss them with their
This searchable, sortable site for instructors contains
classmates. But they sometimes struggle to learn the
over 1,000 resources for class preparation and presenta-
essential terms and concepts that make those conver-
tion, including all of the video content from the student
sations more analytical and interesting. InQuizitive is
site, hundreds of downloadable images, Lecture Power-
an engaging, adaptive quizzing tool that helps students
Points, suggestions for in-class activities, clip sugges-
master important concepts and gives them support where
tions from the popular Clip Guide, and more.
they need it most.
Clip Guide
An invaluable class-prep tool, the Clip Guide suggests a
Enhanced Ebook wide range of clips for illustrating film concepts covered
in the text. Each entry in the Clip Guide offers a quick
Looking at Movies is also available as an enhanced ebook overview of the scene, the idea, and crucially, time-
free with every new copy of the print book. This ebook stamp information on exactly where to find each clip.
works on all computers and mobile devices, and embeds The Looking at Movies Clip Guide includes suggestions
all the rich media—video tutorials, animations, interac- from not just the authors but from a wide range of teach-
tives, and more—into one seamless experience. Instruc- ers, offering a broad perspective of insightful teaching
tors can focus student reading by sharing notes in the tips that can inspire and save valuable prep time.
ebook, as well as embed images and other videos. Re-
ports on student and class-wide access and time on task Test Bank
also enable instructors to monitor student reading and Each chapter of the Test Bank includes 60–65 multiple-
engagement. choice and 10–15 essay questions (with sample answer
xx Preface
guides). Questions are labeled by concept, difficulty, and

Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Coursepacks for Learning

Management Systems
Ready-to-use coursepacks for Blackboard and other
learning management systems are available free of
charge to instructors who adopt Looking at Movies.
These coursepacks offer customizable quizzes, chapter
overviews and learning objectives, and links to media.
***
Looking at Movies is not just a book that is supplemented

by media. Looking at Movies is made of media. For more
information about how to make the most out of Looking
at Movies, see “Five Steps to Getting the Most Out of the
Looking at Movies Digital Resources” on the following
page.
Preface xxi
Five steps to getting the most out of the
LOOKING AT MOVIES DIGITAL RESOURCES

Looking at Movies offers a wealth of resources for students and instructors. This one-page guide is intended to
help instructors incorporate these resources into their course.
HIJK New to the Sixth Edition, Use interactives to help students understand
InQuizitive is Norton’s game-like quizzing tool. filmmaking decisions. Six interactives found at
InQuizitive uses interactive question types and rich DIGITAL.WWNORTON.COM/MOVIES6 provide stu
media to help students understand key film terms dents with hands-on practice manipulating key con-
and concepts from the book. InQuizitive is adaptive, cepts of filmmaking and formal analysis. Students can
so students receive extra help on the concepts they work at their own pace to see how elements such as
might be struggling with, and it integrates seamlessly lighting, sound, editing, composition, and color func-
with your learning management system, making tion within a film. A new interactive for the Sixth Edi-
it easy to track student progress. A code to access tion features a 3D rendering of the set for the famous
InQuizitive is found in every new copy of Looking cabin scene from Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush.
at Movies, Sixth Edition, or students can purchase Students are able to move freely around the virtual
access at DIGITAL.WWNORTON.COM/MOVIES6. space with their “camera” to attempt different shot
set-ups and compositions.
Make sure your students know about the
ebook. Students can get all of the great content Use the Interactive Instructor’s Guide (IIG) and
of the print book enhanced with animations, video Norton Coursepacks to plan and prep your
tutorials, and links to interactives with the Looking course. This searchable, sortable site for instructors
at Movies, Sixth Edition ebook. All students who contains over 1,000 resources for class prep and pre-
purchase a new print book get automatic access to the sentation, including all of the video content from the
ebook. Students can purchase the ebook at DIGITAL student site, hundreds of downloadable images, Lec-
.WWNORTON.COM/MOVIES6 as a standalone prod ture PowerPoints, suggestions for in-class activities,
uct for just a fraction of the cost of the print text. clip suggestions from the popular Clip Guide, a 700+
For instructor access to the ebook, contact your question test bank, and more. Finally, Norton Course-
Norton sales representative. packs for Blackboard and other learning management
systems are available free of charge to instructors who
Incorporate exclusive Looking at Movies video
adopt Looking at Movies. Norton Coursepacks allow
content into your course. Students can find over
you to plug customizable quizzes, chapter overviews,
five hours of video content at DIGITAL.WWNORTON
and links to media right into your existing online
.COM/MOVIES6, including twenty-eight 5-to-30-
course. For access to the IIG and Norton Coursepacks,
minute video tutorials on key concepts in the book,
contact your Norton sales representative or request
written, directed, and narrated by Dave Monahan.
access at WWNORTON.COM/INSTRUCTORS.
These videos are ideal for in-class presentation or for
assigning to students for at-home viewing. In addi
tion to the video tutorials, the site also offers over
fifty short animations and a collection of thirteen com
pete short films.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing a book seems very much at times like the col- recording and design. A number of talented university
laborative effort involved in making movies. In writing and community friends helped create the new Camera
this Sixth Edition of Looking at Movies, I am grateful as Moderator module that re-creates a scene from Char-
to my generous partners at W. W. Norton & Company. lie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush. Mark Eaton modeled the
Chief among them is my editor, Pete Simon, who has set, furnishings, and props; Mark Sorenson designed
thoughtfully guided and improved every edition. Other the costumes; Michael Rosander and Anthony Lawson
collaborators at Norton were Thom Foley, senior project played ‘The Lone Prospector’ and ‘Big Jim McKay’;
editor; Benjamin Reynolds, associate production direc- Stephanie Galbraith did make-up; and Boston Dao set
tor; Carly Fraser Doria, media editor; Alex Lee, media the lights. Brittany Morago scanned the actors, assem-
editorial assistant; Cooper Wilhelm, media project ed- bled the various digital components, and developed the
itor; Rachel Truong and Pat Cartelli, media designers; software for the interactive.
Kimberly Bowers, marketing manager; Gerra Goff, asso Thanks, too, to Melissa Lenos (Donnelly College), who
ciate editor; and Katie Pak, editorial assistant. It has been authored the questions and feedback for the exciting
a pleasure to work with such a responsive, creative, and new InQuizitive feature and who produced the lecture
supportive team. PowerPoints for this edition; to Kevin Sandler (Arizona
My sincere thanks to my longtime mentor Richard State University), author of the instructors’ Test Bank
Barsam, who wrote the first two editions of Looking at and Coursepack supplements; and Richard Wiebe (Uni-
Movies before I joined him as co-author for the three versity of Iowa), who authored the Clip Guide.
editions that followed. Richard’s knowledge and love of Love and thanks to my family: Julie, for her patience
cinema permeate every chapter in this book. Each new and support; Iris, for teaching me about narrative gam-
word I write is in service to his original vision. ing and contributing an illustration to the new Star Wars
I would also like to thank the faculty, staff, and stu- tutorial; and Rae, for helping me to look at all movies
dents of the Film Studies Department at the University with fresh eyes.
of North Carolina, Wilmington. My colleagues Todd
Berliner, Glenn Pack, Sue Richardson, Mariana John-
son, Elizabeth Rawitsch, Shannon Silva, Andre Silva, Reviewers
Tim Palmer, Carlos Kase, Chip Hackler, Terry Linehan,
Georg Koszulinski, Lexi Cavazos, Alex Markowski, and I would like to join the publisher in thanking all the pro-
David Kreutzer contributed expertise and advice, as did fessors and students who provided valuable guidance as
university colleagues Dale Cohen, Richard Blaylock, and I planned this revision. Looking at Movies is their book,
Myke Holmes. Film Studies students Christian Wheeler, too, and I am grateful to both students and faculty who
Greg Guidry, Shanik Ramirez, Austin Chesnutt, Connor have cared enough about this text to help make it better.
Lummert, Alexis Dickerson, Garrett Farrington, and Thoughtful and substantive reviews from the follow-
Brendan Murphy—as well as alumni Charles Riggs and ing colleagues and fellow instructors helped shape both
Kevin Bahr—served as research assistants. Charles Riggs the book and its media program for this Sixth Edition:
contributed invaluable research and ideas to the revi- Drew Ayers (Eastern Washington University), Claudia
sion of chapter 11. My colleague Aaron Cavazos deserves Calhoun (New York University), Kathleen Coate (Nor-
special thanks for his postproduction contributions to mandale Community College), Laurene DeBord-Foulk
this edition’s new media additions, including the new (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), Ryan Friedman (Ohio
Star Wars formal analysis tutorial. Aaron created the State University), Anna Froula (East Carolina Univer-
animation and motion graphics and supervised the sound sity), Robert S. Goald (University of Nevada, Las Vegas),
xxiii
xxiv Acknowledgments
Sarah Hamblin (University of Massachusetts, Boston), Neil Goldstein, Daryl Gonder, Patrick Gonder, Cynthia
Matthew Hanson (Eastern Michigan University), Peter Gottshall, Curtis Green, Michael Green, William Green,
Lester (Brock University), Shellie Michael (Volunteer Tracy Greene, Michael Griffin, Peter Hadorn, William
State University), William Molloy (Brookdale Com- Hagerty, Mickey Hall, Stefan Hall, Cable Hardin, John
munity College), Matthew Montemorano (Brookdale Harrigan, Catherine Hastings, Sherri Hill, Glenn Hopp,
Community College), Kensil Bradford Owen (Califor- Tamra Horton, Alan Hutchison, Mike Hypio, Tom Isbell,
nia State University, San Bernadino), Jennifer Proctor Christopher Jacobs, Delmar Jacobs, Mitchell Jarosz,
(University of Michigan), Paul N. Reinsch (Texas Tech John Lee Jellicorse, Jennifer Jenkins, Robert S. Jones,
University), Jared Saltzman (Bergen Community Col- Matthew Judd, Charles Keil, Joyce Kessel, Mark Kessler,
lege), Kevin Sandler (Arizona State University), Mark Garland Kimmer, Tammy A. Kinsey, Lynn Kirby, David
von Schlemmer (University of Central Missouri), Phil- Kranz, James Kreul, David Kreutzer, Mikael Kreuz-
lip Sipiora (University of South Florida), and Katherine riegler, Andrew Kunka, Nee Lam, G. S. Larke-Walsh, Cory
Spring (Wilfred Laurier University). Lash, Elizabeth Lathrop, Melissa Lenos, Leon Lewis, Mil-
Since the First Edition’s publication in 2004, the pub- dred Lewis, Vincent LoBrutto, Jane Long, John Long, Al-
lisher and authors of Looking at Movies have depended bert Lopez, Jay Loughrin, Daniel Machon, Yuri Makino,
on constructive criticism and good advice from the hun- Travis Malone, Todd McGowan, Casey McKittrick, Ma-
dreds of scholars and teachers who have used the book in ria Mendoza-Enright, Andrea Mensch, Sharon Mitchler,
their courses over the years. The following people all had Mary Alice Molgard, John Moses, Sheila Nayar, Sarah
a hand in shaping previous editions of Looking at Mov- Nilsen, Stephanie O’Brien, Jun Okada, Ian Olney, Hank
ies: Rebecca Alvin, Sandra Annett, Edwin Arnold, Antje Ottinger, Dan Pal, Mitchell Parry, Frances Perkins, Chris-
Ascheid, Dyrk Ashton, Tony Avruch, Peter Bailey, Scott tina Petersen, Gary Peterson, Klaus Phillips, W. D. Phil-
Baugh, Harry Benshoff, Mark Berrettini, Yifen Beus, lips, Alexander Pitofsky, Lisa Plinski, Leland Poague,
Mike Birch, Robin Blaetz, Richard Blake, Ellen Bland, Walter Renaud, Patricia Roby, Carole Rodgers, George
Carroll Blue, James Bogan, Laura Bouza, Katrina Boyd, Rodman, Stuart Rosenberg, Michael Rowin, Ben Rus-
Aaron Braun, Karen Budra, Don Bullens, Gerald Bur- sell, Kevin Sandler, Bennet Schaber, Mike Schoenecke,
gess, Derek Burrill, James B. Bush, Jeremy Butler, Gary Hertha Schulze, David Seitz, Matthew Sewell, Timothy
Byrd, Ed Cameron, Jose Cardenas, Jerry Carlson, Emily Shary, Robert Sheppard, Rosalind Sibielski, Robert Sick-
Carman, Diane Carson, Donna Casella, Robert Castaldo, els, Nicholas Sigman, Charles Silet, Eric Smoodin, Jason
Beth Clary, Darcy Cohn, Megan Condis, Marie Connelly, Spangler, Michael Stinson, Ken Stofferahn, Bill Swan-
Roger Cook, John G. Cooper, Robert Coscarelli, Bob son, Molly Swiger, Joe Tarantowski, Susan Tavernetti,
Cousins, Angela Dancy, Donna Davidson, Rebecca Dean, Edwin Thompson, Frank Tomasulo, Deborah Tudor, Bill
Marshall Deutelbaum, Kent DeYoung, Michael DiRaimo, Vincent, Richard Vincent, Ken White, Mark Williams,
Carol Dole, Rodney Donahue, Dan Dootson, John Ernst, Deborah Wilson, Elizabeth Wright, Suzie Young, and
James Fairchild, Adam Fischer, Craig Fischer, Tay Michael Zryd.
Fizdale, Dawn Marie Fratini, Isabelle Freda, Karen Ful- Thank you all.
ton, Paul Gaustad, Christopher Gittings, Barry Goldfarb, Dave Monahan
6TH EDITION
LOOKING AT MOVIES
Citizen Kane (1941). Orson Welles, director. Pictured: Orson Welles.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017). Rian Johnson, director. Pictured: Kelly Marie Tran and John Boyega.
LOOKING AT MOVIES
CHAPTER
1
2 Chapter 1 Looking at Movies
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to
nn appreciate the difference between passively watching
movies and actively looking at movies.
nn understand the defining characteristics that distinguish
movies from other forms of art.
nn understand how and why most of the formal
mechanisms of a movie remain invisible to casual
viewers.
nn understand the relationship between viewers’ 1
expectations and filmmakers’ decisions about the

form and style of their movies.
nn explain how shared belief systems contribute to hidden
movie meaning.
nn explain the difference between implicit and explicit
meaning, and understand how the different levels of
movie meaning contribute to interpretive analysis.
nn understand the differences between formal analysis
and the types of analysis that explore the relationship 2
between culture and the movies.
nn begin looking at movies more analytically and Movies shape the way we see the world
perceptively. By presenting a gay relationship in the context of the archetypal
American West and casting popular leading men (Heath Ledger,
Jake Gyllenhaal) in starring roles that embodied traditional notions
of masculinity, Brokeback Mountain (2005; director Ang Lee) [1] in
Looking at Movies fluenced the way many Americans perceived same-sex relation
ships and gay rights. In the 13 years since the film’s release, LGBT
characters and story lines have become increasingly commonplace,
In just over a hundred years, movies have evolved into and the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. Recently,
a complex form of artistic representation and commu- even popular horror films have contributed to the cultural conversa
nication: they are at once a hugely influential, wildly tion on a number of social issues. Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017)
[2] confronts racism and privilege; The Purge (2013; director James
profitable global industry and a modern art—the most
DeMonaco) and its three (so far) sequels examine America’s gun
popular art form today. Popular may be an understate-
culture; and Don’t Breathe (2016; director Fede Alvarez) is a critical
ment. This art form has permeated our lives in ways that portrait of urban and social decay.
extend far beyond the multiplex. We watch movies on
hundreds of cable and satellite channels. We buy movies
online or from big-box retailers. We rent movies through
the mail and from Redbox machines at the supermarket.
We TiVo movies, stream movies, and download movies obligations—a form of escape, entertainment, and plea-
to watch on our televisions, our computers, and our sure. Motion pictures had been popular for 50 years
smartphones. before even most filmmakers, much less scholars, con-
Unless you were raised by wolves—and possibly even sidered movies worthy of serious study. But motion pic-
if you were—you have likely devoted thousands of hours tures are much more than entertainment. The movies
to absorbing the motion-picture medium. With so much we see shape the way we view the world around us and
experience, no one could blame you for wondering why our place in that world. Moreover, a close analysis of any
you need a course or this book to tell you how to look at particular movie can tell us a great deal about the artist,
movies. society, or industry that created it. Surely any art form
After all, you might say, “It’s just a movie.” For most with that kind of influence and insight is worth under-
of us most of the time, movies are a break from our daily standing on the deepest possible level.
What Is a Movie? 3
Movies involve much more than meets the casual ment”), originates from the name that filmmaking pi-
eye . . . or ear, for that matter. Cinema is a subtle—some oneers Auguste and Louis Lumière coined for the hall
might even say sneaky—medium. Because most movies where they exhibited their invention; film derives from
seek to engage viewers’ emotions and transport them the celluloid strip on which the images that make up
inside the world presented on-screen, the visual vocabu- motion pictures were originally captured, cut, and pro-
lary of film is designed to play upon those same instincts jected; and movies is simply short for motion pictures.
that we use to navigate and interpret the visual and aural Because we consider all cinema worthy of study, acknowl-
information of our “real life.” This often imperceptible edge that films are increasingly shot on formats other
cinematic language, composed not of words but of myr- than film stock, and believe motion to be the essence
iad integrated techniques and concepts, connects us to of the movie medium, this book favors the term used in
the story while deliberately concealing the means by our title. That said, we’ll mix all three terms into these
which it does so. pages (as evidenced in the preceding sentence) for the
Yet behind this mask, all movies, even the most bla- sake of variety, if nothing else.
tantly commercial ones, contain layers of complexity To most people, a movie is a popular entertainment,
and meaning that can be studied, analyzed, and appre- a product produced and marketed by a large commer-
ciated. This book is devoted to that task—to actively cial studio. Regardless of the subject matter, this movie
looking at movies rather than just passively watching is pretty to look at—every image is well polished by an
them. It will teach you to recognize the many tools and army of skilled artists and technicians. The finished
principles that filmmakers employ to tell stories, convey product, which is about 2 hours long, screens initially
information and meaning, and influence our emotions in movie theaters; is eventually released to DVD and
and ideas. Blu-ray, streaming, download, or pay-per-view; and ul-
Once you learn to speak this cinematic language, timately winds up on television. This common expecta-
you’ll be equipped to understand the movies that per- tion is certainly understandable: most movies that reach
vade our world on multiple levels: as narrative, as ar- most English-speaking audiences have followed a good
tistic expression, and as a reflection of the cultures that part of this model for three-quarters of a century. Of
produce and consume them. course, in this century, that distribution chain is evolv-
ing. Increasingly, movies are released simultaneously to
the theatrical and home-video markets. Companies such
What Is a Movie? as Amazon and Netflix produce original films for both
theatrical release and their streaming services. In 2017,
Now that we’ve established what we mean by looking at Netflix produced two big-budget feature films that were
movies, the next step is to attempt to answer the decep- released directly to its streaming subscribers: Bright (di-
tively simple question, What is a movie? As this book will rector David Ayer) and Okja (director Bong Joon-ho).
repeatedly illustrate, when it comes to movies, nothing Regardless of their point of origin, almost all of these
is as straightforward as it appears. ubiquitous commercial, feature-length movies share an
Let’s start, for example, with the word movies. If the other basic characteristic: narrative. When it comes to
course that you are taking while reading this book is “In- categorizing movies, the narrative designation simply
troduction to Film” or “Cinema Studies 101,” does that means that these movies tell fictional (or at least fiction-
mean that your course and this book focus on two differ- alized) stories. Of course, if you think of narrative in its
ent things? What’s the difference between a movie and a broadest sense, every movie that selects and arranges
film? And where does the word cinema fit in? subject matter in a cause-and-effect sequence of events
For whatever reason, the designation film is often is employing a narrative structure.

For all their creative
applied to a motion picture that critics and scholars flexibility, movies by their very nature must travel a
consider to be more serious or challenging than the mov straight line. A conventional motion picture is essen-
ies that entertain the masses at the multiplex. The still tially one very long strip of images. This linear quality
loftier designation of cinema seems reserved for groups makes movies perfectly suited to develop subject matter
of films that are considered works of art (e.g., “French in a sequential progression. When a medium so compat-
cinema”). The truth is, the three terms are essentially ible with narrative is introduced to a culture with an al-
interchangeable. Cinema, from the Greek kinesis (“move ready well-established storytelling tradition, it’s easy to
in some form, cultural differences often affect exactly

how these stories are presented. Narrative films made
in Africa, Asia, and Latin America reflect storytelling
traditions very different from the story structure we ex-
pect from films produced in North America and Western
Europe. The unscripted, minimalist films by Iranian direc
tor Abbas Kiarostami, for example, often intentionally
lacked dramatic resolution, inviting viewers to imag-
ine their own ending.1 Sanskrit dramatic traditions have
inspired “Bollywood” Indian cinema to feature staging
that breaks the illusion of reality favored by Hollywood
Are video games movies? movies, such as actors that consistently face, and even
For the purposes of this introduction to cinema, the answer is no.
directly address, the audience.2 This practice, known as
But video games employ cause-and-effect narrative structure, char
breaking the fourth wall, refers to the imaginary, invisible
acterization, and a cinematic approach to images and sounds in ways
that are beginning to blur the line between movies and gaming. Ti “wall” between the movie and the audience watching it.
tles such as The Last of Us (2013) feature complex stories and incor The growing influence of these and other even less
porate noninteractive movie-like scenes (known as cutscenes). Of familiar approaches, combined with emerging technol-
course, unlike a conventional movie, the story in a video game can ogies that make filmmaking more accessible and afford-
be shaped by its audience: the player. But viewers can also choose
able, have made possible an ever-expanding range of
to watch a video game in the same way they watch a film. Some
independent movies created by crews as small as a single
players record their journey through the game’s story, then post the
linear viewing experience on YouTube as a “walk-through” that in filmmaker and shot on any one of a variety of film and
many ways resembles a narrative movie. But is a walk-through a digital formats. The Irish director John Carney shot his
movie? If not, what is it? If so, is the recording gamer a character, a musical love story Once (2006) on the streets of Dublin
director, or simply a surrogate? with a cast of mostly nonactors and a small crew using
consumer-grade video cameras. American Oren Peli’s
homemade horror movie Paranormal Activity (2007) was
understand how popular cinema came to be dominated produced on a minuscule $15,000 budget and was shot
by those movies devoted to telling fictional stories. Be- entirely from the point of view of its characters’ cam-
cause these fiction films are so central to most readers’ corder. Once received critical acclaim and an Academy
experience and so vital to the development of cinema Award for Best Original Song; Paranormal Activity even-
as an art form and cultural force, we’ve made narrative tually earned almost $200 million at the box office, mak-
movies the focus of this introductory textbook. ing it one of the most profitable movies in the history
But keep in mind that commercial, feature-length nar of cinema. Even further out on the fringes of popular
rative films represent only a fraction of the expressive culture, an expanding universe of alternative cinematic
potential of this versatile medium. Cinema and narra- creativity continues to flourish. These noncommercial
tive are both very flexible concepts. Documentary films movies innovate styles and aesthetics, can be of any
strive for objective, observed veracity, of course, but length, and exploit an array of exhibition options—from
that doesn’t mean they don’t tell stories. These mov- independent theaters to cable television to film festivals
ies often arrange and present factual information and to Netflix streaming to YouTube.
images in the form of a narrative, whether it be a preda- And let’s not forget the narrative motion pictures clas
tor’s attempts to track and kill its prey, an activist’s quest sified broadly as television. Cable networks and streaming
to free a wrongfully convicted innocent, or a rookie ath- services now produce high-quality cinematic programs
lete’s struggle to make the big leagues. While virtually that tell extended stories over multiple episodes. The
every movie, regardless of category, employs narrative only things that distinguish a movie from series such
1. Laura Mulvey, “Kiarostami’s Uncertainty Principle,” Sight and Sound 8, no. 6 (June 1998): 24–27.
2. Philip Lutgendorf, “Is There an Indian Way of Filmmaking?” International Journal of Hindu Studies 10, no. 3 (December 2006): 227–256.
What Is a Movie? 5
as Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Netflix’s Stranger

Things are the length of the narrative and the original
intended viewing device. These longer narratives are se-
rialized over the course of many episodes, but those epi-
sodes can be binge-watched sequentially like a very long
movie. The quality of the writing, acting, cinematogra-
phy, and editing rivals—and sometimes exceeds—that
found in theatrically released feature-length movies.
No matter what you call it, no matter the approach,
no matter the format, and no matter the ultimate dura
tion, every movie is a motion picture: a series of still im-
ages that, when viewed in rapid succession (usually 24
images per second), the human eye and brain see as fluid
movement. In other words, movies move. That essen-
tial quality is what separates movies from all other two- Is virtual reality a movie?
dimensional pictorial art forms. Each image in every The answer to that question is no, but it is certainly something. Virtual
reality (sometimes abbreviated as VR) immerses viewers in a sim
motion picture draws upon basic compositional principles
ulated three-dimensional environment. Instead of watching a linear
developed by these older cousins (photography, paint- series of moving images on a separate and finite two-dimensional
ing, drawing, etc.), including the arrangement of visual screen, the VR viewer wears a special headset that makes it appear
elements and the interaction of light and shadow. But as if she is surrounded by a digitally animated environment or a space
unlike photography or painting, films are constructed captured in 360 degrees by a specialized camera. Like a movie, a
from individual shots—an unbroken span of action cap VR experience can be curated by technicians and artists: they can
provide us engaging and spectacular things to look at. But virtual
tured by an uninterrupted run of a motion-picture
reality cannot control exactly when and how we see those things.
camera—that allow visual elements to rearrange them- For example, a movie can choose to show us a close-up detail in a
selves and the viewer’s perspective itself to shift within character’s expression at a particular moment and in a precise way
any composition. that conveys specific meaning and elicits a particular emotional re
And this movie movement extends beyond any single sponse. A viewer shown the same thing as part of a VR experience
shot because movies are constructed of multiple individ- would not necessarily be close enough to see the detail and could
even be looking the other way at something else at the moment
that particular detail emerged. Innovative filmmakers and artists are
already finding exciting new ways to tell stories using the immersive
qualities of virtual reality. Those VR experiences will employ many
cinematic elements, and they will certainly make for fascinating view
ing, but they won’t be movies—at least not the kind we are exam
ining in this textbook.
ual shots joined to one another in an extended sequence.

With each transition from one shot to another, a movie
is able to move the viewer through time and space. This
Cultural narrative traditions joining together of discrete shots, or editing, gives mov-
The influence of Sanskrit dramatic traditions on Indian cinema can ies the power to choose what the viewer sees and how
be seen in the prominence of staging that breaks the illusion of re that viewer sees it at any given moment.
ality favored by Hollywood movies, such as actors that consistently To understand better how movies control what au-
face, and even directly address, the audience. In this image from the
diences see, we can compare cinema to another, closely
opening minutes of Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express (2013), the lonely
bachelor Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) interrupts his own voice-over nar
related medium: live theater. A stage play, which con-
ration to complain to viewers about attractive female customers fines the viewer to a single wide-angle view of the ac-
who consider him only a “brother. ” tion, might display a group of actors, one of whom holds
a small object in her hand. The audience sees every cast The other primary collaborators on the creative
member at once and continually from the same angle team—screenwriter, actors, director of photography, pro
and in the same relative size. The object in one perform duction designer, editor, and sound designer—all work
er’s hand is too small to see clearly, even for those few with the director to develop their contributions, and the
viewers lucky enough to have front-row seats. The play- director must approve their decisions as they progress.
wright, director, and actors have very few practical op- The director is at the top of the creative hierarchy, re-
tions to convey the object’s physical properties, much sponsible for choosing (or at least approving) each of
less its narrative significance or its emotional meaning those primary collaborators. A possible exception is the
to the character. In contrast, a movie version of the same screenwriter, though even then the director often con-
story can establish the dramatic situation and spatial tributes to revisions and assigns additional writers to
relationships of its subjects from the same wide-angle provide revised or additional material.
viewpoint, then instantaneously jump to a composition The director’s primary responsibilities are perfor-
isolating the actions of the character holding the object, mance and camera—and the coordination of the two.
then cut to a close-up view revealing the object to be a The director selects actors for each role, works with
charm bracelet, move up to feature the character’s face those actors to develop their characters, leads rehearsals,
as she contemplates the bracelet, then leap 30 years blocks performances in relationship with the camera on
into the past to a depiction of the character as a young set, and modulates those performances from take to take
girl receiving the jewelry as a gift. Editing’s capacity to and shot to shot as necessary throughout the shoot. He
isolate details and juxtapose images and sounds within or she works with the director of photography to de-
and between shots gives movies an expressive agility im- sign an overall cinematic look for the movie and to vi-
possible in any other dramatic art or visual medium. sualize the framing and composition of each shot before
and during shooting. Along the way, as inspiration or
obstacles necessitate, changes are made to everything
The Movie Director from the script to storyboards to blocking to edits.
Throughout this book, we give primary credit to the mov- The director is the one making or approving each
ie’s director; you’ll see references, for example, to Patty adjustment—sometimes after careful deliberation, some
Jenkins’s Wonder Woman (2017) or to Guillermo del times on the fly.
Toro’s The Shape of Water (2017). You may not know On the set, the director does more than call “action”
anything about the directorial style of Ms. Jenkins or and “cut” and give direction to the actors and cinema-
Mr. del Toro, but if you enjoy these movies, you might tographer. He or she must review the footage if neces-
seek out their work in the future. sary, decide when a shot or scene is satisfactory, and say
Still, all moviegoers know—if only from seeing the that it’s time to move on to the next task. In the editing
seemingly endless credits at the end of most movies— room, the director sometimes works directly with the
that today’s movies represent not the work of a single editor throughout the process but more often reviews
artist, but a collaboration between a group of creative successive “cuts” of scenes and provides the editor with
contributors. In this collaboration, the director’s role feedback to use in revision.
is basically that of a coordinating lead artist. He or she
is the vital link between creative, production, and tech-
nical teams. The bigger the movie, the larger the crew, Ways of Looking at Movies
and the more complex and challenging the collabora-
tion. Though different directors bring varying levels of Every movie is a complex synthesis—a combination of
foresight, pre-planning, and control to a project, every many separate, interrelated elements that form a co-
director must have a vision for the story and style to inherent whole. A quick scan of this book’s table of con-
form the initial instructions to collaborators and to ap- tents will give you an idea of just how many elements
ply in the continual decision-making process necessary get mixed together to make a movie. Anyone attempt-
in every stage of production. In short, the director must ing to comprehend a complex synthesis must rely on
be a strong leader with a passion for filmmaking and a analysis—the act of taking apart something complicated to
gift for collaboration. figure out what it is made of and how it all fits together.
1 2
3 4
5 6
The expressive agility of movies

Even the best seats in the house offer a viewer of a theatrical production like Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet
Street only one unchanging view of the action. The stage provides the audience a single wide-angle view of the scene in which the title char
acter is reintroduced to the set of razors he will use in his bloody quest for revenge [1]. In contrast, cinema’s spatial dexterity allows viewers
of Tim Burton’s 2007 film adaptation to experience the same scene as a sequence of fifty-nine viewpoints. Each one isolates and emphasizes
distinct meanings and perspectives, including Sweeney Todd’s (Johnny Depp) point of view as he gets his first glimpse of his long-lost tools
of the trade [2]; his emotional reaction as he contemplates righteous murder [3]; the razor replacing Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) as
the focus of his attention [4]; and a dizzying simulated camera move that starts with the vengeful antihero [5], then pulls back to reveal the
morally corrupt city he (and his razors) will soon terrorize [6].
A chemist breaks down a compound substance into Recognizing a viewer’s tendency (especially when sit-
its constituent parts to learn more than just a list of in- ting in a dark theater, staring at a large screen) to identify
gredients. The goal usually extends to determining how subconsciously with the camera’s viewpoint, early film-
the identified individual components work together making pioneers created a film grammar (or cinematic
toward some sort of outcome: What is it about this par- language) that draws upon the way we automatically in-
ticular mixture that makes it taste like strawberries, or terpret visual information in our real lives, thus allow-
grow hair, or kill cockroaches? Likewise, film analysis ing audiences to absorb movie meaning intuitively—and
involves more than breaking down a sequence, a scene, instantly.
or an entire movie to identify the tools and techniques The fade-out/fade-in is one of the most straight-
that compose it; the investigation is also concerned with forward examples of this phenomenon. When such a
the function and potential effect of that combination: transition is meant to convey a passage of time between
Why does it make you laugh, or prompt you to tell your scenes, the last shot of a scene grows gradually darker
friend to see it, or incite you to join the Peace Corps? The (fades out) until the screen is rendered black for a mo-
search for answers to these sorts of questions boils down ment. The first shot of the subsequent scene then fades
to one essential inquiry: What does it mean? For the rest in out of the darkness. Viewers don’t have to think about
of the chapter, we’ll explore film analysis by applying what this means; our daily experience of time’s passage
that question to some very different movies: first, and marked by the setting and rising of the sun lets us under-
most extensively, the 2007 independent film Juno, and stand intuitively that significant story time has elapsed
then the perennial blockbuster Star Wars film series. over that very brief moment of screen darkness.
Unfortunately, or perhaps intriguingly, not all movie A low-angle shot communicates in a similarly hid-
meaning is easy to see. As we mentioned earlier, mov- den fashion. When, near the end of Juno (2007; direc-
ies have a way of hiding their methods and meaning. So tor Jason Reitman), we see the title character happily
before we dive into specific approaches to analysis, let’s transformed back into a “normal” teenager, our sense of
wade a little deeper into this whole notion of hidden, or her newfound empowerment is heightened by the low
“invisible,” meaning. angle from which this (and the next) shot is captured.
Viewers’ shared experience of literally looking up at
powerful figures—people on stages, at podiums, memo-
Invisibility and Cinematic Language rialized in statues, or simply bigger than them—sparks
The moving aspect of moving pictures is one reason for an automatic interpretation of movie subjects seen from
this invisibility. Movies simply move too fast for even
the most diligent viewers to consciously consider every-
thing they’ve seen. When we read a book, we can pause
to ponder the meaning or significance of any word, sen-
tence, or passage. Our eyes often flit back to review some-
thing we’ve already read in order to further comprehend
its meaning or to place a new passage in context. Sim-
ilarly, we can stand and study a painting or sculpture or
photograph for as long as we require to absorb whatever
meaning we need or want from it. But until very recently,
the moviegoer’s relationship with every cinematic com-
position has been transitory. We experience a movie shot,
which is capable of delivering multiple layers of visual and
auditory information, for the briefest of moments before Cinematic invisibility: low angle
When it views a subject from a low camera angle, cinematic lan
it is taken away and replaced with another moving image
guage taps our instinctive association of figures who we must lit
and another and another. If you are watching a movie
erally “look up to” with figurative or literal power. In this case, the
the way it is designed to be experienced, there is little penultimate scene in Juno emphasizes the newfound freedom and
time to contemplate the various potential meanings of resultant empowerment the title character feels by presenting her
any single movie moment. from a low angle for the first time in the film.
1 2
Invisible editing: cutting on action in Juno

Juno and Leah’s playful wrestling continues over the cut between two shots, smoothing and hiding the instantaneous switch from one cam
era viewpoint to the next. Overlapping sound and the matching hairstyles, wardrobe, and lighting further obscure the audience’s awareness
that these two separate shots were filmed minutes or even hours apart and from different camera positions.
this angle. Depending on context, we see these figures as every edit, far from being invisible, should be very
strong, noble, or threatening. noticeable—a clash or collision of contiguous shots, rather
This is all very well; the immediacy of cinematic lan- than a seamless transition from one shot to the next.
guage is what makes movies one of the most v isceral ex- Filmmakers whose work is labeled “experimental”—
periences that art has to offer. The problem is that it also inspired by Eisenstein and other predecessors—embrace
makes it all too easy to take movie meaning for granted. self-reflexive styles that confront and confound con-
The relatively seamless presentation of visual and ventional notions of continuity. Even some commercial
narrative information found in most movies can also films use techniques that undermine invisibility: in The
cloud our search for movie meaning. To exploit cinema’s Limey (1999), for example, Hollywood filmmaker Steven
capacity for transporting audiences into the world of Soderbergh deliberately jumbles spatial and chrono-
the story, the commercial filmmaking process stresses logical continuity, forcing viewers to actively scrutinize
polished continuity of lighting, performance, costume, the cinematic structures on-screen in order to assem-
makeup, and movement to smooth transitions between ble, and thus comprehend, the story. But most scenes in
shots and scenes, thus minimizing any distractions that most films that most of us watch rely heavily on largely
might remind viewers that they’re watching a highly ma- invisible techniques that convey meaning intuitively. It’s
nipulated, and manipulative, artificial reality. not that cinematic language is impossible to spot; you
Cutting on action is one of the most common edit- simply have to know what you’re looking for. And soon,
ing techniques designed to hide the instantaneous and you will. The rest of this book is dedicated to helping you
potentially jarring shift from one camera viewpoint to identify and appreciate each of the many different secret
another. When connecting one shot to the next, a film ingredients that movies blend to convey meaning.
editor often ends the first shot in the middle of a con- Luckily for you, motion pictures have been liberated
tinuing action and starts the connecting shot at some from the imposed impermanence that helped create all
point in the same action. As a result, the action flows so this cinematic invisibility in the first place. Thanks to
continuously over the cut between different moving im- DVDs, Blu-rays, digital files, and streaming video, you
ages that most viewers fail to register the switch. can now watch a movie in much the same way you read
As with all things cinematic, invisibility has its ex- a book: pausing to scrutinize, ponder, or review as nec-
ceptions. From the earliest days of moviemaking, inno- essary. This relatively new relationship between movies
vative filmmakers have rebelled against the notion of and viewers will surely spark new approaches to cine-
hidden structures and meaning. The pioneering Soviet matic language and attitudes toward invisibility. That’s
filmmaker and theorist Sergei Eisenstein believed that for future filmmakers, maybe including you, to decide.
1 2
3 4
Invisible editing: continuity of screen direction

Juno’s opening-credits sequence uses the title character’s continuous walking movement to present the twenty-two different shots that
compose the scene as one continuous action. In every shot featuring lateral movement, Juno strolls consistently toward the left side of the
screen, adding continuity of screen direction to the seamless presentation of the otherwise stylized animated sequence.
For now, these viewing technologies allow students of want—to tap into and reinforce their most fundamental
film like yourself to study movies with a lucidity and pre- desires and beliefs. Even movies deemed controversial
cision that was impossible for your predecessors. or provocative can be popular if they trigger emotional
But not even repeated viewings can reveal those responses from their viewers that reinforce yearnings or
movie messages hidden by our own preconceptions and beliefs that lie deep within. And because so much of this
belief systems. Before we can detect and interpret these occurs on an unconscious, emotional level, the casual
meanings, we must first be aware of the ways that ex- viewer may be blind to the implied political, cultural,
pectations and cultural traditions obscure what movies and ideological messages that help make the movie so
have to say. appealing.
Of course, this cultural invisibility is not always a cal-
culated decision by the filmmakers. Directors, screen-
Cultural Invisibility writers, and producers are, after all, products of the same
The same commercial instinct that inspires filmmakers society inhabited by their intended audience. Frequently,
to use seamless continuity also compels them to favor the people making the movies may be just as oblivious
stories and themes that reinforce viewers’ shared belief of the cultural attitudes shaping their cinematic stories
systems. After all, the film industry, for the most part, as the people who watch them.
seeks to entertain, not to provoke, its customers. A key Juno’s filmmakers are certainly aware that their film,
to entertaining the customers is to give them what they which addresses issues of abortion and pregnancy, di-
1 2
3 4
Exceptions to invisibility
Even Juno deviates from conventional invisibility in a stylized sequence illustrating a high-school jock’s secret lust for “freaky girls.” As Juno’s
voice-over aside detailing Steve Rendazo’s fetish begins, the movie suddenly abandons conventional continuity to launch into a series of
abrupt juxtapositions that dress a generic girl posed like a paper doll in a rapid-fire succession of eccentric accessories. The moment Juno’s
diatribe ends, the film returns to a smooth visual flow of events and images. While this sequence is far from realistic, its ostentatious style
effectively illustrates the trappings of teenage conformity and the ways that young women are objectified.
verges from the ways that movies traditionally repre- never had. So even as the movie seems to call into ques-
sent family structures and teenage girls. In this sense, tion some of contemporary America’s attitudes about
the movie might be seen as resisting common cultural family, its appeal to an arguably more fundamental
values. But these filmmakers may not be as conscious of American value (namely, robust individualism) explains
the way their protagonist (main character) reinforces in part why, despite its controversial subject matter, Juno
our culture’s celebration of the individual. Her pro- was so popular with audiences.
miscuous, forceful, and charming persona is familiar
because it displays traits we often associate with Holly
wood’s male-dominant view of the rogue hero. Like Sam Implicit and Explicit Meaning
Spade, the Ringo Kid, Dirty Harry, and countless other As you attempt to become more skilled at looking at
classic American characters, Juno rejects convention yet movies, try to be alert to the cultural values, shared ide-
ultimately upholds the very institutions she seemingly als, and other ideas that lie just below the surface of the
scorns. Yes, she’s a smart-ass who cheats on homework, movie you’re looking at. Being more alert to these things
sleeps with her best friend, and pukes in her stepmoth- will make you sensitive to, and appreciative of, the many
er’s decorative urn, yet in the end she does everything in layers of meaning that any single movie contains. Of
her power to create the traditional nuclear family she course, all this talk of layers and the notion that much of
1 2
Cultural invisibility in Juno

An unrepentant former stripper (Diablo Cody) writes a script about an unrepentantly pregnant sixteen-year-old, her blithely accepting par
ents, and the dysfunctional couple to whom she relinquishes her newborn child. The resulting film goes on to become one of the biggest
critical and box-office hits of 2007, attracting viewers from virtually every consumer demographic. How did a movie based on such seemingly
provocative subject matter appeal to such a broad audience? One reason is that, beneath its veneer of controversy, Juno repeatedly rein
forces mainstream, even conservative, societal attitudes toward pregnancy, family, and marriage. Although Juno initially decides to abort
the pregnancy, she quickly changes her mind. Her parents may seem relatively complacent when she confesses her condition, but they
support, protect, and advise her throughout her pregnancy. When we first meet Mark and Vanessa, the prosperous young couple Juno has
chosen to adopt her baby, it is with the youthful Mark [1] that we (and Juno) initially sympathize. He plays guitar and appreciates alternative
music and vintage slasher movies. Vanessa, in comparison, comes off as a shallow and judgmental yuppie. But ultimately, both the movie
and its protagonist side with the traditional values of motherhood and responsibility embodied by Vanessa [2] and reject Mark’s rock-star
ambitions as immature and self-centered.
a movie’s meaning lies below the surface may make the explicit meaning. You might respond to her question by
entire process of looking at movies seem unnecessarily explaining:
complex and intimidating. But you’ll find that the pro-
The movie’s about a rebellious but smart sixteen-year-
cess of observing, identifying, and interpreting movie
old girl who gets pregnant and resolves to tackle the
meaning will become considerably less mysterious and
problem head-on. At first, she decides to get an abortion;
complicated once you grow accustomed to actively look-
but after she backs off that choice, she gets the idea to
ing at movies rather than just watching them. It might
find a couple to adopt the kid after it’s born. She spends
help to keep in mind that, no matter how many different
the rest of the movie dealing with the implications of
layers of meaning a movie may have, each layer is either
that choice.
implicit or explicit.
An implicit meaning, which lies below the surface of It’s not that this is the only explicit meaning in the film,
a movie’s story and presentation, is closest to our every- but we can see that it is a fairly accurate statement about
day sense of the word meaning. It is an association, con- one meaning that the movie explicitly conveys to view-
nection, or inference that a viewer makes on the basis ers, right there on its surface.
of the explicit meanings available on the surface of Now what if your friend hears this statement of ex-
the movie. plicit meaning and asks, “Okay, sure, but what do you
To get a sense of the difference between these two think the movie is trying to say? What does it mean ? ” In
levels of meaning, let’s look at two statements about a case like this, when someone is asking in general about
Juno. First, let’s imagine that a friend who hasn’t seen an entire film, he or she is seeking something like an
the movie asks you what the film is about. Your friend overall message or a point. In essence, your friend is ask-
doesn’t want a detailed plot summary; she simply wants ing you to interpret the movie—to say something argu-
to know what she’ll see if she decides to attend the movie. able about it—not simply to make a statement of obvious
In other words, she is asking for a statement about Juno’s surface meaning that everyone can agree on, as we did
when we presented its explicit meaning. In other words, Juno to pull off the highway. She skids to a stop beside
she is asking for your sense of the movie’s implicit mean- a rotting boat abandoned in the ditch. The discarded
ing. Here is one possible response: “A teenager faced boat’s decayed condition and the incongruity of a water
with a difficult decision makes a bold leap toward adult- craft adrift in an expanse of grass are explicit details
hood but, in doing so, discovers that the world of adults that convey implicit meaning about Juno’s isolation and
is no less uncertain or overwhelming than adolescence.” alienation.
At first glance, this statement might seem to have a lot It’s easy to accept that recognizing and interpreting
in common with your summary of the movie’s explicit implicit meaning requires some extra effort, but keep in
meaning, as, of course, it does—after all, even though a mind that explicit meaning cannot be taken for granted
meaning is under the surface, it still has to relate to the simply because it is by definition obvious. Although ex-
surface, and your interpretation needs to be grounded in plicit meaning is on the surface of a film for all to ob-
the explicitly presented details of that surface. But if you serve, viewers or writers likely will not remember and
compare the two s tatements more closely, you can see acknowledge every part of that meaning. Because mov-
that the second one is more interpretive than the first, ies are rich in plot detail, a good analysis must begin by
more concerned with what the movie means. taking into account the breadth and diversity of what
Explicit and implicit meanings need not pertain to has been explicitly presented. For example, we cannot
the movie as a whole, and not all implicit meaning is tied fully appreciate the significance of Juno’s defiant dump-
to broad messages or themes. Movies convey and imply ing of a blue slushy into her stepmother’s beloved urn
smaller, more specific doses of both kinds of meaning unless we have noticed and noted her dishonest denial
in virtually every scene. Juno’s application of lipstick when accused earlier of vomiting a similar substance
before she visits the adoptive father, Mark, is explicit into the same precious vessel. Our ability to discern a
information. The implications of this action—that her movie’s explicit meanings directly depends on our abil-
admiration for Mark is beginning to develop into some- ity to notice such associations and relationships.
thing approaching a crush—are implicit. Later, Mark’s
announcement that he is leaving his wife and does not
want to be a father sends Juno into a panicked retreat. Viewer Expectations
On her drive home, a crying jag forces the disillusioned The discerning analyst must also be aware of the role ex-
pectations play in how movies are made, marketed, and
received. Our experience of nearly every movie we see is
shaped by what we have been told about that movie be-
forehand by previews, commercials, reviews, interviews,
and word of mouth. After hearing your friends rave end-
lessly about Juno, you may have been underwhelmed
by the actual movie. Or you might have been surprised
and charmed by a film you entered with low expecta-
tions, based on the inevitable backlash that followed the
movie’s surprise success. Even the most general knowl-
edge affects how we react to any given film. We go to
see blockbusters because we crave an elaborate special
Explicit detail and implied meaning in Juno effects extravaganza. We can still appreciate a summer
Vanessa is the earnest yuppie mommy-wannabe to whom Juno movie’s relatively simpleminded storytelling, as long as
has promised her baby. In contrast to the formal business attire she it delivers the promised spectacle. On the other hand,
usually sports, Vanessa wears an Alice in Chains T-shirt to paint the you might revile a high-quality tragedy if you bought
nursery. This small explicit detail conveys important implicit meaning your ticket expecting a lighthearted comedy.
about her relationship with her husband, Mark, a middle-aged man
Of course, the influence of expectation extends be-
reluctant to let go of his rock-band youth. The paint-spattered condi
tion of the old shirt implies that she no longer values this symbol of
yond the kind of anticipation generated by a movie’s pro-
the 1990s grunge-rock scene and, by extension, her past association motion. As we discussed earlier, we all harbor essential
with it. expectations concerning a film’s form and organization.
antagonists along the way toward a clear (and usually

satisfying) resolution. Sure enough, that’s what we get in
most commercial films.
We’ll delve more deeply into narrative in the chapters
that follow. For now, what’s important is that you under-
stand how your experience—and thus your interpretation—
of any movie is affected by how the particular film manip-
ulates these expected patterns. An analysis might note
a film’s failure to successfully exploit the standard struc-
tures or another movie’s masterful subversion of ex-
pectations to surprise or mislead its audience. A more
experimental approach might deliberately confound our
presumption of continuity or narrative. Viewers must be
1
aware of the expected patterns in order to fully appreci-
ate the significance of that deviation.
Expectations specific to a particular performer or
filmmaker can also alter the way we perceive a movie.
For example, any fan of actor Michael Cera’s previous
performances as an endearingly awkward adolescent in
the film Superbad (2007; director Greg Mottola) and tele-
vision series Arrested Development (2003–2006) will
watch Juno with a built-in affection for Paulie Bleeker,
Juno’s sort-of boyfriend. This predetermined fondness
does more than help us like the movie; it dramatically
2 changes the way we approach a character type (the high-
school athlete who impregnates his teenage classmate)
Expectations and character in Juno that our expectations might otherwise lead us to distrust.
Audience reactions to Michael Cera’s characterization of Juno’s sort- Ironically, audience expectations of Cera’s sweetness
of boyfriend, Paulie Bleeker, are colored by expectations that are may have contributed to the disappointing box-office
based on the actor’s perpetually embarrassed persona established
performance of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010; direc-
in previous roles in the television series Arrested Development and
films like Superbad [1]. We don’t need the movie to tell us much of
tor Edgar Wright). Some critics proposed that viewers
anything about Paulie—we form an almost instant affection for the were uncomfortable seeing Cera play the somewhat vain
character based on our familiarity with Cera’s earlier performances. and self-centered title character.
But while the character Paulie meets our expectations of Michael Viewers who know director Guillermo del Toro’s
Cera, he defies our expectations of his character type. Repeated por commercial action/horror movies Mimic (1997), Blade II
trayals of high-school jocks as vain bullies, such as Thomas F. Wil
(2002), Hellboy (2004), Pacific Rim (2013), and Crim
son’s iconic Biff in Robert Zemeckis’s Back to the Future (1985) [2],
have conditioned viewers to expect such characters to look and be
son Peak (2015) might be surprised by the sophisticated
have very differently than Paulie Bleeker. political and philosophical metaphor of Pan’s Labyrinth
(2006), The Devil’s Backbone (2001), and The Shape of
Water (2017). Yet all eight films feature fantastic and
macabre creatures as well as social commentary. An ac-
And most filmmakers give us what we expect: a relatively tive awareness of an audience’s various e xpectations of
standardized cinematic language, seamless continuity, del Toro’s films would inform an analysis of the elements
and a narrative organized like virtually every other fic- common to the filmmaker’s seemingly schizophrenic
tion film we’ve ever seen. For example, years of watch- body of work. Such an analysis could focus on his visual
ing movies has taught us to expect a clearly motivated style in terms of production design, lighting, or special
protagonist to pursue a goal, confronting obstacles and effects, or it might instead examine recurring themes
such as oppression, childhood trauma, or the role of the

outcast.
As you can see, cinematic invisibility is not necessar-
ily an impediment; once you know enough to acknowl-
edge their existence, these potential blind spots also
offer opportunities for insight and analysis. There are
many ways to look at movies and many possible types of
film analysis. We’ll spend the rest of this chapter discuss-
ing the most common analytical approaches to movies.
Because this book considers an understanding of how
film grammar conveys meaning, mood, and informa- 1
tion as the essential foundation for any further study of
cinema, we’ll turn now to formal analysis—that ana-
lytical approach primarily concerned with film form, or
the means by which a subject is expressed. Don’t worry
if you don’t fully understand the function of the tech-
niques discussed; that’s what the rest of this book is for.
Formal Analysis
Formal analysis dissects the complex synthesis of cin- 2
ematography, sound, composition, design, movement,
performance, and editing orchestrated by creative art-
ists such as screenwriters, directors, cinematographers, the story opens with its title character overwhelmed by
actors, editors, sound designers, and art directors as well the prospect of her own teenage pregnancy are we pre-
as the many craftspeople who implement their vision. pared to deduce how this implicit meaning (her state of
The movie meaning expressed through form ranges from mind) is conveyed by the composition: Juno is at the far
narrative information as straightforward as where and left of the frame and is tiny in relationship to the rest
when a particular scene takes place to more subtle im- of the wide-angle composition. In fact, we may be well
plied meaning, such as mood, tone, significance, or what into the 4-second shot before we even spot her. Her vul-
a character is thinking or feeling. nerability is conveyed by the fact that she is dwarfed
While the overeager analyst certainly can read more by her surroundings. Even when the scene cuts to a
meaning into a particular visual or audio component closer viewpoint [2], she, as the subject of a movie com-
than the filmmaker intended, you should realize that position, is much smaller in frame than we are used to
cinematic storytellers exploit every tool at their disposal seeing, especially in the first shots used to introduce a
and that, therefore, every element in every frame is there protagonist. She is standing in a front yard contemplat-
for a reason. It’s the analyst’s job to carefully consider ing an empty stuffed chair from a safe distance, as if the
the narrative intent of the moment, scene, or sequence inanimate object might attack at any moment. Her pose
before attempting any interpretation of the formal ele- adds to our implicit impression of Juno as alienated or
ments used to communicate that intended meaning to off-balance.
the spectator. Our command of the film’s explicit details alerts us to
For example, the simple awareness that Juno’s open- another function of the scene: to introduce the recurring
ing shot [1] is the first image of the movie informs us of theme (or motif ) of the empty chair that frames—and in
the moment’s most basic and explicit intent: to convey some ways defines—the story. In this opening scene, ac-
setting (contemporary middle-class suburbia) and time companied by Juno’s voice-over explanation, “It started
of day (dawn). But only after we have determined that with a chair,” the empty, displaced object represents
Juno’s status and emotional state and foreshadows the

unconventional setting for the sexual act that got her
into this mess. By the story’s conclusion, when Juno an-
nounces, “It ended with a chair,” the motif—in the form
of an adoptive mother’s rocking chair—has been trans-
formed, like Juno herself, to embody hope and potential.
All that meaning was packed into two shots span-
ning about 12 seconds of screen time. Let’s see what we
can learn from a formal analysis of a more extended se-
quence from the same film: Juno’s visit to the Women
Now clinic. To do so, we’ll first want to consider what
information the fi lmmaker needs this scene to commu
nicate for viewers to understand and appreciate this
pivotal piece of the movie’s story in relation to the rest
of the narrative. As we delve into material that deals
VIDEO In this tutorial, Dave Monahan analyzes
the “waiting room” scene from Juno and covers other
with Juno’s sensitive subject matter, keep in mind that key concepts of film analysis.
you don’t have to agree with the meaning or values pro-
jected by the object of your analysis; you can learn even
from a movie you dislike. Personal values and beliefs will
undoubtedly influence your analysis of any movie. And
personal views provide a legitimate perspective, as long
as we recognize and acknowledge how they may color The waiting-room sequence’s opening shot [1] dollies
our interpretation. in (the camera moves slowly toward the subject), which
Throughout Juno’s previous 18 minutes, all informa gradually enlarges Juno in frame, increasing her visual
tion concerning its protagonist’s attitude toward her con- significance as she fills out the clinic admittance form
dition has explicitly enforced our expectation that she on the clipboard in her hand [2]. The shot reestablishes
will end her unplanned pregnancy with an abortion. She her casual acceptance of the impending procedure, pro
pantomimes suicide once she’s forced to admit her con- viding context for the events to come. Its relatively long
dition; she calmly discusses abortion facilities with her 10-second duration sets up a relaxed rhythm that will
friend Leah; she displays no ambivalence when schedul- shift later along with her state of mind. As the camera
ing the procedure. As she approaches the clinic, Juno’s reaches its closest point, a loud sound invades the low
nonchalant reaction to the comically morose pro-life hum of the previously hushed waiting room.
demonstrator Su-Chin reinforces our expectations. Juno This obtrusive drumming sound motivates a some-
treats Su-Chin’s assertion that the fetus has fingernails as what startling cut to a new shot that plunges our view-
more of an interesting bit of trivia than a concept worthy point right up into Juno’s face [3]. The sudden spatial
of serious consideration. shift gives the moment resonance and conveys Juno’s
The subsequent waiting-room sequence is about Juno thought process as she instantly shifts her concentration
making an unexpected decision that propels the story in from the admittance form to this strange new sound. She
an entirely new direction. A formal analysis will tell us turns her head in search of the sound’s source, and the
how the filmmakers orchestrated multiple formal ele- camera adjusts to adopt her point of view of a mother
ments, including sound, composition, moving camera, and daughter sitting beside her [4]. The mother’s finger-
and editing, to convey in 13 shots and 30 seconds of nails drumming on her own clipboard is revealed as the
screen time how the seemingly insignificant fingernail source of the tapping sound. The sound’s abnormally
factoid infiltrates Juno’s thoughts and ultimately drives loud level signals the audience that we’re not hearing
her from the clinic. By the time you have completed your at a natural volume level—we’ve begun to experience
course (and have read the book), you should be prepared Juno’s psychological perceptions. The little girl’s stare
to apply this same sort of formal analysis to any scene into Juno’s (and our) eyes helps to establish the associa-
you choose. tion between the fingernail sound and Juno’s latent guilt.
1 2
3 4
5 6
The sequence cuts back to the already troubled- The juxtaposition marks the next shot as Juno’s point
looking Juno [5]. The juxtaposition connects her anx of view, but it is much too close to be her literal point of
ious expression to both the drumming mother and the view. Like the unusually loud sound, the unrealistically
little girl’s gaze. The camera creeps in on her again. This close viewpoint of a woman picking her thumbnail re-
time, the resulting enlargement initiates our intuitive flects not an actual spatial relationship but the sight’s
association of this gradual intensification with a char significance to Juno [7]. When we cut back to Juno about
acter’s moment of realization. Within half a second, a second later, the camera continues to close in on her,
another noise joins the mix, and Juno’s head turns in and her gaze shifts again to follow yet another sound as
response [6]. it joins the rising clamor [8].
7 8
9 10
11 12
A new shot of another set of hands, again from a enhanced by the way editing connects her reactions to
close-up, psychological point of view, shows a woman the altered sights and sounds around her, as well as by
applying fingernail polish [9]. What would normally be a her implied isolation—she appears to be the only one
silent action emits a distinct, abrasive sound. who notices the increasingly boisterous symphony of
When we cut back to Juno half a second later, she is fingernails. Of course, Juno’s not entirely alone—the au-
much larger in the frame than the last few times we saw dience is with her. At this point in the sequence, we have
her [10]. This break in pattern conveys a sudden intensi- begun to associate the waiting-room fingernails with
fication; this is really starting to get to her. Editing often Su-Chin’s attempt to humanize Juno’s condition.
establishes patterns and rhythms, only to break them for Juno’s head jerks as yet another, even more invasive
dramatic impact. Our appreciation of Juno’s situation is sound enters the fray [11]. We cut to another close-up
13 14
15 16
17 18
point-of-view shot, this time of a young man scratching than the last. A woman bites her fingernails [13]; another
his arm [12]. At this point, another pattern is broken, files her nails [14]; a woman’s hand drums her finger-
initiating the scene’s formal and dramatic climax. Up nails nervously [15]; a man scratches his neck [16]. With
until now, the sequence alternated between shots of every new shot, another noise is added to the sound mix.
Juno and shots of the fi
ngernails as they caught her at- This pattern is itself broken in several ways by the
tention. Each juxtaposition caused us to identify with scene’s final shot. We’ve grown accustomed to seeing
both Juno’s reaction and her point of view. But now, the Juno look around every time we see her, but this time,
sequence shifts gears; instead of the expected switch she stares blankly ahead, immersed in thought [17]. A
back to Juno, we are subjected to an accelerating suc- cacophony of fingernail sounds rings in her (and our)
cession of fingernail shots, each one shorter and louder ears as the camera glides toward her for 3½ very long
19 20
seconds—a duration six times longer than any of the pre- the forms they take and the nuts and bolts they are con-
vious nine shots. These pattern shifts signal the scene’s structed from, any serious student of film should be
climax, which is further emphasized by the moving cam- aware that there are many other legitimate frameworks
era’s enlargement of Juno’s figure [18], a visual action for analysis. These alternative approaches analyze mov-
that cinematic language has trained viewers to associate ies more as cultural artifacts than as traditional works of
with a subject’s moment of realization or decision. art. They search beneath a movie’s form and content to
But the shot doesn’t show us Juno acting on that expose implicit and hidden meanings that inform our un-
decision. We don’t see her cover her ears, throw down derstanding of cinema’s function within popular culture
her clipboard, or jump up from the waiting-room ban- as well as the influence of popular culture on the movies.
quette. Instead, we are ripped prematurely from this The preceding formal analysis demonstrated how
final waiting-room image and plunged into a shot that Juno used cinematic language to convey m eaning and
drops us into a different space and at least several mo- tell a story. Given the right interpretive scrutiny, our
ments ahead in time—back to Su-Chin chanting in the case study film may also speak eloquently about social
parking lot [19]. This jarring spatial, temporal, and visual conditions and attitudes. For example, considering that
shift helps us feel Juno’s own instability at this crucial the protagonist is the daughter of an air-conditioner re
narrative moment. Before we can get our bearings, the pairman and a manicurist, and that the couple she se-
camera has pivoted right to reveal Juno bursting out of lects to adopt her baby are white-collar professionals
the clinic door in the background [20]. She races past living in an oversized McMansion, a cultural analysis of
Su-Chin without a word. She does not have to say any- Juno could explore the movie’s treatment of class.
thing. Cinematic language—film form—has already told An analysis from a feminist perspective could con
us what she decided and why. centrate on, among other elements, the movie’s depic-
Anyone watching this scene would sense the narration of women and childbirth, not to mention Juno’s
tive and emotional meaning revealed by this analysis, father, the father of her baby, and the prospective adop-
but only a viewer actively analyzing the film form used tive father. Such an analysis might also consider the cre-
to construct it can fully comprehend how the sophisti- ative and ideological contributions of the movie’s female
cated machinery of cinematic language shapes and con- screenwriter, Diablo Cody, an outspoken former strip-
veys that meaning. Formal analysis is fundamental to per and sex blogger.
all approaches to understanding and engaging cinema— A linguistic analysis might explore the historical, cul-
whether you’re making, studying, or simply appreciating tural, or imaginary origins of the highly stylized slang
movies—which is why the elements and grammar of film spouted by Juno, her friends, even the mini-mart clerk
form are the primary focus of Looking at Movies. who sells her a pregnancy test. A thesis could be (and
probably has been) written about the implications of
the T-shirt messages displayed by the film’s charac-
Alternative Approaches to Analysis ters or the implicit meaning of the movie’s track-team
Although we’ll be looking at movies primarily to learn motif.
Some analyses place movies within the stylistic or the relative gender of each film’s creator affect stance
political context of a director’s career. Juno’s director, and story? If this comparative analysis incorporated
Jason Reitman, has made only five other feature films. Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu’s stark abortion
But even that relatively short filmography provides op- drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) or Mike
portunity for comparative analysis: most of Reitman’s Leigh’s nuanced portrayal of an abortionist, Vera Drake
movies take provocative political stances, gradually gen- (2004), the result might inform a deeper understanding
erate empathy for initially unsympathetic characters, and of the differences between European and Amer ican
favor fast-paced expositional montages featuring ex- sensibilities.
pressive juxtapositions, graphic compositions, and first- An unwanted pregnancy is a potentially controversial
person voice-over narration. Labor Day (2013), his first subject for any film, especially when the central char-
film to diverge from that established style, disappointed acter is a teenager. Any extensive analysis focused on
expectations and failed with critics and audiences. Juno’s cultural meaning would have to address what this
Another comparative analysis could investigate so- particular film’s content implies about the hot-button
ciety’s evolving (or perhaps fixed) attitudes toward “il- issue of abortion. To illustrate, let’s return to the clinic
legitimate” pregnancy by placing Juno in context with waiting room. An analysis that asserts Juno espouses
the long history of films about the subject. These movies a “pro-life” (i.e., antiabortion) message could point to
range from D. W. Griffith’s 1920 silent drama Way Down several explicit details in this sequence and to those
East, which banished its unwed mother and drove her preceding and following it. In contrast to the relatively
to attempted suicide, to Preston Sturges’s irreverent welcoming suburban settings that dominate the rest of
1944 comedy The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek and its the story, the ironically named Women Now abortion
mysteriously pregnant protagonist, Trudy Kockenlocker clinic is an unattractive stone structure squatting at one
(whose character name alone says a great deal about its end of an urban asphalt parking lot. Juno is confronted
era’s attitudes toward women), to another mysterious by clearly stated and compelling arguments against abor-
but ultimately far more terrifying pregnancy in Roman tion via Su-Chin’s dialogue: the “baby” has a beating
Polanski’s 1968 horror masterpiece Rosemary’s Baby. heart, can feel pain, . . . and has fingernails. The clinic
Juno is only one in a small stampede of recent popular receptionist, the sole on-screen representative of the
films dealing with this ever-timely issue. A cultural anal- pro-choice alternative, is a sneering cynic with multi-
ysis might compare and contrast Juno with its Ameri- ple piercings and a declared taste for fruit-flavored con-
can contemporaries Knocked Up (2007; director Judd doms. The idea of the fetus as a human being, stressed
Apatow) and Waitress (2007; director Adrienne Shelly). by Su-Chin’s earnest admonishments, is driven home
Both movies share Juno’s blend of comedy and drama as by the scene’s formal presentation analyzed earlier.
well as a pronounced ambivalence concerning abortion On the other hand, a counterargument maintaining
but depict decidedly different characters, settings, and that Juno implies a pro-choice stance could state that
stories. What might such an analysis of these movies the lone on-screen representation of the pro-life posi-
(and their critical and popular success) tell us about that tion is portrayed just as negatively (and extremely) as
particular era’s attitudes toward women, pregnancy, and the clinic receptionist. Su-Chin is presented as an in-
motherhood? Seven years later, in 2014, Obvious Child fantile simpleton who wields a homemade sign stating,
was initially marketed as an “abortion comedy.” When rather clumsily, “No Babies Like Murdering,” shouts “All
the protagonist Donna finds herself pregnant after a babies want to get borned!” and is bundled in an over-
one-night stand, her decision to get an abortion is im- sized stocking cap and pink quilted coat as if dressed by
mediate and matter of fact. Unlike all of its 2007 pre- an overprotective mother. Juno’s choice can hardly be
decessors, Obvious Child does not deliver a baby in the labeled a righteous conversion. Even after fleeing the
end. Was director Gillian Robespierre reacting to those clinic, the clearly ambivalent mother-to-be struggles to
earlier films, influenced by evolving attitudes, or simply rationalize her decision, which she announces not as “I’m
offering her own perspective on the subject? Knocked Up having this baby” but as “I’m staying pregnant.” Some
was written and directed by a man, Juno was written by analysts may conclude that the filmmakers, mindful of
a woman and directed by a man, and Waitress and Ob audience demographics, were trying to have it both ways.
vious Child were written and directed by women. Does Others could argue that the movie is understandably
1 2
3 4
5 6
Comparative cultural analysis

A comparison of Juno’s treatment of unwanted pregnancy with other films featuring the same subject matter is but one of many analytical
approaches that could be used to explore cinema’s function within culture, as well as the influence of culture on the movies. Such an anal
ysis could compare Juno with American films produced in earlier eras, from D. W. Griffith’s dramatic Way Down East (1920) [1] to Preston
Sturges’s 1944 screwball comedy The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek [2] to Roman Polanski’s paranoid horror film Rosemary’s Baby (1968) [3].
An alternate analysis might compare Juno with the other American films released in 2007 that approached the subject with a similar blend
of comedy and drama: Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up [4] and Adrienne Shelly’s Waitress [5]. A comparative analysis of the independent film
Obvious Child (2014; director Gillian Robespierre) [6] might reveal evolving cultural attitudes toward abortion 7 years after Juno, Knocked Up,
and Waitress all concluded with a birth scene.
more concerned with narrative considerations than a

precise political stance. The negative aspects of every al-
ternative are consistent with a story world that offers its
young protagonist little comfort and no easy choices.
Cultural and Formal Analysis

in the Star Wars Series 1
When the film Star Wars (director George Lucas) was re-
leased in 1977, few—including the actors and technicians
who helped make it—expected it to reach large audiences.
To almost everyone’s surprise, Star Wars quickly be-
came what was then the highest grossing film in history.
The unexpected hit launched a franchise consisting of
(so far) four sequels and five prequels that together have
earned well over $8 billion in worldwide box office. That
staggering figure doesn’t adjust decades-old receipts for 2
inflation or include the additional exposure and reve-
nue generated by DVD and Blu-ray sales, digital down- Familiarity and progression
loads, video on demand, and television broadcasts. The The extraordinary longevity of the Star Wars series offers the rare
$247 million opening weekend earnings posted by Star opportunity to experience familiar characters’ physical and emo
Wars: The Force Awakens (2015; director J. J. Abrams) tional development over an extended period of time. For fans who
grew up knowing Luke Skywalker as an awkward and earnest ap
were the biggest in American history. Its successor, Star
prentice [1], his return as a world-weary cynic [2]—and his old mas
Wars: The Last Jedi (2017; director Rian Johnson), is ter versus young upstart showdown with Kylo Ren—was especially
second in that all-time ranking, with opening weekend meaningful.
earnings topping $220 million.3 Clearly, the Star Wars
series was, is, and continues to be an influential and im-
portant cultural phenomenon. But how can we even be-
gin to explain its popularity? The Lord of the Rings, Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates
To start with, the sheer scope of the series provides of the Caribbean, and even Katniss Everdeen from The
viewers a particular brand of narrative development Hunger Games all act and look much the same from
unavailable in most other movies or film series. Most the first movie to the final installment. In contrast, the
people enjoy recognizing and tracking progression; this young, inexperienced upstarts in the original Star Wars
tendency is largely responsible for the sequential na- trilogy have now evolved into grizzled leaders and men-
ture of traditional storytelling. The Star Wars films offer tors for the next fresh wave of adventurous protagonists.
the rare opportunity to experience familiar characters’ Old Luke is the grumpy new Yoda who reluctantly trains
physical and emotional development over an extended his Jedi-prodigy replacement, Rey. The gray-haired Han
period of time; the stories chronicled in the multiple Solo (briefly) mentors Rey and Finn, and he and Princess
episodes span generations, as do the release dates of Leia are the divorced parents of Rey’s nemesis/soulmate
the films themselves. If we stop to consider other well- Kylo Ren, an aspiring Darth Vader.
known film series, few (with the notable exception of The longevity of the series ensures that most of us
Harry Potter) feature any significant figurative or literal have been (at least periodically) immersed in its uni-
character growth. Although they accomplish extraordi- verse since childhood. We know the players, the poli-
nary feats in spectacular adventures, Frodo Baggins in tics, and the rules of engagement. The character types,
3. See www.boxofficemojo.com.
What genre is Star Wars?

How a narrative film applies character types, story formulas, settings, and themes can place it in a particular genre. It seems logical to
assume the Star Wars films belong in the science-fiction genre because they all take place across multiple planets in a universe filled with
aliens, spaceships, robots, and other futuristic technology. But science-fiction films are speculative; their stories explore the implications of
unfettered science and technology that may threaten as much as enable humanity. In contrast, Star Wars is made up of multiple references
to past cultures and traditions—it doesn’t presume to forecast our future. After all, the stories take place “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far
away.” The series does have its clone armies and death stars, but the films’ conflicts and themes are more concerned with human nature and
spirituality than with science or technology. One could argue that the films blend multiple genres, just as they blend other cultural elements.
For example, the story of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) is structured like a plot from an old-fashioned war movie.
story formulas, settings, and themes are repeated from call to adventure, which they initially resist. Eventually,
episode to episode in ways that fulfill most expectations events compel them to heed the call, which leads them to
but surprise others. This satisfying combination of the cross into an unknown world. They each meet mentors,
comfortably predictable and the thrillingly unexpected gather allies, receive supernatural aid, and are given a
is the same formula that keeps viewers returning to sim- talisman (notably, in each case, that talisman is the same
ilarly convention-driven film genres such as horror and lightsaber). Rey and Luke undergo training and are ini-
science fiction. A scholarly analysis might explore if and tiated with a series of increasingly dangerous challenges
how the Star Wars films engage genre—or even if they that reveal previously hidden strengths or powers. The
constitute their own genre. heroes each ultimately win a decisive victory over a
But the stories at the heart of Star Wars are more seemingly invincible opponent, then return from the
deeply rooted in our culture than those of any single film mysterious journey with the power to bestow boons to
genre. The quests led by the series’ chosen ones—first his (or her) fellow man.4 Of course, the precise applica-
Luke Skywalker, and now Rey—have their narrative or- tion of this ancient formula differs from character to
igins in a basic pattern found in the folktales, myths, and character and trilogy to trilogy, and our current heroes’
religions of multiple cultures. In his influential book The journey is not yet completed. A narrative analysis of
Hero with a Thousand Faces, mythologist Joseph Camp- the Star Wars films and their resonance with audiences
bell called this fundamental story structure the “mono might explore the different (and similar) ways each pro-
myth” or “hero’s journey.” Like the archetypal hero in tagonist’s story fits this classical storytelling tradition.
the ancient myths and folktales Campbell describes, Other cultural sources that influenced the Star Wars
Luke and Rey start out as seemingly ordinary people universe might also provide insight into the franchise’s
in their own normal worlds who receive an unexpected international popularity. Indeed, the franchise seems
4. Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 2nd ed. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1949), p. 30.
to have been engineered for universal appeal. George

Lucas, the filmmaker who wrote and directed the pro-
totypical 1977 Star Wars (later renamed Star Wars: Epi
sode IV—A New Hope) and remained the dominant
creative force behind the first six films, drew upon a
number of world religions and philosophies for the spir
ituality (including the interdependence of positive and
negative forces) that underlies and informs the action-
packed stories. For the Jedi knights, Lucas blended the 1
traditions of knighthood and chivalry found in medieval
Europe with those of the Japanese samurai. He borrowed
other stylistic, character, and narrative elements from
disparate twentieth-century sources: swashbuckler films
beginning in the silent era (e.g., boisterous swordplay
and roguish protagonists); space-based action-adventure
comics and serialized movies of the 1930s; and The Hid
den Fortress, Akira Kurosawa’s 1958 adventure film set
in feudal Japan. All these different influences resulted 2
in a sort of timeless cultural collage that may help ex-
plain the enduring international appeal of the Star Wars A meaningful weapon
movies. The helmets and layered armor worn by villains This blue laser blade [1, 2] used by the successive Jedi protagonists
such as Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, and Captain Phasma in every Star Wars trilogy serves the film franchise in a number of
evoke both samurai and medieval warriors. The Jedis important ways. As a high-tech version of an ancient and universal
may be knights, but their flowing outfits look more like weapon, the lightsaber epitomizes the amalgam of diverse cultural
and historical references that creator George Lucas blended to form
a mix of traditional Japanese garments and the humble
the eclectic Star Wars universe. The lightsaber also functions as
robes worn by self-denying monks found in multiple a talisman (a special item that serves heroes on a quest), which
world religions. Other characters dress (and act) like is central to the films’ application of the universal story structure
cowboys, or gangsters, or World War II fighter pilots, or known as the monomyth. Its blue blade signals it as a force for
decadent European aristocrats. All of these people fly good in a binary good versus evil conflict in which the villains wield
around with robots in spaceships, but many of them live red—until the lightsaber is literally torn between the light side and
the dark side in The Last Jedi (2017).
in adobe or stone dwellings, and some of them fight with
swords. In fact, the lightsaber—a powerful laser used ex-
clusively for hand-to-hand combat—might be the ulti-
mate demonstration of Star Wars’ successful marriage or opposing political party. The well-equipped tyranni-
between the futuristic and the classical. cal organization may even be equated with the kind of
Viewers don’t just recognize the cultural ingredients modern mega-corporation that makes and markets Star
of the Star Wars universe: we see ourselves reflected in Wars itself. Of course, representations of oppression and
the archetypical conflicts and characters the stories pre resistance have deep roots in our culture. The imagery
sent. The Resistance is courageous, resourceful, and re- and actions of the Empire and First Order also reference
silient, but also overmatched. The Empire and the First authoritarian movements bent on world domination that
Order that seek to squash the righteous rebels are both shaped recent world history, including and especially the
overwhelmingly powerful, greedy, heartless—and seem- infamous Nazis that launched World War II.
ingly indestructible. This binary good-versus-evil strug- The latest wave of Star Wars films is decidedly for-
gle allows working-class and middle-class ticket buyers ward looking in one significant way. The cast portraying
to vicariously identify with plucky protagonists who en- “the good guys” is multiethnic—and not even necessar-
dure crushing odds in a never-ending struggle against ily “guys.” The primary protagonists in The Last Jedi
an overwhelming force. The First Order serves as a sym- include a white woman, a black man, a Latino man, and
bolic stand-in for any number of oppressive overlords, a woman of Asian descent. Even one of the seemingly
from international enemies to one’s own government cruel masked antagonists is female. The 2016 prequel
The new faces of Star Wars

The directors of the most recent Star Wars films have approached casting and character in ways that break with expectations established
in the previous trilogies. Finn (John Boyega) is not just the franchise’s first black major character, he’s also a charismatic and free-thinking
Stormtrooper. Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) is similarly a common worker who proves capable of greatness. Costume and hairstyle help this
first non-princess female supporting character transcend the usual standards of beauty assigned to women in Hollywood blockbusters. In
another reversal of action movie expectations, Rose saves Finn from needlessly sacrificing himself and then declares, “We’re going to win
this war not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.” Star Wars may have changed the world, but it appears that the world is
changing Star Wars, too.
spin-off Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (director Gareth ger Games series may have contributed to the popular-
Edwards) also features a female protagonist fighting ity of The Last Jedi. According to Box Office Mojo, the
alongside a band of Latino, Asian, and African Ameri- website that tracks movie industry ticket sales, women
can fellow-revolutionaries. These casts, and the charac- made up 43 percent of the movie’s audience over open-
ters they play, represent a departure from the previous ing weekend, a significant showing in what is typically a
films, which were dominated by white, male characters. male-dominated market. A cultural analysis of the most
Perhaps the biggest change—one that upset some Star recent Star Wars films might ask if the saga’s heroine and
Wars traditionalists—was making the latest and great- fan base qualify the movies as feminist. Unlike a surpris-
est Jedi hero a woman. In fact, one could argue that Rey ing number of Hollywood movies, these Star Wars films
and the other female characters in The Last Jedi are rado seem to pass the Bechdel test. This test is an evalu-
tional leaders saddled with male counterparts who are ative tool—credited to feminist cartoonist and author
incapable of facing their own emotions or learning from Alison Bechdel—that qualifies films as woman-friendly
their mistakes. While these new Star Wars women un- only if they (a) have at least two women characters who
derstand the power of self-examination and strategic (b) talk to each other (c) about something besides a man.
restraint, their male counterparts either run away from Rey doesn’t get many chances to talk to other women
their problems or charge into conflict without consid- at all in The Force Awakens; the closest she gets is a quick
ering the inevitable consequences. As Leia—the former exchange with the female alien Maz Kanata, and much
mostly helpless princess who has risen to the position (but not all) of that conversation is about Luke and his
of general leading the Resistance—says to the swash- lightsaber. Later in the same film, Rey comes face to face
buckling pilot Poe: “Not every problem can be solved by with Leia, but their communication is nonverbal. In-
jumping in an X-wing and blowing stuff up.” stead, the women share an emotional embrace that may
Perhaps motivated by these changes, some of the be more meaningful than any conversation, regardless
same female viewers that drove the success of The Hun- of the topic. Near the end of the film, Leia’s “may the
force be with you,” spoken as Rey prepares to board the

Millennium Falcon in search of Luke, are the only words
exchanged between these two principal characters. The
Last Jedi adds several additional female characters, but
because they are all paired with male partners and/or
adversaries, they almost never get to talk to one another.
The touching final farewell between Leia and Vice Ad-
miral Holdo, the two women leading what’s left of the
Resistance, provides a rare opportunity. Once again, the
opening topic is a man (the impulsive fighter pilot Poe this
time), but the discussion quickly turns more personal,
VIDEO In this tutorial, Dave Monahan provides
and Bechdel-worthy, when the old friends reconcile
a detailed shot-by-shot analysis of a scene from
Holdo’s looming sacrifice and exchange the traditional Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Star Wars force-be-with-you farewell. A critical analysis
may ask if brief exchanges like these are enough to pass
the Bechdel test or if the test is a fair indicator of femi-
nist intent in films featuring multiple strong, active fe-
male characters pursuing goals once reserved for male first three films, only four women have any lines at all,
protagonists. One could at least argue that the series has and they never speak to one another at all.
progressed in terms of Bechdel’s feminist standard. The As you read the preceding paragraphs, you probably
original Star Wars saga featured a female character who thought of still more ways you might examine the Star
was just as brave, and arguably smarter, than her male Wars phenomenon. The examples presented in our brief
counterparts, but she had very little company. In those analysis illustrate only a few of the virtually limitless
An evolved and empathetic Jedi heroine

Any examination of the evolution and reception of Star Wars must include Rey, the character at the center of the most recent trilogy. The
differences between her and her Jedi protagonist predecessors are significant. The abandoned daughter of common paupers, Rey is neither
of (secret) royal birth like Luke Skywalker nor a prophesied messiah like Luke’s father, Anakin (the future Darth Vader), who was birthed by a
mortal but conceived by the force itself. Rey tries to understand and redeem her enemy, Kylo Ren, not destroy him; she seeks balance and
reconciliation, not glory or vengeance. This approach is reflected in her no-nonsense wardrobe. Instead of the brooding browns and blacks fa
vored by Anakin in the prequel trilogy or Luke’s good-guy white from the original installments, Rey’s modest outfit is made up of neutral grays.
approaches available to advanced students and scholars return our focus to the building blocks of film form, starting
interested in interpreting the relationship between cul- with the tutorial film analyzing some of the cinematic
ture and cinema. But before we can effectively interpret language used in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. In the next
a movie as a cultural artifact, we must first understand chapter, we’ll expand the exploration of the principles of
how that artifact functions. To begin that process, let’s film form that is begun here.
ANALYZING LOOKING AT MOVIES
As we said at the beginning of the chapter, the pri film and armed only with the general knowledge that
mary goal of Looking at Movies is to help you gradu you’ve acquired in this first chapter, you can begin
ate from being a spectator of movies—from merely looking at movies more analytically and perceptively.
watching them—to actively and analytically looking You can easily say more than “I liked” or “I didn’t
at them. The chapters that follow provide specific like” the movie, because you can enumerate and
information about each of the major formal compo understand the cinematic techniques and concepts
nents of film, information that you can use to write the filmmakers employed to convey story, character
and talk intelligently about the films you view in state of mind, and other meanings. What’s more,
class and elsewhere. Once you’ve read the chapter by cultivating an active awareness of the meanings
on cinematography, for example, you will have at and structures hidden under every movie’s surface,
hand the basic vocabulary to describe accurately the you will become increasingly capable of recognizing
lighting and camera work you see on-screen. the film’s implicit meanings and interpreting what
As you read the subsequent chapters of this book, they reveal about the culture that produced and
you will acquire a specialized vocabulary for describ consumed it.
ing, analyzing, discussing, and writing about the The following checklist provides a few ideas about
movies you see. But now, as a beginning student of how to start.
SCREENING CHECKLIST: LOOKING AT MOVIES

Be aware that there are many ways to look at techniques were used to communicate the
movies. Are you primarily interested in inter scene’s intended meaning.
preting the ways in which the movie manip
Do your best to see beyond cinematic invisi
ulates formal elements such as composition, bility. Remember that a great deal of a movie’s
editing, and sound to tell its story moment to machinery is designed to make you forget you
moment or are you concerned with what the are experiencing a highly manipulated, and
movie has to say in broader cultural terms, manipulative, artificial reality. One of the best
such as a political message? ways to combat cinema’s seamless presen
tation is to watch a movie more than once.
Whenever you prepare a formal analysis of a
scene’s use of film grammar, start by consid You may allow yourself to be transported into
ering the filmmakers’ intent. Remember that the world of the story on your first viewing.
filmmakers use every cinematic tool at their Repeated viewings will give you the distance
disposal: very little in any movie moment is left required for critical observation.
to chance. So before analyzing any scene, first On a related note, be aware that you may be
ask yourself some basic questions: What is this initially blind to a movie’s political, cultural, and
scene about? After watching this scene, what ideological meaning, especially if that meaning
do I understand about the character’s thoughts reinforces ideas and values you already hold.
and emotions? How did the scene make me The greater your awareness of your own belief
feel? Once you determine what information systems (and those you share with your culture
and mood the scene conveyed, you’ll be better in general), the easier it will be to recognize
prepared to figure out how cinematic tools and and interpret a movie’s implicit meaning.
Ask yourself how expectations shaped your Before and after you see a movie, think about
reaction to this movie. Does it conform to the direct meanings, as well as the implica
the ways you’ve come to expect a movie to tions, of its title. The title of Roman Polanski’s
function? How did what you’d heard about Chinatown (1974) is a specific geographic ref
this movie beforehand—through the media, erence, but once you’ve seen the movie, you’ll
your friends, or your professor—affect your understand that it functions as a metaphor
attitude toward the film? Did your previous for a larger body of meaning. Richard Kelly’s
experience of the director or star inform your Donnie Darko (2001) makes us wonder if Darko
prior understanding of what to expect from is a real name (it is) or if it is a not-so-subtle
this particular film? In each case, did the clue that Donnie has a dark side (he does).
movie fulfill, disappoint, or confound your Try to explain the title’s meaning if it isn’t
expectations? self-evident.
Questions for Review

1. What do you think of when you hear the word 7. How might your previous experiences of a
movie? Has your perception changed since reading particular actor influence your reaction to a new
this chapter? In what ways? movie featuring the same performer?
2. How is the experience of seeing a movie different 8. What are some of the other expectations that can
from watching a play? Reading a book? Viewing a affect the way viewers react to a movie?
painting or photograph? 9. What are you looking for when you do a formal
3. Why has the grammar of film evolved to allow analysis of a movie scene? What are some other
audiences to absorb movie meaning intuitively? alternative approaches to analysis, and what sorts
4. In what ways do movies minimize viewers’ of meaning might they uncover?
awareness that they are experiencing a highly 10. At this point, would you say that learning what a
manipulated, artificial reality? movie is all about is more challenging than you first
5. What do we mean by cultural invisibility? How is thought? If so, why?
this different from cinematic invisibility?
6. What is the difference between implicit and explicit
meaning?
The Shape of Water (2017). Guillermo del Toro, director. Pictured: Doug Jones and Sally Hawkins.
PRINCIPLES OF FILM FORM

CHAPTER
2
32 Chapter 2 Principles of Film Form
all form that the movie takes. We’ll spend some time
LEARNING OBJECTIVES with each of these elemental formal systems in later
After reading this chapter, you should be able to chapters, but first let’s take a closer look at the concept of
n differentiate between form and content in a movie and form itself, beginning with the correlation between form
be able to explain how they’re related. and the content it shapes and communicates.
n appreciate how expectations shape our experience
and interpretation of film form.
n begin to recognize some of the ways movies exploit Form and Content
patterns to create structure and convey meaning. The terms form and content crop up in almost any schol-
n understand how movies depend on light and how arly discussion of the arts, but what do they mean, and
lighting helps shape a movie’s meaning. why are they so often paired? To start with, we can de-
n explain how movies provide an illusion of movement. fine content as the subject of an artwork (what the work
n understand how movies manipulate space and time. is about) and form as the means by which that subject
n distinguish between realism, antirealism, and is expressed and experienced. The two terms are of-
formalism, and explain the role of verisimilitude in the ten paired because works of art need them both. Con-
viewing experience. tent provides something to express; form supplies the
n explain what is meant by cinematic language. methods and techniques necessary to present it to the
audience.
And form doesn’t just allow us to see the subject/con-
tent; it lets us see that content in a particular way. Form
enables the artist to shape our particular experience and
Film Form interpretation of that content. In the world of movies,
form is cinematic language: the tools and techniques
Chapter 1’s analyses of scenes from Juno and the Star that filmmakers use to convey meaning and mood to the
Wars series provided us with a small taste of how the var- viewer, including lighting, mise-en-scène, cinematogra-
ious elements of movies work. We saw how the filmmak- phy, performance, editing, and sound—in other words,
ers coordinated performance, composition, sound, and the content of most of this textbook.
editing to create meaning and tell a story. All of these
elements were carefully chosen and controlled by the
filmmakers to produce each movie’s form.
If we’ve learned nothing else so far, we can at least
now say with confidence that very little in any movie LOOKING AT MOVIES
is left to chance. Each of the multiple systems that to- FORM AND CONTENT
gether become the “complex synthesis” that we know
as a movie is highly organized and deliberately assem-
bled and sculpted by filmmakers. For example, mise-en-
scène, one elemental system of film, comprises design
elements such as lighting, setting, props, costumes, and
makeup within individual shots. Sound, another ele-
mental system, is organized into a series of dialogue,
music, ambience, and effects tracks. Narrative is struc-
tured into acts that establish, develop, and resolve char-
acter conflict. Editing juxtaposes individual shots to
create sequences (a series of shots unified by theme or
purpose), arranges these sequences into scenes (com- VIDEO This tutorial reviews the key concepts of
plete units of plot action), and from these scenes builds form and content and illustrates their importance with
a movie. The synthesis of all of these elemental systems additional examples.
(and others not mentioned above) constitutes the over-
Film Form 33
1 2
3 4
Form and content

The content of the Juno “waiting room” scene analyzed in Chapter 1 is Juno thinking about fingernails and changing her mind. As we saw in
that analysis, a great deal of form was employed to shape our experience and interpretation of that content, including sound, juxtaposition,
pattern, point of view, and the relative size of the subject in each frame.
If we consider the Juno scene analyzed in Chapter 1, male body, but they clearly differ in form. Of the three,
the content is: Juno in the waiting room. We could be Praxiteles’s sculpture, Hermes Carrying the Infant Dio-
more specific and say that the content is Juno thinking nysus, comes closest to resembling a flesh-and-blood
about fingernails and changing her mind. The form used body. Giacometti’s Walking Man II (1960) elongates and
to express that subject and meaning includes decor, pat- exaggerates anatomical features, but the figure remains
terns, implied proximity, point of view, moving camera, recognizable as a male human. Haring’s Self Portrait
and sound. (1989) smooths out and simplifies the contours of the
The relationship between form and content is central human body to create an even more abstract rendering.
not just to our study of movies; it is an underlying con- Once we recognize the formal differences and simi-
cern in all art. An understanding of the two intersecting larities among these three sculptures, we can ask ques-
concepts can help us to distinguish one work of art from tions about how the respective forms shape our emotional
another or to compare the styles and visions of different and intellectual responses to the subject matter. Look
artists approaching the same subject. again at the ancient Greek sculpture. Although there might
If we look at three sculptures of a male figure, for once have been a living man whose body looked like this,
example—by Praxiteles, Alberto Giacometti, and Keith very few bodies do. The sculpture is an idealization—
Haring, artists spanning history from ancient Greece less a matter of recording the way a particular man ac-
to the present—we can see crucial differences in vision, tually looked than of visually describing an ideal male
style, and meaning (see the illustrations on p. 34). Each form. As such, it is as much an interpretation of the subject
sculpture can be said to express the same subject, the matter as—and thus no more “real” than—the other two
Form and content

Compare these sculptures: [1] Hermes Carrying the Infant Dionysus,
by Praxiteles, who lived in Greece during the fourth century bce;
[2] Walking Man II, by Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966), a Swiss artist;
and [3] Self Portrait, by Keith Haring (1958–1990), an American. Al-
though all three works depict the male figure, their forms are so
different that their meanings, too, must be different. What, then, is
the relationship between the form of an artwork and its content?
sculptures. Giacometti’s version, because of its exag-

gerated form, conveys a sense of isolation and nervous-
ness, perhaps even anguish. Haring’s sculpture, relying
on stylized and almost cartoon-like form, seems more
playful and mischievous than the other two. Suddenly,
because of the different form each sculpture takes, we
realize that the content of each has changed: they are
no longer about the same subject. Praxiteles’s sculp-
ture is somehow about defining an ideal; Giacometti’s
3
Form and Expectations 35
cide whether they like or dislike a movie within its first

10 minutes.) As the movie continues, we experience a
more complex web of expectations. Many of them may
be tied to the narrative—the formal arrangement of
the events that make up the story—and specifically to
our sense that certain events produce likely actions or
outcomes.
We’ve learned to expect that most movies start with
Form serves content a “normal” world that is altered by a particular incident,
Anomalisa (2015) is about a man unable to find any meaningful or which in turn compels the characters to pursue a goal.
lasting connections to other human beings. When writer and co- And once the narrative begins, those expectations pro-
director Charlie Kaufman was searching for a cinematic form that voke us to ask predictive questions about the story’s
served his dramatic content, he and fellow codirector Duke Johnson
outcome, questions we will be asking ourselves repeat-
chose stop-motion animation. That particular form allowed them to
edly and waiting to have answered over the course of
create their protagonist’s skewed perspective, in which everyone he
encounters looks and sounds exactly the same. Experiencing this the film.
very adult story of alienation and self-absorption in a form we asso- The nineteenth-century Russian playwright Anton
ciate with comedic children’s stories forces viewers to feel the same Chekhov famously said that when a theater audience
sense of disconnect experienced by the marginalized protagonist. sees a character produce a gun in the first act, they ex-
pect that gun to be used before the play ends. Movie
audiences have similar expectations. In the Coen broth-
ers’ 2010 version of True Grit, the villain Tom Chaney
seems to reach for something that lies beneath the sur- threatens the young protagonist Mattie Ross: “That pit
face of human life and the human form; and Haring’s is one hundred feet deep and I will throw you in it.” From
appears to celebrate the body as a source of joy. As we that moment on, our interpretation of events is colored
become more attentive to their formal differences, these by the suggestion that Mattie is destined for the abyss.
sculptures become more unlike each other in their con- Later, when her would-be rescuer LeBoeuf says in pass-
tent, too. ing, “Mind your footing, there is a pit here,” our expec-
Thus form and content—rather than being separate tations are reinforced. We can’t help but suppose that
things that come together to produce art—are instead somebody is going down that hole. Screenwriters often
two aspects of the entire formal system of a work of art. organize a film’s narrative structure around the viewer’s
They are interrelated, interdependent, and interactive. desire to learn the answers to such central questions as,
“Will Dorothy get back to Kansas?” or “Will Frodo de-
stroy the ring?”
Fede Alvarez’s Don’t Breathe (2016) is a horror
Form and Expectations thriller about what happens to three young people who
break into a blind man’s home to steal his hidden for-
As we discussed in Chapter 1, our decision to see a par- tune. The three characters are already in conflict with
ticular movie is almost always based on certain expec- one another and are about to take on an unexpectedly
tations. Perhaps we have enjoyed previous work by the formidable antagonist. In the first scene inside the dark
director, the screenwriter, or the actors; or publicity, house, the camera glides along with the protagonists as
advertisements, friends, or reviews have attracted us; or they silently search the creepy premises. Along the way,
the genre is appealing; or we’re curious about the tech- the camera strays to linger on items the thieves don’t
niques used to make the movie. initially notice, including a heavy hammer hung over a
Even if we have no such preconceptions before step- tool bench and a pistol taped under their victim’s bed.
ping into a movie theater, we will form impressions very By clearly pointing out the existence of these weapons,
quickly once the movie begins, sometimes even from the camera is setting up an explicit expectation that
the moment the opening credits roll. (In Hollywood, each will be used at some point in the story; we just don’t
producers and screenwriters assume that audiences de- know by who or on whom.
the otherwise meaningless term MacGuffin to refer to

an object, document, or secret within a story that is vi-
tally important to the characters, and thus motivates
their actions and the conflict, but that turns out to be
less significant to the overall narrative than we might at
first expect. In Psycho (1960), for example, Marion Crane
believes that the $40,000 she steals from her employer
will help her start a new life. Instead, her flight with
the money leads to the Bates Motel, the resident psy-
chopath, and Marion’s death. The money plays no role
1 in motivating her murderer; in fact, the killer doesn’t
seem to know it exists. Once the murder has occurred,
the money—a classic MacGuffin—is of no real impor-
tance to the rest of the movie. With the death of our as-
sumed protagonist, Hitchcock sends our expectations
in a new and unanticipated direction. The question that
drew us into the narrative—“Will Marion get away with
embezzlement?”—suddenly switches to “Who will stop
this murderously overprotective mother?” As anyone
who has seen Psycho knows, this narrative about-face
isn’t the end of the director’s manipulation of audience
expectations.
2 Even as the narrative form of a movie is shaping and
sometimes confounding our expectations, other formal
Expectations in Bonnie and Clyde qualities may perform similar functions. Seemingly in-
Much of the development and ultimate impact of Arthur Penn’s significant and abstract elements of film such as color
Bonnie and Clyde (1967) depends on the sexual chemistry between schemes, sounds, shot length, and camera movement of-
the title characters [1], established through physical expression, dia
ten cooperate with dramatic elements to either heighten
logue, and overt symbolism. Early in the film, Clyde, ruthless and
or confuse our expectations. One way they do this is by
handsome, brandishes his gun threateningly and phallically [2].
Attracted by this display and others, the beautiful Bonnie is as sur- establishing patterns.
prised as we are when Clyde later rebuffs her obvious sexual attrac-
tion to him (at one point, he demurs, “I ain’t much of a lover boy”).
We may not like this contradiction, but it is established early in the Patterns
film and quickly teaches us that our expectations will not always be
satisfied.
Instinctively, we search for patterns and progressions in
all art forms. The more these meet our expectations (or
contradict them in interesting ways), the more likely we
are to enjoy, analyze, and interpret the work.
In each of the cases described, the general expectation The penultimate scene in D. W. Griffith’s Way Down
is ultimately fulfilled, but none of the situations play out East (1920), one of the most famous chase scenes in
exactly as we initially predict. Making, processing, and movie history, illustrates how the movies depend on
revising expectations is part of what makes watching our recognition of patterns. Banished from a “re
movies a compelling participatory experience. spectable” family’s house because of her scandalous past,
Director Alfred Hitchcock treated his audiences’ ex- Anna Moore tries to walk through a blizzard but quickly
pectations in ironic, even playful, ways—sometimes us- becomes disoriented and wanders onto a partially fro-
ing the gun, so to speak, and sometimes not—and this zen river. She faints on an ice floe and, after much sus-
became one of his major stylistic traits. Hitchcock used pense, is rescued by David Bartlett just as she is about
Patterns 37
1 2
3 4
Parallel editing in Way Down East

Pioneering director D. W. Griffith risked the lives of actors Lillian Gish and Richard Barthelmess to film Way Down East’s now classic
“ice break” scene—a scene that builds suspense by exposing us to a pattern of different shots called parallel editing. Griffith shot much of
the blizzard and ice-floe footage along the Connecticut River, then edited it together with studio shots and scenes of Niagara Falls. Gish,
thinly dressed, was freezing on the ice and was periodically revived with hot tea. Although the dangers during filming were real enough, the
“reality” portrayed in the final scene—a rescue from the certain death that would result from a plunge over Niagara Falls—is wholly the result
of Griffith’s use of a pattern of editing that has by now become a standard technique in narrative filmmaking.
to go over a huge waterfall to what clearly would have pattern of ABCACBCABCACBC), they appear simul
been her death. taneous. We assume that the river flows over Niagara
To heighten the drama of his characters’ predica- Falls and that the ice floe Anna is on is heading down
ment, Griffith employs parallel editing—a technique that river. It doesn’t matter that the actors weren’t lit-
that makes different lines of action appear to be oc- erally in danger of going over the falls or that David’s
curring simultaneously. Griffith shows us Anna on the actions did not occur simultaneously with Anna’s prog
ice, Niagara Falls, and David jumping from one floe to ress downriver. The form of the scene, established by
another as he tries to catch up with her. As we watch the pattern of parallel editing, has created an illusion
these three lines of action edited together (in a general of connections among these various shots, leaving us
1 2
3 4
5 6
Patterns and suspense

Filmmakers can use patterns to catch us unawares. In The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Jonathan Demme exploits our sense that when
shots are juxtaposed, they must share a logical connection. After FBI agents surround a house, an agent disguised as a deliveryman rings
the doorbell [1]; a bell rings in the serial killer Buffalo Bill’s basement [2]; Bill reacts to that ring [3], leaves behind the prisoner he was about
to harm, goes upstairs, and answers his front door, revealing not the deliveryman we expect to see but Clarice Starling [4]. As agents storm
the house they’ve been staking out [5], Clarice and Bill continue to talk [6]. The agents have entered the wrong house, Clarice is now alone
with a psychopath, and our anxiety rises as a result of the surprise.
with an impression of a continuous, anxiety-producing ural interpretation of parallel action to achieve a disori-
drama. enting effect. Earlier in the movie, Demme has already
The editing in one scene of Jonathan Demme’s The shown us countless versions of a formal pattern in
Silence of the Lambs (1991) takes advantage of our nat- which two elements seen in separation are alternated
Patterns 39
1 2
3 4
5 6
Breaking patterns for dramatic effect

The six consecutive underwater shots that open Terrence Malick’s
The New World (2005) establish a pattern of tranquility and affinity.
Each shot conveys a harmonious fusion of indigenous people and
their natural environment. The seventh shot rises from the blue wa-
ters to break the pattern and thus cinematically signal the Virginia
Company’s intrusion into the Algonquin paradise. Everything has
suddenly changed: the light, the framing, the content, the world.
and related (ABABAB). So we expect that pattern to be ken, thwarting our expectations and setting in motion
repeated when shots of the serial killer Buffalo Bill argu the suspenseful scene that follows.
ing with his intended victim in his basement are intercut Parallel editing is not the only means of creating and
with shots of the FBI team preparing to storm a house. exploiting patterns in movies, of course. Some patterns
We naturally assume that the FBI has targeted the same are made to be broken. The six consecutive underwater
house in which Buffalo Bill is going about his grisly busi- shots that open Terrence Malick’s The New World
ness. When the sequence eventually reveals that the FBI (2005) establish a pattern of peace and affinity. Each
is, in fact, attacking a different house, the pattern is bro- shot conveys a harmonious fusion of indigenous people
and their natural environment: fish glide past the cam- Movies Depend on Light
era, a smiling Pocahontas runs her hand across the
shimmering surface, Algonquin natives swim hand in Light is the essential ingredient in the creation and con-
hand, and P ocahontas glides upward trailing a stream sumption of motion pictures. Movie images are made
of air bubbles. The cumulative effect of this AAAAAA when a camera lens focuses light onto either film stock
pattern is quietly powerful—it repeatedly reinforces a or a digital video sensor. Movie-theater projectors and
feeling of slow-motion tranquility. But the sequence’s video monitors all transmit motion pictures as light,
most expressive moment comes just when this pleas- which is gathered by the lenses and sensors in our own
ant pattern is broken. The s eventh shot rises from the eyes. Movie production crews—including the cinema-
blue waters to cinematically signal the Virginia Com- tographer, the gaffer, the best boy, and many assorted
pany’s intrusion into the Algonquin paradise. The un- grips and assistants—devote an impressive amount of
derwater A shots were infused with blue; this open-air time and equipment to illumination design and execu-
B shot is dominated by shades of brown. The opening tion. Yet it would be a mistake to think of light as simply
A sequence featured close-framed human subjects; this a requirement for a decent exposure. Light is more than
pattern-breaking B shot is a wide angle of three large a source of illumination; it is a key formal element that
European ships. Everything has suddenly changed: the film artists and technicians carefully manipulate to cre-
light, the framing, the content, the world. ate mood, reveal character, and convey meaning.
The preceding examples offer a taste of how impor One of the most powerful black-and-white films ever
tant patterns can be to our experience and interpreta- made, John Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath (1940), tells the
tion of movies. Narrative patterns provide an element story of an Oklahoma farming family forced off their land
of structure, ground us in the familiar, or acquaint us by the violent dust storms that plagued the region during
with the unfamiliar; repeating them emphasizes their the Great Depression of the 1930s. The eldest son, Tom
content. Shot patterns can convey character state of Joad, returns home after serving a prison sentence, only
mind, create relationships, and communicate narra- to find that his family has left their farm for the suppos-
tive meaning. As we will see in later chapters, nonnar- edly greener pastures of California.
rative patterns such as the repetition of a familiar image Tom and an itinerant preacher named Jim Casy,
or a familiar sound effect (or motif from the movie’s whom he has met along the way, enter the Joad house,
musical score) are also important components of using a candle to help them see inside the pitch-black
film form. interior. Lurking in the dark, but illuminated by the
candlelight (masterfully simulated by cinematographer
Gregg Toland), is Muley Graves, a farmer who has re-
fused to leave Oklahoma with his family. As Muley tells
Fundamentals of Tom and Casy what has happened in the area, Tom holds
the candle so that he and Casy can see him better [1], and
Film Form the contrasts between the dark background and Mu-
ley’s haunted face, illuminated by the flickering candle,
The remaining chapters in this book describe the major
reveal their collective state of mind: despair. The uncon-
formal aspects of film—narrative, mise-en-scène, cine-
ventional direction of the harsh light distorts the charac
matography, acting, editing, sound—to provide you with
ters’ features and casts elongated shadows looming behind
a beginning vocabulary for talking about film form more
and above them [2]. The story is told less through words
specifically. Before we study these individual formal ele-
than through the overtly symbolic light of a single candle.
ments, however, let’s briefly discuss three fundamental
Muley’s flashback account of the loss of his farm re-
principles of film form:
verses the pattern. The harsh light of the sun that, along
with the relentless wind, has withered his fields beats
Movies depend on light. down upon Muley, casting a deep, foreshortened shadow
of the ruined man across his ruined land [3]. Such sharp
Movies provide an illusion of movement.
contrasts of light and dark occur throughout the film,
Movies manipulate space and time in unique ways. thus providing a pattern of meaning.
It is useful to distinguish between the luminous en-

ergy we call light and the crafted interplay between
motion-picture light and shadow known as lighting.
Light is responsible for the image we see on the screen,
whether photographed (shot) on film or video or cre-
ated with a computer. Lighting is responsible for sig-
nificant effects in each shot or scene. It enhances the
texture, depth, emotions, and mood of a shot. It accents
the rough texture of a cobblestoned street in Carol Reed’s
The Third Man (1949), helps to extend the illusion of
depth in Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane (1941), and empha-
sizes a character’s subjective feelings of apprehension
or suspense in such film noirs as Billy Wilder’s Double
Indemnity (1944). In fact, lighting often conveys these
1
things by augmenting, complicating, or even contradict
ing other cinematic elements within the shot (e.g., dia
logue, movement, or composition). Lighting also affects
the ways that we see and think about a movie’s char
acters. It can make a character’s face appear attractive
or unattractive, make the viewer like a character or be
afraid of her, and reveal a character’s state of mind.
These are just a few of the basic ways that movies
depend on light to achieve their effects. We’ll continue
our discussion of cinema’s use of light and manipulation
of lighting later (Chapter 5 examines lighting as an ele-
ment of mis-en-scène; Chapter 6 includes information
and analysis of lighting’s role in cinematography; Chap-
ter 11 covers how motion-picture technologies capture
and use light). For now, it’s enough to appreciate that
2 light is essential to movie meaning and to the filmmak-
ing process itself.
Movies Provide an Illusion

of Movement
We need light to make, shape, and see movies, but it takes
more than light to make motion pictures. As we learned in
Expressive use of light in The Grapes of Wrath

Strong contrasts between light and dark (called chiaroscuro) make
movies visually interesting and focus our attention on significant de-
tails. But that’s not all that they accomplish. They can also evoke
moods and meanings, and even symbolically complement the other
formal elements of a movie, as in these frames from John Ford’s
3 The Grapes of Wrath (1940).
1 2
3 4
5 6
Lighting and character in Atonement

Filmmakers often craft the interplay between illumination and shadow to imply character state of mind. The tragic romance of Atonement
(2007; director Joe Wright) hinges on the actions of a precocious thirteen-year-old, Briony Tallis. Lives are irrevocably altered when Briony’s
adolescent jealousy prompts her to accuse the housekeeper’s son Robbie of rape. As events unfold, a series of different lighting designs are
employed to enhance our perception of Briony’s evolving (and often suppressed) emotions as she stumbles upon Cecilia and Robbie making
love in the library [1], catches a startled glimpse of her cousin’s rape [2], accuses Robbie of the crime [3], guiltily retreats upon Robbie’s arrival [4],
contemplates the consequences of her actions [5], and observes Robbie’s arrest [6].
Chapter 1, movement is what separates cinema from all Or, rather, it seems to move. As we sit in a movie theater,
other two-dimensional pictorial art forms. We call them believing ourselves to be watching a continually lit screen
movies for a reason—cinema’s expressive power largely portraying fluid, uninterrupted movement, we are ac-
derives from the medium’s fundamental ability to move. tually watching a quick succession of still photographs
called frames. There is still some debate among cognitive frames per second, although some recent films (such as
scientists as to exactly why the brain processes a rapid se- Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy) have experimented with
ries of still images as continuous movement. Essentially, higher frame rates.
when viewing successive images depicting only slight dif-
ferences from frame to frame at a high enough speed, the
brain’s visual systems respond using the same motion
detectors used to perceive and translate real motion in Movies Manipulate Space and
our everyday lives. For our purposes, what’s important is Time in Unique Ways
(a) it works, as the marvelously expressive medium we’re Some of the arts, such as architecture, are concerned
studying could not exist without this convenient brain mostly with space; others, such as music, are related
glitch, and (b) we recognize the still photographic frame mainly to time. But movies manipulate space and time
as the basic building block of motion pictures. equally well, so they are both a spatial and a temporal
In the early days of cinema, when these continuous art form. Movies can move seamlessly from one space
successions of frames were shot and shown using long to another (say, from a room to a landscape to outer
strips of celluloid film, filmmakers and exhibitors dis- space), or make space move (as when the camera turns
covered that the shooting and projection of at least 24 around or away from its subject, changing the physi
images per second was needed to present smooth, nat- cal, psychological, or emotional relationship between
ural looking movement. Projectors were developed that the viewer and the subject), or fragment time in many
could perform a complex mechanical task 24 times every different ways. Only movies can record real time in its
second: shine light through a frame to project its image, chronological passing as well as subjective versions of
and then move the next frame into place for its moment time passing—slow motion, for example, or extreme com-
of projection. A shutter was used to block the light and pression of vast swaths of time.
thus obscure the mechanical movement of each new On the movie screen, space and time are relative to
frame being moved into place, so that the screen was each other, and we can’t separate them or perceive one
actually momentarily dark at least 24 times every sec- without the other. The movies give time to space and
ond. Aspects of eye and brain function that blend rapid space to time, a phenomenon that art historian and film
flashes of light and momentarily retain an image after theorist Erwin Panofsky describes as the dynamization
the eye records it make those moments of darkness un- of space and the spatialization of time.1 To understand
detectable. New rotating multi-blade shutters were soon this principle of “co-expressibility,” compare your ex-
developed that momentarily interrupted the projection periences of space when you watch a play and when you
of each frame with a microsecond of black screen, so watch a movie. As a spectator at a play in the theater,
that audiences were actually seeing two projections of your relationship to the stage, the settings, and the ac-
each frame before the projector mechanism replaced tors is fixed. Your perspective on these things is deter-
it with the next frame. By further increasing the num- mined by the location of your seat, and everything on
ber of projected images flashing across the screen each the stage remains the same size in relation to the en-
second, these shutters helped to further smooth the tire stage. Sets may change between scenes, but within
appearance of motion and eliminate any visible flicker scenes the set remains, for the most part, in place. No
on-screen. These days, when most movies are shot on matter how skillfully constructed and painted the set
high-definition video using digital cameras, and virtu- is, you know (because of the clear boundaries between
ally every movie is viewed digitally—whether in a movie the set and the rest of the theater) that it is not real and
theater using a digital projector or on a digital TV or that when actors go through doors in the set’s walls, they
other device—the brief moments of black are no longer go backstage or into the wings at the side of the stage, not
necessary. Most movies are still shot and projected at 24 into a continuation of the world portrayed on the stage.
1. Erwin Panofsky, “Style and Medium in the Motion Pictures,” in Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, 5th ed., ed. Leo Braudy and
Marshall Cohen (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), pp. 281–283.
By contrast, when you watch a movie, your relation-

ship to the space portrayed on-screen can be flexible. INTERACTIVE Filmmakers don’t just use
You still sit in a fixed seat, but the screen images move: cameras simply to record the action of a scene. How
the spatial relationships on the screen may constantly and where they place the camera influences the
ways in which we experience and understand any
change, and the film directs your gaze. Suppose, for ex-
given moment in the story. The Camera as Mediator
ample, that during a scene in which two characters meet interactive allows you to play with different ways of
at a bar, the action suddenly flashes forward to their later capturing a moment from Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold
rendezvous at an apartment, then flashes back to the Rush in a 3D environment.
conversation at the bar, and so on; or a close-up focuses
your attention on one character’s (or both characters’)
lips. A live theater performance can attempt versions of
such spatial and temporal effects, but a play can’t do so
as seamlessly, immediately, persuasively, or intensely
as a movie can. If one of the two actors in that bar scene
were to back away from the other and thus disappear
from the screen, you would perceive her as moving to
another part of the bar; that is, into a continuation of
the space already established in the scene. You can eas-
ily imagine this movement due to the fluidity of movie
space, more of which is necessarily suggested than is
shown.
The motion-picture camera doesn’t simply record
the space in front of it: it deliberately determines and
controls our perception of cinematic space. In the hands Cinema’s ability to mediate space is illustrated in
of expressive filmmakers, the camera selects what space Charles Chaplin’s The Gold Rush (1925). This brilliant
we see and uses framing, lenses, and movement to de- comedy portrays the adventures of two prospectors:
termine exactly how we see that space. This process, by the “Little Fellow” (Chaplin) and his partner, Big Jim
which an agent transfers something from one place to McKay (Mack Swain). After many twists and turns of
another (in this case, the camera transferring aspects of the plot, the two find themselves sharing an isolated
space to the viewer) is known as mediation. When we cabin. At night, the winds of a fierce storm blow the cabin
watch a movie, especially under ideal conditions with to the edge of a cliff, leaving it precariously balanced on
a large screen in a darkened room, we identify with the the brink of an abyss. Waking and walking about, the
lens. In other words, viewers exchange the viewpoint of Little Fellow slides toward the door (and almost certain
their own eyes for the mediated viewpoint of the camera. death). The danger is established by our first seeing the
The camera captures space differently than do the eyes, sharp precipice on which the cabin is located and then
which have peripheral vision and can only move through by seeing the Little Fellow sliding toward the door that
space (and time) along with the rest of the body. The opens out over the chasm. Subsequently, we see him and
camera’s viewpoint is limited only by the edges of the Big Jim engaged in a struggle for survival that requires
frame. It fragments space into multiple edited images them to maintain the balance of the cabin on the edge
that can jump instantaneously between different angles of the cliff.
and positions, looking through variable lenses that pre The suspense exists because individual shots—one
sent depth and perspective in a number of ways. And yet, made outdoors, the other safely in a studio—have been
because of our natural tendency to use visual informa- edited together to create the illusion that they form
tion to understand the space around us, the brain is able part of a complete space. As we watch the cabin sway
to automatically accept and process the camera’s differ- and teeter on the cliff’s edge, we imagine the hapless ad-
ent way of seeing and use that mediated information to venturers inside; when the action cuts to the interior of
comprehend cinematic space. the cabin and we see the floor pitching back and forth,
1 2
3 4
5 6
Manipulating space in The Gold Rush

Film editing can convince us that we’re seeing a complete space and a continuous action, even though individual shots have been filmed
in different places and at different times. In Charles Chaplin’s The Gold Rush (1925), an exterior shot of the cabin [1] establishes the danger
that the main characters only slowly become aware of [2]. As the cabin hangs in the balance [3], alternating interior and exterior shots [4–6]
accentuate our sense of suspense and amusement.
1a 1b
2 3
4 5
Movies manipulate time

A number of recently released films offer ample evidence that rearranging chronology isn’t the only way movies manipulate time. Director
Richard Linklater shot Boyhood (2014) using the same actors over a period of 12 years. The audience literally watches the boy in question
grow up on-screen [1]. In contrast, the 140-minute running time of the thriller Victoria (2015; director Sebastian Schipper) matches the time it
takes the story to elapse. The entire story of a night on the town that goes horribly wrong is conveyed in one unbroken shot [2]. Christopher
Landon’s horror comedy Happy Death Day (2017) takes place all in one day, but that day is repeated multiple times as the protagonist strug-
gles to solve her own recurring murder and break free of the time loop she’s stuck inside [3]. Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic Dunkirk
(2017) intertwines three stories with three different timelines: troops stranded on a beach desperately awaiting rescue over the course of
7 days; 24 hours with a civilian pleasure craft enlisted in the evacuation; and a single hour with two fighter pilots [4]. In a fight scene in Wonder
Woman (2017; director Patty Jenkins), the title character’s newfound powers are visualized using ramped speed, a technique in which action
speeds up and slows down within a single shot [5].
we imagine the cabin perched precariously on the edge.

The experience of these shots as a continuous record of
action occurring in a complete (and realistic) space is an
illusion that no other art form can convey as effectively
as movies can.
The manipulation of time (as well as space), a func
tion of editing, is handled with great irony, cinematic
power, and emotional impact in the “baptism and mur-
der” scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather
(1972). This 5-minute scene consists of thirty-six shots
made at different locations. The primary location is a
church where Michael Corleone, the newly named god- Split screen and simultaneous action
Most movies use crosscutting techniques like parallel action to rep-
father of the Corleone mob, and his wife, Kay, attend their
resent more than one event occurring at the same moment. The
nephew’s baptism. Symbolically, Michael is also the child’s
audience experiences only one event at a time, but the repeated
godfather. Coppola cuts back and forth between the bap- crosscutting implies simultaneity. City of God sometimes breaks
tism; the preparations for five murders, which Michael with convention and splits the screen into multiple frames to pres-
has ordered, at five different locations; and the murders ent a more immediate depiction of simultaneous action.
themselves.
Each time we return to the baptism, it continues
where it left off for one of these cutaways to other ac-
tions. We know this from the continuity of the priest’s orders time in ways that challenge viewer expectations
actions, Latin incantations, and the Bach organ music. of chronology (and consciousness) when scenes ini-
This continuity tells us not only that these actions are tially assumed to take place in the past are revealed to
taking place simultaneously but also that Michael is be glimpses of future events. A number of films, most
involved in all of them, either directly or indirectly. The famously Christopher Nolan’s Memento (2000) and Gas-
simultaneity is further strengthened by the organ music, par Noé’s Irréversible (2002), transpose time by present-
which underscores every scene in the sequence, not just ing their stories in scene-by-scene reverse chronological
those that take place in the cathedral. As the priest says order. All of these approaches to rearranging time allow
to Michael, “Go in peace, and may the Lord be with you,” filmmakers to create new narrative meaning by juxta-
we are left to reconcile this meticulously timed, simulta- posing events in ways linear chronology does not permit.
neous occurrence of sacred and criminal acts. John Woo’s 1989 action extravaganza The Killer main
The parallel action sequences in The Silence of the tains conventional chronology but uses many other
Lambs, Way Down East, and The Godfather are evidence expressive manipulations of time to tell its story of a
of cinema’s ability to use crosscutting to represent mul- kindhearted assassin and the relentless cop determined
tiple events occurring at the same instant. Some movies, to capture him. Each of the film’s many gun battle scenes
like City of God (2002; directors Fernando Meirelles and features elegant slow-motion shots of either the antihero
Kátia Lund), do parallel action one better, using a split or one of his unfortunate rivals delivering or absorbing
screen to show the concurrent actions simultaneously. multiple bullets. The slow motion invites the audience
Movies frequently rearrange time by organizing story to pause and savor an extended moment of stylized
events in nonchronological order. Orson Welles’s Citi- violence. The sequences also employ occasional bursts
zen Kane (1941) and Todd Haynes’s I’m Not There (2007) of fast motion that have the opposite effect. These sud-
both begin their exploration of a life with that charac- den temporal shifts allow Woo and film editor Kung Ming
ter’s death and, for the rest of the film, shuffle the events Fan to choreograph cinematic patterns and rhythms that
leading up to that opening conclusion. Movies such as give their fight scenes a dizzying kinetic energy that bor-
Love and Mercy (2014; director Bill Pohlad) inform our ders on the outrageous.
perspective on characters and events by alternating Woo expands the audience’s experience of time at
between past and present time frames. The science- key points in the story by fragmenting the moment
fiction film Arrival (2016; director Denis Villeneuve) repre
ceding an important action. The film’s climactic
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
Manipulating time in The Killer

The world-weary title character in John Woo’s The Killer (1989) is an expert assassin attempting to cash in and retire after one last hit. Woo
conveys the hit man’s reluctance to kill again by expanding the moment of his decision to pull the trigger. Film editor Kung Ming Fan fragments
the dramatic pause preceding the action into a thirty-four-shot sequence that cuts between multiple images of the intended target [1], the
dragon-boat ceremony he is officiating [2, 3], and the pensive killer [4, 5]. The accumulation of all these fragments extends what should be
a brief moment into a tension-filled 52 seconds. When the killer finally does draw his weapon, the significance of the decision is made clear
by the repetition of this action in three shots from different camera angles [6–8]. The rapid-fire repetition of a single action is one of cinema’s
most explicit manipulations of time.
gunfight finds the hit man and the cop allied against projectiles. The slow motion allows us to see “speeding”
overwhelming forces. The sequence begins with several slugs and lends a balletic grace to Neo’s movements. But
shots of an army of trigger-happy gangsters bursting what makes the moment magical—and conveys our he-
into the isolated church where the unlikely partners ro’s newfound mastery—is the addition of an extra and
are holed up. The film extends the brief instant before unexpected time reference: a swooping camera that cir
the bullets fly with a series of twelve shots, including a cumnavigates the slo-mo action at normal real-time speed.
panicked bystander covering her ears, a priest crossing To achieve this disorienting and spellbinding combi
himself, and the cop and killer exchanging tenacious nation of multiple speeds, the filmmakers worked with
glances. The accumulation of these time fragments engineers to develop new technology in a process that
holds us in the moment far longer than the momentum resembled sequence photography experiments from the
of the action could realistically allow. The sequence’s earliest days of motion-picture photography (see illus-
relative stasis establishes a pattern that is broken by trations on p. 50). Neo’s dodging dance was shot not by
the inevitable explosion of violence. Later, a brief break one motion-picture camera, but by 120 still cameras
in the combat is punctuated by a freeze-frame (in which mounted in a roller-coaster-style arc and snapping sin-
a still image is shown on‑screen for a period of time), gle images in a computer-driven, rapid-fire sequence.
another of Woo’s time-shifting trademarks. Bloodied When all those individual shots are projected in quick
but still breathing, the newfound friends emerge from succession, the subject appears to move slowly while the
the bullet-ridden sanctuary. The killer’s fond glance at viewpoint of the camera capturing that subject main-
the cop suddenly freezes into a still image, suspend- tains its own independent fluidity and speed.
ing time and motion for a couple of seconds. The cop’s
smiling response is prolonged in a matching sustained
freeze-frame. As you may have guessed, The Killer is an Realism, Antirealism,
odd sort of love story. With that in mind, we can see that and Formalism
these freeze-frames do more than manipulate time;
they visually unite the two former foes, thus emphasiz- All the unique features of film form we’ve just described
ing their mutual admiration. combine to enable filmmakers to create vivid and be-
One of the most dazzling manipulations of both space lievable worlds on the screen. Although not every film
and time the movies have to offer was perfected and pop- strives to be “realistic,” nearly all films attempt to im-
ularized by Lana and Lilly Wachowski (as the Wachowski merse us in a world that is depicted convincingly on its
brothers) with their 1999 science-fiction film, The Ma- own terms. In order to evaluate and appreciate expres-
trix. This effect, known—for reasons that will become sive motion pictures, viewers need to understand how
obvious—as bullet time, is critical to one of the film’s piv- cinema engages realism—and its alternatives.
otal scenes. In the scene, the hacker-turned-savior-of- The first movie cameras were primarily intended to
humanity Neo transcends real-world physics and bends record natural images through photography, an approach
the Matrix to his purposes for the first time. When one to content that was reinforced by concurrent artistic
of the deadly digital henchmen known as agents shoots movements in painting and literature that were devoted
at Neo, the action suddenly reverts to stylized slow mo- to recording the visible facts of people, places, and social
tion as Neo literally bends over backward to avoid the life for working-class and middle-class audiences. In
1 2
Movement in The Matrix

For Lana and Lilly Wachowski’s The Matrix (1999), special effects supervisors Steve Courtley and Brian Cox employed a setup much like that
used by early pioneers of serial photography (see Chapter 10). They placed 120 still cameras in an arc and coordinated their exposures using
computers. The individual frames, shot from various angles but in much quicker succession than is possible with a motion-picture camera,
could then be edited together to create the duality of movement (sometimes called bullet time) for which The Matrix is famous. The camera
moves around a slow-motion subject at a relatively fast pace, apparently independent of the subject’s stylized slowness. Despite its contem-
porary look, this special effects technique is grounded in principles and methods established during the earliest years of motion-picture history.
1895, the pioneering French filmmakers Auguste and and style (form). In terms of content, the Lumières doc-
Louis Lumière started making some of the first silent umented unrehearsed scenes from everyday life. They
movies, and these were devoted to the actual or real (i.e., did not stylize this “reality” with conspicuous camera
manifesting a tendency to view or represent things as angles, compositions, lighting, or edits. In this way, they
they really are). established some basic approaches to form and content
What makes a movie realistic? In the case of the Lu- that today’s fiction film audiences still associate with
mière brothers, it came down to subject matter (content) cinematic realism. These formal components include
1 2
Lumière / Méliès
Whether presenting a scene from everyday life, as in Louis Lumière’s Employees Leaving the Lumière Factory (1895) [1], or showing a
fantastical scenario, as in Georges Méliès’s A Trip to the Moon (1902) [2], motion pictures were recognized from the very beginning for their
ability to create a feeling of being there, of seeing something that could actually happen. The Lumière brothers favored what they called
actualités—mini-documentaries of scenes from everyday life—whereas Méliès made movies directly inspired by his interest in magicians’
illusions. Yet both the Lumières and Méliès wanted to portray their on-screen worlds convincingly.
naturalistic performances and dialogue; modest, un- and interactions that don’t feed directly into the film’s
embellished sets and settings; and wide-angle composi- plot. Instead, they provide the everyday texture of the pro-
tions and other unobtrusive framing. The content tends tagonist’s life and personality. The director cast profes-
to concentrate on story lines that portray the everyday sional but not widely known actors. He shot the movie at
lives of “ordinary” people. actual locations with a handheld camera using the kind
In most movie entertainments, every character and of light-sensitive (and thus grainy) 16mm film stock as-
situation serves a preordained function in a highly or- sociated with documentary cinema.
ganized plot structure. Because real life is often messy Shortly after the Lumière brothers started making mov-
and complicated, the content of movies that strive for ies based in realism, another groundbreaking French film-
realism often takes a more inclusive, less organized ap- maker began creating movies with different foundations
proach to the form in which that story is told. These story and goals. The work of Georges Méliès displayed an in-
lines are conveyed without obvious artistic flourishes terest in the speculative and fantastic, an approach to
such as dramatic lighting or dazzling camera moves. But content termed antirealism. The cinematic antirealism
that does not mean realism is devoid of style. On the con- that Méliès practiced considered the viewer’s percep-
trary, fiction movies in this category often adapt formal tions of reality as a starting point to expand upon or even
techniques associated with documentary filmmaking. purposely subvert. His inventive stories featured space
The down-to-earth authenticity this approach projects travel, monsters, ghosts, and magic. In order to bring
makes realism a natural fit for films portraying social this antirealistic content to the screen, Méliès embraced
issues. what is now called formalism, an approach to style and
For example, Fruitvale Station (2013; director Ryan storytelling that values conspicuously expressive form
Coogler) is closely based on the true story of Oscar over the unobtrusive form associated with realism. His
Grant III, an unemployed San Francisco grocery clerk films incorporated special effects, elaborate costumes,
who was shot and killed on a subway platform by Bay theatrical performances, and fanciful sets. Contempo-
Area Rapid Transit police while on his way home from rary movies that can be considered formalist may use
New Year’s festivities in 2009. The script, which recounts highly stylized and distinctive camera work, editing, and
the last day of Mr. Grant’s life, includes multiple events lighting to convey sensational stories set in embellished
Mixing the real and the fantastic

On its surface, Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012; director Benh Zeitlin) is very much a realist movie. The story is loosely structured, shot on
location with a handheld camera, and everything is gritty: the setting, the characters, and the light-sensitive film stock. Most of the movie
looks, sounds, and moves like the real world—until the content and form veer into the fantastic. The protagonist Hushpuppy has recurring
visions of icebergs that crumble to reveal—and eventually free—gigantic horned beasts encased inside. Realism comes face to face with both
antirealism and formalism when these awesome creatures are confronted by the diminutive Hushpuppy.
1 2
Technology and the appearance of realism

Movies as diverse as the stark drama Two Days, One Night (2014; directors Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne) and the apocalyptic
horror film Cloverfield (2008; director Matt Reeves) create a sense of realism by employing camera formats and techniques that audiences
associate with “reality.” Two Days, One Night [1] is shot with a relatively smooth handheld technique for a look that resembles that of pro-
fessional documentary films. Cloverfield [2] goes several steps further, shooting in a shaky handheld style and degrading the video image to
resemble amateur home movies—the ultimate in unvarnished reality footage.
1 2
Realism versus formalism

These two paintings illustrate the difference between realism and formalism. Thomas Gainsborough’s eighteenth-century portrait The Hon.
Frances Duncombe presents its subject in a form that conforms to our experiences and expectations of how a woman looks [1]. Compare this
with Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, by the twentieth-century French artist Marcel Duchamp [2]. Duchamp has transformed a woman’s
natural appearance (which we know from life) into a radically altered form of sharp angles and fractured shapes. Both paintings represent
women, and each took great technical skill and artistic talent to create; but they differ greatly in their relationship to realism and form.
or imaginary settings. Those settings are often filmed on the titular hotel is a miniature model. The plot is highly
highly designed sets that purposely reinvent or reject structured and includes absurd events like a high-speed
the look of everyday locations. sled chase. The larger-than-life characters wear whim-
Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) is sical costumes and makeup, and they are presented by
located at the pinnacle of formalism and antirealism. (mostly) famous actors delivering deliberately mannered
The fanciful story of an impeccable concierge framed for performances. The cinematography features dramatic
murder is set in an ornate pink hotel located at the sum- lighting, saturated colors, and elaborately staged formal
mit of a nearly perpendicular mountain peak above an compositions.
imaginary town in a fictional country. The filmmakers Of course, it’s important to keep in mind that the two
make no effort to disguise the fact that the exterior set of movie examples just discussed—Fruitvale Station and
The Grand Budapest Hotel—exist at opposite ends of a vincingly depict imaginative or supernatural worlds and
realism spectrum. Most films fall somewhere between events that have little or nothing in common with our ac-
these two extremes. And the concept of realism should tual experiences. If the characters and events on-screen
not be confused with a value judgment. Some of the most feel plausible and consistent within the context of the
profound and heartfelt works in cinema could be called world of the story—if we are able to believe in what we’re
antirealist, just as creative innovation can be found in seeing while we’re seeing it—that film has achieved veri-
movies classified as realist. Often, our engagement with similitude, regardless of the content presented or the
a movie has less to do with the appearance of realism and form used to present it. An animated comedy where char-
more to do with whether we believe it in the moment— acters suddenly burst into song may be as verisimilar as
which brings us to our next subject. a serious drama that is based on actual events.
Oftentimes, verisimilitude is in the eye of the beholder.
You can be deeply engaged by the physical verisimili-
Verisimilitude tude of the world being depicted and still be unconvinced
Verisimilitude, the appearance of being true or real, by the “unreality” of a character—or by the performance
is not the same as realism. A movie doesn’t necessarily of the actor playing him. And audiences’ expectations of
have to be an accurate portrayal of the world we live in believability change over time and across cultures. A film
to feel true and real to the viewers watching it. Some of that you found engaging and authentic when you were
the most popular and successful movies of all time con- in kindergarten may seem ridiculous when you revisit it
Verisimilitude and the viewing experience

Cinema’s ability to make us temporarily believe in people, places, and events that we know to be imaginary is one of the primary reasons we
watch movies. But movies don’t have to be realistic to provide verisimilitude. The irrational act of believing in—and caring about—a manufac-
tured reality that is significantly different than our everyday world can provide a special kind of sensation. One of the pleasures of watching
Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water (2017) is the effect of becoming emotionally invested in an interspecies romance between a cleaning
woman and a water creature specimen in a government research center.
Cinematic Language 55
as an adult. A movie made in Germany in the 1930s may of all of a shot’s combined elements provides even greater
have been considered thoroughly verisimilar by those expressive potential. So, in cinema, as in the written word,
Germans who viewed it at the time, but it may seem ut- the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. But the
terly unfamiliar and hence unbelievable to contempo- analogy doesn’t end there. Just as authors arrange sen-
rary American viewers. Films that succeed in appearing tences into paragraphs and chapters, filmmakers derive
verisimilar across cultures and generations often enjoy still more accumulated meaning by organizing shots into
the sort of critical and popular success that prompts peo a system of larger components: sequences and scenes.
ple to call them timeless. Furthermore, within sequences and scenes a filmmaker
What exactly makes a film verisimilar is difficult to can juxtapose shots to create a more complex meaning
quantify. We know it when we see it, or rather, when we than is usually achieved in standard prose. As viewers,
feel it. Believability seems to be achieved through the we analyze cinematic language and its particular resources
right combination of form, content, performance, and of expression and meaning. If your instructor refers to
intent. But just because it is hard to describe doesn’t the text of a movie or asks you to read a particular shot,
mean verisimilitude is not important. The movies are scene, or movie, she is asking you to apply your under-
an expressive medium perfectly suited for—and devoted standing of cinematic l anguage.
to—providing audiences a transcendent and immersive Like any language, cinematic language relies on con-
experience. Most of us go to the movies seeking verisi- ventions: a standard and commonly understood way
militude, so most filmmakers employ all of the film form of doing something. The conventions of cinematic lan-
described in this book toward providing it. guage represent a sort of agreement between the film-
maker and the audience about the mediating element
between them: the film itself. The filmmaker agrees to
Cinematic Language use cinematic language in ways that viewers recognize
and understand so the audience can comprehend the film-
By cinematic language—a phrase that we have already maker’s intended meaning. But without innovations—new
used a few times in this book—we mean the accepted and unfamiliar ways of applying cinematic language—
systems, methods, or conventions by which the movies those handy conventions would not exist. So, sometimes
communicate with the viewer. To fully understand cin- that agreement must be broken, or at least bent, when an
ema as a language, let’s compare it with another, more innovative filmmaker seeks new ways to convey meaning
familiar form of language—the written one you’re en- and experience. For example, when Baby Driver (2017;
gaged with this instant. Our written language is based, director Edgar Wright) suddenly cuts from a scene of
for the purpose of this explanation, on words. Each of the adult protagonist and his music collection to a scene
those words has a generally accepted meaning, but when depicting a car crash from his childhood, we intuitively
juxtaposed and combined with other words into a sen- understand the movie has momentarily jumped back
tence and presented in a certain context, each can con- in time to show us what the character is thinking about,
vey meaning that is potentially far more subtle, precise, thanks to the filmmaker’s use of a conventional flash-
or evocative than that implied by its standard “dictio- back. But at some point in film history, a filmmaker had
nary” definition. to break with convention, and thus challenge viewers’ ex-
Instead of arranging words into sentences, cinematic pectations of cinematic language, to innovate this expres-
language combines and composes a variety of elements— sive leap in time and space. And even once established,
for example, lighting, movement, sound, acting, and a every convention is itself open to further innovation and
number of camera effects—into single shots. As you work interpretation. Depending on the way they are created
your way through this book, you will learn that most of and the context in which they are presented, temporal
these individual elements carry conventional, general- and spatial leaps can communicate any number of mean-
ized meanings. But when combined with any number of ings, moods, or ideas.
other elements and presented in a particular context, And you are capable of assimilating each of these
that element’s standardized meaning grows more indi ever-evolving permutations, because years of practice
viduated and complex. And the integrated arrangement watching movies have made you an agile consumer
[2] Design elements such as cos- [4] John Reed is backlit, a light-
tumes, props, and set furnishings ing direction that renders a fig-
help communicate the story’s ure in silhouette. In this context,
early nineteenth-century time pe the technique differentiates John
riod, as well as the upper-class from our hiding heroine Jane and
status of Jane’s adoptive family. visually reinforces his cruel and
deceptive behavior.
[1] Young Jane is the primary sub- [5] In contrast to the soft, diffused
ject of this shot. She is the larg- light that characterizes Jane, Mrs.
est figure in the frame, and she Reed’s portion of the frame is lit
is clearly in focus. She is lit with with direct, unfiltered light that
diffused light that softens her fea- casts deep shadows and bright
tures. Her vulnerable situation— [3] Jane’s literal and figurative de- highlights. Her distance from
and state of mind—is conveyed tachment is conveyed by the cur- Jane, and perhaps even her insen-
via her downcast performance, tains, illumination, shadows, and sitivity to her niece’s situation, is
her comparatively dour dress, and depth that divides her half of the emphasized by the different qual-
the framing that partially obscures frame from that occupied by her ity of light, relative size in frame,
her face. abusive cousin and aunt. and indistinct focus.

Cinematic language
Looking at this single image, without even knowing what movie it is from or anything about the various characters pictured in the frame, we
can immediately infer layers of meaning and significance. If we think of cinematic language as akin to written language, we can think of this
single image from Cary Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre (2011) as a richly layered “sentence” that communicates by combining and arranging multiple
visual elements (or “words” in this analogy) that include lighting, composition, depth, design, cinematography, and performance.
of cinematic language. But, as you may have already phrenic teenager named Donnie Darko who is haunted
discovered, there is much more to this language than by a mysterious being that compels him to perform acts
the average viewer consciously considers. The follow- of retaliatory destruction.
ing chapters of this book will expand your innate grasp
into an informed fluency that empowers you to identify
and demonstrate how the movies work to express ideas, Expectations
tell stories, and engage audiences. Being an active reader The first scenes of most films prompt basic expectations
of cinematic language is a vital skill in a world increas- that shape an audience’s engagement with the rest of
ingly shaped by—and inundated with—motion pictures. the movie. These opening moments set the tone and let
us know what style of story to expect. Viewers sense if
this is reliable or an unpredictable world, determine
whether they’re watching serious drama or a playful com-
Looking at Film Form: edy, and form instructive opinions about the characters.
Donnie Darko Most movies establish expectations in order to in-
volve and guide the audience. Donnie Darko exploits ex-
To better understand how some of these principles of pectations to keep viewers off balance. The film opens
film form function within a single movie, let’s examine with the title character waking from a sound sleep in the
how they’re used in Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko. The middle of a mountain road—a situation that is simul-
film was a box office dud in 2001, but it gained critical taneously dangerous and ridiculous. So we’re still not
acclaim and what has proven to be an enduring cult fol- exactly sure what we’re in for as he rides his bike home
lowing after its release on VHS and DVD the next year. and we head into the next scenes: a contentious family
This popularity—and intense audience interest in the dinner erupting in political tension and teenage hostil-
film’s sometimes murky meaning—led to the release of an ity, followed by a confrontation between Donnie and his
extended director’s cut in 2004. For consistency’s sake, mother in which we realize he is both in therapy and on
we will confine our evaluation to the original theatrical medication.
release. At this stage, past movie experience leads us to pre-
sume we’ve entered a family drama that will chronicle
Donnie’s struggle with mental illness. That night, a
Content
What is the content of Donnie Darko? That’s an in-
teresting question because the search for content is a
large part of what makes the movie an absorbing cine-
matic experience. Throughout the film, events unfold
and details emerge that force us as viewers to continu-
ally reevaluate our understanding of that content. We
are repeatedly provoked to ask if Donnie’s mind- and
time-bending experiences are real or simply a projec-
tion of his diagnosed mental illness. Audiences aren’t
used to working so hard for their content; the effort Don- Who and what is Frank?
nie Darko demands probably played a part in both the The grotesque bunny figure, Frank, plays a central role in the Don-
tepid response it received in theaters and its increased nie Darko viewing experience. His first appearance complicates
popularity on DVD and VHS, formats that allow for expectations about Donnie’s mental state, predicts the film’s end-
repeated viewings. For the purpose of this analysis, ing, and injects a horror movie mood to what might previously have
been assumed to be a conventional troubled teenager story. Frank
let’s keep it as simple as possible: the movie is about
exists on the border between realism and antirealism. He is a cos-
suburban hypocrisy, high school politics, adolescent mic hallucination dressed in a shaggy homemade costume; he’s
alienation—and time travel between parallel universes. both a messenger from the future and Donnie’s big sister’s boy-
The story centers on a troubled and possibly schizo- friend dressed up for Halloween.
strange disembodied voice summons Donnie to sleep- comic, or at least innocuous. Yet there’s something scary
walk out to the front lawn, where he encounters Frank, about the incongruity of the costume that triggers anx-
a tall figure wearing a shaggy homemade costume topped ious expectations born of horror movie clowns and dolls.
with a grotesque rabbit mask. Based on the previous Then Frank tells Donnie the world will end in 28 days,
scenes, we assume that we are experiencing the hallu 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds.
cinations of a disturbed mind. And other, more conflict- Now, faced with a precise time frame and specific out-
ing expectations are in play as well: the absurdity of a come, we instinctively begin to anticipate how this story
man in a rabbit outfit may lead us to expect something will conclude, even as we doubt the reliability (and ex-
istence) of the source. The next morning, Donnie wakes
up on a golf course and stumbles home, only to discover
that during his absence a very real jet engine has fallen
from the sky and crashed into his bedroom. This sudden
intrusion of the undeniably tangible makes us reevaluate
our expectations about what kind of movie we’re watch-
ing, what’s at stake, what is real, and what will happen.
Patterns
A Like most other movies, Donnie Darko uses pattern to
convey and compare simultaneous action, fragment dra
matic situations for emphasis and juxtaposition, and
establish—and then sometimes subvert—expectations. A
sequence that occurs early in the film manages to ful-
fill all of these functions. Donnie’s father Eddie is driv-
ing him home after school; father and son discuss the
mysterious origin of the fallen jet engine. Until its star-
tling conclusion, the scene is presented in a conventional
AB shot/reverse-shot pattern: we see Eddie [A] when
B he speaks, then cut to Donnie [B] for his reaction and
response, and so on. On its surface, the pattern presents
a practical approach to a two-person conversation filmed
in the cramped confines of a moving automobile. But the
choice provides opportunities for narrative expression
as well. Each shot of Eddie represents the point of view
of Donnie, or vice versa. Fragmenting the conversation
empowers the filmmakers to select the best dramatic
moments to concentrate on either character’s dialogue
C or reaction.
This back-and-forth AB pattern continues for seven
Pattern in Donnie Darko repetitions—long enough to lull the viewer into a certain
Donnie Darko uses a simple ABABAB pattern to lull viewers into a complacency. We’re so caught up in the conversation
sort of cinematic complacency before jolting our senses. The fifteen- that we may not notice that we haven’t been provided a
shot sequence shifts back and forth seven times between a shot view through the windshield. So when the established
of Eddie Darko [A] and his son Donnie [B] before a new shot of a pattern is suddenly broken with a shot of the old lady
woman in their path [C] interrupts their conversation. This jarring
standing in the middle of the street [C], we experience
break in pattern dramatically visualizes the Darkos’ sudden realiza-
tion, allows the audience to experience a shock similar to that of the
a shock comparable to that of the distracted characters
characters on-screen, and provides a striking introduction to a pivotal about to run her over. This jarring transition also gives
figure. special emphasis to the character it introduces; the lady
in the road is Rebecca Sparrow, the one person alive who sequences function in much the same way as The God-
could have (before she lost her mind) solved the mystery father’s “baptism and murder” parallel editing sequence
of the fallen jet engine. described earlier in this chapter. Like that sequence,
parallel action in Donnie Darko juxtaposes action that
appears disturbingly incongruous, even incompatible, un-
Manipulating Space til the pattern of repeated juxtaposition compels view-
Pattern is also a component of Donnie Darko’s parallel ers to perceive meaningful connections in the apparent
editing sequences. These sequences don’t alternate shot contrasts. The viewer sees each event in light of the other
by shot like the car scene, but they do exploit a more gen- alternated event and thus vividly experiences the dual-
eral back-and-forth pattern between two simultaneous ity of Donnie Darko’s universe.
events occurring in distinctly separate spaces. By ex- One such sequence intersperses shots of Donnie’s
ploiting the cinema’s ability to manipulate space, these therapist telling his dismayed parents about their son’s
1 2
3 4
5 6
Parallel action in Donnie Darko

The reality of the alternating events in another notable Donnie Darko parallel action sequence is not in question, but the juxtaposition—and
the simultaneity—is just as significant. While the rest of the town is consumed with raptly watching an inane community talent show, Donnie
is burning down the mansion of the charismatic motivational speaker who holds the townsfolk in his sway. The contrast here is less cosmic
and more thematic: the sequence compares and contrasts teenage rebellion with slack-jawed conformity.
potentially violent hallucinations with shots of Donnie technique that is as straightforward as playing the shots
confronting a very real-seeming Frank using a very large backward.
knife. The content of each action undermines the cred-
ibility of the alternating other. In comparison to Don-
nie’s experience, the parent/therapist discussion seems Realism, Antirealism,
obtuse and oblivious; in light of the therapist’s diagnosis, and Verisimilitude
Frank’s actual existence is in question. In the twisted Donnie Darko’s normal world is portrayed with relative
world of Donnie Darko, these two perspectives don’t realism. The locations, sets, costumes, and most of the
cancel each other out; they represent an uneasy coexis- performances are designed to look and sound like the
tence between dual realities. real world viewers experience every day—or at least an
affluent suburban version of it. Even Jake Gyllenhaal’s
behavior as the disturbed Donnie is what we would ex-
Manipulating Time pect from a teenager in his situation. The filmmakers
It’s only logical that a movie about the distortion of time have good reason to ground their movie in realism: this
would exploit cinema’s ability to distort time. In the is a story about a mundane existence infiltrated by the
film’s first high school scene, the filmmakers employ a fantastic. If viewers did not recognize Donnie’s world to
relentlessly moving camera shifting between “normal,” begin with, it would be difficult to identify with his strug-
fast, and slow motion to introduce and connect all the gle to navigate the bizarre cosmic quest thrust upon him
characters associated with the setting. The scene starts or to fully appreciate the return to normalcy he ulti-
in slow motion to show Donnie bursting out of the bus mately accomplishes.
and entering the school, then spurts into fast motion Yet as we explained earlier in this chapter, cinematic
to follow the hypervigilant gym teacher, Kitty Farmer. realism is not an absolute value but a broad spectrum.
Dreamy slo-mo returns when the camera pivots to Don- And Donnie Darko intersects this spectrum at multiple
nie’s potential love interest, Gretchen Ross. In this case, points. The film features stylized lighting and editing
the technique serves as a visual representation of char- that falls outside the realm of pure realism, as do at least
acter qualities and state of mind, and it also empha- two broad characters, seemingly included to amplify the
sizes the fluid nature of time as posited in the movie’s film’s social commentary: the pompous self-help guru
dual universe. Throughout the rest of the movie, shifts Jim Cunningham and his overzealous disciple Kitty
in motion speed will return in shots that transition be- Farmer. And Frank is only one of many examples of an-
tween scenes to remind audiences that, in the Donnie tirealism (and formalism) that intrude with increasing
Darko countdown to the end of the world, time is pos- frequency as the movie progresses. Long, fluid tendrils
sibly malleable, seemingly unpredictable, and certainly emerge from peoples’ chests, a black vortex sprouts from
unstoppable. Clouds fly across the sky in time-lapse fast the clouds above Donnie’s house, and Donnie’s ultimate
motion. Donnie’s little sister does slow-motion jumps on sacrifice resets time to the morning the story began.
her trampoline. Sometimes students scurry out of high But those antirealist elements do nothing to un-
school in fast motion, and sometimes the daily ritual is dermine Donnie Darko’s ultimate believability. What
portrayed in graceful slo-mo. makes this achievement in verisimilitude so remarkable
The manipulation of time can also be used to convey is that so little of the film’s internal logic is ever entirely
a character’s thought process and state of mind. Things, explained. Even though few viewers can claim to fully
temporally and otherwise, get more confused and con- comprehend exactly how the story’s time loops function,
flicted for Donnie until it all goes tragically wrong on Donnie Darko is a persuasive and engaging movie expe-
Halloween night. At his lowest point, Donnie suddenly rience because we believe it when we see it. So much so
realizes that he has the power to reset everything. The that fans can now purchase the (fictional) Philosophy of
resulting rapid-fire, thirty-seven-shot sequence that Time Travel book that helps Donnie unlock the secrets
conveys the jumble of memories and revelations flood- of the parallel universe, and they can consult an abun-
ing his consciousness features thirteen images that dance of websites and published articles devoted to the
visualize time actually reversing itself, an expressive cult movie and its complex concept.
Analyzing the Principles of Film Form 61
ANALYZING PRINCIPLES OF FILM FORM
At this early stage in your pursuit of actively looking interpreting how movies communicate with viewers.
at movies, you may still be wondering what exactly The general principles of film form discussed in this
you are supposed to be looking for. For starters, you chapter can now provide a framework to help you
now recognize that filmmakers deliberately manipu- focus your gaze and develop deeper analytical skills.
late your experience and understanding of a movie’s The checklist below will give you some specific ele-
content with a constant barrage of techniques and ments and applications of form to watch out for the
systems known as film form and that this form is next time you see a film. Using this and the screen-
organized into an integrated cinematic language. ing checklists in upcoming chapters, you can turn
Simply acknowledging the difference between form every movie you watch into an exercise in observa-
and content, and knowing that a deliberate system tion and analysis.
is at work, are the first steps toward identifying and
SCREENING CHECKLIST: PRINCIPLES OF FILM FORM

A useful initial step in analyzing any movie is patterns? Do they help you determine the
to distinguish an individual scene’s content meaning of the film?
from its form. First try to identify a scene’s
Do you notice anything particular about the
subject matter: What is this scene about? movie’s presentation of cinematic space? What
What happens? Once you have established do you see on the screen? Lots of landscapes
that content, you should consider how that or close-ups? Moving or static camera?
content was expressed. What was the mood
of the scene? What do you understand about Does the director manipulate viewers’ expe-
each character’s state of mind? How did you rience of time? Is this condensing, slowing,
perceive and interpret each moment? Did that speeding, repeating, or reordering of time
understanding shift at any point? Once you simply practical (as in removing insignificant
know what happened and how you felt about events) or is it expressive? If it is expressive,
it, search the scene for those formal elements just what does it express?
that influenced your interpretation and experi- Does the director’s use of lighting help to cre-
ence. The combination and interplay of multiple ate meaning? If so, how?
formal elements that you seek is the cinematic
Do you identify with the camera lens? What
language that movies employ to communicate does the director compel you to see? What is
with the viewer. left to your imagination? What does the director
Do any narrative or visual patterns recur a suf- leave out altogether? In the end, besides show-
ficient number of times to suggest a structural ing you the action, how does the director’s use of
element in themselves? If so, what are these the camera help to create the movie’s meaning?

1. How and why do we differentiate between form and 4. In what other ways do movies use patterns to
content in a movie, and why are they relevant to convey meaning? How do they create meaning
one another? by breaking an established pattern?
2. What expectations of film form can filmmakers 5. How do the movies create an illusion of movement?
exploit to shape an audience’s experience? 6. How does a movie manipulate space?
3. What is parallel editing, and how does it use pattern? 7. How do movies manipulate time?
8. What is the difference between realism and 10. What is meant by cinematic language? Why
antirealism in a movie, and why is verisimilitude is it important to the ways that movies
important to them both? communicate with viewers?
9. What is the relationship between realism and
formalism?
Faces Places (2017). JR and Agnès Varda, directors. Pictured: JR and Agnès Varda.
TYPES OF MOVIES
CHAPTER
3
64 Chapter 3 Types of Movies
A narrative is a story. When people think of any

LEARNING OBJECTIVES medium or form—whether it’s a movie, a joke, a com
After reading this chapter, you should be able to mercial, or a news article—that tells a story, we consider
nn explain how and why movies are classified. that story a narrative. Journalists will often speak of
nn define narrative, documentary, and experimental movies, finding the narrative in a news item, be it coverage of a
and appreciate the ways these types of movies blend city council meeting, a national election, or an Olympic
and overlap. swimming competition. By this, they mean that under
nn understand the approaches to documenting actual the facts and details of any given news item is a story. It’s
events employed by documentary filmmakers. the reporter’s job to identify that story and organize his
nn discuss the characteristics that most experimental reporting in such a way as to elucidate that narrative.
films share. Journalists do this because humans are a storytelling
nn understand what genre is and why it is important. species. We use stories to arrange and understand our
nn explain the most significant (or defining) elements world and our lives. So, of course, news articles are not
of each of the six major American genres featured the only place you’ll find narrative. Scientists, songwrit
in this chapter. ers, advertisers, politicians, comedians, and teachers all
nn understand where animation fits into the movie types incorporate narrative into the ways they frame and pre
discussed in the chapter. sent information. This semester, you will likely hear your
nn explain the most commonly used animation techniques. professor refer to the narrative of a particular movie.
Depending on the context she uses, she might be talking
about the story that the film tells, whether that movie is a
science-fiction film or a documentary about science.
In this chapter, we will discuss the three major types Narrative is a type of movie. Our most common per
of movies: narrative, documentary, and experimental. ception of the word narrative is as a categorical term for
Within narrative movies, we will look at the subcategory those particular movies devoted to conveying a story,
of genre films, and we will explore six major American film whether they are works of pure fiction like Alejandro
genres in particular. Finally, we will look at a technique— González Iñárritu’s Birdman (2014) or a fictionalized ver
animation—that is often discussed as if it were a type but sion of actual events such as Selma (2014; director Ava
that is actually used to make movies of all types. DuVernay). As we have made clear in previous chapters,
these narrative films are the focus of this book. We’ll dis
cuss the narrative film as a type of movie (along with ex
The Idea of Narrative perimental and documentary films) later in this chapter.
Narrative is a way of structuring fictional or
The word narrative is much more than simply a general fictionalized stories presented in narrative films.
classification of a type of film. As you will soon see, depend Storytelling is a complicated business, especially when
ing on when and how we use the term, narrative might relating a multifaceted story involving multiple char
mean several slightly different things. Since we’ll be using acters and conflicts over the course of 2 hours of screen
the term narrative in various ways throughout and beyond time. Besides being a general term for a story or for a
our exploration of the three essential types of movies, let’s kind of movie, narrative is often used to describe the
discuss some of the ways to approach the term. way that movie stories are constructed and presented
When it comes to cinema, nothing is absolute. In the to engage, involve, and orient an audience. This narra
world of movies, a narrative might be a type of movie, the tive structure—which includes exposition, rising action,
story that a particular film tells, the particular system climax, falling action, and denouement—helps film
by which a fictional story is structured, or a concept de makers manipulate the viewer’s cinematic experience
scribing the sequential organization of events presented by selectively conforming to or diverging from audience
in almost any kind of movie. Once you become familiar expectations of storytelling. Chapter 4 is devoted to this
with these different ways of looking at narrative, you aspect of narrative.
will be able to recognize and understand almost any us Narrative is a broader concept that both includes
age that you come across. and goes beyond any of these applications. Narra
The Idea of Narrative 65
1 2
3 4
One thing leads to another

The most elemental way of looking at narrative is as a cinematic
structure that arranges events in a cause-and-effect sequence. This
causality is the basic organizing structure of most movie narratives.
Consider the principal events in one of the best-known movies of all
time, Star Wars (1977; director George Lucas): A starship is boarded
by repressive Empire forces. The princess passenger records a plea
for help on an android, which escapes to a desert planet. The roving
android is captured by scavenging Jawas, who sell it to the farm
5 family of Luke Skywalker, who discovers the message, which sends
him in search of Obi-Wan Kenobi, who teaches him the way of the
Force and accompanies him on a mission to rescue the princess.
One event leads to another and another and another. Decisions are
tive can be defined in a broader conceptual context as
made, which lead to actions, which have consequences, which mo-
any cinematic structure in which content is selected
tivate reactions, which cause subsequent decisions, actions, and
and arranged in a cause-and-effect sequence of events consequences. And so it goes. The viewer engages with this logical
occurring over time. Any time a filmmaker consciously progression, anticipating probable developments, dreading some
chooses and organizes material so that one event leads and hoping for others.
to another in a recognizable progression, that filmmaker
is employing narrative in its most basic sense. In this
case, narrative is not simply the telling of a fictional story, the plane crashing into a Manhattan building—before
it is a structural quality that nearly every movie pos launching the story at the start of a National Transporta
sesses, whether it’s an avant-garde art film, a documen tion Safety Board investigation of the incident. Twenty-
tary account of actual events, or a blockbuster Hollywood five minutes later, the movie jumps back to the day of the
fantasy. landing, only to cut back to the “present” just before the
Movies do not have to arrange events in conventional plane hits the frigid water. Over the course of the film,
order to employ narrative organization. Sully (2016; di the story moves back and forth between the post-incident
rector Clint Eastwood), a fictionalized account of “Sully” investigation and the jumble of actions that coincided
Sullenberger (the airline pilot who landed a damaged on the day of the incident itself and also flashes back to
passenger jet in New York City’s Hudson River in 2009), past events in Sully’s life and to nightmarish visions of
begins with what is soon revealed to be a nightmare— what might have happened had he not landed when and
1 2
3 4
5 6
Causal minimalism
A fiction movie need not have a traditional goal-driven plot to be considered narrative. Richard Linklater’s Slacker (1991) has no central char-
acter, no sustained conflict, and tells no single story; yet its structure is very much built on cause-and-effect connections, however tenuous,
between the young bohemians who drift in and out of the movie. Beginning with a man getting off a bus (played by Linklater himself), the
camera follows one character to another, drifting through a succession of more than a hundred individual participants as they cross paths in
Austin, Texas. Each encounter leads to the next, and so forth, in an extended exercise in causal minimalism.
Types of Movies 67
where he did. This approach allows viewers to see what tually stages a series of public exhibitions of their work.
actually happened in direct comparison with the skepti As the children grow in confidence and ability, the se
cal investigators and even Sully’s own self-doubt. The re quence of events builds to a conclusion that engaged and
ordered narrative demands that viewers actively engage gratified mainstream audiences, as well as the Academy
to recognize the connections presented and reassemble of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awarded the
events into a chronology that enables them to fully com film an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Those doc
prehend the story. umentary filmmakers who strive to avoid influencing the
Although nonfiction filmmakers shooting documen events they record still exert a great deal of narrative in
tary footage obviously can’t always control the unstaged fluence during the editing process.
events happening before their cameras, contemporary Most experimental, or avant-garde, movies try to
documentary filmmakers often exploit their ability to se break from the formulas and conventions of more main
lect and arrange material in a cause-and-effect sequence stream narrative and documentary films. Even so, they
of events. This very deliberate process may begin even employ narrative according to our most general defini
before cameras roll. tion of the concept, despite being more concerned with
Searching for Sugar Man (2012) director Malik Ben innovation and experimentation than with accessibility
djelloul surely recognized the narrative potential of the and entertainment.
disappearance and rumored death of Sixto Rodriguez. The complex process of making movies discourages
The American folk singer had never achieved anything purely random constructions. Filmmakers engaged with
approaching notoriety in his own country, but record planning, capturing, selecting, and arranging footage tend
ings he released in the 1960s made him a superstar in to create sequences that grow logically in some way. The
South Africa. Because his music, particularly a song linear nature of motion pictures lends itself to structures
titled “Sugarman,” was associated with the country’s that develop according to some form of progression, even
antiapartheid movement, Rodriguez was still a major if the resultant meaning is mostly impressionistic. Thus
cultural figure there, even though he had not toured or nearly every movie, regardless of how it is categorized, em
recorded—or been heard from at all—in decades. Ben ploys at least a loose interpretation of narrative.
djelloul structured his film as a missing-person investi
gation filled with tantalizing clues and frustrating dead
ends, as well as testimonials to Rodriguez’s unique ge Types of Movies
nius that feed the viewer’s increasing hunger for a righ
teous resurrection. Searching for Sugar Man reaches its Films can be sorted into a variety of systems. The film in
narrative climax with the discovery of Rodriguez, poor dustry catalogs films according to how they are distrib
and obscure but very much alive, in Detroit, Michigan. uted (theatrical, television, streaming, etc.); how they
The nonfiction filmmaker’s selective role is even more are financed (by established studios or independent
apparent in the Academy Award–winning documentary producers); or by their Motion Picture Association of
Born into Brothels (2004; directors Zana Briski and Ross America (MPAA) rating. Film festivals frequently sep
Kauffman). The film’s events are structured around co arate entries according to running time. Film-studies
director Briski’s explicitly stated intent to use photography curricula often group films by subject matter, the nation
to reach and ultimately rescue the children of prostitutes of origin, or the era or organized aesthetic movement
in Calcutta’s red-light district. The film’s events are ar that produced them.
ranged in a cause-and-effect structure strikingly similar The whole idea of breaking down an art form as multi
to that of a conventional fiction movie, where the film faceted as motion pictures into strict classifications can
makers themselves not only select and arrange events, be problematic. Although most movies fall squarely into
but actively participate in them. Briski engages the chil a single category, many others defy exact classification
dren first by photographing them, then by teaching them by any standard. This is because cinematic expression
to take their own photographs. She works to convince the exists along a continuum; no rule book enforcing set cri
sex workers to allow her greater access to their children. teria exists. Throughout the history of the medium, in
As the children’s talents emerge, she leads them on photo- novative filmmakers have blurred boundaries and defied
taking expeditions to the beach and the zoo, and even classification. Since this textbook is interested primarily
in understanding motion-picture form, the categories of

films that we’ll discuss below—narrative, documentary,
and experimental—are focused on the filmmaker’s intent
and the final product’s relationship with the viewer.
Narrative Movies
As we learned earlier, the primary relationship of a nar
rative film to its audience is that of a storyteller. Narra
tive films are so pervasive, so ingrained in our culture,
that before reading this book, you may never have 1
stopped to consider the designation narrative film. Af
ter all, to most of us, a narrative movie is just a movie.
We apply a label only to documentary or experimental
films—movies that deviate from that “norm.”
What distinguishes narrative films from these other
kinds of movies, both of which also tell stories or use
other formal aspects of narrative? The answer is that
narrative films are directed toward fiction. Even those
narrative movies that purport to tell a true story, such as
2
David O. Russell’s American Hustle (2013), adjust the sto
ries they convey to better serve the principles of narrative
structure that filmmakers use to engage and entertain
audiences. Events are added or removed or rearranged,
and characters are composited—actors (who are usually
more attractive than the actual participants they play)
add elements of their own persona to the role.
American Hustle acknowledges this necessary manip
ulation right up front; Russell’s movie retelling of con
artists caught up in a famous FBI sting operation opens 3
with a title card that replaces the usual “based on a true
story” claim with a more candid disclaimer: “Some of Narrative commonality
this actually happened.” Audiences may be attracted to Even those narrative films bearing an overt ideological message or
movies marketed as “based on a true story” because of a dark theme are designed to engage an audience with a story. A
twisted formal exercise like David Lynch’s Showtime series Twin
the perception of immediacy or relevance that such a la
Peaks (2017) [1], a topical crime drama like Taylor Sheridan’s Wind
bel imparts. But the truth is that very few “true stories” River (2017) [2], and an animated crowd-pleaser like Wes Ander-
can deliver the narrative clarity and effect that audiences son’s Isle of Dogs (2018) [3] all deliver different messages and are
have come to expect from narrative films. In fact, accord designed to appeal to different audiences. But they all employ the
ing to the National Transportation Safety Board, Sully same narrative structures and techniques designed to transport
inaccurately portrayed their investigation as skeptical viewers into a story, get them invested in the characters, and make
them care about the end results, despite knowing up front that none
and confrontational in order to add drama to the fiction
of it is real.
alized story.
No matter what the source, typical narrative films are
based on screenplays in which nearly every behavior and production process. These demands include coordinat
spoken line are predetermined. The characters are played ing their activity with lighting design and camera move
by actors delivering dialogue and executing action in a ment and performing scenes out of logical chronological
manner that not only strives for verisimilitude but also sequence. This action typically takes place in artificial
facilitates the technical demands of the motion-picture worlds created on studio soundstages or in locations
Types of Movies 69
modified to suit the story and technical demands of pro

duction. The primary purpose of most narrative films is
entertainment, a stance motivated by commercial intent.
Many narrative films can be broken down still further
into categories known as genres. We’ll explore that sub
ject later in the chapter.
Documentary Movies
We might say that narrative film and documentary film
differ primarily in terms of allegiance. Narrative film be
gins with a commitment to dramatic storytelling; docu
mentary film is more concerned with recording reality,
educating viewers, or presenting political or social anal
yses. In other words, if we think of a narrative movie as
Nanook of the North
fiction, then the best way to understand documentary
Robert J. Flaherty’s Nanook of the North (1922), a pioneering non-
film is as nonfiction. fiction film, gave general audiences their first visual encounter with
But it would be a mistake to think that simply because Inuit culture. Its subject matter made it significant (and successful),
documentary filmmakers use actual people, places, and and its use of narrative film techniques was pathbreaking. Flaherty
events as source material, their films always reflect ob edited together many different kinds of shots and angles, for exam
jective truth. Whatever their allegiance, all documen ple, and directed the Inuit through reenactments of life events, some
of which—hunting with spears—were no longer part of their lives.
tary filmmakers employ storytelling and dramatization
to some degree in shaping their material. If they didn’t,
their footage might end up as unwatchably dull as a sur
veillance video recording everyday comings and goings. self, Grierson described the approach as the “creative
As upcoming chapters will repeatedly illustrate, all ele treatment of actuality.”
ments of cinematic language—from the camera angle to Robert J. Flaherty’s pioneering documentary Nanook
the lighting to the sound mix—color our perceptions of of the North (1922) demonstrates the complex relation
the material and so are subjective to some degree. And ship between documentary filmmaking and objective
no documentary subject who knows she is being filmed truth. Flaherty’s movie included authentic “documen
can ever behave exactly as she would off camera. tary” footage but also incorporated a great deal of staged
So the unavoidable act of making the movie removes reenactments. He reportedly encouraged the Inuit sub
the possibility of a purely objective truth. And truth, of jects to use older, more “traditional” hunting and fishing
course, is in the eye of the beholder. Every documen techniques for the film instead of their then current prac
tary filmmaker has a personal perspective on the sub tices. However, no one who watches Nanook could argue
ject matter, whether she entered the production with that the film’s portrayal of the Inuit and their nomadic
a preexisting opinion or developed her point of view northern lifestyle is a complete failure. The challenge for
over the course of researching, shooting, and editing the the viewer is to untangle Nanook’s nonfiction functions
movie. The informed documentary viewer should view from its dramatic license, to view its anthropology apart
these mediating factors thoughtfully, always trying to from its artifice. We tend to assume that a wide separa
understand how the act of cinematic storytelling and tion exists between fact and fiction, historical reality and
the filmmaker’s attitude toward the people and events crafted story, truth and artifice. The difference, however,
depicted affect the interpretation of the truth up on the is never absolute in any film.
screen. Documentary films can be categorized in a number of
These complicating factors may have influenced film ways. If we group these movies according to the intent
critic John Grierson, who originally coined the term doc of the filmmakers regarding content and message, docu
umentary in 1926 to delineate cinema that observed life. mentaries can be broken into four basic approaches: fac
Some time after he started making documentaries him tual, instructional, persuasive, and propaganda. Factual
Persuasive films were originally called documentary

films until the term evolved to refer to all nonfiction films.
The founding purpose of persuasive documentaries was
to address social injustice, but today any documentary
concerned with presenting a particular perspective on
social issues or with corporate and governmental in
justice of any kind could be considered persuasive. Di
rector Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s motivation in making
Blackfish (2013) was not to simply entertain or inform
audiences, but to persuade them to oppose the practice of
holding orca whales in captivity at animal theme parks.
Michael Moore’s darkly humorous, self-aggrandizing
documentaries take the persuasive documentary a step
Factual film further. His confrontational and provocative movies ad
The content of factual documentaries need not be “important”; dress a series of left-of-center political causes, including
many focus on “ordinary” subjects that offer potential narrative de- health care (Sicko, 2007), gun control (Bowling for Col
velopment. These documentaries seek to immerse viewers in an
umbine, 2002), and the election of Donald Trump (Fahr
actuality outside their normal experience or observation and to in-
volve audiences with the real-life struggles of a goal-driven protag-
enheit 11/9, 2018). Dinesh D’Souza is perhaps Moore’s
onist. The factual film Dina (2017; directors Antonio Santini and Dan best-known conservative counterpart. His persuasive
Sickles) chronicles an indomitable woman with autism as she plans documentaries include 2016: Obama’s America (2012),
her wedding. Her path to marriage is complicated by her fiancé’s which argued that the forty-fourth president’s upbring
anxieties and her own painful past. ing led him to reject American exceptionalism, and the
election-year critique Hillary’s America: The Secret His
tory of the Democratic Party (2016).
films, including Nanook of the North, usually present peo

ple, places, or processes in straightforward ways meant
to entertain and instruct without unduly influencing au
diences. Early examples include some of the first mov
ies made. In 1896, audiences marveled at the Lumière
brothers’ short, one-shot films documenting trains ar
riving, boats leaving, and soldiers marching off to the
front. (At that time, the spectacle of moving images im
pressed viewers as much as, or more than, any particular
subject matter.) More recent documentaries that could
fall into the factual-documentary classification include
Jane (2017; director Brett Morgen), a portrait of famed
primatologist Jane Goodall’s early years studying chim
panzees in the jungles of Tanzania, and Life, Animated
(2016; director Roger Ross Williams), an account of a
boy with autism whose love of Disney characters enables
him to communicate with his family and ultimately en
gage with the outside world. Triumph of the Will
Instructional films seek to educate viewers about The most accomplished (and notorious) propaganda film of all
common interests, rather than persuade them to accept time, Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will (1935) is studied by
historians and scholars of film. Much of the blocking of the 1934
particular ideas. Today these movies are most likely to
Nuremberg Nazi rally was crafted specifically with the camera in
teach the viewer basic skills such as cooking, yoga, or mind. Taken from a distant perspective, this shot conveys many
golf swings. They are not generally considered worthy of concepts that the filmmaker and the Nazis wanted the world to see:
study or analysis. order, discipline, and magnitude.
Types of Movies 71
When persuasive documentaries are produced by

governments and carry governments’ messages, they
overlap with propaganda films, which systematically
disseminate deceptive or distorted information. The
most famous propaganda film ever made, Leni Riefen
stahl’s Triumph of the Will (1935), records many events
at the 1934 Nuremberg rally of Germany’s Nazi party.
It thus might mistakenly be considered a “factual” film.
After all, no voice-over narration or on-screen commen
tator preaches a political message to the viewer. But
through its carefully crafted cinematography and edit 1
ing, this documentary presents a highly glorified image
of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi followers for the consump
tion of non-German audiences before World War II.
Regardless of their intent or message, most documen
taries draw from the same set of basic elements. Footage
that documents subjects (the people the documentary
is about) in action and events as they unfold is called
b-roll. This second-class “b” label is ironic, or at least
inaccurate, since these shots almost always offer the
most immediate and engaging images and sounds in any
documentary.
Interviews with subjects or with experts on the sub 2
ject matter are traditionally shot with the interviewee

speaking to an off-camera interviewer, so that the sub
ject looks off to the right or left side of the frame. The
person being interviewed is usually seen from the waist
up or sometimes in a close-up of just that individual’s
head and shoulders, a framing known as a “talking head.”
The interview is typically edited to remove the ques
tions, and the footage of the interviewed subject is only
shown periodically, with much of the interview audio ed
ited separately so that it can be played over other b-roll
footage. When the voice of the interviewed subject is
3
heard while we see other images, the interplay between
the content of her statements and that of the footage can
Evolving documentary elements
convey greater perspective and meaning than would be The innovative director Errol Morris has put his own stamp on many
possible with the interview footage alone. of the conventional cinematic elements used to make documenta-
Unlike an interviewed subject, a narrator speaks ries. The archival material he uses to help visualize the ideas raised by
directly to the viewer from outside of the events pre the diverse subjects in Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control (1997) [1] in-
cludes old low-budget adventure and science-fiction films. In The Thin
sented. Typically, the narrator is heard, rather than seen,
Blue Line (1988) [2], an examination of a murder case, he employs
in the form of voice-over narration that explains and
stylized reenactments to illustrate conflicting recollections and ac-
comments on the events we see unfolding on-screen. counts of the crime. He expands that practice in another investigation
Archival material is preexisting images and/or of a suspicious death: the reenactments in Wormwood (2017) star
sound that is incorporated into the documentary. This well-known actors and have the look of scenes in a classic Hollywood
material can be almost anything captured previously mystery film. In most of his movies, Morris conducts interviews us-
ing an Interrotron, a device of his own invention that projects the di-
and by different sources. Types of archival material in
rector’s face onto a glass plate placed over the camera lens [3]. The
clude radio broadcasts, news footage, historical photo
apparatus allows the subject to address responses directly into the
graphs, official documents, and even home movies. Many lens, which establishes direct eye contact with the viewer.
interaction with the subject, the filmmaker’s attitude

toward the documentary medium itself, and the viewer’s
intended experience. Nichols’s theories are complex, and
it can be difficult to determine where one kind of docu
mentary ends and another begins. But for our purposes,
we can think of his six documentary modes in the follow
ing relatively simple terms.
Expository documentaries use all of the formal ele
ments listed above to explain things to the viewer. These
elements are carefully chosen to reinforce the explana
tion and argument. Typically, an authoritative narrator
A persuasive and expository documentary guides the viewer using narration scripted in advance. If
Categories can help us understand a film’s intent, methods, and
you’ve ever seen a news magazine show such as 60 Min
style, but no single designation can completely define any movie.
utes, you’ve seen an expository documentary. But expos
Ava DuVernay’s 2016 documentary 13TH (named after the constitu-
tional amendment that abolished slavery) uses expert interviews, itory documentaries need not focus on current events
archival footage and photographs, animation, and graphics to ex- or be bound by conventional application of documen
plain the history of the U.S. prison and justice system and to make tary elements. In documentaries such as The Civil War
a persuasive argument that laws and policies since the Thirteenth (1990), director Ken Burns seeks to bring history alive
Amendment was ratified have systematically perpetuated a differ-
by using subtle camera movement to film historical doc
ent, but still devastating, form of slavery in the United States.
uments, archival photographs, painterly location shots,
and posed artifacts. The camera glides and the framing
tightens to emphasize details and link them to the narra
documentaries incorporate archival media; some doc tion and historical observations. Burns’s use of the effect
umentaries are made up exclusively from this preex became so ubiquitous that Apple computers incorpo
isting media. For example, Jason Osder’s Let the Fire rated it into their home-movie-editing software iMovie
Burn (2013) is constructed entirely from video and film and openly identified it as the “Ken Burns Effect.”
gleaned from newscasts, press conferences, community Observational documentaries take a very different
hearings, and a 1970s documentary. The all-archival docu approach. These movies seek to immerse the viewer in
mentary looks back at a 1985 police raid on an inner-city the middle of the situation or story by relying entirely on
Philadelphia compound that led to the deaths of 13 b-roll and eliminating as many other signs of mediation
members of the black separatist group MOVE. as possible. Viewers of an observational documentary
Text and graphics are used to convey information in won’t hear any voice-over narration or see any interviews.
ways that would be impossible or inefficient using filmed They may not even see any text on-screen that identifies
images or the spoken word. This information can include locations or subjects. Observational filmmakers typically
statistics, graphs, and maps or even something as simple work with very small crews (as few as one or two peo
as text identifying interview subjects, dates, and locations ple) and use compact portable equipment to shoot large
presented on-screen. amounts of footage. They seek to become part of the envi
Documentary filmmakers, especially those examin ronment so their subjects can eventually disregard their
ing events occurring in the past, sometimes must re presence and behave as naturally as possible.
sort to staging re-creations of important actions. These Poetic documentaries are expressive nonfiction films
reenactments are filmed and presented in ways that that provide a subjective and often impressionistic in
make clear their status as fabricated representations of terpretation of a subject, with an emphasis on convey
real events. These visual indicators can include stylized ing mood and generating ideas, rather than providing a
lighting, different color values, and animation. realistic observational experience or communicating an
Documentary theorist Bill Nichols considers how the information-driven explanation. Godfrey Reggio’s Qatsi
filmmaker uses (or doesn’t use) these different cinematic trilogy demonstrates that documentaries can be poetic
components to help differentiate different modes of doc while still remaining persuasive. For example, the first
umentary filmmaking. He also factors the filmmaker’s film Koyaanisqatsi (1982) contains no other sound be
Types of Movies 73
1 2
Observational documentary
The observational approach to documentary was pioneered in the late 1950s and early 1960s by filmmakers participating in a movement
known as direct cinema. Their observational films sought to immerse the viewer in an experience as close as is cinematically possible to
witnessing events as an invisible observer. Direct cinema films like Albert and David Maysles’s Grey Gardens (1975; codirectors Ellen Hovde
and Muffie Meyer) rely on very small crews and lightweight, handheld equipment to capture the action as unobtrusively as possible. As they
filmed Grey Gardens, the Maysleses observed that their extroverted subject “Little Edie” Beale [1] was becoming more interested in per-
forming for the filmmakers than in ignoring their presence. Some direct cinema purists may have discouraged or deleted her behavior, but
the Maysleses saw Edie’s need for recognition, and the delusions that fueled it, as a crucial part of her reality. The filmmakers acknowledged
their own participatory role by incorporating their own image (as captured in a mirror) into the movie [2].
sides music. The otherwise silent images are stunningly takes it a step farther. His interaction with the subject
photographed and almost entirely shown in fast-motion matter is deeply personal and often emotional. His per
time lapse or graceful slow motion. But the film is not sonal experience is central to the way we engage and un
simply visual candy: by juxtaposing beautiful images of derstand the subject matter.
the natural world with footage depicting modern life as Reflexive documentaries examine more than their
mechanized, frantic, and ultimately lonely, Koyaanis chosen subject; they explore—and sometimes critique—
qatsi offers a persuasive argument summed up in the film’s the documentary form itself. The documentary produc
subtitle, which is a translation of the Hopi word koyaanis tion process becomes part of the experience in ways that
qatsi: “life out of balance.” may challenge viewer expectations of nonfiction film
Filmmakers making participatory documentaries making conventions. The Act of Killing (2012; directors
interact with the subjects and situations they are record Joshua Oppenheimer, Anonymous, and Christine Cynn)
ing and thus become part of the film. That interaction begins as a relatively conventional, expository docu
can be as subtle as the filmmakers letting their voices mentary look-back at the politically motivated massa
be heard asking questions offscreen or as conspicuous cre of as many as 2.5 million Indonesian citizens in the
as the provocateur Michael Moore confronting subjects 1960s and 1970s. What immediately stands out is that
on camera. Because all documentary filmmakers engage Anwar Congo, the former death squad leader being in
the subjects of their films and make camera and editing terviewed, makes no attempt to downplay his role in the
choices that influence what we see and hear, some have genocide. On the contrary, he proudly demonstrates his
argued that all documentaries are participatory. Perfor- favorite execution methods. The documentary becomes
mative documentaries are easily confused with partic reflexive when the filmmakers harness their subject’s
ipatory documentaries. The participatory filmmaker is brazen narcissism by facilitating (and filming) increas
a part of the documentary she’s directing, and we may ingly elaborate re-creations of torture and murder, all
even see her on-screen, but the performative filmmaker staged by and starring Anwar and his sidekick Herman
1
Reflexive documentary
A death squad leader and a paramilitary leader are the subjects of The
Act of Killing, a documentary that begins as an expository account
of the massacre of Indonesian citizens in the 1960s and 1970s. The
film turns reflexive when the filmmakers encourage their subjects to
stage and star in re-creations of their own crimes. These elaborate,
sometimes extravagant, reenactments challenge audience assump-
tions about nonfiction film and the nature of truth.
ple and events they document? Does the precise nature

of truth matter, so long as the results are entertaining?
Parsing these questions is part of the experience of a re
flexive documentary like The Act of Killing.
More than a century of innovation has blurred the
distinctions between these documentary categories and
2
modes. Most documentary movies we consider worthy
of study today are nonfiction hybrids that combine qual
Participatory and performative documentaries
ities of two or more of these foundational approaches
When director Morgan Spurlock made himself the subject of the
fast-food experiment that is the subject of Supersize Me (2004), he to nonfiction filmmaking. This versatility is one reason
was making a participatory documentary. Spurlock is on-screen ex- that documentary continues to enjoy a renaissance un
plaining his plan to eat only McDonald’s food for 30 days [1]. We see precedented in the history of cinema. Another reason
him purchasing and consuming fast food, and we hear him explain- for documentary’s expanding popularity and innovation
ing obesity statistics and questioning doctors, nutritionists, and other
is that nonfiction filmmakers have new ways to reach
experts. When his health begins to seriously deteriorate, his personal
viewers, thanks to streaming services like Netflix and
soul searching moves the film closer to the performative. Jonathan
Caouette’s Tarnation (2003) is a performative documentary from start Amazon’s Prime Video and to video-sharing websites like
to finish. The filmmaker created an emotional portrait of identity, dys- YouTube.
function, and mental illness from self-shot b-roll, interviews, and reen-
actments, which is interwoven with home movies, photographs, and
answering machine messages from throughout his young life. The Experimental Movies
resulting performative documentary chronicles his personal struggles
Experimental is the most difficult of all types of movies
and his turbulent relationship with his schizophrenic mother [2].
to define precisely, in part because experimental film
makers actively seek to defy categorization and conven
Koto, a former paramilitary leader and self-described tion. For starters, it’s helpful to think of experimental
gangster. The resulting spectacle is profoundly disturb cinema as pushing the boundaries of what most people
ing, yet inescapably amusing. Are Anwar and Herman think movies are—or should be. After all, avant-garde,
dupes or wily collaborators? Can a movie be a documen the term originally applied to this approach to filmmak
tary when the filmmakers actively manipulate the peo ing, comes from a French phrase used to describe scouts
Types of Movies 75
and pathfinders who explored ahead of an advancing comment on (and intentionally frustrate) viewer
army, implying that avant-garde artists, whether in film expectations of what a movie should be.
or another medium, are innovators who lead, rather than 6. Experimental films invite individual interpretation.
follow, the pack. Like abstract expressionist paintings, they resist
The term experimental falls along these same lines. the kind of accessible and universal meaning found
It’s an attempt to capture the innovative spirit of an ap in conventional narrative and documentary films.1
proach to moviemaking that plays with the medium, is
not bound by established traditions, and is dedicated to
exploring possibility. Both avant-garde and experimen Because most experimental films do not tell a story in
tal (and other terms) are still used to describe this kind the conventional sense, incorporate unorthodox imag
of movie. But since experimental is the word most com ery, and are motivated more by innovation and personal
monly used, is appropriately evocative, and is in English, expression than by commerce and entertainment, they
let’s stick with it. help us understand in yet another way why movies are a
In response to the often-asked question “What is an form of art capable of a sort of motion-picture equivalent
experimental film?” film scholar Fred Camper offers six of poetry. Disregarding the traditional expectations of
criteria that outline the characteristics that most ex audiences, experimental films remind us that film—like
perimental films share. While no criterion can hope to painting, sculpture, music, or architecture—can be made
encapsulate an approach to filmmaking as vigorously di in as many ways as there are artists.
verse as experimental cinema, a summary of Camper’s For example, Michael Snow’s Wavelength (1967) is
list of common qualities is a good place to start: a 45-minute film that consists, in what we see, only of
an exceedingly slow zoom lens shot through a loft. Al
1. Experimental films are not commercial. They are though human figures wander in and out of the frame,
made by single filmmakers (or collaborative teams departing at will from that frame or being excluded from
consisting of, at most, a few artists) for very low it as the camera moves slowly past them, the film is al
budgets and with no expectation of financial gain. most totally devoid of any human significance. Snow’s
2. Experimental films are personal. They reflect central concern is space: how to conceive it, film it, and
the creative vision of a single artist who typically encourage viewers to make meaning of it. Wavelength is
conceives, writes, directs, shoots, and edits the movie replete with differing qualities of space, light, exposures,
with minimal contributions by other filmmakers or focal lengths, and printing techniques, all offering rich
technicians. Experimental film credits are short. possibilities for how we perceive these elements and
interpret their meaning. For those who believe that a
3. Experimental films do not conform to conventional
movie must represent the human condition, Wavelength
expectations of story and narrative cause and effect.
seems empty. But for those who believe, with D. W. Grif
4. Experimental films exploit the possibilities of the fith, that a movie is meant, above all, to make us see, the
cinema and, by doing so, often reveal (and revel in) work demonstrates the importance of utterly unconven
tactile and mechanical qualities of motion pictures tional filmmaking.
that conventional movies seek to obscure. Most Su Friedrich’s experimental films also “make us see,”
conventional narrative films are constructed to but in different ways. Friedrich’s Sink or Swim (1990)
make audiences forget they are watching a movie, opens abstractly with what seems to be scientific
whereas many experimental films repeatedly footage—a microscope’s view of sperm cells, splitting cells,
remind the viewer of the fact. They embrace a developing fetus—inexplicably narrated by a young girl’s
innovative techniques that call attention to, voice recounting the mythological relationship between
question, and even challenge their own artifice. the goddess Athena and her father, Zeus. As the movie’s
5. Experimental films critique culture and media. From remaining twenty-five segments unfold, the offscreen girl
their position outside the mainstream, they often narrator shifts from mythological accounts of paternal
1. Fred Camper, “Naming, and Defining, Avant-Garde or Experimental Film” (n.d.), www.fredcamper.com/Film/AvantGardeDefinition.html (accessed
March 19, 2015).
1 2
3 4
Rearranged footage
A sequence in Craig Baldwin’s Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies under
America (1992) presents successive images of Mayan carvings [1],
Lucha Libre masked wrestlers [2], natives in ceremonial woven
suits [3], hooded prisoners [4], and nature footage of snakes [5] to
illustrate the narration’s breathless claim that displaced aliens hiding
below the earth’s surface have been forced to mate with reptiles. The
power of editing to create meaning through juxtaposition allowed
Baldwin to mutate his seemingly random collection of images of
wildly disparate origins into a cohesive, if bizarre, story of the malev-
olent aliens emerging from their subterranean lair to attempt world
domination.
5
Types of Movies 77
relationships to third-person accounts of episodes be stock, Arnold stretched the 34-second sequence to over
tween a contemporary girl and her father. The episodes 11 minutes by rhythmically repeating every moment in
are illustrated with candid documentary footage, often the scene. The result forces us to see the familiar charac
featuring men and girls at play, and with what appear ters and situation in an entirely new way. What was orig
to be home movies, edited in a way that obscures their inally an innocent and largely inconsequential exchange
origins. The footage sometimes enforces the narra is infused with conflict and tension. Through multiple
tion’s mood and content, but just as often conflicts with and rapid-fire repetitions, a simple gesture such as put
the girl’s story or combines with it so that additional ting down a fork or glancing sideways becomes a hostile
meaning is imparted to both image and spoken word. or provocative gesture, a mechanical loop, or an abstract
As the successive layers are revealed, what began as an dance. Like many experimental films, Passage à l’acte de
apparent abstract exercise reveals itself as an autobio liberately challenges the viewer’s ingrained expectations
graphical account of the filmmaker’s troubled relationship of narrative, coherence, continuity, movement, and for
with her distant and demanding father. Ironically, this ward momentum. The resulting experience is hypnotic,
experimental approach ultimately delivers a more emo musical, disturbing, fascinating, and infuriating.
tionally complex and involving experience than most It’s easy to assume that films that test the audience’s
conventional narrative or documentary treatments of expectations of how a movie should behave are a rela
similar subject matter. tively recent phenomenon. But the truth is that film
While Wavelength explores cinematic space and Sink makers have been experimenting with film form and
or Swim focuses on personal expression, other exper reception since the early days of cinema. In the 1920s,
imental films are primarily concerned with the tactile the first truly experimental movement was born in
and communicative qualities of the film medium itself. France, with its national climate of avant-garde artistic
These movies scavenge found footage—originally cre expression. Among the most notable works were films
ated by other filmmakers for other purposes—and then by painters: René Clair’s Entr’acte (1924), Fernand Léger
manipulate the gleaned images to create new meanings and Dudley Murphy’s Ballet mécanique (1924), Marcel
and aesthetics not intended by the artists or technicians Duchamp’s Anémic cinéma (1926), and Man Ray’s Emak-
who shot the original footage. Bakia (1926). These films are characterized uniformly
To create Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies under Amer by their surreal content, often dependent on dream im
ica (1992), his feature-length satire of paranoid conspir pressions rather than objective observation; their ab
acy theories, Craig Baldwin collected thousands of still stract images, which tend to be shapes and patterns with
and moving images from a wide variety of mostly vintage no meaning other than the forms themselves; their ab
sources, including educational films, scientific studies, sence of actors performing within a narrative context;
and low-budget horror movies. By combining, superim and their desire to shock not only our sensibilities but
posing, and sequencing selected shots, and overlaying also our morals. The most important of these films, the
the result with ominous text and urgent voice-over nar surrealist dreamscape An Andalusian Dog (1929), was
ration, Baldwin changes the image context and meaning, made in France by the Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel
thus transforming the way audiences interpret and ex and the Spanish painter Salvador Dalí. Re-creating the
perience the footage. sexual nature of dreams, this film’s images metamor
Experimental filmmaker Martin Arnold also manip phose continually, defy continuity, and even attack
ulates preexisting footage to alter the viewer’s interpre causality—as in one scene when a pair of breasts dis
tation and experience with a method that is in many solves into buttocks.
ways the reverse of Baldwin’s frenetic collage approach. Although an alternative cinema has existed in the
Arnold’s most famous film, Passage à l’acte (1993), uses United States since the 1920s—an achievement of
only one sequence from a single source: a short, rela substance and style that is all the more remarkable
tively mundane breakfast-table scene from Robert Mul in a country where filmmaking is synonymous with
ligan’s narrative feature To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). Hollywood—the first experimental filmmakers here
Using an optical printer, which allows the operator to du were either European-born or influenced by the French,
plicate one film frame at a time onto a new strip of film Russians, and Germans. The first major American
experimental filmmaker was Maya Deren. Her surreal

films—Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), codirected with
her husband, Alexander Hammid, is the best known—
virtually established alternative filmmaking in this coun
try. Deren’s work combines her interests in various
fields, including film, philosophy, ethnography, and dance,
and it remains the touchstone for those studying avant-
garde movies.
Concerned with the manipulation of space and time,
which after all is the essence of filmmaking, Deren ex
perimented with defying continuity, erasing the line
between dream and reality. She used the cinematic
equivalent of stream of consciousness, a literary style
that gained prominence in the 1920s in the hands of such
writers as Marcel Proust, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce,
and Dorothy Richardson and which attempted to cap
ture the unedited flow of experience through the mind.
In Meshes, Deren is both the creative mind behind the
film and the creative performer on the screen. She takes
certain recognizable motifs—a key, a knife, a flower, a
telephone receiver, and a shadowy figure walking down
a garden path—and repeats them throughout the film,
each time transfiguring them into something else. So, for
example, the knife evolves into a key and the flower into
a knife. These changing motifs are linked visually but
also structurally. Deren’s ideas and achievements bridge
the gap between the surrealism of the French avant-
garde films and such dream-related movies as Alain Res
nais’s Last Year at Marienbad (1961), Federico Fellini’s
8½ (1963), Ingmar Bergman’s Persona (1966), and Luis
Buñuel’s The Milky Way (1969).
Deren’s work greatly influenced an American under
ground cinema that emerged in the 1950s. It has since
favored four subgenres—the formal, the self-reflexive,
the satirical, and the sexual—each of which tends to in
clude aspects of the lyrical approach so typical of Deren.
Works of pure form include John Whitney’s early ex
periments with computer imagery in such films as
Matrix I and Matrix II (both 1971); Shirley Clarke’s Sky
scraper (1960), one of several lighthearted, abstract
tributes to city life; Peter Kubelka’s Arnulf Rainer (1960),
Experimental film: style as subject which created its images through abstract dots; Jordan
Among many other random repetitions and animations, Fernand Belson’s Allures (1961), using abstract color animation;
Léger and Dudley Murphy’s Ballet mécanique (1924) repeatedly Robert Breer’s Fist Fight (1964), which combines anima
loops footage of a woman climbing stairs. This action lacks com- tion, images of handwriting, and other material; and Er
pletion or narrative purpose and instead functions as a rhythmic
nie Gehr’s The Astronomer’s Dream (2004), in which he
counterpart to other sections of the film, in which more abstract
speeds up the images so much that they become vertical
objects are animated and choreographed in (as the title puts it) a
“mechanical ballet.” purple lines.
Types of Movies 79
1 2
3 4
Experimental film: image as shock

Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí collaborated to produce An Andalusian Dog (1929), one of the most famous experimental films. Through special
effects, its notorious opening sequence can be summarized in four shots: [1] the title, “Once upon a time . . . ,” which, under the circumstances,
is an absurd use of the classic beginning of a nursery story; [2] an image of a man (who has just finished sharpening his straight razor); [3] an
image of the hand of a differently dressed man holding a razor near a woman’s eyeball with the implication that he will slit it; and [4] an image
of a slit eyeball. There is no logic to this sequence, for the woman’s eye is not slit; rather the slit eyeball appears to belong to an animal. The
sequence is meant to shock the viewer, to surprise us, to make us “see” differently, but not to explain what we are seeing.
Self-reflexive films, meaning those that represent their (1970), a complex meditation on cinematic structure,
own conditions of production (movies, in other words, space, and movement; and Michael Snow’s Wavelength
about movies, moviemaking, moviemakers, and so on), (1967), which we already discussed.
include Hans Richter’s Dreams That Money Can Buy Films that take a satirical view of life include James
(1947), in the spirit of surrealism; Stan Brakhage’s five- Broughton’s Mother’s Day (1948), on childhood; Stan
part Dog Star Man (1962–64), whose lyricism is greatly van der Beek’s Death Breath (1964), an apocalyptic vi
influenced by Deren’s work; Bruce Baillie’s Mass for the sion using cartoons and other imagery; Bruce Conner’s
Dakota Sioux (1964), which combines a lyrical vision and Marilyn Times Five (1973), which makes its comic points
social commentary; Hollis Frampton’s Zorn’s Lemma by compiling stock footage from other sources; and Mike
approach to cinematic expression continues to thrive on

the fringes of popular culture. A grassroots “microcinema”
subculture has grown out of the affordability and accessi
bility of digital video formats, personal computer–based
editing systems, and video-hosting websites such as
YouTube and Vimeo. Most film festivals, from the most
influential international competitions to the smallest
local showcases, feature experimental programs. Many
prestigious film festivals specializing in experimental
cinema, such as the Ann Arbor Film Festival, attract
hundreds of submissions and thousands of patrons each
year. International organizations like Flickr provide ex
perimental filmmakers with an online venue to share
and promote their work. Many art museums consider
Manipulated footage experimental applications of cinematic principles a fine-
Naomi Uman’s Removed (1999) employs a reductive approach to art form worthy of public display along with painting
found-footage filmmaking that made audiences reinterpret and
and sculpture.
reexamine previously existing footage. She used nail polish and
bleach to remove the female character from the emulsion of all
Artists such as Bill Viola, Matthew Barney, Pierre
10,000 frames of a 7-minute pornographic movie. The result forces Huyghe, and Douglas Gordon have attracted great at
the viewer to experience the objectification of women in a literal— tention to their avant-garde video installations, which
or at least graphic—sense. The film’s female character appears as change the traditional ways in which viewers experience
an animated blank space that is physically manipulated by the male and interact with moving images. Christian Marclay
actors.
handled his experimental film The Clock (2010) like a
limited edition fine-art print. The movie has never been
distributed or broadcast; only seven copies have been
Kuchar’s Sins of the Fleshapoids (1965), an underground sold to museums and collectors. The Clock is a precise
look at the horror genre. assembly of thousands of images and lines of dialogue
Satirical and sexual films often overlap, particularly culled from existing movies and television shows, each
in their portrayal of sexual activities that challenge con one indicating a particular chronological moment in a
ventional ideas of “normality.” Examples of these in 24-hour cycle.
clude Kenneth Anger’s Scorpio Rising (1964), an explicit And, finally, while truly experimental films rarely if
homosexual fantasy that is tame by today’s standards; ever reach mass audiences, experimental approaches to
Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures (1963), a major test case narrative construction, visual style, and editing techniques
for pornography laws; and many of Andy Warhol’s films, do often find their way into movies made by filmmakers
including Lonesome Cowboys (1968). The directors who sympathetic to the avant-garde’s spirit of invention. Many
made these films tended to be obsessed, as was Deren, with of the Hollywood directors incorporating experimental
expressing themselves and their subconscious through techniques developed a taste for unconventional inno
cinematic forms and images. vation in film school or art school or while honing their
These days, movies that seem to be in direct opposi craft on music videos, commercials, and independent
tion to Camper’s experimental film criteria dominate art films. These filmmakers include David Lynch (Twin
our culture. Popular cinema is largely commercial, uni Peaks, 2017), Charlie Kaufman (Anomalisa, 2015), Nich
versal, and narrative. When most of us think of movies, olas Winding Refn (The Neon Demon, 2016), Daniel Kwan
we picture movies that conceal their artifice, reinforce and Daniel Scheinert ( Swiss Army Man, 2016), Jonathan
viewer expectations, and seek a common, accessible Glazer (Under the Skin, 2013), and Sarah Adina Smith
interpretation. (Buster’s Mal Heart, 2016). Experimental sensibilities
While purely experimental cinema rarely penetrates have emerged in a growing number of mainstream pro
into the mainstream, this highly personal and innovative ductions, from Christian Wagner’s wildly kinetic editing
Hybrid Movies 81
1 2
Documentary-narrative fusion
Larry Charles’s Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) pushes the documentary-
narrative marriage to its extreme by placing the fictional character of Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) in real-life situations with people who were
led to believe that they (and Borat) were the subjects of a documentary about a foreign reporter’s exploration of American culture [1]. The re-
sult functions as both documentary and narrative: we experience a deliberately structured character pursuing a clearly defined goal, but that
pursuit is punctuated with a series of spontaneous explosions of authentic human behavior provoked and manipulated by Borat/Cohen and
captured by a documentary film crew. Director Jonathan Glazer took the hybrid a step further in Under the Skin (2013), his fiction film about
an alien (Scarlett Johansson) who gradually begins to empathize with the humans she was sent to Earth to harvest. Glazer shot most of
the movie using hidden cameras, so that many of the people appearing on-screen didn’t know they were being filmed. The technique lends
a sense of documentary realism to an otherwise fantastic situation. The men attracted to the beautiful extraterrestrial can’t help convincingly
portraying themselves as unsuspecting victims [2].
in Tony Scott movies such as Domino (2005) to the ab story, but does so with narration, cinematography, per
stracted images in the title sequence that opened each formance, and production-design stylings that subvert
episode of the HBO dramatic series Vinyl (2016). audience expectations as only an experimental film can.
We’ve already discussed the importance of narra
tive to many documentary films. A growing number of
Hybrid Movies narrative feature films that incorporate documentary
techniques demonstrate that the borrowing works in
The flexibility of film form has made cross-pollination both directions. Big-budget blockbusters like Christo
among experimental, documentary, and narrative ap pher Nolan’s Dunkirk (2017) shoot sequences in ways
proaches an inevitable and desirable aspect of cinematic that evoke documentary b-roll realism, as do provoca
evolution. The resulting hybrids have blurred what were tive art films such as Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! (2017).
once distinct borders among the three primary film-type Contemporary directors such as Jean-Pierre and Luc
categories. For example, in the short films that accom Dardenne (The Unknown Girl, 2016), Lance Hammer
pany this book, Roger Beebe’s experimental movie The (Ballast, 2008), Benh Zeitlen (Beasts of the Southern
Strip Mall Trilogy (2001) documents a mile-long stretch Wild, 2012), and Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, 2013)
of strip malls in Florida but so isolates and abstracts use small crews, natural lighting, handheld cameras,
the images that he evokes meanings that transcend any and nonactors (alongside deglamorized professionals)
architectural or anthropological investigation of com to lend their gritty narrative films the sense of authen
mercial suburban development. Ray Tintori’s narrative tic realism associated with documentary aesthetics and
movie Death to the Tinman (2007) most certainly tells a techniques.2
2. Many thanks to Dr. James Kruel and University of North Carolina Wilmington professors Shannon Silva, Andre Silva, and Dr. J. Carlos Kase for
some of the ideas in this analysis.
1 2
Film-type fusion
Perhaps the film that best exemplifies the fusion of narrative, documentary, and experimental film types is William Greaves’s Symbiopsycho-
taxiplasm: Take One (1968). Greaves employed three camera crews and instructed the first crew to shoot only the series of actors performing
the scripted scene, the second crew to film the first crew shooting the scene [1], and the third to shoot the entire multilevel production as well
as anything else they judged footage-worthy going on around them. The edited film frequently uses split screen to present several of its mul-
tiple layers simultaneously [2]. Greaves intentionally provoked his various crews and casts with vague or contradictory directions, until what
amounts to a civil war erupted as some of the film professionals involved began to question the director’s intentions and methods. Greaves,
who functioned as the director of the actors as well as a sort of actor himself in the dual layers of documentary footage, made sure that every
aspect of the ensuing chaos—including private crew meetings criticizing the project—was captured on film and eventually combined into an
experimental amalgam that breaks down audience expectations of narrative and documentary, artifice and reality.3
Genre this is far from a complete list. The film industry contin
ues to make action movies, biographies (biopics), melo
Our brief survey of documentary and experimental cin dramas, thrillers, romances, romantic comedies, fantasy
ema demonstrates that both of these primary types of films, and many others that fall within some genre or
movies can be further divided into defined subcatego subgenre category.
ries. These distinctions are both useful and inevitable. A long list like that may lead you to believe that
Any art form practiced by ambitious innovators and all films are genre movies. Not so. A quick scan of the
consumed by a diverse and evolving culture can’t help movies in theaters during a single week in 2017 reveals
developing in multiple directions. When filmmakers many narrative films that tell stories and employ styles
and their audiences recognize and value particular ap that don’t fit neatly into any existing genre template.
proaches to both form and content, these documentary The nongenre titles filling out the top fifteen box office
or experimental subcategories are further differentiated leaders during the last weekend in 2017, for example,
and defined. And the moment such a distinction is ac included All the Money in the World (Ridley Scott), Coco
cepted, filmmakers and viewers will begin again to re (Lee Unkrich; codirector Adrian Molina), Wonder (Ste
fine, revise, and recombine the elements that defined phen Chbosky), Molly’s Game (Aaron Sorkin), and Lady
the new categorization in the first place. bird (Greta Gerwig).
Genre refers to the categorization of narrative films Genre is certainly not the only way that narrative
by the stories they tell and the ways they tell them. Com movies are classified. The film industry breaks down
monly recognized movie genres include the Western, films according to studio of origin, budget, target audi
horror, science fiction, musical, and gangster films. But ence, and distribution patterns. Moviegoers often make
3. Amy Taubin, “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Still No Answers,” The Criterion Collection (December 5, 2006), www.criterion.com/current/posts/460.
Genre 83
viewing decisions according to the directors and/or stars

of the films available. Film scholars may categorize and
analyze a movie based on a wide range of criteria, includ
ing its specific aesthetic style, the artists who created it,
its country or region of origin, the apparent ideologies
expressed by its style or subject matter, or the particular
organized cinematic movement it emerged from.
Unlike these film movements (such as French New
Wave or Dogme 95), in which a group of like-minded
filmmakers consciously conspire to create a particu
lar approach to film style and story, film genres tend 1
to spring up organically, inspired by shifts in history,
politics, or society. Genres are often brought about
inadvertently—not through any conscious plan, but
rather because of a cultural need to explore and express
issues and ideas through images and stories. Many classic
genres, including Westerns, horror, and science fiction,
emerged in literature and evolved into cinematic form
during the twentieth century. Others, such as the mu
sical, originated on the Broadway and vaudeville stages
before hitting the screen. Some, like the gangster film,
were born and bred in the cinema. Cultural conditions
inspire artists to tell certain kinds of stories (and audi 2
ences to respond to them), the nature of those narratives
motivates certain technical and aesthetic approaches,
and eventually the accumulation of like-minded movies
is detected, labeled, studied, and explicated by cinema
scholars.
And, of course, academic scholars are not the only
movie lovers who find it useful to categorize films by
genre. Genre significantly affects how audiences choose
the movies they attend, rent, or purchase. Movie review
3
ers often critique a film based on how it stacks up against
others in its genre. Most movie-rental retailers organize
Genre study
movies according to genre (along with more general Scholars find genre films to be especially rich artifacts that can re-
catchall classifications like drama and c omedy). Online veal a great deal about the culture that produced and consumed
and newspaper theater listings include a movie’s genre them, as well as about the filmmakers who made them. How does
alongside its rating, running time, and show time. Martin Scorsese, a director associated with gangster films such as
Of the aforementioned fifteen top-grossing movies for Mean Streets (1973) [1] and Goodfellas (1990) [2], apply the conven-
tions of that genre to the rise and fall of an unscrupulous stockbro-
the weekend of December 29, 2017, at least nine could be
ker in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) [3]?
considered genre films: Downsizing (Alexander Payne)
is science fiction; Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (Jake
Kasdan) is action-adventure; Justice League (Zack Sny
der) is a superhero movie; and Pitch Perfect 3 (Trish Sie) is the latest entry in the raunchy arrested-development
and The Greatest Showman (Michael Gracey) are both man-child comedy subgenre. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
musicals. Darkest Hour (Joe Wright) is a biographical (Rian Johnson) and The Shape of Water (Guillermo del
film, a genre that recounts a significant historical period Toro) each combine multiple genres, including science
of a notable person’s life. Father Figures (Lawrence Sher) fiction and fantasy.
Since genre labels allow us to predict with reason Clyde (1967; director Arthur Penn) are all gangster films;
able certainty what sort of movie to expect, these clas Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is sci
sifications don’t just help audiences make their viewing ence fiction; Carol Reed’s The Third Man (1949) and even
choices; the people that finance movies often must Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960) could be considered
account for genre when deciding which projects to film noir; Woody Allen’s Annie Hall (1977) is a roman
bankroll. tic comedy; John Ford’s The Searchers (1956) is a West
Genres offer familiar story formulas, conventions, ern, as is Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
themes, and conflicts, as well as immediately recogniz (1966); Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly’s Singin’ in the
able visual icons. Together, they provide a blueprint for Rain (1952) is a musical; David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia
creating and marketing a type of film that has proven (1962) is a biography and a war movie and an epic.
successful in the past. Studios and distributors can de Still, audiences don’t like just the classic films that
velop genre-identified stars, select directors on the basis transcend genre conventions. Genre films have been
of proven ability in a particular genre; piggyback on the prevalent since the earliest days of cinema because, con
success of a previous genre hit; and even recycle props, trary to popular perceptions, most movie viewers value
sets, costumes, and digital backgrounds. Just as impor predictability over novelty. Elements of certain genres
tant, the industry counts on genre to predict ticket sales, appeal to us, so we seek to repeat an entertaining or en
presell markets, and cash in on recent trends by mak gaging cinema experience by viewing a film that promises
ing films that allow consumers to predict they’ll like the same surefire ingredients. We get a certain pleasure
a particular movie. In other words: give people what from seeing how different filmmakers and performers
they want, and they will buy it. This simple economic have rearranged and interpreted familiar elements, just
principle helps us understand the phenomenal growth as we are exhilarated by an unexpected deviation from
of the movie industry from the 1930s on, as well as the the anticipated path. To put this relationship into gastro
mind-numbing mediocrity of so many of the movies the nomic terms: the most common pizza features a flour-
industry produces. The kind of strict adherence to genre based crust topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella
convention driven solely by economics often yields de cheese, but it’s the potential variety within that familiar
rivative and formulaic results. foundation that has made pizza one of America’s favorite
If genre films are prone to mediocrity, why are so many foods.
great filmmakers drawn to making them? Part of the A less obvious but perhaps more profound explana
answer can be found, of all places, in a statement by the tion for the prevalence of genre lies in the deep roots
Nobel Prize–winning poet T. S. Eliot, who wrote: “When of genre in our society. Remember that any given genre
forced to work within a strict framework, the imagina naturally emerges and crystallizes not because Holly
tion is taxed to its utmost—and will produce its rich wood thinks it’ll sell, but because it gives narrative voice
est ideas.” Eliot was talking about poetry, but the same to something essential to our culture. The film industry
concept can be applied to cinema. Creatively ambitious may ultimately exploit a genre’s cultural resonance, but
writers and directors often challenge themselves to cre only after cultural conditions motivate enough individ
ate art within the strict confines of genre convention. ual artists and viewers to create the genre in the first
A genre’s so-called rules can provide a foundation place.
upon which the filmmaker can both honor traditions and For example, no studio executive or directors’ club
innovate change. The resulting stories and styles often decided to invent horror movies out of thin air. Horror
expertly fulfill some expectations while surprising and movies exist due to our collective fear of death and the
subverting others as the filmmaker references, refutes, human psyche’s need for catharsis. Westerns enact and
and revises well-established cultural associations. Genre endorse aspects of American history and the human
has intrigued so many of our greatest American and Euro condition that Americans have needed to believe about
pean filmmakers that numerous entries in the canon of themselves. We go to these movies not only to celebrate
important and transformative movies are genre films. The the familiar, but to enforce fundamental beliefs and pas
Godfather (1972; director Francis Ford Coppola), Good sively perform cultural rituals. As our world evolves and
fellas (1990; director Martin Scorsese), and Bonnie and audience perspectives change, genre movies adapt to
Genre 85
Genre masterpieces
Not all genre movies are disposable formula pictures churned out for the indiscriminate masses. Many of cinema’s most revered films are also
genre movies. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) incorporates virtually every standard science-fiction genre element, including
speculative setting, special effects, and a decided ambivalence toward the benefits of technology. Yet Kubrick’s skills as a storyteller and stylist
make 2001 a work of art that transcends conventional attitudes toward genre movies.
reflect these cultural shifts. A Western made during the ster (2007)—tend to share a plot structure in which an
can-do patriotism of World War II is likely to express its underprivileged and disrespected immigrant joins (or
themes differently than one produced at the height of forms) an organized crime syndicate; works his way to
the Vietnam War. the top with a combination of savvy, innovation, and ruth
lessness; becomes corrupted by his newfound power and
the fruits of his labors; and as a result is betrayed, killed,
Genre Conventions or captured.
Movie genres are defined by sets of conventions— Romantic comedy plots are structured around char
aspects of storytelling such as recurring themes and sit acters in love as they couple, break up, and reconnect.
uations, setting, character types, and story formula, as When they first meet, the two characters (usually a man
well as aspects of presentation and visual style such as and a woman) are at odds. They fall in love in spite of,
decor, lighting, and sound. Even the movie stars asso or sometimes because of, this seeming incompatibility.
ciated with a particular genre can be considered one Then they must overcome obstacles to their relationship
of these defining conventions. Keep in mind that these in the form of misunderstandings, competing partners,
conventions are not enforced; filmmakers don’t follow social pressures, or friction caused by the aforemen
mandated genre checklists. While every movie within tioned incompatibility. Eventually the romance will ap
any particular genre will incorporate some of these ele pear doomed, but one half of the couple will realize they
ments, few genre movies attempt to include every possi are meant for each other and make a grand gesture that
ble genre convention. reunites the romantic duo.
Story Formulas The way a movie’s story is structured— Theme A movie’s theme is a unifying idea that the film
its plot—also helps viewers determine what genre it expresses through its narrative or imagery. Not every
belongs to. For example, gangster films—from Howard genre is united by a single, clear-cut thematic idea, but
Hawks’s Scarface (1932) to Ridley Scott’s American Gang the Western comes close. Nearly all Westerns share a
central conflict between civilization and wilderness: set in the American West, but setting goes beyond geogra
tlers, towns, schoolteachers, cavalry outposts, and law phy. Most classic Westerns take place in the 1880s and
men stand for civilization; free-range cattlemen, Indians, 1890s, an era of western settlement when a booming
prostitutes, outlaws, and the wide-open spaces them population of Civil War veterans and other eastern ref
selves fill the wilderness role. Many classic Western char ugees went west in pursuit of land, gold, and cattle trade.
acters exist on both sides of this thematic conflict. For The physical location of Monument Valley became the
example, the Wyatt Earp character played by Henry landscape most associated with the genre, not because
Fonda in John Ford’s My Darling Clementine (1946) is a of any actual history that occurred there, but because the
former gunfighter turned lawman turned cowboy turned scenic area was the favorite location of the prolific West
lawman. He befriends an outlaw but falls in love with ern director John Ford.
a schoolteacher from the east. Early Westerns tend to Since science-fiction films are speculative and, there
sympathize with the forces of civilization and order, but fore, look forward rather than backward, they are usu
many of the Westerns from the 1960s and 1970s valo ally set in the future: sometimes in space, sometimes in
rize the freedom-loving outlaw, cowboy, or Native Amer futuristic Earth cities, sometimes in post-apocalyptic
ican hero. desolation, but almost always in an era and place greatly
Gangster films are shaped by three well-worn, but ob affected by technology. Unlike gangster films, which are
viously resonant themes: rags to riches; crime does not almost always urban in setting, horror films seek the sort
pay; absolute power corrupts absolutely. The thematic of isolated locations—farms, abandoned summer camps,
complexity made possible by the tension between these small rural villages—that place the genre’s besieged pro
aspirational and moralistic ideas can give viewers a tagonists far from potential aid.
more meaningful experience than we might expect from
a genre dedicated to career criminals. Presentation Many genres feature certain elements
of cinematic language that communicate tone and at
Character Types While most screenwriters strive to mosphere. For example, horror films take advantage of
create individuated characters, genre films are often lighting schemes that accentuate and deepen shadows.
populated by specific character “types.” Western protag The resulting gloom helps to create an eerie mood, but
onists personify the tension between order and chaos in horror films are more than just dark: filmmakers use the
the form of the free-spirited but civilized cowboy or the hard-edged shadows as a dominant compositional ele
gunslinger turned lawman. Female characters also per ment to convey a sense of oppression, distort our sense
sonify this tension, but only on one side or the other—as of space, and conceal narrative information. Film noir, a
schoolmarm or prostitute, only rarely as a combination genre that also seeks to disorient the viewer and convey
of both. Other Western character types include the cun a sense of unease (although for very different thematic
ning gambler, the greenhorn, the sidekick, and the set and narrative reasons), employs many of the same light
tler. John Ford packed nearly every Western character ing techniques.
type into a single wagon in his classic Western Stage Ironically, science-fiction films use the latest high-
coach (1939). tech special effects to tell stories that warn against the
The horror or science-fiction film antagonist is al dehumanizing dangers of advanced technology. In fact,
most always some form of “other”—a being utterly dif the genre is responsible for many important special ef
ferent from the movie’s protagonist (and audience) in fect innovations, from the miniatures and matte paint
form, attitude, and action. Many of these movie mon ings that made possible the futuristic city of Fritz Lang’s
sters are essentially large, malevolent bugs—the more Metropolis (1927) to the motion-control cameras and
foreign the villain’s appearance and outlook, the better. rotoscope animation that launched the spaceships of
When the other is actually a human, he often wears a Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) to the
mask designed to accentuate his otherness. special “virtual camera system” director James Cam
eron and his Avatar (2009) team used to capture actors’
Setting Setting—where a movie’s action is located and expressions and actions as the first step in a revolution
how that environment is portrayed—is also a common ary technical process that transformed the film’s cast
genre convention. Obviously, Westerns are typically set into aliens inhabiting an all-digital world.
Genre 87
Westerns, a genre clearly associated with setting,

feature a great many exterior shots that juxtapose the
characters with the environment they inhabit. The
human subject tends to dominate the frame in most
movie compositions, but many of these Western exte
rior shots are framed so that the “civilized” characters
are dwarfed by the overwhelming expanse of wilderness
around them.
Movies in the action genre often shoot combat (and 1
other high-energy action) from many different angles to
allow for a fast-paced editing style that presents the ac
tion from a constantly shifting perspective. These highly
fragmented sequences subject the viewer to a rapid-fire
cinematic simulation of the amplified exercise presum
ably experienced by the characters fighting on-screen.
Stars Even the actors who star in genre movies factor

into how the genre is classified, analyzed, and received
by audiences. In the 1930s and 1940s, actors worked
under restrictive long-term studio contracts. With the
studios choosing their roles, actors were more likely 2
to be “typecast” and identified with a particular genre
that suited their studio-imposed persona. Thus John
Wayne is forever identified with the Western, Edward G.
Robinson with gangster films, and Boris Karloff with
horror.
These days, most actors avoid limiting themselves
to a single genre. When Dwayne Johnson transitioned
from professional wrestling to movie stardom, he was
initially (and predictably) limited to roles in action
films. He still stars in action movies like The Fate of the
Furious (2017), but he has also headlined comedies like
Central Intelligence (2016) and voiced (and sang) a lead 3
character in Moana (2016), an animated Disney musi
cal. Jennifer Lawrence is just as clearly associated with
Multigenre stardom
non-genre dramatic work like American Hustle (2013)
These days, few actors are associated with a single genre. Scarlett
and Silver Linings Playbook (2012) as she is for her star Johansson, since taking on the recurring superhero movie role of
ring roles in the superhero X-Men films and the science the Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (2010; director Jon Favreau) [1]—a
fiction/fantasy Hunger Games series. part she has reprised in five subsequent Avengers movies—starred
Compiling an authoritative list of narrative genres and in four very different science-fiction films as well: as a psychokinetic
killer in the action-packed Lucy (2014), as a lonely alien in the artsy
their specific conventions is nearly impossible, espe
Under the Skin (2013) [2], and as the voice of a sentient computer
cially in an introductory textbook. There are simply too
operating system in the cerebral Her (2013). During the same pe-
many genres, too much cinematic variety and flexibility, riod, she also played the elegant movie star Janet Leigh in the bio
and too little academic consensus to nail down every (or pic Hitchcock (2012; director Sacha Gervasi) [3], a cyber-enhanced
any) genre definitively. Nevertheless, the next section soldier in the anime-inspired Ghost in the Shell (2017), and (as a
offers a closer look at six major American genres to help voice-actor) an animated guitar-playing teenage porcupine in Sing
(2016).
you begin developing a deeper understanding of how
genre functions.
Six Major American Genres By the turn of the twentieth century, pulp-fiction ac
counts of the American West had already established
Gangster the hero as an outsider who lives by his wits and is will
The gangster genre is deeply rooted in the concept of the ing to break the rules to achieve his goals. Two histori
American dream: anyone, regardless of how humble his cal events provided the remaining ingredients needed
origins, can succeed. For much of its history, America’s to turn these working-class notions into what we know
wealth and political power have been wielded primar now as the gangster genre.
ily by successive generations of a white, Anglo-Saxon, First, the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution—
highly educated, and Protestant ruling class. American ratified in 1919—banned the manufacture, sale, and
heroes like Daniel Boone, leaders like Andrew Jack transport of alcohol. This ill-advised law empowered
son and Abraham Lincoln, and popular novelists like organized crime, which expanded to capitalize on the
Horatio Alger Jr. challenged this tradition of power by newfound market for the suddenly forbidden bev
birthright. Their example gave rise to the notion that erages. Many of the criminal entrepreneurs who ex
anyone with intelligence and spunk can rise to great ploited this opportunity were Irish, Italian, and Jewish
riches or power through hard work and bold action. The immigrants.
nation’s expanding population of working-class Amer What’s more, Prohibition legitimized unlawful behav
ican immigrants were eager to embrace this rags-to- ior by making outlaws out of common citizens thirsty
riches mythology. for a beer after quitting time. As a result, common
Gangster plot elements

Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather trilogy (1972–90), perhaps the most famous gangster film series, includes many plot elements common
to the genre, including the protagonist’s humble origins and his rise to power through a combination of astute management and ruthless
violence. But Coppola incorporated genre innovations that differentiated The Godfather movies from more typical gangster films. For exam-
ple, the protagonist, Michael, is an unwilling crime boss forced into syndicate leadership by circumstances and birthright. The plot elements
of a humble origin and the rise to power are presented as flashbacks featuring not Michael, but his father, the man whose death propels
Michael into a life of organized crime. Finally, Michael is unusual in that he attains power and prestige but is not destroyed (physically, at least)
by corruption and greed.
“crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.” As a result, while early

gangster films were among the most violent and sexu
ally explicit movies of their time, the central conflicts
and themes they explored were often at odds with one
another. For example, the stories were centered around
outlaw entrepreneurs who empowered themselves,
bucked the establishment, and grabbed their piece of
the pie; yet, by the end of the story, this theme of suc
cess would give way to a “crime does not pay” message
in which the enterprising hero is finally corrupted by
his hunger for power and thus defeated by forces of law
and order. In many of these films, violent crime was both
celebrated and condemned. Movies that had audiences
sympathizing with criminals (or at least their goals) at
The antihero
the start would ultimately turn an exhilarating rags-
The gangster movie gave the cinema some of its first antiheroes.
to‑riches story of empowerment into a cautionary tale
These unconventional central characters pursue goals, overcome ob-
stacles, take risks, and suffer consequences—everything needed to of the consequences of blind ambition. Central char
propel a compelling narrative—but they lack the traditional “heroic” acters would achieve their goal, only to be killed either
qualities that engage an audience’s sympathy. While he may not be by the law or their own equally ruthless subordinates.
courteous, kind, and reverent, he is almost always smart (if uned- Along the way, audiences enjoyed the vicarious thrills of
ucated), observant, and brave. More than anything, the gangster-
a daring pursuit of power, as well as the righteous satis
hero is driven by an overwhelming need to prove himself. This need
faction of seeing order restored.
motivates his quest for power, fame, and wealth—and almost al-
ways proves to be the tragic flaw that brings about his inevitable While modern gangster narratives have expanded to
downfall. In the final moments of Raoul Walsh’s White Heat (1949), include a wide range of stories set within the milieu of
the psychopathic protagonist Cody Jarrett (James Cagney) declares organized crime, classic gangster plots typically follow
“top of the world, Ma!” before blowing himself to bits rather than this rags-to-riches-to-destruction formula. The protag
submitting to the policemen who have him surrounded.
onist is initially powerless and sometimes suffers some
form of public humiliation that both emphasizes his
people—many of them immigrants themselves—began to vulnerability and motivates his struggle for recognition.
identify with the bootleggers and racketeers. They were (This humiliation can come at the hands of a governing
seen as active protagonists who took chances, risked the institution or the ruling gang organization; often, the en
consequences, and got results—all surefire elements of suing conflict pits the gangster hero against both the law
successful cinema heroes. The stock market crash in and the criminals currently in control.) The hero gains
1929 and the resulting economic depression further ce status and eventually grabs power and riches through in
mented the public’s distrust of authority (i.e., banks and genuity, risk taking, and a capacity for violence.
financiers) and the allure of the gangster. Most gangster protagonists are killers, but their ini
In this specific cultural context, American audiences tial victims (such as the thugs responsible for the pro
began to question the authority of discredited institu tagonist’s initial humiliation) are usually portrayed as
tions such as banks, government, and law enforcement. deserving of their fate. This pattern shifts as the hero
This viewpoint fed their fascination with the outlaws reaches his goal to rule the criminal syndicate. His am
who bucked those systems that had failed the rest of so bition clouds his vision; he becomes paranoid and power-
ciety. As the Depression deepened, the need for vivid, hungry, and begins to resemble his deposed adversaries.
escapist entertainment increased. Hollywood was the Before he self-destructs, he often destroys—figuratively
ideal conduit for this emerging zeitgeist; the result was or literally—characters that represent his last remaining
the gangster film. ties to the earnest go-getter who began the story. Fre
Just as the gangster film emerged, however, the film quently, the protagonsist expresses last-minute regret
industry adopted a production code that forbade mov for what he has become, but by then it’s almost always
ies from explicitly engaging audience sympathy with too late.
More sympathetic secondary characters often serve

to humanize the gangster antihero. While the doomed Film Noir
protagonist is nearly always male, the secondary char In the early 1940s, the outlook, tone, and style of Amer
acters who provide a tenuous connection to the Old ican genre films grew decidedly darker with the emer
World values that he must sacrifice on his climb up the gence of film noir (from the French for “black film”), a
ladder usually take the form of a mother or sister. The shift clearly denoted by its name. Not that movies hadn’t
only other female character typical to the genre is either already demonstrated a cynical streak. The gangster
a fellow criminal or a sort of gangster groupie known as movies that surfaced in the previous decade featured
a moll. Whereas the protagonist’s mother loves him for antiheroes and less-than-flattering portrayals of our cit
his potential humanity, the gangster moll loves him for ies and institutions. World War I, Prohibition, and the
his potential power and wealth. She is a symbol of his Great Depression began the trend toward more realis
aspirations—an alluring veneer concealing a rotten core. tic, and thus bleaker, artistic and narrative representa
The protagonist may also have a sidekick—a trusted tions of the world, as evidenced in the written word of
companion from the old neighborhood—who makes the the time. Pulp-fiction writers like Dashiell Hammett had
journey with him. This friend may be responsible for giv been publishing the hard-boiled stories that formed the
ing the protagonist his first break in the business, only to foundation of film noir since the early 1930s.
be eclipsed by the hero later. He is often instrumental in In fact, if not for the efforts of Hollywood and the
the protagonist’s downfall, either as a betrayer or as a U.S. government during World War II, film noir might
victim of the central character’s greed and lust for power. have come along sooner. Instead, gung-ho war movies
Antagonists come in two forms: law enforcement were designed to build support for the war effort, and
agents and fellow gangsters. In stark contrast to por lighthearted musicals and comedies were produced to
trayals in traditional procedurals, the police in gangster provide needed distractions from overwhelming world
movies are portrayed as oppressors who are corrupt, in events. Yet the same war that helped delay the arrival
competent, or both. They are sometimes in league with of film noir also helped give birth to the new genre by
the gangster antagonist, the current kingpin who lacks exposing ordinary Americans to the horrors of war.
the imagination or courage of our hero. His overthrow Whether in person or through newsreels and newspa
is often one of the first major obstacles the protagonist pers, troops and citizens alike witnessed death camps,
must overcome. Of course, the ultimate antagonist in battlefield slaughters, the rise of fascism, and countless
many gangster movies is the protagonist himself. other atrocities.
Legend has it that when the gangster Willie Sutton Many of the genre’s greatest directors, including Otto
was asked why he robbed banks, he replied, “Because Preminger, Billy Wilder, and Fritz Lang, were themselves
that’s where the money is.” The same sort of logic ex marked by the hardship and persecution they had expe
plains the setting of the vast majority of gangster films. rienced before leaving war-torn Europe for Hollywood.
Movies about organized crime are set in urban locations Others, like Samuel Fuller, fought as American soldiers.
because organized crime flourishes primarily in large The atomic bomb that ended the war also demonstrated
cities. The particulars of the setting evolve as the plot that not even a nation as seemingly secure as the United
progresses. The story usually opens in a slum, develops States was safe from its devastating power. The financial
on the mean streets downtown, and then works its way boom that the war effort had generated ended abruptly
upward into luxury penthouses. as the soldiers returned home to a changed world of
In contrast to most movie stars, the actors most economic uncertainty. Film noir fed off the postwar dis
closely associated with early gangster films were dimin illusionment that followed prolonged exposure to this
utive and relatively unattractive. The authority that intimidating new perspective.
actors such as Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney In part because many of the early noir movies were
conveyed on-screen was made all the more powerful by low-budget “B” movies (so called because they often
their atypical appearance. (In another twist of Holly screened in the second slot of double features), the
wood logic, Cagney—whose gangster portrayals were genre was not initially recognized or respected by most
among the most brutal in cinema history—was equally American scholars. Its emphasis on corruption and de
beloved as a star of happy-go-lucky musicals.) spair was seen as an unflattering portrayal of the Amer
1 2
Fatalism in film noir

Film noir movies sometimes present information and events in a way that heightens the audience’s sense that the hard-luck protagonist is
doomed from the moment the story opens. Director and screenwriter Billy Wilder pushed this technique to the extreme in two of his most
famous noir movies, both of which reveal the demise of the protagonist. The first moments of Double Indemnity (1944) open with antihero
Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) stumbling wounded into his office to confess to the murder he will spend the rest of the story trying to
get away with [1]. Sunset Boulevard (1950) goes one step further. The entire film is narrated in first-person voice-over by a protagonist (William
Holden) presented in the opening scene as a floating corpse [2].
ican character. It was left to French critics, some of Like his counterpart in the gangster movie, the film-
whom went on to make genre films of their own, to rec noir protagonist is an antihero. Unlike his gangster
ognize (and name) the genre. equivalent, he rarely pursues or achieves leadership
In fact, the American critic Paul Schrader (himself a status. On the contrary, the central noir character is an
filmmaker who has written and directed noir films) feels outsider. If he is a criminal, he’s usually a lone operator
that film noir is not a genre at all. He claims that “film caught up in a doomed attempt at a big score or a wrong
noir . . . is not defined, as are the Western and gangster doer trying to elude justice. The private detectives at the
genres, by conventions of setting and conflict, but rather center of many noir narratives operate midway between
by the more subtle qualities of tone and mood.”4 Re lawful society and the criminal underworld, with asso
gardless of how it is classified, film noir has continued ciates and enemies on both sides of the law. They may
to flourish long past the events that provoked its birth, be former police officers who left the force in either dis
thanks in part to a universal attraction to its visual and grace or disgust; or they may be active but isolated police
narrative style and a lasting affinity for its o
utlook. Like officers ostracized for their refusal to play by the rules.
the eggs they are named for, the h ard-boiled characters Whatever his profession, the noir protagonist is small-
in film noir have a tough interior beneath brittle shells. time, world-weary, aging, and not classically handsome.
The themes are fatalistic, the tone cynical. Film noir may He’s self-destructive and thus fallible, often suffering
not be defined by setting, but noir films are typically shot abuse on the way to a story conclusion that may very well
in large urban areas (such as Chicago, New York, or Los deny him his goal and will almost certainly leave him un
Angeles). They contain gritty, realistic night exteriors, redeemed. All this is not to say that the noir protagonist
many of them filmed on location, as opposed to the ideal is weak or unattractive. Ironically, the world-weary and
ized and homogenized streets built on the studio back lot. wisecracking noir antihero is responsible for some of
4. Paul Schrader, “Notes on Film Noir ” [1972], in Film Noir Reader, ed. Alain Silver and James Ursini (New York: Limelight, 1996), pp. 53–64.
1 2
Modern film noir

While many modern noir films, such as Curtis Hanson’s L.A. Con-
fidential (1997), set their stories in places and times that directly
reference the classic noir films of the 1940s, others offer a revised
genre experience by relocating noir’s thematic, aesthetic, and nar-
rative elements to contemporary times and atypical locations. Rian
Johnson’s Brick (2005) [1] takes place within the convoluted social
strata of a suburban high school. Joel Coen’s Fargo (1996) [2] unfolds
on the frozen prairies of rural North Dakota and the snow-packed
Minneapolis suburbs. Erik Skjoldbjærg’s Insomnia (1997) [3] trades
ominous shadows for the unrelenting light of the midnight sun in a
3 village above the Arctic Circle.
cinema’s most popular and enduring characters. Hum contrast and create deep shadows that can obscure as
phrey Bogart was just a middle-aged character actor much information as the illumination reveals. Light
before his portrayal of the private detective Sam Spade sources are often placed low to the ground, resulting in
in John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon (1941) made him a illumination that distorts facial features and casts dra
cultural icon. matic shadows. Exterior scenes usually take place at
World War II expanded opportunities for women night; those interior scenes set during the day often play
on the home front. They took over the factory jobs and out behind drawn shades that cast patterns of light and
other responsibilities from the men who left to fight in shadow, splintering the frame. These patterns, in turn,
Europe and the Pacific. Perhaps as a reflection of men’s combine with other diagonal visual elements to create
fear or resentment of these newly empowered women, a compositional tension that gives the frame—and the
film noir elevated the female character to antagonist world it depicts—a restless, unstable quality.
status. Instead of passive supporting players, the femme Film noir plot structure reinforces this feeling of
fatale (French for “deadly woman”) role cast women as disorientation. The complex (sometimes incomprehen
seductive, autonomous, and deceptive predators who sible) narratives are often presented in nonchronolog
use men for their own means. As a rule, the femme fatale ical or otherwise convoluted arrangements. Plot twists
is a far smarter—and thus formidable—opponent for the deprive the viewer of the comfort of a predictable plot.
protagonist than other adversarial characters, most of Goals shift, and expectations are reversed; allies are re
whom are corrupt and violent though not necessarily a vealed to be enemies (and vice versa); narration, even
match for the hero’s cynical intelligence. that delivered by the protagonist, is sometimes unre
More than virtually any other genre, film noir is dis liable. Moral reference points are skewed: victims are
tinguished by its visual style. The name black film refer often as corrupt as their persecutors; criminals are work
ences not just the genre’s attitude, but its look as well. ing stiffs just doing their job. Paradoxically, this unset
Noir movies employ lighting schemes that emphasize tling narrative complexity is often framed by a sort of
enforced predictability. Fatalistic voice-over narration

telegraphs future events and outcomes, creating a sense
of predetermination and hopelessness for the protago
nist’s already lost cause.
Science Fiction
It seems logical to think of science fiction as being 1
speculative fantasy about the potential wonders of tech
nological advances. But most science-fiction films are
not really about science. If we tried to prove the “sci
ence” that most sci-fi films present, much of it would be
quickly exposed as ridiculous. Instead, the genre’s focus
is on humanity’s relationship with science and the tech
nology it generates.
Science fiction existed as a literary genre long be
fore movies were invented. The genre began in the early
nineteenth century as a reaction to the radical societal
and economic changes spurred by the industrial revolu 2
tion. At that time, the introduction of new technologies
such as the steam engine dramatically changed the way
The other in science fiction
Americans and Europeans worked and lived. What were Science-fiction films often emphasize a malevolent alien’s “other-
once rural agrarian cultures were quickly transformed ness” by modeling its appearance on machines or insects. The be-
into mechanized urban societies. Stories are one way nevolent visitors in Steven Spielberg’s popular science-fiction film
that our cultures process radical change, so it didn’t take Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) [1] look much more re-
assuringly humanoid than the hostile invaders his collaborators cre-
long for the anxiety unleashed by this explosion of tech
ated for War of the Worlds (2005) [2].
nology to manifest itself in the form of Mary Shelley’s
1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.
The subtitle makes evident the novel’s theme: in Greek Ironically, the same advances in science and tech
mythology, Prometheus is the Titan who stole fire from nology that allowed cultures to explain away—and thus
Zeu and bestowed this forbidden and dangerous knowl destroy—all of these old monsters have given voice to
edge on mortals not yet ready to deal with its power. the modern folklore of science fiction. For most of us,
Shelley’s “monster” represents the consequences of men science is beyond our control. Its rapid advance is a phe
using science and technology to play God. nomenon that we didn’t create, that we don’t entirely
Readers familiar with twentieth-century movie ver comprehend, and that moves too fast for us to keep
sions may think of Frankenstein as a horror story. The up with. So when it comes to science fiction, the other
genres are indeed closely related through their mutual represents—directly or indirectly—this technological jug
exploitation of audience fears, but the source of the gernaut that can help us but also has the power to de
anxiety is different. Horror films speak to our fears of stroy us or at least make us obsolete.
the supernatural and the unknown, whereas science- We are not saying that science is an inherently neg
fiction movies explore our dread of technology and ative force or even that anxiety dominates our rela
change. Both genres have their roots in folklore that ar tionship with technology. We all love our computers,
ticulates the ongoing battle between human beings and appreciate modern medicine, and marvel at the wonders
everything that is other than human. In ancient folk of space exploration. But conflict is an essential element
lore, this “other” was anthropomorphized into monsters of narrative. If everything is perfect, then there’s no story.
(trolls, ogres, etc.) that inhabited (and represented) the And unspoken, even unconscious, concerns are at the
wilderness that humans could not control. root of a great deal of artistic expression.
Science fiction and special effects

Humanity must escape an Earth ravaged by climate change in Christopher Nolan’s science-fiction epic Interstellar (2014). To find a habitable
planet, a group of scientists must both embrace and overcome human nature to discover and unlock previously inconceivable concepts and
technologies. The spaceships they travel in, and the spectacular worlds they encounter, were created using sophisticated digital technology.
Ironically, the movie genre founded on audiences’ dread of technology also happens to depend heavily on viewers’ attraction to high-tech
visual effects. The speculative spectacle that audiences expect of science fiction means that most films in the genre feature elaborate sets,
costumes, makeup, computer animation, and digital effects.
Science-inspired anxiety is behind the defining the Alien invaders, another common science-fiction an
matic conflict that unites most science-fiction movies. tagonistic other, are also an outgrowth of our innate fear
This conflict can be expressed in many ways, but for our of the machine. As soon as humankind was advanced
purposes let’s think of it as technology versus humanity enough to contemplate travel outside the earth’s orbit,
or science versus soul.5 This theme is expressed in sto we began to speculate about the possibility of life on
ries that envision technology enslaving humanity, invad other planets. Our fear of the unknown, combined with
ing our minds and bodies, or bringing about the end of our tendency to see Earth as the center of the universe,
civilization as we know it. The antagonist in these con empowered this imagined other as a threatening force,
flicts takes the form of computers like the infamous HAL endowed with superior destructive technology, bent on
in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); robots displacing or enslaving us. The otherness of the most
or machines in films like Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner malevolent aliens is emphasized by designing their ap
(1982), the Wachowskis’ The Matrix series (1999–2003), pearance to resemble machines or insects. In contrast,
and James Cameron’s Terminator movies (1984–2003); the science-fiction movies that reverse expectations
and mechanized, dehumanized societies in Fritz Lang’s and portray alien encounters in a positive light typically
Metropolis (1927), Jean-Luc Godard’s Alphaville (1965), shape their extraterrestrials more like humans—or at
and George Lucas’s THX 1138 (1971). least mammals. You need look no further than Star Wars’
5. Per Schelde, Androids, Humanoids, and Other Science Fiction Monsters: Science and Soul in Science Fiction Films (New York: New York University
Press, 1993).
comfortably fuzzy Chewbacca (as opposed to Imperial

Stormtroopers and Jabba the Hutt) for evidence of this
tradition.
While most science-fiction movies stress the other
ness of the antagonist, the opposite is true for the sci-fi
protagonist. Science-fiction heroes are often literally
and figuratively down-to-earth. They tend to be so com
passionate and soulful that their essential humanity
seems a liability—until their indomitable human spirit
proves the key to defeating the malevolent other.
Because science-fiction narratives often deal with 1
what-ifs, the setting is frequently speculative. If those
sci-fi movies are set in the present day, they often
heighten the dramatic impact of invasive aliens or time
travelers. Most commonly, the genre places its stories in
a future profoundly shaped by advances in technology.
This setting allows filmmakers to hypothesize future
effects of contemporary cultural, political, or scientific
trends. These speculative settings may be high-tech
megacities or post-apocalyptic ruins. The setting sug
gests a combination of both in movies such as Ridley
Scott’s original Blade Runner (1982) and the sequel Blade 2
Runner 2049 (2017) directed by Denis Villeneuve. Of
course, outer space is also a popular science-fiction set The infectious other
ting for obvious reasons. In many of these examples, the One reason we go to horror movies is to confront our fear of death
technology-versus-humanity theme is presented in part and insanity, as well as the anxiety that arises out of our ultimate
by dramatizing the consequences of science taking us inability to control either condition. As a result, the other that fills the
role of antagonist often carries the threat of infection and transfor-
places we don’t necessarily belong—or at least where we
mation. The raging zombies in Sang-ho Yeon’s Train to Busan (2016) [1]
are not physically and spiritually equipped to survive.
are former humans changed into mindless killing machines by a run-
Science-fiction films made before the 1970s tended to away virus. In James Wan’s The Conjuring (2013) [2], a loving mother
feature sterile, well-ordered, almost utopian speculative is transformed into a demonic witch when she is possessed by a
settings. Movies like Scott’s Alien (1979), with its grimy hateful ghost.
industrial space-barge interiors, reversed that trend by
presenting a future in which living conditions had de
graded rather than evolved. And, like horror’s sister genre, sci-fi, that form is the
“other.” Death takes the shape of ghosts, zombies, and
vampires—all of which pose a transformative threat to
Horror the audience. The only thing scarier than being killed
Like science fiction, the horror genre was born out of a or consumed by the other is actually becoming the
cultural need to confront and vicariously conquer some other. So it makes sense that the werewolves, demonic
thing frightening that we do not fully comprehend. In possessions, and homicidal maniacs that act as cine
the case of horror films, those frightening somethings matic stand-ins for insanity also carry the threat of in
are aspects of our existence even more intimidating than fection and conversion.
technology or science: death and insanity. Both repre We could hypothesize that early, primitive religions—
sent the ultimate loss of control and a terrifying, ines even the source of some modern religions—derive from
capable metamorphosis. the same essential human need to demystify and defeat
To enact any sort of narrative conflict with either these most basic fears. But the difference between mov
of these forces, they must be given a tangible form. ies and religious rituals is the intensity and immediacy
that the cinema experience provides. While sitting in a

darkened movie theater staring at oversized images of
the other, movie viewers are immersed in a shared ritual
that exposes them to dread, terror, and ultimately ca
tharsis. We vicariously defeat death (even if the protag
onist does not), because we survive the movie and walk
back into our relatively safe lives after the credits roll
and the lights come up. We experience the exhilaration
of confronting the dreaded other without the devastat 1
ing consequences.
Germany, with its strong tradition of folklore and
more developed engagement with the darker aspects
of existence (thanks in part to the devastation of World
War I), created the first truly disturbing horror mov
ies. Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
sees the world through the distorted perspective of a
madman; F. W. Murnau’s expressionist Dracula adap
tation, Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror (1922), associ 2
ates its other with death and disease. The United States
embraced the genre with the release of Dracula (1931; Horror-movie settings
director Tod Browning), and thus began Hollywood’s Most horror stories unfold in settings that isolate potential victims
on-again, off-again relationship with the horror film. from potential help. Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977) goes one step
A golden age of Hollywood horror followed, with the further by placing the young protagonist, Suzy, in an unusually creepy
ballet academy in rural Italy. As a newcomer and the only Ameri-
monster others at its center t aking top billing: Franken
can student, Suzy is not only isolated from the relative security of a
stein (1931; director James Whale); The Mummy (1932;
populated area, but also must face considerable danger alone, with-
director Karl Freund); and The Wolf Man (1941; director out allies, in unfamiliar surroundings [1]. When Chris Washington,
George Waggner). the protagonist of Jordan Peele’s allegorical horror movie Get Out
With the return of prosperity and the end of World (2017), agrees to visit his white girlfriend’s rich parents, he also finds
War II, the classic “monster”-based horror film faded himself an isolated outsider in a secluded and unfamiliar environ-
ment [2]. Instead of evil ballet instructors, he’s terrorized by white
into mediocrity and relative obscurity until a new gen
people who want to possess black men like him in every sense of
eration of audiences with their own fears resurrected
the word.
the genre. Foreign and independent studios updated
and moved beyond the original monster concept with
low-budget productions created for the B-movie and other. This monster must be vanquished or destroyed in
drive-in markets. Horror did not return to the main order to reestablish normalcy. Often, the protagonist is
stream until veteran British directors Alfred Hitchcock the only person who initially recognizes the threat. Be
and Michael Powell, both of whom were associated with cause the other is so far removed from normalcy, the
very different motion-picture styles, each unleashed his protagonist may reject her own suspicions before she
own disturbing portrait of an outwardly attractive young experiences the other more directly and announces the
serial killer. By subverting audiences’ expectation of the menace to those around her. When her warnings are
other, Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) and Powell’s Peeping ignored, the central character is directly targeted by the
Tom (1960) shocked audiences and revolutionized the other. She must either enlist help or face the monster
horror genre. Ever since, as our culture’s needs and atti on her own. In the end, the protagonist may destroy the
tudes change, and global awareness of real-life atrocities other—or at least appear to. Horror narratives tend to
multiplies, horror has evolved to become one of cinema’s feature resurrections and other false resolutions. Orig
most diverse and fluid genres. inally, these open endings were meant to give the audi
A typical horror narrative begins by establishing a ence one last scare; now, they are just as likely intended
normal world that will be threatened by the arrival of the to ensure the possibility of a profitable sequel.
This basic horror plot structure offers a number of familiar. The alien customs, language, and landscape
typical variants: the protagonist may actually be directly disorient the protagonist (and the audience) and dimin
or indirectly responsible for summoning the other, a ish any hope for potential support. And, as you may have
violation that places even greater responsibility on her guessed, regardless of where horror stories are located,
to restore the normal world. The protagonist may also they almost invariably stage their action at night.
have to enlist the help of a mentor or apprentice, or even Besides tapping into our instinctive fears, night
sacrifice herself, to defeat the antagonistic other. Some scenes lend themselves to the chiaroscuro lighting—the
times the protagonist actually becomes the other. She use of deep gradations of light and shadow within an
becomes infected and attempts to deny, and then hide, image—that most horror-movie cinematography de
her encroaching transformation. She may pursue a solu pends upon. This lighting style emphasizes stark con
tion but ultimately faces the decision either to destroy trasts and shows large areas of deep shadow accented with
herself or face a complete metamorphosis. Oftentimes, bright highlights. The light is often direct or undiffused,
as in similar science-fiction stories, she is somehow which creates well-defined shadows and silhouettes,
saved by the power of her own humanity. and low-key, meaning the dense shadows are not abated
This protagonist is often a loner, someone socially by additional “fill” lights. Horror-genre lighting is some
reviled who must save the community that rejects her. times cast from below, an angle of illumination not typi
We identify with her because she is (initially, at least) cal of our everyday experience. The result is the distorted
unusually fearful, a weakness that allows us the greatest facial features and looming cast shadows known on film
possible identification with her struggle. This character sets as “Halloween lighting.” Canted camera angles that
istic is certainly not limited to horror films. Many movie tilt the on-screen world off balance are used to disori
narratives center on flawed characters because they cre ent viewers. Horror-film staging also exploits the use of
ate high stakes and allow for the kind of character devel offscreen action and sound that suggests the presence of
opment that satisfies audiences. peril but denies the audience the relative reassurance
While a significant number of horror-film antagonists of actually keeping an eye on the antagonist.
are one-dimensional killing machines, many of these
others are actually more compelling characters than the
protagonists charged with destroying them. Vampires
fascinate us because they can be as seductive as they are
terrifying. Other monsters, such as Frankenstein’s mon
ster or his progeny, Edward Scissorhands, may actually
display more humanity than the supposedly threatened
populace. And, yes, the malevolent father in Stanley
Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) and Freddy Krueger of Wes
Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) may be evil,
but they have undeniable personality. Even the masked,
robotic killers at the center of the Halloween and Friday
the 13th slasher franchises offer more complex histories
and motives than their relatively anonymous victims.
Horror-movie settings tend to fall into two catego
ries. The first is the aforementioned “normal world”—a
hyperordinary place, usually a small town threatened
by invasion of the other. This setting casts the protago Halloween lighting in Bride of Frankenstein
nist as the protector of her beloved home turf and vio Like film noir, the horror genre utilizes a style of lighting (referred to
lates our own notions of personal safety. Other horror as low-key, or chiaroscuro, lighting) that emphasizes stark contrasts
between bright illumination and deep shadow. These shadows are
films set their action in remote rural areas that offer
used to create unsettling graphic compositions, obscure visual in-
potential victims little hope for assistance. A related formation, and suggest offscreen action. Lighting a subject from be-
horror setting places the central character in a foreign, low, a technique often referred to as “Halloween lighting,” distorts
often exotic, environment that lacks the security of the a subject’s features by reversing the natural placement of shadows.
The Western
Like most of the major genres, the Western predates
the invention of motion pictures. The exploration and
settlement of the western United States has fascinated
European Americans since the frontier was just a few
hundred miles inland from the eastern coast. Set in 1757
and published in 1826, James Fenimore Cooper’s The
Last of the Mohicans is widely considered the first popu 1
lar novel to explore the tension between the wilderness

and encroaching civilization. But the considerably less
reputable literature most responsible for spawning the
Western movie didn’t come along until about 25 years
later. Dime novels (so called because of their low cost),
short novellas written for young men and semiliterates,
delivered sensational adventures of fictional cowboys,
outlaws, and adventurers, as well as wildly fictionalized
stories starring actual Western figures. 2
By the 1870s, stage productions and traveling circus
like shows featuring staged reenactments of famous bat Wilderness and civilization
tles and other events were capitalizing on the growing Although many Western narratives favor the forces of order, the
international fascination with the American West. Mov outlaw is not always the bad guy. Revisionist Westerns like George
ies wasted no time getting into the act. Some of the ear Roy Hill’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) mourn the
inevitable loss of freedom that accompanies the civilization of the
liest motion pictures were Westerns, including Thomas
frontier. In that movie, and in many others that reconsidered West-
Edison’s 46-second, one-shot vignette Cripple Creek Bar-
ern mythology, the protagonists are good-natured outlaws [1]; the
Room Scene (1899) and Edwin S. Porter’s groundbreak righteous avenging posse (presented as a faceless “other” in a tech-
ing The Great Train Robbery (1903). nique borrowed from the horror and science-fiction genres) is the
American history inspired the Western, but the genre’s dreaded antagonist [2].
enduring popularity has more to do with how Americans
see and explain themselves than with any actual event.
Westerns are a form of modern mythology that offers
narrative representations of Americans as rugged, self- nistic forces in direct conflict with the civilizing settlers,
sufficient individuals taming a savage wilderness with such as the Apache Indians in John Ford’s The Searchers
common sense and direct action. The concept of the fron (1956) and Stagecoach (1939) or the free-range cattle
tier as a sort of societal blank slate is at the heart of this man of George Stevens’s Shane (1953). Or it can mani
mythology. The Wild West is a land of opportunity—both fest itself in more metaphorical terms. The wilderness of
a dangerous, lawless country in need of taming and an Ford’s 3 Godfathers (1948), for example, takes the form
expansive territory where anyone with the right stuff can of the outlaw protagonists’ self-interest, which is put
reinvent himself and start a new life. The mythology label in direct opposition with the civilizing effects of social
does not mean that these notions cannot be true. It sim responsibility when the bandits discover an infant or
ply acknowledges that certain aspects of the history of phaned in the desert.
the American West have been amplified and modified to But this sort of duality was nothing new. Many West
serve a collective cultural need. ern characters reverse or combine the thematic ele
Earlier in the chapter, we discussed the civilization- ments of order and chaos. Lawmen in movies like Clint
versus-wilderness conflict that provides the Western’s Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992) are antagonists, and of
thematic framework. The tension produced by this con ten even a lawman protagonist is a former outlaw or
flict is an essential ingredient in virtually every Western gunfighter. Cowboys—quintessential Western characters—
narrative. The wilderness can take the form of antago also embody the blurred borders between the West
Whereas gangster icons such as James Cagney are com

pact and manic, Western stars, from the silent era’s Wil
liam S. Hart through Henry Fonda and John Wayne and
on up to Clint Eastwood, are outsized but relatively sub
dued performers.
All of the tertiary character types found in Westerns
have a role to play in this overarching conflict between
the wild and settled West. Native Americans are both
1 ruthless savages and noble personifications of dignity
and honor. Prostitutes are products of lawlessness but
often long for marriage and family. Schoolmarms are
educated and cultured, yet are irresistibly drawn to the
frontier and the men who roam it. The greenhorn char
acter may be sophisticated back East, but he is an in
experienced bumbler (and, as such, a perfect surrogate
for the viewer) when it comes to the ways of the West.
His transformation into a skilled cowboy/gunfighter/
lawman embodies the Western ideal of renewal.
More than any genre, the American Western is linked
to place. But the West is not necessarily a particular
2
place. The genre may be set on the prairie, in the moun
tains, or in the desert. But whatever the setting, the land
Character duality in the Western
scape is a dominant visual and thematic element that
Western protagonists often embody both sides of the genre’s the-
represents another Western duality: it’s a deadly wil
matic conflict between wilderness and civilization. Clint Eastwood’s
Unforgiven (1992) stars Eastwood himself as Bill Munny, a farmer derness of stunning natural beauty. Because setting is of
and father enlisted as a hired gun on the basis of his faded (and dubi- such primary importance, Westerns are dominated by
ous) reputation as a former gunslinger. Munny resists violent action daylight exterior shots and scenes. As a result, Westerns
until the murder of his friend and partner, Ned (Morgan Freeman), were among the first films to be shot almost exclusively
reawakens the ruthless desperado within him [1]. Johnny Depp’s
character in Jim Jarmusch’s allegorical Western Dead Man (1995)
begins his journey west as a hopelessly meek and inept accountant
but is gradually transformed into a deadly outlaw by both the figura-
tive and literal wilderness [2].
LOOKING AT MOVIES
GENRE: THE WESTERN
ern’s thematic forces. Cowboys may fight the Indians,

but they are also symbols of rootless resisters of en
croaching development. Whatever his particular stance
and occupation, the Western hero is typically a man
of action, not words. He is resistant to—or at least un
comfortable with—the trappings of civilization, even
in those common cases where he serves as a civilizing
agent. Shane’s gunfighter protagonist sacrifices him
self to defend the homesteader, but he rides off into
oblivion rather than settling down and taking up a plow
himself. VIDEO This tutorial explores the form and
The actors associated with the genre reflect the quiet conventions of the Western.
power of the laconic characters they repeatedly play.
Civilization and wilderness

This archetypal scene from John Ford’s My Darling Clementine (1946) demonstrates the tension (and inevitable attraction) between encroach-
ing civilization and the wide open Wild West that lies at the heart of most Western-genre narrative conflicts. Deadly gunfighter turned reluc-
tant lawman Wyatt Earp (Henry Fonda) escorts Clementine (Cathy Downs), a refined and educated woman from the East, to a community
dance held in the bare bones of a not-yet-constructed church surrounded by desert and mountains.
on location. (When the Hollywood noir classic Sunset ery line of dialogue in a few musicals, such as Jacques
Boulevard needs to get a film-industry character out of Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), and those
town, it gets him a job on a Western.) The Western land musicals from the 1930s featuring Fred Astaire and Gin
scape is not limited to background information. The big ger Rogers focus more on dancing than singing. But for
skies and wide open spaces are used to symbolize both the most part, musicals feature a combination of music,
limitless possibility and an untamable environment. For singing, dancing, and spoken dialogue.
this reason, Westerns favor extreme long shots in which Unlike many genres, the musical film genre was not
the landscape dwarfs human subjects and the primitive born out of any specific political or cultural moment or
outposts of civilization. preexisting literary genre. But musical performance was
already a well-established entertainment long before
the invention of the movie camera. The long-standing
The Musical traditions of religious pageants, opera, operetta, and
The musical tells its story using characters that express ballet all present narrative within a musical context.
themselves with song and/or dance. The actors sing ev Musical comedies similar in structure to movie musicals
were popular on British and American stages through

out much of the nineteenth century.
So it was inevitable that the dazzling movement,
formal spectacle, and emotional eloquence inherent in
musical performance would eventually join forces with
the expressive power of cinema. But two hurdles stood
in the way of the union. First, the early film industry
had to create a workable system for recording and pro
jecting sound—a process more than 25 years in the mak
ing. The next obstacle had less to do with mechanical
engineering and more with audience perceptions. Be
cause the new medium of motion-picture photography
was closely associated with documentation and thus
naturalism, the idea of otherwise realistic scenarios 1
suddenly interrupted by characters bursting into song
didn’t seem to fit with the movies. Therefore, cinema
had to establish a context that would allow for musical
performance but still lend itself to relatively authentic
performances and dramatic situations, as well as spoken
dialogue.
The first major movie to incorporate extended syn
chronized sound sequences provided the solution. Alan
Crosland’s The Jazz Singer (1927) was a backstage musi
cal. This kind of film placed the story in a performance
setting (almost always Broadway), so that the characters
were singers and dancers whose job it was to rehearse
and stage songs anyway. By placing its narrative in this
very specific setting, this early musical incarnation
established some of the genre’s most fixed plot and char
2
acter elements. Backstage-musical stories typically re
volved around a promising young performer searching
Backstage and integrated musicals
for her big show-business break, or a talented singer/ Early Hollywood musicals like Harry Beaumont’s The Broadway Mel-
dancer protagonist pressured by a love interest or fam ody (1929) [1] constructed their narratives around the rehearsal and
ily member to leave show business, or a struggling com performance of a musical stage show, a setting that provided an
pany of singers and dancers determined to mount a big intriguing backdrop, narrative conflict, and a context that allowed the
characters to sing and dance without testing verisimilitude. Within
show. Many backstage narratives managed to combine
a few years, integrated musicals like Rouben Mamoulian’s Love Me
two or more of these standard storylines. These musi
Tonight (1932) [2] proved that audiences were already willing to ac-
cals had their own set of character types, including the cept characters who burst into song in everyday situations, such as
hard-bitten producer, the gifted ingenue, the insecure a tailor (Maurice Chevalier) who sings an ode to romantic love as he
(i.e., less talented) star, and the faltering veteran with a measures a customer for a suit.
heart of gold.
It might be assumed that since the backstage musical’s
songs were all performed as either rehearsals or produc Backstage musicals had been around for only a few
tions within the framework of an externalized Broad years when so-called integrated musicals like Rouben
way show, these songs would be missing the emotional Mamoulian’s Love Me Tonight (1932) freed the genre
power provided by a direct connection to the characters’ from the Broadway setting. (Mamoulian also directed
lives. But in practice, the lyrics and context were usually Applause, a pioneering 1929 backstage musical.) As the
presented in such a way as to underscore the performing term implies, the integrated musical assimilated singing
character’s state of mind or personal situation. and dancing with conventional spoken dramatic action;
Trier’s Dancer in the Dark (2000), or can the drivers

stuck in a Los Angeles traffic jam dance out of their
cars to sing about moving to Hollywood to pursue show
business dreams, as in Damien Chazelle’s La La Land
(2016). The integrated musical, as these examples il
lustrate, freed the genre from the Broadway backdrop
and allowed the musical to apply its unique stylings to
a virtually limitless range of stories, characters, and
settings.
While traditional musicals still tend to use the ro
1 mantic comedy for their narrative template, contem
porary movies have mixed the musical with a variety of
other genres and cinema styles. Director Trey Parker has
created credible musicals in the context of an extended
South Park episode (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut,
1999), a Michael Bay–style action movie performed by
marionettes (Team America: World Police, 2004), and
the only prosecuted case of cannibalism in United States
history (Cannibal! The Musical, 1996). The genre dom
2 inated animated features from Walt Disney Studios for
almost 60 years. Even television programs have gotten
Contemporary musicals into the act: The Simpsons, Community, and The Flash
Like both of its predecessors, Pitch Perfect 3 (2017; director Trish
have all created special musical episodes. The entire
Sie) is a traditional backstage musical. The principal characters are
promising young performers mounting a show in hopes of achieving
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend series is an integrated musical; Glee
stardom. Although some songs convey situation and state of mind, was a multi-episode backstage musical.
they all are delivered in a verisimilar context of rehearsals or perfor-
mances [1]. Damien Chazelle’s La La Land (2016) is an integrated
musical in which otherwise realistic characters can burst into song
at any time to express emotion and enhance a dramatic situation. Evolution and
Transformation of Genre
characters now could burst into song (or dance) as part Filmmakers are rarely satisfied to leave things as they
of any situation. Of course, most of these musicals re are. Thus, as with all things cinematic, genre is in con
serve musical performance for key dramatic moments, stant transition. Writers and directors, recognizing
such as when a character declares her love, her goal, or genre’s narrative, thematic, and aesthetic potential,
her emotional state. Sometimes these songs are deliv cannot resist blending ingredients gleaned from multi
ered to another character, but they may also be directed ple styles in an attempt to invent exciting new hybrids.
inward—a sort of sung soliloquy—or even aimed directly The seemingly impossible marriage of the horror and
at the viewer. musical genres has resulted in a number of successful
Part of the pleasure of watching integrated musi horror-musical fusions, including Jim Sharman’s The
cals comes from the potentially dramatic shifts in tone Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Frank Oz’s Little Shop
and style required to move between dramatic and mu of Horrors (1986), and Takashi Miike’s The Happiness of
sical performance. Audiences have learned to appreci the Katakuris (2001). Antonia Bird melded horror with
ate the stylistic prowess required to balance these two another unlikely genre partner, the Western, for her
seemingly incompatible entertainments, along with the 1999 film Ravenous. Sometimes the hybridization takes
whimsy or poignancy such combinations are capable of the form of a pastiche, as in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill
generating. Only in a musical can downtrodden factory Bill cycle (Vol. 1, 2003; Vol. 2, 2004), films that borrow
workers erupt into a celebratory tune, as in Lars von not only from the Japanese chambara (sword-fighting)
Evolution and Transformation of Genre 103
genre but from many Hollywood genres, including the These include light sex comedies (Billy Wilder’s Some
Western, musical, thriller, action, horror, and gangster. Like It Hot, 1959), gross-out sex comedies (Bobby and
Genres develop inwardly as well. Subgenres occur Peter Farrelly’s There’s Something about Mary, 1998),
when areas of narrative or stylistic specialization arise and neurotic sex comedies (almost any Woody Allen
within a single genre. Thus Westerns can be divided into movie), as well as satire laced with black comedy (Stan
revenge Westerns, spaghetti Westerns, bounty-hunter ley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop
Westerns, cattle-drive Westerns, gunfighter Westerns, Worrying and Love the Bomb, 1964), outrageous farce (Mel
cavalry Westerns, and so on. Zombie movies, slasher Brooks’s The Producers, 1968, and Susan Stroman’s musi
flicks, vampire films, the splatter movie, and torture porn cal remake, 2005), and a whole subgenre of comedy that
are a few of the many manifestations of the horror genre. is associated with the name of the comedian featured—
To understand how complex a single genre can be from Charlie Chaplin in the silent era to Jacques Tati
come, let’s consider comedy. Movies are categorized as and Jerry Lewis in the 1950s to Whoopie Goldberg and
comedies because they make us laugh, but we quickly re Jim Carrey in the 1990s to more recent headliners such
alize that each one is unique because it is funny in its own as Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, and Melissa McCarthy.
way. Comedies, in fact, prove why movie genres exist. The recent wave of what film critic Stephen Holden
They give us what we expect, they make us laugh and ask calls the “boys-will-be-babies-until-they-are-forced-to-
for more, and they make money, often in spite of them grow-up school of arrested-development comedies”6
selves. As a result, the comic genre in the movies has seems to have spawned the beginnings of a new comic
evolved into such a complex system that we rely on de subgenre. These genre contenders include The 40-Year-
fined subgenres to keep track of comedy’s development. Old Virgin (2005; director Judd Apatow); The Hangover
The silent-movie comedies of the 1920s featured such (2009; director Todd Phillips); and Neighbors (2014;
legends as Max Linder, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, director Nicholas Stoller). Women characters broke
Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, Harry Langdon, and Harold into this formerly all-male subgenre in 2011 with the
Lloyd, many of whom worked for producer Mack Sen hit Bridesmaids (director Paul Feig). Recent entries in
nett. These films were known as slapstick comedies be clude Girls Trip (2017; director Malcolm D. Lee) and Bad
cause aggression or violent behavior, not verbal humor, Moms (2016; directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore).
was the source of the laughs. (The term slapstick refers On one hand, as a form of cinematic language, genres
to the two pieces of wood, hinged together, that clowns involve filmic realities—however stereotyped—that au
used to produce a sharp noise that simulated the sound diences can easily recognize and understand, and that
of one person striking another.) film distributors can market (e.g., “the scariest thriller
After the arrival of sound, movie comedy contin ever made”). On the other hand, genres evolve, changing
ued the sight gags of the slapstick tradition (Laurel and with the times and adapting to audience expectations,
Hardy, the Marx Brothers, W. C. Fields), and it also in which are in turn influenced by a large range of factors—
creasingly relied on verbal wit. Through the 1930s, a wide technological, cultural, social, political, economic, and
variety of subgenres developed: comedy of wit (Ernst so on. Generic transformation is the process by which
Lubitsch’s Trouble in Paradise, 1932); romantic comedy a particular genre is adapted to meet the expectations
(Rouben Mamoulian’s Love Me Tonight, 1932), screwball of a changing society. Arguably, genres that don’t evolve
comedy (Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night, 1934), lose the audience’s interest quickly and fade away. Horror
farce (any Marx Brothers movie), and sentimental com movies’ monsters have evolved from somewhat sympa
edy, often with a political twist (Frank Capra’s Meet John thetic literary figures like Frankenstein into increasingly
Doe, 1941). prolific serial killers, then into seductive vampires, and
By the 1940s, comedy was perhaps the most popular on into apocalyptic zombies.
genre in American movies, and it remains that way to Westerns began as reverent projections of how the
day, although another group of subgenres has developed, United States saw itself: individualistic, entrepreneur
most in response to our changing cultural expectations ial, and unambiguously righteous. But as perceptions of
of what is funny and what is now permissible to laugh at. America grew more complex, so did the genre’s depiction
6. Stephen Holden, “Those Darn Kidults! The Menace of Eternal Youth,” New York Times (November 7, 2008), Sec. C, p. c10.
In 2005, the Western was transformed in a powerful

new way in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (2005). Set in
the 1960s and 1970s, the film features many of the tra
ditional genre elements, including wide open spaces, a
taciturn loner incapable of living inside conventional
settled society, and ranch hands herding livestock to
gether under difficult conditions. But Brokeback Moun
tain took those elements a significant step further: the
cowboys at the center of this story fall in love with one
another. At first glance, it might seem that a same-sex
romance has no place in a genre rooted in macho action
and conservative values. But in fact the more essential
components of character duality and the tension be
1 tween conformity and individuality made the Western a
meaningful vehicle for experiencing this passionate but
doomed relationship.
And new genres continue to emerge. Superhero mov
ies were first adapted from comic books in the 1930s
and 1940s, finally hit the mainstream in 1978 with the
big-budget hit Superman (director Richard Donner), and
their cultural presence has grown ever since. The result
ing genre dominates our twenty-first century multiplexes.
The romantic vampire

Ever since Bela Lugosi first portrayed Count Dracula in Tod Brown-
ing’s 1931 film Dracula, forbidden desire has been an essential
ingredient of the vampire movie [1]. In recent years, much of the
horror has been drained from the subgenre as audiences have fully
embraced the vampire as a romantic figure. Films such as The Twi-
light Saga: Eclipse (2010; director David Slade) [2] and television se-
ries such as HBO’s True Blood and CW’s The Vampire Diaries feature
attractive vampires who are ambivalent about their sinister appe-
tites and dark powers—a contradiction that makes them irresistible
to their mortal companions.
of the American West. For example, the protagonist of

Robert Altman’s McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), a West
ern released at the height of the Vietnam war, is an un Found footage
scrupulous blowhard named McCabe (Warren Beatty). In narrative films, the classification found footage refers to movies
The civilization he brings to the wilderness is a house in which everything is presented as if it were preexisting nonfiction
of prostitution. The resulting surrounding settlement footage captured by participants in the events we see on-screen,
is ultimately taken over by corrupt real estate specula only to be discovered and revealed later to a public audience. The
immediacy and authenticity this “found” footage lends to a fictional
tors who hire hit men to eliminate McCabe. The movie
story makes this approach especially applicable to horror films. The
ends with the newly erected church burning down and Blair Witch Project (1999) popularized found-footage horror with an
our bumbling hero forgotten and bleeding to death in a Internet campaign that convinced many viewers that the discovered
snowbank. footage was real and the events presented actually happened.
Mixed genre
James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) is rife with Western genre archetypes, including righteous renegades, pitiless bounty hunters,
a lawless frontier outpost, and a settlement threatened by ruthless savages. The outlaw protagonists risk their freedom (and their lives) to
protect a civilization that wants no part of them or their wilderness ways. But this Western takes place in outer space, a speculative setting
associated with the science-fiction genre. Showdowns are fought with laser blasters, and everyone rides rocket ships. The mysterious Infinity
Stone the characters fight over epitomizes the menace of technology run amok behind the typical science-fiction antagonist.
Superhero movies feature protagonists with special pow capable of affecting meaningful change give vicarious
ers that are either acquired via special suits and gadgets satisfaction to audiences that feel powerless to influence
or imposed via some combination of freak accident, ge a dauntingly complex universe. Any movie that resonates
netic mutation, immigration to Earth, and/or mad sci with audiences and inspires imitators that turn a profit
entist. These protagonists wear costumes, have identity could be the beginning of another new movie genre.
issues, and serve an often skeptical society by fighting
super-villains who often have special powers of their own.
Story formulas usually involve the origin of the protag What about Animation?
onist’s powers and/or a high-stakes struggle to defeat a
villainous attempt to destroy a city, country, or universe. Animation is regularly classified as a distinct type of mo
This mission is compromised by a combination of un tion picture. Even the Academy Awards separates the
cooperative authorities and the hero’s love for a vul top honor for narrative feature films into “Best Picture”
nerable mortal. The aforementioned identity issues are and “Best Animated Feature” categories. Undeniably,
central to the themes explored by this genre; the same animated films look different from other movies. But
enviable abilities that make the hero super also isolate it’s important to recognize that, while animation em
and burden the secretly flawed man (the superhero is ploys different mechanisms to create the multitude of
almost always male) behind the mask. Out of necessity still images that motion pictures require, animation is
and by design, superhero movies offer dazzling special just a different form of moviemaking, not necessarily a
effects, elaborate costumes and makeup, extended action singular type of movie.
sequences, and stylized performances. This antirealistic In a 2008 interview, director Brad Bird (Ratatouille,
visual spectacle feeds a cultural craving for cinematic The Incredibles, The Iron Giant) stresses that process
escapism, yet there is surely more to the genre’s popu is the only difference between animation and filmmak
larity. Secret heroes with hidden powers appeal to view ing that relies on conventional photography. Bird ex
ers’ inner aspirations. Forward-looking protagonists plains: “Storytelling is storytelling no matter what your
medium is. And the language of film is also the same.

You’re still using close ups and medium shots and long
shots. You’re still trying to introduce the audience to
a character and get them to care.”7 In fact, animation
techniques have been employed to make every type of
movie described in this chapter. We are all familiar with
animated narrative feature films; the animation pro
cess has been applied to hundreds of stories for adults
and children, including examples from every major genre
described earlier. In addition, a long tradition of ex
1 perimental filmmaking consists entirely of abstract and
representational animated images. Even documentaries
occasionally use animation to represent events, ideas,
and information that cannot be fully realized with con
ventional photography. Brett Morgen re-created undocu
mented courtroom scenes for portions of his documentary
Chicago 10 (2007); Ari Folman’s war memoir Waltz with
Bashir (2008) claims to be the first fully animated
feature-length documentary. Michel Gondry’s Is the Man
Who Is Tall Happy? (2013) is a feature-length “animated
conversation” with the linguist and philosopher Noam
Chomsky.
Among the countless possible types and combina
2
tions of animation, three basic types are used widely
today: hand-drawn (also known as traditional or cel
animation), stop-motion animation, and computer ani
mation (also known as 3-D animation). To create hand-
drawn animation, animators draw or paint images that
are then incorporated into a motion picture one drawing
at a time. Because 24 frames equal 1 second of film time,
the animator must draw 24 separate pictures to achieve
1 second of animation.
In 1914, Winsor McCay’s classic animation Gertie the
Dinosaur required more than 5,000 drawings on sep
arate sheets of paper.8 The difficulty of achieving fluid
3 movement by perfectly matching and aligning so many
characters and backgrounds led, the next year, to the de
Alternative animation velopment of cel animation. Animator Earl Hurd used
Animation isn’t just for narrative. Tower, Keith Maitland’s 2016 doc clear celluloid sheets to create single backgrounds that
umentary about the 1966 shooting spree at the University of Texas could serve for multiple exposures of his main character.
at Austin, uses animation to visualize the memories of survivors [1].
Thus he needed to draw only the part of the image that
The artist Oskar Fischinger began experimenting with abstract anima-
tion in 1926 [2]. The fifty avant-garde movies he animated, including
was in motion, typically the character or a small part of
Motion Painting No. 1 (1947), influenced generations of animators the character. Contemporary “hand-drawn” animation
and experimental filmmakers. Influential filmmakers like Jan Svank- is now produced almost exclusively on computers. The
mejer and his stylistic progeny Stephen and Timothy Quay (known images are still two-dimensional drawings created by
as the Brothers Quay) employ stop-motion animation to create dark animation artists, and they still employ multiple lay
and surreal movies like the Quays’ The Comb (1990) [3].
ers (the digital equivalent of cels). But the process of
7. Brad Bird, interview with Elvis Mitchell, The Business, KCRW Public Radio (May 5, 2008).
8. Charles Solomon and Ron Stark, The Complete Kodak Animation Book (Rochester, NY: Eastman Kodak Co., 1983), p. 14.
Persepolis
While digital animation now dominates the animated movie market, hand-drawn films like Persepolis (2007) still garner popular and critical
attention. Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of her childhood and adolescence in Iran and Paris (codirected with Vincent Paronnaud) broke with
commercial animation practices by combining its adult subject matter with graphic, mostly black-and-white drawings that emphasized a
two-dimensional universe.
drawing, combining, and capturing those images is now stop-motion dinosaurs for Harry O. Hoyt’s live-action
accomplished with a series of sophisticated software adventure The Lost World (1925), then added giant apes
programs. This traditional method, once the animation to his repertoire with Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B.
standard, has largely been replaced by 3-D computer Schoedsack’s King Kong (1933) and Schoedsack’s Mighty
animation. But beautiful examples still reach theater Joe Young (1949). Inspired by O’Brien’s work on King
screens, including Tomm Moore’s Song of the Sea (2014), Kong, Ray Harryhausen set out at thirteen to become a
Nora Twomey’s The Breadwinner (2017), and the mov stop-motion animator and is now most famous for his
ies produced by Japan’s Studio Ghibli, such as The Wind work on Don Chaffey’s Jason and the Argonauts (1963), a
Rises (2013; director Hayao Miyazaki) and Your Name Hollywood retelling of the ancient Greek legend. Feature-
(2016; director Makoto Shinkai). length animated narrative films that use this technique
Stop-motion records the movement of objects (toys, include Nick Park’s Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of
puppets, clay figures, or cutouts) with a motion-picture the Were-Rabbit (2005), Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs
camera; the animator moves the objects slightly for each (2018), and Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie (2012). For the
recorded frame. The objects moved and photographed stop-motion films ParaNorman (2012; directors Chris
for stop-motion animation can be full-scale or minia Butler and Sam Fell) and Kubo and the Two Strings
ture models, puppets made of cloth or clay, or cutouts (2016; director Travis Knight), the filmmakers at the
of other drawings or pictures. Underneath some figures Laika animation studio adapted digital systems to the
are armatures, or skeletons, with fine joints and pivots, stop-motion process. The many interchangeable phys
which hold the figures in place between the animators’ ical components they used to create different character
careful manipulations. expressions and poses are designed on computers and
Among the first American stop-motion films was fabricated using 3-D printers.
The Dinosaur and the Missing Link: A Prehistoric Trag Computer animation uses the virtual world of 3-D
edy (1915) by Willis H. O’Brien. He went on to animate computer-modeling software to generate the animation.
This technique is also known as 3-D animation, not be hundreds of computers combine all the elements at high
cause it produces an actual physical three-dimensional resolution and in rich detail. Because the backgrounds,
object or is necessarily screened using a 3-D projection surface textures, lighting, and special effects require a
system, but because the approach digitally constructs tremendous amount of computer-processing power, an
virtual characters, objects, and backgrounds in all three imators typically work with wire-frame characters and
dimensions, so that these components can be com unrendered backgrounds until all elements are final
posed and captured from any perspective or position. ized. At that point, a few seconds of screen time may take
John Lasseter’s Toy Story (1995), produced by Pixar, hundreds of computers many hours to render. Although
was the first feature-length computer-animated film. the process is extremely expensive and labor intensive,
A commercial and critical success, it humanized com computer animation’s versatility and aesthetic potential
puter animation and obliterated the fear that computer have made it the method of choice for studio-produced
animation was limited to shiny, abstract objects float feature animation. Aardman Animations, the Clayma
ing in strange worlds. Toy Story’s focus on plastic toys, tion production company behind the popular Wallace &
however, helped disguise the limitations of early digital Gromit movies, designed their project Flushed Away
animation techniques. Six more years of development (2006; directors David Bowers and Sam Fell) with the
enabled digitally animated movies such as Pete Docter stop-motion plasticine look of their popular Wallace &
and David Silverman’s Monsters, Inc. (2001) to present Gromit characters but created every frame of the film on
compelling characters with visually interesting skin, a computer.
hair, and fur. With the release of Hironobu Sakaguchi and
The production of digitally animated features begins Moto Sakakibara’s Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
with less costly traditional techniques that allow film (2001), audiences were introduced to the most lifelike
makers to test ideas and characters before starting the computer-animated human characters to date. To cre
difficult and expensive computer-animation process. In ate these sophisticated representations, the filmmakers
the early phases, filmmakers use sketches, storyboards, used an elaborate process (since dubbed “performance
scripts, pantomime, puppets, models, and voice perfor capture”): actors perform scenes in motion-capture
mances to begin developing stories and characters. By (“mocap”) suits that record millions of pieces of data
creating a digital wire-frame character with virtual that computers use to render the motion of computer-
joints and anchor points, computer animators use tech generated imagery (CGI) characters on-screen.
nology to do some of the same work that stop-motion This process was so time-consuming and expensive
animators do by hand. Typically, a clay model is created that it contributed to the failure of the film’s production
and then scanned into the computer with the use of a company. Nonetheless, Final Fantasy gave birth to the
digital pen or laser scanner. Animal and human actors first digitally animated human characters. But for many
can be dressed in black suits with small white circles animators and audiences, “realistic” figures are not nec
attached to joints and extremities, allowing for “motion essarily the ideal. In 2004, the stylized characters in
capture” of the distinctive actors’ movements. The ad Pixar’s blockbuster The Incredibles (director Brad Bird)
vanced motion-capture technologies developed to an trumped the motion-capture-guided “lifelike” figures in
imate the Na’vi natives in Avatar blur the line between Robert Zemeckis’s The Polar Express in both box office
animation and live action. and critical response.
In digital animation, animators manipulate virtual Although there are many other potential reasons
skeletons or objects frame by frame on computers. To that audiences and analysts preferred The Incredibles,
clothe the wire-frame figures with muscle, skin, fur, or the key issue for many critics was an unsettling feeling
hair, the animators use a digital process called texture that they couldn’t shake while watching the characters
mapping. Computer animators also “light” characters in The Polar Express—a feeling that the whole thing
and scenes with virtual lights, employing traditional wasn’t heartwarming or endearing, but was instead sim
concepts used in theater and film. Specialists work on ply creepy. Among fans of computer-generated imagery,
effects such as fire, explosions, and lightning. Composit there was considerable debate about why, exactly, The
ing is the process of bringing all these elements together Polar Express left so many viewers feeling weird and
into one frame, and rendering is the process by which uncomfortable rather than filled with the holiday spirit.
Nevertheless, animation and photographed “reality”

can and do get along. Animation has been incorporated
into live-action movies since the 1920s. Today, many
traditionally photographed movies integrate computer-
generated animation into characters, backgrounds, and
special effects. Computer-animated characters have been
convincingly interacting on-screen with flesh-and-blood
performers since Gollum in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the
The uncanny valley Rings trilogy (2001–3). Gollum’s digital descendants in
If a filmmaker strives for a high level of verisimilitude in computer- clude Caesar in the Planet of the Apes series and the
generated characters, as Robert Zemeckis did in The Polar Express castaway tiger in Ang Lee’s Life of Pi (2012).
(2004), he may risk taking the humanlike resemblance too far, caus- This now commonplace intrusion into conventional
ing viewers to notice every detail of the characters’ appearance or
motion pictures is only one example of the animation
movement that doesn’t conform to the way real human beings actu-
explosion made possible by the recent emergence of new
ally look or move. Our emotional response to these “almost human”
characters will, therefore, be unease and discomfort, not pleasure or technologies and growing audience demand. As a result,
empathy—a negative reaction known as the “uncanny valley.” ten animated narrative features were given a major the
atrical release in the United States in 2014. Countless
more forgo the movie-house release and go straight to
Eventually, on blogs and listservs all over the Internet, DVD. Network and cable television stations, including at
a consensus was reached: The Polar Express had fallen least one dedicated entirely to cartoons, broadcast hun
into the “uncanny valley.” dreds of animated series, specials, and advertisements.
The uncanny valley is a theoretical concept first de The video-game market exploits animation to create an
scribed in 1970 by a Japanese robotics engineer, Masa imated characters and situations that allow the viewer
hiro Mori. It states that the closer an object (a robot, an an unprecedented level of interaction. Viewers have al
animated character) comes to resembling a human being ways been drawn to cinema’s ability to immerse them in
in its motion and appearance, the more positive our emo environments, events, and images impossible in daily
tional response to that object becomes until suddenly, at life. Animation simply expands that capacity.
some point of very close (but not perfect) resemblance, our
emotional response turns from empathy to revulsion. This
revulsion or uneasiness, Mori says, is the result of a basic
human tendency to look for anomalies in the appearance Looking at the Types of
of other human beings. When an object such as a robot or Movies in The Lego Movie
an animated character is so anthropomorphic that it is
nearly indistinguishable from a human being, we moni Let’s end this chapter by examining one film that bor
tor the appearance of that object very closely and become rows from many different types of movies. The Lego
extremely sensitive to any small anomalies that might Movie (2014, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller)
identify the object as not fully human. For whatever rea is the cinematic equivalent of a pastiche, a term applied
son, these anomalies create in many people a shudder of to a work of art that imitates or appropriates recogniz
discomfort similar to the feeling we have when we watch a able stylistic elements from a previous work or works.9
zombie movie or see an actual corpse. In both cases, what To help understand the concept, think of a pastiche as
we see is both human and not fully human, and the con a collage in which pieces of preexisting drawings and
tradiction produces a very negative reaction. As a result, paintings are snipped out and arranged on a new canvas
viewers found it easy to identify and sympathize with into a cohesive assembly. Even though viewers may be
the highly stylized characters in The Incredibles but re able to identify the source of many of the different pieces,
sponded to the much more realistic figures in The Polar we can still appreciate the new form and draw meaning
Express with unease and discomfort. specific to the resulting self-contained creation. In fact,
9. Roland Green, ed., Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, 4th ed. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2012), p. 1005.
1 2
3 4
The Lego Movie as genre pastiche

The Lego Movie combines a multitude of genre elements and cultural references to tell a classic quest story. A choreographed musical se-
quence introduces the primary setting of Bricksburg and establishes the unlikely hero Emmet as a complacent conformist [1]. Later, when
he attempts to live up to his “special one” status, Emmet’s awkward greenhorn posturing hushes a raucous saloon in a classic Western se-
quence [2]. Batman is his rival in a romantic comedy love story [3]. Finally, the villain President Business’s climactic Kragle attack on Bricksburg
unfolds like an epic science-fiction alien invasion [4].
we may get as much pleasure from recognizing the var technology necessary to make the movies and the Inter
ious appropriations as from experiencing the cohesive net made it possible to share them. The new millennium
combination.10 brought a growing array of Lego products along with
The pastiche in The Lego Movie begins with the very increased video streaming bandwidth; soon there were
specific (and unusual) way the film looks and moves. The websites, film festivals, and YouTube channels dedicated
Lego Movie is a big-budget computer-animated extrav to what had come to be known as brickfilms.
aganza made by a team of more than 630 professionals, It wasn’t long before market forces and creative minds
but it owes its distinct style to primitive homemade stop- saw the mutual benefit of bringing brickfilms to the big
motion videos. Amateur filmmakers began making short screen. But the producer Dan Lin and the codirectors
stop-motion animations using Lego bricks in the early Phil Lord and Christopher Miller realized that the labor-
1970s. The interlocking bricks are ideal for building a intensive stop-motion process would be unfeasible for
wide variety of small-scale sets and props, and the Lego the large scale they envisioned for what would become
figures are easy to pose and position. The technique’s The Lego Movie. So 3-D computer animation was put
unavoidable chunky look and jerky movement gave the to work creating an expansive action-packed universe
movies an endearing common aesthetic. The method built entirely of plastic bricks. Determined to keep the
gained popularity in the 1990s as affordable consumer- look and feel of a brickfilm, the animators retained the
grade digital cameras gave more people access to the hand-made method’s herky-jerky character movement
10. Richard Dyer, Introduction to Pastiche (New York: Routledge, 2007).

Lego sets are often packaged with specific themes, many

brickfilms incorporated Lego-version items and figures
associated with pirates, police, and space travel or film
series such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter,
and Batman. Brickfilm narratives often referenced or
re-created characters, situations, dialogue, and behavior
associated with the incorporated components. As the
brickfilm evolved, filmmakers increasingly combined el
ements from multiple, often disparate, sources. A pirate
might team up with a spaceman; Harry Potter could duel
Darth Vader.
The Lego Movie takes that approach to the extreme.
The opening introduces Lord Business (voiced by Will
Ferrell) and immediately establishes the film as a pas
1 tiche that samples a smorgasbord of cultural and genre
sources. With his elaborate costume, diabolical bom
bast, and homogeneous henchmen, Lord Business is a
combination of fantasy film evil wizard and superhero
movie super-villain. Lord Business storms a castle for a
showdown with Vitruvius (voiced by Morgan Freeman),
a character with his own fantasy origins: he is a wise,
long-haired, magic-staff-wielding wizard in the mold of
The Hobbit’s Gandalf and Harry Potter’s Professor Dum
bledore. Vitruvius declares himself a “master builder,”
a Lego Movie character type with the power to build al
most anything from the materials at hand—a disclosure
that reveals still more cultural references. Vitruvius was
the name of a notable first-century bce Roman engineer;
The Master Builder is the title of a famous nineteenth-
2 century play by Henrik Ibsen about a successful but
doomed architect. Lord Business defeats Vitruvius, then
The Lego Movie origins takes gleeful possession of the mysterious superweapon
The computer-animated blockbuster borrowed the distinct style of known as “the Kragle.” Vitruvius interrupts the villain’s
low-budget stop-motion animations made using Lego bricks, like triumphant gloating with a prophecy about a “piece of
David Betteridge’s 1989 music video for a British group called Ethe resistance” that can disarm the Kragle: one day, a “spe
real [1]. Although The Lego Movie was computer animated, the
cial one”—another master builder—will find a hidden
filmmakers adapted the brickfilms’ boxy look and restricted charac-
piece of resistance and save the world.
ter movements. They even applied realistic-looking chips, scratches,
and grime to their digital creations [2]. Within two minutes, a familiar story formula has been
established. Like Harry Potter, the original Star Wars saga,
The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, and even The Hunger
and even digitally applied fingerprints, scratches, and Games series, The Lego Movie is structured around an
dirt onto the animated bricks and figures.11 almost impossible quest led by a chosen one to save the
But the look wasn’t the only element The Lego Movie world from a seemingly unstoppable evil. This story for
borrowed. The pastiche approach that dominates the mula goes deeper than genre; the quest is rooted in what
film’s narrative also is rooted in the brickfilm. Because the eminent mythologist Joseph Campbell termed the
11. Meredith Woerner, “The Makers of The LEGO Movie T

ake Apart Their Creation Brick by Brick,” https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-makers-of-the-lego
-movie-take-apart-their-creation-1516662564 (accessed March 19, 2015).
“monomyth,” or “hero’s journey.” According to Camp self in a spartan interrogation room being questioned by
bell, this basic pattern can be found in the folktales and a hostile policeman—a situation found in film noir crime
myths—and movies—of multiple cultures: movies and television police procedurals. Emmet himself
acknowledges the reference when he asks the Bad Cop: “I
A hero ventures forth from the world of common day
watch a lot of cop shows on TV . . . isn’t there supposed to
into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces
be a good cop?” Bad Cop (voiced by Liam Neeson) straps
are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the
Emmet into the “melting chamber,” an elaborate laser-
hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with
shooting execution apparatus straight out of an early
the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.12
James Bond movie. A master builder named Wyldstyle
The cultural prevalence of the hero’s journey arche drops in just in time to rescue Emmet in a scene domi
type makes it likely that most viewers of The Lego Movie nated by action movie presentation elements like fast-
will recall the familiar story pattern the moment it’s paced editing, swooping moving camera, bullet time, and
introduced. So when we meet the construction worker gravity-defying martial arts acrobatics. Emmet and his
Emmet Brickowoski in the next scene, we instantly savior flee a barrage of Bad Cop gunfire and land in an al
recognize him as our hero and anticipate his imminent ley, where Wyldstyle immediately constructs a giant mo
departure on the aforementioned narrative excursion. torcycle from the objects at hand.
He is an oblivious nincompoop, but that does nothing to Wyldstyle’s extravagant escape vehicle offers a vi
undermine our assumption. On the contrary, Emmet’s sual metaphor for how The Lego Movie incorporates
incompetence reinforces our expectation. Cinematic multiple types of movies into a somewhat cluttered, but
history is full of protagonists who initially appear unfit ultimately cohesive, whole. None of the many and var
for the challenges to come. So we immediately assume ious components necessarily match, but each fulfills
that Emmet will discover the piece of resistance, amass a function in service of a shared purpose. The movie
allies, and ultimately prove his unlikely worth to save conveys an entertaining cinematic story; the motor
Bricksburg from President (aka Lord) Business. The cycle propels our protagonists through a chase scene
predictability does not diminish either our pleasure and into a secret portal that leads to a stratified series
or investment. When it comes to narrative and genre, of discrete worlds and genres. Emmet’s journey begins
much of a viewer’s gratification comes not from unex in a Western, adopts a romantic comedy love story, en
pected revelations, but from experiencing how familiar lists superheroes and cyborg pirates, and culminates
elements and formulas operate and intersect within a with a science-fiction apocalypse.
particular scenario—in this case, a multilevel, magical In the end, the narrative expands into a traditional
universe constructed entirely out of interlocking plas live-action family drama. The Lego Movie’s segregated
tic bricks and ruled by a meticulous tyrant determined universe is revealed to be the creation of an adult Lego
to eliminate innovation by freezing everything in place hobbyist with a strict sense of tradition and a striking
with the Kragle (i.e., Krazy Glue). resemblance to President Business. It turns out that the
The next few scenes assimilate genre elements and narrative’s exuberant narrative hodgepodge is the prod
situations to launch Emmet on his quest. First, the kind uct of his son, a boy too imaginative to be controlled by
of elaborately choreographed song-and-dance sequence convention. Emmet’s quest is complete when both the
usually found in an integrated musical establishes Em father and his Lego counterpart accept the inevitability
met and the rest of Bricksburg’s eager ignorance and of innovation. It’s only fitting that the humble brickfilm
instruction-following conformity. After stumbling upon has the last word. The Lego Movie’s final credit sequence
the piece of resistance (which is the cap to the Kragle glue), is a genuine stop-motion animation constructed en
Emmet awakens in the glare of a spotlight to find him tirely of actual plastic blocks.
12. Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 2nd ed. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1949), p. 30.
Analyzing Types of Movies 113
ANALYZING TYPES OF MOVIES
This chapter’s broad survey of the different types of that you have studied the various ways that movies
movies should make clear that movies are divided are differentiated and classified, you should be able
into narrative, documentary, and experimental (and to identify what basic type or genre a movie belongs
animation) categories, and that each of these has to, recognize how the movie uses the elements
evolved a great variety of ways to express ideas, of form and content particular to its film type, and
information, and meaning. What’s more, the longer appreciate and understand instances when the
cinema is around, the more ways filmmakers find filmmakers incorporate styles and approaches
to borrow, reference, and blend elements from rooted in other film types.
other types to best serve their own vision. Now
SCREENING CHECKLIST: TYPES OF MOVIES

If the film is a documentary, is it factual, instruc movie seem to fit, and which of them does it
tional, persuasive, or propaganda—or a blend of diverge from?
two or more of these documentary approaches?
Remember that experimental filmmakers often
Consider the movie’s relationship with the spec- seek to defy expectations and easy charac-
tator and with relative truth. Does it appear terization. So consider effect and intent. How
to be attempting to present events and ideas does the movie make you feel, think, or react?
in as objective a manner as is cinematically Do you think the filmmaker intended these
possible or does it make a specific persuasive effects? If so, what elements of form and con-
argument? tent contribute to this effect?
If the film is a documentary, is it expository, When watching an experimental film, be espe
observational, poetic, participatory, performa- cially aware of your expectations of what a
tive, reflexive, or a hybrid of two or more of movie should look like and what the movie
these modes? What elements of form and experience should be. If the movie disappoints
content lead you to this conclusion? or confounds your expectations, do your best
Look for ways in which the documentary to let go of what you’ve been conditioned to
employs narrative. Are the events portrayed assume, and try to encounter the movie on its
selected and organized so they tell a story? own terms. Remember that many experimen-
tal movies, unlike documentaries and narrative
Ask yourself how this movie compares to
other documentary films you’ve seen. Think films, are open to individual interpretation.
about your formal expectations of nonfiction Since most of the movies that you study in
movies: talking-head interviews, voice-over your introductory film class will be narrative
narration, archival footage, and so on. Does films, you should ask whether a particular film
this movie conform to those expectations? If can be linked with a specific genre and, if so,
not, how does it convey information and mean- to what extent it does or does not fulfill your
ing in ways that are different from a typical expectations of that genre.
documentary?
Be aware that many movies borrow or blend
To analyze an experimental movie, try to apply elements of multiple genres. Look for familiar for-
Fred Camper’s criteria for experimental cinema. mal, narrative, and thematic genre elements, and
Which of the listed characteristics does the ask yourself how and why this film uses them.

1. What are the four related ways we can define the 6. What is a hybrid movie? What are some of the ways
term narrative? that documentary, narrative, and experimental
2. What are the main differences among the three movies intersect?
basic types of movies? 7. What is genre? How does genre affect the way
3. What are the four basic approaches to content movies are made and received?
and message documentary cinema? How are 8. What are the six sets of conventions used to define
these approaches blended and reinterpreted by and classify film genres?
contemporary documentary filmmakers? 9. What are the formal and narrative elements
4. What are documentary theorist Bill Nichols’s six common to each of the six movie genres described
modes of documentary filmmaking? in the chapter?
5. What are Fred Camper’s six characteristics that 10. How does animation differ from the other three
most experimental films share? basic types of movies?
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017). Martin McDonagh, director. Pictured: Frances McDormand.
ELEMENTS OF NARRATIVE
CHAPTER
4
116 Chapter 4 Elements of Narrative
LEARNING OBJECTIVES LOOKING AT MOVIES

NARRATORS, NARRATION,
AND NARRATIVE
n explain the relative meaning of the terms narrative,
narration, and narrator.
n understand the function of the camera narrator, a first-
person narrator, and a third-person narrator.
n recognize and understand the function of omniscient
and restricted narration.
n distinguish characters by their complexity, their
motivation, and their role in the narrative.
n understand how narrative structure functions, including
the concepts of character goal and need, inciting
incident, obstacles, stakes, crisis, and climax.
VIDEO This tutorial discusses the relationships
n differentiate between the story and the plot of a movie.
among narration, narrators, and narrative.
n explain the difference between diegetic and
nondiegetic elements of a movie’s plot.
n understand the importance of the order (chronological
or nonchronological), significance, and duration of
plot events. a dream, recalling a memory, or telling a joke, we
n understand the three kinds of relationships between humans tend to order events so they will convey
screen duration and story duration. meaning and engage the recipient.
Because story and storytelling are so ingrained in our

everyday lives, including the movies we watch, it’s all
too easy to take narrative for granted.
What Is Narrative?
To better recognize and understand how it works,
We’ve already gotten a good start on exploring the ques- we’ll first need to break down narrative into the various
tion “What is narrative?” in Chapters 1 and 3. As we components that contribute to telling a cinematic story.
begin this chapter dedicated to the subject, we have al- Let’s start with two closely related (and potentially con-
ready learned the following things about narrative: fusing) terms: narration and narrator.
Narration is the act of telling the story. The
A narrative is a story. narrator is who or what tells the story. In other words,
Narrative movies are fiction films, as opposed the narrator delivers the narration that conveys the nar
to other movie modes, such as documentary or rative. Filmmakers employ different approaches to the
experimental. concept of narrator (who or what tells the story) and
narration (how that story is told) to shape the viewer’s
At the broadest conceptual level, narrative is a experience of the narrative (the story itself ).
cinematic structure in which the filmmakers have In every movie, the camera is the primary narrator.
selected and arranged events in a cause-and-effect Its narration consists of the many visual elements it cap-
sequence occurring over time. tures and arranges in every composition in every shot.
A narrative moment in Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious
When we think of it that way, almost all movies, even
(1946) offers an easy example. In the previous scene, we
documentaries and experimental films, employ some
watched the Nazi conspirator Alexander Sebastian dis-
level of narrative.
cover that his wife, Alicia, is a U.S. government spy. Nat-
In fact, narrative permeates more than just the urally, he tells his mother, and she begins brainstorming
world of movies—it infuses our culture and our lives. ways to discreetly eliminate his unfaithful spouse. A
Whether we’re describing a sporting event, relating shot in the next scene begins focused on the betrayed
1 2
3 4
The camera as narrator

The camera (and everything that implies) is the primary narrator in
every film. In this moving camera shot from Alfred Hitchcock’s No-
torious, the camera shows us the Nazi conspirator Alexander urging
his wife, Alicia, to drink her coffee [1], moves to fill the screen with
a close-up of her cup [2], follows it to her lips [3], and then turns to
connect the action to her vengeful mother-in-law [4]. The next shot
features Alicia holding her throbbing head [5]. The camera has told
us a story: Alexander and his mother are poisoning Alicia.
5
A first-person narrator is a character in the nar-

rative who typically imparts information in the form
of voice-over narration, which is when we hear a
character’s voice over the picture without actually see-
ing the character speak the words. This technique of a
character speaking to the audience allows us to hear one
narration—from the first-person character narrator—
while simultaneously watching the narration provided
by our narrator camera.
The combination of these narrator partners may
be relatively straightforward, such as in Danny Boyle’s
Multiple narrators in Stranger than Fiction
In Marc Forster’s Stranger than Fiction (2006), the third-person narra-
Trainspotting (1996), when the first-person voice-over
tor doesn’t just help tell the story—it becomes a player in the narra- primer to heroin addiction delivered by Renton plays
tive itself. Harold Crick hears the voice-over narrating his own story over the opening sequences depicting the lives of the
and learns that his character is slated for an imminent demise. His addicts that populate the story.
goal of finding the source of the narration and changing his own A richer, more complex experience of the narrative
tragic ending forms the basis of the rest of the story. As the story
is possible when the first-person narration contrasts
progresses, we meet the depressed novelist crafting Harold’s des-
tiny. Does knowing the character who wrote it make the narration
somehow with what we see on-screen. The first-person
first person or is the novel’s text a third-person narrator that exists narrators of writer/director Terrence Malick’s first two
apart from the novelist character? Or is it narration at all if a charac- films (Badlands, 1973, and Days of Heaven, 1978) are na-
ter can hear it? Participating in these inconsistencies is part of the ive and sometimes deluded young women who attempt
fun—and playful strangeness—of Stranger than Fiction. to rationalize and even romanticize events and actions
we can see for ourselves. The conflict between what the
camera is telling us and the perspective provided by the
husband as he urges his wife to drink her coffee. The first-person narrator can expand our relationship with
camera drifts down from his smirking face and across the narrative beyond anything a camera alone can deliver.
the breakfast table until Alicia’s coffee cup fills the And some movies push this relationship even fur-
screen. When she picks it up, the camera follows it to her ther. These films don’t limit the first-person narrative
lips. As Alicia begins to drink, the camera moves over to to voice-over narration. Instead, the first-person narra-
feature her scheming mother-in-law contentedly stitch- tor character interrupts the narrative to deliver direct
ing her needlepoint. The next shot shows Alicia rubbing address narration directly to the audience, thus break-
her forehead and looking decidedly under the weather. ing the “fourth wall” that traditionally separates the
Throughout the sequence, the camera narrator tells us viewer from the two-dimensional fiction on-screen.
that Alicia’s coffee is poisoned by selecting what we see Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986; director John Hughes)
and shaping when and how we see it. In other words, the features a charismatic slacker who seduces his fellow
camera tells the story. characters as well as his audience. Ferris frequently
And, of course, other cinematic elements contribute pauses the on-screen action to gaze into our eyes and
to the narration. The lighting, set design, makeup, and charm us with his own personal take on the story he in-
performances in each shot, as well as the associations habits. Ferris Bueller follows in the footsteps of other
achieved through the juxtaposition of images, all con- smooth-talking scoundrels who break the fourth wall,
tribute to our engagement with the narrative. Maybe it most notably Tony Richardson’s Tom Jones (1963) and
would be more accurate to state that in every movie, the Lewis Gilbert’s Alfie (1966). Other direct address nar-
filmmakers and their creative techniques constitute the ration is more confrontational. Michel Haneke’s Funny
primary narrator. Nonetheless, it is a little more stream- Games (2007) challenges the viewer to endure a bru-
lined to think of all that as “the camera.” tal game of cat and mouse played by a pair of psychotic
And the camera isn’t always a movie’s only narrator. young men. After they take a young family hostage, the
Some movies use more than one narrator to deliver the attackers goad their victims to wager on their own sur-
narration. This narration can be in the form of a charac vival. When their prey try to refuse the bet, one of the
ter’s particular perspective on the narrative’s events. attackers turns to confront the audience with a string
of questions: “I mean, what do you think? Do you think

they stand a chance? You’re on their side, aren’t you?
Who are you betting on, huh?” By breaking the fourth
wall in this way, Haneke forces the audience to acknowl-
edge our participation in the violence. The filmmaker
implies that, in watching this senseless cruelty, we’re
complicit in it.
Sometimes the voice-over narrator isn’t even some
1
one in the movie. Voice-over narration can also be ex
pressed by a voice imposed from outside of the narrative.
Standing at a remove from the action allows this third-
person narrator to provide information not accessible
to a narrator who is also a participant in the story.
Like the author of the story, the third-person narrator
knows all and can thus provide objective context to any
situation.
Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) opens
with a third-person voice-over relating the history of 2
a family of eccentric geniuses delivered in the dispas-
sionate tone of a documentary reporter. But even this
seemingly remote narrator provides more than just in-
formation. The deadpan delivery layers a sort of liter-
ary seriousness over an extended series of comic scenes
detailing the family’s brilliant successes and staggering
failures. Later, the third-person narrator interjects to
let us into a character’s head at a crucial narrative mo-
ment. Royal Tenenbaum, a manipulative con man, has 3
wormed his way back into his estranged family by pre-
tending to be dying of cancer. When he is caught in the Narrators
lie, his non-apology is predictably slick: “Look, I know In The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), the camera narrator tells us the
I’m going to be the bad guy on this one, but I just want story by displaying evidence of the children Royal abandoned, as
to say that the last six days have been the best six days well as the slick con man himself as he delivers what we assume
of probably my whole life.” As the words leave his lips, to be the latest in a string of manipulative lies [1]. But the narra-
tive deepens when the third-person voice-over interjects to tell the
he pauses as if momentarily confused. The third-person
audience that he’s telling the truth this time. In the opening and
narrator speaks up to illuminate the situation: “Imme- closing scenes of The Spectacular Now (2013; director James Pon-
diately after making this statement, Royal realized that soldt), Sutter Keely helps tell the story in a couple of ways. The cam-
it was true.” All this goes to show that movies can use a era shows us the character’s image and actions on-screen, and his
number of possible narrators—even combinations of first-person narration (in the form of a surprisingly candid college ad
narrators. Likewise, movies employ more than one ap- missions essay) is delivered in voice-over [2]. The title character in
Deadpool (2016; director Tim Miller) does more than just break the
proach to narration.
fourth wall to directly address narration to the audience, but he also
Narration can be omniscient, meaning it knows repeatedly comments upon the fact that he’s a character in a movie.
all and can tell us whatever it wants us to know. Omni-
scient narration has unrestricted access to all aspects of
the narrative. It can provide any character’s experiences the intrigue, the camera narrator must show us what is
and perceptions, as well as information that no character going on with multiple characters and situations. We
knows. An omniscient camera shows the audience what- watch Alicia uncover evidence in the wine cellar prov-
ever it needs to in order to best tell the story. ing her husband’s Nazi plotting while he hosts a party
An espionage thriller like Notorious involves decep- in oblivious bliss upstairs. We see him plot her death
tion, double crosses, and mixed motives. To fully exploit after he learns she’s an American spy. We writhe with
highly stylized editing is not conveying the story events

as they happened, but as they are recalled by Wilson on
his way back to England after solving the mystery. It’s a
sort of visual first-person narration without voice-over.
Of course, nothing in cinema is absolute. Many films
shift between restricted and omniscient narration de-
pending on the needs of the story. Movies like The Limey
enforce restricted narration for most of the story, only to
Restricted narration in Black Swan switch to omniscient narration when it serves the nar-
Restricted narration makes watching Black Swan (2010) both excru- rative to expand our view on the action. For those few
ciating and ultimately cathartic. The audience must endure every times when the narrative demands that the audience
moment of the story locked inside the increasingly unreliable per- witness events outside Wilson’s experience, the narra-
spective of Nina, a prima ballerina, as the pressures of her role drive tion temporarily shifts into omniscient mode.
her insane. For many viewers, the ultimate experience of sharing
The deeper you look, the more complex and expres-
Nina’s transcendent final performance makes enduring her break-
down worthwhile.
sive cinema gets. But the general concepts at the founda-
tion of cinematic storytelling are pretty straightforward.
Just remember: the narrative is the story; narration is
frustration watching her fellow agent (and love interest) the act of telling the story; the narrator is who or what
blame her disheveled appearance on a hangover, when tells the story. In other words, the narrator delivers the
we know that all she’s been drinking is poisoned coffee. narration that conveys the narrative.
A large part of the pleasure in experiencing such a story
comes from knowing more than the characters and antic-
ipating what will happen if and when they learn the whole Characters
truth. Whether it’s a pregnant teenager trying to find suitable
Another Hitchcock movie, Rear Window (1954), tells parents to adopt her baby or a hobbit seeking to de-
the story of Jeff Jeffries, a man of action stuck in his stroy an all-powerful ring, virtually every film narrative
apartment in a wheelchair while recovering from a badly depends on two essential elements: a character pursu-
broken leg. To amuse himself, Jeff begins spying on his ing a goal.
neighbors. The recreational snooping suddenly takes a The nature of that pursuit depends on the charac-
dark turn when he witnesses what may—or may not— ter’s background, position, personality, attitudes, and
be a murder. beliefs. These traits govern how the character reacts
For the viewer, the pleasure of watching Jeff slowly to opportunities and problems, makes decisions, acts
unravel the mystery depends on being restricted to upon those decisions, and deals with the consequences
his incomplete understanding of the events unfolding of those actions. The allies and adversaries (all of whom
outside his rear window. As a result, Hitchcock chose have traits of their own) that the character attracts are
restricted narration, which limits the information it influenced by these traits, as are all interactions between
provides the audience to things known only to a single these other various characters. And that pursuit, and all
character. This approach encourages the audience to the decisions, actions, consequences, relationships, and
identify with the character’s singular perspective on per- interactions that intersect and influence it, is the story.
plexing and frightening events—and invites us to partic- Imagine how different the story of The Hunger Games
ipate in the gradual unlocking of the narrative’s secrets. series would have been if Katniss Everdeen had been
Steven Soderbergh’s The Limey (1999) uses a similar cautious, confident, and privileged instead of the inse-
approach. For most of the film, the camera narrator re- cure, irreverent, and angry young woman who impul-
stricts the narration. We see and hear only the thoughts, sively volunteers to take her little sister’s place at the
memories, perspectives, and experiences available to the reaping. Or in the case of the Harry Potter series, what
character of Wilson as he doggedly pursues the mystery if Ron Weasley, the insecure and unrefined product of
behind the death of his daughter. In fact, as the narrative a large rambunctious wizard family, had been the boy
progresses, the viewer gradually realizes that the movie’s who lived, instead of the instinctive and strong-willed
1 2
Round and flat characters in Precious

Different types of stories, and even different roles within the same story, call for different approaches to character traits, behavior, and devel
opment. Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire (2009; director Lee Daniels) features two remarkable characters: the illiterate
teenager Precious and her abusive mother Mary. Each character is captivating in her own way, and the actresses who played them were both
rightfully praised for their powerful performances. But the narrative requires that Mary be a flat character clearly defined by malicious anger
and an inability to change [1]. In contrast, Precious must be a round character to drive a narrative built around revelation and transformation.
At first glance, Precious appears to be slow-witted and apathetic, but as the story peels away at the layers of her complex personality, we
(and Precious herself) learn that she’s capable of imagination, ambition, bravery, intelligence, and insight [2].
neglected orphan Harry Potter? Better still, what if the round characters. They may possess numerous subtle,
earnest, intelligent, overachieving child-of-muggles Her repressed, or even contradictory traits that can change
mione was the girl who lived? Even if the goal remained significantly over the course of the story—sometimes sur-
the same in each of these hypothetical narratives, the prisingly so. Because they display the complexity we as-
character’s traits would inspire choices and behavior sociate with our own personalities, we tend to see round
that would lead them to a different path, and thus tell a characters as more lifelike. In contrast, relatively un-
different story. complicated flat characters exhibit few distinct traits
The profound effect characters have on narrative and do not change significantly as the story progresses.1
comes in handy. After all, there are only so many stories This doesn’t mean that one character classification is any
in the world—consider how many movies sound inter- more legitimate than the other. Different types of stories
changeable when reduced to a short description—but call for different approaches to character traits, behav-
character traits may be assembled in infinite combina- ior, and development.
tions. Each new character makes possible a different For example, the flamboyant Jack Sparrow is enter-
take on the same old story. Think of all the love stories taining enough to drive the spectacular success of the
or murder mysteries you’ve watched. The individual Pirates of the Caribbean franchise; no one could call his
personalities falling in love and/or solving (and com- character boring. But with Jack, what we see is what we
mitting) crimes play a large part in keeping those arche- get. His character is clearly and simply defined, and at
typal narrative approaches fresh. The directors, actors, the end of every installment he remains the same lovable
cinematographers, and designers responsible for put- scoundrel he was in the opening scene. The Pirates of
ting the characters and their story on-screen build upon the Caribbean movies benefit from Jack’s flat character.
the characterizations in the screenplay to develop how The coming-of-age drama An Education (2009; di-
exactly each character looks, speaks, and behaves in the rector Lone Scherfig) calls for a round character. Jenny
movie. Mellor is a complicated adolescent—she’s smart but na-
Of course, some characters are more complicated than ive; she’s both ambitious and insecure; she rebels against
others. In literature, complex characters are known as the same authorities whose approval she craves. Jenny
1. E. M. Forster, Aspects of the Novel (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1927), pp. 103–118.
bornly clings to the same insecurities and flaws that she

carried into the story. Her final direct address declara-
tion is evidence of her inability to change.
On the other hand, Peter Quill, the reckless smart
aleck at the center of the comic adventure Guardians of
the Galaxy (2014; director James Gunn), would have to
be considered at least somewhat rounded. After all, his
seemingly selfish behavior is rooted in a tragic past that
complicates any assessment of his actions and inten-
tions. As the story unfolds, narrative events change Pe-
ter from an amoral (if amusing) thief to a hero willing to
Character development in District 9
Progression is an essential narrative element, and the changes a sacrifice himself to save the same civilization that con-
character undergoes, especially when those changes involve some demned him to prison. Granted, he still steals—but with
level of personal growth, are one of the most satisfying progres- a strong sense of civic duty.
sions movies have to offer. Neill Blomkamp’s dystopian science- Whatever the shape of the character, narrative can-
fiction thriller District 9 (2009) explores the themes of racism and
not exist if that character does not have a goal. The goal
xenophobia with a story about the forced relocation of unwanted
does not just give the character something to do (al-
alien squatters. The posturing protagonist Wikus gets what’s coming
to him when his meddling results in his own inexorable transforma- though that activity is important). It also gives the au-
tion into one of the very aliens he persecuted. But it is the interior dience a chance to participate in the story by creating
changes Wikus experiences that give his story meaning. The more expectations that viewers want to see either fulfilled or
he looks like a monster, the more human he becomes. surprised. More on that later—for now let’s stick to how
that goal affects our character.
The primary character who pursues the goal is known
falls in love with a charming older man who introduces as the protagonist. The protagonist is sometimes re-
her to a glamorous new lifestyle of concerts, art auctions, ferred to as the hero (or heroine), but this term can be
martinis, and sex. She quickly blossoms into a cosmo- misleading, since engaging narratives do not necessarily
politan sophisticate with no use for anything as inane as depend on worthy goals or brave and sympathetic char-
school. But she does receive an education when David acters. As Harry Potter or Katniss Everdeen can attest,
turns out to be a thief and a con man—a married con man it’s certainly not a liability if the audience happens to
at that. Jenny enters the story as a bright girl and leaves like or admire the protagonist. But as long as the protag-
it as a wise woman. onist actively pursues the goal in an interesting way, the
Of course, as with most things in the movies, round viewer cannot help becoming invested in that pursuit
and flat characters exist not in absolutes, but along a and, by extension, the story.
continuum that adjusts according to narrative and cin- Seemingly unsympathetic protagonists chasing less
ematic needs. Some characters are rounder than others, than noble goals are sometimes called antiheroes: Wal
and vice versa. And flat characters are no more limited ter Neff is a cocky insurance agent whose quest is to mur
to crowd-pleasing blockbusters than are round charac- der his lover’s husband so he can have her body—and
ters confined to sophisticated dramas. her inheritance—all to himself. Walter’s no Boy Scout,
No one could call the hyperkinetic and provocative but when watching Double Indemnity (1944; director
Black Swan (2010; director Darren Aronofsky) a simplis- Billy Wilder), it’s tough not to root for him to get away
tic movie. Natalie Portman’s powerful performance as with murder. Jordan Belfort doesn’t kill anyone, but he
Nina, a ballerina driven to madness by her quest to in- does manipulate markets, cheat investors, and break in-
habit a demanding role, deserved the critical and popu- numerable laws to make outrageous profits (which he
lar acclaim it received. Yet in many ways, Nina could be uses to fuel an aggressively excessive lifestyle). However,
considered a flat character. Her traits are straightfor- while watching The Wolf of Wall Street (2013; director
ward; she’s a fearful, driven perfectionist. Throughout Martin Scorsese), we take some pleasure in Belfort’s
her excruciating journey to the final performance, even triumphs and can’t help pitying him when his empire
as she (apparently) physically transforms, Nina stub- collapses.
In fact, impeccable characters are rare in modern

movies. Narrative craves imperfect characters because
those imperfections provide obstacles, another essen-
tial building block of storytelling. We’ll discuss obstacles
in the section on narrative structure. For now, simply
consider that a romance about a shy, awkward boy in
love with the head cheerleader is likely to be much more
interesting than a love story between the two most beau-
tiful and popular kids in school. Character imperfec-
tions and flaws also give characters room to grow. As the
previous discussion of round and flat characters indi-
Goals and needs
cated, character development is central to many movie The intersection of narrative and character provides for a wide range
narratives. of narrative structures and outcomes. Not every movie must have
In Precious, the title character’s struggle to escape a happy ending, and the stories that do provide a happy ending are
her violent mother and learn to read transforms her not always dependent on the protagonist achieving his or her goal.
In Rocky, the ending is satisfying even though the underdog boxer
from a numbed victim into an assertive and expressive
loses the heavyweight match, because his gutsy performance gives
young woman. Precious’s character development makes
him back the self-respect he was missing at the beginning of the
watching this often-harrowing movie a satisfying and story. Ultimately, the audience identifies with Rocky’s psychological
rewarding narrative experience. On the other end of the need even more than his goal of defeating the mighty Apollo Creed.
entertainment spectrum, part of the pleasure of seeing
Big Hero Six (2014; directors Don Hall and Chris Wil-
liams) is the young inventor Hiro’s progress from an em- perience of the narrative. In David Lynch’s Blue Velvet
bittered loner to the dynamic leader of a team of oddball (1986), Frank Booth’s heinous behavior includes huffing
crime-fighters. Even his sidekick Baymax (who is figura a strange gas, stroking a swatch of velvet, and blurting
tively and literally a round character) experiences charac “mommy” before assaulting his sex slave. Frank’s bi-
ter growth. What begins as a benign, inflated health-care zarre behavior isn’t motivated in a way that we can eas-
robot winds up a sentient superhero. ily identify, but his outlandish actions only deepen our
It’s easy to understand what motivates these protag- fascination with this disturbing movie’s vivid mystery.
onists to pursue their goals. Precious is abused by her Characters are frequently motivated by basic psycho-
mother and inspired by her new teacher. Hiro discov logical needs that can profoundly influence the narra-
ers that a masked man has stolen his greatest invention. tive, even when the character is oblivious to the interior
Baymax is programmed to heal. Most narrative relies on motivation directing his or her behavior. This character
this character motivation. If the viewer doesn’t believe need often supports the pursuit of the goal. In John G.
or understand a character’s actions, the story’s verisi- Avildsen’s classic boxing picture Rocky (1976), the title
militude, and thus the audience’s identification with the character wants to win the big fight, but his need for
protagonist’s efforts, will be compromised. We believe self-respect compels him to train hard and endure ex-
and connect with the quest Mattie Ross undertakes to traordinary physical punishment on his difficult road to
track down Tom Chaney in the Coen brothers’ True Grit the final bell of the championship bout. The narrative
(2010; directed by Joel and Ethan Coen) because we goes to great lengths to establish Rocky’s need to regain
know that he killed her father. Sonny Wortzik, the pro- his self-respect. The movie spends 54 minutes detailing
tagonist of Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Rocky’s pathetic existence and degraded social status
robs a bank (or tries to) because he needs money to pay before he is offered a goal in the form of a serendipitous
for his lover’s sex-change operation. We might not agree shot at a title fight. In the end, Rocky loses the big fight,
with Sonny’s goal or his methods, but understanding the but the audience still feels rewarded because his gutsy
impulse behind his actions allows us to engage in his performance proves that he has fulfilled his need.
story. Sometimes, a story may gain a level of complexity by
Some storytellers use expectations of clear character endowing a character with a need that is, in fact, in di-
motivation against their audience to create a specific ex- rect conflict with his goal. C. C. Baxter, the protagonist
of Billy Wilder’s The Apartment (1960), is a lonely man when creating her own personal concoction—as long as
whose job is crunching numbers at a huge insurance it still tastes good when it comes out of the oven. Just as
company. C. C. needs love, but he wants to be a big shot. good cooks know when and how to bend the rules, so do
Sick of being a lowly cog in the company machine, C. C. the most effective cinematic storytellers recognize how
does everything possible to achieve his goal of being to adjust narrative structure to serve their own particu-
promoted to an executive position, including letting his lar style and story.
supervisors use his apartment as a base for their illicit af- In order to organize story events into a recogniz-
fairs. C. C. is disheartened when he discovers that Fran, able progression, some screenwriters break the narra-
the office elevator operator he very much likes, is the mis- tive into three acts, or sections; others prefer to divide
tress his boss Mr. Sheldrake has been entertaining in the action into five acts; others—particularly television
C. C.’s apartment. But C. C. continues to pursue his goal, writers—employ a seven-act structure. Not that it really
even after he discovers the jilted Fran dying of a drug matters to the audience. Our experience of the story as a
overdose in a suicide attempt. As he nurses Fran back continuous sequence of events is not affected by any par-
to health, C. C.’s need for love progressively complicates ticular screenwriter’s organizational approach to parti-
his pursuit of corporate power. Ultimately, Sheldrake tioning the narrative development.2
rewards C. C.’s discretion with the long-coveted job pro- For our purposes, we might as well keep it simple.
motion, and our hero must choose between his goal and Most narratives can be broken into three basic pieces
his need. that essentially function as the beginning, middle, and
For the purposes of clarity, we’ve focused our discus- end of the story. Each section performs a fundamental
sion of character on the protagonist. But, of course, most narrative task. The first act sets up the story; the second
stories require a number of players. And many of these (and longest) act develops it; the third act resolves it. Of
secondary characters, including those who support or course, nothing as expressive and engaging as cinematic
share the protagonist’s objective as well as those who storytelling can be quite that simple. Each of these nar-
oppose it, may have their own goals and needs. Typi- rative components involves a few moving parts.
cally, the traits and storylines of these characters are not To begin with, the setup in the first act has to tell us
as developed as that of our protagonist. These charac- what kind of a story we’re about to experience by estab-
ters’ primary function is to serve the narrative by helping lishing the normal world. A movie’s first few minutes
to move the story forward or flesh out the motivations lay out the rules of the universe that we will inhabit (or
of the protagonist. at least witness) for the next couple of hours. Once we as
viewers know whether we’ve entered a world of talking
dogs or wartime chaos—or whatever the case may be—
Narrative Structure we’ll know how to appraise and approach the events
Movies use a narrative structure that is very similar to to come. Our expectations of the story also depend on
the way that events are organized by novelists, short- learning the movie’s tone. Are we about to watch a grim
story writers, playwrights, comedians, and other story drama, a whimsical fantasy, or something else alto
tellers. In all these cases, the basic formula that has gether? It’s up to the events and situations presented in
evolved is calculated to engage and satisfy the receiver the first act to let us know.
of the story. Character, which we already know to be the linchpin
The use of the word formula can be misleading. Most of the story, must also be established. The narrative of-
stories may follow the same general progression, but ten begins by revealing something about the protago-
narrative is not a single simple recipe. Like pizza, among nist’s current situation, often by showing him engaged in
the many beauties of narrative structure is its mallea- an action that also reveals some of those essential char-
bility. We all know a pizza when we see it, but very few acter traits we discussed earlier in the chapter.
pies look or taste exactly the same. Once the chef knows For example, in the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski
the basic formula and the purpose of each individual in- (1988), we first meet Jeff Lebowski—known to his friends
gredient, she has a certain amount of creative freedom as The Dude—as he shuffles into a supermarket dairy sec-
2. David Howard and Edward Mabley, The Tools of Screenwriting (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1981), p. 24.
a case of mistaken i dentity—they’re looking for a much

richer Jeffrey Lebowski. To demonstrate his displeasure
with this revelation, one of the attackers urinates on The
Dude’s beloved rug. The next day, our scruffy little Le
bowski goes to see the big Lebowski about getting his
rug replaced—and the story has begun.
Most inciting incidents and the resulting character
goals are easy to spot. In Black Swan, Nina the balle-
rina is offered a chance at the lead role in Swan Lake, so
she resolves to dance the part to perfection. When Tom
Chaney guns down Mattie Ross’s father in Fort Smith,
Establishing the normal world
The first scene of the Coen brothers’ cult movie The Big Lebowski Arkansas, in True Grit, the young girl swears vengeance.
tells us what we need to know to understand and evaluate the nar- Dorothy, the protagonist of The Wizard of Oz (1939; di-
rative and its inhabitants. This offbeat comedy features a protago- rector Victor Fleming), realizes that there’s no place like
nist who wears a bathrobe in public, samples half and half in the home after a tornado deposits her among the munchkins.
supermarket, and writes checks for 69 cents. We are now armed
Not all goals are this straightforward. Some goals
with an understanding of the character that will help us appreciate
shift—Luke Skywalker sets off to rescue a princess but
The Dude’s particular response to the situations the story presents
to him. winds up taking on the Death Star. The Dude sets off
to replace a rug and winds up a pawn in someone else’s
mystery. The goal changes every day for William James,
the danger-addicted protagonist of Kathryn Bigelow’s
tion dressed in sunglasses, pajama shorts, flip-flops, and a Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker (2008)—but it’s always
well-worn bathrobe. The Dude scrutinizes the assortment the same goal: defuse the bomb before it explodes. Ul-
like a connoisseur in a wine cellar, then cracks open a timately, James’s toughest battle is with his own inner
carton of half and half to sniff the contents. In the next demons.
shot, he pays for his selection with a check for 69 cents. Whatever the goal, the nature of the pursuit depends
Before we even learn his name, we know that The on the individual character. Nina trains, panics, and
Dude is a free spirit who plays by his own rules. He’s sprouts black feathers. Mattie gets on the first train to
a slob, is not necessarily smart, and is certainly not Fort Smith and scours the frontier town for a lawman
ambitious—but he does have standards. Thus we already with true grit. Dorothy follows the Yellow Brick Road.
have some of the essential information we’ll need to This active pursuit of the goal signals the beginning of
anticipate and appreciate his particular response to the the second act.
events and situations the narrative is about to present. The moment Dorothy is off to see the Wizard, the au-
We have been initiated into the story’s comic, absurdist dience begins to ask themselves what screenwriters call
tone and are also becoming acquainted with the movie’s the central question: Will she ever get back to Kansas?
normal world: Jeff Lebowski inhabits a decidedly un- Whether the question whispers within our subconscious
glamorous Los Angeles sprawl of dilapidated bungalows, mind or we shout it at the screen, it is this expectation,
strip malls, and bowling alleys. this impulse to learn what happens and how it happens,
Now that the character and his world have been that keeps us engaged with the narrative. We need to
established, it’s time to get the story started. For this know if Nina will learn to let go and embrace the Black
to happen, something must occur to change that nor- Swan inside her—and hold on to her sanity. We must find
mal world. The inciting incident (also known as the out if the spunky teenager Mattie can actually manage
catalyst) presents the character with the goal that will to wrangle Rooster Cogburn and track down the elusive
drive the rest of the narrative. Tom Chaney. We want to see if Rocky can beat the odds
In The Dude’s case, the inciting incident happens the and defeat Apollo Creed to become heavyweight champ.
moment he gets home from the supermarket. Two thugs Naturally, in most cases, we want the answer to the
ambush him, shove his head in the toilet, and demand central question to be yes. The irony, however, is that if
a large amount of missing money. It turns out that it’s the goal is quickly and easily attained, our story is over.
1 2
Plot points in The Grand Budapest Hotel

Screenwriting specialist Syd Field describes “plot points” as significant events that turn the narrative in a new direction.3 For example, the
development of The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014; director Wes Anderson) is profoundly influenced by the death of Madame D. The plot point
leads to her convoluted last will and testament being contested by her greedy heirs, her lover Gustave stealing the priceless painting he
believes is rightfully his, and a high-stakes search for the butler accused of her murder [1]. Likewise, the moment when Agatha discovers
Madame D.’s rightful will hidden in the stolen painting certainly qualifies as a plot point [2]. Gustave inherits her vast fortune, buys the Grand
Budapest Hotel, and promotes his faithful protégé Zero to head concierge.
This is where conflict comes in. Narrative depends on every protagonist is a hero, not every antagonist is nec-
obstacles to block, or at least impede, our protagonist’s essarily a villain. The imposing ballet director in Black
quest for the goal. The person, people, creature, or force Swan intimidates and manipulates Nina, but he also
responsible for obstructing our protagonist is known sincerely wants her to succeed. The restricted narration
as the antagonist. Sometimes, the identity and nature makes it difficult to determine any actual malice on the
of the antagonist are clear-cut. The Wicked Witch is part of Nina’s gifted understudy. Even the dark forces
obviously the antagonist of The Wizard of Oz because represented by Nina’s apparent hallucinations play a
she sets the scarecrow on fire, conjures a field of sleep- role in pushing her toward greatness. Nina’s greatest ad-
inducing poppies, and imprisons Dorothy. But we have versary is herself.
to be careful with this term because, while most movies The antagonist need not even be human. Opposi-
have a single—or at least primary—protagonist, the nation and obstacles are supplied by a persistent shark
ture of the antagonist is much more variable. In The Big in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975); the harsh elements
Lebowski, The Dude is beaten and bamboozled by a host and isolation of the Andes in Frank Marshall’s Alive
of oddballs who each use him for their own obscure pur (1993); and a very stub born rock in Danny Boyle’s
poses. Presumably, the fugitive Tom Chaney is the an- 127 Hours (2010).
tagonist of True Grit. After all, he gunned down Mattie’s Whatever the source, obstacles are the second act’s
beloved father. But he doesn’t even appear on-screen key ingredient. Let’s take a closer look at 127 Hours to
until the last third of the movie. Before she discovers see how obstacles help construct and drive the narra-
(and is taken hostage by) Chaney, Mattie’s obstacles are tive. We’ll start with a quick look at the setup in the first
imposed by mostly well-meaning characters concerned act: In the opening scene, the way the protagonist Aron
for the safety of the plucky young heroine. So, just as not Ralston packs establishes that he is a loner and an expe-
3. This description and elements of Figure 4.1 are based on Syd Field, Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting, rev. ed. (New York: Delta, 2005),
pp. 19–30.
1 2
3 4
Narrative obstacles in 127 Hours

Before the Aron Ralston character can finally achieve his narrative goal, he must first engage a series of obstacles. He tries (almost) every
possible method of freeing his forearm from the stubborn rock pinning it to a remote canyon wall [1], insulates himself from freezing temper-
atures with his otherwise useless climbing rope [2], and retrieves his dropped multi-tool with his toes [3]. The crisis comes when Aron must
take dramatic action or die [4].
rienced, if overconfident, outdoorsman. As he scrambles nist a goal, supplies the story with conflict and an antago-
around his spartan apartment throwing climbing gear nist, and begins the second act.
and provisions into a day bag, he doesn’t bother to locate The next hour of the movie is devoted to Aron’s
his missing Swiss Army knife and ignores a call from struggle to free himself. That struggle can be broken
his sister. Now that the narration has conveyed some of down into the series of obstacles he encounters. Aron
Aron’s flaws, he has some room to grow, and we’re pre- will overcome some of them, circumvent others, and sur
pared to chart and appreciate his development as the ad render to still more. Obviously, his tightly wedged fore-
venture unfolds. arm is Aron’s greatest obstacle. He attempts to yank it
Aron ventures into the desert wilds of the remote loose, he uses his cheap multi-tool to try to chip away at
Canyonlands National Park. Along the way, he reaffirms the rock, and he builds a pulley system with his climbing
his character traits by luring two novice h
ikers to an ex- ropes. Nothing works.
hilarating but dangerous plunge into an underground Aron must confront other obstacles as well. When
pool before leaving them behind to trek still deeper into he drops his multi-tool, he retrieves it with a long stick
the wilderness. In the process of descending a deep slot gripped between his toes. He defeats the freezing night
canyon, Aron dislodges a small boulder. The man and the temperatures by wrapping his climbing ropes around
rock both tumble down the narrow ravine. When they his legs. He rations his water. As time goes on, Aron must
meet again at the bottom, the rock pins Aron’s forearm also deal with memories, hallucinations, hopelessness,
to the canyon wall. This sudden event gives our protago- and regret.
Figure 4.1 | NARRATIVE STRUCTURE SCHEMATIC
Inciting Incident Crisis Climax
Rising Action and Stakes
Act 1: Setup Act 2: Conflict and Obstacles Act 3: Resolution
Narrative structure is typically characterized by a three-act format. The first act establishes character, setting, and tone, then introduces a
goal with an inciting incident. The second act is structured around the protagonist’s pursuit of the goal and the conflict and obstacles that
must be confronted before the goal is either gained or lost at the peak of the rising action and stakes. The narrative then falls as the third
act resolves the conflict, wraps up ongoing story lines, and gives the viewer a chance to either celebrate or mourn the dramatic result.
Diagrams like this are helpful in visualizing a standard structure, but we should keep in mind that the shape any story takes is as flexible
as the filmmakers want it to be.
And each time an attempt to dislodge the rock fails or Eventually, our protagonist must face a seemingly
a new obstacle presents itself, the audience asks itself insurmountable obstacle, and our story must reach a
the central question: Will Aron free himself and survive? turning point and work its way toward resolution and
When his water runs out and he begins to lose his grip on the third and final act. This narrative peak is called the
reality, a positive outcome seems increasingly unlikely crisis. The goal is in its greatest jeopardy, and an af-
and the question takes on greater urgency. firmative answer to the central question seems all but
This is because the stakes are rising. In other words, impossible. In Aron Ralston’s case, he’s on the verge of
the deeper we get into the story, the greater the risk to death and out of options—almost.
our protagonist. What begins as a possibility of getting The climax comes when the protagonist faces this
lost progresses to the dangers of being trapped, which major obstacle. In the process, usually the protagonist
develops into what appears to be certain death. Of must take a great risk, make a significant sacrifice, or
course, the ultimate magnitude of the stakes depends on overcome a personal flaw. As the term implies, the cli-
the movie. By the end of The Spectacular Now, a troubled max tends to be the most impressive event in the movie.
teenager may lose a meaningful friendship. Every life on In 127 Hours, Aron breaks the bone in his trapped arm,
Earth depends on the mission in Interstellar (2014; di- and then saws through what’s left with a very dull blade.
rector Christopher Nolan). At the crisis point of Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope
The stakes are rising because the obstacles are be- (1977; director George Lucas), Luke Skywalker’s fellow
coming increasingly difficult for our protagonist to fighter pilots have been decimated and the Death Star
navigate. Over the course of the second act, narrative is within range of the rebel stronghold, so Luke uses
typically builds toward a peak, a breaking point of sorts, the Force to drop two proton torpedoes into the evil Em
as the conflict intensifies and the goal remains out of pire’s exposed orifice. At the climax of Black Swan, Nina
reach. This rising action is illustrated in Figure 4.1. realizes she’s been stabbed (by herself—it’s complicated),
The tension it provokes enhances our engagement with but she dances onto the stage and gives the performance
the ongoing narrative. As the stakes and action rise in of her career.
127 Hours, Aron undergoes character development. He Once the goal is either gained or lost, it’s time for the
reevaluates his selfish and solitary lifestyle, appreci- resolution—the third act of falling action, in which the
ates his family, and mourns a squandered relationship. narrative wraps up loose ends and moves toward a con-
In fact, Aron’s encounters with memory provide some clusion. For some protagonists, the struggle continues
of the movie’s most meaningful moments. well into this final act. After being trapped for 127 hours
and amputating his own arm, Aron must still strike out of the major studios maintained its own staff of writers,
in search of help. In True Grit, the recoil from the rifle each of whom were assigned ideas depending on their
that dispatches Chaney propels Mattie into a snake pit. particular specialty and experience. Every writer was
She has to endure being bitten on the arm by rattle- responsible by contract to write a specified number of
snakes and carted across the prairie to a distant doctor. films each year. Today, most scripts are written entirely
But sooner or later, virtually every story resolves the by independent screenwriters (either as write-for-hires
conflict and allows the audience a chance to celebrate or on spec) and submitted as polished revisions. Many
and/or contemplate the final score before the credits other screenplays, especially for movies created for mass
roll. We see footage showing the real-life Aron Ralston appeal, are written by committee, meaning a collabora-
(yes, it’s a true story) as an active hiker with a wife and tion of director, producer, editor, and others, including
child. Luke, in blissful ignorance of his family history, script doctors (professional screenwriters who are hired
enjoys a kiss from the princess. Surrounded by her ador- to review a screenplay and improve it). Whether work-
ing director and fellow dancers, the black swan declares ing alone or in collaboration with others, a screenwriter
her perfection. An elderly (and one-armed) Mattie pays significantly influences the screenplay and the com-
homage to the crusty U.S. marshal whose true grit saved pleted movie and, thus, its artistic, critical, and box office
her life. Rocky hugs his girlfriend. The Dude abides—and success.
bowls.
The Screenwriter Elements of Narrative

The screenwriter is responsible for coming up with this Narrative theory (sometimes called narratology) has a
story, either from scratch or by adapting another source, long history, starting with Aristotle and continuing with
such as a novel, play, memoir, or news story. Screen- great vigor today. Aristotle said that a good story should
writers build the narrative structure and devise every have three sequential parts: a beginning, a middle, and
character, action, line of dialogue, and setting. And all an end—a concept that has influenced the history of
this must be managed with the fewest words possible. playwriting and screenwriting. French New Wave di-
Screenplay format is precisely prescribed—right down rector Jean-Luc Godard, who helped revolutionize cin-
to page margins and font style and size—so that each ematic style in the 1950s, agreed that a story should have
script page represents 1 minute of screen time. The best a beginning, a middle, and an end—but, he added, “not
screenwriters learn to craft concise but vivid descrip- necessarily in that order.” Given the cinema’s extraor
tions of essential information so as to provide the direc- dinary freedom and flexibility in handling time (espe
tor, cinematographer, designers, and actors a practical cially compared to the limited ways the theater can
foundation that informs the collaborative creative pro- handle time), the directors of some of the most challeng-
cess necessary to adapt the script to the screen. Many ing movies ever made—including many contemporary
scripts are even described and arranged to take a step examples—would seem to agree with Godard.
beyond written storytelling and suggest specific im The complexities of narratology are beyond the scope
ages, juxtapositions, and sequences. No rules determine of this book, but we can begin our study by distinguish-
how an idea should be developed or an existing literary ing between two fundamental elements: story and plot.
property should be adapted into a film script, but the
process usually consists of several stages and involves
many rewrites. Likewise, no rule dictates the number of
people who are eventually involved in the process. One Story and Plot
person may write all the stages of the screenplay or may Although in everyday conversation we might use the
collaborate from the beginning with other screenwrit- words story and plot interchangeably, they mean differ
ers; sometimes the director is the sole screenwriter or ent things when we write and speak about movies. A
co-screenwriter. movie’s story consists of (1) all the narrative events that
Before the breakdown of the Hollywood studio sys- are explicitly presented on-screen plus (2) all the events
tem and the emergence of the independent film, each that are implicit or that we infer to have happened
1 2
Narrative form and the biopic

A biographical movie, or biopic, provides particularly rich opportunities to ask why the filmmakers chose to tell the story the way they did. After
all, the facts of the main character’s life are objectively verifiable and follow a particular order. But as two recent biopics about the beat poet
Allen Ginsberg demonstrate, cinematic storytellers can select and shape that material in many different ways to convey a variety of narrative
experiences and interpretations. Howl (2010; director Rob Epstein) presents key ideas, sounds, and images from Ginsberg’s life and work in
a way that rejects the chronological order and cause-and-effect progression we expect from most narrative films. Stylized flashbacks from
the poet’s earlier life, Ginsberg (James Franco) performing his epic poem “Howl” [1], animation evoking the poem’s imagery, and testimony
in the obscenity trial incited by the ground-breaking poem are all juxtaposed in a fragmented montage that is just as interested in capturing
the spirit of Ginsberg’s poetry as it is with presenting a slice of his life. Kill Your Darlings (2013; director John Krokidas) is a more conventional
coming-of-age narrative that chronicles the young Ginsberg’s first year at Columbia University in New York. Young Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe)
[2] breaks free of his dysfunctional family, is drawn into the orbit of proudly decadent literary rebels, has a sexual awakening, gets his heart
broken, and witnesses a crime of passion. Like many biopics, this narrative provides not just a compelling story; it offers viewers a revealing
(and often fictionalized) peek at the events and associations that helped form a famous persona.
but are not explicitly presented. The total world of In the first scene of The Social Network (2010; direc-
the story—the events, characters, objects, settings, and tor David Fincher), we see actors portraying Mark Zuck-
sounds that form the world in which the story occurs— erberg and Erica Albright sitting together in a crowded
is called its diegesis, and the elements that make up bar. They are having a heated conversation—at least it’s
the diegesis are called diegetic elements. heated on one side. Mark is chattering a rapid-fire mono-
logue involving SAT scores in China and rowing crew;
Erica is struggling to clarify what exactly he’s talking
LOOKING AT MOVIES about. Everything we experience in this scene is part
DIEGETIC AND of the movie’s diegesis, including the other bar patrons
NONDIEGETIC and the muffled dissonance of the crowd’s chatter mixed
ELEMENTS
with the White Stripes’ “Ball and Biscuit” playing on an
unseen jukebox. Of course, we pay special attention to
what the featured characters say and how they look say-
ing it. From this explicitly presented information, we are
able to infer still more story information that we have
not witnessed on-screen. They’ve been here a while—
their beers are half empty, and they’re in the middle of
an ongoing conversation—and they’re a couple. Watch-
ing their interaction, we can even guess the nature and
duration of Mark and Erica’s relationship. As the con-
VIDEO Learn more about diegetic and versation intensifies, we can pick up on still more im-
nondiegetic elements in this tutorial. plicit information. Mark is obsessed with getting into a
prestigious student club—his intensity implies that he is
Figure 4.2 | STORY AND PLOT
Story
Explicitly
Implied Nondiegetic
presented
events material
events
Plot
not exactly popular with the elite crowd. We learn Mark this particular sequence, implied events might involve
is going to Harvard and that he looks down on Erica for the portions of Mark’s journey that were not captured in
merely attending lowly (in his eyes) Boston University. any of the shots used to portray his journey. In addition,
The tone of her angry retort about Mark’s Long Island everything we infer from these images and sounds, from
roots lets us imagine a relatively humble upbringing that the supremacy of the great university to the sophistica-
might be fueling his need for prestige. The story includes tion of the young scholars strolling its campus, is strictly
everything in the diegesis, every event and action we’ve story. The plot concerns only those portions of his jour-
seen on-screen, as well as everything we can infer from ney necessary to effectively convey the Ivy League set-
watching those events. ting and the narrative idea of Mark’s hurrying faster and
The plot consists of the specific actions and events faster the closer he gets to the sanctuary of his dorm room.
that the filmmakers select and the order in which they But the plot supplies more than simply this partic-
arrange those events to effectively convey the narrative ular arrangement of these specific events. Plot also in-
to the viewer. In this scene, what the characters do on- cludes nondiegetic elements: those things we see and
screen is part of the plot, including when Erica breaks hear on the screen that come from outside the world
up with Mark and stalks off, but the other informa- of the story, such as score music (music not originating
tion we infer from their exchange belongs exclusively to from the world of the story), titles and credits (words
the story. superimposed on the images on-screen), and voice-over
The distinction between plot and story is compli- comments from a third-person voice-over narrator.
cated because in every movie, the two concepts overlap For example, back in the bar, moments after Erica
and interact with one another. Let’s continue exploring storms out, music begins to play over the shot of Mark
the subject by following the jilted Mark as he slinks out alone at the table. This music is not the White Stripes
of the bar and makes his way back to his dorm. In this song we heard in the background earlier in the scene.
sequence, we hear the diegetic sounds of evening traffic, Whereas that diegetic music came from a jukebox from
the tread of Mark’s sneakers, and the muted chatter of within the world of the story, this new music is non
his fellow pedestrians. We watch Mark trudge past the diegetic score music that the filmmakers have imposed
pub, trot across a busy street and down a crowded side- onto the movie to add narrative meaning to the se-
walk, and jog across campus. As we can see in Figure 4.2, quence. The music begins as lilting piano notes that help
these explicitly presented events, and every image and convey the sadness Mark feels after getting unexpect-
sound they produce, are included in the intersection of edly dumped. Deeper, darker notes join the score as the
story and plot. music continues over Mark’s journey home, allowing us
But remember that story also incorporates those to sense the thoughts of vengeance intruding on Mark’s
events implied by what we see (and hear) on-screen. In hurt feelings. As he trots up the steps to his dorm, a title
1 2
3 4
Plot and story in The Social Network

The deliberate structure of selected events, as well as nondiegetic
elements such as a rhythmic musical score and titles marking the
passage of time, compose the plot that delivers the story of Mark
Zuckerberg’s social networking epiphany. Causality guides the film-
makers’ plot choices: Mark gets a diabolical idea [1], downloads dor-
mitory resident photos [2], uses computer code and an algorithm to
create an online game comparing relative female hotness [3], which
rapidly escalates into an Internet sensation [4] that crashes the
5
Harvard network—which delights Mark [5]. The specific events and
their particular arrangement are plot; the events, along with other
actions and meaning they imply but don’t show, are the story.
announces the time and place of our story: Harvard Uni- vote on which woman is hotter? Mark hacks into each
versity Fall 2003. These nondiegetic elements—score of the university’s dormitory “Face Book” photo rosters
music and titles—are not part of the story. But they are and downloads every possible female resident photo.
an important piece of the plot: the deliberate selection His friend Eduardo, having read Mark’s blog, drops by
and arrangement of specific events and elements the to console him and winds up getting pressured into cre-
filmmakers employ to deliver the narrative. ating an algorithm to automatically select and pair pho-
A new sequence begins when Mark arrives home, tos, then collate and come up with new pairings based
cracks open a beer, and sits at his laptop. The next 8 min- on the results. Mark and Eduardo write the necessary
utes of The Social Network depict his discovery of the code, and “Facemash” goes up on the campus network.
Internet’s latent power to enthrall and connect its users. Students all across Harvard discover and play and rec-
The story conveyed in those 8 minutes includes the ommend Facemash. The explosion of online participa-
following: still stinging from Erica’s rejection, Mark blogs tion crashes the university’s computer network.
a blistering critique of his now ex-girlfriend. Then, an Every event implied by the previous description, in
offhand comment from one of his roommates gives Mark cluding every line of code Mark must write, every gather
an idea. What if he could create a way for other stu- ing happening across campus, every student who plays
dents to compare pairs of female Harvard students and Facemash, every relative hotness vote they cast, and
every roommate cheering them on or reacting with dis- Disney animation Cinderella to Kenneth Branagh’s 2015
gust are part of that story. live-action version with the same title, and the many up-
The filmmakers use plot to tell us that story. We can’t dates in between (including Frank Tashlin’s 1960 Cin
possibly see every line of code, every game of Facemash, derfella and Garry Marshall’s 1990 Pretty Woman), every
every campus activity interrupted and enlivened by version relies on the basic story structure of the well-
the new Internet sensation. So specific events and ele- known fairy tale. This sort of critical comparison will
ments are selected and ordered to present the cause- enable you to see more clearly how the plots differ, how
and-effect chain of events that enables the audience the formal decisions made by the filmmakers have shaped
to experience and understand the narrative. Our en- those differences, and how the overall form of each movie
gagement with the story on-screen is enhanced by the alters your perception of the underlying story.
nondiegetic elements the plot layers onto this particular When James Cameron planned to make a movie
sequence of selected events, including a pulsating mu- about the sinking of RMS Titanic, he had to contend
sical score and occasional titles announcing the time as with the fact that there were already three feature films
the phenomenon spreads. on the subject, as well as numerous television movies
And, of course, the story and the plot overlap. Every and documentaries. Moreover, everyone knew the story.
event explicitly presented on-screen, and every diegetic So he created a narrative structure that was based on a
sound generated by those events, qualifies as both story backstory, a fictional history behind the situation ex-
and plot. isting at the start of the main story: the story of Rose
The relationship between plot and story is important Calvert’s diamond. That device, as well as a powerful
to filmmakers and to the audience. From the filmmak- romantic story and astonishing special effects, made
er’s perspective, the story exists as a precondition for his Titanic (1997) one of the greatest box office hits in
the plot, and the filmmaker must understand what story history.
is being told before going through the difficult job of Through plot, screenwriters and directors can give
selecting events to show on-screen and determining in structure to stories and guide (if not control) viewers’
what order to present them. For us as viewers, the story emotional responses. In fact, a plot may be little more
is an abstraction—a construct—that we piece together than a sequence of devices for arousing predictable re-
as the elements of the plot unfold before us on-screen. sponses of concern and excitement in audiences. We
Our impressions about the story often shift and adjust accept such a plot because we know it will lead to the
throughout the movie as more of the plot is revealed. resolution of conflicts, mysteries, and frustrations in the
The plots of some movies—classic murder mysteries, for story.
example—lead us to an unambiguous sense of the story Movies have always looked to literature as a proven
by the time they are done. Other movies’ plots reveal source of narrative, style, and cultural resonance—as
very little about the causal relationships among narra- well as a built-in audience of readers eager to experi-
tive events, thus leaving us to puzzle over those connec- ence a favorite book on the big screen. For example,
tions, to construct the story ourselves. more than 250 movies—many of them masterpieces in
As you view movies more critically and analytically, their own right—have been made from Shakespeare’s
pay attention not only to the story as you have inferred plays, and producers continue to find imaginative ways
it but also to how it was conveyed through its plot. Un- of bringing other literary classics to the screen. In the
derstanding this basic distinction will help you to better past few years alone, cinematic adaptations have been
appreciate and analyze the overall form of the movie. made of the works of distinguished writers such as Char-
To picture the relationship between plot and story lotte Brontë (Jane Eyre, 2011; director Cary Fukunaga),
slightly differently, and to become more aware of the de- F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby, 2014; director
liberate ways in which filmmakers construct plots from Baz Luhrmann), and Thomas Pynchon (Inherent Vice,
stories, you might watch several different movies that 2014; director Paul Thomas Anderson). 12 Years a Slave
tell a story you are familiar with—such as the classic (director Steve McQueen), the 2014 Best Picture Oscar
romantic fairy tale Cinderella, which has been adapted winner, was adapted from a previously obscure but his-
into at least six movies. From the traditional 1950 Walt torically significant memoir by the abolitionist Solomon
Marvel Comics’s huge accumulated (and copyrighted)

library of characters and story lines. The company has
released sixteen comic book adaptations since 2008’s
Iron Man and has dozens more adaptations planned for
the next 15 years.
Movies are, by their nature, different from the books
on which they are based. Peter Jackson’s Lord of the
Rings trilogy (2001–3) is relatively faithful to the spirit
of J. R. R. Tolkien’s novels, but Jackson had to eliminate
or combine certain characters, details, and events in
order to squeeze more than 1,000 pages of source ma
terial into three movies. Jackson’s subsequent decision to
expand Tolkien’s whimsical short novel The Hobbit into
three epic movies had an opposite adaptation effect.
1
Jackson and his fellow screenwriters invented charac-
ters, inflated action sequences, and inserted new plot
lines—including a tragic love story between an elf and a
dwarf, and a revenge-fueled feud between the leader of
the dwarves and an Orc chieftain. The Hobbit: The Bat
tle of the Five Armies (2014) stretches a relatively modest
five-page battle into a bombastic hour-long melee in-
volving ten times the combatants described in the novel.4
2
Order
Adaptation of literary sources Bringing order to the plot events is one of the most fun-
David Lean’s Great Expectations (1946) [1] takes place, as Dickens’s damental decisions that filmmakers make about relaying
novel does, in nineteenth-century England. The young protagonist story information through the plot. Most narrative film
(John Mills, left ), a student in London named Pip (as in the novel), con- plots are structured in chronological order. But, unlike
fronts his previously anonymous benefactor, Magwitch. Fifty-two
story order, which necessarily flows chronologically (as
years later, Alfonso Cuarón’s version of the same story (Great Ex-
pectations, 1998) [2] is set in contemporary America. Finn, a painter
does life), plot order can be manipulated so that events
in New York City, confronts his previously anonymous benefactor, Ar are presented in nonchronological sequences that em-
thur Lustig. An analysis of the differences between these two adapta- phasize importance or meaning or that establish desired
tions of the same novel can lead you to a deeper appreciation of the expectations in audiences. Citizen Kane (1941; director
power of filmmakers’ decisions regarding plot specifically and film Orson Welles) presents the biography of Charles Foster
form more generally.
Kane, a fictional character inspired by media mogul Wil-
liam Randolph Hearst. Welles and his co-screenwriter,
Herman J. Mankiewicz, adopted an approach to plot
Northup. Popular films such as Wonder (2017; direc- order so radical for its time that it actually bewildered
tor Stephen Chbosky), Gone Girl (2014; director David many viewers. The movie’s plot consists of nine se-
Fincher), and Fifty Shades of Grey (2015; director Sam quences, five of which are flashbacks. The film opens
Taylor-Johnson) have been adapted from popular fic- with Kane’s death, followed by a newsreel that sum-
tion. Some of the most popular films in recent history are marizes the major events of Kane’s life in more or less
adapted from comic books. Marvel Studios, a subsidi- chronological order. A third sequence introduces us to
ary of The Walt Disney Company, was formed to exploit Mr. Thompson, a reporter assigned to get additional in-
4. Rachel Nuwer, “The Tolkien Nerd’s Guide to ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.’ ” Smithsonianmag.com (December 19, 2014). https://www
.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/tolkien-nerds-guide-hobbit-battle-five-armies-180953681/ (accessed February 8, 2015).
However challenging it was for its time, the plot struc-

ture of Citizen Kane has been so influential that it is now
considered conventional. One of the many movies that
it influenced is Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994).
The plot of Pulp Fiction, which is full of surprises, is con-
structed in a nonlinear way and fragments the passing
of time. We might have to see the movie several times
before being able to say, for instance, at what point—in
the plot and in the story—the central character Vincent
Vega dies.
Christopher Nolan’s Memento (2000) and Gaspar
Noe’s Irreversible (2002) take manipulation of plot or-
der to the extreme by presenting the events in their
respective narratives in reverse chronological order.
Plot order in Citizen Kane
Each film opens with the story’s concluding event, then
To provide a straightforward account of Charles Foster Kane’s life
works its way backward to the occurrence that initiated
and help viewers get their bearings within a highly unconventional
plot order, Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane (1941) begins with a fiction- the cause-and-effect chain. By inverting the sequence
alized mini-documentary. “News on the March” is a satire on the in which the audience is accustomed to experiencing
famous weekly newsreel series The March of Time (1935–51). The events—in life as well as in movies—Memento and Ir
series, shown in movie theaters, mixed location footage with dra- reversible essentially challenge viewers to relearn how
matic reenactments. Using this culturally familiar narrative device
to align expectation and decipher narrative context. We
as an anchor for the rest of the movie, Welles tried to ensure that
experience each presented event not in light of the string
viewers wouldn’t lose their way in the overall plot.
of actions and reactions that led up to it; our under-
standing comes only from what happened after the ac-
formation about Kane’s life—primarily about the mean- tion we’re currently watching. We start with resolution
ing of his last word: “Rosebud.” Thompson’s subsequent and work our way toward the inciting incident. In the
investigation is a kind of detective story; each of the five case of Memento, our ignorance of previous events helps
sources he interviews or examines reveals a different us identify with the limited perspective of the movie’s
perspective on different periods in Kane’s life. The or- protagonist, Leonard—a man incapable of forming new
der of these sequences is determined not by chronology, memories.
but by the order of Thompson’s investigation and the
memory of his interview subjects. Just as Thompson
tries to assemble clues about Kane’s life, the audience
must assemble the jumbled chronology in which it is
presented. The viewer participation required makes
watching Citizen Kane an engaging, if sometimes dis-
orienting, participatory experience. What’s more, once
freed from strict chronological order, Welles and Man
kiewicz were able to juxtapose events in a way that pro-
vided additional context and meaning. For example,
having just watched Kane die alone, we comprehend the
significance of his leaving home at age eight on a level Plot order in Memento
that would not have been possible if that earlier incident In Christopher Nolan’s Memento (2000), Leonard Shelby suffers
had been presented first. Likewise, our enjoyment of from a disorder that prevents him from forming short-term mem-
ories. To remember details of his life, he takes Polaroid snapshots,
seeing Kane’s exuberant idealism when he buys his first
jots notes on scraps of paper, and even tattoos “The Facts” on his
newspaper in 1892 is tempered by having previously body. The movie’s two-stranded plot order, both chronological and re-
watched him lose control of his media empire after the verse chronological, likewise challenges us to recall what we’ve seen
1929 stock market crash. and how the parts fit together.
In Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon (1950), we see an in-

novative variation on the idea of plot order. The same
story—the rape of a woman—is told from four different
points of view: a bandit, the woman, her husband, and a
woodcutter (the only witness of the rape). Kurosawa’s
purpose is to show us that we all remember and perceive
differently, thus challenging our notions of perception
and truth.
Events
In any plot, events have a logical order, as we’ve dis-
cussed, as well as a logical hierarchy. Some events are
more important than others, and we infer their rela-
tive significance through the director’s selection and
arrangement of details of action, character, or setting.
This hierarchy consists of (1) the events that seem cru-
cial to the plot (and thus to the underlying story) and
(2) the events that play a less crucial or even subordi-
nate role. 2
The first category includes those major events or
branching points in the plot structure that force char- Hierarchy of events in Whiplash
acters to choose between or among alternate paths. In Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash (2014), the student drummer An-
drew impresses the school’s most demanding teacher, who invites
Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash (2014) tells the story of
him to join the competitive studio band and thus sets the plot in
Andrew, a talented young drummer who struggles to
motion [1]. Andrew’s awkward romance with a woman outside the
earn the approval of his demanding and abusive teacher, cutthroat culture of his music academy informs the plot through a
Terence Fletcher. Andrew’s performance in first-year series of minor events. Her conventional values lend perspective to
band practice impresses Fletcher, who offers him a cov- Andrew’s obsessive pursuit of percussion virtuosity [2].
eted spot in his studio band. Later, Fletcher humiliates
Andrew for his inability to keep time on a challenging
piece, so Andrew practices until his fingers bleed. Each the story) in a narrative film, but no single such event is
following stage in the plot turns on such events, which indispensable to the story.
force Andrew to take action and make consequential When filmmakers make decisions about which scenes
choices. to cut from a film during the editing phase, they gen-
The second category includes those minor plot events erally look for minor events that, for one reason or an-
that add texture and complexity to characters and ac- other, don’t contribute enough to the overall movie. As
tions but are not essential elements within the narrative. a critical viewer of movies, you can use this hierarchy
Andrew’s relationships with people outside the com- of events in diagramming a plot (as a practical way of
petitive world of jazz performance create subordinate understanding it) or charting a course of the major and
events. His submissive father, the antithesis of the dom minor events confronting the characters.
ineering Fletcher, takes Andrew to old movies. Brim
ming with newfound confidence after a successful
rehearsal, Andrew asks Nicole, the young woman work- Duration
ing the concession stand, on a date. Later, Andrew’s ar Events, in life and in the movies, take time to occur. Du-
rogance embarrasses his father; his ambition compels ration is this length of time. When talking about nar-
him to break up with Nicole. These minor or subordinate rative movies specifically, we can identify three specific
events enrich and complicate the diegesis (the world of kinds of duration: story duration is the amount of time
son’s search), the story duration is more than 70 years

(the span of Kane’s life), and the screen duration is 1 hour
59 minutes, the time it takes us to watch the film from
beginning to end without interruption.
These distinctions are relatively simple in Citizen
Kane, but the three-part relation of story, plot, and
screen duration can become quite complex in some
movies. Balancing the three elements is especially com-
plex for a filmmaker because the screen duration is
necessarily constrained by financial and other consider-
ations. Movies may have become longer on average over
Screen duration and serialized stories the years, but filmmakers still must present their stories
Serialized dramas presented on cable and streaming services have
within a relatively short span of time. Because movie-
redefined our relationship with screen duration. The plot duration
and the story duration of a conventional feature film each may be
goers generally regard films that run more than 3 hours
of almost any length, but the screen duration is generally limited as too long, such movies risk failure at the box office. Fig-
to somewhere between 90 and 150 minutes. The stories and plots ure 4.3 illustrates the relationship between story dura-
presented in shows like Game of Thrones are spread across multi- tion and plot duration in a hypothetical movie. The story
ple episodes, which are released in seasons, which can be binge- duration in this illustration—1 week—is depicted in a plot
watched like extremely long movies. With the 2018 release of its
that covers four discrete but crucial days in that week.
eighth season, the screen duration of the Game of Thrones “movie”
passed 4,000 minutes, or almost 67 hours.
The relationships among the three types of dura-
tion can be isolated and analyzed, not only in the con-
text of the entire narrative of the film but also within
that the implied story takes to occur; plot duration is its constituent parts—in scenes and sequences. In these
the elapsed time of those events within the story that smaller parts, however, the relationship between plot
the film explicitly presents (in other words, the elapsed duration and story duration generally remains stable;
time of the plot); and screen duration is the movie’s in most mainstream Hollywood movies, the duration of
running time on-screen. In Citizen Kane, the plot dura- a plot event is assumed to be roughly equivalent to the
tion is approximately 1 week (the duration of Thomp- duration of the story event that it implies. At the level of
Figure 4.3 | DURATION: STORY VERSUS PLOT
Imagine a hypothetical movie that follows the lives of two people over the course of 1 week, starting with the moment that they first
move into an apartment together as a couple and ending with their parting of ways 7 days later.
Story duration = 1 week
Day 1 Day 3 Day 5 Day 7
Plot duration = 4 days out of that week
Although the movie’s implied story duration is 1 week, the events that are explicitly part of the movie’s plot take place during four discrete
days within that week (the plot duration). Day 1 in the plot shows the couple moving and settling in. Day 3 shows them already squabbling.
Day 5 shows the misguided couple getting ready for and throwing a housewarming party that concludes with a disastrous (but hilarious)
argument. Day 7 shows them moving out and then having an amicable dinner over which they agree that the only way they can live with
each other is by living apart.
Summary relationship
A sequence in Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980) covers 3 years (story duration) in a few minutes (screen duration). Black-and-white shots
of Jake La Motta’s (Robert De Niro) most significant boxing matches from 1944 to 1947 are intercut with color shots from home movies that
show La Motta and his second wife, Vickie (Cathy Moriarty), during the early years of their marriage.
scenes (a complete unit of plot action), the more inter- stream movies than do the other two. The summary re-
esting relationship is usually between screen duration lationship is depicted in Figure 4.4, which illustrates one
and plot duration. We can generally characterize that re- scene in our hypothetical movie; the screen duration of
lationship in one of three ways: (1) in a summary rela- this scene is 10 minutes, but the implied duration of the
tionship, screen duration is shorter than plot duration; plot event is 4 hours.
(2) in real time, screen duration corresponds directly to In Citizen Kane, Welles depicts the steady disintegra-
plot duration; and (3) in a stretch relationship, screen tion of Kane’s first marriage to Emily Norton through
duration is longer than plot duration. a rapid montage of six shots at the breakfast table that
Both stretch and summary relationships are estab- take 2 minutes on the screen but depict 7 years of their
lished primarily through editing techniques (discussed life together. Through changes in dress, hairstyle, seat-
in detail in Chapter 8). The summary relationship is ing, and their preferences in newspapers, we see the cou-
very familiar and occurs much more frequently in main- ple’s relationship go from amorous passion to sarcastic
Figure 4.4 | DURATION: PLOT VERSUS SCREEN
One portion of the plot in this hypothetical movie involves the housewarming party thrown by our ill-fated couple. The implied duration of
this event (the plot duration) is 4 hours—from 8 o’clock in the evening to midnight of Day 5.
8:00 PM Midnight
Day 5
Plot duration = 4 hours
Although the implied duration of the plot event is 4 hours, the actual duration on-screen of the shots that cover this 4-hour event is only
10 minutes (the screen duration). As you can see below, those 10 minutes are divided among 15 discrete shots, each of which features
a specific event or discussion at the party.
Screen duration = 15 individual shots = 10 minutes

Real-time relationship in Birdman

An innovative melding of summary and real-time relationships of
plot to screen time compels viewers of Birdman (2014; director
Alejandro González Iñárritu) to experience the same sort of over-
Real-time relationship in Timecode stimulated exhaustion endured by Riggan, the film’s protagonist. In
Mike Figgis’s Timecode (2000) offers a dramatic and daring version a desperate attempt to restore his reputation, the former superhero
of real time. Split into quarters, the screen displays four distinct but franchise movie star is directing and starring in a Broadway play—
overlapping stories, each shot in one continuous 93-minute take (the and it’s not going well. Riggan’s last-ditch efforts to pull the play (and
length of an ordinary digital videocassette), uninterrupted by editing. his life) together are presented in what appears (thanks to hidden
edits) to be one very long continuous shot. Watching the movie, our
visual senses—and our ingrained cinematic experience—tell us that
this unbroken flow of action must represent a real-time relationship
hostility. Summary relationships are essential to telling between plot and screen duration, but we soon realize that this sin-
gle shot sneakily slides between and through multiple scenes that
movie stories, especially long and complicated ones.
take place at different times: an actor injured in rehearsal, the arrival
Because it is less common than summary, the stretch of his hot-shot replacement, a humiliating publicity interview, a di-
relationship is often used to highlight a plot event, stress- sastrous preview performance, and on and on. What looks and feels
ing its importance to the overall narrative. A stretch rela- like a real-time relationship is actually a summary relationship. The
tionship can be achieved by special effects such as slow constant struggle to process a summary relationship disguised as a
motion, particularly when a graceful effect is needed, real-time relationship lets the viewer experience something compa-
rable to Riggan’s manic multitasking.
as in showing a reunited couple running slowly toward
one another. It can also be constructed by editing tech-
niques. The “Odessa Steps” sequence in Sergei Eisen- film buffs. Many directors use real time within films to
stein’s Battleship Potemkin (1925) uses editing to stretch create uninterrupted “reality” on the screen, but di-
the plot duration of the massacre: selected single mo- rectors rarely use it for entire films. Alfred Hitchcock’s
ments are broken up into multiple shots that are over- Rope (1948; screenwriter Arthur Laurents) is famous
lapped and repeated so that our experience of each event for presenting a real-time relationship between screen
on-screen lasts longer than it would have in reality. Ei- and plot duration. In Rope, Hitchcock used the long take
senstein does this because he wants us to see the mas (discussed further in Chapter 6)—an unedited, contin-
sacre as an important and meaningful event, as well as uous shot—to preserve real time. One roll of motion-
to increase our anxiety and empathy for the victims. picture film can record approximately 11 minutes of
The real-time relationship is the least common of the action, and thus Hitchcock made an 80-minute film with
three relationships between screen duration and plot ten shots that range in length from 4 minutes 40 seconds
duration, but its use has always interested and delighted to 10 minutes.5 Six of the cuts between these shots are
5. Various critics have said that each shot in Rope lasts 10 minutes, but the DVD release of the film shows the timings (rounded off) to be as follows:
opening credits, 2:09; shot 1, 9:50; shot 2, 8:00; shot 3, 7:50; shot 4, 7:09; shot 5, 10:00; shot 6, 7:40; shot 7, 8:00; shot 8, 10:00; shot 9, 4:40; shot 10,
5:40; closing credits, 00:28.
virtually unnoticeable because Hitchcock has the cam-

era pass behind the backs of people or furniture and LOOKING AT MOVIES
then makes the cut on a dark screen; four others are or- SUSPENSE AND SURPRISE
dinary hard cuts from one person to another. Even these
hard cuts do not break time or space, so the result is
fluid storytelling in which the plot duration equals the
screen duration of 80 minutes.
In most traditional narrative movies, cuts and other
editing devices punctuate the flow of the narrative and
graphically indicate that the images occur in human-
made cinematic time, not seamless real time. As view-
ers, we think that movies pass before us in the present
tense, but we also understand that cinematic time can
be manipulated through editing, among other means.
As we accept these manipulative conventions, we also VIDEO In this tutorial, Dave Monahan discusses
the differences between suspense and surprise.
recognize that classic Hollywood editing generally goes
out of its way to avoid calling attention to itself. What’s
more, it attempts to reflect the natural mental processes
by which human consciousness moves back and forth be- to one. In these conditions this same innocuous conver-
tween reality and illusion, shifting between past, present, sation becomes fascinating because the public is partic-
and future. ipating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn
the characters on the screen: “You shouldn’t be talking
about such trivial matters. There’s a bomb beneath you
Suspense versus Surprise and it’s about to explode!”
It’s important to distinguish between suspense, which In the first scene we have given the public fifteen sec-
has been mentioned in the preceding discussions, and onds of surprise at the moment of the explosion. In the
surprise. Although they are often confused, suspense second we have provided them with fifteen minutes of
and surprise are two fundamentally different elements suspense. The conclusion is that whenever possible the
in the development of many movie plots. Alfred Hitch- public must be informed. Except when the surprise is a
cock mastered the unique properties of each, taking twist, that is, when the unexpected ending is, in itself,
great care to ensure that they were integral to the inter- the highlight of the story.6
nal logic of his plots. In a conversation with French di-
rector François Truffaut, Hitchcock explained the terms: Because there are no repeat surprises, we can be sur-
prised in the same way only once. As a result, a surprise,
We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let us sup- being taken unawares, can be shocking, and our emo-
pose that there is a bomb underneath this table between tional response to it is generally short-lived. By contrast,
us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, “Boom!” suspense is a more drawn-out (and, some would say,
There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but more enjoyable) experience, one that we may seek out
prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary even when we know what happens in a movie. Suspense
scene of no special consequence. Now, let us take a sus is the anxiety brought on by a partial uncertainty: the
pense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and end is certain, but the means is uncertain. Or, even more
the public knows it, probably because they have seen interestingly, we may know both the result and the means
the anarchist place it there. The public is aware that the by which it’s brought about, but we still feel suspense:
bomb is going to explode at one o’clock and there is a we know what’s going to happen, so we feel compelled to
clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter warn and protect the characters who don’t.
6. Alfred Hitchcock, qtd. in François Truffaut, Hitchcock, rev. ed. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984), p. 73.
Story events can be repeated in various ways. A char-

acter may remember a key event at several times during
the movie, indicating the psychological, intellectual, or
physical importance of that event.
The familiar image is defined by film theorist Stefan
Sharff as compositions, graphic elements, sounds, or jux-
tapositions that a director periodically repeats in a movie
(with or without variations) to help inform or stabilize
its narrative. By its repetition, the image calls attention
to itself as a narrative (as well as visual) element.
1 Some familiar images are distributed throughout a
film as thematic symbols, particularly those where a ma-
terial object represents something abstract. In Volver
(2006), director Pedro Almodóvar uses frequent shots
of wind turbines in the Spanish landscape as a symbol
to help us understand the meaning of the title, a Spanish
word that means “turn,” “return,” or “revolution,” as in
a circle turning. On the literal level, the story itself turns
on the cycle of genetic or behavioral influences that pass
from one generation to the next.
The repetition of familiar images can also be used to
influence how the audience interprets or experiences
2
the narrative in multiple scenes. The first four shots in
the scene depicting Kane’s death in the opening min-
Suspense and surprise
We witness a brutal murder committed by what appears to be a utes of Citizen Kane all feature the superimposed image
woman named Mrs. Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Psycho (1960). of snow falling across the screen. This visual element is
So when private detective Milton Arbogast sneaks into Mrs. Bates’ sourced in the snow globe Kane drops after he utters,
house to question someone he thinks is a harmless little old lady, “Rosebud.” The snow image returns 16 minutes later
our awareness generates suspense. Every oblivious step he takes
during an event in Kane’s childhood that changes his life
as he treads deeper into the creepy house is invested with the ten-
sion of the inevitable attack [1]. Hitchcock intensifies the suspense
by showing us (but not Arbogast) a shot of Mrs. Bates’ bedroom
door gliding open. The director saves Psycho’s surprise for the end
of the movie, when he suddenly reveals shocking new information LOOKING AT MOVIES
to the audience and the principal characters: Mrs. Bates is long dead, LIGHTING AND FAMILIAR IMAGE
and her timid son is the actual psychotic killer [2]. IN THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
Repetition
The repetition, or number of times, that a story ele-
ment recurs in a plot is an important aspect of narrative
form. If an event occurs once in a plot, we accept it as a
functioning part of the narrative’s progression. Its ap-
pearance more than once, however, suggests a pattern
and thus a higher level of importance. Like order and
duration, then, repetition serves not only as a means of
relaying story information but also as a signal that a par- VIDEO This tutorial analyzes the familiar image in
ticular event has a meaning or significance that should Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter (1955).
be acknowledged in our interpretation and analysis.
forever. That familiar image evokes the audience’s initial associated with specific settings; for example, Westerns
association with Kane’s lonely death and last word, and with wide open country, film noirs with dark city streets,
thus colors the way we experience and interpret young and horror movies with creepy houses.
Kane’s separation from his mother. The falling snow Besides giving us essential contextual information
returns once more in one of the film’s final scenes. In that helps us understand story events and character
a tantrum after his second wife leaves him, Kane tears motivation, setting adds texture to the movie’s diegesis,
her bedroom apart—until he stumbles upon the same enriching our sense of the overall world of the movie.
snow globe we saw him clutching on his deathbed at the Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven (1978) features mag-
beginning of the movie. The snow globe, and the snow nificent landscapes in the American West of the 1920s.
inside that swirls when Kane picks it up, reminds us of At first, the extraordinary visual imagery seems to take
the two previous scenes featuring the familiar image: precedence over the narrative. However, the settings—
one portrayed the influential events that brought Kane the vast wheat fields and the great solitary house against
to this moment, and the other revealed the eventual con- the sky—directly complement the depth and power of the
sequences of the actions we just witnessed. narrative, which is concerned with the cycle of the sea-
sons, the work connected with each season, and how
fate, greed, sexual passion, and jealousy can lead to trag-
Setting edy. Here, setting also helps reveal the characters’ states
The setting of a movie is the time and place in which of mind. They are from the Chicago slums, and once they
the story occurs. It establishes the date, city, or coun- arrive in the pristine wheat fields of the West, they are
try and provides the characters’ social, educational, and lonely and alienated from themselves and their values.
cultural backgrounds and other identifying factors vital They cannot adapt and thus end tragically. Here, setting
for understanding them—such as what they wear, eat, is destiny.
and drink. Setting sometimes provides an implicit ex- Other films tell stories closely related to their inter
planation for actions or traits that we might otherwise national, national, or regional settings, such as the spe
consider eccentric, because cultural norms vary from cific neighborhoods of New York City that form the
place to place and throughout time. Certain genres are backdrop of many Woody Allen films. But think of the
Setting in science fiction

Based on Philip K. Dick’s science-fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968), Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) takes place in
2019 in an imaginary world where cities such as Los Angeles are ruled by technology and saturated with visual information. In most science-
fiction films, setting plays an important part in our understanding of the narrative, so sci-fi filmmakers spend considerable time, money, and
effort to make the setting come to life.
many different ways in which Manhattan has been pho-

tographed, including the many film noirs with their
harsh black-and-white contrasts; the sour colors of
Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976); or the bright colors
of Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959).
Settings are not always drawn from real-life locales.
An opening title card tells us that F. W. Murnau’s Sun
rise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) takes place in “no
place and every place”; Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Scope
Odyssey (1968) creates an entirely new space–time con- Scope is integral to the narrative of Room (2015; director Lenny
tinuum; and Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Fac Abrahamson). The first 47 minutes of the movie take place entirely
tory (2005) creates the most fantastic chocolate factory inside a small, locked shed; a dirty skylight provides the only view of
the outside world. The only characters we see are a captive woman,
in the world. The attraction of science-fiction films such
known only as Ma, her five-year-old son, Jack (who has lived every
as George Lucas’s Star Wars (1977) and Ridley Scott’s
moment of his life inside the 10- by 10-foot room), and (briefly) Old
Blade Runner (1982) is often attributed to their almost Nick, the man who holds them prisoner. This narrow scope confines
totally unfamiliar settings. These stories about outer viewers to the mother and child’s restricted and intimate existence.
space and future cities have a mythical or symbolic sig- When Ma and Jack are finally freed, the sudden overwhelming ex-
nificance beyond that of stories set on Earth. Their set- pansion in scope helps viewers identify with the protagonists’ strug-
gles to adjust to life in the wider world.
tings may be verisimilar and appropriate for the purpose
of the story, whether or not we can verify them as “real.”
ond Boer War. The film concludes when Churchill was

Scope elected to Parliament at age twenty-six. In contrast,
Related to duration and setting is scope—the overall Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour (2017), the latest Churchill
range, in time and place, of the movie’s story. Stories biopic, takes place mostly in interior spaces in London
can range from the distant past to the narrative pres- and Kent and covers only his first few eventful weeks as
ent or they can be narrowly focused on a short period, Britain’s prime minister. That film ends with his famous
even a matter of moments. They can take us from one “We shall fight on the beaches” speech made to Parlia-
galaxy to another or they can remain inside a single ment after the miraculous 1940 evacuation of British
room. They can present a rather limited perspective on forces from Dunkirk. The scope of Dunkirk, Christopher
their world or they can show us several alternative per- Nolan’s 2017 war movie covering that same evacuation
spectives. Determining the general scope of a movie’s (and ending with the same speech), is both narrower and
story—understanding its relative expansiveness—can broader than Darkest Hour. The events in Nolan’s film
help you piece together and understand other aspects of span only 1 week, but the story develops more individual
the movie as a whole. characters, perspectives, and conflicts that take place in
For example, the biopic, a biographical film about a relatively far-flung locations, including fighter pilots in
person’s life—whether historical or fictional—might tell the air, desperate evacuees at sea on transport ships, ci-
the story in one of two ways: through one significant vilians assisting the effort using their personal pleasure
episode or period in the life of a person or through a craft, and the besieged troops and officers stranded on
series of events covering a longer portion of a person’s the broad beaches of Dunkirk itself.
life, sometimes beginning with birth and ending in old
age. For example, Richard Attenborough’s Young Winston
(1972) spans multiple decades and numerous locations Looking at Narrative
to portray the life of the legendary British statesman in Stagecoach
Winston Churchill. The film begins with his privileged
but lonely childhood and then moves through his career To better understand how the foundations and elements
as a cavalry officer in India and his subsequent adven of narrative work together in a single movie, let’s con-
tures as a war correspondent in South Africa’s Sec- sider how they’re used in John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939).
This movie is regarded by many as the classic Western, alcoholic doctor; and Mr. Hatfield, a gambler. The coach
not only for its great entertainment value but also for its picks up a seventh passenger along the way. Ringo is
mastery of the subjects discussed in this chapter. an escaped prisoner. When his horse becomes lame, he
stops the stagecoach and is arrested by the marshal be-
fore he boards.
Story Together, Buck, Curly, and their passengers form a
The story of Stagecoach is based on a familiar conven- sort of composite protagonist in pursuit of a common
tion sometimes called the “ship of fools.” Such stories goal: to reach Lordsburg alive. Many of the characters
involve a diverse group of people—such as passengers are after individual goals as well. Curly aims to take
traveling to a common destination or residents of a Ringo back to prison; Hatfield wishes to protect Lucy
hotel—who must confront a common danger and, through (for reasons you’ll learn later); Gatewood is trying to get
that experience, confront themselves as individuals and away with his stolen stack of cash; Doc is determined to
as members of a group. In Stagecoach, these people ei- stay drunk; and Ringo is after the men who murdered his
ther have been living in or are passing through the iso- father and brother. Many of these characters are moti-
lated frontier town of Tonto. Despite a warning from the vated by a psychological need. Both the gambler Hatfield
U.S. Cavalry that Apache warriors, under the command and the drunken Doc need to regain self-respect. Dal-
of the dreaded Geronimo, have cut the telegraph wires las and Ringo—the outcast prostitute and the escaped
and threatened the settlers’ safety, this group boards a prisoner—share a mutual need for human kindness and
stagecoach for the 2-day trip to a larger settlement called love. Having needs that conflict with their goals, such as
Lordsburg. the vengeful Ringo’s inner need for love, is part of what
makes these characters complex and compelling. His
repressed desire for civilized normalcy, and the change
Narration and Narrator he undergoes when he surrenders to it (albeit only after
As was typical of John Ford’s style throughout his career, killing for revenge), makes Ringo a round character. He’s
the narration in Stagecoach is provided by an omniscient also our primary protagonist, since it is his quest to kill
camera that has unrestricted access to all aspects of the the men who murdered his father and brother, and his
narrative and, as a result, can convey the experiences not-so-hidden attraction to Dallas, that propel the plot
and perceptions of any character in ways that enrich the once the common goal of Lordsburg is finally achieved.
story. For example, the banker Gatewood won’t let any- Ringo is not the only round character: Dallas is a prosti
one touch his satchel during the long journey. We under- tute with a painful past who resists her own desire for love
stand his attitude and actions because the camera shows and family. Lucy begins the trip as a judgmental snob;
us a private moment he uses to steal from his bank’s own she overcomes deeply rooted prejudices and comes to
safe before he barges onto the crowded stagecoach. The respect Dallas. Doc is a tangle of contradictions: a dis-
camera narrator also reveals information that none of graced alcoholic capable of pride and purpose. He over-
the passengers know, such as when a long-distance view comes his weaknesses to save the day twice, by sobering
of the lonely stagecoach crossing the vast desert is inter up to deliver Lucy’s baby, and when he stands up to Rin-
rupted when the camera pivots to show us Geronimo go’s enemy, Luke Plummer. Hatfield and Peacock don’t
and his warriors watching from a hilltop. necessarily undergo any dramatic changes, but they do
possess complex and contradictory traits. Hitchcock is
a drifter and a gambler with a reputation for killing ri-
Characters vals, yet he rediscovers a sense of romantic chivalry when
The stagecoach is driven by the good-natured dolt Buck; he meets Lucy and risks his own life to board the stage to
lawman Marshal Curly Wilcox rides shotgun. The pas- protect her. The normally passive Peacock convincingly
sengers include Dallas, a good-hearted prostitute; Henry asserts authority when he repeatedly shushes his row-
Gatewood, the thieving bank president mentioned ear- dier traveling companions after Lucy gives birth.
lier; Lucy Mallory, the aloof, and (as we later learn) preg- The remaining passengers have interesting personali
nant wife of a cavalry officer; Samuel Peacock, a mousy ties and are each a vital ingredient in this involving narra
liquor salesman; Dr. Josiah Boone (aka Doc), a disgraced tive, but since they have no subtle or repressed traits and
1 2
3 4
5 6
The cast of characters in Stagecoach

The collective protagonist of Stagecoach consists of nine characters: Buck and the lawman Curly [1]; prostitute Dallas and the banker Gate-
wood [2]; the cavalry officer’s wife, Lucy Mallory [3]; the whiskey salesman, Mr. Peacock, and the alcoholic Doc Boone [4]; the gambler
Hatfield [5]; and the fugitive Ringo [6].
The primary antagonist, for everyone on this jour-

ney, is Geronimo, even though he and his warriors ap-
pear on the screen only briefly before their climactic
attack on the stagecoach. One of the many things that
makes Stagecoach’s narrative so interesting is that while
Geronimo is responsible for many of the narrative ob-
stacles, much of the story’s conflict originates in dis-
putes between the characters who share a common goal.
For Ringo, Luke Plummer and his brothers are the an-
tagonists. They loom large in the story but do not appear
on-screen until just before the final crisis and climax.
1 Narrative Structure
The narrative structure employed by the screenwriter
follows the familiar three-act model established earlier
in this chapter. The first act, or setup, establishes the
world of Tonto, presented as a rough, prosperous fron-
tier town ruled by a formidable force of social prejudice,
the Ladies Law and Order League. The daily stagecoach,
a lifeline to the outer world, stops for passengers, mail,
news, and other necessities. All its passengers have a
reason for going to Lordsburg. The travelers’ shared
goal of reaching the next town (and surviving the trip)
is initiated by a number of inciting incidents: Hatfield
recognizes Lucy as the daughter of the officer he served
under in the Civil War; Doc and Dallas are exiled by the
aforementioned Ladies Law and Order League; Gate-
2 wood is on the run with his stolen money; Curly hears
that Ringo has escaped from prison. The lawman de-
The antagonist as other duces the fugitive is likely headed for Lordsburg to con-
Ringo’s antagonist, Luke Plummer, is not seen on-screen until 80 min-
front the Plummers and so forces Buck to do his job and
utes into the 96-minute story. When we do finally meet him, the por-
drive the stagecoach there. The traveling salesman is
trayal is not sympathetic, but he is at least presented as an individual
with his own specific behavior, personality, and motives [1]. In con- compelled to make the trip as well—Doc insists that Pea-
trast, the insurgent band of Apache warriors that serve as the plot’s cock comes along once Peacock’s case of whiskey sam-
primary antagonist are presented in ways that exploit audience fears ples is discovered. Two inciting incidents occur before
of the unknown other. Although they are described as being led by the plot opens: the murder of Ringo’s brother and father
Geronimo (a well-known Apache leader and the only historical figure
at the hands of the Plummers, and the unspecified event
in the story), none of the Native American characters seen on-screen
that compels Lucy to try and reach her husband before
are identified by name, speak dialogue, or exhibit individual behav-
iors [2]. The motivation for their attacks is never discussed. Stage- her baby is born.
coach’s portrayal of Native Americans as savage others may serve In the second act, the protagonists overcome a series
the narrative; it also reveals the prejudices of the filmmakers and of obstacles that stand in the way of their goal, includ-
their time. ing the loss of cavalry support, the birth of Lucy’s baby,
the theft of their spare horses, and a destroyed ferry-
undergo little change over the course of the story, they crossing. Ringo’s pursuit of revenge has its own obsta-
must be classified as flat characters. Buck is and remains cles. Curly arrests him and takes his gun, and his growing
bumbling comic relief, and Curly is a fair and disciplined love for Dallas threatens to weaken his suicidal resolve to
lawman from start to finish. Gatewood doesn’t grow past face the three murderous Plummer brothers alone. The
the selfish coward we meet at the start of the story. stakes rise as we become invested in the endangered
characters, especially when we realize two of them are follow one another coherently and logically, and their
in love and after the arrival of a helpless baby. The shared relations of cause and effect are easy to discern. Indeed,
goal of reaching Lordsburg reaches its crisis when Ge the eminent French film theorist and critic André Bazin
ronimo’s warriors finally attack the stagecoach. Most of notes that
the passengers do their part to overcome this final and
seemingly insurmountable obstacle in the following cli- Stagecoach (1939) is the ideal example of the maturity
max. Dallas shields Lucy’s baby, Doc nurses Peacock’s of a style brought to classic perfection. John Ford struck
arrow wound and punches the hysterical Gatewood, the ideal balance between social myth, historical recon-
Hatfield dies nobly, and Ringo scrambles to the lead of struction, psychological truth, and the traditional theme
the speeding stagecoach horse team after Buck takes a of the Western mise en scène. None of these elements
bullet and drops the reins. Thanks to Ringo’s heroics, dominated any other. Stagecoach is like a wheel, so per-
the stagecoach stays racing and out of reach until the fectly made that it remains in equilibrium on its axis in
cavalry arrives to drive off the attackers. In the third act, any position.7
when the surviving passengers finally arrive in Lords-
burg, most of the conflicts are resolved. Gatewood is ar- Order As already noted, Ford maintains strict chrono-
rested, Mrs. Mallory implicitly asks Dallas’s forgiveness, logical order in using the journey to structure the story
and we learn that Mr. Peacock has survived his arrow events. The journey provides both chronological and
wound. geographic markers for dividing the sequences. Further-
But the story isn’t over yet, because Ringo’s goal has more, it reveals a clear pattern of cause and effect created
not yet been achieved or lost. When he promises Curly primarily by each character’s desire to go to Lordsburg
he’ll come back and return to prison (if he survives), the on this particular day. That pattern proceeds to conflict
kindhearted lawman risks his own goal and lends Ringo (created both by internal character interaction and by
his empty rifle. Ringo overcomes this first Lordsburg ob- the external Apache attack, which frustrates the charac-
stacle when he reveals three bullets (one for each Plum- ters’ desires), reaches a turning point (the victory over
mer brother) hidden in his hatband. The stakes keep the Apaches), and concludes with a resolution (Ringo’s
rising as the plot reminds us of the possibility of a future revenge on the Plummers, whose testimony had put him
together for Ringo and Dallas—first when Curly prom- in prison, and his riding off a free man with the woman
ises to take Dallas to Ringo’s “little place” in Mexico, and he loves).
then when Ringo stops Dallas from entering a bordello
to remind her of his marriage proposal before he strides Diegetic and Nondiegetic Elements The diegetic el-
off to face his personal crisis: a three-bullet shootout ements are everything in the story except the opening
against a trio of heavily armed men. In the final climax, and closing titles and credits and the background music,
Ringo dives to the ground with his rifle blazing. A shot of all of which are, of course, nondiegetic. The filmmakers
Luke strolling into the saloon makes us fear the worst, use our expectations of nondiegetic music to fool (and
but it’s a false resolution: the villain drops dead from thrill) viewers during a turning point in the climactic at-
his wounds before he can drink the glass of whisky that tack on the stagecoach. Nondiegetic score music accom-
awaits him. The remaining plot lines are then quickly re- panies the entire 7-minute sequence, so when a bugle
solved. Curly releases Ringo so he and Dallas can ride off call joins the dramatic melody playing over a close-up
into the desert—presumably en route to wedded bliss on shot of Lucy mumbling a silent prayer, we assume the
Ringo’s ranch across the border. notes are part of the background music. But Lucy’s eyes
widen, and she stops praying to utter aloud “Do you hear
it?” For a moment, it seems she’s reacting to a desper-
ate delusion, but as the bugle call rises and Lucy confi-
Plot dently declares “They’re blowing the charge!” we realize
The plot of Stagecoach covers the 2-day trip from Tonto that what we thought was nondiegetic score was in fact
to Lordsburg and is developed in a strictly chronologi- the diegetic offscreen sound of the cavalry riding to the
cal way without flashbacks or flash-forwards. The events rescue.
7. André Bazin, “Evolution of the Western,” in What Is Cinema? trans. Hugh Gray, 2 vols. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967–71), II, p. 149.
the passengers’ vote to leave the Dry Fork station for

Lordsburg, even though a relief unit of cavalry has
not yet arrived
Dr. Boone’s willingness to sober up and deliver the baby

Dallas’s decision at the Apache Wells station to
accept Ringo’s proposal
the group’s decision to delay departure from Apache

Wells until Lucy has rested from childbirth and is
ready to travel
Ringo’s attempt to escape at Apache Wells
1 the passengers’ decision at the burned-out ferry

landing to try to reach Lordsburg, even though they
realize that an Apache attack may be imminent
Ringo’s willingness to risk his life to bring the coach

under control as the Apaches attack
the arrival of the cavalry soon after the Apache attack

has begun
Curly’s decision to reward Ringo’s bravery by

allowing him 10 minutes of freedom in which to
confront the Plummers
Curly’s decision to set Ringo free
The minor plot events that add texture and complexity

2 to characters and events but are not essential elements
within the narrative include Gatewood’s anxiety about
Diegetic and nondiegetic elements getting to Lordsburg no matter what happens along the
At the height of the Apache attack, director John Ford uses our ex-
route; Peacock’s anxiety over Dr. Boone’s helping him-
pectations against us when he momentarily fools us into thinking
self to his stock of liquor; Buck’s wavering enthusiasm
the bugles Lucy hears are a hysterical hallucination [1]. The only trum-
pet notes we hear seem to be part of the dramatic nondiegetic score for driving the stagecoach against the odds; Lucy’s, Hat-
music. The surprise realization that she’s right, and the notes are the field’s, and Gatewood’s demonstrations of their self-
diegetic bugle call of the cavalry riding to their rescue [2], makes the perceived social superiority; Hatfield’s attempt to kill Lucy
miraculous moment especially satisfying. to spare her from capture at the hands of the Apaches;
and Curly’s arrest of Gatewood for embezzlement.
Duration The story duration includes what we know and

Events The major events in Stagecoach—those branch-
what we infer from the total lives of all the characters
ing points in the plot structure that force characters to
(e.g., Lucy’s privileged upbringing in Virginia, marriage
choose between or among alternate paths—include:
to a military officer, current pregnancy, and the route
of her trip out West up until the moment the movie be-
the passengers’ decision to leave Tonto in spite
gins). The plot duration includes the time of those events
of the cavalry’s warning about Geronimo and his
within the story that the film chooses to tell—here the
troops
2 days of the trip from Tonto to Lordsburg. The screen
Curly’s decision to let Ringo join the party duration, or running time, is 96 minutes.
of imminent danger is revealed, such as when Ringo spots

smoke signals, and when the passengers discover a mas-
sacred family at the ravaged ferry crossing and Hatfield
spots a line of mounted figures along a distant ridge. The
suspense ratchets up considerably when the camera nar-
rator reveals a large gathering of Apache warriors watching
the defenseless stagecoach from a hilltop. Our awareness
of the imminent attack injects tension into the oblivi-
ous passengers’ confident conversation as they near the
safety of Lordsburg. Even with this forewarning, we can’t
help but be surprised when their victorious toast is in-
terrupted with the first arrow of the attack.
1
Setting
The physical setting of Stagecoach—the desert and moun-
tains, towns and stagecoach—also represents a moral
world, established in its first minutes by the contrast be-
tween Geronimo and his Apaches (whom Ford portrays
as evil) and the U.S. Cavalry (portrayed as good). It was
filmed on settings constructed in Hollywood—the interi-
ors and exteriors of two towns and the stagecoach—and on
actual locations in the spectacular Monument Valley of
northern Arizona. Beautiful and important as Monument
Valley and other exterior shots are to the film, the shots
made inside the stagecoach as it speeds through the valley
are essential to developing other themes in the movie. As
the war with the Apaches signifies the territorial changes
2 taking place outside, another drama is taking place among
the passengers. In journeying through changing scenery,
Repetition and familiar image they also change through their responses to the dangers
Although no story events recur in Stagecoach, Ford does employ a
they face and their relations with, and reactions to, one
subtle use of a familiar image at the very end of the movie. Through-
another. Understanding the setting helps us to under-
out the film, extreme long shots of the stagecoach dwarfed by the
vast landscape emphasize the vulnerability of the passengers travel- stand many of the other aspects of the movie, especially
ing through Apache country [1]. Having repeatedly experienced the its meanings. This may be a wilderness, but some settlers
anxiety associated with those images amplifies the satisfaction we have brought from the East and the South their notions
feel watching a similar composition that shows Dallas and Ringo rid- of social respectability and status, while others are fleeing
ing safely off toward domestic bliss [2].
such constrictions. For the members of the Ladies Law
and Order League, the setting offers them the opportu-
nity to restore the town’s moral balance, and Dallas and
Suspense Dr. Boone are being sacrificed to underscore their efforts.
The knowledge that Geronimo is on the warpath before
the stagecoach leaves Tonto certainly lends suspense
to the events that follow, especially when the original Scope
cavalry escort leaves and the promised second escort The story’s overall range in time and place is broad, ex-
doesn’t materialize. But this is general knowledge that tending from early events—Ringo’s wild past and impris-
does not clearly indicate a direct threat to our protago- onment, Dallas’s troubled upbringing, Hatfield’s Civil
nists. Suspense is heightened when more direct evidence War experience, and Lucy’s East Coast upbringing—to
presents a historical, social, and mythical vision of Amer-

ican civilization in the 1880s. Ford looked back at the
movement west because he saw that period as charac
terized by clear, simple virtues and values. He viewed
the pioneers as establishing the traditions for which
Americans would soon be fighting: freedom, democracy,
justice, and individualism. Among the social themes of
the movie is manifest destiny, a term used by conserva-
tive nationalists to explain that the territorial expan-
sion of the United States was not only inevitable, but
ordained by God. In that effort, embodied in the west-
ward movement, the struggle to expand would be waged
against the Native Americans.
1 One of Ford’s persistent beliefs is that civilization
occurs as a result of a genuine community built—in the
wilderness—through heroism and shared values. In Ford’s
overall vision, American heroes are always fighting for
their rights, whether the fight is against the British, the
Native Americans, or the fascists. Precisely because the
beauty of Monument Valley means so many different
things to different people, it becomes a symbol of the
many outcomes that can result from exploration, settle-
ment, and the inevitable territorial disputes that follow.
But some later Ford films show that he was troubled by
the consequences of expansion, and there seems little
doubt that Ford himself is speaking (through Doc) at the
end of Stagecoach. As Ringo and Dallas ride off to free
dom across the border, Doc utters the ironic observation,
2 “Well, they’re saved from the blessings of civilization.”
Dr. Boone’s “civilization” includes the hypocritical ladies
Expansive and intimate settings of Tonto, who force him and Dallas to flee the town; the
Stagecoach was the first of the ten Westerns John Ford filmed in
banker, Gatewood, who pontificates about the importance
Arizona’s Monument Valley. The physical landscape of stark desert
of banks—“What’s good for the banks is good for the
interspersed with towering mesas and rock formations visually epit-
omizes his vision of the American West as an ominous but majestic country”—while embezzling $50,000 from a payroll meant
wilderness [1]. But only certain exterior shots were captured in that for miners; and the culture of violence in towns such as
symbolically (and literally) expansive setting. Much of the narrative Lordsburg. In the 1930s, when Stagecoach was made, Pres-
occurs in the cramped interior of the stagecoach itself, which was ident Franklin D. Roosevelt singled out the banks as a
shot inside a Hollywood soundstage. The tight quarters made the
major cause of the Great Depression and increased the
ideal setting for developing conflicts between characters represent-
government’s regulatory power over them, so we can see
ing a diversity of social stations, motivations, and perspectives [2].
that Gatewood (who is not in the original short story that
is the source for the Stagecoach script) gives the movie
contemporary political relevance. In the year after John
those we see on-screen. And although we look essen- Ford made Stagecoach, in his adaptation of John Stein-
tially at the events on the two days that it takes the stage- beck’s The Grapes of Wrath (1940)—the story of a dispos-
coach to go from Tonto to Lordsburg, we are also aware sessed family journeying through dangerous country to
of the larger scope of American history, particularly the reach a place of safety—the director again put himself
westward movement, Ford’s favorite subject. Made right fundamentally against the rich and powerful and on the
before the start of World War II in Europe, Stagecoach side of the poor and weak.
Analyzing Elements of Narrative 151
ANALYZING ELEMENTS OF NARRATIVE
Most of us can hardly avoid analyzing the narrative gaps in events, infer character traits from the clues
of a movie after we have seen it. We ask, “Why or cues we receive, and interpret the significance of
did the director choose that story?” “Why did he objects. But when we’re actively looking at a movie,
choose to tell it in that way?” “What does it mean?” we should analyze its narrative in more precise, con-
At the simplest level, our analysis happens unconscious detail. The following checklist provides a few
sciously while we’re watching a movie, as we fill in ideas about how you might do this.
SCREENING CHECKLIST: ELEMENTS OF NARRATIVE

Who is the movie’s protagonist? What factors Are the plot events presented in chronological
and needs motivate or complicate that char order? What is the significance of the order of
acter’s actions? plot events in the movie?
Consider the movie’s major characters. Can Keep track of the major and minor events in
you characterize each of them according to the movie’s plot. Are any of the minor events
complexity (round characters vs. flat)? unnecessary to the movie overall? If these
events were not included, would the movie
What is the narration of the movie? Does it
use a narrator of any kind? be better? Why?
What are the differences among omniscient Are there scenes that create a noticeable sum-
and restricted narration? mary relationship between story duration and
screen duration? Do these scenes complement
Carefully reconstruct the narrative structure of or detract from the overall narrative? Do these
the movie. What is the inciting incident? What scenes give you all the information about the
goal does the protagonist pursue? How does underlying story that you need to understand
the protagonist’s need influence that pursuit? what has happened in the elapsed story time?
What obstacles (including the crisis) does the
protagonist encounter, and how does she or Do any scenes use real time or a stretch
he engage them? relationship between story duration and screen
duration? If so, what is the significance of
Keep track of nondiegetic elements that seem these scenes to the overall narrative?
essential to the movie’s plot (voice-overs, for
example). Do they seem natural and appro Is any major plot event presented on-screen
priate to the film or do they appear to be more than once? If so, why do you think the
“tacked on” to make up for a shortcoming filmmaker has chosen to repeat the event?
in the overall presentation of the movie’s How do the setting and the scope of the narra-
narrative? tive complement the other elements?

1. What is the difference between narration and 7. What is meant by the diegesis of a story? What is
narrator? the difference between diegetic and nondiegetic
2. What are the differences between omniscient and elements in the plot?
restricted narration? 8. What are major and minor events each supposed
3. What are the differences between (a) the camera to do for the movie’s plot?
narrator and a first-person narrator and (b) a first- 9. Which of the following is the most common
person narrator and a third-person narrator? relationship of screen duration to story duration:
4. Can a major character be flat? Can a minor summary relationship, real time, or stretch
character be round? Explain your answer. relationship? Define each one.
5. What is the climax, and how does it relate to the 10. What is the difference between suspense and
protagonist’s pursuit of the goal? surprise? Which one is more difficult for a
6. How (and why) do we distinguish between the filmmaker to create?
story and the plot of a movie?
Black Panther (2018). Ryan Coogler, director. Pictured: Lupita Nyong’o and Letitia Wright.
MISE-EN-SCÈNE
CHAPTER
5
154 Chapter 5 Mise-en-Scène
intimidating. But fear not. Like most things cinematic,

LEARNING OBJECTIVES the more you break it down, the more understandable
After reading this chapter, you should be able to mise-en-scène reveals itself to be.
nn define mise-en-scène in terms of its constituent parts. Mise-en-scène means literally “staging or putting on
nn describe the role of the production designer and the an action or scene” and thus is sometimes called stag-
other personnel involved in designing a movie. ing. In fact, the term originated on the theater stage. In
nn understand the basic elements of composition within a play, a bare stage must be lit up, fitted out with con-
the frame. structed sets, and populated with actors wearing cos-
nn define the rule of thirds. tumes and makeup, all of which is arrayed according to
nn distinguish between different lighting directions, ratios, the dramatic needs of each scene.
and qualities. It is much the same in the movies. A film’s mise-en-
nn describe the details of any movie’s mise-en-scène. scène is everything we see in every shot: every object,
nn understand how the elements of mise-en-scène every person, everything about their surroundings, and
contribute to the viewer’s experience and how each of these components is arranged, illumi-
understanding of a movie’s narrative, characters, nated, and moved around. And very little of this is left
tone, and themes. to chance—virtually everything on-screen was carefully
nn apply that understanding to a formal analysis of a shot, chosen and placed there by the filmmakers for a reason.
scene, or film. Sometimes those choices are made for reasons of au-
thenticity. If a director wants the viewer to believe the
events on-screen are happening in, say, a county court-
house in 1965 in Selma, Alabama, during the civil rights
What Is Mise-en-Scène? movement (as in Ava DuVernay’s Selma, 2014), she may
stage her shots with objects and elements that reflect
Mise-en-scène is right there on the screen in front of us, that specific situation, place, and era. Other times those
but approaching the subject can be daunting because choices are driven by the filmmaker’s goal of creating
it encompasses so many interconnected components. mood, conveying character, and telling a story. That same
Even the unfamiliar sound of this hyphenated and ac- scene in Selma uses warm lighting on wood fixtures to
cented French term ( pronounced “meez-ahn-SEN”) is evoke a sense of Old South tradition, dresses a man
Mise-en-scène in Selma
Director Ava DuVernay uses mise-en-scène in this courthouse scene in Selma to evoke an era, manipulate the viewer’s narrative expectations,
and visualize conflict.
Design 155
and the context in which they are presented—gives the

shot or scene much of its overall meaning.
While decisions about mise-en-scène are driven pri-
marily by the needs of a film’s story, mise-en-scène can
also be highly personal and can help us distinguish one
director’s work from another’s. Genre formulas can
also have a powerful influence on the mise-en-scène of
individual films within that genre. You may recall from
Chapter 3 the specific kinds of dramatic lighting asso-
ciated with film noir and the horror genre or the wide
1 open, big-sky settings typical of westerns.
Mise-en- scène is made of four primary components:
design, lighting, composition, and movement (also known
as kinesis).
Design
Design is the process by which the look of the settings,
objects, and actors is determined. Set design, decor, cos-
tuming, makeup, and hairstyle design all play a role in
2 shaping the overall design.
Every director counts on a team of professionals to
Different directorial approaches to mise-en-scène design the look of the movie. The leader of this team is
Wes Anderson, the director of Moonrise Kingdom (2012) [1] and the the production designer.
animated film Isle of Dogs (2018), is known for using conspicuous
mise-en-scène that favors formal, balanced compositions, stylized
settings and costumes, clearly choreographed action, and coordi-
The Production Designer
nated color schemes. In movies such as Children of Men (2006) [2]
and Gravity (2013), director Alfonso Cuarón prefers less ostentatious The director knows the moods and ideas the story must
design that emphasizes realism, often in counterpoint to the fantas- convey in each scene and the character backgrounds,
tic events unfolding on screen. In contrast to the more posed look traits, and intentions that must be reflected in costumes
of Anderson’s compositions, Cuarón’s fluid mise-en-scène unfolds in and makeup. She is ultimately responsible for guiding
lengthy, unbroken shots in which actors and the camera are often in
and finalizing all decisions that go into determining a
seemingly spontaneous motion.
film’s mise-en-scène. But filmmaking is a collaborative
art form, and the director must rely on other experts to
poised to assault Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in an innoc- advise and execute the design process that serves her
uous cardigan sweater to misguide our expectations, and vision.
arranges the actors to emphasize the tense division be- Generally one of the first collaborators that a director
tween the black and the white characters. hires, the production designer is both an artist and an
As you consider a movie’s mise-en-scène, ask your- executive and is responsible for the overall design con-
self whether what you see in a scene is simply appealing cept (for the look of the movie—its individual sets, lo-
decor, a well-dressed actor, and a striking bit of lighting cations, furnishings, properties, and costumes) and for
or whether these elements are influencing your under- supervising the heads of the many departments involved
standing of the narrative, characters, and action of the in creating that look. These departments include
movie. Keep in mind that the director has a purpose for
art (development of the movie’s look involves sketch
each thing put into a shot or scene, but each of these
artists, painters, and computer-graphics specialists)
things does not necessarily have a meaning in and of
itself. The combination of elements within the frame— costume design and construction
Even animated films rely on production design

As we can see from this shot in Trolls (2016), just because settings, props, costumes, makeup, and lighting are drawn, sculpted, and/or mod-
eled on a computer doesn’t mean they aren’t designed and composed to create mood, convey character, and tell a story.
hairstyling ing, planning—that is at the core of all movies. In addition

to the director, the film’s cinematographer (also known
makeup as the director of photography) plays an important role
wardrobe (maintaining the costumes and having in this visual design process—which makes sense, as he
them ready for each day’s shooting) or she will be responsible for lighting and shooting ev-
erything the production designer creates and collects.
location (finding appropriate locations, contracting As we will see in the next chapter, the cinematographer
for their use, and coordinating the transportation of helps create the look of the film by selecting film stock or
cast and crew between the studio and the locations) digital format, by overseeing lighting and camera oper-
properties (finding the furniture and objects for a ation, and by manipulating color, saturation, and other
movie, either from a studio’s own resources or from visual qualities in a postproduction process called color
specialized outside firms that supply properties) grading.
Perhaps because the synthesis of mise-en-scène, cin-
carpentry ematography, and directing is so crucial, many designers
have become directors. Alfred Hitchcock learned about
set construction and decoration
creating visual and special effects, such as expressive
greenery (real or artificial greenery, including grass, lighting, during his early career as an art director ( part
trees, shrubs, and flowers) of the production design team); Ridley Scott worked as
a set designer before directing highly designed films like
transportation (supplying the vehicles seen Alien (1979) and Blade Runner (1982).
on-screen)
visual effects (digital postproduction effects)

Elements of Design
special effects (mechanical effects and in-camera During the process of designing a film, the director and
optical effects created during production)
production designer are concerned with several major el-
The production designer’s process begins with the in- ements. The most important of these are (1) setting, decor,
tensive previsualization—imagining, discussing, sketch- and properties and (2) costume, makeup, and hairstyle.
Design 157
3 4
The evolution of a character design

The terrifying Pale Man [1] in Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) started as a series of drawings in the director’s notebook [2]. As they
worked their way through multiple models and sketches, del Toro and his designers were inspired by what he called “the flat faceless effect”
of a manta ray [3] and by Francisco Goya’s nineteenth-century painting Saturn Devouring His Son [4].
Setting, Decor, and Properties The spatial and tem- Perhaps the most important decision that a filmmaker
poral setting of a film is the environment (realistic or must make about setting is to determine when to shoot
imagined) in which the narrative takes place. In addition on location and when to shoot on a set. To shoot on lo-
to its physical significance, the setting creates a mood cation, filmmakers must find existing interior and exte-
that has social, psychological, emotional, economic, and rior spaces that suit the needs of their story, then alter
cultural significance. The size, layout, and features of the the location according to the planned mise-en-scène, a
space a character inhabits can tell us a lot about that per- process that may include replacing furnishings, hanging
son’s background, circumstances, personality, and even new signage, or repainting walls. Location shooting re-
emotional state. quires filmmakers to secure access (often for a fee), and
Movie sets are designed for the benefit of the camera

When a movie scene is shot in a studio (rather than at an actual location), the crew making a movie can give us the illusion of a whole room
or building when, in fact, they construct only those aspects of a set needed for the benefit of the camera. David Fincher’s The Social Network
(2010) was shot on actual locations as well as in soundstages. This set was designed and constructed to be a life-size representation of the
Winklevoss brothers’ dormitory rooms at Harvard, but as you can see, the principal room is missing its fourth wall, and lighting equipment
is suspended from the ceiling. Through careful framing of each shot, the cinematographer will capture images that make us think this is an
actual room. But fake as it is, the designers and decorators were meticulous about details, which one actor said helped him to better under-
stand the characters and situation.
often, to bring in special equipment to power the lights modating multiple large sets and virtually unlimited
necessary for most motion-picture production. lighting and camera equipment. Some soundstages are
In the first two decades of moviemaking, the prefer- large enough to re-create outdoor scenes, complete with
ence was to shoot in exterior locations for authenticity,
natural depth, and available light. But location shooting
proved expensive and unpredictable, and the evolution
of larger studios made it possible to build interior spaces
(or sets) that could be more easily configured to meet the
needs of the story as well as the film-production process.
The first movie sets were little different from theater
sets: flat backdrops erected, painted, and photographed
in a studio, observed by the camera as if it were a specta-
tor in the theater. Open roofs or skylights provided in-
door lighting.
As movie stories and productions grew in scope and Setting reveals character
In Ex Machina (2014), the set design of the home of the reclusive
sophistication, so did the sets that served them. Movie
social media billionaire Nathan Bateman conveys not only his vast
studios built soundstages—windowless, soundproofed, wealth but also his emotional isolation. The structure is a mostly
boxlike buildings that are several stories high and can subterranean labyrinth of sleek and sterile interiors with few direct
cover an acre or more of floor space—capable of accom- portals to the outside world.
Design 159
the largest interior set in existence to accommodate the

wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling moving camera shots
that stalk the boy protagonist Danny as he rides his Big
Wheel through the Overlook Hotel’s seemingly endless
series of corridors.
Whether the scene is shot on location or on a set, inte-
rior shooting involves the added consideration of decor
(the color and textures of the interior decoration, fur-
niture, draperies, and curtains) and properties, which
can be divided into two basic categories: props and set
dressing. Any object handled by actors is considered a
prop. The prop master works with the production de-
signer to find and select props, then maintains each ob-
ject and ensures it is ready when the actor needs it for
Spectacular early sets shooting. Set dressing is anything used to create the
Giovanni Pastrone’s Italian epic Cabiria (1914) used massive sets to look of the environment in which the action takes place.
impress audiences with eye-popping spectacle and convince them Set dressing may include curtains, paint, carpets, and
that they were witnessing history. The pioneering Italian set de- any object visible in the area, such as furniture, books,
signers were later recruited by Hollywood directors, including D. W.
knickknacks, and other objects or decorations. The set
Griffith. Then, as now, sets can impart story meaning as well. The
design of Cabiria’s temple of Moloch conveys tyrannical power and
the grotesque evil of a place devoted to human sacrifice.
building exteriors and massive painted backdrops rep

resenting distant scenery and sky.
Production studios often also feature back lots: con-
structed buildings and streets that include classic ex-
amples of various types of architecture that can be used
again and again, often with new paint or landscaping to 1
help them meet the requirements of a new narrative. A
movie set is not reality, but a fragment of reality created
as the setting for a particular shot. Only those aspects
of the exteriors that are necessary for the benefit of the
camera are actually built, whether to scale (life-size)
or in miniature. For example, the front of a house may
look complete with bushes and flowers, curtains in the
windows, and so on, but there may be no rooms behind
that facade. Similarly, most interior sets include only the 2
minimum parts of the rooms needed to accommodate
the story action and the movement of the camera. Some Arrival subverts setting expectations
ambitious filmmakers push past the usual studio practi- Everything about the visiting aliens in Arrival (2016) is completely
calities to create immersive sets that lend their settings outside the understanding of the human scientists tasked with
a more expansive spatial quality. Director Orson Welles translating their language and deciphering their intent. So, direc-
and his design team on Citizen Kane (1941) created spe- tor Denis Villeneuve and his production designer, Patrice Vermette,
purposely subverted established movie expectations viewers might
cial sets that included ceilings visible in low-angle shots
have of aerodynamic metal spaceships encrusted with wires, an-
and a complete set of four walls for shots captured from tennae, and other surface details. Each of Arrival’s alien egg-shaped
high angles. For Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980), craft [1] seems to be made of stone; the interiors are spare, organic,
production designer Roy Walker created what was then and enormous [2].
1 2
3 4
Set dressing and props in Okja

Decor, set dressing, and props are all capable of expressing meaning that creates mood and aids in our understanding of story and character.
Mija, the young protagonist of director Joon-ho Bong’s environmental parable Okja (2017), lives in a simple but idyllic setting [1]. The rough-
hewn objects and decor that make up the set dressing communicate a simple lifestyle in harmony with nature that is in stark contrast with
the steel and concrete slaughterhouse she infiltrates to rescue her beloved genetically engineered pig Okja [2]. She buys his freedom (and
his life) with a prop: a solid gold pig that her grandfather purchased with his payment for raising Okja [3]. The prop serves the story and also
represents a number of conflicting themes: the grandfather’s traditional mind-set, Mija’s love for Okja, and the corporate greed personified by
the meat industry heiress Nancy Mirando [4].
decorator, a sort of cinematic interior decorator who straightforward as hair, makeup, and costumes, it is
is in charge of set dressing, supervises a variety of spe- often useful to start with how an everyday equivalent
cialists. The late Stephenie McMillan, a set decorator functions in our own lives. For most of us, making our-
on eight of the Harry Potter films, said that her job was selves presentable to the outside world influences our
to bring the production designer’s vision to life. She be- selection of clothes, cosmetics, and hairstyle. We tend to
lieved that the look of a movie should never upstage the do our best to appear “attractive.”
actors nor distract from the action. It is no different in movies. In fact, in most cases,
the film industry’s impulse to use clothes, makeup, and
Costume, Makeup, and Hairstyle To understand ele hairstyling to enhance beauty is even more pronounced,
ments of cinematic language, even things as seemingly especially in mainstream commercial cinema. Why?
Set design and costumes in The Leopard

Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard (1963) explores the transformation
of Sicilian society after the unification of Italy in 1861. In one scene,
Angelica, the daughter of a striving bourgeois mayor, wanders an
abandoned palace owned by the royal family of her upper-class fi-
ancé. Her bright pink dress stands out in stark contrast against the
empty, unadorned walls, visualizing the incongruity between the vi-
brancy of the ascendant lower classes and the fading of a doomed
aristocracy.
Design 161
Because one of the many reasons we go to the movies is

to experience visually pleasing things (gorgeous images,
scenic environments, intriguing objects) and beautiful
people. So, ever since movies entered the media mar-
ketplace, performers have been cast as much (and some-
times more) for their looks as for their acting talent.
During the years of the classical Hollywood studio
system, the studios frequently took actors with star po-
tential and gave them major makeovers, dyed and re-
styled their hair, had their teeth fixed or replaced, and
even subjected them to cosmetic surgery, all to create a 1
certain “ideal” masculine or feminine beauty to comple-
ment the other decorative aspects of the studio’s prod-
uct. Today, thankfully, actors are not fettered by rigid
studio contracts, and our culture’s notions of beauty have
broadened considerably. But many movies are still in the
business of providing beautiful things to look at, so film-
makers often use the styling of actors’ hair, makeup, and
clothing toward that goal.
Of course, making people pretty is only one way to
use costumes, hairstyle, and makeup. Moviemakers are
also concerned with verisimilitude. Thanks to centuries 2
of paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs depict-
ing both historical events and everyday life, we are cul- Costume and hairstyle convey time and place in The
turally trained to use visual cues—including clothing, Get Down and Stranger Things
For Baz Luhrmann’s 2016–17 Netflix series The Get Down [1], produc-
hairstyles, and makeup—to identify the period an image
tion designer Karen Murphy used details such as afros, sideburns,
represents. Filmmakers tap into this visual vocabulary knit shirts, flared pants, and vintage Pro Keds sneakers to firmly root
to tell us where and when a story is taking place and to the story in the Bronx of the late 1970s. Stranger Things [2], another
help us believe the fabricated events we are watching. Netflix series set just a few years later in small-town Indiana, evoked
That doesn’t mean movie characters always look ex the era with patterned polos and sweaters, corduroy bell-bottoms,
down vests, and feathered hair.
actly like their real-life counterparts would have ap-
peared in the original era. The hairstyles, clothing design,
and makeup practices used in a period film may also be
influenced by the fashions in style at the time when the Of course, just as we saw with settings and decor, el-
movie was made and marketed. Because designers are ements of design may serve multiple functions. In ad-
products of their times, some of this contemporary in- dition to providing visual attractiveness and enhancing
fluence may be unconscious and unavoidable. But often, verisimilitude, the appearance of characters through
designing elements of contemporary style into the mise- costumes, hairstyle, and makeup also provides filmmak-
en-scène of movies set in the past is done deliberately. ers yet another way to convey narrative information and
Filmmakers understand that current styles are deeply meaning to the viewer.
embedded in audiences’ expectations. They want to
transport us to a different time and place, but they don’t Costume We choose our clothes for a variety of rea-
want to distract, confuse, or repulse us with hairstyles, sons, including price, fit, and comfort, but we are also—
makeup, and garments that don’t make sense to our whether unconsciously or deliberately—making selections
contemporary perspective. How filmmakers conceive that communicate an image to those around us. And the
and present people, places, and things in a story set in a image we present often varies with the situation. Most of
speculative future or in a wholly imagined fantasy world us don’t wear the same kind of clothes to a job interview
may also be influenced by contemporary culture. that we would to class or a party.
Walter Plunkett’s clothing designs for the romantic

Civil War epic Gone with the Wind (1939) were not always
historically accurate, but they effectively helped actor
Vivien Leigh portray the protagonist Scarlett O’Hara. In
the opening scenes, her frilly buttoned-up dress pre
sents Scarlett as a girlish innocent. The next day, when
she’s on the hunt for a marriage proposal, her new dress,
which features a plunging neckline and bare shoulders,
reveals her true nature and intent. The outfit doesn’t
work, and she ends up marrying a different man whom
she does not love. He conveniently dies in the war, and
soon after, she causes a scandal at a ball when she dances
with the notorious scoundrel Rhett Butler while still
wearing an all-black mourning gown. As the war reduces
her fortunes—and she matures—Scarlett’s wardrobe be-
comes less decorative, more practical, and considerably
grimier. Poverty stricken after the war, Scarlett needs
money for taxes to save her beloved plantation. Her only
chance for a loan is to seduce Rhett, so she orders her
former slave to sew a fancy new gown out of old curtains.
Contemporary films employ costumes to convey char
acter progression as well. When Jordan Peele’s 2017
horror film Get Out introduces us to Rose Armitage,
Cleopatra values glamour over historical accuracy
The Hollywood studio 20th Century Fox that produced the 1963 epic the white girlfriend of African American photographer
Cleopatra was more concerned with selling their popular star Eliza- Chris Washington, the story needs us to believe that she
beth Taylor than with historical accuracy. The costumes Taylor wore is a progressive and sincerely supportive girlfriend. So,
in the title role were basically contemporary gowns designed to her clothing is cool and casual: a quilted black jacket,
accentuate the actress’s beauty; experts agree that they bear little
denim dress, and ribbed tights. Later, after she has re-
resemblance to the styles of the late Greco-Roman period.
vealed herself to be a racist predator, she changes into
a crisp white button-down shirt tucked into fitted khaki
slacks.
What we wear in any given situation tells those we en- The title character’s costume in Tim Burton’s Edward
counter something about us. The information conveyed Scissorhands (1990) proclaims his status as an absolute
by our clothes is not always accurate; we may be using outsider. In stark contrast to the bland pastels worn by
clothes to imply qualities we don’t actually possess (an the conformists who take him in, Edward is clad in an
upstanding orthodontist may buy a motorcycle and put ornate black leather bodysuit that is simultaneously
on a bandana and a black leather jacket, but that doesn’t menacing and sexy—and is in direct opposition to his
make him an outlaw biker). And, of course, our selection innocent, gentle nature. The suit seems stitched to-
is governed or at least influenced by the fashions of the gether from multiple spare parts and is held together
era we live in. with straps, buckles, and rivets, a look that implies Ed-
The same goes for film characters. The costumes (the ward’s assembled origins. (The fact that he has scissors
clothing, sometimes known as wardrobe, worn by an for hands supports this impression.)
actor in a movie) are selected and designed by the film- Edward Scissorhands takes place in a highly stylized
makers to provide a sense of authenticity regarding the version of contemporary America. But what about cos-
story’s time period and setting and also to help commu- tumes in entirely invented settings? When a film in-
nicate the character’s social station, self-image, state of volves the future, as in science fiction, the costumes must
mind, and the public image that the character is trying reflect the social structure and values of an imaginary
to project. society. For example, in the dystopian Hunger Games
Design 163
Different characters, different costumes, hairstyles,

and makeup
Actor Charlize Theron brings a great range and skill to her perfor-
mances. Her characterizations are further enhanced by costume,
hairstyle, and makeup. To fully inhabit the serial killer Aileen Wuor-
nos in Patty Jenkins’s Monster (2003), Theron put on weight, par-
tially shaved her eyebrows, thinned and heat-damaged her hair, and
wore prosthetic dentures [1]. To play the indomitable Furiosa in Mad
Max: Fury Road (2015), her skin was soiled, tanned and weathered,
her hair was chopped off and darkened, and her left arm was (digi-
tally) amputated [2]. The black makeup across her forehead, a sym-
bol of her allegiance to the tyrant Immortan Joe, gradually wears off
1
as her humanity reemerges. When the emotionally stunted Mavis
Gary, her character in Young Adult (2011), discovers her high school
boyfriend is now a new father, her unwashed hair is pulled back, her
eyeliner is smeared, and she wears a baggy T-shirt and sweatpants [3].
She uses clothing, makeup, and wigs to assume an escalating series
of more seductive looks in her delusional quest to win him back [4].
series, the regimented workers all wear variations of the

same drab conformist uniform, while the clothes worn
by the decadent ruling class come in an endless gamut of
2 vibrant colors and flamboyant styles.
Real-world fashion designers constantly borrow from
the past to create today’s designs, and the same goes for
the wardrobe designers inventing costumes for stories
set in the future. The characters in the bleak, cynical
Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) films
wear clothes that would (mostly) fit right in during the
1940s, when film noir first emerged from Hollywood.
The flowing T-shaped garments and the layered armored
uniforms worn by characters throughout the continuing
Star Wars saga are influenced by traditional Japanese
clothing. (It is no coincidence that Japanese samurai
films were one of many sources George Lucas drew upon
3
when he invented Star Wars in the first place.)
Makeup and Hairstyle The traditional makeup used to

enhance or alter an actor’s appearance covers the full
range of facial and body cosmetics familiar to consumers
(often specially blended to comply with camera and light-
ing requirements) and prosthetics, which are synthetic
materials attached to an actor’s face or body. Prosthet-
ics can include artificial skin for aging effects; fabricated
noses, ears, teeth, and chins to help make an actor look
more like a known figure; or the kind of grotesque (or
whimsical) appendages and the gory wounds we associate
with fantasy and horror films. Actors’ bodies may be fitted
4
with prosthetics to increase the illusion of a character’s
weight, height, or build.
The appearance of actors’ hair is used to create the

look appropriate to each character’s role in the story.
An actor’s existing hair may be styled or the actor may
be fitted with wigs and other hairpieces. In fact, until
the 1960s, actors in almost every film, whether period
or contemporary, were required to wear wigs designed
for the film for reasons both aesthetic and practical.
When shooting out of sequence, which allows continu
ous scenes to be shot weeks apart, it is particularly dif-
ficult to re-create colors, cuts, and styles of hair. In the
days before technology made it easy to compare shots
captured at different times, an actor’s hair might not
have matched from shot to shot. Once designed, a wig
never changes, eliminating the possibility that an actor’s
1
hair could be the source of a continuity error.
The person responsible for all these effects is the
makeup artist. The makeup artist works closely with
the production designer and the cinematographer, as
well as with actors themselves, usually accompanying
them to the set and performing whatever touch-ups are
necessary. In many films, animators and other digital ef-
fects artists also alter the appearances of actors to help
create characters and lend historical or contextual au-
thenticity. The computer-generated animated layers
over live performances using motion capture technol-
Historically accurate makeup and hair

During the studio years, film characters’ hairstyles were usually Traditional and digital makeup in
based on modified modern looks rather than period authenticity. Alice in Wonderland
Two notable exceptions to this practice involve the same actress The hair, costume, and makeup for the Red Queen in Tim Burton’s Al-
playing the same character in two different movies shot 16 years ice in Wonderland (2010) and Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
apart. The strict historical accuracy that actor Bette Davis brought to were influenced by illustrations from Lewis Carroll’s original books
her portrayals of Queen Elizabeth I in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and by Bette Davis’s portrayals of Queen Elizabeth I in two Holly-
and Essex (1939) [1] and The Virgin Queen (1955) required that she wood studio films. Both traditional and digital techniques were used
shave her eyebrows and the front half of her head to accommodate to create the character we see on-screen. Exaggerated makeup and
a wig in the style worn by the sixteenth-century monarch [2]. a massive wig help convey her malicious vanity; her digitally inflated
head and impossibly restricted waist complete the effect.
Design 165
them. Mrs. Mollé’s uncomplicated makeup and hair is

designed as a counterpoint as well. She is a supportive
anchor of normalcy in the protagonist’s otherwise un-
predictable and often hostile world.
Makeup and hair also contribute to the characteriza-
tions in Get Out and Edward Scissorhands described ear-
lier. As the sincere girlfriend in Get Out, Rose Armitage
has long flowing hair and stylish bangs. After she betrays
A villain’s hairstyle goes against expectations
her boyfriend Chris, Rose slicks her hair into a tight po-
In the Coen brothers’ No Country for Old Men (2007), the hair of the nytail. Edward Scissorhands’s ghostly pale makeup and
character Anton Chigurh is styled in a way not normally associated lack of eyebrows differentiates (and alienates) him from
with portrayals of cold-blooded killers. But somehow, the incongru- his more conventionally biological suburban neighbors.
ity of a laughable bowl-cut bob on a ruthless psychopath made actor The prosthetic scars that cover his face help us sympa-
Javier Bardem’s portrayal even more convincing—and terrifying.
thize with the hardships of being an abandoned orphan
with scissors for hands. Edward’s unruly hair tells us
something about his self-image and his generous nature.
ogy have been described as “digital makeup” by the actor He devotes himself to beautifying the hair of others, but
Andy Serkis, whose performances have been used to ani- he never turns his talents on himself.
mate characters such as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings
and Hobbit films and Caesar in the most recent Planet of
the Apes trilogy. Serkis claims that animators follow ev-
ery expression and movement so closely that the anima-
tion counts as makeup. Many animators feel that they
contribute more than simply surface embellishment—
they create aspects of performance not present in the
original motion-capture sessions.
The actor Zoe Saldana is familiar with most ap-
proaches to makeup. For her transformation into the
compassionate space assassin Gamora in the original 1
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) film and its 2017 sequel,

she wore a wig, was covered in multiple layers of green
paint, and wore silicone prosthetics over her eyebrows,
forehead, and cheekbones. The compassionate space na
tive Neytiri in Avatar (2009) began with Saldana’s
motion-captured performance, which was the basis for
the animated character we see on-screen. Her (some-
what) more down-to-earth role as a school psychologist
named Mrs. Mollé in I Kill Giants (2017) required that 2
she wear minimal traditional makeup and a simple hair-
style. All of Saldana’s roles use makeup to convey char- The expressive power of makeup
acter and help tell the story. Gamora’s look imparts an In Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (2008), the Joker character’s
exotic menace that clashes with an emotional vulner- great, gashed red mouth, created through facial painting and pros-
ability she unsuccessfully tries to conceal. Neytiri ap- thetics, is a darkly comic deformation and a visual parallel to the
character’s dual traits of sadistic humor and true evil [1]. An explo-
pears both otherworldy and familiar. Neytiri’s people,
sion rigged by the Joker transforms a district attorney into the mu-
the Na’vi, are designed to evoke aboriginal peoples and tilated villain Two-Face; here, a digital process was used to replace
project a sort of feline athleticism that is in stark con- half of the character’s face with grisly computer-animated bone,
trast to the earthling soldiers who discover and exploit muscle, and scar tissue [2].
Lighting
Illumination and shadow affect the way we see and
interpret settings, makeup, and costumes, so during
preproduction, most designers include an idea of the
lighting in their sketches. Likewise, because lighting can
help express mood, tell a story, and convey character, di-
rectors often incorporate lighting into the storyboards
they use to plan the film. When the movie is ready for
shooting, these sketches help guide the cinematogra-
pher in coordinating the camera and the lighting. During
actual production, the cinematographer determines the 1
lighting once the camera setups are chosen. As a key
component of composition, lighting creates our sense of
cinematic space by illuminating people and things, cre-
ating highlights and shadows, and defining shapes and
textures. Both on a set and on location, light is controlled
and manipulated to achieve expressive effects; except in
rare instances, there is no such thing as wholly “natural”
lighting in a narrative movie. Documentaries that cap-
ture events as they happen often have no choice but to
use whatever lighting is available, but events produced
for the documentary, such as re-creations and inter-
views, employ planned, and sometimes even expressive,
lighting. Animated movies also use expressive lighting, 2
even when it must be drawn or modeled. We will return
to lighting as it relates to cinematography in the next
chapter. Here in relation to mise-en-scène, we will con-
cern ourselves with three aspects of the lighting setup:
quality, ratios, and direction.
LOOKING AT MOVIES
LIGHTING
Expressive lighting in City of God

Lighting plays a powerful role in establishing the setting, character,
and tone in City of God (2002), a violent story of constantly changing
moods that is told with equally rapid changes in lighting style. [1] A
rare playful day on the beach is saturated in sunlight. [2] A drug deal
in a decaying slum building is depicted with large areas of shadow
VIDEO This tutorial discusses the key properties with the only light filtered through a brick screen. [3] Strobe lights,
of lighting. lens flares, and reflections underscore the rapidly developing chaos
at a disco party.
Lighting 167
Lighting and setting

A good way to understand how lighting influences our impressions
of the setting is to compare the lighting quality of two movies that
were filmed in the same setting. Alexander Mackendrick’s Sweet
Smell of Success (1957) paints a cynical portrait of Manhattan as a
cutthroat world of schemers and powerbrokers. This scene shot be-
side the city’s Queensboro Bridge uses hard, low-key light to throw 2
sharp pools of light and cast deep shadows [1]. Woody Allen’s Man-
hattan (1979) is a romantic and funny appraisal of relationships and Soft versus hard lighting
the city itself. In its Queensboro Bridge scene, the light is diffused In Citizen Kane (1941), cinematographer Gregg Toland used lighting
and the edges are soft [2]. ratios and quality to create a clear contrast between characters in
the scene in which Charles Foster Kane first meets and woos Susan
Alexander. The lighting on the powerful millionaire is harder and rel-
atively low-key, emphasizing his age and worldliness [1]. The inex-
Quality perienced shopgirl is lit with high-key and soft light that softens her
youthful features [2].
The quality of light used in any situation falls somewhere
on a spectrum between hard light and soft light. Hard
light is direct: the beams of light shine directly from the dubbed diffusion. Soft light is low contrast: where illumi-
source to the subject. Hard light creates a clear, sharp nation ends and shadow begins is less distinct. Details
border between areas of bright illumination and dark are also less defined, and so soft light is considered more
shadows. Hard light is high contrast: details are crisp flattering. One easy way to see the difference between
and defined, which can make hard light less flattering for hard and soft light is to compare the interplay between
characters with wrinkles and other facial textures. Soft light and shadow in direct sunlight (hard light), as op-
light is diffused: the beams of light are broken up or scat- posed to how light and shadow appear on a cloudy or
tered on their way from the source to the subject. This foggy day (soft light). We can generally (but not always)
diffusion can be accomplished by bouncing the light or associate hard lighting with serious or scary situations
by passing it through a sort of cloudy paper descriptively and soft lighting with romantic or comic stories.
to regulate this relationship between light and shadow.

The most conventional method is the three-point sys-
tem. Used extensively since the Hollywood studio era
(1927–47), the three-point system casts a flattering and
natural-looking light on actors. The system uses three
sources of light, each aimed from a different direction
and position in relation to the subject: key light, fill light,
and backlight. The overall character of the image is de-
termined mainly by the relationship between the key
and fill lights. The key light (also known as the main, or
source, light) is the primary source of illumination and
therefore is customarily set first. Positioned to one side
of the camera, it creates deep shadows. The fill light,
1 which is positioned at the opposite side of the camera
from the key light, adjusts the depth of the shadows cre-
ated by the brighter key light. Fill light may also come
Backlight
from a reflector. The backlight, which is also known as
B a rim light or kicker, provides highlights in the hair and
along the edges of the subject. These “rims” of light help
make the actor stand out from the background.
When little or no fill light is used, the ratio between
bright illumination and deep shadow is very high; the
high contrast effect produced is known as low-key
lighting. Low-key lighting produces the harsh, gloomy
atmosphere that we often see in horror films, mysteries,
crime stories, and film noirs.
High-key lighting, which produces an image with
very little contrast between the darks and the lights, is
F used extensively in dramas, musicals, comedies, and
K adventure films. Its relatively even illumination is un-
Fill light Key light obtrusive and does not call particular attention to the
Camera lighting style. When the intensity of the fill light equals
Three-point lighting
The Scarlet Empress (1934), a ravishing, high-camp historical drama,
is also the director Josef von Sternberg’s visual tribute to the allure
of Marlene Dietrich. He consistently photographs her with three-
point lighting that accentuates her beauty. In this example, the key
light casts deep shadows around her eyes and on her right cheek.
The fill light softens the depth of the shadows created by the
brighter key light. The backlight creates highlights along the edges
of her hair and separates her from the background.
Low-key lighting
Vengeance is fulfilled as the title character in John Wick (2014) limps
Lighting Ratios away from a bloody and rain-soaked fight with his nemesis. Very
hard, extremely low-key lighting helps visualize Wick’s grim determi-
The level of illumination on a subject, as compared with nation and almost supernatural toughness. Even in his moment of
the depth of the corresponding shadow, is called its victory, the emotionally (and physically) wounded Wick is portrayed
lighting ratio. Filmmakers use a number of techniques in the darkest possible terms.
Lighting 169
the lighting can also create mood and convey informa-

tion or meaning regarding the subject being lit.
Backlighting can create dramatic lighting effects, es-
pecially when it is the sole light source. When positioned
between the light source and the camera, the subject is
thrown into silhouette. Eliminating recognizable sur-
face detail by throwing everything we see of the subject
into shadow abstracts the character, which can make
1 him or her (or it) more frightening or impressive, de-
pending on the context of the story at that moment.
Lighting from underneath a character (known as
Halloween lighting, or bottom lighting) reverses the
normal placement of illumination and shadows on an
actor’s face, which distorts the way we see facial features.
As you might expect from the name, Halloween lighting
is often used in horror films to emphasize that there is
High-key lighting
To create the prison in his dystopian THX 1138 (1971), George Lucas
used the ultimate high-key lighting to suggest a vast and featureless
purgatory [1]. Equal ratios of light come from every direction, result-
ing in a complete lack of shadows. The same technique is used in a
different context, and for a different purpose, in Denis Villeneuve’s
Arrival. Extreme high-key lighting gives Dr. Louise Banks’s first and
only up-close encounter with the aliens an otherworldly eeriness [2].
that of the key light, the result will be the highest of high-
key lighting: no shadows at all.
You may have noticed that these terms—low-key
lighting and high-key lighting—are counterintuitive: we
1
increase the contrasts to produce low-key lighting and
decrease them to produce high-key lighting. It would be
easier to remember if the terms were low-fill and high-
fill instead. After all, cinematographers dim the fill light
to achieve low-key lighting and intensify the fill light to
get lighting that is high-key. But the terms high-key and
low-key are well entrenched after a century of use in the
film industry, so we’re stuck with them.
2
Direction
Light can be thrown onto an object or actor from virtu- Backlighting
ally any direction: front, side, back, below, or above. By In Citizen Kane’s pivotal “declaration of principles” scene, Charles
Foster Kane hits a high point of righteous sincerity. To emphasize his
direction, we also mean the angle of that throw, for the
nobility, backlighting is used to differentiate Kane from his admiring
angle helps produce the contrasts and shadows that sug- underlings [1]. Silhouetting a character with backlighting has a very
gest the source of the illumination and the time of day. different effect in the horror thriller Don’t Breathe (2016). Backlight-
As with the other properties of lighting, the direction of ing makes the vengeful antagonist all the more imposing [2].
Lighting from below Frontal lighting

When a dead body is reanimated in The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Detective Mark McPherson falls in love with the title character in
the perversity of the act and the deviance of the characters per- Laura (1944) when he first meets her. When she becomes his prime
petrating it are emphasized with Halloween lighting, the term for suspect, frontal light that flattens her glamorous features visualizes
aiming the light source up at the subject from below. the transformation.
something unnatural about a character or situation. To shadows can obscure an actor’s eyes, causing the charac-
add to this eerie effect, placing the light source below the ter to appear threatening or mysterious.
subject also throws shadows upward onto walls, where When light is aimed at a subject from the same angle
we are not used to seeing them. as the camera, no shadows are cast on the actor’s face.
Top lighting (light cast on a character from above) With no shadows to indicate dimension, the actor’s fea-
usually looks comparatively normal, as the Sun, our tures appear flattened. This literal lack of depth can also
most natural light source, is usually in an overhead posi- convey figurative shallowness: a character lacking in-
tion. Overhead lighting can be glamorous when it high- sight or courage may be lit with frontal lighting.
lights the subject’s hair and cheekbones. But if the angle
of overhead light is taken to the extreme, the resulting
INTERACTIVE These interactive lighting

tutorials let you experience the full expressive range
of four lighting techniques: quality, exposure, ratio,
and direction.
Lighting from above

In Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972), the enigmatic Don
Vito Corleone is often lit with overhead lighting that casts his deep-
set eyes into shadow. Partially obscuring the Godfather’s eyes en-
hances his character’s mystery and power.
Composition 171
the movie helps ensure that the movie’s overall style will
have aesthetic unity. How elements are arranged helps
guide the viewer’s eye through the frame and makes us
aware of what elements are most significant at any given
moment. Composition can minimize or enhance the
appearance of depth in a shot. And, perhaps most im-
portant, the way elements are organized on-screen can
help viewers understand a character’s state of mind and
interpret different characters’ physical, emotional, and
psychological relationships to one another.
Ensuring that each shot’s composition serves the
1 movie’s narrative, tone, and overall style requires a great
deal of planning, so filmmakers use previsualization to
aid them in visualizing each individual shot and to help
them achieve a unified approach to shot compositions.
Previsualization can include drawings of planned com-
positions called storyboards, diagrams of sets that in-
clude actor and camera positions called overheads, and
software that creates three-dimensional models of sets
and scenarios.
As a rule, our minds—and by extension our eyes—seek
equilibrium and order. On the movie screen, that order
Lighting imparts character and narrative in

The Night of the Hunter
Cinematographer Stanley Cortez’s expressive lighting in The Night
of the Hunter (1955) sets up the conflict between John, a confused
young boy, and Harry, a Bible-quoting serial killer. Both are presented
in shadow for the moment of the murderous preacher’s arrival out-
side John’s house: John is in silhouette, and Harry is a large, looming
shadow cast on his bedroom wall [1]. Throughout the film, Harry’s
dual nature is underlined with lighting that divides his face between
illumination and shadow [2].
Composition
Design and lighting function as elements of mise-en-
scène. But what really makes mise-en-scène work is how
those visual elements are arranged within each shot. A
shot’s composition is the organization, distribution, bal-
ance, and general relationship of objects and figures, as
well as of light, shade, line, color, and movement within
Previsualizing composition with storyboards
the frame. Director Martin Campbell worked with storyboard artists to plan
Composition is important for a number of reasons. A compositions and camera moves for the James Bond film Goldeneye
consistent approach to composition over the course of (1995).
The rule of thirds breaks the frame into three ver-

tical sections and three horizontal sections, resulting in
a grid. This grid acts as a guide that filmmakers use to
balance visual elements in the frame. It is not an exact
science; art is never that simple. The basic idea is that
composition is built in basic units of three: top, middle,
bottom; left, center, right; foreground, middle ground,
and background. Usually, for every visual element placed
on one section, there will be a corresponding element in
the opposite section to counterbalance the composition.
Of course, like all good rules, the rule of thirds allows for
a wide variety of applications.
Our gaze is drawn to the area along the top horizontal
1 line of a composition. For this reason, significant infor-
mation, including the faces of characters, is often placed
in this area. Because we humans tend to focus our atten-
tion on one another’s eyes, close-up compositions of-
ten position characters’ eyes along this upper line. This
alignment has an added benefit. By framing a character’s
eyes at the level of the upper line, cinematographers can
quickly and efficiently establish a practical and aesthet-
ically pleasing amount of space, or headroom, above
the subject. Sometimes, a story calls for composition
that pushes the idea of balance to the next level, result-
ing in compositions that are so perfectly balanced that
one side of the frame virtually mirrors the other. This
Composition and characters INTERACTIVE In this interactive tutorial on

Two shots from William Wyler’s The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) composition, see how many ways you can compose
illustrate how triangular compositions are used to represent the in- and capture a multitude of interactions and situations
tertwined lives of three veterans. The men meet when they all hitch presented in a single scenario as you position and
a ride home from the war in the same decommissioned bomber [1]. scale the camera frame.
Their close physical grouping on that trip reflects the tight emo-
tional bond they have only recently established. Much later, a similar
tripoint pattern conveys a much less intimate relationship [2]. Time
has changed their lives, and the same old patterns have different
meanings within the larger context.
often takes the form of a balanced composition. The in-

clination toward compositional balance is not limited to
narrative movies. Documentary camera operators usually
seek balanced visual arrangements when shooting inter-
views or even while recording impromptu events. Exper-
imental filmmakers that seek to challenge expectations
may intentionally exaggerate or subvert balanced com-
position conventions such as the so-called rule of thirds.
Composition 173
The rule of thirds

Although these two shots from an opening scene in Hidden Figures (2016) are composed differently, they each use the rule of thirds. In the
closer angle [1], the balanced composition emphasizes the vertical. The overzealous trooper and the defiant Mary are positioned in the grid’s
left and right sections, with her companions Dorothy and Katherine centered in the background. Each woman occupies a different vertical
third in the wider shot [2]; Mary must share hers with the looming officer. The horizontal thirds in the wider shot are divided into highway, car,
and sky. Notice how all three of our protagonists’ faces fall near the top horizontal line in both compositions. Significant information is often
placed in this area of the frame.
symmetry can—depending on the context in which it is positional stress. This intentional imbalance can com-
used—convey a sense of rigid order, ostentatious ritual, municate many levels of meaning, as always depending
or formal elegance. on the context in which it is used. A character can be
By purposely breaking the rule of thirds and denying made to appear diminished or disturbed, or a moment
our expectation of balance, filmmakers can create com- can be imbued with a sense of tension or foreboding.
Symmetry Compositional stress

At the beginning of this chapter, we saw an example of the compo- The social marginalization of a guilt-ridden boy is expressed with
sitional symmetry Wes Anderson used to lend Moonrise Kingdom unbalanced compositions in Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher (1999).
a sort of theatrical whimsy. Stanley Kubrick used symmetry to dif-
ferent effect in The Shining. When one of Danny’s Big Wheel rides
through the Overlook Hotel brings him face to face with the ghosts
of murdered twin girls, the scene’s sudden uncanny symmetry radi-
ates creepy menace.
Sometimes what might appear to be imbalance is

actually maintaining a different sort of balance. When
a character is looking across the screen, she is typically
placed on one end of the frame so that her gaze is bal-
anced with what is called eye room (or looking room)
on the opposite side of the composition. In our innate vi-
sual vocabulary, just the act of looking carries the weight
necessary to stabilize a composition. Similarly, a charac-
1
ter whose lateral screen movement is tracked by a mov-
ing camera is almost invariably given lead room on the
side of the frame toward which she is moving.
Another application of apparent imbalance is some-
thing called negative space. We are so accustomed to
compositional balance that sometimes when we’re pre-
sented with a lopsided composition, an expectation is
created that something will arrive to restore balance.
This technique is often used to generate suspense in
narrative contexts featuring someone (or something)
whose imminent arrival we anticipate—or fear.
The composition conventions we’ve just described 2
are primarily concerned with only two dimensions:
height and width. After all, a movie screen is two- Lead room and eye room
dimensional. But the world movies depict features a These two different moments in Run Lola Run (1998) illustrate the
third dimension: depth. Since the early days of film, film- heft a character’s gaze or forward momentum can bring to a compo-
sition. Most of the many shots depicting Lola dashing across Berlin
makers have innovated ways to provide audiences the
to save her seemingly doomed boyfriend Manny balance the com-
illusion of depth. In the 1930s, as new lenses and lights position with lead room [1]. In the end, when Lola stares across
made it possible to capture depth when photographing the screen toward the offscreen (and inexplicably living) Manny, her
images, cinematographers such as Gregg Toland (and implied eye room takes up the rest of the composition [2].
Composition 175
Negative space
In a suspenseful scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), the protagonist Frodo is tricked into becoming lost in a cave.
He soon stumbles across a lair filled with massive webs and a sizable collection of silk-wrapped skeletons. When the narrative pauses at this
composition, negative space creates the unsettling expectation that the inevitable giant spider will creep from the shadows to fill the empty
space.
his directing collaborators John Ford, Orson Welles, and or more of the three planes of depth—foreground, mid-
William Wyler) began regularly using depth as a compo- dle ground, and background—in such a way that not only
nent of composition. emphasizes depth but also conveys information, mood,
Deep-space composition emphasizes depth by plac- and meaning. This meaning can take many forms, de-
ing significant visual and narrative information on two pending on how the levels of depth are presented. Mean-
ing about the situation and relationships presented can
be communicated by the relative placement of characters
LOOKING AT MOVIES
COMPOSING THE FRAME
Deep-space composition and relative size in frame

Alicia, the protagonist of Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious (1946), is be-
ing slowly poisoned to death by her husband and his Nazi collabora-
tors. In this shot, deep-space composition uses relative size in frame
VIDEO In this tutorial, Dave Monahan discusses
to graphically compare Alicia’s vulnerability and weakened condition
the core principles of composition within the frame.
to the significant threat posed by the poisoned coffee.
and objects, their relative size in frame, and whether or

not a character is in focus.
The way a camera frames the shots in a film can
convey meaning in ways that are related to, but go be-
yond, mise-en-scène and composition. We will dis-
cuss some of those ways, including point of view, open
and closed framing, and deep-focus photography, in
Chapter 6.
Kinesis
One of the most efficient ways to analyze mise-en-scène
is to study still images taken from a motion picture. So,
Deep-space composition in Citizen Kane it is easy to forget about movement (otherwise known
In this deep-space composition from Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane as kinesis). Movies don’t just move from shot to shot
(1941), cinematographer Gregg Toland exploits all three planes of and scene to scene, obviously—people and things move
depth along a line that draws our eye from screen right to screen left. around within the frame, and when the camera moves,
In the foreground telephone booth, the backlit reporter Mr. Thompson
the frame itself can move through space. Both of these
calls in his story; in the middle ground, the nightclub headwaiter pa-
forms of kinesis are used to “stage or put on an action
tiently stands by; and, in a pool of light in the background, the drunk
and distraught Susan Alexander Kane, the subject of Thompson’s or scene” and can thus be considered components of
visit, mourns her ex-husband and her misspent life. Each character is mise-en-scène.
photographed in clear focus in a unified setting, yet each occupies a Let’s start with movement within the frame, or figure
separate physical, psychological, and emotional space. movement. The word figure applies to anything con-
crete and potentially mobile within the frame. Usually
the moving figure is an actor playing a character, but
moving figures may also include animals and objects,
such as vehicles and props. In movies as well as in the-
ater, figure movement is an essential part of storytell-
Deep-space composition, but not deep focus Kinesis in action films

A scene from The Little Foxes (1941) demonstrates that every plane Throughout the history of film—from the Hollywood swashbuckler
of action need not be in focus to achieve expressive deep-space movies, to the many cinematic portrayals of Shakespeare’s Ham-
composition. The invalid Horace has a heart attack shortly after de- let, to martial arts movies—old-fashioned swordplay has always
nying his wife Regina the money she wants for a morally dubious been one of the most exciting forms of movement on-screen. Ang
investment. He begs her to retrieve his vital medication from an Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), a contemporary up-
upstairs room, but the vindictive Regina remains motionless. As date of Hong Kong sword-and-sorcery movies, combined martial
Horace struggles to reach the stairs in the background, he moves arts with elaborate choreography. In playing a nobleman’s-daughter-
farther and farther out of focus. His increasing fuzziness commu- turned-warrior, actor Zhang Ziyi used her training in dance as well as
nicates his rapidly fading grip on life, as well as his wife’s efforts to her martial arts skills.
disregard his impending death.
Kinesis 177
1 3
Expressive kinesis
Movies can make anything and anyone move in any way the story
calls for. The characters in Gravity (2013) float in the vacuum of
space, which lends a dissonant dreaminess to their life and death
struggle [1]. The character played by dancing legend Fred Astaire in
Royal Wedding (1951) expresses his love for a woman in a gravity-
defying dance up a wall and across the ceiling [2]. A breakthrough
moment for the title character in Forrest Gump (1994) is conveyed
through camera and figure movement when he runs so fast his leg
braces fall apart [3].
explore the many ways the camera can move, and the
ways camera movement conveys meaning, in Chapter 6.
In his masterpiece, Tokyo Story (1953), Yasujirô Ozu
2 almost never moved the camera within a shot. In fact,
even the figure movement is minimal, especially in com-
ing. Both theater and film use blocking: predetermined parison to modern movies. The relative stillness of To-
movement of actors that is planned according to the kyo Story helps convey the moods and themes of a story
needs of the story. Blocking is usually decided on during about an elderly couple who are unable to adapt to the
a rehearsal process in which the director and actors es- modern world inhabited by their self-centered children.
tablish how characters in a given situation might move Steven Knight’s Locke (2013), although set almost en-
in relationship to their surroundings and one another. tirely in a moving car, is also mostly devoid of kinesis.
In theater, figure placement and movement is oriented Only one character is seen on-screen, and he is stuck be-
toward an audience sharing a common static viewpoint. hind the wheel of a car for the entire movie. Movement
Film blocking is oriented toward (and coordinated with) is limited to reflections gliding across windows and the
a camera that can be placed anywhere the director wants windshield as Locke’s car speeds down a mostly unseen
it to be. A shot’s mise-en-scène is determined by what el- motorway. In this story of a man trapped in a situation
ements are placed within the camera’s field of view and he cannot control, the immobility of the camera and the
by the arrangement (or composition) of those elements character visually emphasizes his lack of options.
in relationship to that camera viewpoint. Filmmakers The Mad Max and Fast and Furious franchises fall on
can use figure movement to change the composition the opposite end of the kinesis spectrum. The stories
during the shot. and the mise-en-scène in those movies are built around
Camera movement also affects mise-en-scène. What movement. A large part of the pleasure of watching Mad
we see in the frame, and how we see it, changes as the Max: Fury Road (2015) or The Fate of the Furious (2017)
camera moves. The camera may move independently, comes from riding a ridiculously mobile camera as it re-
functioning as a narrator leading us through a setting lentlessly chases souped-up vehicles (and characters) in
or situation. And because camera movement is not in- constant motion at breakneck speeds. Notably, the same
dependent of figure movement, the camera may be used actor (Tom Hardy) plays both the immobilized Locke
to follow a character or other figure as it moves. We will and the latest incarnation of the propulsive Mad Max.
Approaches to
Mise-en-Scène
So far, our conversation about mise-en-scène has been
focused on its use in particular shots and scenes. But
we can also think of mise-en-scène in terms of the over-
all look and feel of a movie. Other aspects of cinematic
language, such as editing and sound, also contribute to
a film’s comprehensive style, but because design, light-
ing, kinesis, and composition encompass so much of a
viewer’s movie experience, the term mise-en-scène is of-
ten used when discussing the sum of everything the au-
dience sees when watching a certain film.
Mise-en-scène isn’t just the specific choices made by Italian neorealism
individual members of the creative crew, such as lighting Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves (1948) is perhaps the best-loved
and framing by the cinematographer, set designs by movie from Italy’s neorealist period, in part because its simple story
and the naturalistic mise-en-scène focus on the details of ordinary
the production designer, and costume decisions by the
lives. In this scene, a downpour hinders the protagonists’ pursuit of
wardrobe department. All of the thousands of choices an old man who can identify the thief of Antonio’s bicycle. The scene
that go into every film production must be synthesized was filmed on location with nonactors; when a rainstorm swept
into a cohesive stylistic strategy. And that’s where the through, De Sica incorporated it into the story.
director comes in. Her role is to find and execute an ap-
proach to mise-en-scène that will best serve the particu-
come up with ideas and options; and she makes the final
lar story the film is trying to tell. She communicates that
decisions that give the entire film a unified and coherent
approach to the creative team of artists she leads; they
look and feel.
As a result, we associate some directors with a specific
style of mise-en-scène. Recent films directed by Kath-
ryn Bigelow have a restless camera and grittily realistic
sets and costumes; the elaborate set pieces in Quentin
Tarantino’s movies are built around multiple visual ref-
erences to past genre films; and a movie by Guillermo
del Toro combines highly stylized fantasy elements with
period-specific details. Many of us can immediately
recognize a Wes Anderson movie because of his partic-
ular approach to mise-en-scène. It should come as no
surprise that many of these directors with distinctive
approaches to mise-en-scène often work with the same
production designer on successive films: Jeremy Hin-
dle was the production designer for Bigelow’s Zero Dark
Thirty (2012) and Detroit (2017); Adam Stockhausen for
Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and Grand Buda-
The origins of production design pest Hotel (2014); and David Wasko for Tarantino’s Kill
The silent film pioneer Georges Méliès created the fictional film, Bill: Volume 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004), and In-
using illusions he had learned in his career as a stage magician. In glourious Basterds (2009).
seeking to create magic with the movie medium, he invented a va-
The director’s personal style is not the only factor that
riety of cinematic effects. In so doing, he also invented the film set,
and thus we can consider him the first production designer in film
can influence a film’s mise-en-scène. Over the course
history. The image above is from his short film The Eclipse: Court- of film history, for a variety of cultural and artistic rea-
ship of the Sun and Moon (1907). sons, filmmakers have been inspired to use an enhanced
Approaches to Mise-en-Scène 179
sense of realism to create movies that depict the strug- screen as they would appear in “real” life. Italian neore-
gles of ordinary people. Filmmaking developments that alist films were shot in actual locations and sometimes
aspired to this sort of populist authenticity include the cast nonactors. Dogme 95 films adhere to a strict “vow
German Kammerspielfilm of the silent era, Italian neo of chastity” that not only requires location shooting but
realism in the aftermath of World War II, and the Dogme also forbids any lighting or props beyond what is avail-
95 movement launched in 1995 by Danish directors Lars able at the selected setting.
von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg. The films these ap- However, just because a movie lacks conspicuous
proaches produced, and the movies made by the many mise-en-scène, we cannot assume the filmmakers did
filmmakers they inspired, minimize overtly expressive not exercise choice and intent. The existing locations
or otherwise conspicuous mise-en-scène. Instead, cos- were selected for authenticity—and the qualities and de-
tumes, settings, lighting, and composition were selected tails they brought to the production. The camera posi-
or designed to depict the places, people, and events on- tions were determined for both naturalism and effective
1 2
3 4
German expressionism
The highly stylized sets and lighting in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari [1]–[4] emphasized diagonal lines and jagged, pointed graphics to instill a
sense of unease and express the subjective state of mind of the story’s deranged central character. In some cases, the deep shadows were
painted directly on the distorted sets.
The influence of German expressionism

Expressionistic mise-en-scène has been adopted and adapted by
filmmakers since its beginnings in post–World War I Germany. In
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), the walls and ceiling beams lean in
precarious diagonals at the home of mad scientist Dr. Pretorius [1].
2
When a small-time author accepts a job offer from a long-lost
friend in The Third Man (1949), he finds himself drawn into a po-
litically and morally ambivalent post–World War II Vienna, which is
represented as shadowy, angular, and mazelike [2]. A deliberately
theatrical set in The Night of the Hunter conveys the state of mind
of Harry, a serial killer about to stab his new wife with a switchblade.
Harry sees the murder as the will of God. The pointed roof line and
the shafts of light from the gabled window evoke both a church
and the murder weapon [3]. In Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands
(1990), the shattered roof in the vast empty attic where an Avon
lady discovers Edward visually expresses the lonely misfit’s emo-
tional anguish [4]. Director David Lynch uses expressionistic visual
elements and intentionally mannered or amplified performances in
most of his work, including the Showtime series Twin Peaks: The
Return (2017) [5].
3
shot in Hollywood. Even performances were stylized: ac-

LOOKING AT MOVIES tors abandoned any attempt at naturalism and instead
SETTING AND EXPRESSIONISM externalized their emotions to the extreme.
The first great German expressionist film was Rob-
ert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). Designed
by three prominent artists (Hermann Warm, Walter
Reimann, and Walter Röhrig) who used dramatically
painted sets to reflect the anxiety, terror, and madness of
the film’s characters, this movie influenced the design of
silent films of the era, as well as horror movies, thrillers,
film noirs, and other films to the present day.
VIDEO In this tutorial, Dave Monahan looks at Looking at Mise-en-Scène

setting in classic and contemporary films that have
been influenced by German expressionism.
in Sleepy Hollow
To conclude this chapter, let’s take a close look at Sleepy
Hollow (1999) to observe how mise-en-scène shapes the
overall look and feel of a movie and expresses meaning
within individual shots and scenes.
narration. A part may be played by a nonactor wearing Director Tim Burton credits his understanding of the
her own clothes, but the filmmakers were likely direct- expressive power of mise-en-scène to his early career as
ing that selection. an animator: “In animation, you did everything: draw
Movies that depict imaginary worlds (or fanciful ver- the backgrounds, draw the characters, you acted it, you
sions of our own) usually fall on the opposite end of the cut it, you shot it . . . everything.”1 Burton uses elaborate
mise-en-scène spectrum. Since the beginnings of nar- mise-en-scène in all of his films, whether he’s depicting
rative cinema, filmmakers have used costume, set, and the “real” world in movies such as Ed Wood (1994) and
lighting design to express meaning and moods that fall Big Eyes (2014) or presenting a wholly imagined world
outside the realm of realism. Among the most influential such as the simian dystopia of Planet of the Apes (2001).
and enduring of these expressive approaches to mise-en- A significant number of his movies involve the intersec-
scène originated in Germany after World War I. German tion (or, in some cases, collision) between fantasy and
expressionism was not interested in verisimilitude: reality. Fanciful creatures cross over into the real world,
design was used instead to give objective expression such as when the kindly suburban Avon lady adopts
to subjective (and usually disturbed) human feelings and Edward Scissorhands, or when a hyperactive man-boy
emotions. Settings and decor were abstracted by twisting abandons his playhouse to search for his stolen bicy-
the normally horizontal and vertical world of right angles cle in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985). More often, the
into jagged, pointed diagonals. Lighting was deliberately intersection moves in the other direction. Relatively
artificial, emphasizing sharp contrasts, and deep shad- normal characters are transformed by journeys into
ows were often cast in the same distorted shapes found magical worlds so extraordinary that they are featured
in the set design. To ensure complete control and free in the titles: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005),
manipulation of the decor, lighting, and camera work, ex- Alice in Wonderland (2010), Miss Peregrine’s Home for
pressionist films were generally shot in the studio even Peculiar Children (2016), and Sleepy Hollow.
when the script called for exterior scenes—a practice that Burton’s movie is based somewhat loosely on “The
was to have an important effect on how movies were later Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” a short story by Washington
1. Tim Burton, qtd. in Gary Dretzka, “A Head For Horror,” Chicago Tribune (November 26, 1999), sec. 5.
Irving set in 1790 and first published in 1820. Irving’s murderer is a run-of-the-mill mortal, but he is in for a
Sleepy Hollow is an isolated and somewhat backward surprise. The killer is a headless horseman, the murders
Dutch settlement with a reputation for spooky folktales, are bloody beheadings, and our enterprising detective
including one about a headless horseman—the ghost of winds up with much more to worry about than marry-
a Hessian soldier decapitated by a cannonball during ing Katrina—although he does still manage to fall in love
the American Revolution who rides at night in search with her.
of his lost head. The humorous story pokes gentle fun at Sleepy Hollow is a detective story, but it is also a
the unsophisticated characters. Ichabod Crane is a not- horror movie, so Burton wanted the mise-en-scène to
very-smart and extremely superstitious schoolteacher exert a pervasive sense of ominous foreboding and anx-
who is eager to marry the young Katrina Van Tassel, iety. He didn’t want the movie to have the slick, digital
especially after he realizes how rich her family is. The look of many contemporary films filled with computer-
story’s conflict centers on the competition for Katrina’s generated effects, such as Star Wars: Episode 1—The
hand between Ichabod and the burly Brom Van Brunt, Phantom Menace (1999). Instead, Burton gave Sleepy
a late-eighteenth-century equivalent of a jock. The head Hollow an old-fashioned, theatrical style modeled on
less horseman appears only once, when he chases Ichabod Mario Bava’s Italian horror classic Black Sunday (1960)
on a dark night after a party at Katrina’s family home. and the moody gothic horror movies produced by the
Ichabod disappears, but not necessarily by supernatural British production company Hammer Films in the
means. The story strongly implies that Brom fooled the 1960s and 1970s.
cowardly schoolteacher into fleeing town by posing as
the horseman himself.
In Burton’s version, Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) is Lighting and Setting
a New York City police constable, whose insistence on Burton and his cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki
progressive police procedures so irritates his superiors created a visually claustrophobic gloom by permeating
that they send him off to the backwoods village of Sleepy nearly every interior and exterior set with smoke gener-
Hollow to investigate a series of grisly murders. The ated by fog machines. The thick smoke acts as a sort of
enlightened Ichabod assumes (and initially insists) the super-diffusion, creating a hazy soft light that obscures
background details. Burton moved the production to
England, in part to take advantage of overcast skies
that added to the feeling of perpetually looming dusk.
Although we associate soft light with high-key lighting,
Lubezki used a low-key ratio so that corners of rooms
and other background details fall into shadow. The cine-
matographer also exposed and processed the film nega-
tive in a way that increased contrast and faded color.
We know from the Edward Scissorhands example
earlier in the chapter that Tim Burton is no stranger
to German expressionism, and with Sleepy Hollow, the
stylistic approach once again perfectly suited the weird
sense of dread he wanted the setting to convey. Produc-
Composition
Most of the compositions in Sleepy Hollow are tightly framed—the
tion designer Rick Heinrichs incorporated pointed roof-
better to convey a feeling of claustrophobia—and conventionally bal- tops, diagonal lines, and jagged angles into the design of
anced. This moment, shortly after Ichabod’s uninvited arrival at a so- the village’s huddled buildings—a mishmash of architec-
cial function, is composed using deep space and the rule of thirds. tural styles he dubbed “colonial expressionism.”
Ichabod dominates the left third; Katrina gazes upon him from the The village was constructed outdoors in the English
right vertical. The immediately jealous Brom Van Brunt and his frilly
countryside, but to give the film the theatrical feel of his
scarf fall in the middle-ground center. Other suspicious bumpkins
observe the newcomer from the background. Note how much im-
classic horror influences, Burton constructed most of
portant narrative information falls on or near the top horizontal line— the other exterior settings—including an artificial forest
including a jack-o-lantern, one of the movie’s recurring motifs. of twisted, leafless trees—inside a soundstage. Lighting
1
German expressionism
The “Tree of the Dead” that serves as the horseman’s home base
is pure German expressionism. The trunk seems to be writhing in
agony, with grasping branches jutting out at jagged angles. Artificially
generated smoke dilutes the light and almost obscures the sur-
rounding forest. Huge gray backdrops were hung in the soundstage
where this scene was shot to provide the illusion of endless fog.
effects, from frail sunlight to flashes of lightning, were

achieved using hundreds of lights controlled with dim-
mer switches and often muted with thick, simulated fog.
Painted backdrops were used to represent backgrounds
2 of forest and sky. An illusion of depth was often obtained
in these staged exteriors by use of forced perspective,
a technique that manipulates relative scale to fool the
eye into seeing objects as more distant (or closer) than
they actually are. Burton’s vintage approach to mise-en-
scène extended beyond setting. Although he had to use
some digital effects—to create a convincingly headless
horseman, for example—he used mechanical in-camera
effects as much as possible.
Homage to stylistic influences

Tim Burton paid homage to the movies that inspired his mise-en-
scène by casting Hammer Films horror star Christopher Lee as the
New York City official who sends constable Crane to Sleepy Hollow.
In this shot [1], Lee’s character is framed against the relief of an
American eagle on the wall behind him to evoke the caped Dracula
he played in seven Hammer films. The dream sequence featuring
the punctured face of Ichabod’s murdered mother [2] evokes the
image of a resurrected witch from another inspiration, the Italian
gothic horror classic Black Sunday [3]. Each of the women charac- Colonial expressionism
ters were victims of torture; the puncture wounds in both movies Production designer Rick Heinrichs dubbed his version of expres-
were created with prosthetics. sionist design used to create the village of Sleepy Hollow “colonial
expressionism.” An overcast sky and the almost total absence of
color add to the village’s unsettling atmosphere.
Forced perspective
The horseman’s fifth execution is set in a field just outside Sleepy Hollow, but the scene was shot in a soundstage. Using small-scale models
and exploiting the shroud of artificial fog, the filmmaker fools our eyes into perceiving the trees and windmill in the background to be much
farther away than they really are. This forced perspective was one of the techniques Tim Burton used to give his movie an old-fashioned
theatrical flavor.
Costumes, Makeup, and Hairstyle somewhere around 1800. So, Tim Burton and his design
Most of us don’t know exactly how people in late- team use post-colonial fashion to lend this supernatural
eighteenth-century New York dressed, but we know story a general sense of verisimilitude. But even more
enough to place powdered wigs, breeches, and petticoats important, Sleepy Hollow’s costumes, makeup, and hair-
1 2
Costumes and character

The antiquated wigs and waistcoats worn by Sleepy Hollow ’s leading citizens denote not only their wealth but also their lack of sophistication
[1]. The devious Lady Van Tassel is more stylish [2]. The weblike pattern on this gown hints at her evil intentions.
1 2
New York City—before and after

Initially, the metropolis of New York is hardly differentiated from the village of Sleepy Hollow in terms of mood. The city is introduced as a
dark mass of soot-stained buildings pouring black smoke into a leaden sky [1]. But upon Ichabod’s triumphant return, after he has solved the
mystery and the horseman has returned to hell where he belongs, the city is presented as bright and bustling. Fresh snow lightens the street,
buildings, and sky as Ichabod and Katrina stroll through a genteel crowd—many of whom wear white costumes [2].
styles help define and differentiate the film’s many char- lace and weblike patterns adorning her stylish gowns
acters. The village’s five most powerful citizens (each imply a darker hidden nature. As one might expect from
doomed to lose his head to the horseman) are conniving a vengeful fiend summoned from hell, the horseman
scoundrels and/or ignorant cowards and are thus clad sports a rotting, black, high-collared cloak. In expository
in fussy embroidered waistcoats, ornate laced cuffs, and flashbacks and in the scene after he and his own head are
comical wigs or hats. In contrast, our enlightened hero reunited, the horseman is played by veteran character
Ichabod Crane wears a plain black coat adorned only actor Christopher Walken, whose already intimidating
with a tastefully understated cravat. His full head of face is made even more menacing with bright blue con-
lustrous dark hair is never constrained by a wig or hat. tact lenses, a spikey dark wig, and prosthetic sharpened
His only accessory is an elaborate set of spectacles that teeth.
magnify his eccentric intelligence. Katrina Van Tassel Throughout Sleepy Hollow, Burton’s all-compassing
functions as Ichabod’s temptation as well as savior, so she mise-en-scène so effectively envelops the story in re-
is dressed in gauzy, lightly colored, and low-cut gowns lentless dread that when the style finally shifts, viewers
complemented by a simple star pendant that hints at her experience the same sudden exhilaration as the surviv-
secret identity as a practitioner of white witchcraft. Her ing characters on-screen. Over the course of one for-
essential innocence is further emphasized by her pale est shot dissolving into the next, the fog lifts, the light
blonde hair, even paler complexion, and paler still white brightens, and colored foliage returns to the trees. A few
horse. Lady Van Tassel, Katrina’s smiling stepmother, shots later, Ichabod and Katrina are walking hand-in-
is almost as pale and just as beautiful, but the black hand down the sparkling streets of New York City.
ANALYZING MISE-EN-SCÈNE
This chapter has introduced the major elements convey meaning, tone, and mood. Using what you
that together form any movie’s mise-en-scène. You have learned in this chapter, you should be able to
should now understand that the term mise-en-scène analyze and discuss mise-en-scène in terms of a
denotes all of those elements taken together to shot, a scene, and the overall look of an entire film.
SCREENING CHECKLIST: MISE-EN-SCÈNE

As you watch a film or clip, be alert to the How does the shot, scene, or film use kinesis?
overall mise-en-scène and how it shapes your Is movement minimal or extreme? Is the move-
interpretation and experience. ment limited to figure movement within the
frame, or is the camera moving, or both? How
Identify the elements of the mise-en-scène does the movement (or lack thereof) contribute
that seem to be contributing the most to your
to your experience and understanding of the
experience and understanding of story and
characters and story?
character in a scene or shot.
Does the movie’s design have a unified feel?
Be alert to the composition of individual shots. How do the various elements of the design
Where are figures and other significant ele- (the sets, props, costumes, makeup, hairstyles,
ments placed? Is the composition balanced or etc.) work together?
does it use compositional stress? What is the
relationship among the figures in the fore- Was achieving verisimilitude important to the
design of the film? If so, have the filmmakers
ground, middle ground, and background?
succeeded in making the overall mise-en-scène
How is lighting used? Is it simply providing illu- feel real, or verisimilar? If the mise-en-scène
mination or is it used in a way that contributes is stylized, what do you think the filmmakers
to mood or meaning? were attempting to convey with the design?

1. What is the literal meaning of the phrase mise- 7. What is kinesis? What are the two basic forms it
en-scène? What do we mean by this phrase when takes, and how can each affect composition and our
we discuss movies? experience of the story?
2. What are the two major components of 8. How the lighting for any movie looks is determined,
mise-en-scène? in part, by its quality, ratio, and direction. Explain
3. Does a movie’s mise-en-scène happen by accident? these terms and the effects they produce.
If not, what or who determines it? 9. What is composition? Name and briefly discuss
4. Describe the process of developing a movie’s how composition uses balance and depth.
mise-en-scène. 10. Describe the different approaches to mise-
5. What are the principal responsibilities of the en-scène and the overall effects they seek to
production designer? achieve.
6. Name and briefly discuss the major elements of
cinematic design.
A Fantastic Woman (2017). Sebastián Lelio, director. Pictured: Francisco Reyes and Daniela Vega.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
CHAPTER
6
188 Chapter 6 Cinematography
ing do. The cinematographer (also known as the director

LEARNING OBJECTIVES of photography, or DP) uses the camera as an expressive
After reading this chapter, you should be able to instrument. To make an informed analysis of a movie,
nn describe the differences among a shot, a setup, and we need to evaluate precisely how (and how well) the
a take. cinematographer, in collaboration with the other cre-
nn understand the role that a director of photography plays ative and technical contributors to the production, has
in film production. harnessed the many aspects of her craft to express story,
nn describe the basic characteristics of the mood, and meaning.
cinematographic properties of a shot: film
stock, lighting, and lenses.
understand the basic elements of framing, including
The Director of
nn
implied proximity to the camera, depth, camera angle

and height, camera movement, open and closed Photography
framing, and point of view.
nn describe any shot in a movie by identifying Every aspect of a movie’s preproduction—writing the
• its implied proximity to its subject. script, casting the actors, imagining the look of the fin-
• the angle of the camera. ished work, designing and creating the sets and cos-
• the nature of camera movement, if any, within tumes, and determining what will be placed in front of
the shot. the camera and in what arrangement and manner—leads
• the speed and length of the shot. to the most vital step: representing the mise-en-scène
nn describe the relationship between on-screen and on film or video. Although what we see on the screen re-
offscreen space, and explain why most shots in a film flects the vision and design of the filmmakers as a team,
rely on both. the director of photography is the primary person re-
nn understand the ways in which special effects are sponsible for transforming the other aspects of movie-
created and the various roles that special effects making into moving images.
play in movies. The collaborative relationship between the cinema-
tographer and the director varies from movie to movie,
but typically, these two positions form one of the most
vital partnerships on the creative crew. The cinematog-
rapher’s expertise can help shape and advise nearly every
What Is Cinematography? aspect of the director’s preparation, including set de-
signs, location selection, and especially previsualization
Cinematography is the process of capturing moving storyboards. On set, the DP and director are usually in
images on film or a digital storage device. The word constant communication as the DP translates the direc-
comes to us from three Greek roots—kinesis, mean- tor’s vision into specific decisions about how each shot
ing “movement”; photo, meaning “light”; and graphia, will be photographed. And every choice the DP makes—
meaning “writing”—but the word was coined only after the lighting, lenses, exposure, focus, camera positions and
motion pictures themselves were invented. Cinema- movements, even the camera model and media format—
tography is closely related to still photography, but its is largely driven by the needs of the story.
methods and technologies clearly distinguish it from its
static predecessor. This chapter introduces the major
features of this unique art.
Although cinematography might seem to exist solely Production Terms and Tasks
to please our eyes with beautiful images, it is in fact an The three key terms used in shooting a movie are shot,
intricate language that can (and in the most complex take, and setup. Because the shot is a building block of
and meaningful films, does) contribute to a movie’s over- cinema, shot is one of the most common words you’ll
all meaning as much as the story, mise-en-scène, and act- find in both filmmaking and film study. Yet, because its
The Director of Photography 189
Setting up a shot
On an interior setting for The Social Network (2010), director David Fincher (left ) and cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth (center )—aided by an
unidentified camera operator or technician (right )—work with a video-assist camera to set up a shot. Fincher and Cronenweth also worked
together on Fight Club (1999), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), and Gone Girl (2014). Cronenweth was nominated for an Oscar for Best
Cinematography on The Social Network.
definition depends on the context in which it is used, the “change the lens for the next shot.” For various reasons,
term can cause confusion. that planned “shot” may be taken a number of times.
As you learned in Chapter 1, when we’re discussing a The director may decide to adjust the blocking, an ac-
shot in an edited film, we can define shot as an unbroken tor could suggest a different approach, or someone may
span of action captured by an uninterrupted run of the make a mistake. The term take refers to each time that
camera. In a completed film, the duration of a shot (as planned shot is captured. That’s why, if you are watching
well as its starting point and ending point) is determined a behind-the-scenes program or a fictionalized enact-
by the editor. In that context, a shot is a discrete unit that ment of a film production, you may hear a crew member
lasts until it is replaced by another shot by means of a cut call out the next task as something like: “Scene 3, Shot A,
or other transition. When you see the term shot in every Take 6.” A setup is one camera position and everything
other chapter in this book, it will almost certainly refer associated with it. The crew may shoot a number of dif-
to this meaning. ferent shots (and multiple takes of each of those planned
However, during the previsualization and produc- shots) from a single camera position. For example, if a
tion process, a shot can refer to a specific arrangement film includes several separate shots of an office-worker
of elements to be captured in a particular composition character sitting at his desk on different days, all of the
from a predetermined camera position. So, the director shots that can be captured from that particular setup
may use shot when referring to a storyboard or produc- will be shot in succession. The lighting, the actor’s hair
tion schedule: “In this shot, let’s reposition the juggler and wardrobe, and any necessary decor will be adjusted
behind the zebra.” On set, the DP may tell her crew to accordingly for each planned shot.
A DP’s perceptive eye leads to an unforgettable shot

Although the director of photography must strictly control the cinematographic properties of a movie’s shots, the great cinematographers
are also alert to unplanned expressive opportunities. In the 1968 movie In Cold Blood, a convicted murderer awaiting execution recalls his
troubled relationship with his father. During rehearsals, cinematographer Conrad Hall noticed that the production lights shining through the
artificial rain running down the set’s window projected tear-like images onto actor Robert Blake’s face. Before the camera rolled, Hall and
director Richard Brooks adjusted the blocking to maximize the effect, resulting in an image that helps reveal the character’s hidden emotions.
The cinematographer’s responsibilities for each shot AC prepares the slate that is used to identify each shot
and setup, as well as for each take, fall into four broad and take as the camera rolls, notes the lens, exposure, and
categories: other information for each shot, and is responsible for
moving the camera to each new setup. When film stock
1. cinematographic properties of the shot (film stock, is being used, the loader feeds that stock into magazines
lighting, lenses) that are then loaded onto the camera. If the production
2. framing of the shot (proximity to the camera, depth, is using digital cameras, the loader’s responsibilities are
camera angle and height, scale, camera movement) handled by a digital imaging technician (DIT), who ar-
chives and manages the digital data being captured. The
3. speed and length of the shot
group concerned with electricity and lighting consists
4. special effects of the gaffer (chief electrician), best boy (first assistant
electrician), other electricians, and grips (all-around
Although these categories necessarily overlap, we will handypersons who work with both the camera crew and
look at each one separately. In the process, we also ex- the electrical crew to get the camera and lighting ready
amine the tools and equipment involved and discuss for shooting).
what they enable the cinematographer to do.
In carrying out these responsibilities, the DP relies on
the assistance of the camera crew, which is divided into
one group of technicians concerned with the camera Cinematographic
and another concerned with electricity and lighting. The Properties of the Shot
camera group consists of the camera operator, who
controls the camera during the shot, and the assistant The director of photography controls the cinematog
camerapersons (ACs). The first AC oversees every- raphic properties of the shot, those basics of motion-
thing having to do with the camera and lenses, including picture photography that make the movie image appear
adjusting focus before and during each shot. The second the way it does. These properties include the recording
medium, lighting, and lenses. By employing variations of

each property, the cinematographer modifies the cam-
era’s basic neutrality as well as the look of the finished
image that the audience sees.
Film and Digital Formats

The cinematographer is responsible for choosing a re-
cording medium for the movie that serves the director’s
vision. Among the alternatives available are film stocks
of various sizes and speeds and a variety of digital media
formats. A skilled cinematographer must know the tech- 1
nical properties and cinematic possibilities of each op-
tion and must be able to choose the medium that is best
suited to the project as a whole.
Movies have been shot on film stock since the 1880s.
Digital video technology has been accessible to profession-
als since the 1980s. After George Lucas shot Star Wars:
Episode I—The Phantom Menace using a high-definition
digital camera in 1999, digital cinematography began to
slowly take over as the medium of choice for commercial
feature films. By 2012, at least half of top-grossing fea-
ture films were shot digitally. Today, largely for reasons
2
of cost and convenience, digital formats dominate the fea-
ture film and television industries.
Practical and expressive use of film stock
Even though most movies are now being shot digi- The low-budget, independent movie Pi (1998; also titled with the
tally, a significant number of feature films are still shot symbol π) [1] was the first movie by Darren Aronofsky, a director
on traditional film stock using the same basic materials now known for major releases such as Black Swan (2010) and
and techniques filmmakers have employed since cine- Mother! (2017). He and his cinematographer, Matthew Libatique,
ma’s beginnings. It is probably safe to say that most of had financial reasons to use fast 16mm black-and-white film stock.
The film format was cheap, and the exposure index allowed them
the films you will watch and study in this course were
to shoot without large and cumbersome lights. Expressive needs
shot using film. Film stock is available in several stan- also motivated the choice—the extremely grainy and high-contrast
dard formats (also called gauges; widths measured in look of this particular film stock perfectly suited the gritty, graphic
millimeters): 8mm, Super 8mm, 16mm, Super 16mm, nature of their story. The visible grain found in 16mm was the pri-
35mm, 65mm, and 70mm as well as special-use formats mary reason cinematographer Ed Lachman chose the smaller-gauge
such as IMAX, which is 10 times bigger than a 35mm format to shoot Todd Haynes’s Carol (2015) [2], a doomed same-sex
romance set in 1952. The filmmakers felt that the stock’s granular
frame. Before the advent of camcorders, 8mm and Super
texture captured the look of photographs from the period, and that
8mm were popular gauges for amateur home movies. the swirling grain gave their images “a pulsing of something living
Many documentaries, television programs, and student underneath the surface.”1
movies, as well as low-budget narrative feature produc-
tions, were once shot on 16mm. Today, most professional
narrative productions shooting on film use 35mm. image on each successive frame. The larger the gauge,
All of these film-stock gauges are coated with thou- the more space there is for crystals. Film formats that
sands of microscopic silver halide crystals that each capture and hold more fragments of visual information
react to light to form a tiny piece of the total recorded have higher resolution: a more detailed, thus sharper,
1. Ed Lachman, qtd. in Paula Bernstein, “Why Ed Lachman Chose to Shoot Carol in Super 16mm,” Filmmaker Magazine (December 7, 2015).
https://filmmakermagazine.com/96594-why-ed-lachman-chose-to-shoot-carol-in-16mm/#.WoyeORPwbOY.
image. For optical reasons, too complex to explain here, in different ways, so digital cinematographers exercise
images recorded on larger formats can also produce a the same care when selecting digital formats as those
shallower depth of field—the amount of depth in the im- shooting film exercise when choosing a film stock. Like
age that is in focus. The ability to control a reduced slice the larger film gauges, larger sensors are capable of pro
of focus allows filmmakers a range of expressive and aes- ducing images with a shallower depth of field. Resolution—
thetic options that we’ll discuss later in this chapter. the detail in the image—is determined by the number of
Another variable aspect of film stock is its speed (or pixels in each frame: 1920 × 1080 pixels, the lowest res-
exposure index)—how sensitive it is to light. “Fast” film olution now available, has 2,073,600 pixels. Professional
stocks have larger crystals that need less light to record cameras, and even many consumer cameras, are now
an image, whereas “slow” film stocks are fine grained capable of capturing 8,294,400 pixels or more for every
and require more light for a proper exposure. The larger one of the 24 (or more) images it takes to produce 1 sec-
crystals make images shot with fast film stock look grainy, ond of a motion picture. But, contrary to popular belief,
especially compared to the sharper, smoother look of resolution isn’t the determining factor in image quality.
slow film stock. There are uses for both slow and fast film The convenient codecs used by our consumer cameras
stocks, depending on the shooting environment and the and cell phones greatly reduce the true image resolution.
desired visual outcome. Commercial filmmakers seek- The codecs generated in the cameras used to shoot the
ing the glossy, polished appearance produced by slow movies we see in theaters only slightly compress the data,
stocks are often willing to take on the necessary expense if at all. Most professional-grade digital movie cameras
and equipment. A documentary that must shoot without now feature sensors and other electronics that allow them
additional lighting would likely use a fast stock, but so to shoot uncompressed “raw” footage that supplies the
might a narrative film that seeks a gritty visual look to most possible data to the postproduction process, which
convey a particular tone or mood. is where much of the look (in terms of color, contrast,
Speed and gauge are only two of the characteristics and clarity) of modern films is determined. Beyond these
found in the many available film stocks. Other variable factors, digital cinematographers are primarily concerned
qualities include contrast, color temperature, and color with the camera sensor’s dynamic range: the amount of
saturation. Some movies use multiple stocks in a single light a camera’s sensor can read from absolute black to
film, again for both practical and expressive reasons. absolute white (similar to a film stock’s exposure index).
For his 1994 movie Natural Born Killers, director Oliver A wide dynamic range allows the camera to shoot in a
Stone constantly switched between eighteen different wide range of lighting conditions and capture a spec-
stocks and formats to give the story a feeling of disori- trum of tonal and color values.
enting instability. Regardless of which film or digital format they use,
You can touch film stock; you can even hold it up to virtually all movies are now shot in color, for that is what
the light to see each captured image. Footage shot using the public is accustomed to and therefore expects. In
digital media formats exists only as data stored on a tape, 1936, when Hollywood began to use color film stock,
disk, or computer drive. Just like traditional film cam- 99 percent of the feature releases from major studios
eras, digital cameras use lenses, apertures, and shutters. were in black and white. By 1968, virtually all feature
The differences begin when the light hits the recording releases were in color. During the transitional period
medium. Instead of film stock, the digital camera uses between 1940 and 1970, the choice between color and
an electronic sensor that captures fragments of image black and white needed to be carefully considered, and
information not as exposed silver halide crystals but many films shot in color during that period might have
as digital pixels. The large amount of resulting data been even stronger if they were shot instead in black and
is stored on a hard drive or a solid-state drive (SSD—a white. John Ford’s The Searchers (1956), a psychological
memory card similar to a flash drive) in the form of a Western that is concerned less with the traditional West-
codec: a specialized digital format that compresses all ern’s struggle between wilderness and civilization than
that pixel information into manageably sized files for with the lead character’s struggle against personal de-
editing and viewing. mons, might have been even more powerful shot in black
Like their film-stock counterparts, different sensors and white instead of color. Doing so might have produced
and codecs captre light, color, contrast, and depth of field a visual mood, as in film noir, that complemented the dark
ness at the heart of the movie’s narrative. Instead, the to black-and-white cinematography. Depending on the
choice of color film stock for The Searchers seems to have context in which it is used, black-and-white’s distinct
been inspired by industry trends at the time—designed contrasts and hard edges can look stark, somber, ele-
to improve flagging box-office receipts—rather than by gant, abstract, or simply different than our regular way
strictly artistic criteria. of seeing things, which is why it is often used to convey
dreams, memories, flashbacks, and historical events.
Black and White Because of its use in documentary Movies shot in black and white can also have moral or
films (before the 1960s) and in newspaper and maga- ethical connotations. For good or ill, black and white of-
zine photographs (before the advent of color newspaper ten carry preconceived interpretations (e.g., black = evil,
and magazine printing), audiences have ironically come white = good). As simplistic, misleading, and potentially
to associate black-and-white photography and cinema- offensive as these interpretations may be, they reflect
tography with a stronger sense of unidealized realism widespread cultural traditions that have been in effect
than that provided by color film stock. But that sheen of for thousands of years. The earliest narrative films, which
authenticity is only one of many connotations intrinsic greatly appealed to immigrant audiences (most of whom
could neither read nor speak English), often relied on
such rough distinctions to establish the moral frame-
works of their stories. Heroes and other morally upright
characters wore white, while villains wore black. Later,
1 2
3 4
Black and white versus color

Stagecoach (1939) [1] was the first film that John Ford shot in Arizona’s Monument Valley. The black-and-white cinematography portrayed an
Old West that looked and felt different from the depiction using color cinematography in The Searchers (1956) [2], one of the last films Ford
shot in Monument Valley. Ford might have shot The Searchers in black and white, but color was considered more marketable. Almost 60 years
later, the same well-entrenched market forces led to Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) being released in color [3], although director George Miller
originally intended the movie to use bolder, more graphic black-and-white cinematography. In the end, his “Black and Chrome” version [4] was
given a limited theatrical and Blu-ray release.
tographers use format, design, lighting, and postpro-

duction adjustments to take advantage of tonality and
capture the range of whites, blacks, and grays that best
suit the story and the director’s vision.
Color Although almost all movies today are shot in

color, for nearly 60 years of cinema history color was an
option that required much more labor, money, and ar-
tistic concession than black and white did. Color movies
made before 1960 were technically elaborate produc-
tions, and in deciding to use color the producers ex-
pected the movies to justify the expense with impressive
Black and white in The Seventh Seal

In The Seventh Seal (1957), set during the Black Plague in the Mid-
dle Ages, director Ingmar Bergman uses black-and-white cinematog-
raphy to distinguish faithful innocents (dressed most often in white or
gray costumes) from the doubtful and doomed (dressed in black). His
monochrome color scheme goes beyond costuming to encompass
distinct contrasts in lighting, settings, and props. In a game between
Death and the Knight, both characters wear dark costumes, but
lighting that illuminates the Knight’s blond-white hair, cross-shaped
1
sword, and white chess pieces differentiates the opponents. Spoiler
alert: The Knight loses. Nobody beats death, especially not in Swed-
ish art films.
even though both audiences and cinematography became

more sophisticated, these distinctions held together the
narratives of numerous films in diverse genres, including
Westerns, horror films, and film noir.
Tonality, the range of tones from pure white to dark-
est black, is the distinguishing quality of black-and-
white film stock. When making a black-and-white film,
set and costume designers closely collaborate with di-
rectors of photography to ensure that the colors used in
their designs produce the optimal varieties of tones in
2
black and white. Following a process developed during
the time of the classical Hollywood studio system, their
Black-and-white tonality
goal is to ensure a balance of “warm” and “cold” tones Director Ana Lily Amirpour wanted her Iranian vampire western
to avoid a muddy blending of similar tones. Sometimes A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) [1] to have a “classic” look
the colors chosen for optimal tonality on film are unat- but also feel contemporary and gritty. Cinematographer Lyle Vincent
tractive, even garish, on the set. Audiences are none the selected a particular digital camera codec and coordinated with a
postproduction colorist to emphasize deep blacks and high-contrast
wiser, however, because they see only the pleasing tonal
whites but still retain a middle range of nuanced gray tones. In Pawel
contrasts in the final black-and-white movie. Just as
Pawlikoski’s Ida (2014) [2], a novice nun in 1960s Poland discovers a
different color movies take different approaches to color wide range of figurative gray area in her heritage, identity, and faith.
cinematography (as you will see in the next section), not The movie’s austere digital cinematography uses a wide range of
every black-and-white movie looks the same. Cinema- literal grays, with much less emphasis on pure black or white.
red-orange and blue-green. In 1915, the Technicolor Cor-

poration introduced a two-color additive process, used
effectively in aesthetic terms to photograph Albert Park-
er’s impressive epic The Black Pirate (1926; cinematogra-
pher Henry Sharp).
By the early 1930s, the additive process was replaced
by a three-color subtractive color system that laid the
foundation for the development of modern color cin-
ematography. With this system, color results from the
physical action of different light waves on our eyes and
optical nervous system, meaning that we perceive these
different wavelengths of energy as different colors. Of
these colors, three are primary—red, green, and blue.
Mixing them can produce all the other colors in the spec-
trum, and when added together they produce white. The
subtractive process takes away unwanted colors from
Tonal range the white light. So when one of the additive primary
This shot from Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon (1952) illustrates the colors (red, green, blue) has been removed from the
tonal range possible in black-and-white cinematography: from abso- spectrum on a single strip of film, what remains are the
lute white (in the shirt) through a series of grays to absolute black complementary colors (cyan, magenta, yellow). The first
(under the hat’s brim). For the purposes of explanation, this illustra-
feature-length film made in the three-color subtractive
tion includes only six tones out of the complete range. Note that
process was Rouben Mamoulian’s Becky Sharp (1935;
although he is the movie’s protagonist, Marshal Will Kane (Gary
Cooper) wears a black hat—typically, in less sophisticated morality cinematographer Ray Rennahan).
tales, the symbolic mark of the bad guy. In practice, making a Technicolor movie was compli-
cated, cumbersome, and cost almost 30 percent more
than comparable black-and-white productions. The Tech-
nicolor camera, specially adapted to shoot three strips
box-office returns—much like 3-D or IMAX movies to- of film at one time, required a great deal of light. Its size
day. To gain a better understanding of the period before and weight restricted its movements and potential use in
1968, when color was not necessarily the default choice, exterior locations. Furthermore, the studios were obliged
let’s take a moment to review the history of color-film by contract to employ Technicolor’s own makeup, which
technology. resisted melting under lights hotter than those used for
Although full-scale color production began only in the shooting black-and-white films, and to process the film in
late 1930s, it was possible to create color images soon af- Technicolor’s labs.
ter the movies were invented, in 1895. The first methods For all these reasons, in addition to a decline in film
were known as additive color systems because they attendance caused by the Great Depression, producers
added color to black-and-white film stock. These pro- were at first reluctant to shoot in color. By 1937, however,
cesses included hand-coloring (drawing color directly color had entered mainstream Hollywood production;
onto the processed film), tinting (soaking the film in dye), by 1939 it had proved itself much more than a gimmick
and toning (a chemical process that replaces the silver in movies such as V ictor Fleming’s Gone with the Wind
halide crystals that make up the dark areas of the image and The Wizard of Oz.
with colored silver salts). Tinting and toning were often In the early 1940s, Technicolor and the Eastman-
used together to extend the color of a single image. Kodak Company introduced multilayered color film stocks
As imaginative as these processes are, they do not that essentially replaced the earlier Technicolor sys-
begin to accurately reproduce the range of colors that tem. These stocks, which were less expensive to pro-
exist in nature. Further experimentation with additive cess, could also be used in conventional cameras with
color processing resulted in a crude two-color additive less lighting. Eventually, Kodak’s single-strip color film
process that used two complementary colors, usually stock improved on these characteristics and became the
1 2
3 4
The evolution of color

Some silent filmmakers meticulously hand-colored portions of images frame by frame. Because the process was so tedious, only certain
shots or scenes were colored, such as this rowdy Western dance scene in Edwin Porter’s 1903 The Great Train Robbery [1]. Tinting larger quan-
tities of film with dyes let filmmakers use color to differentiate entire scenes or even imply mood or meaning, such as the cold blue used in
the climactic blizzard and ice-chase scene in D. W. Griffith’s Way Down East (1920) [2]. Technicolor’s original two-color additive color process,
seen here in Albert Parker’s 1926 silent epic The Black Pirate [3], didn’t reproduce true color, but it did represent an important step toward the
Technicolor three-color subtractive system that ushered in an era of serious filmmaking in color. The vibrant Technicolor images in Gone with
the Wind (1939) [4] earned a special commendation at the 1940 Academy Awards ceremony for “outstanding achievement in the use of color
for the enhancement of dramatic mood.”
standard. But just as Hollywood took several years to Now that color cinematography dominates, what we
convert from silent film to sound, so too the movie in- see on the screen looks very much like what we would
dustry did not immediately replace black-and-white film see in real life. By itself, however, color cinematography
with color. During the 1950s, Hollywood used color film doesn’t necessarily produce a naturalistic image. Film
strategically, along with the widescreen aspect ratio, artists and technicians can manipulate the colors in a
to lure people away from their television sets and back film as completely as they can any other formal element.
into theaters. Ultimately, just like its black-and-white counterpart,
color cinematography can be used to create realistic or

expressionistic images.
Much of Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (1975; cin-
ematographer John Alcott), for example, has a color
palette that reflects its temporal setting very well. It’s
the world of soft pastels and gentle shadows depicted
in the eighteenth-century paintings of Thomas Gains-
borough and William Hogarth. However, this palette
wasn’t achieved merely by pointing the camera in a
Pumping up the color in Tangerine
certain direction and accurately recording the colors To capture the colorful and chaotic life of transgender prostitutes in
found there. Instead, the filmmakers used diffused nat- Los Angeles, director and co-cinematographer Sean Baker shot Tan
ural lighting, special lenses, and fast film stocks during gerine (2015) on an iPhone equipped with a lens adaptor and an app
production, and slightly overexposed the film negative that allowed him to control focus and aperture. In postproduction,
he intensified and saturated the colors to complement the vibrancy
during postproduction processing to render the natu-
of his characters. The movie’s title was inspired by the dominant
rally occurring colors in more subtle and “painterly”
color to emerge in the color-grading process.
shades.
When shooting in color, cinematographers must also
consider color temperature. Any light source will emit natural to the human eye. Another method is to place a
various light wavelengths that register as different col- filter (usually a transparent sheet of colored glass or poly
ors in a graded spectrum. Sunlight emits light in the blue mer plastic) in front of the lens or light to cut out dis-
end of the spectrum, and incandescent lights using tra- tinct portions of the color spectrum as the light passes
ditional tungsten filament bulbs emit light in the orange the filter.
end of the spectrum. Because the movie camera does not Today, when virtually all motion-picture postpro-
translate this color the way the human eye (and brain) duction (and most of the production, too) is done digi-
does, a surface that appears white to our eyes may be tally, a great deal of any film’s look, including its color, is
recorded with a blue or orange hue by the film or sensor. completed on computers. This work is known as color
Cinematographers can compensate for this effect by us grading (also called color correction), the process of al-
ing digital settings or film stocks designed to balance a tering and enhancing the color of a motion picture (or
specific color temperature to something that appears video or still image) with specialized software. These
INTERACTIVE The color grading tutorial

shows the process by which a colorist digitally
adjusts the visual qualities of images during
postproduction.
Evocative use of color

Because we experience the world in color, color films may strike us
as more realistic than black-and-white films. Many color films, how-
ever, use their palettes not just expressively but also evocatively. For
Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (1975), cinematographer John Alcott
has helped convey both a historical period and a painterly world of
soft pastels, gentle shading, and misty textures.
Hollywood the center of American movie production in

part because of its almost constant sunshine. Even when
movies are shot outdoors on clear, sunny days, however,
filmmakers often use devices to manipulate that natu-
ral light. Daylight can be redirected with reflectors and
bounce boards, diffused with panels of white called silks,
and shaped with black panels called flags. Artificial lights
(sometimes called instruments to distinguish them from
1
the light they produce) are designed to address a range
of cinematic applications and needs. A professional pro-
duction uses a wide range of lighting instruments, from
large 36,000-watt light banks capable of illuminating
large areas, to small 25-watt battery-powered LED units
designed to simulate the glow a car’s instrument panel
might cast on a character’s face.
To calculate exposure and determine lighting ratios,
cinematographers use a handheld light meter to mea-
2 sure how much light is falling on any given surface.
Gaffers can adjust the intensity of each instrument in a
Expressive color change within a scene number of ways: focusing or dispersing the beam, using
Color isn’t just used to give a movie an overall look. Different applica- dimmers, placing heat-resistant screens (called scrims)
tions of color hues and vibrancy can be used in different scenes, and in front of the bulb, or simply moving the instrument
even within single scenes, to help convey the mood and meaning
closer to or farther from the subject. Lighting instru-
appropriate to each moment. For example, in Fantastic Beasts and
Where to Find Them (2016), notice how the rich browns and golds in
ments are designed to cast direct (hard) light, diffused
the shots of the wizard Newt and his beloved Thunderbird [1] differ (soft) light, or both. Hard light cast by some instruments
from the cool, desaturated blues in the shots of Newt regarding the can be softened with the aid of diffusion placed in front
dreaded Obscurus later in the same scene [2]. of, or even directly onto, the light source. Fresnel lights
days, filmmakers calibrate the way they capture foot-

age to facilitate the technical and creative manipulation
that happens largely in postproduction. Those manipu-
lations include exposure, depth of shadows, brightness
of highlights, saturation of colors, and color hues. Cin-
ematographers now have to be as knowledgeable about
what happens on the computer after shooting as they are
about what happens with the camera on the set.
Lighting Sources
In Chapter 5, we discussed how filmmakers use light ex-
pressively as part of a movie’s mise-en-scène. Now, let’s
look at some of the tools and techniques cinematogra-
phers and gaffers use to achieve lighting quality, direc- Reflector boards
Many scenes of John Ford’s My Darling Clementine (1946; cinema-
tion, and ratios.
tographer Joe MacDonald) were shot in the sunny desert terrain of
There are two fundamental sources of light: natural Monument Valley in Arizona and Utah. But as this photo shows, a
and artificial. Daylight is the most convenient and eco- large bank of reflector boards was used when the sunshine was in
nomical source, and in fact the movie industry made sufficient or when the director wanted to control the lighting.
Short-focal-length lens
In Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)
Fresnel light [1, 2], an antisocial high schooler is ordered by his mother to visit Ra-
A 2000-watt Fresnel light with barn doors and an adjustable lens. chel, a schoolmate he hardly knows, who has been diagnosed with
cancer. Cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung used a short-focal-
length lens to shoot their awkward exchange. The depth-stretching
effect of the wide-angle lens emphasizes the physical and emotional
feature an adjustable lens that can focus light into a di- distance between the two embarrassed characters.
rect, hard beam of maximum intensity or disperse the
beam to soften the light and lessen intensity.
Many lighting instruments are equipped with “barn (measured in millimeters) from the optical center of the
doors”: hinged panels used to shape the emitted light and lens to the focal point on the film stock or other sensor
prevent it from falling on areas where it is not needed. when the image is sharp and clear (in focus). Focal length
As mentioned earlier, black fabric panels called flags are affects how we perceive perspective—the appearance of
also used to shape and block light. depth—in a shot, and it also influences our perception of
the size, scale, and movement of the subject being shot.
The four major types of lenses are designated by their
Lenses respective focal lengths.
In its most basic form, a camera lens is a piece of The short-focal-length lens (also known as the
curved, polished glass or other transparent material. As wide-angle lens, starting as low as 12.5mm) produces
the “eye” of the camera, its primary function is to bring wide-angle views and stretches the appearance of depth.
the light that reflects off the subjects in front of the cam- It makes the subjects on the screen appear farther and
era (actors, objects, and settings) into a focused image on further apart than they actually are. Because this lens
the film or sensor inside the camera. exaggerates spatial perspective, subjects moving at nor-
The basic properties shared by all lenses are aperture, mal speeds toward or away from the camera can seem to
focal length, and depth of field. The aperture of a lens be moving through space faster than they actually are.
is an adjustable iris (or diaphragm) that controls the Most smartphone cameras have a short-focal-length lens.
amount of light passing through the lens. The greater Fisheye lenses, which are ultra-wide-angle lenses with
the size of the aperture, the more light it admits through focal lengths as short as 8mm, push this spatial distor-
the lens. The focal length of the lens is the distance tion even further.
in feature films are made with a middle-focal-length

lens—from 35mm to 50mm—often called the normal
lens. Lenses in this range create images that correspond
to our day-to-day experience of depth and perspective.
The zoom lens, also called the variable-focal-length
lens, permits the assistant cameraperson to reduce or
increase the focal length of the lens between takes or
setups without having to change lenses. Changing the
focal length in a continuous motion during a shot can
make the image “zoom” in or out, thus simulating the
effect of movement of the camera toward or away from
Fisheye lens the subject.
The disoriented state of mind of a woman addicted to amphetamines
Because zoom lenses contain additional lens ele-
is visualized with the spatial distortion caused by an ultra-wide-angle
ments, they require more light and thus do not produce
fisheye lens in Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream (2000).
images as sharp as lenses with fixed focal lengths, which
are called prime lenses. For this reason, most feature
films use prime lenses; zoom lenses are used predomi-
The long-focal-length lens (also known as the tele- nantly for documentary and documentary-style films
photo lens; focal lengths ranging from 85mm to as high that require the camera operators to continually adjust
as 500mm) compresses the appearance of depth, which focal length to capture ongoing and unpredictable ac-
makes distant subjects look closer and makes objects and tion. In the hands of an accomplished cinematographer,
subjects on different planes of depth appear to be closer the zoom lens can produce striking effects, but when it is
together than they would appear in real life. Because of used indiscriminately, as it sometimes is by less skilled
this spatial flattening effect, subjects moving from the filmmakers, it not only feels artificial to an audience but
background toward the camera can appear to be making can unintentionally d isorient viewers. As with all other
very slow progress through space—almost as if they were aspects of cinematography, the lens used must be appro-
walking in place. If you’ve ever looked through a pair of priate for the story being told.
binoculars, you’ve experienced a long-focal-length lens.
Although the short and long extremes are used oc-
casionally to achieve certain visual effects, most shots
Middle-focal-length lens
Long-focal-length lens This shot from Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard (1950) includes the
This image from Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (1975; cinematog- movie’s three principal characters. A small orchestra is in the back-
rapher John Alcott) shows the flattening effect of a long-focal-length ground. The middle-focal-length lens used to make this shot keeps
lens. The marching soldiers’ forward progress seems more gradual the three principal subjects in normal focus, and the overall image
as a result. corresponds to our day-to-day experience of depth and perspective.
1 2
Zoom lens
To create documentary visual style for the narrative film The Hurt Locker (2008), director Kathryn Bigelow and her cinematographer, Barry
Ackroyd, used lightweight, handheld cameras equipped with zoom lenses, which gave them the mobility and flexibility to enter into the
action and take viewers with them. A zoom lens allows the camera operator to adjust focal length, so that the camera can provide multiple
perspectives on the action within one shot. In this shot, the camera lens begins with an extreme long shot [1] and then immediately shifts to
a longer focal length [2] to suddenly thrust us among the coalition soldiers leading the frightened workers to safety. The rapid, fluid movement
of the lens between a neutral observation point and a tighter, closer view of the people rushing forward toward the camera not only suggests
a documentary immediacy but also increases our involvement with the military forces and workers.
As mentioned earlier in this chapter, the depth of we’ll concentrate here only on how lens focal length
field refers to the distance in front of a camera (and its affects depth of field. The short-focal-length lens offers
lens) in which the subjects are in apparent sharp focus. a nearly complete depth of field, rendering almost all
Several factors, including light, aperture setting, and objects in the frame in focus. The depth of field of the
gauge or sensor size, can influence the size and place- long-focal-length lens is generally a very narrow range,
ment of that focused area—but to keep things simple, and it leaves the area in front of and behind the in-focus
objects dramatically out of focus. The middle-focal-length
lens approximates how our human eyes and brains expe-
rience space and focus, with a relatively generous field of
focus around whatever the camera (or eye) is focused on.
LOOKING AT MOVIES Only areas well outside of the specific point of focus will
FOCAL LENGTH appear less distinct.
In virtually all shooting, cinematographers keep the
main subject of each shot in sharp focus to maintain
clear spatial and perspectival relations within frames.
One option available to cinematographers, however, is
a rack focus—a change of the point of focus from one
subject to another. This technique guides our attention
to a new, clearly focused point of interest while blurring
the previous subject in the frame.
Framing of the Shot

VIDEO This tutorial reviews the effects created
by lenses of different focal lengths. Framing is the process by which the cinematographer
or camera operator uses the boundaries and dimensions
turns the comparatively infinite sight of the human eye

into a finite movie image—an unlimited view into a lim-
ited view. This process requires decisions about each
of the following elements: the implied proximity to the
camera of main subjects, the depth of the composition,
the camera angle and height space within and outside of
the frame, point of view, and the type of camera move-
ment, if any.
At least one decision about framing is out of the cine-
matographer’s hands. Although a painter can choose any
1 size or shape of canvas as the area in which to create a
picture—large or small, square or rectangular, oval or
round, flat or three-dimensional—cinematographers find
that their choices for a “canvas” are limited to a small
number of dimensional variations on a rectangle. This rect-
angle results from the historical development of photo
graphic technology. Nothing absolutely dictates that our
experience of moving images must occur within a rectan-
gle; however, thanks to the standardization of equipment
and technology within the motion-picture industry, we
have come to know this rectangle as the shape of movies.
2
The relationship between the frame’s two dimensions
is known as its aspect ratio (see Figure 6.1), the ratio of
Rack focus
the width of the image to its height. Almost all movies
In this shot from Guillermo del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone (2001), the
camera uses depth of field to guide our attention from one subject to
another. When the shot begins, the lens is focused on the background
where the villainous Jacinto scans the orphanage courtyard for stray
witnesses [1]. The lens then shifts focus to the foreground so that
Jacinto’s elusive prey, the orphan Jamie, snaps into sharp relief [2].
of the moving image to determine what we see on the

screen. Framing involves composition and vice versa, so
understanding where one concept ends and the other
begins can be difficult. We know from Chapter 5 that
composition is the organization, distribution, balance,
and general relationship of actors and objects within the
space of each shot. Obviously, how the camera frames Framing and composition
those elements is a key part of how that arrangement To understand the relationship between framing and composition,
appears on-screen. To understand what distinguishes it may be helpful to consider the work of a documentary cinema-
framing, it helps to consider the term itself: framing di tographer such as Kirsten Johnson. Watching her 2016 film Camera
person, which is made up of footage she shot over the course of her
rectly engages the frame—the boundaries of the image,
long career, we see framing in action. She must continually position
including the farthest visible depth and the fourth wall and move her camera to compose shots of real people and unre-
behind the lens—and how what we see and the way in hearsed action. She uses framing to select what we see and compo-
which we see it is shaped by those borders. Framing sition to make the resulting images visually coherent and engaging.
Figure 6.1 | BASIC ASPECT RATIOS
1.375:1
1.375:1 Although filmmakers seldom use
more than one aspect ratio in a
movie, in shooting The Grand
Budapest Hotel (2014), director
Wes Anderson differentiated
scenes taking place in different
time periods by shooting in three
different aspect ratios. Scenes set
in the 1930s are shot in the Acad-
emy 1.375:1 ratio in common use
during that decade. Scenes taking
place from 1985 to the present are
in the 1.85:1 widescreen format,
1.85:1
1.85:1
and action set in the 1960s is shot
in the 2.35:1 widescreen ratio.
2.35:1
2.35:1
are made to be shown in one aspect ratio from beginning 2.35:1 Panavision and CinemaScope
to end. The most common aspect ratios are: (35mm anamorphic)
2.75:1 Ultra Panavision (70mm anamorphic)

1.375:1 Academy (35mm flat)
1.66:1 European widescreen (35mm flat) Feature-length widescreen movies were made as early
as 1927—the most notable was Abel Gance’s spectacular
1.85:1 American widescreen (35mm flat)
Napoléon (1927). In Hollywood, the Fox Grandeur 70mm
2.2:1 Super Panavision and Todd-AO process very effectively enhanced the epic composition
(70mm flat) and sweep of Raoul Walsh’s The Big Trail (1930). Until
Masking in The Graduate

Mike Nichols’s The Graduate (1967) features one of the most famous (and amusing) maskings of the frame in movie history. As the scene
ends, Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), framed in the provocative bend of Mrs. Robinson’s (Anne Bancroft) knee, asks, “Mrs. Robinson, you’re
trying to seduce me . . . aren’t you?”
the 1950s, when the widescreen image became popular, arena. Some Disney films shift aspect ratio when the
the standard aspect ratio for a flat film was the Acad- protagonist experiences a transformation, such as when
emy ratio of 1.375:1, meaning that the frame is 37 per- the princess in Enchanted (2007) moves from the ani-
cent wider than it is high—a ratio corresponding to the mated fantasy world to live-action New York City, and
dimensions of a single frame of 35mm film stock. While when the Native American protagonist of Brother Bear
this ratio is still often quoted as 1.33:1, the Academy of (2003) is changed into a bear. When a filmmaker wants
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences acknowledged in 1932 to depict a subject or situation using a frame size and
that the standard of the Academy ratio was widened to shape other than the one imposed by the chosen aspect
1.375:1 to provide room on the film print for the sound ratio, she can also use setting, objects, or even characters
track. Today’s more familiar widescreen variations pro- to block off, or mask, portions of the frame, thus creat-
vide wider horizontal and shorter vertical dimensions. ing a new frame or frames within the standard rectangle.
Most commercial releases are shown in the 1.85:1 aspect In Mike Nichols’s The Graduate (1967; cinematographer
ratio, which is almost twice as wide as it is high. Other Robert Surtees), during her initial seduction scene of
widescreen variations include a 2.2:1 or 2.35:1 ratio Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), Mrs. Robinson (Anne
when projected. In shooting for television broadcast, Bancroft) sits at the bar in her house and raises one leg
cinematographers are increasingly using the 1.78:1 as- onto the stool next to her, forming a triangle through
pect ratio. It can be seen on a home TV set with a format which Ben is framed or, perhaps, trapped.
of 16:9, which is universal for HDTV.
Occasionally, filmmakers change aspect ratios within
a film. Most of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight
(2008) was shot in a widescreen 2.35:1 format, but the Implied Proximity to the Camera
top and bottom of the image expanded to the 1.43:1 IMAX Most aspects of cinematic language draw upon the way
frame size during some action scenes. Hunger Games: people instinctively process and react to visual infor-
Catching Fire (2013) makes the same aspect ratio switch mation in their everyday lives. When we’re sitting in a
when the protagonist Katniss enters the Hunger Games dark movie theater, we unconsciously identify with the
viewpoint of the camera, which has replaced our own close-up implies close proximity, a medium shot is a me-
viewpoint. Implied proximity refers to the distance dium distance, a long shot is a longer distance, and so
between the camera (and thus the viewer) and the sub- forth. Depending on the context in which they are used,
ject on-screen. Because a lens with a long enough focal these shot types can connote significance, convey mean-
length can allow a camera to film a close-up of a subject ing and a character’s state of mind, and elicit emotional
standing a hundred feet away, it is important to under- responses from the audience. Because the easiest way to
stand that the distance between the camera and the sub- remember and recognize the different types of shots is
ject is not always what it seems—thus the term “implied to think about the scale of the human body within the
proximity.” The adjective implied also acknowledges frame, we’ll describe them in terms of that scale. But
that the spatial relationship between the characters on- shot types can also be classified by the amount of other
screen and the viewers in the audience is indicated by kinds of information they provide, including general (or
cinematic language, rather than any actual measurable background) information, physical subject information,
distance. and psychological subject information.
Whether or not that distance is implied or literal, In the extreme long shot (XLS or ELS), typically
the appearance of a subject’s proximity is important photographed at a great distance, the subject is often a
to a central aspect of framing and meaning—the whole wide view of a broad locale surrounding more specific
idea of significance. To get a sense of how proximity can locations where the action takes place. Extreme long
connote significance, consider the close-up—a shot in shots typically present general background information,
which a character’s face fills most of the frame—a fram- rather than a particular featured subject. When used to
ing that filmmakers often use at the moment in a scene provide spatial context at the beginning of a scene, the
that demands the greatest dramatic impact. In our regu- XLS is also an establishing shot. Even when human be-
lar, non-movie-watching lives, when someone is right up ings are included in such a shot, the emphasis is not on
close to us, and as a result dominates our field of vision, them as individuals but on their relationship to the sur-
we typically perceive them as especially significant. To roundings. The XLS may also be used to depict a charac-
understand why, imagine yourself on a crowded dance ter dwarfed by his or her environment or for depicting
floor at a club or party. Among all the other distract- large-scale action, such as a battle scene, in which masses
ing things in your field of vision, you see an attractive of figures function as a sort of collective subject.
person looking at you from the opposite end of the The long shot (LS) presents background and subject
room. You may assign that person some significance information in equal measure and is as much about set-
from that distance, but if that same person strolls right ting and situation as any particular character. Long shots
up to you, virtually filling your field of vision, then the are often used as establishing shots at the beginning
person will likely arouse a much more profound physi- of a scene to indicate where the scene is taking place,
cal and emotional reaction. Close-ups often exploit this who is involved, and what they are doing. The full bod-
link between proximity and significance, and it doesn’t ies of characters can be seen, often with enough physical
have to be pleasant. Think of those scenes in horror detail to allow us to recognize them, but psychological
films in which a monster suddenly dominates the frame, information (what characters are thinking or feeling)
violating and virtually erasing the implied distance be- is limited to what can be conveyed through action or
tween it and you. gesture.
Of course, attraction and terror are not the only symp- A medium long shot (MLS) is neither a medium shot
toms of significance, and nearness is not the only degree nor a long shot, but one in between. It is used to photo-
of proximity that engages our emotions. Each of the pos- graph one or more characters, usually from the knees
sible arrangements of subjects in proximity to each other up. In this shot type, background is reduced, and the sub-
and to the camera has the potential to convey something ject or subjects begin to predominate. Because the hu-
meaningful about the subjects on-screen. man body is shown in full, or at least nearly so, the MLS
is often used for moments of physical action. Because
Shot Types Implied proximity is the reason behind some the MLS is widely used in Hollywood movies, the French
of the most common terms for shots used in movies: a call this shot the plan Américain (“American shot”).
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
The medium shot (MS) frames subjects from some-

where around the waist and up, making them large LOOKING AT MOVIES
enough in the frame to reduce background to the point SHOT TYPES AND
IMPLIED PROXIMITY
of insignificance. The MS is the most frequently used
type of shot because it replicates our human experience
of proximity without intimacy. We can read increasingly
subtle psychological and physical information on the
increasingly dominant—and thus significant—subject.
Medium shots are often used to convey interaction be-
tween multiple subjects: medium shots featuring two
subjects are called two-shots, a three-shot has three sub-
jects, and group shots have more than three people.
The medium close-up (MCU) shows a character
from approximately the middle of the chest to the top
of the head. The character’s face, gestures, and posture VIDEO In this tutorial, Dave Monahan explores
the concept of implied proximity and its relationship
can begin to provide the kind of physical and psycholog-
to various shot types.
ical detail and implied proximity we associate with the
close-up.
In a close-up (CU), the subject’s face fills the frame,
so the camera (and, by extension, the viewer) is up close
and personal with the subject. The character’s face is Depth
close enough to communicate maximum physical and Because the image of the movie screen is two-
psychological detail—even the subtlest shift in expres- dimensional and thus appears flat (except for movies
sion can feel monumental. This intimate proximity im- shot with 3-D cinematography), one of the most compel-
parts a heightened sense of significance. ling challenges faced by cinematographers has been how
An extreme close-up ( XCU or ECU) fills the frame to give that image an illusion of depth. From the earli-
with a part of a subject’s face or, oftentimes, with an est years of film history, filmmakers have experimented
object revealed in great physical detail. When the XCU with achieving different illusions of depth. During the
enlarges a normally small object to monumental pro- 1930s, the traditional method of suggesting cinematic
portions, it may anticipate the use of the object. If an depth was to position significant characters or objects in
object is isolated and presented with great implied sig- focus in the foreground or middle ground, with the back-
nificance, the audience knows, or at least senses, that ground in soft focus. The cinematic space is arranged to
the object is important and will be used in some sig- differentiate the planes of space and draw the viewer’s
nificant manner. The resulting expectation can gener- eyes away from the background. With such basic illu-
ate suspense or impart to the object a kind of symbolic sions, our eyes automatically give depth to the succes-
value. sive areas of the image as they seem to recede in space.
Shot types
(Facing page) Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech (2010) uses all of the basic shot types in the opening sequence, in which England’s Prince Al-
bert, who suffers from a serious stutter, must give a very public speech in 1934. A huge crowd is gathered to hear him speak, and the speech
is also being broadcast across the British Empire. The scene opens with an extreme close-up of a radio microphone [1], a potent symbol of
Albert’s predicament. Other extreme close-ups opening the scene include the speech text clutched in Albert’s hand and Albert’s stammering
mouth as he attempts to rehearse his delivery [2]. On his way to the podium, the terrified prince receives instructions from an assistant,
shown in a medium two-shot [3]. A long shot [4] shows radio technicians operating the huge bank of radio equipment necessary to broadcast
the speech around the world. An extreme long shot [5] depicts Albert’s view from the podium—the ranks of spectators, officials, and soldiers
gathered to hear him speak. The scene builds suspense with a cut back to a medium long shot [6] of a radio engineer anxiously waiting for
the prince to begin speaking. A close-up [7] is used for the most significant and agonizing shot in the scene, as Albert struggles to speak. His
sympathetic wife watches his futile efforts in a medium close-up [8].
1 2
Depth
From the earliest years of film history, filmmakers have experi-
mented with achieving different illusions of depth. In the backstage
musical Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), Mervyn LeRoy suggested
depth by placing the character in the foreground and leaving the rest
of the image in a soft-focus background [1]. Rim lighting and top
lighting helps separate the foreground subject from the background.
During a patriotic musical stage sequence later in the same film,
LeRoy and his innovative choreographer, Busby Berkeley, designed
shots that fostered the illusion of depth with lines of movement
from background to foreground [2]. Legendary cinematographer
Gregg Toland helped develop film stocks, lenses, and lighting tech-
niques necessary for deep-space cinematography, which keeps all
three planes of depth in sharp focus—as seen in his groundbreaking
work on Citizen Kane (1941) [3].
3
Directors of the era such as Rouben Mamoulian and combining the fastest film stock available with greatly
Mervyn LeRoy also experimented with the technique increased lighting intensity, which allowed him to close
of using camera or figure movement to create lines of the aperture to the smallest possible setting. All that
movement between the background and foreground to light required him to work with engineers to design spe-
foster the illusion of depth. cial lenses with coatings that reduced glare.
Also during the 1930s, however, various cinematog- In Citizen Kane, these methods came together to make
raphers experimented with creating a deeper illusion possible deep-focus cinematography, which, using the
of space through cinematographic rather than choreo- short-focal-length lens, keeps all three planes of depth in
graphic means. Of these cinematographers, none was sharp focus. Toland used deep-focus cinematography to
more important than Gregg Toland, who was respon- create deep-space composition, the compositional ap-
sible for bringing the previous developments together, proach introduced in Chapter 5 that emphasizes depth
improving them, and using them most impressively in by placing significant visual and narrative information
John Ford’s The Long Voyage Home (1940) and soon on two or more of the three planes of depth. Toland’s
after in Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane (1941). By the time pioneering work on Citizen Kane profoundly influenced
he shot these two films, Toland had already rejected the look of subsequent movies. Deep focus (and deep-
the soft-focus, one-plane depth of the established Holly- space mise-en-scène) allowed directors to use block-
wood style. He dramatically increased depth of field by ing to arrange and move actors within the full depth of
LOOKING AT MOVIES
CAMERA ANGLES
VIDEO This tutorial examines the various types

of camera angles and their effects on viewers.
the setting, which made possible multiple compositions

within a single shot. This flexibility made it possible to
sustain dramatic action within a single extended shot
without cutting, which helped distance Hollywood from
the editing-centered theories of the Russian formalist
directors like Sergei Eisenstein. French film critic An-
2
dré Bazin emphasizes that deep-focus cinematography
“brings the spectator into a relation with the image
Eye-level shot
closer to that which he enjoys with reality” and “implies, These two shots from the same sequence in Pablo Larraín’s Jackie
consequently, both a more active mental attitude on the (2016) illustrate two uses of the eye-level camera angle. The cam-
part of the spectator and a more positive contribution on era assumes the neutral angle in this medium close-up two-shot [1]
his part to the action in progress.”2 of first lady Jackie Kennedy nervously conferring with her social sec-
retary, Nancy Tuckerman, before a White House television interview.
During the interview, Jackie glances over to Nancy: this shot [2] rep-
Camera Angle and Height resents Jackie’s eye-level point of view of Nancy. Notice that the prop
television camera is set at Jackie’s approximate eye level.
The camera angle is the level and height of the camera
in relation to the subject being photographed. Some-
times, the camera’s angle on the subject simply reflects correspond with the way we’re most used to seeing our
spatial relationships between characters and objects seen everyday surroundings, including the other people with
separately on-screen, as with a shot depicting the point whom we interact. If the camera is functioning as nar-
of view of a character looking out of an upstairs window. rator, the eye-level angle functions as a neutral view of
But oftentimes, camera angles offer filmmakers a range the action on-screen. If the shot represents the point of
of more expressive possibilities. view of a character, the eye level is a natural angle to rep-
resent how and what that character sees. Camera angles
Eye Level For most shots in most movies, filmmakers take on a wider range of expressive meetings as soon as
set the camera angle at roughly the same level as the eyes the filmmakers deviate from this “normal and neutral”
of the characters in the scene. These eye-level shots viewpoint.
2. André Bazin, “The Evolution of the Language of Cinema,” in What Is Cinema? trans. Hugh Gray, 2 vols. (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1967–71), I, pp. 35–36.
Low-angle shot
Two faces, both shot at low angle, convey two different meanings.
2 [1] A low-angle shot of Radio Raheem from Spike Lee’s Do the Right
Thing (1989) portrays him as threatening. The shot conveys the point
of view of a pizzeria owner who is intimidated by his boom-box-
High-angle shot
carrying customer. [2] In The Shining (1980), we might expect di-
In this moment in Love Me Tonight (1932), the normally confident
rector Stanley Kubrick to use a high angle for the moment when
Maurice has just been forced to admit that he is only an ordinary tai-
the helpless Wendy discovers a manuscript that proves her husband
lor, a confession that has cost him the love of his beloved princess.
Jack is insane. Instead, Kubrick uses a low angle that enlarges the
Director Rouben Mamoulian employs a high angle (combined with
indisputable evidence of his madness in the foreground and denies
a framing that diminishes the character’s size) to convey Maurice’s
us the ability to see behind Wendy at a moment when we expect
shame and vulnerability [1]. Sometimes, however, a high-angle shot
Jack to come sneaking up behind her. The resulting suspense actu-
can be used to play against its traditional interpretation. The sinister
ally intensifies her vulnerability.
villains in this high-angle shot in North by Northwest (1959) are the
opposite of vulnerable—they’re planning a murder. Director Alfred
Hitchcock used the spatial implications of the extreme high angle
to emphasize their intended victim’s predicament: she’s oblivious physically larger or they are in a comparatively sub-
upstairs packing for a flight, and they’ve just decided to toss her out missive or prone position. In most of its cinematic ap-
of the airplane.
plications, the high-angle shot draws upon this spatial
implication; characters shot with the camera looking
down on them are portrayed as vulnerable or weak.
High Angle For a high-angle shot, the camera is posi- However, no cinematic meaning is carved in stone. How
tioned above eye level, so it aims down at the subject. In we experience and understand any shot depends on the
our everyday conversation, to “look down on someone” surrounding context.
indicates that we consider that someone to be inferior.
When we literally look down on someone, we are often Low Angle For a low-angle shot, the camera is posi-
viewing them from a position of superiority—either we’re tioned below eye level, so it aims up at the subject. As you
perspective. As most of us don’t encounter this view-

point in our regular lives, the bird’s-eye view can be used
to impart a sense of disorientation or strangeness to the
action on-screen. In a different context, the view from
on high can be used to convey omniscience in terms of
narration or point of view. In some contexts, the angle
can be read figuratively—or even literally—as a God’s
point of view on the earthly action.
Camera Movement
Any movement of the camera within a shot automat-
ically changes the image we see because the elements
of framing that we have discussed thus far—camera an-
Dutch angle gle, level, height, shot types—are all modified when the
The off-balance look of the Dutch-angle shot is perfectly suited to
camera moves within that shot. The moving camera,
the unnatural activities perpetrated by Doctors Frankenstein and
which can photograph both static and moving subjects,
Pretorius in Bride of Frankenstein (1935). During a 2-minute scene
in which the mad scientists equip an assembled corpse with a re- opens up cinematic space, and thus filmmakers use it
animated heart, director James Whale uses eighteen Dutch-angle to achieve many effects. It can search and increase the
shots.
might imagine, the low-angle shot typically conveys the

opposite meaning of a high-angle shot. When we say “I
look up to her,” we’re talking about someone we consider
our superior. We literally look up at performers on stage,
elevated monuments to historical heroes, and physically
imposing adversaries. So it makes sense that subjects
in low-angle shots generally appear powerful, noble, or
threatening. But again, when used in a different context, 1
the low-angle shot can take on very different meanings.
Dutch Angle Our world is built along horizontal and

vertical lines; typically, one of the assistant cameraper-
son’s first tasks with each new setup is to level the cam-
era on the tripod so the horizontal and vertical lines
align with the framing. For a Dutch-angle shot (also
called a Dutch tilt or oblique-angle shot), the camera is
tilted so that horizontal and vertical lines on set appear 2
as diagonals in the frame. Doing so causes the world
on-screen to appear off-balance or misaligned, which is Bird’s-eye view
why the Dutch angle is primarily used in scenes depict- Saroo Brierley was a young boy in rural India who became lost in
ing unnatural or chaotic events. Calcutta, then was sent overseas when he was adopted by an Aus-
tralian couple. Garth Davis’s Lion (2016) tells the true story of Brier-
ley’s search for his brother and biological mother. Davis juxtaposes
Bird’s-Eye View A bird’s-eye view shot (or an over-
two different kinds of bird’s-eye view shots to visualize the moment
head or aerial-view shot) is taken from directly over the when the adult Saroo finally discovers his lost home using Google
subjects, often from an elevated view. Cranes, drones, Earth: pixilated satellite images on his laptop [1], and vivid bird’s-eye
or aircraft are principally used to capture this extreme shots depicting the forgotten memories they trigger [2].
1 2
3 4
Camera angles in M
In Fritz Lang’s M (1931), the city of Berlin is gripped in fear during a spree of child murders. In this scene, in which an innocent man becomes
the object of a crowd’s suspicions, camera angles provide a context for us to distinguish real threats from perceived ones. [1] An accidental
meeting between a short man and a little girl is shot as a neutral eye-level long shot. [2] The suspicious man who interrupts the innocent ex-
change is shown from the short man’s perspective, an exaggerated low-angle shot in which the accuser looms threateningly over the camera.
[3] A high-angle shot from the perspective of the accuser reinforces the short man’s modest stature and relative powerlessness. [4] When we
return to an eye-level shot, a crowd—soon to be a mob—fills the tighter framing.
space, introduce us to more details than would be pos- to accompany or follow the movements of a character,
sible with a static image, choose which of these details object, or vehicle and to see the action from a character’s
we should look at or ignore, follow movement through point of view. The moving camera leads the viewer’s eye
a room or across a landscape, and establish complex re- or focuses the viewer’s attention and, by moving into
lationships between figures in the frame—especially in the scene, helps create the illusion of depth in the flat
shots that are longer than average. It allows the viewer screen image. Furthermore, it helps convey relationships:
spatial, causal, and psychological. When used in this way,

the moving camera adds immeasurably to the director’s LOOKING AT MOVIES
development of the narrative and our understanding of it. THE MOVING CAMERA
Within the first decade of movie history, D. W. Grif-
fith began to exploit the power of simple camera move-
ment to create associations within the frame and, in
some cases, to establish a cause-and-effect relationship.
In The Birth of a Nation (1915), within one shot he es-
tablishes a view of a Civil War battle, turns the camera
toward a woman and small children on a wagon, and
then turns back to the battle. From that instinctive, fluid
camera movement we understand the relationship be-
tween the horror of the battle and the misery that it has
created for innocent civilians. Of course, Griffith could
have cut between shots of the battle and the bystanders,
VIDEO In this tutorial, Dave Monahan
demonstrates the various types of camera movement.
but breaking up the space and time with editing would
not achieve the same subtle effect as a single shot does.
In the 1920s, German filmmakers took this very sim-
ple type of camera movement to the next level, perfect-
ing fluid camera movement within and between shots. as cinéma vérité and direct cinema, and greatly influ-
In fact, F. W. Murnau, who is associated with some of enced narrative film style. For the most part, however,
the greatest early work with the moving camera in such cinematographers strive to ensure that the camera does
films as The Last Laugh (1924) and Sunrise: A Song of not shake or jump while moving through a shot.
Two Humans (1927), referred to it as the unchained cam- The basic types of shots involving camera movement
era, thereby suggesting that it has a life of its own, with are the pan, tilt, dolly, and crane shots as well as those
no limits to its freedom of movement. Since the 1920s, made with the Steadicam, the handheld camera, or the
the moving camera has become one of the dominant zoom lens. Each shot involves a particular kind of move-
stylistic trademarks of a diverse group of directors, from ment, depends on a particular kind of equipment, and
Orson Welles and Max Ophüls to Alfonso Cuarón and has its own expressive potential.
Alejandro González Iñárritu.
The smoothly moving camera helped change the way Pan and Tilt Shots These most basic moving cam-
movies were made as well as how we see and interpret era shots use a head mounted on a tripod. The tripod
them. But before the camera was capable of smooth is a three-legged, adjustable mechanism that holds the
movement, directors and their camera operators had to camera steady and can be set at variable heights. The
find ways to create steady moving shots that would im- camera attaches to the head, which allows the operator
itate the way the human eye/brain sees. When we look to pivot the camera vertically or horizontally. Your own
around a room or landscape or see movement through body provides an easy way to picture the setup: think of
space, our eyes dart from subject to subject, from plane your eyes as the lens, your head as the camera, and your
to plane, and so we “see” more like a series of rapidly neck as the head. Tripods are stationary, so, in this anal-
edited movie shots than a smooth flow of visual infor- ogy, your body/tripod is standing still. For a pan shot,
mation. Yet our eyes and brain work together to smooth the camera pivots horizontally on a stationary axis; in
out the jumps. Camera motion, however, must itself be other words, the camera “looks” from side to side. The
smooth in order for its audience to make sense of (or pan shot offers us a larger, more panoramic view than
even tolerate) the shots resulting from that motion. a shot taken from a fixed camera; guides our attention
There are exceptions, of course: During the 1960s, to characters or actions that are important; makes us
nonfiction filmmakers began what was soon to become aware of relationships between subjects that are too far
widespread use of the handheld camera. This technique apart to be shown together in the frame; allows us to fol-
both ushered in entirely new ways of filmmaking, such low people or objects; and attempts to replicate what we
1 2
A tilt shot conveys a psychological relationship in Citizen Kane

When his second wife leaves him, Kane tears her room apart in a fit of rage. When his flailing reveals a snow globe on a shelf, his outburst
staggers to a stop. The next shot is of Kane’s hand gripping the snow globe, which contains a tiny model cabin [1] similar to the one he grew
up in. The shot tilts up to his face, where anger has been replaced by wistful sadness [2]. The camera move links the object to the emotion,
and we understand that Kane is thinking about his lost childhood.
see when we turn our heads to survey a scene or follow a which moves the camera toward a stationary subject,
character. causing the subject’s size in frame to gradually increase.
For a tilt shot, the camera pivots vertically; in other This visible shift in implied proximity intensifies the sig-
words, it “looks” up and down. The tilt shot can do any- nificance of a moment, making the technique useful for
thing a pan does—only vertically. Because our world and depicting a character at a moment of realization or deci-
our movements are mostly oriented along the horizontal sion. You may remember Alicia, the woman married to
axis, pan shots are the most common of the two. Pan and
tilt shots are shot from a stationary tripod, but a camera
can also pan or tilt as part of another camera move made
from a crane, dolly, or Steadicam.
Dolly Shot A dolly shot (also known as a tracking

shot) is one taken from a camera mounted on a wheeled
platform called a dolly, which can be equipped with ei-
ther large rubber wheels for smooth soundstage floors
or grooved wheels that run on tracks over uneven sur-
faces. Because it moves smoothly and freely along the
ground, the dolly shot is one of the most effective (and
consequently most common) uses of the moving cam-
era. Dolly shots can follow characters moving through
settings or simulate the point of view of a moving char-
acter. A camera narrator shot with a dolly can guide the
A dolly in action
frame through unfolding situations and convey spatial Camera operators follow the action of a street scene using a dolly
relationships between one scene element and another. equipped to roll on tracks over uneven terrain (such as a bumpy city
One of the most common dolly shots is the dolly in, street) during the production of the HBO series The Sopranos.
key she stole from Sebastian. What was an elegant party

LOOKING AT MOVIES scene is now understood as the backdrop for a dangerous
ZOOM AND MOVING mission into the forbidden wine cellar.
CAMERA EFFECTS
Zoom The zoom is a lens with a variable focal length,

which permits the camera operator during shooting to
shift from the wide-angle lens (short focus) to the tele-
photo lens (long focus) or vice versa without changing
the focus or aperture settings. It is not a camera move-
ment per se, because only the optics inside the lens are
moving in relation to each other and thus shifting the fo-
cal length. Still, the zoom can provide the illusion of the
camera moving toward or away from the subject. One
result of this shift is that the image is magnified when
VIDEO This tutorial demonstrates the difference shifting from short to long focal length or demagnified
between effects achieved with a zoom lens and those
created by moving the camera. by shifting in the opposite direction.
That magnification is the essential difference between
zoom-in and dolly-in movements on a subject. When
dollying, a camera actually moves through space; in the
process, spatial relationships between the camera and
the Nazi conspirator Sebastian in Notorious (1946). The the objects in its frame shift, causing relative changes in
moment when she finally figures out her coffee is poi- position between on-screen figures or objects. By con-
soned is conveyed by a series of dolly-in moves: first of trast, because a zoom lens does not move through space,
her murderous mother-in-law, then of her devious hus- its depiction of spatial relationships between the camera
band, and finally of Alicia herself. The first two convey a and its subjects does not change. All a zoom shot does is
sort of psychological point of view as she realizes who is magnify the image.
doing the poisoning, and the third intensifies our experi- Because it depicts movement through space differ-
ence of her decision to try and make a run for it. ently than we experience it in our own lives with our
A dolly-out movement (moving backwards) can be own eyes, the movement of a zoom shot can feel artifi-
used for a technique called slow disclosure where the cial. For this reason (and the fact that viewers naturally
camera movement allows new information into the associate the zoom effect with its use in amateur home
frame that expands or changes the viewer’s initial in- videos), zoom shots are rarely used in narrative feature
terpretation of the subject or situation. A good exam- films. However, because the zoom provides documen-
ple occurs in Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 Cold War satire tary filmmakers a fast and practical way to shift perspec-
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and tive when capturing ongoing and unscripted action, the
Love the Bomb. When a medium close-up lingers on a zoom is an accepted technique in nonfiction cinema and
bomber pilot staring intently downward, context makes in narrative movies presented in a documentary style.
us assume he is a diligent officer monitoring his instru- You may recall the effective zoom in The Hurt Locker de-
ment panel. Then the camera dollies back, widening our scribed earlier in this chapter.
viewpoint and revealing that his intent gaze is actually When combined with the perspective shift of a dolly
focused on a Playboy magazine. Other camera move- shot, the magnifying effect of a zoom can create a strik-
ments can also be used for slow disclosure. In the afore- ing and unsettling distortion of perspective. This so-
mentioned Notorious, a high-angle long shot opens on called “zolly” maintains the size of the subject in frame
a large formal social function. As the crane shot moves while the background magnifies or retreats behind them,
closer and closer to Alicia and Sebastian chatting and or vice versa: the background stays the same while the
greeting guests, the situation appears to be nothing but subject enlarges or grows smaller. The unsettling spatial
a cordial gathering, until the camera moves into an ex- inconsistency is usually used to convey a character reali-
treme close-up of Alicia’s hand, which is clutching the zation at a moment of crisis, such as in Steven Spielberg’s
1 2
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The crane shot in Touch of Evil

The virtuoso 3-minute crane shot that opens Touch of Evil combines nearly every possible shot type and camera angle into a single fluid
movement that sets the scene, introduces characters, and ignites the conflict for the film noir’s entire story. The unchained camera starts on
an extreme closeup-of a time bomb [1], shows the bomb being slipped into a car trunk [2], lifts to depict the doomed victims in a hig-angle
long shot [3], then follows their progress through a seedy border town [4]. Along the way, their path intersects that of the movie’s protago-
nists, Mike and Susan Vargas [5], creating suspense as all the players wait to cross the border [6]—and we anticipate the inevitable explosion.
Jaws (1975) when the sheriff of a tourist town witnesses crane may move freely and smoothly both vertically and
the signs of a shark attack on a crowded beach. horizontally. The crane shot allows filmmakers to com-
bine multiple camera angles and shot types within a sin-
Crane Shot A crane shot is made from a camera gle shot, such as the previously described party scene in
mounted on an elevating arm, making it capable of mov- Notorious or the famous opening shot in Orson Welles’s
ing freely and smoothly through vertical space. When a Touch of Evil (1958). An ascending crane shot is used for
camera crane is attached to a dolly or other vehicle, the slow disclosure in Gone with the Wind. The camera be-
gins framed at eye level on Scarlett O’Hara standing be-

side a few wounded Confederate soldiers, then pulls up
and out to a high-angle extreme long shot that reduces
her to a tiny, insignificant figure in a vast railroad yard
filled with scores of wounded and dead.
Handheld Camera A handheld camera is exactly

what it sounds like: the camera operator holds the cam-
era, usually with the help of a mount that allows the bulk
of the camera weight to rest on her shoulder. Not even
the most skilled operator can completely eliminate the 1
shaking and wobbling associated with a handheld cam-
era. Because news and documentary filmmakers rely on
the flexibility of the handheld camera to cover unpre-
dictable ongoing events, its unstable look is often asso-
ciated with documentary realism. Some narrative films,
such as 127 Hours (2010), Tangerine, and The Hurt Locker
seek a sense of immediacy and authenticity and so are
shot mostly, or even entirely, using a handheld camera.
The visual instability of the handheld camera can also
be used selectively to indicate distressed states of mind
or volatile situations. For the opening battle of Saving
Private Ryan (1998), Steven Spielberg exploited the 2
handheld camera to bring the scene both documentary
realism and visual pandemonium. Both documentary Moving camera conveys a crucial spatial
realism and visual instability are behind the handheld relationship
camera’s use in narrative found-footage movies. These During The Shining’s climactic chase through the hedge maze, the
moving camera informs viewers of a key spatial relationship. The
fiction films are presented as if the footage was shot by
shot begins on the young Danny hiding behind a hedge [1], then
a participant in the action—which is usually chaotic and
glides left to reveal his pursuer on just the other side [2]. By uniting
unpredictable. In found-footage horror movies such as Danny’s terror with his deranged father, the move also conveys a
The Blair Witch Project (1999), Rec (2007), and Clover- psychological relationship. The shot was filmed with a Steadicam,
field (2008), the rapid pans and jittery framing help to but could just as easily have been captured using a dolly.
convince viewers that we’re experiencing actual docu-
mented events and also communicate the terrified state
of mind of the camera-operator characters as they cope narrative over time and through space, such as the shot
with, respectively, an unseen witch/ghost, fast zombies, in The Shining that follows Danny’s long Big Wheel ride
and a gigantic monster. through the halls of the Overlook Hotel. This famous
early Steadicam shot does more than simply allow the
Steadicam The Steadicam is a patented harness device film to keep the rolling Danny in frame. The gliding cam-
worn by the operator and uses a sophisticated system of era takes on the malevolent spirit of the haunted hotel
counterweights and hydraulics to combine the mobility of as it floats along in a kind of relentless lurking pursuit
the handheld camera with the smoothness of a tracking of the oblivious innocent. Later, when his axe-wielding
shot. The camera operator can walk or run up stairs, over father, Jack, searches for Danny in the hedge maze, the
uneven surfaces, and through tight spaces where dollies Steadicam pursues the boy from behind in every shot
cannot fit.3 This flexibility has made the Steadicam the of Danny, while virtually every Steadicam shot of Jack
method of choice for moving camera shots that extend a faces the murderous antagonist head on.
3. Lighter digital cameras can now be mounted on similar, but smaller, rigs called gimbals that use counterweights and gyroscopes to steady the
camera, but the Steadicam still dominates the commercial feature film market.
The longest Steadicam shot

The entire 96-minute running time of Alexander Sukarov’s Russian
Ark (2002) was filmed in a single unbroken shot using a Steadicam
moving through intricately choreographed historical reenactments
staged throughout the huge Winter Palace of the Russian State
Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Before the advent of
digital cinematography, a single shot of this length would have been
impossible. The maximum amount of film stock a standard 35mm
camera can hold lasts only a little over 11 minutes.
The smoothest-moving camera

The Steadicam is not a camera but rather a steadying mechanism
on which any motion-picture camera can be mounted. As seen here, Moving that frame makes us aware of the offscreen
during the filming of Tom Tykwer’s Perfume: The Story of a Murderer space outside the frame as well as the on-screen space
(2006), the operator wears a harness attached to an arm that is inside it. As the film theorist Noël Burch first suggested,
connected to a vertical armature, with the camera at the top and the entire visual composition of a shot depends on the
a counterweight at the bottom. Unlike the handheld camera, this
existence of on-screen as well as offscreen spaces; both
mechanism isolates the operator’s movements from the camera,
producing a very smooth shot even when the operator is walking or
spaces are equally important to the composition and
running quickly over an uneven surface. to the viewer’s experience of it. Burch divides offscreen
space into six segments: the four infinite spaces that lie
beyond the four borders of the frame; the spaces beyond
Framing: What We See the movie settings; and the space behind the camera.
on the Screen The borders of the frame, and the offscreen spaces
As we learned earlier in this chapter, framing is the pro- beyond them, may be used in a number of ways. Char-
cess by which the cinematographer uses the borders of acters may enter or exit the frame from any of the pre-
the moving image to determine what we see on-screen. viously listed spaces. Characters on-screen may look
Framing is also used to determine what we don’t see on- offscreen. The image on-screen may represent what a
screen. The frame of the camera’s viewfinder (the little character offscreen is looking at. The filmmaker may use
window you look into or through when taking a picture) sound, shadow, a character’s gaze, or narrative context
indicates the limited boundaries of the camera’s framed to hint at the presence of someone (or something) in the
perspective on the world. To demonstrate for yourself space offscreen. Suspecting that something may be hid-
the difference between the camera’s view and your ev- den outside of the frame can increase our participation
eryday vision, put your hands together to form a rectan- in the unfolding narrative as we try to figure out who or
gular frame, then look through it using one eye. If you what it is: knowing that something is just beyond our
move it to the left or the right, move it closer or farther view can increase suspense as we predict and anticipate
away from your face, or tilt it up or down, you can see in- its eventual appearance. Alternatively, the filmmaker
stantly how framing (and moving the frame) defines and can surprise us by moving the frame to suddenly reveal
limits what you see. previously hidden information.
1 2
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5 6
Offscreen and on-screen space in Chinatown

In his film noir Chinatown (1974), Roman Polanski uses offscreen space first to create suspense and then to provide a surprise during a prear
ranged meeting between the prying detective J. J. Gittes and the menacing tycoon Noah Cross. The scene opens with an LS establishing shot
of an empty entryway. Viewers conditioned to having settings populated with characters are made immediately aware of offscreen space, as
presumably Gittes and Cross must eventually enter the established setting. And sure enough, we soon see Cross’s car through an open door
in the background as it passes through the space behind the setting. A moment later, a puff of smoke enters the left side of the frame [1].
Context tells us it’s Gittes—we know he’s meeting Cross, and we’ve seen him smoke countless cigarettes in the film’s preceding 2 hours of
screen time. By placing Gittes offscreen, yet making us aware of his presence, Polanski creates suspense. The viewer wonders if he’s hiding
or simply waiting—or maybe this is just a transitional moment of vagueness before a powerful confrontation between two antagonists. We
are kept in suspense for the 10 long seconds it takes for Cross to enter the frame through the background door, stroll to the foreground, and
finally look offscreen and address Gittes. The detective enters the frame to confront Cross with a coroner’s report and a pair of shattered eye-
glasses that proves Cross committed murder [2]. The framing follows Cross as he ambles into an adjoining garden, leaving Gittes offscreen
once again [3]. The persistent Gittes reenters the frame to continue questioning the seemingly imperturbable Cross. After a few moments
of conversation, Cross glances offscreen and casually orders an unseen (and unforeseen) enforcer named Claude to confiscate Gittes’s evi-
dence [4]. A large hand reaches into the frame [5]. A moment after we see a look of disgusted recognition on Gittes’s face, the frame shifts to
allow us to share his surprise. Claude is the violent and vengeful security chief that Gittes beat senseless earlier in the story [6].
Table 6.1 | OPEN AND CLOSED FRAMES
Open Closed
Normal depth, perspective, light, and scale. An overall look Exaggerated and stylized depth; out of perspective;
Visual characteristics that is realistic, or verisimilar. distorted or exaggerated light and shadow; distorted scale.
An overall look that is not realistic.
The characters act. They may move freely in and out of the The characters are acted upon. They are controlled by
frame. They are free to go to another place in the movie’s outside forces and do not have the freedom to come and go
Framing the characters
world and return. as they wish. They have no control over the logic that drives
the movie’s actions.
Design elements call attention to themselves and may be

Relationship of characters The characters are more important than the sets, costumes,
more important than the characters. Design elements drive
and other design elements. The design elements support
to design elements the story’s development.
the development of character and story.
The world of the story is based on reality. It changes and The world of the story is self-contained: it doesn’t refer
The world of the story evolves, and the framing changes with it. The frame is a to anything outside of itself. It is rigid and hierarchical:
window on this world. everything has its place. The frame is similar to a painting.
Source: Adapted from Leo Braudy, The World in a Frame: What We See in Films (1976; repr., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984).
Open and Closed Framing The first and most obvi- ally, the movie’s framing changes with it. In the formal-
ous function of the motion-picture frame is to control ist film, the frame is similar to the frame of a painting or
our perception of the world by enclosing what we see photograph, enclosing or limiting the world by closing
within a rectangular border. Because it shapes the image it down and providing only one view. Because only that
in a configuration that does not allow for peripheral vi- one view exists, everything within the frame has its par-
sion and thus does not conform to our visual perception, ticular place. As with all such distinctions in film anal-
we understand framing as one of the many conventions ysis, these differences between open and closed frames
through which cinema gives form to what we see on the are not absolute; they are a matter of degree and empha-
screen. Film theorist Leo Braudy, one of many writers to sis (as shown in Table 6.1).
study the relationship between cinematic arrangement
and viewer perception, distinguishes between open and
closed films as two ways of designing and representing
the visible world through framing it, as well as two ways LOOKING AT MOVIES
of perceiving and interpreting it. POINT OF VIEW
Each of these cinematic worlds—open and closed—is
created through a system of framing that should remain
fairly consistent throughout the film so as not to con-
fuse the viewer. The open frame is designed to depict
a world where characters move freely within an open,
recognizable environment, and the closed frame is
designed to imply that other forces (such as fate; social,
educational, or economic background; or a repressive
government) have robbed characters of their ability to
move and act freely. The open frame is generally em-
ployed in realistic (verisimilar) films, the closed frame
in formalist films. In the realistic film, the frame is a VIDEO This tutorial explores point of view and
“window” on the world—one that provides many views. framing.
Because the “reality” being depicted changes continu-
chance, while Kurosawa allows his characters little free-

dom. Renoir’s open frame is more relevant to the modern
audience, while Kurosawa’s relatively closed frame seems
claustrophobic by contrast, perhaps reflecting the hierar-
chical society of the time.
The formulaic nature of these distinctions does not
mean that you should automatically categorize movies
The closed frame in Mother!

In Darren Aronofsky’s closed film, Jennifer Lawrence’s character,
Mother, is not just confined to the self-contained world of the alle-
gorical story, she is cinematically confined to every frame. Aronof-
sky used only three types of handheld shots: close framed “singles”
on Mother, shots framed over her shoulder, and point-of-view shots
showing what she sees. More than half of the movie’s running time
consists of close-ups of her face.
Directors choose the closed frame when their stories

concern characters who are controlled by outside forces
and do not have the freedom to come and go as they
wish. Design elements frequently drive the story’s de-
velopment. Darren Aronofsky’s stylized and allegorical
horror film Mother! (2017) is by design a closed film. The 1
audience sees only what Jennifer Lawrence’s character,
identified only as “Mother,” perceives and feels—which
are feelings of anxiety, abandonment, confusion, anger,
and grief. All of these emotions are provoked by outside
forces, known as the “visitors,” that invade the isolated
home she shares with her husband (known as “Him”).
Mother (and, by extension, the viewer) never leaves this
self-contained setting, with the exception of a scene in
which Mother and Him stare at the house as it burns to
ashes.
An interesting opportunity to compare open and
closed framing presented itself when two different direc-
tors from different countries—Jean Renoir (France) and
Akira Kurosawa (Japan)—each made their own cinematic
adaptation of Russian writer Maxim Gorky’s play The 2
Lower Depths (1902). Gorky’s work gives a pessimistic,
dark view of lower-class Russians who share a boarding Open and closed versions of the same story
house, the principal setting of the play. In his 1936 ver- Akira Kurosawa’s closed version and Jean Renoir’s open version of
sion, Renoir, who generally favors the open frame, sets The Lower Depths each include a scene where a character recounts
the story in a Parisian flophouse and allows his charac- a love story she read in a book as if it were her own. Neither Renoir
ters to move freely in and out of the frame as well as out nor Kurosawa stray far from the original play’s material in the scene,
but the framing differs. Kurosawa’s scene takes place in its self-
of the house and into the city beyond. Kurosawa, in his
contained setting and uses stylized depth [1]. Renoir uses normal
1957 version, sets the story in seventeenth-century Ja- perspective and moves the scene into the city where we can see a
pan and, like Gorky, keeps the action inside the house. world beyond that of the story. Characters freely enter and exit the
Renoir emphasizes that man’s life is left to free will and frame [2].
that you see and analyze as open or closed. Instead, you to present characters and situations in specific ways that
can recognize the characteristics of each type of film, deliberately shape our perception and interpretation.
and you can be aware that certain directors consistently Single-character point of view is when framing
depict open worlds (Jean Renoir, John Ford, Robert Alt- and editing shows us what a single character is seeing.
man) while others are equally consistent in making closed Typically, a single-character point of view is indicated by
ones (Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Lars von Trier). a preceding shot showing a character looking offscreen.
With the character’s gaze established, viewers instinc-
tively understand that the following shot depicts what
Framing and Point of View that character is looking at. The single-character point-
Point of view (or POV)—whose viewpoint the im- of-view shot is almost always followed by a shot of the
age on-screen represents—is implied by the framing character reacting to what he or she has just seen. The
of a shot. There are three basic kinds of point of view: point-of-view shot itself may be framed to represent
(1) omniscient point of view; (2) single-character point the looking character’s spatial relationship with the ob-
of view; and (3) group point of view. ject of his or her gaze or it may be framed in a way that
Omniscient point of view shows us what the conveys not just what the character is looking at, but how
camera/narrator sees. Typically, we think of omniscient he or she feels about it. Single-character point of view
point of view as being fairly neutral, with the camera shots should not be confused with over-the-shoulder
more or less objectively recording the action of the shots, which also indicate what a character is looking at,
story. But while omniscient means all-knowing, it does but do so by shooting over the character’s shoulder, and
not necessarily mean objective. As we’ve seen in all of thus do not directly convey that character’s viewpoint.
the preceding pages, the camera—as determined by the Group point of view works much like single-character
director and her creative collaborators—uses framing, point of view, but instead of one character seeing some-
movement, angles, and all the elements of mise-en-scène thing, it is many characters.
1 2
3 4
Point of view conveys different perceptions

After Arlen escapes from a band of cannibals in Ana Lily Amirpour’s dystopian The Bad Batch (2016) [1], her POV of the mysterious man who
delivered her from the desert [2] reflects her literal spatial perspective. Later, when she returns a lost child to its father, a former enemy, her
POV depicts more than just what she’s seeing—the framing suggests the emotional significance of what she is witnessing. Arlen is more
than a dozen feet from the reunion [3], but her POV is shown in close-up [4].
1 2
Separation
Jonathan Demme’s 1991 thriller Silence of the Lambs contains one of the most extended and powerful separation sequences in movie his-
tory. During the main character’s final encounter, viewers assume the POV of FBI trainee Clarice Starling to experience the steely gaze of the
serial-killer genius Hannibal Lecter [1], then take on the perception of Lecter’s POV when he studies the young investigator [2]. The eye-to-eye
POV exchange alternates 53 times, with only one brief interruption.
The framing and cinematography may also reflect a filmmaker Stefan Sharff called separation. It is some-
physical aspect of how the character sees. The first third thing of a cinematic role-playing game. On some level,
of Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly when we’re looking at character B through character A’s
(2007) is presented almost exclusively in the point of point of view, we assume the perspective of character A.
view of the protagonist Jean-Dominique Bauby, who In other words, we literally and figuratively see char-
suffered a massive stroke leaving him almost completely acter B through character A’s eyes. When the sequence
paralyzed, having only the use of one eye. The point- shifts to character B’s point of view of character A, our
of-view shots that put us inside of Bauby’s perceptive identification shifts to that of character B. An extended
experience are blurred, flickering, and overexposed. back-and-forth sequence can dramatically intensify our
Because this portion of the movie restricts our view to experience of the interaction, which is why filmmakers
what Bauby himself can see, the point-of-view shots in typically reserve the technique for dramatically signifi-
this portion of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly are not cant exchanges.
motivated by a “character looking” shot or followed by
a character reaction shot. A few movies, such as Robert
Montgomery’s Lady in the Lake (1947), Gaspar Noé’s Speed and Length of
Enter the Void (2010), and Ilya Naishuller’s Hardcore
Henry (2016) have attempted to tell their entire story the Shot
in single-character point of view. Confining every shot
to this first-person perspective is problematic. Because Thus far, we have emphasized the spatial aspects of how
our eyes and brains experience peripheral vision and a shot is framed and photographed. But the image we see
movement differently than cameras and lenses, sus- on the screen also has temporal dimensions: the speed
tained point-of-view shots—especially those that move of the movement within the shot and the length (or du-
through space—look artificial to the point of distraction. ration) of the shot itself.
Because viewers identify with the lens (the viewpoint
of the camera), a single-character point-of-view shot
can generate a sort of intensified identification with the Speed of the Shot
character whose viewpoint we have assumed. When we As you have no doubt noticed, most shots in most movies
experience a series of shots representing the alternating reproduce movement at the speed at which things move
points of view of two interacting characters, we may ex- in our actual existence. The speed of that movement
perience a sort of participatory cycle that theorist and on-screen depends on frame rate; that is, the number of
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
still images (frames) the camera captures per second,

in combination with the number of still images pro-
jected (or played) per second in the movie theater or on
your TV or computer. (Projectors use shutters to show
each individual image more than once during that sec-
ond, but the shutter only smooths the appearance of
motion—it does not affect the speed of motion.) Action
can be shot at any frame rate, but to reproduce the normal
speed of the action on-screen, the device that shows us
the movie must play it back at the same rate in which it
was shot. The number of frames shot and projected per
second was standardized at 24 frames per second (fps) 1
in the late 1920s. In recent years, some filmmakers have
experimented with higher camera and projector frame
rates in an effort to produce sharper images and a more
precise reproduction of movement. Peter Jackson’s The
Hobbit trilogy (2012–14) was shot and projected at 48 fps;
Ang Lee boosted the rate to 120 fps for Billy Lynn’s Long
Halftime Walk (2016). These innovators didn’t account
for a century of cinematic conditioning—we’ve become
accustomed to the way 24 fps reproduces motion and 2
image sharpness. Audiences and critics found the in-
creased frame rates to be too sharp and uncannily pre- The slow-motion power walk
cise. So, for the time being at least, most movies are Slow motion tends to make movement appear more graceful and
sticking with 24 fps. elegant, which may explain the ubiquity of the “power-walk” shot
Deviations from normal speed are accomplished by featuring a group of characters walking shoulder to shoulder in slow
motion toward the camera to express their confidence and cool.
altering frame rate during the production phase. This
Introduced to great effect in films such as Stanley Kubrick’s A Clock
means that directors and cinematographers must decide
work Orange (1971) [1] and Philip Kaufman’s The Right Stuff (1983),
in advance which shots will appear as fast or slow motion and then popularized in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992),
when they are projected to an audience. Slow motion is the technique has become a cliché and is regularly parodied in com-
achieved by filming at a higher frame rate. For example, edies such as Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s 21 Jump Street
to create a shot where the action happens at half of nor- (2012) [2].
mal speed, the camera frame rate must be doubled to

48 fps, so that when the shot is played back at 24 fps, it
will take up twice the screen time. Slow motion tends to action that might otherwise be interpreted as mundane,
make movement appear more graceful, which makes it lend an ironic elegance to violence, or suspend viewers
useful for a number of applications. It can suggest a char- in a moment that would normally be fleeting, such as a
acter’s heightened awareness, impart significance to an kiss . . . or an explosion.
Point of view in The Birds

Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963) takes place in an isolated town suffering increasingly violent bird attacks. This scene, constructed around
alternating POV shots, includes a number of different uses of the technique. A shot of the protagonist, Melanie Daniels, and other characters
looking out from the cafe where they have taken shelter [1] sets up a group POV of a bird attacking the attendant at a gas station across the
street [2]. This group POV accurately depicts the spatial relationship between the group and what they see. But later, when Melanie and
other characters look out a different window [3], the group POV shot that follows is framed in a close-up to reflect the significance of what
they see: gasoline flowing away from the abandoned pump [4]. Many POV shots later, a series of close-ups of Melanie [5] alternate with
POV shots showing her perspective of the flames set by a dropped cigarette as they rush back toward the gas pump. Some POV shots show
her emotional perspective and are framed closer to convey significance [6], another reflects her true spatial relationship with the resulting
explosion [7]. The final shot in the sequence is a bird’s-eye view representing a literal birds’ group POV of the havoc they have wrought [8].
acter’s sudden drug-induced ability to process almost

limitless information. Time lapses of passing clouds are
often used to signal a passage of time, as in Francis Ford
Coppola’s Rumble fish (1983). In the final shots of Jean-
Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie (2001), fast-motion footage of a
couple riding a scooter expresses the exuberance of new-
found love.
1
Length of the Shot
The length, or duration, of a shot is determined by a
combination of factors: the kind of story being told, the
dramatic demands of particular scenes within that story,
and the approach to cinematic language the director and
his creative collaborators (filmmakers) bring to that
story. Ultimately, of course, the duration of most shots as
we see them on-screen is determined by the editor, but
2 it is important to know that directors design their shots
with editing in mind. Shot length is another expressive
Two different uses of the long take tool that must be considered before production begins.
A series of long takes in The Revenant [1] thrusts us into the swirling Movies directed by Billy Wilder and Woody Allen, both
confusion of battle. The long takes hold viewers in real time as the of whom place more emphasis on writing and perfor-
mobile frame weaves together the myriad of events and actions
mance, have average shot lengths of around 17 seconds,
that erupt after Arikara warriors launch a surprise attack on a band
whereas shot lengths in movies by directors who design
of trappers. Godfrey Reggio’s experimental documentary Visitors
(2013) [2] uses the long take to provoke a very different cinematic their films to exploit editing, such as Baz Luhrmann or
experience. Viewers accustomed to simply witnessing characters Edgar Wright, might have average shot lengths of less
as disconnected spectators are compelled to share a sustained, di- than 2 seconds. The average shot length in the last four
rect, and mutual gaze with subjects, as in this 2 minute 20 second films directed by Béla Tarr, a filmmaker known for his
shot of a gorilla that opens the film. When was the last time you
use of the long take, is a whopping 178 seconds.
stared into anyone’s eyes for that long?
We’ll talk more about shot duration when we explore
editing in Chapter 8. While we’re still on the subject of
cinematography, let’s focus on the long take, which is a
shot that lasts significantly longer than a conventional
Fast motion is achieved by filming at a lower frame shot. There are two basic approaches to the long take:
rate. To make action on-screen appear twice as fast as it (1) those that exploit the mobile frame, and (2) those
actually occurred, the cinematographer would shoot it that hold the viewer in a state of relative stasis. Mobile
at 12 fps so that when it is projected at 24 fps, that same framing uses a moving camera and blocking to present
action will take only half as much screen time as it took multiple viewpoints, compositions, and actions within a
in real time. Speeding up the way we humans move can single unified shot. Ordinarily, we refer to a sequence as
make our actions look ridiculous, and so fast motion is a series of edited shots characterized by inherent unity
often used for comic effect, as it is in a scene of casual of theme and purpose. This kind of long take is some-
anonymous sex in A Clockwork Orange. But in the right times referred to as a sequence shot because it enables
hands and in the right context, fast motion can be as ex- filmmakers to present a unified pattern of events—
pressive as slow motion. As we saw in the Donnie Darko usually with a structured dramatic trajectory—within a
case study in Chapter 2, fast motion can be used to pres- single period of time in one shot. Although they elimi
ent time as malleable, even volatile. In Luc Besson’s Lucy nate the need for editing, sequence shots are by no means
(2014), fast-motion time lapses visualize the title char- easy. These long takes require filmmakers to coordinate
Special Effects 227
moving actors and objects with a moving camera, which

requires focus shifts, complex lighting setups, rehears-
als, and multiple takes. Uniting all these events in one
unbroken visual, dramatic, temporal, and spatial ex-
perience holds viewers viscerally present in a way that
makes these virtuosic sequence shots among the most
compelling experiences cinema has to offer. The entire
running time of Russian Ark and the 200-second open-
ing crane shot in Touch of Evil (illustrated earlier in the
chapter) are each sequence shots. The latter film’s di-
rector, Orson Welles, is known for his masterful use
A long take in close-up
of the technique, beginning with Citizen Kane. Alfonso
In Jonathan Glazer’s Birth (2004), Nicole Kidman plays Anna, a
Cuarón is another director associated with this kind of young widow who gradually becomes obsessed with a ten-year-old
long take. His film Children of Men (2006), which con- boy who claims to be the reincarnation of her deceased husband. A
tains sixty-two shots that could be considered long takes, 2-minute-long close-up on her face while she sits at a public concert
brought extensive use of sequence shots into mainstream allows Kidman to subtly express the conflicting emotions and dis-
turbing thoughts running through her mind and holds viewers long
commercial cinema, a trend that has continued with Ale-
enough and close enough to fully experience the depth of her sup-
jandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman (2014) and The Rev-
pressed anxiety.
enant (2015) and Cuarón’s own Gravity (2013). Notably,
all four of these recent movies were shot by the cinema-
tographer Emmanuel Lubezki, all were nominated for
the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, and all
but Children of Men won. The most impressive long take
in the Oscar-less Children of Men occurs during a raging driver down a desolate rural road. Locked in this rela-
battle between revolting militants and government sol- tively unchanging shot, the viewer experiences the jour-
diers as the protagonist, Theo, attempts to escort the new ney, and the time it takes, in a way that approaches the
mother, Kee, and her miraculous infant (the only baby in experience of the subjects themselves. Deprived of the
the world—it’s a long story) to safety. Over the course of constant shifts in perspective and unfolding action most
the sequence shot’s 6 minute 17 second duration, Theo films provide, we are compelled to observe details and
scrambles through street battles, is captured by venge- contemplate the situation in a way that would be impos-
ful radicals who take Kee and her child, narrowly avoids sible with a typical edited sequence.
execution, dodges tank and machine gun fire to access a
decimated building, searches the rapidly crumbling struc
ture, finds Kee, and confronts his nemesis.
Which brings us to another approach to the long Special Effects
take—one that intensifies the viewer experience not with
movement or visual dexterity, but by holding the viewer Special effects is a general term reserved for technol-
in a moment or encounter until we are forced to realign ogy used to create images that would be too dangerous,
and deepen the way we engage the subject on-screen. too expensive, or simply impossible to achieve with tra-
The aforementioned Béla Tarr uses this approach in ditional cinematographic approaches. For audiences, a
many of his films, including and especially in his most major attraction of movies has always been their ability
recent movie, The Turin Horse (2011). Tarr describes to create illusion. Indeed, the first special effect appeared
the 2 hour 35 minute movie, which is made up entirely in Alfred Clark’s The Execution of Mary Stuart in 1895,
of long takes, as being about the daily repetition of life the year the movies were born. To depict the queen’s
and the heaviness of human existence. The 4½-minute execution, Clark photographed the actor in position,
opening shot contains multiple viewpoints, but all of stopped filming, and replaced the actor with a dummy,
the same subject and action: a horse pulling a cart and then started the camera and beheaded the dummy.
rain and wind produced using suspended perforated water

pipes and industrial fans. Integrated special effects may
be less ostentatious: carefully crafted miniature models
(known as miniatures) stand in for large structures, land-
forms, or objects; forced perspective and painted back-
drops simulate distant objects and landscapes. A special
effect called the process shot placed actors in front of a
screen that had images projected onto it from the oppo-
Mechanical effects in Swiss Army Man site side. You may notice this so-called “rear projection”
For their farcical but strangely moving buddy movie Swiss Army in driving scenes from older movies.
Man (2016), directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (known col- To create his speculative science-fiction/noir Los An-
lectively as “the Daniels”) innovated a series of relatively low-tech geles, Blade Runner (1982) director Ridley Scott relied
mechanical effects that made Manny, the soulful and supernaturally
primarily on production design and practical mechani-
resourceful corpse played by Daniel Radcliffe, to appear to spray gal-
cal effects such as atmospheric rain, smoke, and steam.
lons of water and shoot rocks from his mouth, chop logs with his
arm, and set himself on fire. Multiple life-size dummies were made The iconic aerial tracking shot over the city that opens
from molds of Radcliffe for different purposes: dropping and throw- the movie was achieved using forced perspective and
ing, carrying, and—for the film’s infamous first scene—using simu- miniatures equipped with thousands of tiny lightbulbs.
lated flatulence for the corpse to appear to propel itself through the Part of this approach was practical—visual effects were
water. For the shot above, which lasts only seconds, the real Rad-
new and limited in 1982—but Scott also wanted the film
cliffe was towed behind a boat and ridden by his costar, Paul Dano.
to have a classic “lived-in” look that computers couldn’t
then deliver.
Optical effects in the celluloid era could be as simple
As is often the case with movie terminology, the as the “stop trick” used to depict the aforementioned
names used to categorize special effects are somewhat queen’s execution or as complicated as the Schüfftan
convoluted. In this case, we can blame the vagaries on process (named for its inventor, Eugen Schüfftan),
the evolution from film to digital capabilities. During the which integrated actors onto shots of sets built in min-
celluloid era, mechanical effects were those created iature by using etched mirrors to expose the two very
and photographed on set; optical effects were created different elements precisely onto the same image. Other
by manipulating the image and/or film negative “in- optical effects include the similar but simpler matte
camera” during production and/or during the film-stock shot, which exposed an image onto one portion of the
processing after the negative had been exposed. These negative but kept another portion unexposed so it could
days, when the postproduction process (even for those be filled with an exposure of another element later. The
few films shot on film stock) is completed on computers, Great Train Robbery (1903) featured an early example of
the term visual effects refers to those effects created this technique to show the passing countryside through
and integrated using computers in postproduction. The the window of a baggage car that was stationary when
current specific use of special effects is synonymous with the scene was filmed. In Blade Runner, Scott used a much
mechanical effects: any effect generated on set that can more advanced version of this technique, in which me-
be photographed by the camera. These effects may also chanically calibrated camera moves enabled settings to
be referred to as practical effects. be photographed multiple times to create layers of vi-
Now that we have that straight, let’s quickly consider sual information within a single shot.
some of the many effects filmmakers use to create movie In the digital age, computer-generated imagery (CGI)
magic. Filmmakers employ a very broad range of special has largely eclipsed optical effects, replacing them with
(or mechanical) effects. These can be purposely notice- visual effects that can create settings and backgrounds
able: makeup using prosthetics, imaginary creatures us- with more accuracy and less cost. CGI backgrounds are
ing animatronics (essentially a mechanical puppet, like often used for spectacular imaginary worlds in fantasy
the shark in Jaws), pyrotechnics (controlled explosions), and science-fiction films, but are also used to enhance
gunshots and the wounds they produce, cables that allow backgrounds to allow scenes set in contemporary (and
characters to float or fly, and atmospheric effects such as even relatively mundane) locales to be shot on a sound-
Special Effects 229
The virtual and the “real”

Director Denis Villeneuve had a huge budget and state-of-the-art visual effects at his disposal for the sequel Blade Runner 2049 (2017), but he
still avoided CGI and the green screen whenever possible because it denies actors the opportunity to interact organically with their surround-
ings. His point is ironically illustrated in the shot above, in which an actor on a physical set faces a superimposed video projection. Both Blade
Runner films examine the distinctions between what is artificial and what is real, a theme visualized in the way color, relative size, and a sort
of variegated video-texture is applied to the simulated woman addressing the protagonist—who is himself a simulated human.
stage or at a more convenient location. Actors can be Subdued but substantial visual effects also made possi-
placed within digitally generated settings by filming the ble the verisimilitude of his science-fiction follow-up Ar-
actors against a uniformly colored backdrop (usually rival (2016), in which our perceptions of time and space
bright green, hence the term green screen) and then ap-
plying chroma keying, a process that digitally removes
that color so it can be replaced with computer-generated
images.
Motion capture (also known as motion tracking or
mocap) is a specific visual effect in which a live-action
subject wears a bodysuit fitted with reflective markers
that enables a computer to record each movement as
digital images; they are then translated, with as much
manipulation as desired, into models on which the
screen figures are based. When the images include facial
contours and expressions, the process is called perfor-
mance capture. As spectacular as some special effects
can be, however, the goal of virtually all of the effects
previously described is almost always to create verisimil
itude—an illusion of reality or a believable alternative
reality—within the imaginative world of even the most
Early special effects
fanciful movie. Well over 100 visual effects shots (of ve-
For Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) a pioneering science-fiction film,
hicles, landscapes, cityscapes, bullet strikes, and bodies) the city of the future was a model created by designer Otto Hunte.
enhanced the stark realism of the drug war along the Special effects photography turned this miniature into a massive
U.S.–Mexico border in Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario (2015). place on-screen, filled with awe-inspiring objects and vistas.
rear-projection highway traffic flickering behind actors

pretending to drive in movies of the 1950s. Of course,
capacity doesn’t always equal utility, and bigger is not
always better. The ever-present danger is that the visual
effects spectacle will crowd out cinematic stories that
seek instead to increase our understanding of human
life and the world we live in.
Looking at Cinematography
in Moonlight
Moonlight, a 2016 film directed by Barry Jenkins, is
about a gay black man struggling to attain acceptance
and selfhood in a hypermasculine culture. His story is
divided into three chapters, each titled after the name
he is given (or gives himself ) at a different stage in his
life. In “Little,” the first chapter, the protagonist is a
2 fragile child in Miami trying to reconcile the differences
between himself and other boys. With no friends and
Creating a convincing cybercharacter scarce support from his troubled mother, the emotion-
Benedict Cumberbatch didn’t simply provide the voice for Smaug, the ally withdrawn Little finds an unlikely father figure in
colossal psychotic dragon in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
a crack dealer named Juan. Besides Juan and his girl-
(2013). Director Peter Jackson and his second unit director, Andy
Serkis (the actor who created Gollum, considered cinema’s first truly
friend, Teresa, a sympathetic neighborhood boy named
convincing cybercharacter), enlisted Cumberbatch to use motion- Kevin is the closest thing to a friend Little has to hold
capture and performance-capture technology to inform the 3-D com- onto. “Chiron,” the second chapter, chronicles a difficult
puter animators as to the dragon’s movements and expressions. period of the protagonist’s adolescence. His mother is
addicted to crack, Juan is dead, and Chiron is tormented
by a bully named Terrel. Chiron has his first sexual expe-
rience with Kevin, but before their relationship has any
are ultimately invalidated by visiting aliens that bear chance of evolving further, Kevin is pressured by Terrel
no resemblance to traditional depictions. That same into beating up Chiron in front of a crowd of other high
year, Scott Derrickson’s Dr. Strange (2016) also upended school students. Heartbroken and humiliated, Chiron
conventional notions of time and space, but applied its attacks and seriously injures Terrel and is subsequently
avalanche of visual effects toward an entirely different arrested. The final chapter is titled “Black,” which was
cinematic experience: overwhelming psychedelic spec- Kevin’s nickname for Chiron and is now the name the
tacle. And yet, that film’s seamless visual effects are also grown man has adopted after reinventing himself as a
carefully crafted to help viewers believe in the visually muscular and street-hardened crack dealer in Atlanta.
dazzling events and images unfolding on-screen—at least After an unexpected call from Kevin, Black impulsively
while they’re watching them. drives to Miami to see his first and only love, the person
The capabilities of visual effects will certainly con- whose betrayal changed the course of his life.
tinue to expand as the capacity and speed of computer Technical decisions made by Moonlight’s director of
software and hardware evolves. These ever more sophis- photography, James Laxton, were motivated primarily
ticated and spectacular visual effects are already playing by aesthetic and expressive considerations. Laxton shot
major roles in the expansion of other motion-picture on the Arri Alexa XT, a digital camera that has a sensor
media such as gaming and virtual reality. It won’t be long capable of delivering the dynamic range needed to shoot
before the effects in Dr. Strange look as quaint as the in a variety of lighting situations with a minimum of arti-
Looking at Cinematography in Moonlight 231
Cinematography in Moonlight
This shot of Juan driving the streets of the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami demonstrates the low-key lighting and saturated colors used
in Moonlight, as well as the shallow depth of field and impressionistic bokeh achieved through the use of anamorphic lenses.
ficial lighting (primarily lightweight LED instruments).

The sensor also provided exceptional color reproduc-
tion, especially in terms of skin tones. Laxton and Jen-
kins wanted a look that diverged from the documentary
realism typically expected of independent films dealing
with social issues. To achieve an incongruous dreamlike
quality that placed viewers in the protagonist’s solitary
perspective, they shot virtually every scene using only
1
a single key light with no fill, maximizing deep shadows
to sculpt the characters’ faces. Footage was exposed at
levels that gave the postproduction colorist the ability to
provide rich, saturated colors, deep shadows, and bright
highlights. The camera was equipped with anamorphic
lenses, which squeeze the maximum possible visual in-
formation onto the camera sensor. More important,
these specialized lenses dramatically narrow the depth
of field in every shot. This thin slice of focus allowed the
filmmakers to visually isolate Chiron and other charac- 2
ters and subjects within the depth of the image. Anamor-
phic lenses are oval (as opposed to standard spherical Expressive use of color and light
lenses), which means that out-of-focus reflections and In Moonlight’s second chapter, a flickering fluorescent bathroom
lights in the image background (known as bokeh) are light and a sickly green tone imbues the character Chiron with an
awkward ugliness in the moment the normally gentle young man
rendered in the same unusual oval shape, which adds
decides to seek revenge on his tormentor [1]. In a matching bath-
another subtle layer of unorthodoxy to the film’s style. room mirror sequence in the third chapter, the light is similar, but the
Although the Alexa camera is capable of shooting raw color has shifted to blue to emphasize the cold and hardened nature
footage, Jenkins and Laxton elected to shoot in a codec the character has since adopted [2].
rapidly past a relatively static subject is both destabiliz-

ing and exhilarating, and thus effectively visualizes the
menace and allure of male power. We experience it first
as an introduction to Juan as he meets with one of his
street dealers, and again when Terrel intimidates Kevin
into punching Chiron, and finally when we see the re-
invented Black cruising his drug territory in a shot that
equates his new persona with both his nemesis and his
Moving camera diminishes the subject
mentor.
Perhaps the most poignant moving camera shot in Moonlight uses Some of the most striking cinematic moments in
depth and relative size in frame. After Terrel has threatened to beat Moonlight are accomplished with point of view. In a
up Chiron after school, the camera pulls back as Chiron himself re- number of sequences, character interaction is portrayed
treats against the wall behind him, reducing his size in comparison using separation, with each subject staring directly into
to the indifferent students strolling past him.
the camera lens. This eyeline exploits our tendency to
identify with the lens, causing an intensified identifica-
tion with the character offscreen whose point of view
that compressed the data because they felt that any loss we have assumed as we stare directly back into the op-
in visual information would be more than offset by the posing character’s eyes. These sequences are used in key
ability to shoot longer without filling the camera’s data moments of the story, including when Chiron repeatedly
storage card. Letting the camera roll continually helps refuses to stay down after Kevin hits him. In every case
actors immerse themselves in a dramatic situation with-
out the distraction of cutting and slating new takes.
Most of Moonlight was shot using a handheld camera
and a Steadicam in a fluid style that reduces the reli-
ance on editing to assemble sequences and scenes. The
flowing camera work allowed Laxton to follow action
and capture performances as they unfolded, such as in
a sequence in the third chapter where the adult Kevin
prepares a meal for Black. Pans and tilts convey literal
and figurative connections throughout this story of a boy
desperate to connect with others. During Little’s first
1
dinner with Juan and Teresa, the camera glides back and
forth between the loving partners. Point-of-view shots
are often connected to the looking character with a pan
instead of the traditional edit. The accumulated and in-
timidating male gaze that the protagonist endures while
interacting with other boys is conveyed with pans along
rows of distrustful faces. Unlike our usual experience of
the handheld camera, most of this footage is relatively
smooth, with the exception of the shot that gives us our
first look at Little. When we first meet the character, an 2
erratic handheld camera chases Little as he flees from a
group of hostile boys. The instability of the camera ef- Separation and point of view
fectively conveys the child’s helpless panic. A particular This separation sequence in Moonlight compels the audience to as-
sume alternating points of view between the withdrawn Little [1]
application of the moving camera, in which the frame
and his raging mother, Paula [2], at a point in which her life is spiral-
rapidly circles characters, was used once in each chap- ing out of control. The juxtaposed viewpoints are connected to the
ter to present a sort of dangerous, assertive masculinity. viewer and to each other through each character’s direct gaze. Color
The dizzying effect of background information flying and light differentiate the opposing characters.
Analyzing Cinematography 233
but one, the technique employs juxtaposed close-ups.

But in what may be the film’s most dramatic example,
the interacting characters are shown in medium shots
and medium long shots. Consumed with fear and guilt
after being confronted by Juan, Little’s mother, Paula,
glares and screams at her offscreen son. Little, unable
to comprehend or return her rage, offers no emotion in
response. The opposing characters are differentiated
with color, light, and design. Paula’s angry world is dark Learning to swim in Moonlight
and discordant, with lurid clashing colors. In contrast, When the Atlantic Ocean leaks into frame, it implies a larger world
Little’s contained defiance is presented in whites and outside of the screen’s limited perspective. By washing over our view-
blues—colors associated with his relationship with Juan point, it makes us feel as if we’re in the water with the characters.
and Teresa. The sequence shifts between the mother and
son five times before each walks off the screen in turn.
Framing is used to place viewers inside the world of
the story at a turning point in Little’s struggle for accep- darkening skies convey a progressive passage of time.
tance and affection. For the scene in which Juan teaches But Moonlight’s innovative and effective cinematogra-
Little to swim, James Laxton brought the camera into the phy was no accident. The movie’s economical but ex-
ocean so that the water washed in and out of the frame pressive cinematic techniques demonstrate what digital
and across our intimate viewpoint. The filmmakers had cinematography can do when in the hands of skilled art-
scheduled 6 hours to shoot this crucial scene but were ists and craftspeople. Cinematographer James Laxton
forced to capture the action in a mere 90 minutes when and director Barry Jenkins earned Oscar nominations
an unexpected storm blew in. It turned out to be one of in their respective categories, and Moonlight became the
filmmaking’s many happy accidents. The rushed takes lowest-budget film in the history of the Academy Awards
lend the scene a dynamic spontaneity, and the rapidly to be named Best Picture.
ANALYZING CINEMATOGRAPHY
This chapter has provided an overview of the major tors of photography) to convey meaning, transmit
components of cinematography—the process by narrative information, and influence the emotional
which a movie’s mise-en-scène is recorded onto a film responses of viewers. Now that you know some-
or digital medium. More than just a process, however, thing about the basic cinematographic tools available
cinematography is very much a language used by to filmmakers, you can pay greater attention to the
directors and their collaborators (most notably, direc particulars of this language while looking at movies.
SCREENING CHECKLIST: CINEMATOGRAPHY

Determine whether the cinematographic aspects reflected in characters’ action and dialogue.
of the film—the qualities of the film stock or These moments are often crucial to the devel-
digital codec, lighting, lenses, framing, angles, opment of a movie’s themes, narrative, and
camera movement, and use of long takes—add meaning.
up to an overall look. If so, try to describe its
Are special effects used in the film? To what
qualities. extent? Are they appropriate to, and effective
Take note of moments in the film when the in, telling the story? Are they effective in mak-
images are conveying information that is not ing something look real when it isn’t?
Also keep track of camera angles other than through the use of color filters, different film
eye-level shots. If there are high- or low-angle stocks, or chemical or digital manipulation to
shots, determine whether they are POV shots. convey meaning, create a mood, or indicate a
That is, is the high or low angle meant to rep- state of mind?
resent another character’s point of view? If so,
what does the angle convey about that charac- Pay attention to camera movement in the film.
ter’s state of mind or perspective? If not, what Sometimes camera movement is used to pro-
does it convey about the person or thing in the duce visual excitement or to demonstrate the
frame? filmmaker’s technological virtuosity. At other
times it is playing an important functional role
Be alert to the framing of individual shots, and in the film’s narrative. Be alert to these differ-
make note of how the boundaries of the image ences, and take note of meaningful uses of
are used to tell the story. Is the frame mobile? camera movement.
Do characters interact with offscreen space? Is
the story world outside of the frame indicated,
Note when the cinematography calls attention
and if so, how and why? Do characters engage to itself. Is this a mistake or misjudgment by
you as a viewer with their direct gaze? the filmmaker or is it intentional? If intentional,
Can you determine whether the colors of a what purpose is served by making the cinema-
shot or scene have been artificially manipulated tography so noticeable?

1. What are the differences among a setup, a shot, and 6. Describe the differences and relationship between
a take? framing and composition.
2. A cinematographer depends on two crews of 7. The movie camera can shoot from various angles.
workers. What is each crew responsible for? What are they? What meaning does each imply?
3. How the lighting for any movie looks is determined, Do these implications always hold true?
in part, by its source and direction. Explain these 8. What are the basic types of camera movement?
terms and the effect each has on the overall 9. What is a long take? What can it achieve that a
lighting. short take cannot? What is the difference between
4. What are the four major lenses used on movie a long take and a long shot?
cameras? What is the principal characteristic of 10. Special effects create images that might not be
the image that each lens creates? possible with traditional cinematography. What
5. Based on proximity to the camera, what are the are the basic ways to create special effects?
three most commonly used shots in a movie?
What principle is used to distinguish them?
Phantom Thread (2017). Paul Thomas Anderson, director. Pictured: Daniel Day Lewis and Vicky Krieps.
ACTING
CHAPTER
7
236 Chapter 7 Acting
and supporting actors, Joaquin Phoenix delivers the

LEARNING OBJECTIVES movie.
After reading this chapter, you should be able to Screen acting of this kind is an art in which an actor
nn explain how the coming of sound into the movie uses imagination, intelligence, psychology, memory, vo-
industry affected acting. cal technique, facial expressions, body language, and an
nn describe how movie acting today differs from that of overall knowledge of the filmmaking process to realize,
the classical studio era. under the director’s guidance, the character created by
nn explain why the relationship between the actor and the the screenwriter. The performance and effect of that art
camera is so important. can seem mysterious and magical when we’re enjoying
nn describe the criteria used to cast actors. a movie, and acting turns out to be even more complex
nn explain the differences between naturalistic and than we might at first assume.
nonnaturalistic movie acting. Our initial interest in a movie is almost always sparked
nn define improvisational acting. by the actors featured in it. As the critic Pauline Kael
nn explain the potential effects on acting of framing, said, “I think so much of what we respond to in fictional
composition, lighting, shot types, and shot lengths. movies is acting. That’s one of the elements that’s often
left out when people talk theoretically about the mov-
ies. They forget it’s the human material we go to see.”1
The power of some actors—Jennifer Lawrence or Tom
Hanks, for example—to draw an audience is frequently
What Is Acting? more important to a movie’s financial success than any
other factor. For this reason, some observers regard
It’s easy to define narrative, mise-en-scène, or cinema- screen actors as mere commodities, cogs in a machine of
tography because those formal aspects of filmmaking promotion and hype designed only to generate revenue.
depend in part on techniques and conventions that are Although even the most accomplished screen actors can
widely accepted by filmmakers. Acting, by comparison, be used as fodder for promotional campaigns, such a
presents a different challenge because there is no one
way to do it; every actor is a master of his or her own
technique in creating characters. Yet Joaquin Phoenix,
one of today’s most impressive actors, does not even
try to define his work, and it’s not a cliché to say that it
speaks for itself. In Her (2013; director Spike Jonze),
Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly, a lonely introvert
who falls in love with Samantha, the female voice of his
computer’s operating system, voiced by Scarlett Johans-
son, whom we hear but never see. Their relationship
falls apart when Samantha dumps him (she has thou- The camera and the actor
sands of cyberlovers just like him). It’s both funny and English film actor Michael Caine has compared the movie camera
sad when Theodore is devastated by something that is to an impossibly attentive lover who “hangs on your every word,
as impossible as it is peculiar. Throughout, Phoenix’s your every look; she can’t take her eyes off you. She is listening to
portrayal of this character sustains the film’s develop and recording everything you do, however minutely you do it.”2 That
appears to be exactly what the camera is doing in this expressive
ment. He is almost always on the screen, something that
close-up of Caine as Thomas Fowler in Phillip Noyce’s The Quiet
only a very few actors in film history have ever accom- American (2002). The business and art of Hollywood moviemaking
plished, and he amazes us with his control as an actor. intersect when “bankable” stars such as Michael Caine take on chal
Although he worked closely with the director, costar, lenging, unglamorous roles that transcend their physical attractiveness.
1. Leonard Quart, “I Still Love Going to Movies: An Interview with Pauline Kael,” Cineaste 25, no. 2 (2000): 10.
2. Michael Caine, Acting in Film: An Actor’s Take on Movie Making (New Y
ork: Applause, 1990), p. 4.
What Is Acting? 237
view overlooks the many complex and important ways actor Joan Crawford put it, “A movie actor paints with
that skillful acting can influence the narrative, style, and the tiniest brush.”5
meanings of a film. Actor Cate Blanchett believes that
“when acting works, when performance works, when
theater’s great, when films connect—whether it’s a piece Movie Actors
of profound satire or a work of great drama—it expands The challenges facing movie actors in interpreting and
what it means to be human.”3 Writer-director-producer- pretending to be their characters, and the responsibil-
actor Orson Welles, who questioned nearly every other ities involved in performing those characters on the
aspect of filmmaking dogma, firmly believed in the im- screen, are very different from the challenges and re-
portance of acting: “I don’t understand how movies exist sponsibilities facing stage actors. Stage actors convey
independently of the actor—I truly don’t.”4 their interpretations of the characters they play directly
Despite its central importance, acting is also the as- to the audience through voice, gesture, and movement.
pect of filmmaking over which directors have the least By contrast, movie actors, using gesture and movement—
precise control. Directors may describe literally what and voice since the coming of sound—convey their char-
they want from their principal collaborators—for exam- acters directly to the camera. In turn, that camera is what
ple, screenwriters or costume designers—but they can makes the movie actor’s performance so different from
only suggest to actors what they want. That becomes the stage actor’s. Stage actors play to a large audience and
quite different when a director-screenwriter like Paul must project their voices so they can be heard through-
Thomas Anderson writes parts specifically for the ac- out the theater. They must avoid the soft speech, subtle
tors he casts. This approach has led to many memorable facial expressions, or small gestures that are fundamen-
performances—for example, by Daniel Day-Lewis in Phan- tal tools of the movie actor.
tom Thread (2017) and There Will Be Blood (2007) or Stage actors, who must memorize their lines, have the
Amy Adams and Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master advantage of speaking them in the order in which they
(2010)—in which the director, screenwriter, and actor were written. This in turn makes it much easier to main-
enjoy an unusually close collaboration. However, screen tain psychological, emotional, and physical continuity in
actors, or at least experienced screen actors, know that a performance as the play proceeds. By contrast, movie
the essential relationship is between them and the actors are subject to the shooting schedule. For budget-
camera—not between them and the director or even the ary and logistical reasons, most shots are not made in the
audience. Actors interpret the director’s guidance in sequence indicated in the screenplay, so movie actors
the area between them and the lens—an intimate and learn only those lines that they need for the moment.
narrowly defined space that necessarily concentrates Therefore, movie actors bear the additional burden, par
much of the actors’ energy on their faces. Through com- ticularly on their memory, of creating continuity be-
position, close-ups, camera angles and movements, and tween related shots, even though the shots may have
other cinematic techniques, movie actors always come been made days, weeks, or even months apart.
closer to the audience and appear larger than actors on Judith Anderson had an illustrious stage career be-
the stage do. fore achieving fame as a movie actor as Mrs. Danvers in
The camera makes possible an attention to detail that Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca (1940). She emphasizes how
was impossible before the invention of cinema, mainly each form affects an actor’s movements. On the stage
because stage acting forced actors to project their voices she is free (to move where she wants, scratch her ear if
and their gestures to the back of the theater. Screen act- she wants, add a bit of business if she wants), but on the
ing, as an experience, can be as tight and intimate as ex- screen she is constrained by the physical space before
amining a painting at arm’s length. As American screen the camera, the lighting and other technical aspects, and
3. Qtd. in Melena Ryzik, “Desperate Times Call for Her,” New Y

ork T
imes (February 13, 2014): p. C1, www.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/movies/awardsseason
/cate-blanchett-has-front-runner-oscar-status.html (accessed February 6, 2015).
4. Orson Welles and Peter Bogdanovich, This Is Orson Welles, ed. Jonathan Rosenbaum (New Y
ork: HarperCollins, 1992), p. 262.
5. Joan Crawford, qtd. in Lillian Ross and Helen Ross, The Player: A Profile of an Art (New Y
ork: Simon & Schuster, 1962), p. 66.
the next shot. Over the years, some temperamental ac-

tors have succeeded in closing the set to all but the most
essential personnel, but that is an exceptional practice.
Traditionally, however, movie sets have been closed to
visitors, particularly the media.
Although there are probably as many types of actors
as there are actors themselves, for the purposes of this
discussion, we can identify four key types:
1. actors who take their personae from role to role

(personality actors)
2. actors who deliberately play against our
expectations of their personae
3. actors who seem to be different in every role
VIDEO This short tutorial discusses the importance
(chameleon actors)
of persona to our experience of acting performances.
4. actors who are often nonprofessionals or people
who are cast to bring verisimilitude to a part
In our everyday lives, each of us creates a persona, the

the much greater size of the image on the screen as op- image of character and personality that we want to show
posed to the natural appearance of an actor on the stage.6 the outside world. For movie actors, those personae are
To achieve the goal of maintaining continuity (as we their appearance and mannerisms of moving and de-
will discuss in Chapter 8), editing is a major factor in livering dialogue—unique creations that are relatively
putting shots together and creating the performance. consistent from role to role and from performance to
During a play, the stage actor performs each scene only performance. Actors’ personae are usually (but not al-
once; in the shooting of a movie, the actor may be asked ways) rooted in their natural behavior, personality, and
to do many takes before the director is satisfied with physicality. Current actors defined by their personae in-
the performance. Before a shot is made, the movie actor clude Tom Cruise, Amy Schumer, and Will Smith. Even
must be prepared to wait, sometimes for long periods, more versatile actors, not just those who are popular ac-
while camera, lighting, or sound equipment is moved tion or comedy stars, rely on persona. Among them are
or readjusted; the stage actor faces no such delays or Susan Sarandon, Morgan Freeman, and Benicio Del Toro.
interruptions. For many movie actors, the persona is the key to
Although the theater and the movies are both collab- their careers as well as an important part of film market-
orative arts, once the curtain goes up, stage actors need ing and why we choose particular movies over others.
not think much about the backstage crew, for the crew One reason audiences go to movies is to see a certain
will perform scenery or lighting changes according to kind of story. That’s a big part of what the concept of
a fixed schedule. Movie actors, however, must play di- genre is all about. You go to a romantic comedy, an ac-
rectly to the camera while dozens of people are standing tion movie, a horror film, or a comic-book adaptation be-
around just outside the camera’s range. These people cause you know what to expect, and you want what you
are doing their jobs, but also watching and listening to expect. Having made your choice on the basis of story,
everything the actors do. Some people are there because you should get familiar and appealing narrative struc-
they have to be (e.g., the director, script supervisor, cin- tures, cinematic conventions, character types, dramatic
ematographer, sound recordist, makeup artist, hair- situations, and payoffs.
stylist); others are there waiting to make the necessary The same thing goes for persona-identified actors such
changes in scenery, properties, or lighting required for as Tom Cruise. He’s not only good-looking, but he proj-
6. See interview with Anderson on Disc 2 of the Criterion Collection DVD release of Rebecca (2001).
What Is Acting? 239
Cate Blanchett’s complete transformation as Bob Dylan

In I’m Not There (2007; director Todd Haynes), Cate Blanchett transforms her glamorous self into Jude, a skinny, ragged, androgynous
folksinger at the beginning of his career: Bob Dylan. In this image, Jude is responding to an obnoxious British journalist who questions his
motives in switching from acoustic to electric guitar in 1965. To understand how accomplished Blanchett’s portrayal is, compare her Dylan
with the real Dylan as he appears in D. A. Pennebaker’s Dont Look Back (1967) or Martin Scorsese’s No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005).
ects an interesting balance of arrogance and vulnerability Payne’s About Schmidt (2002) or Cate Blanchett as Jude
that appeals to many viewers. When you go to a Tom in Todd Haynes’s I’m Not There (2007). A major factor
Cruise movie (the kind where the star’s name is the most affecting our enjoyment of actors in such roles is not
important factor in your choice), you have an expecta- just the role, but the strange sensation of seeing an
tion of the kind of performance he’s going to give you, actor whose persona we have come to know well play
based on his persona. And you expect to see that perfor- a totally different sort of role. In Nicholson’s case, the
mance, that persona, in the context of a certain kind of normally crafty, strong, menacing man portrays a pow-
story. Part of the fun comes from seeing that persona in erless, mundane, befuddled, and cuckolded insurance
different kinds of movies, enjoying its interaction with a salesman. In Blanchett’s career, we are astonished to
particular role or genre. So part of the reason you might see an actor known for her regal beauty in such roles as
go to see Cruise in Michael Mann’s Collateral (2004) is Queen Elizabeth I in Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth (1998)
to see how a personality we associate with heroic roles or Lady Galadriel in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the
is applied to a hit man or, in Rock of Ages (2012; director Rings trilogy (2001–3) when she undergoes a complete
Adam Shankman), an aging sex-and-drugs fueled rock physical transformation as Jude, one of six different
star. Having enjoyed him as a macho master spy in the interpretations, by six different actors, of Bob Dylan in
Mission Impossible movies, you may be curious to see Todd Haynes’s I’m Not There (2007). Blanchett is fa-
how the playful arrogance he brought to Ethan Hunt mous for her ability to change her distinctly Australian
manifests itself in the role of a desk-bound military hack accent to meet the needs of any role. She can speak the
forced to fight alien invaders in Doug Liman’s Live Die Queen’s English as Elizabeth and Galadriel or, with a
Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow (2014) or as a reckless, double- pitch-perfect accent redolent of New York’s upper East
dealing spy/smuggler in Liman’s American Made (2017). Side, she can become Jasmine Francis, a woman on the
Sometimes an actor with a familiar, popular persona verge of a nervous breakdown, in Woody Allen’s Blue Jas-
takes on a role that goes against what we expect; for ex- mine (2013). In I’m Not There, she hits the mark squarely
ample, Jack Nicholson as Warren Schmidt in Alexander with her interpretation of Dylan’s twangy Midwestern
1 2
3 4
The versatile Tilda Swinton

Male actors like Johnny Depp and Jeff Bridges aren’t the only chameleons capable of delivering diverse performances as very different char-
acters. Tilda Swinton’s many roles in the past decade include the tormented mother of a mass murderer [1] in Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to
Talk About Kevin (2011), a centuries-old nonconformist vampire [2] in Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), a powerful master of the
mystic arts [3] in Doctor Strange (2016; director Scott Derrickson), and two pairs of feuding twin sisters in two different films: rival gossip
columnists Thora and Thessaly Thacker in the Coen brothers’ 2016 comedy Hail Caesar!, and the estranged siblings Lucy and Nancy Mirando
[4] fighting for control of their father’s meat-empire in Bong Joon-ho’s topical satire Okja (2017).
speech. In creating her gender-bending portrait of a diffi Rooster Cogburn in the Coens’ True Grit (2010), and the
dent, slightly androgynous singer, she uses every technique laconic but persistent Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton
in the actor’s stock besides her voice: movements and in Hell or High Water (2016; director David Macken-
gestures, wig, makeup, eyeglasses, costumes, and props. zie). Indeed, along with such multitalented colleagues as
On the other side of the acting scale is the chame- Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton, Brad Pitt, and Chris-
leon actor, named for the lizard that can make quick, tian Bale, Bridges is a marvel of flexibility.
frequent changes in its appearance in response to the Johnny Depp, an actor who makes quick and frequent
environment. Chameleon actors adapt their look, man- changes in the roles he plays, has reached star status
nerisms, and delivery to suit the role. They surprise us as without any fixed persona. Although he’s earned the rep-
persona actors when they are cast, as Jack Nicholson or utation as the ideal nonnaturalistic actor for such Tim
Charlize Theron often are, in a role we do not expect— Burton movies as Edward Scissorhands (1990), Charlie
one that extends their range. For example, Jeff Bridges and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Sweeney Todd: The De-
often looks (and acts) so different in roles that he’s un- mon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), and Alice in Wonder-
recognizable at first. You may not realize that the shaggy land (2010), he’s also played an astonishing range of very
Dude (aka Jeff Lebowski) in the Coen brothers’ The Big different roles, such as Raoul Duke/Hunter S. Thomp-
Lebowski (1998) is played by the same actor that played son in Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
the bald industrialist villain Obadiah Stane in Iron Man (1998); the cocaine king George Jung in Ted Demme’s
(2008; director Jon Favreau), the grizzled U.S. Marshal Blow (2001); Sir James Matthew Barrie, the author of
What Is Acting? 241
Peter Pan, in Marc Forster’s Finding Neverland (2004); sions, and varieties of intonation. American screen actor
and Lord Rochester, the seventeenth-century English Barbara Stanwyck credited director Frank Capra with
poet, in Laurence Dunmore’s The Libertine (2004). In teaching her that “if you can think it, you can make the
the current phase of his career, among other roles, he’s audience know it. . . . On the stage, it’s mannerisms. On
played the charming scoundrel Captain Jack Sparrow in the screen, your range is shown in your eyes.”7 In ad-
five Pirates of the Caribbean movies; the gangster James dition, many different types of inspiration fuel screen
“Whitey” Bulger in Scott Cooper’s Black Mass (2015); acting; many factors guide actors toward their perfor-
the titular dark wizard in David Yates’s Fantastic Beasts: mances in front of the camera.
The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018); and even Donald Consider the work of Meryl Streep, who has been nom-
Trump in Jeremy Konner’s satire Donald Trump’s The inated eighteen times for an Oscar. That’s more nom
Art of the Deal: The Movie (2016). inations than any actor in the history of the Academy
Finally, there are the nonprofessional actors, real-life Awards (15 for Best Actress, 2 wins; 3 for Best Support
people who take roles in feature films (not documenta- ing Actress, 1 win). Despite her success in more than fifty
ries) to play characters whose lives are much like their feature films, Streep, like many seasoned actors, finds it
own. The earliest movies were cast with only nonpro- difficult to describe her talent. She says it is
fessionals, and the tradition has remained in movies
an art that I find in its deepest essence to be completely
that call for such casting. Memorable examples include
mysterious. . . . I have been smug and willfully ignorant.
almost all the movies in the Italian neorealist tradi-
I’ve cultivated a deliberate reluctance to investigate my
tion, including an entire community re-creating their
own method of working because I’m afraid of killing
daily lives in Ermanno Olmi’s The Tree of Wooden Clogs
the goose. I’m afraid if I parse it I won’t be able to do it
(1978). Michel Gondry recruited a group of Bronx high
anymore.8
school students to act as Bronx high school students in
The We and the I (2012). Similarly, Laurent Cantet re- Streep has played an astonishing variety of fictional
cruited François Bégaudeau, as the teacher, and a group and actual people on the screen. Fictional characters
of mixed-race students, many of them immigrants, for include Anna in Karel Reisz’s The French Lieutenant’s
The Class (2008), his film about the challenges of teach- Woman (1981), a particularly interesting movie because
ing in a French school. In The Best Years of Our Lives Anna, a film actor, is creating the character of Sarah, a
(1946), William Wyler’s powerful movie about three vet- romantic of the Victorian era; Sophie Zawistowksi, a
erans of World War II, a nonprofessional almost steals woman haunted by her Nazi-era past, in Alan J. Paku-
the movie away from the professionals when Harold la’s Sophie’s Choice (1982); or Miranda Priestly in Da-
Russell, who lost both arms in the conflict, portrays the vid Frankel’s The Devil Wears Prada (2006), where the
challenges facing such a handicapped man. In Beasts of character, though fictional, is thought to have been in-
the Southern Wild (2012; director Benh Zeitlin), the two fluenced by Anna Wintour, the longtime editor of Vogue.
leading characters are played by nonprofessionals Qu- By contrast, you might also study Streep’s portrayals,
venzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry. And in Lynne Ram- often controversial with audiences, of such real peo-
say’s Ratcatcher (1999), a haunting film about a Scottish ple as Karen Blixen, the Danish novelist writing under
slum kid, fledgling actor Tommy Flanagan plays the lead. the name of Isak Dinesen, in Out of Africa (1985; direc
Although previous generations of stage actors knew tor Sydney Pollack); Julia Child, America’s irresistible
that their duty was to convey emotion through recog- master of French cooking, in Julie & Julia (2009; di-
nized conventions of speech and gesture (mannerisms), rector Nora Ephron); Margaret Thatcher, the British
screen actors have enjoyed a certain freedom to adopt prime minister, in The Iron Lady (2011; director Phyllida
individual styles that communicate emotional mean- Lloyd), or Washington Post newspaper publisher Kay
ing through subtle and highly personal gestures, expres- Graham in Steven Spielberg’s The Post (2017). Given
7. Barbara Stanwyck, qtd. in Actors on Acting for the Screen: Roles and Collaborations, ed. Doug Tomlinson (New Y
ork: Garland, 1994), p. 524.
8. Jennifer Greenstein Altmann, “Meryl Streep Talks about the ‘Mysterious’ Art of Acting” (December 1, 2006), www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive
/S16/49/92S82 (accessed February 5, 2014).
this variety that requires her to be different in every role, multimillion-dollar production and making it a profit-
Streep says: “Acting is not about being someone different. able success.
It’s finding the similarity in what is apparently differ- As we continue this discussion of acting, remember
ent, then finding myself in there.”9 that it is not actors’ personal lives that count, but their
A director’s individual style plays a significant role ability to interpret and portray certain characters. In
in how actors develop their characters. The many ap- today’s world, where the media report actors’ every off
proaches include encouraging actors to identify with screen activity, especially indiscretions, maintaining
characters (e.g., Elia Kazan), promoting a style loosely the focus required for good acting poses a challenge. Al-
referred to as method acting ( Terrence Malick); favoring though the media have always done this, the behavior
spontaneity, unpredictability, and sometimes improvi- of some of today’s actors not only is more reckless but
sation (Richard Linklater); and encouraging actors to also is seldom covered up by a studio’s public-relations
see their performances from a cinematographic point of department like it was in Hollywood’s golden age.
view and explicitly imagine how their gestures and ex-
pressions will look on-screen (Alfred Hitchcock). This
latter approach encourages actors to think more than to The Evolution of
feel, to perform their roles almost as if they are highly Screen Acting
skilled technicians whose main task is to control one
aspect of the mise-en-scène (performance), much as set Early Screen-Acting Styles
designers control the look and feel of sets, sound mixers The people on the screen in the very first movies were
control sound, directors of photography control camera not actors but ordinary people playing themselves. The
work, and so on. early films caught natural, everyday actions—feeding a
No matter what type a movie actor is—how definite or baby, leaving work, yawning, walking up and down stairs,
changeable the persona is, how varied the roles are, how swinging a baseball bat, sneezing—in a simple, realistic
successful the career is—we tend to blur the distinction manner. “Acting” was simply a matter of trying to ignore
between the actor on-screen and the person offscreen. the presence of the camera as it recorded the action. In
The heroes of today’s world are performers—athletes, the early 1900s, filmmakers started to tell stories with
musicians, actors—and a vast media industry exists to their films and thus needed professional actors. Most
keep them in the public eye and encourage us to believe stage actors at the time scorned film acting, however,
that they are every bit as fascinating in real life as they and refused to take work in the fledgling industry.
are on the screen. Inevitably, some movie actors become Therefore, the first screen actors were usually rejects
rich and famous without having much art or craft in from the stage or fresh-faced amateurs eager to break
what they do. Essentially, they walk through their into the emerging film industry. Lack of experience (or
movies, seldom playing any character other than them talent) wasn’t the only hurdle they faced. Because no
selves. Fortunately, for every one of these actors there standard language of cinematic expression or any ac-
are many more talented actors who take their work se cepted tradition of film direction existed at the time,
riously; try, whenever possible, to extend the range of these first actors had little choice but to adopt the acting
roles they play; and learn to adapt to the constantly style favored in the nineteenth-century theater and try
shifting trends of moviemaking and public taste. to adapt it to their screen roles. The resulting quaint, un-
One definition of great acting is that it should look intentionally comical style consists of exaggerated ges-
effortless, but that takes talent, training, discipline, tures, overly emphatic facial expressions, and bombastic
experience, and hard work. It also takes the skills nec- mouthing of words (which could not yet be recorded on
essary for dealing with pressures that range from get- film) that characterized the stage melodramas popular
ting older (and thus becoming more apt to be replaced at the turn of the twentieth century.
by a younger, better-looking actor) to fulfilling a pro- In 1908, the Société Film d’Art (Art Film Society), a
ducer’s expectation that you will succeed in carrying a French film company, was founded with the purpose
9. www.goodreads.com/quotes/140679-acting-is-not-about-being-someone-different (accessed February 5, 2014). See also Karina Longworth,

Meryl Streep: Anatomy of an Actor (London: Phaidon Press, 2014).
of creating a serious artistic cinema that would attract niques uniquely suitable for the emerging narrative cin
equally serious people who ordinarily preferred the the ema as well as a style of acting that could help actors
ater. Commercially, this was a risky step not only be- realize their potential in this new medium.
cause cinema was in its infancy but also because, since
the sixteenth century, the French had seen theater as
a temple of expression. Its glory was (and remains) D. W. Griffith and Lillian Gish
the Comédie-Française, the French national theater. To American film pioneer D. W. Griffith needed actors who
begin its work at the highest possible level, the Société could be trained to work in front of the camera, and by
Film d’Art joined creative forces with this revered orga- 1913 he had recruited a group that included some of the
nization, which agreed to lend its actors to the society’s most important actors of the time: Mary Pickford, Lil-
films. In addition, the society commissioned leading lian and Dorothy Gish, Mae Marsh, Blanche Sweet, Li-
theater playwrights, directors, and designers, as well as onel Barrymore, Harry Carey, Henry B. Walthall, and
prominent composers, to create its film productions. Donald Crisp. Some had stage experience, some did not.
Sarah Bernhardt (1844–1923), adored by her public All of them earned much more from acting in the movies
as la divine Sarah, was the first great theatrical actor to than they would have on the stage, and they all enjoyed
appear in a movie, Clément Maurice’s Le Duel d’Hamlet long, fruitful careers (many lasting well into the era of
(Hamlet, 1900, 2 min.), a short account of Hamlet’s duel sound films).
with Laertes. She appeared in at least seven features, Because the cinema was silent during this period,
the most important of which is Les Amours d’Elisabeth, Griffith worked out more naturalistic movements and
Reine d’Angleterre (Queen Elizabeth, 1912, 44 min.), di- gestures for his actors rather than training their voices.
rected by Henri Desfontaines and Louis Mercanton and The longer stories of such feature-length films as The
produced by the Société Film d’Art. Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916), Hearts of the
As interesting as it is to see one of the early twentieth World (1918), and Broken Blossoms (1919) gave the actors
century’s greatest actors as Elizabeth I, it is even more more screen time and therefore more screen space in
interesting to observe how closely this “canned theater” which to develop their characters. Close-ups required
resembled an actual stage production. The space we see them to be more aware of the effect that their facial ex-
is that of the theater, which is limited to having actors pressions would have on the audience, and actors’ faces
enter and exit from stage left or right. It is unlike the increasingly became more important than their bodies
cinema, where characters are not confined to the phys- (although, in the silent comedies of the 1920s, the full
ical boundaries imposed by theater architecture. For presence of the human body was virtually essential for
all her reputed skill, Bernhardt’s acting could only echo conveying humor).
what she did on the stage. Thus we see the exaggerated Under Griffith’s guidance, Lillian Gish invented the
facial expressions, strained gestures, and clenched fists art of screen acting. Griffith encouraged her to study the
of late-nineteenth-century melodrama. Although such movements of ordinary people on the street or in restau-
artificiality was conventional and thus accepted by the rants, to develop her physical skills with regular exercise,
audience, it was all wrong for the comparative intimacy and to tell stories through her face and body. He urged
between the spectator and the screen that existed even her to watch the reactions of movie audiences, saying, “If
in the earliest movie theaters. they’re held by what you’re doing, you’ve succeeded as an
Despite its heavy-handed technique, Queen Elizabeth actress.”10 Gish’s performance in Broken Blossoms (1919)
succeeded in attracting an audience interested in seri- was the first great film performance by an actor. Set in
ous drama on the screen, made the cinema socially and the Limehouse (or Chinatown) section of London, the
intellectually respectable, and therefore encouraged fur movie presents a stylized fable about the love of an older
ther respect for the industry and its development. What Chinese merchant, Cheng Huan (Richard Barthelmess),
remained to be done was not to teach Sarah Bernhardt for an English adolescent, Lucy Burrows (Gish). Lucy’s
how to act for the camera, but to develop cinematic tech racist father, the boxer Battling Burrows (Donald Crisp),
10. Lillian Gish with Ann Pinchot, Lillian Gish: The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969), pp. 97–101, quotation on
p. 101. See also Jeanine Basinger, Silent Stars (New York: Knopf, 1999).
climactic moment of the story and the mise-en-scène in

which it took place—rather than from Griffith’s direction:
The scene of the terrified child alone in the closet could

probably not be filmed today. To watch Lucy’s hysteria
was excruciating enough in a silent picture; a sound
track would have made it unbearable. When we filmed it
I played the scene with complete lack of restraint, turn-
ing around and around like a tortured animal. When I
finished, there was a hush in the studio. Mr. Griffith fi-
nally whispered: “My God, why didn’t you warn me that
you were going to do that?”11
Gish gives a similarly powerful performance—her

character shoots the man who raped her—in Victor
Sjöström’s The Wind (1928), and her work in confined
Lillian Gish in Broken Blossoms
Lillian Gish was twenty-three when she played the young girl Lucy spaces influenced such later climactic scenes as Marion
Burrows in D. W. Griffith’s Broken Blossoms (1919). It was, incred- Crane’s (Janet Leigh) murder in the shower in Alfred
ibly, her sixty-fourth movie, and she gave one of her long career’s Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) and Jack Torrance’s (Jack
most emotionally wrenching performances. Nicholson) attempt to get out of a bathroom where he is
trapped in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980).
With the discovery and implementation of the prin-
beats her for the slightest transgression. Enraged by her ciples of screen acting, Gish (and her mentor, Griffith)
friendship with the merchant, Burrows drags her home, also influenced excellent performances by her contem
and when Lucy hides in a tiny closet, he breaks down the poraries: Emil Jannings in F. W. Murnau’s The Last Laugh
door and beats her so savagely that she dies soon after. (1924) and Janet Gaynor and George O’Brien in Mur-
The interaction of narrative, acting, extremely con- nau’s Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), Gibson
fined cinematic space, and exploitation of the audience’s Gowland in Erich von Stroheim’s Greed (1924), and Lou-
fears gives this scene its beauty, power, and repulsive- ise Brooks in G. W. Pabst’s Pandora’s Box (1929).
ness. Seen from various angles within the closet, which
fills the screen, Lucy clearly cannot escape. Hysteri-
cal with fear, she finally curls up as her father breaks The Influence of Sound
through the door. At the end, she dies in her bed, forcing Not long after Griffith and Gish established a viable and
the smile that has characterized her throughout the film. successful style of screen acting, movie actors faced the
Terror and pity produce the cathartic realization within greatest challenge yet: the conversion from silent to
the viewer that Lucy’s death, under these wretched cir- sound production. Instead of instantly revolutionizing
cumstances, is truly a release. film style, the coming of sound in 1927 began a period of
In creating this scene, Gish invoked a span of emo- several years in which the industry gradually converted
tions that no movie audience had seen before and few to this new form of production (see Chapter 9). Film
have seen since. Her performance illustrates the qual makers made dialogue more comprehensible by devel
ities of great screen acting: appropriateness, expressive oping better microphones; finding the best placements
coherence, inherent thoughtfulness/emotionality, whole for the camera, microphones, and other sound equip-
ness, and unity. Amazingly, the performance resulted from ment; and encouraging changes in actors’ vocal perfor-
Gish’s own instincts—her sense of what was right for the mances. At first they encased the camera, whose overall
11. Gish, Lillian Gish, p. 200. For another version of how this scene was prepared and shot, see Charles Affron, Lillian Gish: Her Legend, Her Life
(New Y
ork: Scribner, 2001), pp. 125–131.
size has changed relatively little since the 1920s, in ei-

ther a bulky soundproof booth or the later development
known as a blimp—a soundproofed enclosure, some-
what larger than a camera, in which the camera may be
mounted so that its sounds do not reach the microphone.
Such measures prevented the sounds of the cam-
era from being recorded, but they also restricted how
freely the camera—and the actors—could move. Actors
accustomed to moving around the set without worry-
ing about speaking now had to limit their movements to
the circumscribed sphere where recording took place.
Eventually, technicians were able to free the camera
for all kinds of movement and find ways of recording
sound that allowed the equipment and actors alike more
Early sound-film acting
mobility.
Sound technicians on the earliest sound films were challenged with
As monumental as the conversion to sound was in
recording the actors’ voices with stationary microphones, which
economic, technological, stylistic, and human terms, restricted their movements. This problem was solved later with
Hollywood found humor in it. It’s the subject of one of microphones suspended on booms outside the camera’s range
the most enjoyable of all movie musicals: Stanley Donen and capable of moving to follow a character’s movements. In look-
and Gene Kelly’s Singin’ in the Rain (1952). This movie ing backward, the classic movie musical Singin’ in the Rain (1952;
Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, directors) found nothing but humor
vividly and satirically portrays the technical difficulties
in the process of converting movie production to sound. In the
of using the voice of one actor to replace the voice of an-
background of this image, we see a reluctant and uncooperative
other who hasn’t been trained to speak, trying to move actor, Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen, right ), next to Don Lockwood
a camera weighted down with soundproof housing, and (Gene Kelly, left ). A microphone concealed in the bodice of her
forcing actors to speak into microphones concealed in gown is connected by wire to the loudspeaker in the glass booth in
flowerpots. As film scholar Donald Crafton writes: the foreground, where the exasperated director and sound recordist
discover that it has recorded only Miss Lamont’s heartbeat. Obvi-
Many of the clichés of the early sound cinema (includ- ously, they’ll have to find a different microphone placement if they
ing those in Singin’ in the Rain) apply to films made dur want to hear her voice. And if you’ve seen the movie, you know that
ing this period: long static takes, badly written dialogue, her voice is so bad that she had little chance of making the transition
to sound movies.
voices not quite in control, poor-quality recording, and
a speaking style with slow cadence and emphasis on
“enunciated” tones, which the microphone was sup-
posed to favor.12
pick up every word uttered on the set, directors were
How did the “talkies” influence actors and acting? forced to rehearse more extensively with their actors,
Although sound enabled screen actors to use all their thus adopting a technique from the stage to deal with
powers of human expression, it also created a need for screen technology. Though many actors and directors
screenplays with dialogue, dialogue coaches to help the could not make the transition from silent to sound films,
actors “find” their voices, and other coaches to help them others emerged from silent films ready to see the addi-
master foreign accents. The more actors and the more tion of sound less as an obstacle than as the means to a
speaking a film included, the more complex the narra- more complete screen verisimilitude.
tive could become. Directors had to make changes, too. An innovative production from this period is Rouben
Before sound, a director could call out instructions to Mamoulian’s Applause (1929; sound-recording techni-
the actors during filming; once the microphone could cian Ernest Zatorsky). After several years of directing
12. Donald Crafton, The Talkies: American Cinema’s Transition to Sound, 1926–1931 (New Y
ork: Scribner, 1997), p. 14.
theater productions in London and New York, Mamou- Acting in the Classical Studio Era
lian made his screen-directing debut with Applause, From the early years of moviemaking, writes film scholar
which is photographed in a style that mixes naturalism Robert Allen, “the movie star has been one of the defining
with expressionism. From the opening scene, a montage characteristics of the American cinema.”14 Most simply,
of activity that plunges us into the lively world of bur- a movie star is two people: the actor and the character(s)
lesque, the film reveals Mamoulian’s mastery of camera he or she plays. In addition, the star embodies an image
movement. But when the camera does not move, as in created by the studio to coincide with the kinds of roles
the many two-shots full of dialogue, we can almost feel associated with the actor. That the star also reflects the
the limited-range microphone boom hovering over the social and cultural history of the period when that image
actors, one step beyond the use of flowerpots. In contrast was created helps explain the often rapid rise and fall of
to the vibrant shots with the moving camera, these static stars’ careers. But this description reveals at its heart a
shots are lifeless and made even more confusing by the set of paradoxes, as Allen points out:
loud expressionist sounds that overwhelm ordinary as
well as intimate conversations. The star is powerless, yet powerful; different from “or-
Obviously, such limitations influence how we perceive dinary” people, yet at one time was “just like us.” Stars
the acting, which is Applause’s weak point throughout. make huge salaries, yet the work for which they are hand
Most likely because Mamoulian knew that sympho- somely paid does not appear to be work on the screen.
nies of city sounds and noises would be the main im- Talent would seem to be a requisite for stardom, yet
pression of many scenes, the actors have little to say or there has been no absolute correlation between acting
do. However, the movie remains interesting thanks to a ability and stardom. The star’s private life has little if
new technique in sound recording that Mamoulian in- anything to do with his or her “job” of acting in movies,
troduced and that soon became common practice. Ear- yet a large portion of a star’s image is constructed on the
lier, all sound in a particular shot had been recorded and basis of “private” matters: romance, marriage, tastes in
manipulated on a single sound track. Mamoulian per- fashion, and home life.15
suaded the sound technicians to record overlapping di-
alogue in a single shot using two separate microphones The golden age of Hollywood, roughly from the 1930s
and then mix them together on the sound track. When until the 1950s, was the age of the movie star. Acting in
April Darling (Joan Peers), her head on a pillow, whis- American movies then generally meant “star acting.”
pers a prayer while her mother, Kitty (Helen Morgan), During this period, the major studios gave basic lessons
sits next to her and sings a lullaby, the actors almost in acting, speaking, and movement, but because screen
seem to be singing a duet—naturally, intimately, and appearance was of paramount importance, they were
convincingly.13 more concerned with enhancing actors’ screen images
The conversion to sound, a pivotal moment in film than with improving their acting.
history that simultaneously ruined many acting careers During the golden age, the studio system and the star
while creating others, has long fascinated movie fans. system went hand in hand, and the studios had almost
And it has been treated with pathos as well as humor in complete control of their actors. Every 6 months, the
movies other than those discussed here, including Billy studio reviewed an actor’s standard 7-year option con-
Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Michel Hazanavi- tract: if the actor had made progress in being assigned
cius’s The Artist (2011). roles and demonstrating box-office appeal, the studio
13. In his next films, Mamoulian made other innovations in sound, including the sound flashback in City Streets (1931) and the lavish use of
contrapuntal sound in the opening of Love Me Tonight (1932).
14. For a study of stars in Hollywood from which this section liberally draws, see Robert C. Allen and Douglas Gomery, Film History: Theory and
Practice (New Y
ork: Knopf, 1985), pp. 172–189, quotation on p. 174 (reprinted as Robert C. Allen, “The Role of the Star in Film History [Joan Crawford],”
in Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, 5th ed., ed. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen [New Y
ork: Oxford University Press, 1999],
pp. 547–561).
15. Allen and Gomery, Film History, p. 174.
picked up the option to employ that actor for the next victims of that very wonder, overwhelmed by our enthu-
6 months and gave him or her a raise; if not, the stu- siasm and blinded by the light of the star’s emanation.17
dio dropped the option, and the actor was out of work.
The decision was the studio’s, not the actor’s. Further- In her comprehensive study The Star Machine, Jea
more, the contract did not allow the actor to move to nine Basinger offers a list of observations of what a
another studio, stop work, or renegotiate for a higher movie star is:
salary. In addition to those unbreakable terms, the con-
tract had restrictive clauses that gave the studio total A star has exceptional looks. Outstanding talent. A dis-
control over the star’s image and services; it required an tinctive voice that can easily be recognized and imitated.
actor “to act, sing, pose, speak or perform in such roles as A set of mannerisms. Palpable sexual appeal. Energy that
the producer may designate”; it gave the studio the right comes down off the screen. Glamour. Androgyny. Glow-
to change the name of the actor at its own discretion and ing health and radiance. Panache. A single tiny flaw that
to control the performer’s image and likeness in adver- mars their perfection, endearing them to ordinary peo-
tising and publicity; and it required the actor to comply ple. Charm. The good luck to be in the right place at the
with rules covering interviews and public appearances.16 right time (also known as just plain good luck). An em-
These contracts turned the actors into the studios’ blematic quality that audiences believe is who they re-
chattel. To the public, perhaps the most fascinating thing ally are. The ability to make viewers “know” what they
about making actors into stars was the process of chang- are thinking whenever the camera comes up close. An
ing their names. Marion Morrison became John Wayne, established type (by which is meant that they could be-
Issur Danielovitch Demsky became Kirk Douglas, Julia lievably play the same role over and over again). A level
Jean Mildred Frances Turner became Lana Turner, and of comfort in front of the camera. And, of course, “she
Archibald Leach became Cary Grant. Name and image has something,” the bottom line of which is “it’s some-
came first, and acting ability often was considered sec- thing you can’t define.”18
ondary to an actor’s screen presence or aura, physical
or facial beauty, athletic ability or performance skills, Today, film acting has become the subject of new in-
or character “type.” Although many stars were also con- terest among theorists and critics in semiology, psychol-
vincing actors capable of playing a variety of parts (e.g., ogy, and cultural studies who wish to study acting as an
Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, Barbara Stanwyck, Jimmy index of cultural history and an aspect of ideology.19 This
Stewart), surprisingly little serious attention was paid to approach stresses that stars were a commodity created
screen acting. As Charles Affron observes: by the studio system through promotion, publicity, mov-
ies, criticism, and commentary. As Richard Dyer notes,
An almost total absence of analytical approaches to “Stars are involved in making themselves into commod-
screen acting reflects the belief that screen acting is ities; they are both labour and the thing that labour pro-
nothing more than the beautiful projection of a filmic duces. They do not produce themselves alone.”20 Such
self, an arrangement of features and body, the disposi- analyses tend to emphasize the ways in which culture
tion of superficial elements. Garbo is Garbo is Garbo is makes meaning rather than the art and expressive value
Garbo. We mortals are left clutching our wonder, and of acting, the ways in which actors make meaning.
16. Tino Balio, Grand Design: Hollywood as a Modern Business Enterprise, 1930–1939 (New Y
ork: Scribner, 1999), p. 145.
17. Charles Affron, Star Acting: Gish, Garbo, Davis (New Y
ork: Dutton, 1977), p. 3. See also Roland Barthes, “The Face of Garbo,” in Film Theory and
Criticism, ed. Braudy and Cohen, pp. 536–538; Alexander Walker, Stardom: The Hollywood Phenomenon (New Y
ork: Stein and Day, 1970); and Leo
Braudy, “Film Acting: Some Critical Problems and Proposals,” Quarterly Review of Film Studies (February 1976): 1–18.
18. Jeanine Basinger, The Star Machine (New Y
ork: Knopf, 2007), pp. 3–4.
19. See Richard Dyer, Stars, new ed. (London: British Film Institute, 1998); and his Heavenly Bodies: Film Stars and Society (New Y
ork: St. Martin’s
Press, 1986). See also Richard deCordova, “The Emergence of the Star System in America,” Wide Angle 6, no. 4 (1985): 4–13; Carole Zucker, ed.,
Making Visible the Invisible: An Anthology of Original Essays on Film Acting (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1990); and Christine Gledhill, Stardom:
Industry of Desire (New Y
ork: Routledge, 1991).
20. Dyer, Heavenly Bodies, p. 5.
decided that her name must be changed and altered her

image to be that of an ideal American “girl.” Through a
national campaign conducted by a fan magazine, the
public was invited to submit names. The first choice,
“Joan Arden,” was already being used by another ac-
tress, so Lucille LeSueur became Joan Crawford, a name
that she objected to for several years. However, her new
name became synonymous with the public’s idea of a
movie star—indeed, one proclaimed by MGM to be a
“star of the first magnitude.”21
Crawford’s career soon took off, reaching a high level
of achievement in the mid-1930s when she became
identified with the “woman’s film.” Subsequently, in a
long series of films, she played women who, whether by
What makes a movie star?
family background or social circumstances, triumphed
Jeanine Basinger’s list of observations on what makes a movie star
over adversity and usually paid a price for indepen-
could have been written about Cary Grant, for her criteria fit him per-
fectly. Regarded by the public, as well as critics and colleagues, as dence. No matter what happened to them, her charac-
the finest romantic comedian actor of his time, the handsome actor ters remained stylish and distinctive in their looks—chic,
was often cast as a glamorous, high-society figure in a series of self-generated survivors. Like many other stars, Craw-
1930s screwball comedies, including George Cukor’s The Philadel- ford became indelibly associated with the roles she
phia Story (1940). In this image, Grant’s wide-open, handsome face
played. Yet she received little serious acclaim for her act-
and laid-back manner mask the charming wiles of a man who suc-
ing until the mid-1940s, when she left MGM for Warner
ceeds in remarrying a former wife, played by Katharine Hepburn. He
played against some of Hollywood’s most glamorous stars, includ- Bros. For Michael Curtiz’s Mildred Pierce (1945), her first
ing Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, film there, Crawford won the Academy Award for Best
Doris Day, and Grace Kelly. Long before the birth of the independent Actress—her only Oscar, although she received two more
production system, Grant was unique among Hollywood actors by nominations. After her success at Warner Bros., Craw-
not signing a studio contract but rather controlling every aspect of
ford worked for various major studios and independents,
his career himself, including the directors and actors he wanted to
shedding her image as the stalwart, contemporary Amer
work with and the roles he wanted to play. Perhaps the high point of
his career was working with Alfred Hitchcock on Suspicion (1941), ican woman. Sometimes her performances were excel-
Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), and North by Northwest lent, as in Curtis Bernhardt’s Possessed (1947), David
(1959), films in which he still plays a lighthearted rogue. His assets— Miller’s Sudden Fear (1952), and, costarring with Bette
sleek good looks, ease, lack of self-consciousness, physical grace, Davis, Robert Aldrich’s What Ever Happened to Baby
and natural comic sense—make him one of the great movie actors
Jane? (1962).
of all time; some say the greatest.
Davis was a star of another sort, leading a principled
and spirited fight against the studio and star systems’
invasion into virtually every aspect of actors’ personal
Materialistic as it was, the star system dominated the and professional lives. In fact, Davis’s career (from 1931
movie industry until the studio system collapsed. It was to 1989) comes as close to any as demonstrating these
replaced by a similar industrial enterprise powered es- systems at their best and worst. In the mid-1930s, when
sentially by the same motivation of making profits for she walked out of Warner Bros. demanding better roles,
its investors. However, because every studio had its own the studio successfully sued her for breach of contract.
system, creating different goals and images for different She returned to work rewarded by increased respect,
stars, there was no typical star. For example, when Lu- a new contract, and better roles. But her career sagged
cille Fay LeSueur (also known early in her theater ca- after World War II, for she had reached her early for-
reer as Billie Cassin) went to Hollywood in 1925, MGM ties, an age at which female actors are seldom offered
21. See Richard Oulahan, “A Well-Planned Crawford,” Life 56 (February 21, 1964), pp. 11–12.
1 2
The movie star

Elizabeth Taylor epitomizes what we mean by the term movie star : talent, beauty, sex appeal, and a glamour that dazzled the world. As a child
star, the product of the studio system, she appeared in such movies as Lassie Come Home (1943) and National Velvet (1944). As a teenager,
she came to prominence as Angela Vickers [1] in George Stevens’s A Place in the Sun (1951), a romantic but tragic melodrama. During her
most fruitful period—the 1950s and 1960s—she starred in such movies as George Stevens’s Giant (1956), Richard Brooks’s Cat on a Hot Tin
Roof (1958), Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), and Daniel Mann’s BUtterfield 8 (1960). Her career took a brief down-
ward spin with Mankiewicz’s Cleopatra (1963), one of the most lavish, expensive, and unsuccessful films of all time. A survivor, she recovered
in two impressive roles: Martha [2] in Mike Nichols’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and Katharina in Franco Zeffirelli’s The Taming of
the Shrew (1967). In all, Elizabeth Taylor appeared in more than fifty films and was awarded three Oscars as Best Actress. Long after she quit
her acting career, she remained a star, lending her name and reputation to raising hundreds of millions of dollars for AIDS research and other
humanitarian causes.
good parts. Ironically, playing just such a character— tive; quite the contrary. On Broadway, however, stage
an older stage actress in danger of losing roles because actors were becoming acquainted with a Russian theory
of her age—she triumphed in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s that became known as method acting. Method acting did
All about Eve (1950), generally regarded as her greatest not make a major impact on Hollywood until the 1950s,
performance. During her long career, Davis was nomi- but it marks a significant point in the evolution of screen
nated eleven times for the Academy Award for Best Ac- acting from the studio system’s reliance on “star acting”
tress, winning for Alfred E. Green’s Dangerous (1935) in the 1930s and 1940s to a new style.
and William Wyler’s Jezebel (1938). Nominations for an What Americans call method acting was based on the
Oscar as Best Actor or Best Actress involve a peer-review theory and practice of Konstantin Stanislavsky, who co-
process in which only actors vote. Davis’s record of nomi founded the Moscow Art Theater in 1897 and spent his
nations is exceeded only by Meryl Streep’s (seventeen entire career there. In developing what became known
nominations), Katharine Hepburn’s (twelve), and Jack as the Stanislavsky system of acting, he trained stu-
Nicholson’s (eight). dents to start by conducting an exhaustive inquiry into
their characters’ background and psychology. With an un
derstanding of those aspects, they could then work from
Method Acting the inside out. In other words, they had to be the char-
During the studio years, movie acting and the star sys- acter before successfully playing the character. Whether
tem were virtually synonymous. Although acting styles that works on the stage or screen is another issue.
were varied, the emphasis was on the star’s persona Stanislavsky’s ideas influenced the Soviet silent film
and its effect at the box office—on the product, not the directors of the 1920s—Sergei Eisenstein, Aleksandr
process, of acting. And as production processes were Dovzhenko, Lev Kuleshov, and Vsevolod I. Pudovkin—
regularized, so too was acting. Even so, screen acting in all of whom had learned much from D. W. Griffith’s work.
the 1930s and 1940s was not formulaic or unimagina- But they often disagreed about acting, especially about
how it was influenced by actors’ appearances and by ularly known as the Method ) encourages actors to speak,
editing, which could work so expressively both for and move, and gesture not in a traditional stage manner but
against actors’ interpretations. just as they would in their own lives. Thus it is an ideal
Among this group, Pudovkin, whose Film Acting technique for representing convincing human behav-
(1935) was one of the first serious books on the subject, ior on the stage and on the screen. The Method has led
has the most relevance to mainstream movie acting to- to a new level of realism and subtlety, influencing such
day. Although he advocates an explicitly Stanislavskian actors, in addition to those already mentioned, as James
technique based on his observations of the Moscow Art Dean, Montgomery Clift, Marilyn Monroe, Morgan Free
Theater, he writes from the standpoint of film directors man, Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Jane Fonda, Sid-
and actors working together. Because film consists of ney Poitier, Dustin Hoffman, Daniel Day-Lewis, and
individual shots, he reasons, both directors and actors Shelley Winters, among many others.22
work at the mercy of the shot and must strive to make To understand method acting, you have to see it. For
acting (out of sequence) seem natural, smooth, and tunately, there are some wonderful examples, including
flowing while maintaining expressive coherence across James Dean’s three movie roles—Cal Trask in Elia Ka-
the shots. He recommends close collaboration between zan’s East of Eden (1955), Jim Stark in Nicholas Ray’s
actors and directors as well as long periods devoted to Rebel without a Cause (1955), and Jett Rink in George
preparation and rehearsal. He also advises film actors to Stevens’s Giant (1956). Marlon Brando gave equally
ignore voice training because the microphone makes it legendary performances as Stanley Kowalski in Elia
unnecessary, notes that the close-up can communicate Kazan’s A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), reprising the
more to the audience than overt gestures can, and finds stage role that made him famous, and as Terry Mal-
that the handling of “expressive objects” (e.g., Charlie loy in Kazan’s On the Waterfront (1954). Other notable
Chaplin’s cane) can convey emotions and ideas even performances, out of many, include those by Paul New-
more effectively than close-ups can. man as Eddie Felson in Robert Rossen’s The Hustler
Through his teaching and books, especially An Ac- (1961), Shelley Winters as Charlotte Haze Humbert in
tor Prepares (1936), Stanislavsky had a lasting impact Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita (1962), and Faye Dunaway as
on Broadway and Hollywood acting. Actor Stella Adler Evelyn Cross Mulwray in Roman Polanski’s Chinatown
taught principles of method acting to members of the (1974). Each of these performances exhibits the major
experimental Group Theatre, including Elia Kazan. In characteristics of method acting: intense concentration
1947, Kazan, now a director, helped found the Actors and internalization (sometimes mistaken for discom-
Studio in New York City. In 1951, Kazan was replaced fort) on the actor’s part; low-key, almost laid-back de-
by Lee Strasberg, who alienated many theater people livery of lines (sometimes described as mumbling); and
including Kazan, Adler, Arthur Miller, and Marlon an edginess (sometimes highly neurotic) that suggests
Brando. Today the studio is guided by three alumni: dissatisfaction, unhappiness, and alienation. In direct-
Ellen Burstyn, Harvey Keitel, and Al Pacino. In 1949, ing The Misfits (1961), with a script by playwright Arthur
Adler went her own way and founded the Stella Adler Miller, John Huston (not a method director) must have
Studio of Acting, where Marlon Brando was her most fa- been bewildered by the range of acting talent in front of
mous and successful student. his camera: Clark Gable, a traditional Hollywood star in
These teachers loosely adapted Stanislavky’s ideas. any sense of the word, who always could be counted on to
They used his principle that actors should draw on their deliver a reliable performance; Thelma Ritter, an equally
own emotional experiences to create characters as well seasoned supporting player who invariably played the
as his emphasis on the importance of creating an ensem- role of a wisecracking sidekick; and several method ac-
ble and expressing the subtext, the nuances lying be- tors (Eli Wallach, Montgomery Clift, and Marilyn Mon-
neath the lines of the script. The naturalistic style that roe), whose performances, by contrast with the rest of
they popularized (and called method acting, more pop- the cast, seem out of touch and clumsy. Absent here is
22. See Carole Zucker, “An Interview with Lindsay Crouse,” Post Script: Essays in Film and the Humanities 12, no. 2 (Winter 1993): 5–28. See also
Foster Hirsch, A Method to Their Madness: The History of the Actors Studio (New Y
ork: Norton, 1984); and Steven Vineberg, Method Actors: Three
Generations of an American Acting Style (New Y
ork: Schirmer, 1991).
prowess and a distinct persona that has evolved from

the early wise-guy days to a more world-weary one. Di-
rectors also take different approaches toward actors.
Robert Altman, for example, who was particularly good
at capturing the mood of an ensemble of actors within
a narrative, encouraged improvisation and the explora-
tion of individual styles. Joel Coen, in contrast, tends to
regard acting as a critical component of the highly styl-
ized mise-en-scène within the often cartoonlike movies
that he creates with his brother, Ethan.
In Altman’s The Player (1992), Tim Robbins plays
Griffin Mill, a Hollywood producer, at once emotively
and satirically. He uses his big, open face and charming
1 manner to draw us into Mill’s professional and exis-
tential crises, then turns edgy enough to distance us as
Mill becomes a murderer and ruthless careerist. In Alt-
man’s Kansas City (1996), Jennifer Jason Leigh delivers
an emotional hurricane of a performance as the cheap,
brassy, tough Blondie O’Hara, a Jean Harlow wannabe.
Her scowl, furrowed brow, rotten teeth under big red
lips, and screeching-cat voice leave no room for the kind
of gently ironic distance that Robbins creates in The
Player.
In the Coens’ The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), however,
2
both Robbins and Leigh tailor their performances to fit
the madcap mood and mannered decor of an Art Deco
Elia Kazan and method acting
screwball comedy. Indeed, part of the movie’s appeal lies
Elia Kazan is notable, among many other things, for directing two
of the iconic method-acting achievements: Marlon Brando as Terry
in watching an ensemble of actors working in this style.
Malloy in On the Waterfront (1954)—here [1] we see Kazan (center ) Channeling Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in Howard
and Brando (right ) on location during the filming—and James Dean [2] Hawks’s His Girl Friday (1940) and Spencer Tracy and
as Cal Trask, a troubled teenager, in East of Eden (1955). Katharine Hepburn in Walter Lang’s Desk Set (1957),
Robbins plays Norville Barnes, a goofy mailroom clerk
who becomes company president, and Leigh plays Amy
Archer, a hard-boiled, wisecracking newspaper reporter.
the ensemble method acting obvious in Elia Kazan’s Robbins and Leigh’s zany comic interaction fits perfectly
movies. in the Coens’ jigsaw puzzle, which lovingly pays tribute
No matter what school or style of acting is involved, it to an era when movie style often transcended substance.
is clear that memorable acting results from hard work, Today, actors struggle to get parts and to create
skill, imagination, and discipline. convincing performances, and, like their earlier coun-
terparts, they seldom have the chance to prove them-
selves across a range of roles. Once typecast—chosen
Screen Acting Today for particular kinds of roles because of their looks or
From the earliest years, the development of movie acting “type” rather than for their acting talent or experience—
has relied on synthesizing various approaches, including they continue to be awarded such parts as long they
those already discussed. Contemporary actors employ a bring in good box-office receipts. No star system exists
range of physically or psychologically based approaches. to sustain careers and images, but now, as in earlier pe-
Some action stars, like Vin Diesel, rely primarily on phys- riods of movie history, some individuals use films to pro-
ical effect; others, like Bruce Willis, rely both on physical mote themselves. Think of the music stars, sports stars,
Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Oscar Isaac, to

name a few—have, after two or three successful films,
become stars quickly. The greater their drawing power
at the box office, the greater the urgency to promote
them to top rank and cast them in more films. As inde-
pendent agents, however, they can contract for one film
at a time and thus hold out for good roles rather than
having to make a specific number of films for a given
studio. In addition, these newcomers can negotiate a
new salary for each film, and they routinely make more
Contemporary star power
money from a single picture than some of the greatest
Unlike some actors who become movie stars almost overnight,
Robert Downey Jr. began appearing in avant-garde movies directed
stars of classical Hollywood made in their entire careers.
by his father at the age of five. Working in the independent era, he Furthermore, they usually work under their own names.
was able to choose a range of roles that revealed his extraordinary But because they maintain their status by audience reac
talent. Downey’s breakthrough as a major performer came with tion and not a studio’s publicity office, such actors often
Richard Attenborough’s Chaplin (1992), for which he received an face highly unpredictable futures.
Oscar nomination as Best Actor. He continued to demonstrate his
Let’s look more closely at the careers and earnings of
remarkable versatility in serious roles in Robert Altman’s Short Cuts
(1993), Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers (1994), Richard Loncraine’s
two of the most important and popular movie stars in
Richard III (1995), and Michael Hoffman’s Restoration (1995). Be- history: Bette Davis, who was at the top during the stu-
tween 1996 and 2001, his acting career faltered because of his drug dio era, and Nicole Kidman, who is at the top today. Al-
abuse. Except for his role in Curtis Hanson’s Wonder Boys (2000), though they are both well regarded for their professional
he was cast in relatively unimportant projects. He returned to seri- approach to performances in a range of film genres—
ous roles, deserving serious attention, in such movies as George
melodrama, comedy, historical and period films, and ro-
Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) and David Fincher’s
Zodiac (2007). These days, virtually all of his screen time is devoted
mantic dramas—their careers exhibit significant differ-
to lead roles in two successful, ongoing franchises: Tony Stark in ences that result from the different production systems
Marvel’s Iron Man and Avengers movies, and Sherlock Holmes in in which each star worked (see Chapter 11).
the film series of that name. In this image, we see Downey as the Bette Davis (1908–1989), who began her movie career
brilliant, arrogant, and intense Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. on Broadway, went to Hollywood at the age of twenty-
two. Over a career that spanned fifty-two years, she
appeared in eighty-nine movies, fifty-nine of them un
or other celebrities who sometimes appear in a movie or der contract to Warner Bros. Her breakthrough role was
two but leave no mark on the history of film acting. in John Cromwell’s Of Human Bondage (1934); she won
The transition from studio production to indepen- her first Oscar as Best Actress in 1936 and again in 1939,
dent production has markedly affected the livelihood when she reached the peak of her career in William
of actors and the art of acting. The shape of the average Wyler’s Jezebel (1938). She sued Warner Bros. in an
career has fundamentally changed. Fewer major movies attempt to get better roles in better pictures (she was
appear each year, so actors supplement film work with forced, by contract, to make a lot of mediocre films) but
appearances on television shows, in advertisements, and lost her case. (In essence, Davis had to fight for what ac-
in theater. (Salaries and contractual benefits, such as re- tors of Kidman’s generation take for granted: the right
sidual payments for television reruns, provide excellent to pick the roles they want to play.) However, Davis did
financial security.) Moreover, actors are finding fewer get better roles (and unwisely rejected some juicy ones,
quality roles because today’s average movies are com- including Mildred Pierce [1945] and The African Queen
edies that target the under-thirty audience (and such [1951]). She was so well paid in the 1940s that she was
comedies rely on physical and often scatological humor known around Hollywood as the fourth Warner brother.
rather than verbal wit). The years between 1939 and 1945 were marked by ma-
Some extremely versatile actors—Jennifer Lawrence, jor successes—Edmund Goulding’s Dark Victory (1939),
Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Curtiz’s The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
1 2
Stardom: then and now

Bette Davis, an actress who became a legend for playing strong-willed and often neurotic female characters, was in top form as Leslie Cros-
bie in The Letter (1940). In the movie’s electric opening scene, she pumps five bullets into her lover [1], then pleads self-defense in court.
Nicole Kidman, like Davis, is famous for her professionalism and versatility. Unlike Davis, however, she has almost totally controlled her
career. Thus she has been far more adventurous in the roles she chooses to play, and the result is a filmography of considerable depth and
range. She is well known for her willingness to take risks in highly individual movies, such as Birth (2003; director Jonathan Glazer), in which
she plays a woman who becomes convinced that her husband has been reborn as a young boy, and the Civil War drama The Beguiled (2017;
director Sophia Coppola), in which she plays the emotionally mysterious headmistress of an isolated girls school [2] who takes in, nurses, and
eventually poisons a wounded Union soldier.
(1939), William Wyler’s The Letter (1940) and The Little worked with a variety of directors, including Gus Van
Foxes (1941), Irving Rapper’s Now, Voyager (1942) and Sant, Jane Campion, Stanley Kubrick, Baz Luhrmann,
The Corn Is Green (1945)—but by 1950, her studio career and Yorgos Lanthimos. Where Davis had some say over
was over. As one of the first freelancers in the indepen- her directors (all of whom were studio employees), Kid-
dent system, she revived her career with her greatest man has worked with outsiders, insiders, kings of the
performance in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s All about Eve megaplexes, and avant-garde experimenters. Kidman
(1950). However, she was then forty-one, the “barrier” (b. 1967) began her movie career in Australia at the age
year that usually relegates women actors to character of fifteen and has since made sixty films (as of 2018),
parts. She had her share of them, including Robert Al- all independently produced. Her breakthrough movie
drich’s What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). Her was Tony Scott’s Days of Thunder (1990), after which
career went downhill, although there were still a few her career took off in such films as Gus Van Sant’s To
good movies and loyal fans; her penultimate role was a Die For and Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever (1995),
moving performance in Lindsay Anderson’s The Whales Jane Campion’s The Portrait of a Lady (1996), Stan-
of August (1987). A demanding perfectionist to the end, ley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Baz Luhrmann’s
she walked off the set of her final film just before she Moulin Rouge! (2001), and Stephen Daldry’s The Hours
died. Bette Davis, a name synonymous with Hollywood (2002), for which she won the Oscar for Best Actress
stardom, ranked second (after Katharine Hepburn) on for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf. Another turning
the American Film Institute’s poll of the greatest female point came in 2003, when she made three different
actors. movies with three very different directors: Lars von
Bette Davis is an icon of movies past, and Nicole Kid- Trier’s Dogville, Robert Benton’s The Human Stain, and
man is a screen legend for today. Unconstrained by a Anthony Minghella’s Cold Mountain. Kidman is will-
studio contract, she is free to choose her roles. She has ing to tackle serious melodrama (Sydney Pollack’s The
Interpreter, 2005), light comedy (Nora Ephron’s Be- the popularity polls, the Harris Poll, conducted by a lead
witched, 2005), edgy, experimental concepts (Steven ing market-research company, is probably as reliable as
Shainberg’s Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, any poll of America’s favorite movie stars. The 2016 Har-
2006), and comic drama (Noah Baumbach’s Margot at ris Poll results are as follows:
the Wedding, 2007) as well as a serious domestic drama
(Rabbit Hole, 2007; director John Cameron Mitchell), a 1. Tom Hanks
psychological thriller (The Beguiled, 2017; director So-
2. Johnny Depp
phia Coppola), and a romantic biopic (Grace of Monaco,
2014; director Olivier Dahan). When Bette Davis turned 3. Denzel Washington
forty-one, her career (despite her success that year with 4. John Wayne
All about Eve) began its downward spiral. Ironically, Kid- 5. Harrison Ford
man, now fifty-one, remains at the peak of her career
6. Sandra Bullock
and continues to get roles worthy of her experience
and talent. 7. Jennifer Lawrence
Let’s consider their earning power. In her career, we 8. Clint Eastwood
estimate that Bette Davis earned around $6 million,
9. Brad Pitt
which in today’s money is about $10 million.23 Until
1949, her salary was set by contract; her highest studio 10. Julia Roberts
earnings were $208,000 for the years 1941–43. Her high-
est poststudio earnings came with her last movie, for Looking over this list, two questions are immediately
which she was paid $250,000. Kidman made $100,000 obvious. First, if women constitute the bulk of the movie
on her first movie and today receives up to $17 million audience, why is this list dominated by men? And how
per picture. During the first 25 years of her ongoing did John Wayne make the list at all, much less at num-
movie career, Kidman has earned $230 million. That’s ber 4? He died in 1979!
twenty-three times what Davis earned over an entire Indeed, John Wayne has been on Harris’s top-ten
52-year career! Davis worked under a Warner Bros. con- list every year since he died. An actor of many parts, he
tract, and the studio kept the lion’s share of profits from is as durable a Hollywood legend as has ever existed.
her films. Kidman is free to negotiate the terms of her Wayne is a far better actor than many people give him
salary and her share of the profits for her movies, terms credit for. He was indelibly linked to the Western and, in
that are determined by a far more complicated equation private life, to right-wing politics. On-screen, he repre-
than a studio contract. These estimates do not include sented a kind of American male virtue that many people
fees for television acting, advertising work, DVD sales, admire. Wayne is an acting icon who has a solid place in
and so on. Stars of Davis’s era made far less money from American cultural ideology. The people who were polled
advertisements than, say, Kidman, who is the face in here neglected to vote for many fine and popular actors,
Chanel’s print and television campaigns, for which she but the results represent the unpredictability of Holly-
earns millions each year. The most revealing indicator wood fame. When an actor who made his last movie—
separating the “old” from the “new” Hollywood, as far Don Siegel’s excellent The Shootist—in 1976 gets fourth
as actors are concerned, is clearly the freedom to choose place today, that’s stardom!
roles and negotiate earnings. In another poll, the Vulture entertainment blog re-
Earnings are influenced by an actor’s popularity with leased its 2015 ranking of “the most valuable” stars, those
audiences. There are two basic ways of measuring this pop most likely to positively affect a movie’s gross. Here are
ularity: box-office receipts and popularity polls. Among the top ten stars on its 2015 list:
23. The figures cited here are based, in part, on information provided by newspaper and magazine articles and by the online database pro.imdb.com
and do not include fees for television acting, advertising work, DVD sales, and so forth.
An icon of the new Hollywood

2
Working wholly within today’s independent system of movie pro-
duction, an actor like Jeff Bridges does not have the security of a
A durable Hollywood legend studio contract or the opportunity of developing and perpetuating a
In a career spanning 46 years and 180 movies, John Wayne starred legendary character, such as John Wayne did. Nonetheless, Bridges
in war movies, romantic comedies, and historical epics, but he has earned universal respect as one of Hollywood’s most talented
is best known for his roles as the hero in great Westerns, partic- and resilient actors. His characters have become legendary: Ernie in
ularly those directed by John Ford and Howard Hawks. His first John Huston’s Fat City (1972), Nick Kegan in William Richert’s Win-
starring role, at age twenty-three, was as a winsome young scout ter Kills (1979), Starman/Scott Hayden in John Carpenter’s Starman
in Raoul Walsh’s The Big Trail (1930) [1], a spectacular epic of a (1984) [1], Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski in Joel Coen’s The Big Leb-
wagon train going west. Wayne’s last film, at sixty-seven, was owski (1998), and Marcus Hamilton in David Mackenzie’s Hell or High
Don Siegel’s The Shootist (1976). In it he plays an aging gunslinger Water (2016). In Joel and Ethan Coen’s True Grit (2010) [2], he played
(“shootist”), dying of cancer, out to settle some old scores [2]. a character first developed by John Wayne in the 1969 film of the
Wayne himself died of cancer three years after completing the film. same name. To date, Bridges has made seventy-three films, earned
six Oscar nominations (three for best supporting actor and three for
best actor), and won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as Bad Blake
1. Jennifer Lawrence in Scott Cooper’s Crazy Heart (2009).
2. Robert Downey Jr.
3. Leonardo DiCaprio
4. Bradley Cooper An interesting list, to be sure, and you’ll find these names
on other lists, if not in the same order. You’ll notice that
5. Dwayne Johnson
many of the most popular stars, including the three
6. Tom Cruise oldest (Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, and Denzel Wash-
7. Hugh Jackman ington) are not necessarily the most bankable. In fact,
only two of the actors that people seem to like the best
8. Sandra Bullock
are also considered among Hollywood’s most bankable
9. Channing Tatum stars, and they’re both women: Jennifer Lawrence and
10. Scarlett Johansson Sandra Bullock.
Technology and Acting although digital technology is now dominating all as-
pects of filmmaking, we don’t have to worry about it re-
As discussed in Chapter 6, “Cinematography,” for ev- placing actors entirely. But digital animation technology
ery advance in the world of special effects, the narrative has advanced to the point that real actors, supplemented
and the acting that propels it lose some of their impor- by motion capture and CGI, can create compelling ani-
tance. Movies such as Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space mated characters capable of convincingly interacting with
Odyssey (1968) and Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra– live-action performers. The actor Andy Serkis describes
Terrestrial (1982) made us familiar, even comfortable, the digital effects used to animate his motion-capture
with nonhuman creatures that had human voices and performances as “digital makeup.” His performance as
characteristics; John Lasseter, Ash Brannon, and Lee Gollum in The Lord of the Rings films The Two Towers
Unkrich’s Toy Story 2 (1999), with its shiny, computer- and The Return of the King (2002 and 2003; director
generated graphics, took this process another step Peter Jackson) ushered in a new era of digitally enhanced
forward. performance that continues to evolve, largely thanks to
Although digital technology is now affecting all as- Serkis’s continuing contributions to the craft in roles such
pects of filmmaking, we don’t have to worry about it as the chimpanzee protagonist Caesar in the Planet of the
replacing actors entirely. Audiences say they choose Apes reboot series and Snoke, the evil Supreme Leader
movies that include their favorite actors. But alongside of the First Order in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017; di-
real actors, computer-generated imagery (CGI) can cre- rector Rian Johnson).
ate convincing characters such as the avatars digitally Let’s also note the distinction between whole charac-
created to interact with the Na’vi, the blue-skinned hu- ters created entirely by digital technology and real actors
manoids in James Cameron’s Avatar (2009) and its se- transformed by digital makeup (see “Costume, Makeup,
quels. Its mix of real and computer-generated actors did and Hairstyle” in Chapter 5). Director David Fincher
not stop Avatar from becoming the highest-grossing used both procedures when faced with the challenge of
movie of all time. Human viewers respond to humanity casting actors to play the real-life, identical Winkelvoss
on-screen; audience polls confirm that many viewers twins in The Social Network (2010). Since Aaron Sor-
choose movies to see their favorite actors perform. So, kin’s screenplay is a fictional account of a true incident,
Movie technology produces identical twins

It’s not a tabloid headline but a fact. With the help of an ingenious use of technology, two different actors appear on-screen as identical
twins in The Social Network.
Casting Actors 257
it would have been acceptable to alter the story and cast particular role. That choice could be solely based on
actors as fraternal rather than identical twins. Instead, the actor’s looks, screen presence, or overall charisma.
Fincher cast Armie Hammer and Josh Pence, respec- Actors were under contract (typically required to appear
tively, in the roles of the identical Winklevoss twins, in seven films over 5 years), and studio heads, mindful
Cameron and Tyler. Throughout their scenes, Hammer of this, often based casting decisions on availability
acted alongside Pence, and through the postproduction rather than suitability for the role. The “bad” movies of
use of motion-capture technology and digital grafting of those years are full of such mechanical casting decisions.
Hammer’s face onto Pence’s, they appear on the screen Studios also announced the availability of a role with
as identical twins, as you can see in the image on the an “open call” that could produce crowds of applicants,
previous page ( left to right : Hammer as Cameron, Pence many of whom were dismissed after cursory consider-
as Tyler). Using two different actors in these roles allows ation. Between 1930 and 1950, hundreds of movies were
the actors to develop characters with different personal- produced each year, so thousands of would-be actors
ities; using digital grafting ensures the facial similarity were living in Hollywood, hoping for the big break that
necessary for depicting identical twins. While the result would make them a movie star. Unknown actors were
is totally convincing in this specific situation, there aren’t often given screen tests (filmed auditions) to see how
many movies about identical twins. they looked under studio lighting and how they sounded
Computer-generated characters might have the same in recordings. Predatory and unscrupulous studio heads,
fate as some of the other innovations that Hollywood producers, and directors also used the “casting couch”
has periodically employed to keep the world on edge, to determine which actors (both male and female) were
such as the short-lived Sensurround, which relied on a willing to trade sex for work.
sound track to trigger waves of high-decibel sound in the Today, casting has moved into the front office and be-
movie theater that made viewers feel “tremors” during come more professional. Independent casting directors
Mark Robson’s Earthquake (1974); or the even shorter- (CDs) work under contract to independent producers
lived Odorama process, involving scratch-and-sniff cards, or directors on a film-by-film basis. For example, Juliet
for John Waters’s Polyester (1981). Indeed, the use of com- Taylor, who has worked with a long list of major direc-
puter technology to replace actors is one side effect of tors, has cast more than thirty of Woody Allen’s films.
our current fascination with virtual reality. Although the The CD typically scouts talent wherever actors are work-
evolving film technology may enable filmmakers to re- ing, whether it’s movies, theater, or commercials, and
alize their most fantastic visions, we should remember, maintains regular contact with a variety of actors. Cast-
as film theorist André Bazin has so persuasively argued, ing directors are represented by their own professional
that such developments may extend and enrich the illu- association, the Casting Society of America (CSA), and
sions that the movies create at the expense of the film will soon be eligible for Oscar nominations and awards.
artists themselves, including directors, designers, cine- Actors learn about casting through direct contact by
matographers, editors, and actors.24 CDs, producers, directors, or screenwriters, as well as
through online audition listings posted by casting ser-
vices and industry publications such as Backstage. After
Casting Actors initial interviews, they may be asked to read for parts,
either alone or with other actors, or to take screen tests.
Casting is the process of choosing and hiring actors for If they are chosen for the part, negotiations in most cases
both leading and supporting roles. In the studio system are handled by their agents. But if they belong to one of
of Hollywood’s golden years, casting was done in several the actors’ unions—the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) or
ways, but the overall process was supervised by a central the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
casting office. Often a director, producer, writer, or stu- (AFTRA)—the conditions of their participation are gov-
dio head already had his or her own idea of an actor for a erned by union contract.
24. André Bazin, “The Myth of Total Cinema,” in What Is Cinema? trans. Hugh Gray, 2 vols. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967–71), I,
pp. 17–22.
Factors Involved in Casting has been made, the CD must handle the deals that deter-
mine the terms of the contract. The role and the actor’s
Although casting takes many factors into account, in suitability are generally the determining factors in cast-
theory the most important is how the prospective ac- ing choices, although other considerations, such as cost
tors’ strengths and weaknesses relate to the roles they and marketability, also influence many decisions. Hap-
are being considered for. In reality, casting—like every pily, Hollywood has continued to shed casting practices
other aspect of movie production—depends heavily on that contradicted social reality. These days, most roles
the movie’s budget and expected revenues. An actor’s are filled by actors who correspond with the race or eth-
popularity in one film often leads to casting in other nicity of a character as written. Increasingly, filmmakers
films. As we’ve seen, the polls that rate actors are based are casting ethnic minority actors in roles for which no
on very different criteria. Still, the key factor in casting specific race or ethnicity is specified or required, a prac-
is who brings in the most money, which after all other tice labeled “color-blind” or “nontraditional” casting. As
considerations is what the movie business is all about. a result, contemporary audiences have been exposed to
Just as Hollywood traditionally has repeatedly made an expanding number of brilliant performances deliv-
movies in popular genres (such as action films or roman- ered by African American, Native American, Latino, and
tic comedies), so too has the industry repeatedly cast the Asian actors.
same popular actors in order to sell tickets. A director
may think that Denzel Washington is the right person
for the lead in her new film, but if the producer does not Aspects of Performance
have the $20 million that Washington currently makes
per film, some further thinking is needed. Yet valuable Types of Roles
actors like Washington frequently have waived all or Actors may play major roles, minor roles, character
part of their salaries because they believe in a particu- roles, cameo roles, and walk-ons. In addition, roles may
lar film project. In such cases, an actor might agree to be written specifically for bit players, extras, stunt-
accept a percentage of the profits should the movie be persons, and even animal performers. Actors who play
successful. Other general factors considered in casting
include an actor’s reputation and popularity; prior ex-
perience on the screen or stage; chemistry with other
actors, particularly if ensemble acting scenes are part
of the script; results of a screen test or reading, often re-
quired for newcomers or those about whom the director
and others are uncertain; and, equally important, the
actor’s reputation for professionalism, reliability, ability
to withstand the physical challenges of filming certain
productions, and personal behavior on the set.
A good CD must have a strong artistic sense of which
actors are right for the roles in question, a comprehen-
sive knowledge of all the acting talent available at a par-
ticular time for a particular movie, a memory capable of
remembering an actor’s achievements on-screen, and
the ability to avoid playing favorites and keep the pro- Character actors
cess as professional as possible. He or she must be able Although Franklin Pangborn was never a household name, his face
to coordinate a liaison between directors, producers, was instantly recognizable in the more than 200 movies he made
writers, and actors in reaching casting decisions while over a career that spanned four decades. With his intimidating voice
and fastidious manners, he was best known for playing suspicious
working with everyone from nervous newcomers to the
hotel clerks, imperious department-store floorwalkers, and sour-
egomaniacs among acting royalty. Although the CD can puss restaurant managers. Here he’s the threatening bank examiner
make or break an actor’s career, the final decision rests J. Pinkerton Snoopington in the W. C. Fields classic The Bank Dick
with the director and/or producer. Once that decision (1940; director Edward F. Cline).
major roles (also called main, featured, or leading roles)

become principal agents in helping to move the plot for-
ward. Whether stars or newcomers, they appear in many
scenes and ordinarily, but not always, receive screen
credit above the title.
In the Hollywood studio system, major roles were
traditionally played by stars such as John Wayne, whose
studios counted on them to draw audiences regardless
of the parts they played. Their steadfastness was often
more important than their versatility as actors, although
Wayne surprises us more often than we may admit. One
strength of the studio system was its grooming of pro-
fessionals in all its creative departments, including ac-
tors who ranged from leads such as Henry Fonda and
Katharine Hepburn to character actors such as Andy The importance of minor roles
In John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon (1941), Humphrey Bogart
Devine and Thelma Ritter. Ritter is unforgettable as the
stars as the hard-boiled private eye Sam Spade. Gladys George has
wisecracking commentator on Jeff’s (James Stewart)
a small part as Iva Archer, Spade’s former lover and the widow of
actions in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954) and his business partner, Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan). In this scene,
Devine is best remembered as the Ringo Kid’s (John George delivers a strongly emotional performance, against which
Wayne) loyal friend in John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939). Bogart displays a relative lack of feeling that fills us in on relations
Indeed, one of the joys of looking at movies from this between the characters. Stars’ performances often depend on the
solid and even exceptional work of their fellow actors. The unusually
period comes from those character actors whose faces,
fine supporting cast in this movie includes Hollywood greats Mary
if not names, we always recognize.
Astor, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet, who received an Oscar
Stars may be so valuable to productions that they nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
have stand-ins, actors who look reasonably like them
in height, weight, coloring, and so on and who substitute
for them during the tedious process of preparing setups
or taking light readings. Because actors in major roles are small but significant roles often taken by famous ac-
are ordinarily not hired for their physical or athletic tors, as in Robert Altman’s Hollywood satire The Player
prowess, stuntpersons double for them in scenes re- (1992), which features appearances by sixty-five well-
quiring special skills or involving hazardous actions, known actors and personalities. Walk-ons are even
such as crashing cars, jumping from high places, swim- smaller roles, reserved for highly recognizable actors or
ming, and riding (or falling off ) horses. Through special personalities. As a favor to his friend Orson Welles, with
effects, however, filmmakers may now augment actors’ whom he’d worked several times before, Joseph Cotten
physical exertions so that they appear to do their own played such a role in Welles’s Touch of Evil (1958), where
stunts. In effect, the computer becomes the stunt dou- he had a few words of dialogue and literally walked on
ble. Nonetheless, ten stunt boxers were cast for Clint and off the set.
Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby (2004), indicating, at Animal actors, too, play major, minor, cameo, and
least, that some activities cannot be faked on the screen, walk-on roles. For many years, Hollywood made pictures
particularly activities that could damage an actor’s looks built on the appeal of such animals as the dogs Lassie,
or cause other serious injuries. Rin Tin Tin, Asta, and Benji; the cat Rhubarb; the para-
Actors who play minor roles (or supporting roles) keets Bill and Coo; the chimp Cheeta; the mule Francis;
rank second in the hierarchy. They also help move the the lion Elsa; the dolphin Flipper; and the killer whale
plot forward (and thus may be as important as actors in Willy. Most of these animals were specially trained to
major roles), but they generally do not appear in as many work in front of the camera, and many were sufficiently
scenes as the featured players. Bit players hold small valuable that they, like other stars, had stand-ins for
speaking parts, and extras usually appear in nonspeak- setups and stunt doubles for hazardous work. Working
ing or crowd roles and receive no screen credit. Cameos with animal performers often proves more complicated
than working with human actors. For example, six Jack characters, get inside themselves, or do further research.
Russell terriers, including three puppies, played the title Bette Davis, whose roles were often assigned to her by
character in Jay Russell’s My Dog Skip (2000), a tribute studios, said, “It depends entirely on what the assign-
to that indomitable breed. ment happens to be. . . . [But] I have never played a part
which I did not feel was a person very different from
myself.”26 Jack Lemmon, a method actor who generally
Preparing for Roles chose his own roles, explained, “It’s like laying bricks.
In creating characters, screen actors begin by synthe- You start at the bottom and work up; actually I guess you
sizing basic sources, including the script, their own ex- start in the middle and work to the outside.”27
periences and observations, and the influences of other Building a character “brick by brick” is an approach
actors. They also shape their understanding of a role by also used by Harvey Keitel and John Malkovich, who
working closely with their director. This collaboration might have varied this approach slightly when he played
can be mutually agreeable and highly productive or it himself in Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich (1999).
can involve constant, even tempestuous arguments that Liv Ullmann and Jack Nicholson believe that the actor
may or may not produce what either artist wants. Ide- draws on the subconscious mind. Ullmann says, “Emo-
ally, both director and actor should understand each tionally, I don’t prepare. I think about what I would like
other’s concept of the role and, where differences exist, to show, but I don’t prepare, because I feel that most of
try to agree on an approach that is acceptable to both. the emotions I have to show I know about. By drawing
Director Sidney Lumet, known for his keen understand- on real experience, I can show them.”28 In describing
ing of how actors work, recognizes that acting is a very his work with director Roman Polanski on Chinatown
personal thing. He writes: (1974), Nicholson says that the director “pushes us far-
ther than we are conscious of being able to go; he forces
The talent of acting is one in which the actor’s thoughts
us down into the subconscious—in order to see if there’s
and feelings are instantly communicated to the au
something better there.”29 Jodie Foster works from in-
dience. In other words, the “instrument” that the actor
stinct, doing what she feels is right for the character.30
is using is himself. It is his feelings, his physiognomy, his
To create The Tramp, Charlie Chaplin started with the
sexuality, his tears, his laughter, his anger, his romanti-
character’s costume: “I had no idea of the character. But
cism, his tenderness, his viciousness, that are up there
the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the make-up
on the screen for all to see.25
made me feel the person he was.”31 Alec Guinness said
He emphasizes that the difference between the actor that he was never happy with his preparation until he
who merely duplicates a life that he or she has observed knew how the character walked; Laurence Olivier be-
and the actor who creates something unique on the lieved that he would not be any good as a character unless
screen depends on how much the actor is able to reveal he “loved” him;32 and Morgan Freeman says that some of
of himself. his preparation depends on the clothes he is to wear.33
Different roles have different demands, and all actors If you are familiar with Alec Guinness only through
have their own approaches, whether they get inside their his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the first three Star Wars
25. Sidney Lumet, Making Movies (New York: Knopf, 1995), pp. 59–60.
26. Bette Davis, “The Actress Plays Her Part,” in Playing to the Camera: Film Actors Discuss Their Craft, ed. Bert Cardullo, Harry Geduld, Ronald
Gottesman, and Leigh Woods (New Haven, CT: Y
ale University Press, 1998), pp. 177–185, quotation on p. 179.
27. Jack Lemmon, “Conversation with the Actor,” ibid., pp. 267–275, quotation on p. 267.
28. Liv Ullmann, “Conversation with the Actress,” ibid., pp. 157–165, quotation on p. 160.
29. See the entry on Jack Nicholson in Tomlinson, ed., Actors on Acting for the Screen, pp. 404–407, quotation on p. 405.
30. See the entry on Jodie Foster, ibid., pp. 196–197.
31. Charles Chaplin, My Autobiography (New Y
ork: Simon & Schuster, 1964), p. 260.
32. See the entry on Alec Guinness in Tomlinson, ed., Actors on Acting for the Screen, pp. 232–233; and Laurence Olivier, Confessions of an Actor:
An Autobiography (1982; repr., New Y
ork: Penguin, 1984), pp. 136–137.
33. From an interview with James Lipton, James Lipton Takes on Three on Disc 2 of “Special Features” in the widescreen DVD release of Million
Dollar Baby (2004).
films, looking at a range of his movies will provide you

with a master class in the art and craft of acting. A short
list would include Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Our Man in Havana
(1959), Tunes of Glory (1960), Lawrence of Arabia (1962;
perhaps his finest performance), and Hitler: The Last Ten
Days (1973). You might also study his performance as
George Smiley in the TV series Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
and then compare and contrast it with Gary Oldman’s in
the movie version (2011). Guinness never defined acting
per se; he didn’t need to, for his acting says it all.
Olivier, one of the greatest stage and screen actors of
the twentieth century, defined acting in various ways, in-
1 cluding as “convincing lying.”34 Although Olivier stands
out for the extraordinary range of the roles he undertook
on both stage and screen and for his meticulous prepa-
ration in creating them, this remark suggests that he
had little patience with theories of acting. Indeed, when
asked how he created his film performance as the king in
Henry V (1944; directed by Olivier), he replied simply, “I
Actors with many faces

Alec Guinness seems to have no predictable persona, playing char-
acters as diverse as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Adolf Hitler. He is also
famous for playing characters who first appear to be meek and in-
decisive, but surprisingly turn out to have inner strength. As George
Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979) [1], a British master spy
who has all the answers, Guinness is calm and professorial with
horn-rimmed glasses and a scarf to protect against a chill. He fools Laurence Olivier’s Henry V
his smug colleagues into believing he doesn’t have a clue, but in the Laurence Olivier in the first screen adaptation of Henry V (1944);
end, he proves that appearances can indeed be misleading. Gary this very popular film, produced during a troubled time (World
Oldman is another British actor noted for the wide range of different War II), was uniformly praised for the quality of its acting. The many
characters he plays, including assassin Lee Harvey Oswald; Count previous screen adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays had been
Dracula; Ludwig von Beethoven; Harry Potter’s guardian, Sirius Black; mainly faithful records of stage productions, but Olivier’s film, his
Winston Churchill; and George Smiley, in the recent movie version of first as a director, benefited from his understanding of cinema’s po-
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) [2], where he’s as cool and cerebral as tential as a narrative art, his extensive acting experience, his deep
Guinness, but with a characterization all his own. knowledge of Shakespeare’s language, and his sharp instincts about
the national moods in Great Britain and the United States. Henry V
received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, and Olivier received
a nomination for Best Actor as well as an Oscar for his outstanding
achievement as actor, producer, and director in bringing Henry V to
34. Olivier, Confessions of an Actor, p. 20. the screen.
transform it into what we hope or want to see: sadness,

courage, inspiration, whatever we choose. Mamoulian’s
influence can be seen in The Man from London (2007;
codirectors Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky), where the
long final close-up, in high-contrast black-and-white, is
of a grieving widow’s expressionless face. As in the shot
of Garbo, this is a face that says everything and nothing.
It brings the full force of a single shot to make us think
and interpret what we see.
Naturalistic and
How to read a face
In directing The Man from London, Béla Tarr uses many of the film
Nonnaturalistic Styles
noir traits: black-and-white imagery, slow-motion cinematography, We have all seen at least one movie in which a character,
long takes, and haunting close-ups. This image marks the film’s end- perhaps a whole cast of characters, is like no one we have
ing, where Tarr holds the expression of Mrs. Brown (Ági Szirtes)—a ever met or ever could meet. Either because the world
woman who just learned of her husband’s murder—for a mes-
they inhabit functions according to rules that don’t apply
merizing length of time. What is she feeling? Despair, grief, disbe-
lief are all possibilities. But her face holds many secrets, and we
in our world or because their behaviors are extreme, such
bring our own experiences watching the entire film to bear on our characters aren’t realistic in any colloquial sense of the
interpretations. word. But if the actors perform skillfully, we are likely to
accept the characters as believable within the context of
don’t know—I’m England, that’s all.”35 Olivier had made the story.
this film to bolster British morale during the last days of Actors who strive for appropriate, expressive, coher-
World War II, and thus he wanted Henry V to embody ent, and unified characterizations can render their per-
traditional British values. formances naturalistically as well as nonnaturalistically.
The great silent-era director F. W. Murnau empha- Screen acting appears naturalistic when actors re-create
sized intellect and counseled actors to restrain their recognizable or plausible human behavior for the cam-
feelings, to think rather than act. He believed actors to be era. The actors not only look like the characters should
capable of conveying the intensity of their thoughts so (in their costume, makeup, and hairstyle) but also think,
that audiences would understand. Director Rouben Ma- speak, and move the way people would offscreen. By
moulian gave Greta Garbo much the same advice when contrast, nonnaturalistic performances seem excessive,
she played the leading role in his Queen Christina (1933). exaggerated, even overacted; they may employ strange or
The film ends with the powerful and passionate Swedish outlandish costumes, makeup, or hairstyles; they might
queen sailing to Spain with the body of her lover, a Span- aim for effects beyond the normal range of human ex-
ish nobleman killed in a duel. In preparing for the final perience; and they often intend to distance or estrange
close-up, in which the queen stares out to sea, Garbo audiences from characters. Frequently, they are found
asked Mamoulian, “What should I be thinking of? What in horror, fantasy, and action films.
should I be doing?” His reply: “Have you heard of tabula What Konstantin Stanislavsky was to naturalistic act-
rasa? I want your face to be a blank sheet of paper. I want ing, German playwright Bertolt Brecht was to nonnatu-
the writing to be done by every member of the audience. ralistic performance. Brecht allied his theatrical ideas
I’d like it if you could avoid even blinking your eyes, so with Marxist political principles to create a nonnatu-
that you’re nothing but a beautiful mask.”36 Is she re- ralistic theater. Whereas Stanislavsky strove for real-
membering the past? Imagining the future? With the ism, Brecht believed that audience members should not
camera serving as an apparently neutral mediator be- think they’re watching something actually happening
tween actress and audience, Garbo’s blank face asks us to before them. Instead, he wanted every aspect of a the-
35. Laurence Olivier, qtd. in Donald Spoto, Laurence Olivier: A Biography (New Y
ork: HarperCollins, 1992), pp. 111–112.
36. Rouben Mamoulian, qtd. in Tom Milne, Rouben Mamoulian (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1969), p. 74.
atrical production to limit the audience’s identification

with characters and events, thereby creating a psycho-
logical distance (called the alienation effect or dis-
tancing effect) between them and the stage. The intent
of this approach is to remind the audience of the artifi-
ciality of the theatrical performance.
Overall, this theory has had little influence on main-
stream filmmaking. After all, unlike theater, cinema can
change—as often as it wants—the relationship between
spectators and the screen, alternately alienating them
from or plunging them into the action. However, we do 1
see this approach when actors step out of character, face
the camera, and directly address the audience (a ma-
neuver, more common in theater than cinema, known
as breaking the fourth wall—the imaginary, invisible wall
that separates the audience from the stage). Although
the distancing effect can destroy a movie if used inap-
propriately, breaking the fourth wall works effectively
when audience members are experiencing things like the
character does and the character has the self-confidence
to exploit that empathy.
In the late 1920s in Berlin, Brecht discovered Peter 2
Lorre, who later became one of the most distinctively
stylized actors on the American screen. They worked
Naturalistic versus nonnaturalistic performances
closely together on several stage productions at the Naturalistic and nonnaturalistic performances sometimes overlap,
same time that Lorre was preparing the lead role of but these categories help us relate actors’ contributions to a film-
Hans Beckert, a child murderer, in Fritz Lang’s M (1931). maker’s overall vision. In Knocked Up (2007), Seth Rogen’s natural-
Lorre’s magnificent performance—particularly in the istic performance as a reformed slacker becomes part of director
Judd Apatow’s clear-eyed depiction of the consequences of unpro-
final scene, which is one of the most emotional in movie
tected sex. Here [1], Rogen tells his pregnant girlfriend, who has
history—reflects the influence of Brecht’s theories and
decided to keep their baby, that he’s ready to do whatever it takes to
directing. Lorre creates a duality—Beckert and the actor support her. He then congratulates himself by saying “awesome” in
detached from the character who comments on his recognition of his newfound maturity. Johnny Depp’s nonnaturalistic
actions—and while it is not pure direct address (he is performance as the title character in Edward Scissorhands (1990) [2]
addressing a “jury” in a kangaroo court), we are abso- enables director Tim Burton to draw us into the exaggerated, down-
right weird world of this story. Burton’s film is about fantasy, the way
lutely riveted by the power and strangeness of Lorre’s
things might be in that world. Rogen’s and Depp’s performances
conception of the role.
differ widely, but they suit their respective movies. Imagine how out
Tom Edison (Paul Bettany) frequently addresses his of place either character would be in the other’s world!
idealistic views directly to the viewer in Lars von Trier’s
Dogville (2003), which in overall style owes much to
Bertolt Brecht’s influence. In Max Ophüls’s Lola Montès Chantal Akerman, Eric Rohmer, Ingmar Bergman, and
(1955), the Circus Master (Peter Ustinov) addresses the Michael Haneke, among others.
circus audience, of which, we understand, we are mem- In Buddy Giovinazzo’s No Way Home (1996), Tim
bers. For comic effect, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) breaks Roth gives a naturalistic performance as Joey, a slow
the fourth wall in Tim Miller’s 2016 film of the same but principled young man who is just out of prison. He
name. Various characters speak directly to the viewer in has taken the rap for an assault he did not commit and
Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989). There is a much returns to Staten Island to find that the people who
more solid tradition of direct address in the European framed him and circumstances in the community are
theatrical cinema of such directors as Jean-Luc Godard, just as rotten as they were when he left. Determined not
to associate with his low-life brother and former friends collaboration between actors and directors in creating
or return to a life of crime, he boards a bus and heads stories, characters, and dialogue, which may then be
for undiscovered country. In Boaz Yakin’s Fresh (1994), incorporated into scripts. According to film scholar Vir-
Sean Nelson naturalistically plays the title character— ginia Wright Wexman, what improvisers
a young, black Brooklynite working as a courier for a
seem to be striving for is the sense of discovery that
dope dealer between going to school and looking out for
comes from the unexpected and unpredictable in hu-
his older sister. In Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands
man behavior. If we think of art as a means of giving
(1990), Johnny Depp gives a nonnaturalistic perfor
form to life, improvisation can be looked at as one way
mance as the title character, a kind of Frankenstein’s
of adding to our sense of the liveliness of art, a means of
monster—scary, but benevolent—created by a mad in
avoiding the sterility that results from rote recitations of
ventor who died before his work was finished. Edward
abstract conventional forms.37
lives in a deteriorating Gothic castle on a mountaintop
that overlooks a nightmarishly pastel suburb, to which For years, improvisation has played a major part in
he eventually moves. The decor and costumes identify actors’ training. But it was anathema in the studio sys-
him immediately as a metaphor for the ultimate out- tem, where practically everything was preprogrammed,
sider. But the challenge to Depp as an actor is not only and it remains comparatively rare in narrative movie-
to acknowledge just how different he appears to others making. Actors commonly confer with directors about
(“hands,” scars, makeup, hairstyle), which he does in a altering or omitting written lines, but this form of im-
very self-conscious and often comic manner (e.g., using provisation is so limited in scope that we can better un-
his hands to shred cabbage for cole slaw). He also has to derstand it as the sort of fertile suggestion making that
humanize this character so that he can be accepted as a is intrinsic to collaboration. Although certain directors
member of the community. encourage actors not only to discover the characters
within themselves but also to imagine what those char-
acters might say (and how they might act) in any given
Improvisational Acting situation, James Naremore, an authority on film acting,
Improvisation can mean extemporizing—delivering explains that even great actors, when they improvise,
lines based only loosely on the written script or without “tend to lapse into monologue, playing from relatively
the preparation that comes with studying a script before static, frontal positions with a second actor nearby who
rehearsing it. It can also mean playing through a mo- nods or makes short interjections.”38
ment, making up lines to keep scenes going when actors Among the director-actor collaborations that have
forget their written lines, stumble on lines, or have some made improvisation work effectively are Bernardo Ber-
other mishap. Of these two senses, the former is most tolucci and Marlon Brando (Last Tango in Paris, 1972);
important in movie acting, particularly in the poststudio Robert Altman and a large company of actors (Nashville,
world; the latter is an example of professional grace un- 1975; Short Cuts, 1993; Gosford Park, 2001); Mike Leigh
der pressure. and various actors (Another Year, 2010); and John Cas-
Improvisation can be seen as an extension of Stan- savetes and Gena Rowlands (Faces, 1968; A Woman un-
islavsky’s emphasis that the actor striving for a natu- der the Influence, 1974; Gloria, 1980).
ralistic performance should avoid any mannerisms that The Cassavetes-Rowlands collaboration is partic-
call attention to technique. Occupying a place some- ularly important and impressive, not only for what it
where between his call for actors to bring their own ex accomplished but also for the respect it received as an
periences to roles and Brecht’s call for actors to distance experimental approach within the largely conventional
themselves from roles, improvisation often involves film industry. “John’s theory,” Rowlands explains,
37. Virginia Wright Wexman, “The Rhetoric of Cinematic Improvisation,” Cinema Journal 20, no. 1 (Fall 1980): 29. See also Maurice Yacowar, “An Aes-
thetic Defense of the Star System in Films,” Quarterly Review of Film Studies 4, no. 1 (Winter 1979): 48–50.
38. James Naremore, Acting in the Cinema (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988), p. 45.
originally silent “You talkin’ to me?” scene in Taxi Driver

(1976).
Unless directors and actors have talked publicly about
their work, we seldom know when and to what extent
improvisation has been used in a film. Because we know
that Cassavetes prepared his actors with precise scripts
that they refined with extensive improvisational exer-
cises, by studying the original script we can prepare to
look for the improvisation, to judge its usefulness, and to
determine whether improvised performances seem con-
vincing or, ironically, less convincing than scripted ones.
Directors and Actors

Improvisation
Directors and actors have collaborated closely since the
“You talkin’ to me? . . . You talkin’ to me?” Screenwriter Paul
Schrader wrote no dialogue for the scene in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi
days when D. W. Griffith established the art of screen
Driver (1976) in which Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) rehearses his acting with Lillian Gish. Inevitably, such relationships
dreams of vigilantism before a mirror. Before filming, De Niro im- depend on the individuals: what each brings to his or her
provised the lines that now accompany this well-known moment in work, what each can do alone, and what each needs from
film history, a disturbing, darkly comic portrait of an unhinged mind a collaborator. Such different approaches taken by dif-
talking to itself.
ferent directors in working with actors are as necessary,
common, and useful as the different approaches taken
by different actors as they prepare for roles.
is that if there’s something wrong, it’s wrong in the writ- Some veterans of the studio system, such as Wil-
ing. If you take actors who can act in other things and liam Wyler and George Cukor, are known as “actors’
they get to a scene they’ve honestly tried to do, and if directors,” meaning that the directors inspire such con-
they still can’t get it, then there’s something wrong with fidence they can actively shape actors’ performances. Al
the writing. Then you stop, you improvise, you talk about though Wyler may have enjoyed the trust of Bette Davis,
it. Then he’ll go and rewrite it—it’s not just straight im- Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Barbra Streisand, and other
provisation. I’m asked a lot about this, and it’s true, when notable actors, the atmosphere on the set was consider-
I look at the films and I see that they look improvised in a ably tenser when Laurence Olivier arrived in Hollywood
lot of different places where I know they weren’t.39 for his first screen role, as Heathcliff in Wyler’s Wuther-
ing Heights (1939). Olivier had already earned a consid-
Improvised acting requires directors to play even erable reputation on the London stage and was frankly
more active roles than if they were working with pre- contemptuous of screen acting, which he thought seri-
pared scripts, because they must elicit actors’ ideas for ous actors did only for the money. Wyler, on the other
characters and dialogue as well as orchestrate those con- hand, was one of Hollywood’s great stylists, a perfection-
tributions within overall cinematic visions. Ultimately, ist who drove actors crazy with his keen sense of acting
directors help form all contributions, including those of and love of multiple takes. Everyone on the set perceived
actors. Nearly all directors who employ improvisation the tension between them. Wyler encouraged Olivier to
have the actors work it out in rehearsal and then lock it be patient in responding to the challenges involved in
down for filming, perhaps radically changing their plans acting for the camera, and eventually Olivier overcame
for how such scenes will be shot. This is how, for exam- his attitude of condescension to give one of his greatest
ple, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro worked out the film performances.
39. Gena Rowlands in Tomlinson, ed., Actors on Acting for the Screen, p. 482.
In developing his relationships with actors, director directing Barry Lyndon (1975), a film in which fate drove
John Ford encouraged them to create their characters the plot, Kubrick gave his principal actors, Ryan O’Neal
to serve the narrative. He preferred to work with the same and Marisa Berenson, almost nothing to say and then
actors over and over, and his working method never moved them about his sumptuous mise-en-scène like
changed. John Wayne, who acted in many of Ford’s films pawns on a chessboard. When working with a more open
and has been described as the director’s alter ego, said story, however, he encouraged actors to improvise in re
Ford gave direction “with his entire personality—his fa hearsal or on the set. The results included such memo
cial expressions, bending his eye. He didn’t verbalize. He rable moments as Peter Sellers’s final monologue as
wasn’t articulate, he couldn’t really finish a sentence. . . . Dr. Strangelove (and the film’s last line, “Mein Führer,
He’d give you a clue, just an opening. If you didn’t pro- I can walk!”) and Jack Nicholson’s manic “Heeeere’s
duce what he wanted, he would pick you apart.”40 New- Johnny!” before the climax of The Shining (1980). Mal-
comers faced a challenge in getting it right the first time. colm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Tom
Similarly, Otto Preminger, the director of Laura (1944), Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
was so predictably cruel to his actors that he was known are also said to have worked out their performances in
as Otto the Ogre. improvisations with the director. Perhaps the most ex-
However rigid Ford’s approach may at first seem, we treme example is director Werner Herzog, who, in di-
find it in similarly fruitful collaborations between Rou- recting Heart of Glass (1976), hypnotized the entire cast
ben Mamoulian and Greta Garbo, Josef von Sternberg each day on the set to create what he called “an atmo-
and Marlene Dietrich, John Huston and Humphrey Bo- sphere of hallucination, prophecy, visionary and collec-
gart, William Wyler and Bette Davis, François Truffaut tive madness.”
and Jean-Pierre Léaud, Akira Kurosawa and Toshirô
Mifune, Satyajit Ray and Soumitra Chatterjee, Martin
Scorsese and Robert De Niro, Spike Lee and Denzel
Washington, and Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. These How Filmmaking
directors know what they want, explain it clearly, select Affects Acting
actors with whom they work well, and then collaborate
with them to create movies that are characterized in Actors must understand how a film is made, because
part by the seamless line between directing and acting. every aspect of the filmmaking process can affect perfor-
Alexander Mackendrick, director of the classic Sweet mances and the actors’ contributions to the creation of
Smell of Success (1957), was once asked how to get an meaning. At the same time, audiences should understand
actor to do what he needed him to do. “You don’t,” he what a movie actor goes through to deliver a performance
said. “What you do is try to get him to want what you that, to their eyes, seems effortless and spontaneous.
need” [emphasis added]. Here are some of the challenges an actor faces.
By contrast, the line that can exist between directing With some exceptions, most production budgets and
and acting is evident in the work of director Alfred Hitch- schedules do not have the funds or the time to give movie
cock, who tends to place mise-en-scène above narrative, actors much in the way of rehearsal. Thus actors almost
and both mise-en-scène and narrative above acting. Hitch- always perform a character’s progression entirely out of
cock’s movies were so carefully planned and rehearsed in sequence, and this out-of-continuity shooting can also
advance that actors were expected to follow his direction force those who are being filmed in isolation to perform
closely, so that even those with limited talent (e.g., Tippi their parts as though they were interacting with other
Hedren in The Birds, 1963; and Kim Novak in Vertigo, people. When these shots are edited together, the illusion
1958) gave performances that satisfied the director. of togetherness is there, but the actors must make it con-
On the other hand, Stanley Kubrick, who controlled vincing. Actors must time their movements and precisely
his films as rigidly as Hitchcock, was more flexible. When hit predetermined marks on the floor so that a moving
40. John Wayne, qtd. in Joseph McBride, Searching for John Ford: A Life (New Y
ork: St. Martin’s Press, 2001), p. 299.
camera and a focus puller know where they will be at every

moment; they must often direct their gaze and position
their body and/or face in unnatural-feeling poses to al-
low for lighting, camera position, and composition. These
postures usually appear natural on-screen but don’t feel
natural to the actors performing them on the set.
Movie actors must repeat the same action/line/emo-
tion more than once, not just for multiple takes from a
single setup but also for multiple setups. This means that
they may perform the close-up of a particular scene an
hour after they performed the same moment for a differ-
ent camera position. Everything about their performance
is fragmented, and thus they must struggle to stay in
character. Finally, actors are sometimes required to work 1
with acting and dialogue coaches, physical trainers, and
stunt personnel. For all the reasons listed here, deliver-
ing a convincing screen performance is very challenging. band Jim (Harry Shannon), and Walter Parks Thatcher
In the following chapters we will examine editing and (George Coulouris) are in Mrs. Kane’s boardinghouse [2]
sound and the ways they relate to acting and meaning. for shots 1 through 3 ( images [1] to [5]) and outside for
Here we’ll look briefly at how acting is affected by framing, shot 4 [6]. In shot 3 ( images [3] to [5]), this division of
composition, lighting, and the types and lengths of shots. the overall space into two separate physical and emo-
tional components is dramatically emphasized after
Mary signs the contract [4] and Jim walks to the back-
ground of the frame and shuts the window, symboli-
Framing, Composition, Lighting, cally shutting Charles out of his life and also cutting us
and the Long Take off from the sound of his voice. Mary immediately walks
Framing and composition can bring actors together in to the same window and opens it [5], asserting her con-
a shot or keep them apart. Such inclusion and exclusion trol over the boy by sharply calling “Charles!” before
create relationships between characters, and these in turn going out to explain the situation to him.
create meaning. The physical relation of the actors to each The two long takes carry the weight of the scene and
other and to the overall frame (height, width, and depth) thus require the adult actors to work closely together in
can significantly affect how we see and interpret a shot.
The inciting moment of the plot of Orson Welles’s
Citizen Kane (1941) and one of the principal keys to
understanding the movie—for many viewers, its most
unforgettable moment—occurs when Charles Foster
Kane’s (Welles) mother, Mary Kane (Agnes Moorehead),
signs the contract that determines her son’s future. It
consists of only six shots, two of which are long takes.
Relying on design, lighting, cinematography, and acting,
Welles creates a scene of almost perfect ambiguity.
In designing the scene, Welles puts the four principal
characters involved in the incident in the same frame for
the two long takes but, significantly, divides the space
within this frame into exterior and interior spaces: a
young Charles (Buddy Swan) is outside playing with
the Rosebud sled in the snow [1], oblivious to how his
life is being changed forever; meanwhile, Mary, her hus 2
parts of shot 3 [4] and with the boy in parts of shot 4 [6].
They begin inside the house as a tightly framed ensem-
ble confronting one another across a small table—their
bodies composed and their faces lighted to draw atten-
tion to the gravity of the decision they are making—and
continue outdoors, where these tensions break into the
open as young Charles learns of his fate.
The lighting also helps create the meaning. Lamps
remain unlit inside the house, where the atmosphere
is as emotionally cold as the snowy landscape is physi
cally cold. Outside, the light is flat and bright; inside,
this same bright light, reflected from the snow, produces
deep shadows. This effect appears most clearly after the
3 opening of shot 3, when Mary Kane turns from the
window [3] and walks from the background to the fore-
ground. As she does, lighting divides her face, the dark
and light halves emphasizing how torn she feels as a
mother in sending Charles away.
To prepare for the long take, Welles drilled his ac-
tors to the point of perfection in rehearsals, giving them
amazing things to do (such as requiring Moorehead to
pace up and down the narrow room) and then letting
this preparation pay off in moments of great theatrical
vitality. Look closely, for example, at the performance
of Agnes Moorehead, with whom Welles had worked in
radio productions.41 Moorehead knew exactly how to use
the tempo, pitch, and rhythm of her voice to give un-
expected depth to the familiar melodramatic type she
4 plays here. In the carefully designed and controlled
setting—the long room, dividing window, and snowy
exterior—Mrs. Kane, whose makeup, hairstyle, and cos-
tume are those of a seemingly simple pioneer woman,
reveals herself to be something quite different. She is
both unforgettably humane as she opens the window
and calls her son sharply to the destiny she has decreed
and, given that her only business experience has been in
running a boardinghouse, surprisingly shrewd in obvi-
ously having retained Thatcher to prepare the contract
that seals this moment. In fact, this is one of the few
scenes in the movie in which a female character totally
dominates the action—not surprising, for it is a scene of
maternal rejection.
As Mary Kane throws open the window, she cries out,
5
“Charles!” in a strained, even shrill, voice that reveals
41. Welles reportedly called Agnes Moorehead “the best actor I’ve ever known”; qtd. in Simon Callow, Orson Welles: The Road to Xanadu (New Y
ork:
Viking, 1995), p. 512.
6 7
her anxiety about what she is doing; yet a moment later,

sounding both tender and guilty, she tells Thatcher that
she has had Charles’s trunk packed for a week. Should
we read the cold mask of her face [7] as the implacable
look of a woman resigned to her decision or as a cover
for maternal feelings? Does it reflect the doubt, indeci-
sion, and dread any person would feel in such a situation?
Is it the face of sacrifice? Is it all of these possibilities
and more? And how should we read Charles, who, in the
span of a moment, goes from playful to wary to angry to
antagonistic [8]?
Although the downtrodden Jim Kane protests his
wife’s actions, when Thatcher coolly informs him that 8
he and his wife will receive $50,000 per year, he feebly
gives in, saying, “Well, let’s hope it’s all for the best”—
a remark that invariably, as it should, provokes laugh- and actors the opportunity to create scenes of unusual
ter from viewers. And Thatcher, wearing a top hat length as a well as a broader and deeper field of compo-
and dressed in the formal clothes of a big-city banker, sition. In addition, the long take encourages ensemble
sends contradictory signals. He’s precise in overseeing acting that calls attention to acting, not editing between
Mrs. Kane’s signature, dismissive of Mr. Kane, fawning shots. Although we tend to think of actors and their per-
as he meets Charles, and angry when Charles knocks formances as acts of individual creativity, we should
him to the ground. In encouraging this kind of richly keep in mind that one actor’s performance often very
nuanced acting and its resulting ambiguity, Welles shifts much depends on another’s. Indeed, it may rely on an
the challenge of interpretation to us. ensemble, or group, of actors.42
As this scene shows, the long take, used in conjunc- Ensemble acting—which emphasizes the collabora-
tion with deep-focus cinematography, gives directors tive interaction of a group of actors, not the work of an
42. Further study of the long take should consider the work of the great Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi and notably the Lake Biwa episode in
Ugetsu (1953). Other notable uses of the technique can be seen in Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Doulos (1962), which includes a virtuoso 8-minute single
shot; Werner Herzog’s Woyzeck (1979); Lisandro Alonso’s Los Muertos (2004), where most of the movie is divided into very long takes; and Pedro Cos-
ta’s Colossal Youth (2006), where real time and very long takes are the norm. Avalanche (1937), a work by Japanese director Mikio Naruse, includes a
sequence of very brief shots that are edited together so seamlessly that they provide the visual equivalent of a single long take.
Boyhood ’s ensemble of actors celebrates a milestone

Here, we see members of the cast celebrate the principal character’s (Mason Evans Jr.) high school graduation. Left to right : Mason
Evans Sr. (Ethan Hawke), Mason Evans Jr. (Ellar Coltrane), his mother Olivia (Patricia Arquette), Olivia’s mother (Libby Villari), and his sister
Samantha (Lorelei Linklater). It’s a milestone for them all, young and old, near the conclusion of 12 years of intermittent filming during
which they all grew up together and developed as characters.
individual actor—evolved as a further step in creating Coltrane, who’s six when the movie begins and eighteen
a verisimilar mise-en-scène for both the stage and the when it ends. Filmed in 4-day sections over that 12-year
screen. Typically experienced in the theater, ensem- span, it shows what movies usually manipulate through
ble acting is used less in the movies because it requires editing: the passage of time. Coltrane’s passage from a
the provision of rehearsal time that is usually denied to boy to a teenager is played out on the movie screen. It
screen actors. However, when a movie director such as requires the actors, including Ethan Hawke and Patricia
Richard Linklater (Boyhood, 2014) chooses to use long Arquette, to stay in character over that period and to be
takes and has the time to rehearse the actors, the result comfortable with showing their natural aging, unaltered
is a group of actors working together continually in a by makeup or digital effects. It’s a unique achievement
single shot. Depending on the story and plot situation, in moviemaking, in a minor way comparable to Michael
this technique can intensify the emotional impact of a Apted’s 7 Up series of documentaries (1964–2012), which
specific plot situation by having all of the involved char- followed the lives of a group of real British seven-year-
acters on the screen at the same time. olds and recorded their progress every seven years until
As with so many other innovations, Orson Welles they reached age fifty-six.
pioneered ensemble acting in Citizen Kane (1941) and
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), and its influence
was quickly seen in the work of other directors, notably The Camera and the Close-Up
William Wyler in The Little Foxes (1941) and The Best The camera creates a greater naturalism and intimacy
Years of Our Lives (1946). A particularly challenging as- between actors and audience than would ever be possi-
signment for a group of actors was Richard Linklater’s ble on the stage, and thus it serves as screen actors’ most
Boyhood (2014). The film focuses on newcomer Ellar important collaborator. Nowhere is the camera’s effect
ematographer Lee Garmes). On the deck of a ship

bound for Morocco, the mysterious and beautiful Amy
drops her handbag. A sophisticated, older Frenchman—
Monsieur La Bessiere (Adolphe Menjou)—kneels at her
feet to retrieve her things and then offers to assist her
in any way he can when she arrives at her destination.
In a relatively quick close-up, Amy looks off into space
and tells him she will not need any help. Design elements
further distance us from the actress and the character:
Dietrich wears a hat with a veil, and thus the shot is
“veiled by the ‘Rembrandt’ light, by the fog, by the lens,
and by the diaphanous fabric.”43 Although we do not yet
know who Amy is, what she does, or why she’s going to
Morocco, we certainly understand La Bessiere’s interest.
Acting and the close-up Close-ups can also reveal both the process of think-
Carl Theodor Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) vividly and ing and the thoughts at its end. In a close-up during the
unforgettably illustrates the power of the close-up. Most of this
silent movie’s running time is taken up with contrasting close-ups
of Joan (played by Maria Falconetti, a French stage actress who
never again appeared on film) and of her many interrogators during
the course of her trial. As Joan is questioned, mocked, tortured, and
finally burned at the stake, we witness an entire, deeply moving
story in her face. Thus we respond to a single character’s expres-
sions as they are shaped by the drama and the camera.
on the actor’s role more evident than in a close-up. The

true close-up isolates an actor, concentrating on the
face; it can be active (commenting on something just
said or done, reminding us who is the focus of a scene) or
passive (revealing an actor’s beauty). Thus actors’ most
basic skill is understanding how to reveal themselves to
the camera during the close-up.
Artistic collaboration and the close-up
All great movie actors understand, instinctively or
In Morocco (1930), Marlene Dietrich’s beautiful face is made to
from experience, what to do and not do with their faces appear even more haunting and enigmatic by director Josef von
when the camera moves in. They must temporarily for- Sternberg’s mise-en-scène and Lee Garmes’s black-and-white cin-
get their bodies’ expressive possibilities, stand as close ematography. Dietrich, too, instinctively understood the kind of
to the camera as they would to a person in real life, lighting and camera placement that was right for her role and the
narrative as well as for the glamorous image she cultivated in all
smoothly balance their voices because the microphone
her movies. In this medium close-up, she stands on the deck of a ship
is so close, and focus on the communicative power of
at night and appears distant, almost otherworldly, as she is bathed
even the slightest facial gesture. in soft, misty “Rembrandt lighting.” One half of her face is bright,
Close-ups can shift interpretation to the viewer, as part of the other half is in shadow. Her face is further framed and
in the 2-minute-long close-up of Anna (Nicole Kidman) softened by her hat and veil and by shooting her against a back-
in Jonathan Glazer’s Birth (2004; see Chapter 6, p. 227), ground that is out of focus. In all likelihood, Garmes also placed thin
gauze fabric over the lens to further soften the image. This is the
or they can leave little room for independent inter-
first appearance of Dietrich’s character in the movie, so we know lit-
pretation, as in Marlene Dietrich’s opening scene as
tle about her but can already discern that she is not only alluring but
Amy Jolly in Josef von Sternberg’s Morocco (1930; cin- mysterious. But one thing we know for sure: the Dietrich face, as it
appeared on the screen, was the conscious creation of the actress,
43. Naremore, Acting in the Cinema, p. 141. director, and cinematographer.
maintaining the emotional continuity of a performance,

but even the most consistent actor delivers slightly dif-
ferent performances on each take. Editors can patch up
mistakes by selecting, arranging, or juxtaposing shots to
cover these differences. They control the duration of an
actor’s appearance on the screen and how that time is
used. When aspects of an actor’s performance that origi-
nally were deemed acceptable appear in the editing stage
to interrupt the flow of the narrative, the development
of the character, or the tone of the movie, the editor, in
consultation with the director, can dispense with it com
pletely by leaving that footage on the cutting-room floor.
In short, the editor has the power to mold a performance
with more control than most directors or even the ac
VIDEO This tutorial examines the effect that tors themselves.
editing can have on our perception of actors’
performances.
Looking at Acting
Given all the elements and aspects in our discussion of
climactic moment of John Ford’s The Searchers (1956), an actor’s performance, how do we focus our attention
Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) transforms from a hate- on analyzing acting? Before looking at some recognized
ful to a loving man as he halts his premeditated attempt criteria, let’s discuss how we can bring our own experi-
to murder his niece, Debbie (Natalie Wood), and instead ences to the task. An actor’s performance on the screen
lifts her to the safety of his arms. The shot gives us no goes beyond what we see and hear; it also includes many
time to analyze why he has changed his mind—we see intangibles and subtleties. That alone makes the anal-
only the results of that change. ysis of acting much more challenging. Breaking down
In a bar scene in Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront and cataloging other elements of cinematic language—
(1954), Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando), playing the tough whether narrative, mise-en-scène, production design, or
guy, tells Edie Doyle (Eva Marie Saint) his philosophy: cinematography—and using that information to analyze
“Do it to him before he does it to you.” Up to this point, their usefulness and effectiveness is much easier than
he has remained aloof after w itnessing the mob’s mur- analyzing acting. Yet acting (perhaps second only to nar-
der of Edie’s brother, an attitude he continues to dis- rative) is the component most people use to assess mov-
play until Edie, who is trying to do something about the ies. We feel an effective, natural, moving performance in
corruption on the waterfront, asks for his help. Stopped a more direct way than we respond to other cinematic
in his tracks, Terry sits down, and a series of close-ups aspects of most films, and we feel both qualified and
reveals the shakiness of his unfeeling posture. In a soft, compelled to judge films by their performances.
caring, but slightly nervous voice (in this bar setting, sur- What accounts for this sense of entitlement? Why
rounded by other tough guys, he’s a little self-conscious are we so fixated on actors? Why do we so frequently
of being tender with a woman), he tells her, “I’d like ta judge the quality of the movie by the (often intangible)
help” and so reveals to her, the camera, and the audience quality of the actors’ performances? There are several
a more sensitive man under the macho mannerisms. reasons. First, although cinematic language has a con-
siderable effect on the way we look at a movie, we also
identify with characters and, of course, with the actors
Acting and Editing who inhabit those characters. Second, we identify with
Because a screen actor’s performance is fragmented, characters who pursue a goal. We get involved with this
the editor has considerable power in shaping it. We’ve pursuit, which is driven by and embodied by the actors
already emphasized that the actor is responsible for who inhabit the characters, because a movie narrative is
process it as much as we do human behavior. We are

people watchers by nature, necessity, and desire. We are
constantly analyzing behavior. When you say hello to a
friend or ask a professor a question or order a cup of cof-
fee from a waiter, you are noticing and processing and
reacting to human behavior. Is the friend happy? Does
the professor think you’re s tupid? Is the waiter paying
attention?
Finally, our identification with characters and the
actors who play them has something to do with our own
personality. We too behave in a way that is consistent
with our general character or state of mind, and beyond
that, we are also engaged in role-playing. You present
1 yourself differently, depending on where you are, what’s
going on, and who you’re with. You behave differently
with a police officer than you do with your mother or
your professor, differently with a new friend than with
an old one.
Now that we’ve looked at some of the reasons for our
reactions to actors and acting, how do we analyze their
performances? What are the criteria of a good perfor-
mance? In their everyday moviegoing, people tend to
appreciate acting subjectively. They like an actor’s per-
formance when he or she looks, speaks, and moves in
ways that confirm their expectations for the character
2 (or type of character). Conversely, they dislike a perfor-
mance that baffles those expectations.
Assessing acting performances This approach, though understandable, can also be
[1] Toshirô Mifune in the death scene of Lord Washizu in Akira limiting. How many of us have sufficient life experi-
Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood (1957) and [2] Holly Hunter in Jane
ences to fully comprehend the range of characters that
Campion’s The Piano (1993), a performance for which she won the
appear on the screen? What background do we bring to
Oscar for Best Actress. To analyze an actor’s performance, we need
to consider its context—the particular movie in which it appears. an analysis of a performance such as that of Humphrey
Kurosawa’s film draws on a specific genre—the jidai-geki, or histor- Bogart as a cold-blooded private eye in John Huston’s
ical drama—that is traditionally full of action; Campion’s film draws The Maltese Falcon, or Taraji P. Henson as an overlooked
on history but focuses more on psychology than on action. Thus African American mathematician in Hidden Figures
Mifune uses ritualized, nonnaturalistic facial expressions and body
(2016; director Theodore Melfi), or Daniel Day-Lewis as
language; and Hunter, who speaks only in voice-over, appears more
a possessive 1950s fashion designer in Paul Thomas An-
naturalistic, inner directed, subdued.
derson’s Phantom Thread (2017)?
Movie acting may be, as legendary actor Laurence
Olivier once said, the “art of persuasion.”44 Yet it is also
constructed to exploit what most involves us. We don’t a formal cinematic element, one as complex as design
even have to like the characters as long as we believe or cinematography. To get a sense of how movie act-
them. Third, we identify with characters because of our ing works on its own and ultimately in relation to the
own behavior as people. Although cinematic language other formal elements, we need to establish a set of cri-
draws from our instinctive responses to everyday visual teria more substantial than our subjective feelings and
and audio information, we don’t consciously notice and reactions.
44. Olivier, Confessions of an Actor, p. 51.

Paradoxically, we expect an actor to behave

as if he or she were not acting but were simply
living the illusion of a character we can accept
within the context of the movie’s narrative.
Such appropriateness in acting is also called
transparency, meaning that the character is so
clearly recognizable—in speech, movement, and
gesture—for what he or she is supposed to be
that the actor becomes, in a sense, invisible. Most
actors agree that the more successfully they create
Evil, pure evil characters, the more we will see those characters
In 12 Years a Slave, Michael Fassbender plays Edwin Epps, as evil and not them.
a character that ever appeared on-screen. He’s a racist, a liar, an
alcoholic, and a sadist, traits that manifest themselves in his actions Inherent thoughtfulness or emotionality. Does the
rather than in his appearance. He may not “look” evil, but his treat- actor convey the character’s thought process or
ment of his slaves is almost unbearable to watch. Movies like these feelings behind the character’s actions or reactions?
should convince us not to confuse the actor with the part.
In addition to a credible appearance, does the
character have a credible inner life?
Because every actor, character, and performance in An actor can find the motivations behind a
a movie is different, it is impossible to devise standards character’s actions and reactions at any time before
that would apply equally well to all of them. Further- or during a movie’s production. They may come to
more, different actors, working with different directors, light in the script (as well as in any source on which
often take very different approaches to the same mate- it is based, such as a novel or play), in discussions
rial, as you can judge for yourself by comparing the many with the director or with other cast members,
remakes in movie history. Within the world of a partic- and in spontaneous elements of inspiration and
ular story, your goal should be to determine the qual- improvisation that the actor discovers while the
ity of the actor’s achievement in creating the character camera is rolling. No matter which of these aspects
and how that performance helps tell the story. Thus you or combinations of them reveal the character’s
should discuss an actor’s specific performance in a spe- motivation, we expect to see the actor reflect them
cific film, for example, by discussing how Michael Fass- within the character’s consciousness or as part of
bender’s acting in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave the illusion-making process by which the character
(2013) serves to create the character of Edwin Epps, the appears. To put it another way, the characters must
alcoholic, sadist plantation owner. In your analysis, tell seem vulnerable to forces in the narrative. They
the story of that film without being influenced by expec- must be able to think about them and, if necessary,
tations possibly raised by your having seen Fassbender change their mind or feelings about them.
in other movies, including those directed by McQueen:
Expressive coherence. Has the actor used these
Hunger (2008) and Shame (2011).
first two qualities (appropriateness and inherent
In analyzing any actor’s performance, you might con-
thoughtfulness/emotionality) to create a
sider the following criteria:
characterization that holds together?
Appropriateness. Does the actor look and act Whatever behavior an actor uses to convey
naturally like the character he or she portrays, as character, it must be intrinsic, not extraneous to
expressed in physical appearance, facial expression, the character, “maintaining not only a coherence of
speech, movement, and gesture? If the performance manner, but also a fit between setting, costume, and
is nonnaturalistic, does the actor look, walk, and behavior.”45 When an actor achieves such a fit, he or
talk the way that character might or should? she is playing in character. Maintaining expressive
45. Naremore, Acting in the Cinema, p. 69.

My Week with Marilyn is a week to remember

Eddie Redmayne plays Colin Clark, a young film school graduate who lands a job as an assistant to Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams), who
is making a movie in London. Williams gives an outstanding performance as the screen goddess, in all her fragility and craziness, as well
as vulnerability in falling for Eddie, a naive, lovesick puppy. The week they spend together, much of it alone, may be something many men
dream about, but it’s based on a true story. When Monroe’s movie work is finished, she returns to Hollywood and her new husband, Arthur
Miller. Although she leaves Colin with a broken heart, Michelle Williams’s versatile portrayal of Monroe provides some level of understanding.
coherence enables the actor to create a complex vision. For example, if a given character suddenly
characterization and performance, to express breaks down or reveals himself to be pretending to
thoughts and reveal emotions of a recognizable be somebody he isn’t, the actor must sufficiently
individual without veering off into mere quirks or prepare for this change in the preceding scenes,
distracting details. however he chooses, so that we can accept it.
Wholeness and unity. Despite the challenges

inherent in most film productions, has the actor
maintained the illusion of a seamless character, Michelle Williams
even if that character is purposely riddled with To begin applying these criteria, we’ll take a look at the
contradictions? work of Michelle Williams in Derek Cianfrance’s Blue
Whereas expressive coherence relies on the Valentine (2010) for which she earned an Oscar nom-
logic inherent in an actor’s performance, wholeness ination for Best Actress. She is part of a long tradition
and unity are achieved through the actor’s ability of actors who play strong female characters in a man’s
to achieve aesthetic consistency while working world. A short list would include Joan Crawford, Bette
with the director, crew, and other cast members; Davis, Faye Dunaway, Jane Fonda, Jodie Foster, Lil-
enduring multiple takes; and projecting to the lian Gish, Diane Keaton, Frances McDormand, Ellen
camera rather than to an audience. However, Page, Julia Roberts, Barbara Stanwyck, and Uma Thur-
wholeness and unity need not mean uniformity. man. Many of them—including Crawford, Davis, and
The point is this: as audience members we want Stanwyck—worked primarily in the studio system. As
to feel we’re in good hands; when we’re confused discussed earlier in this chapter, these actors worked
or asked to make sense of seemingly incoherent under contractual obligations that severely limited their
elements, we want to know that the apparent opportunities.
incoherence happened intentionally, for an Michelle Williams is one of a younger generation of
aesthetic reason, as part of the filmmakers’ overall actors—including Carey Mulligan, Jennifer Lawrence,
1
Cindy and Dean are married
Cindy and Dean’s wedding takes place in the office of a justice of
the peace. She wears a white lace dress and cries tears of joy as
she looks up at Dean and repeats the vows. The couple has taken a
great risk in getting married, but they are happy as they begin their
life together. The director chose to shoot all scenes of the couple’s
past on film stock, and the bright light flooding the office fades the
colors of her face and Dean’s jacket (right ), making the image look
old, as was intended.
Lupita Nyong’o, and Jessica Chastain—who are enrich-

2
ing the art of acting. They work in today’s independent
production system and are almost completely free to
The marriage falls apart
choose their movies, roles, and sometimes even their Two incidents, among others, indicate that Cindy and Dean’s mar-
directors, costars, and other collaborators. They work as riage is falling apart. In [1], Cindy, upset when their pet dog is killed
often as they want, taking time off to meet the challenges by a passing car, watches stoically as Dean buries the body in their
of acting on the stage, to enjoy lucrative promotional op- yard. It’s an omen of what’s to come, just as Dean’s attempt to re-
portunities, usually for luxury goods and services, and to kindle their marriage in the “Future Room” of a motel backfires.
Soon, looking haggard [2], Cindy has one last fight with Dean. She’s
enjoy private life.
determined not to give in to his pleas for another chance and, within
Williams was born in Montana and raised in Califor- minutes, he walks out of her life. The use of digital cinematography
nia, where, after completing the ninth grade, she quit for these scenes gives them the real-life look of a documentary film.
school to pursue an acting career. With her gamine-like
features, she began her movie career with comedies—
Andrew Fleming’s Dick and Jamie Babbit’s But I’m a
Cheerleader, both 1999—before moving on to serious Synecdoche, New York (2008; director Charlie Kaufman),
drama with Erik Skjoldbjærg’s Prozac Nation (2001). and Shutter Island (2010; director Martin Scorsese). Af-
Between 1999 and 2014, she’d completed more than ter Brokeback Mountain, another turning point in Wil-
thirty movies. She is best known for her portrayals of in- liams’s career was her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in
telligent, determined women, including Emily in Thomas Simon Curtis’s My Week with Marilyn (2011), for which
McCarthy’s The Station Agent (2003); Alma in Ang Lee’s she garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
Brokeback Mountain (2005), for which she earned an More recently, she received her fourth Oscar nomina-
Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress; Wendy tion (for Best Supporting Actress) for her performance
in Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy (2008); and Emily in Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea (2016).
in Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff (2010). Her other movies Blue Valentine is a story about a marriage that was off
include Deception (2008; director Marcel Langenegger), course from the beginning, a union of Cindy (Michelle
Williams), a talented, promising young woman, and which was happy, with the last part, which was not. So
Dean (Ryan Gosling), a romantic who is contented with the first stage was to shoot those happy scenes, all to-
only being her husband, not striving for more. His love gether, with seldom more than one take for each. There
for her is genuine, hers isn’t, and it’s clear from almost were no rehearsals. And the director, Derek Cianfrance,
the beginning that she is not committed. It is basically chose to shoot on traditional film stock because it lends a
a two-person story that requires two superb actors to romantic quality to the footage. The second and third
handle the characters’ development from needy teen- stages were shot using digital cameras calibrated for
agers to disillusioned parents. She’s a pre-med student a bright and clinical look, contrasting markedly from
living at home and looking after her aging grandmother; the film footage. The second stage began when the two
he works for a moving company. He may be a high school principal actors—joined by Faith Wladyka, who plays
dropout, but he doesn’t lack intelligence, sensitivity, or Frankie, their daughter—spent a month “living” their
a desire to be a good husband and father. But it doesn’t parts in the house used for the actual shooting. (They
help their situation that she’s running away from her un- simulated this marriage here only during the day, re-
happy parents, that he hasn’t seen his parents in some turning to their real-life homes at night.) In this unusual
time, that their child was fathered by Cindy’s high school mode of working, they ripped apart the happy years, de-
boyfriend, or that she attempted to abort it before agree- termining what Cindy and Dean would have been like in
ing to start a family with Dean. the subsequent years, and then improvised much of the
They move to rural Pennsylvania, where Cindy works dialogue for the next stage of shooting. The third stage
as an aide in a doctor’s office and Dean as a house painter, was to shoot the marriage as it dissolves. Here, the di-
a job that he jokingly says allows him to starting drinking rector shot many takes. Intercutting both kinds of foot-
at eight in the morning. She soon becomes disillusioned age gives the movie a discernible texture that helps the
with him and their life together. From the marriage to viewer separate past from present. Also, to emphasize
the ultimate breakup, their situation changes dramati- the status of the marriage, you’ll notice that in the first
cally, and the movie charts those changes through fre- part of the film, the cinematographer almost always uses
quent flashbacks that show her falling for his boyish two-shots with the couple together in the frame, and in
charm and promise of a life together to the nasty fight the second part, he shoots them in separate frames.
that ends it all. Their happy memories of the time before Blue Valentine is the director’s second feature film—
they were married are contrasted to a climactic week- Cianfrance’s previous experience was mostly with televi-
end spent in the “Future Room” of a theme motel, an sion documentaries—and while he uses a unique method
arrangement that Dean hopes will rekindle their love. of creating the film, he also intuitively understands how
When it doesn’t, he provokes an ugly argument at the to let Williams and Gosling work together to create
doctor’s office where she works; consequently, she is their characters. They built on mutual trust and spent
fired, and he walks off into the distance, with their young 8 hours a day living together in a fully functional house
daughter begging him to come back, as the movie ends. where Gosling and Williams, like Dean and Cindy, did
Such a story—so unlike Stella Dallas (1937) and so nothing but bicker with each other. After a month, they
recognizable in our time—requires two actors who can were all ready to shoot “the present” and were so fully
truthfully convince us of the characters’ range of intel- prepared in their parts that they didn’t have to act.
lect and emotions as they watch their marriage crumble. (Cianfrance also directed Gosling in The Place Beyond
Williams and Gosling were so committed to bringing the the Pines [2013], an ambitious, complex story about fa-
story to the screen that they served as the film’s execu- thers and sons.)
tive producers. Thus they helped to formulate the pro- In her role as Cindy in Blue Valentine, Williams uses
cess by which the movie would be shot. Indeed, this is her intelligence and insight to create a character who is
an excellent example of how filmmaking affects acting, determined to make the best of her life, but whose stoic
especially in a low-budget, independent movie such as acceptance of reality prevails until she can stand it no
Blue Valentine. The actors and director agreed that the longer. The director takes this strong story, of which he
film would be made in three stages. As we’ve already is a co-screenwriter, and lets it run an emotional course
noted, the movie relies heavily on continual flashbacks that is clearly established by the spontaneous interac-
that contrast the first part of this couple’s relationship, tion of the two principal actors. Its measured pace builds
slowly to the ultimate blowup. Of the two characters, feelings behind Cindy’s actions and reactions primarily
many viewers will find Gosling to be the more sympa- through gesture and physical movement: you can feel
thetic. He emphasizes Dean’s loyalty, sense of humor, her physical resentment for her husband when he tries
kind heart, and genuine but failed efforts to understand to make love to her. And the dialogue, which was impro-
his wife’s unhappiness. He makes it clear that Dean is in- vised, has the honest rawness to be convincing. The fre-
capable of evolving or changing. Like the cigarette that is quent flashbacks to happier times require the actors to
perpetually dangling from his lower lip, he’s predictable. break the unity of their performances to accommodate
But while Cindy is the more determined of the two to re- the changes that have occurred between them then and
verse her discontent, she does it at the cost of destroying now. Because Dean doesn’t change, Cindy most clearly
Dean. It’s a grim story, hard to watch in the rawness of its registers these changes. We see them in her appearance,
emotions and in its ambiguous ending. Shattered, Dean voice, and mannerisms. In high school she’s a sweet, pas-
walks off; Cindy is now a single mother with no job and sive kid, foolishly in love with the wrong man. Williams
an uncertain future. But she has not been defeated. finds great joy in Cindy’s singing and dancing in the
Using those characteristics that we have just defined street with Dean and dressing up for their wedding.
as the key to analyzing an actor’s performance, we can But in later life, there is little joy, and she makes Cindy
see that Williams looks and acts naturally, as we would into a hard, resentful, unforgiving woman. Shooting as
expect of the character that she defines. Cindy keeps a they did, Williams (and Gosling) faced difficult chal-
messy house and takes little notice of her appearance, lenges in maintaining expressive coherence. Ultimately,
but she is engaged in something more important: bal- she creates a characterization that has the wholeness of
ancing her tender empathy for Dean with her strong re- its contradictory parts.
solve to change her life. At first, their sexual life together Finally, there’s a truthfulness that comes with her
seems satisfactory, but she soon regards it mechanically seemingly effortless performance, a naturalness that
and then with resentment. They’re both caring parents, only a born actor can create. Williams not only looks and
but Dean works harder at it than she does. She’s initially acts like such a character in physical appearance, facial
and passively resentful of Dean’s lack of ambition, and expression, speech, movement, and gesture but also
then, in despair, challenges him to be more than he is understands—and can make us understand—all kinds
(or could be). Williams conveys the thought process and of feelings, ranging from vulnerability to strength.
ANALYZING ACTING
Our responses to actors’ performances on-screen mirrors the director’s work on the film as a whole.
are perhaps our most automatic and intuitive re- This chapter has presented several different things
sponses to any formal aspect of film. Thus it is easy to think about as you watch film acting in other
to forget that acting is as much a formal component movies. Using the criteria described in the previous
of movies—something made—as mise-en-scène, section, remaining sensitive to the context of the
cinematography, and editing are. And yet, acting is performances, and keeping the following checklist
clearly something that must be planned and shaped in mind as you watch, you should be able to incor-
in some manner; the very fact that films are shot porate an intelligent analysis of acting into your
out of continuity demands that actors approach their discussion and writing about the movies you screen
performances with a rigor and consciousness that for class.
SCREENING CHECKLIST: ACTING

Why was this actor, and not another, cast for What special talents of imagination or intelli-
the role? gence has the actor brought to the role?
Does the actor’s performance create a coher- How important is the filmmaking process
ent, unified character? If so, how? in creating the character? Is the actor’s per-
formance overshadowed by the filmmaking
Does the actor look the part? Is it necessary
for the actor to look the part? process?
Does the actor’s performance convey the Does the actor work well with fellow actors in
actions, thoughts, and internal complexities this film? Do any of the other actors detract
that we associate with natural or recognizable from the lead actor’s performance?
characters? Or does it exhibit the excessive How, if at all, is the actor’s conception of the
approach we associate with nonnaturalistic character based on logic? How does the perfor-
characters? mance demonstrate expressive coherence?
What elements are most distinctive in how the Does the actor’s performance have the expres-
actor conveys the character’s actions, thoughts, sive power to make us forget that he or she is
and internal complexities: body language, ges- acting? If it does, how do you think the actor
tures, facial expressions, language? achieved this effect?

1. How does movie acting today differ from movie 6. How are naturalistic and nonnaturalistic movie
acting in the 1930s through the 1960s? acting different?
2. Why is the relationship between the actor and the 7. What is improvisational acting?
camera so important in making and looking 8. How do framing, composition, lighting, and the
at movies? long take affect the acting in a movie?
3. How did the coming of sound influence movie 9. Given the range of techniques available to movie
acting and actors? actors, why do we say that their most basic skill
4. What’s the difference between movie stars and is understanding how to reveal themselves to the
movie actors? Why do some critics emphasize camera during the close-up?
that movie stars are a commodity created by the 10. What do you regard as the most important criteria
movie industry? in analyzing acting?
5. What factors influence the casting of actors in
a movie?
Baby Driver (2017). Edgar Wright, director. Pictured: Ansel Elgort.
EDITING
CHAPTER
8
282 Chapter 8 Editing
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
nn understand the relationship between the shot and
the cut.
nn describe the basic functions of editing.
nn explain the various ways that editing establishes spatial
relationships between shots.
nn describe some of the ways that editing manipulates
temporal relationships.
nn understand the distinctions between rhythm, pace, and
duration.
nn describe how editors use the content curve to
determine shot duration and shape viewer experience.
VIDEO This tutorial provides an overview of
nn distinguish between the two broad approaches to
the nature and importance of film editing, using a
editing: editing to maintain continuity and editing to scene from Andrew Lund’s short film Snapshot as
create discontinuity. an example.
nn describe the fundamental building blocks of
continuity editing.
nn describe the methods of maintaining consistent
screen direction. The basic building block of film editing is the shot,
nn name and define the major types of transitions and its most fundamental tool is the cut. The cut can be
between shots and describe how they can be used thought of in several ways. The first is as part of the ed-
either to maintain continuity or to create discontinuity. itor’s process. When an editor selects a shot for use in a
sequence or scene, she determines an in-point (the frame
at which the shot will appear on-screen) and an out-point
(the final frame we will see before that shot is replaced
with another shot). Each time the editor executes an in-
What Is Editing? point or out-point, she is making a cut. The term dates
back to the days when editors literally cut processed film
Editing is the selection and arrangement of shots and stock with a device called a splicer (virtually all movies
sounds. Film editors determine what you see, how long are now edited digitally on computers). The second way
you see it, and the order in which you see it. Because we can think of a cut pertains to watching a film. In that
most editing is designed to go unnoticed, and because context, a cut is an instantaneous transition from one
the sequential arrangement of shots can so effectively shot to another shot. The third common use of the term
represent unfolding action as to seem effortless and cut refers to any edited version of a sequence, scene, or
inevitable, people often mistakenly think of editing as movie. For example, a director may tell her editor: “Let’s
simply a selection and assembly process—removing the take a look at your latest cut of this scene.”
mistakes and stringing together the best takes. In fact, To further understand the role of editing, let’s exam-
although directors and cinematographers design shots ine the relationship between film production and post-
with editing in mind, very few movies predetermine the production. The best directors and cinematographers
order and duration of every shot. Filmmakers recognize plan and capture action in ways that facilitate the cre-
the expressive power of creative editing, and the form ative editing process. Many scenes are recorded using
of most movies is meant to evolve throughout post- coverage—multiple angles and shot types covering the
production. Directors count on editors to use concepts same action—in order to provide the editor the freedom
and techniques unique to their craft to mold moments, to select the best possible viewpoint for each dramatic
es
tablish pace, shape performances, and structure— moment. Camera positions, framing, and blocking of dif-
sometimes even reimagine—scenes and stories. ferent shots for a single scene are planned and executed
The Film Editor 283
Documentary editing
Director Amanda Lipitz and editor Penelope Falk used a complex combination of different kinds of documentary footage to construct Step, an
inspiring portrait of the members of a high school girls’ step team as they strive to win a competition and improve their lives. Falk conveys the
story and its themes of injustice and resilience by intercutting shots gleaned from more than 400 hours of footage, which included interviews
with team members and their coach; b-roll chronicling rehearsals, performances, and the girls’ struggles in school and at home in inner-city
Baltimore; and archival footage depicting the racial tensions in their city after the death of a young man at the hands of the police.
in ways that ensure the editor will be able to preserve running time—a shooting ratio of 240:1. Documentary
spatial and temporal continuity when constructing the films can have similarly lopsided shooting ratios, but for
scene. Multiple takes of the same shot may be captured different reasons. Unlike narrative films that are scripted
to provide editors a variety of different approaches to and storyboarded in advance, many documentary films
performance or camera movement. chronicle actual events and real-life subjects engaged
All of this raw material adds up. A commercial nar- in unrehearsed activity. A documentary filmmaker may
rative feature film’s shooting ratio (the proportion of enter a project with no clear idea of what story will ulti-
footage shot to footage used in the completed movie) is mately emerge from her accumulated footage. For these
commonly as high as 20:1, meaning that for every 1 min- films, the story is largely discovered during postpro
ute you see on the screen, 20 minutes of footage has duction. Thus, every action, statement, and image that
been discarded. Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now could possibly serve that story must be captured for po-
(1979), an epic film whose story was greatly shaped in tential use in the editing process.
postproduction, had a then almost unheard-of shoot-
ing ratio of 95:1. For contemporary stunt-heavy movies
that require multiple cameras to capture complex action The Film Editor
on an even greater scale, the ratio can be significantly
higher, especially now that digital cinematography makes Like other primary members of the collaborative film-
capturing numerous takes relatively cost-effective. The making team, the editor on a movie works closely with the
action extravaganza Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) used director. During the preproduction phase, they may dis-
480 hours of raw footage to construct its 120-minute cuss storyboards and other previsualization materials.
1 2
Director and editor

Director John Ford [1] said that he edited the movie in the camera; in other words, he carefully visualized beforehand how the movie would
look and then shot footage that could only be edited according to his plan. He minimized choices to retain creative control and prevent the
studio bosses from meddling with his edit. But editors such as Dorothy Spencer [2] certainly helped to craft Ford’s films in postproduction.
She edited seventy-five Hollywood films, including two of Ford’s masterpieces: Stagecoach (1939) and My Darling Clementine (1946). Her
work on Stagecoach earned Spencer the first of her four Academy Award nominations for Best Film Editing.
For some scenes, the editor may even edit storyboards Of course, the typical director-editor relationship falls
into an animatic (a video produced by sequencing sto somewhere in between those two extremes. Before the
ryboard images and adding sound), which is used to help edit begins, the director and editor discuss each scene’s
envision how planned shots will work in the edit. During story, tone, and narrative function. After reviewing the
production, an editor may cut together rough versions of footage provided, the editor communicates observations
completed scenes to assist the director in determining if regarding performance, emphasis, important dramatic
additional footage is needed. moments, event structure and order, and other potential
Of course, most of the editor’s contributions happen expressive opportunities. The editor shares each draft
after shooting is completed. During postproduction, the version of every scene with the director so they can dis-
director-editor relationship can take many forms. A se- cuss what works and what doesn’t. The editor takes notes
lect group of classical Hollywood directors, including and continues working on progressive versions, getting
John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock, so precisely planned and applying feedback until the project is completed.
each shot, juxtaposition, and sequence prior to shooting Although the director has the final say on all decisions,
that they claimed their movies were essentially edited editors are known to feel very strongly about particular
before the cameras even rolled. Contemporary director cuts. Kevin Tent, the editor of Election (1999), report-
Steven Soderbergh does those old masters one better: he edly believed so fervently in the unconventional rapid-
shoots and edits most of his own films under the pseu fire sequence of thirty-seven consecutive close-ups he
donyms of Peter Andrews and Mary Ann Bernard. At the used in a key scene, he offered his skeptical director, Al-
other end of the spectrum, some directors rely on edi- exander Payne, the contents of his wallet to accept the
tors to craft their raw footage into a completed film with idea. Convinced, Payne relented—and took the $75. It’s
little to no oversight. a funny story, but it also demonstrates the serious role
ple versions of the same scene or sequence for purposes

of comparison. Today’s digital editing allows for this
level of experimentation as opposed to the old physical
process of splicing processed film stock, which restricted
editors to only one edited assembly at a time. The cre-
ative freedom made possible by digital editing may ac-
count for the fact that contemporary movies run longer
and contain more individual shots than do earlier films.
A typical Hollywood movie made in the 1940s and 1950s
runs approximately 110 minutes and is composed of
about 1000 shots; today’s movies typically run between
An editor reshapes a movie
When director Woody Allen shot what would eventually become 120 and 140 minutes and consist of 2000 to 3000 shots.
Annie Hall (1977), he intended the movie to be a self-deprecating Over the course of postproduction, the edit moves
satire of his alter-ego character, Alvy Singer. But, after exhaustively through successive versions working toward the fine cut.
reviewing the film’s extensive raw footage, editor Ralph Rosenblum Throughout this process, the editor edits the footage
discovered that the story of Alvy’s relationship with the character
(or picture), as well as the dialogue, which is typically
of Annie Hall was far more compelling. As he explains in his mem-
the only sound recorded on set during production. She
oir When The Shooting Stops . . . The Cutting Begins, Rosenblum
sacrificed countless comically brilliant scenes (much to Allen’s initial makes notes regarding potential sounds or score to be
chagrin) and restructured many others to ultimately reveal the en- added later and may even insert temporary “scratch”
dearing romantic comedy that won Oscars for Best Picture, Best sound to help inform editing decisions that rely on or
Director, and Best Actress. influence the use of sound. The rest of the sound is han-
dled by the sound editor and the sound designer, who
will coordinate with the editor and director as the cut
progresses to determine, design, and record sounds and
the editor plays as an invested storyteller. Editors have music for each scene. Ultimately, the editor submits the
the power to create moments and ideas not present in the picture lock version, the final edit of the film footage. The
original script. They often eliminate material that was picture and dialogue must be finalized before the rest
planned and performed but reveals itself to be unnec- of the creative team can add sounds, music, and visual
essary. When captured footage proves inadequate (and effects, then color grade the images, and finally mix to-
reshoots are not an option), editors must innovate ways gether the many separate tracks of accumulated sound.
to convey necessary information using added sound,
offscreen dialogue, and sometimes even by repurposed
footage from other scenes. Functions of Editing
In addition to the director, the editor works closely
with a number of other collaborators during postpro- Film editing has five primary functions:
duction. Assistant editors function as media managers:
importing, labeling, organizing, and archiving terabytes 1. Organize fragmented action and events.
of digital video and sound files. Coeditors help draft 2. Create meaning through juxtaposition.
scenes and sequences. The postproduction supervisor
3. Create spatial relationships between shots.
shepherds the project through picture editing, and the
concurrent and subsequent steps required before the 4. Create temporal relationships between shots.
final digital export: scoring, sound design, sound mix- 5. Establish and control shot duration, pace, and
ing, visual effects, and color grading and correction. The rhythm.
many stages the edit goes through on its way to comple-
tion are collectively termed workflow. None of these functions work autonomously. Like all
Once the footage is prepared by the assistant editors, things cinematic, fragmentation, juxtaposition, spatial
the editor begins work on a first-draft edit known as the and temporal connections, and pace and rhythm are all
rough cut. As part of this process, she may create multi- interconnected and interdependent.
Fragmentation Many scenes are shot using coverage, or master scene

technique, meaning that the action is photographed mul-
Editing relies on fragmentation, the breaking up of sto- tiple times with a variety of different shot types and an-
ries, scenes, events, and actions into multiple shots that gles so that the editor will be able to construct the scene
provide a diversity of compositions and combinations using the particular viewpoint that is best suited for each
with which to convey meaning. This aspect of film form dramatic moment—a practice known as classical cut-
draws upon a sort of cinematic gestalt: the idea that our ting. Often, directors begin shooting a single scene with
minds can intuitively organize a continuous stream of a long shot that covers the characters, setting, and action
incomplete pieces into a coherent whole. in one continuous take. With this master shot as a gen-
1 2
3 4
5 6
Master scene technique

For this courtroom scene in Loving (2016), director Jeff Nichols cov-
ered the action using medium close-ups of Richard Loving [1], Mil-
dred Loving [2], and the judge [3]; medium shots of the judge [4],
the court secretary [5], and the Lovings and their lawyer [6]; and
a master shot [7]. Editor Julie Monroe cut between these seven
shots, using most of them multiple times, to tell the scene’s story:
the Lovings being charged with illegal interracial marriage and or-
dered to leave the state of Virginia.
7
eral foundation, the scene’s action is captured repeatedly

using more specific framing, so that a single character’s
dialogue and blocking may be captured multiple times
using a variety of shot types. In the editing room, the ed-
itor can begin the scene with the master shot, then cut
closer as the story dictates: full shots during physical ac-
tion, medium two-shots for interactions, close-ups for
reactions, extreme close-ups for details, and so forth. The
master shot can be integrated whenever setting or spatial
relationships need to be reestablished. This conventional
outside-in structure is not the editor’s only option. For
Intercutting
example, she may find it more effective to open the scene Danny Boyle’s T2: Trainspotting (2017) picks up the story of a group
with a close-up detail and gradually (or suddenly) open of friends 20 years after the events depicted in its predecessor Train-
up the framing to reveal the setting and situation. Con- spotting (1996). In the second film, the characters are middle aged,
versations between characters are often captured and dissolute, and depressed. Editor Jon Harris repeatedly intercuts
scenes with brief shots of the men as children, when their lives still
edited using the shot/reverse shot method. The entire
carried the potential for happiness. The intercutting lends a melan-
interaction is filmed with the camera first framed on one
choly perspective to the contemporary conflict.
character (the camera usually positioned just behind the
second character’s shoulder), then the camera is moved
to a reverse position facing the second character from a
corresponding position just behind the first character’s events, we start trying to figure out how the events are
shoulder. Even coverage as simple as a shot/reverse shot related and how those relationships affect the narrative.
gives the editor a great deal of creative freedom. She can Often, parallel editing sequences resolve by uniting the
control the pace of the conversation and which charac- separate actions. Joel and Ethan Coen’s comedy Raising
ter’s face we’re seeing at any particular moment in the ex- Arizona (1987) crosscuts between five simultaneous ac-
change. We often need to see the character speaking, but tions after the habitual criminal H. I. “Hi” McDunnough
sometimes it may be more compelling to see a character decides to steal diapers at gunpoint from a convenience
reacting to dialogue delivered by an offscreen character. store. His outraged wife, Ed, abandons him, driving away
Scenes can also be broken up and integrated with with their supposedly adopted (actually stolen) son in
other scenes using parallel editing (or crosscutting), a the family station wagon, forcing Hi to abandon his loot
technique that cuts back and forth between two or more and flee on foot. He is pursued by a pistol-packing con-
actions happening simultaneously in separate locations. venience store clerk, the police, and a pack of dogs. Ed
You may recall the parallel editing sequences discussed soon decides to rescue Hi and joins the pursuit. What
as part of our examination of patterns in Chapter 2. Way makes the sequence fun is wondering where each partic-
Down East (1920) crosscuts between a suicidal woman ipant is in relation to our flawed protagonist, when and
stumbling through a snowstorm and the desperate search how all these various paths will cross, and what will hap-
by the man who secretly loves her. The parallel editing pen when they do. Ultimately, Ed decides to rescue her
sequence in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) takes advan- hapless husband. Their parallel actions intersect when
tage of our expectation of a direct relationship between she picks him up (and punches him). Thus reunited, the
the different crosscut actions to fool us into thinking the happy family snags the dropped diapers and resumes the
FBI agents swarming a house in one action are closing in getaway.
on the serial killer we see in the other action. That trick Crosscutting should not be confused with intercut-
works because viewers assume spatial, causal, or narrating, the insertion of shots into a scene in a way that in-
tive relationships between the intertwined actions, since terrupts the narrative. Examples of intercutting include
that is almost invariably the case. One of the things that flashbacks, flash-forwards, shots depicting a character’s
makes parallel editing so compelling is the participation thoughts, shots depicting events from earlier or later in
the technique requires of the viewer. As soon as we rec- the plot, and associative editing that inserts shots to cre-
ognize that the movie is shifting between simultaneous ate symbolic or thematic meaning through juxtaposition.
a private university, uses split screen to trace the con-

verging physical paths of two characters in a way that
makes a possible emotional connection seem inevitable.
When their paths finally cross, the split screens merge
back into a unified whole. A split-screen sequence in Tom
Tykwer’s Run Lola Run (1998) creates suspense by show-
ing Lola’s desperate sprint to reach her father on one
side of the frame while showing her father’s leisurely
1
departure from work on the other side. The actions
shown in split-screen sequences don’t have to occur in
separate locations. Sometimes split screen can be used
to fragment action happening in the same place at the
same time for expressive reasons not as well suited to
parallel editing. When young Napoleon picks a fight with
his entire dormitory, Abel Gance’s silent epic Napoleon
(1927) captures the chaos of the ensuing pillow fight (it’s
more serious than it sounds) by breaking the screen into
nine equal sections, all of which show different angles
on the same melee. Darren Aronofsky uses split screen
2 in Requiem for a Dream (2000) to combine close-ups of
characters’ faces with extreme close-ups of their actions
Comparative split screen or points of view in a way that would otherwise be im-
Split screen can do more than show different physical viewpoints of possible in the frame. For example, a love scene places
the same or simultaneous action. Marc Webb’s romantic comedy one image of a character’s loving gaze alongside another
500 Days of Summer (2009) uses split screen to convey state of image of her finger stroking her partner’s lips. In an-
mind. When Summer throws a party and invites her ex-boyfriend
other sort of love scene, a close-up of a woman’s face on
Tom (who is still in love with her), cold reality plays out side by side
the top of the frame gazes down on extreme close-ups of
with Tom’s heartbreakingly unrealistic expectations [1]. Thirty-two
years earlier, Woody Allen’s romantic comedy Annie Hall used split- the “diet pills” to which she will soon be addicted. The
screen sequences to compare and contrast the perspectives of the
couple concerned. One sequence places Annie and Alvy’s respec-
tive psychotherapy sessions side by side as they relate diverging
interpretations of the same events [2].
LOOKING AT MOVIES
THE EVOLUTION OF EDITING:
CONTINUITY AND CLASSICAL CUTTING
Admittedly, that’s a long list. Think of it this way: If
the cutting crosses back and forth between two or more
simultaneous actions, you’re watching crosscutting. Inter-
cutting applies to any other edits that insert shots into a
scene from outside the action of that scene.
Editors are not limited to cutting shots together; ed-
iting can also break the screen into multiple frames and
images, a technique known as split screen. Like par-
allel editing, split screen typically depicts one or more
simultaneous actions, but since those actions are unin-
terrupted and adjacent (rather than crosscut), the com- VIDEO This tutorial explores the history of the
parisons they evoke and the relationships they imply are major innovations in continuity (or classical) editing
even more conspicuous. The Rules of Attraction (2002), in early cinema.
Roger Avary’s sardonic story of tangled relationships at
relative size of the drugs in the split frame conveys their

power over their user. LOOKING AT MOVIES
Even relatively brief moments are routinely frag- THE KULESHOV EXPERIMENT
mented in ways that allow editors to individually accen-
tuate specific components of a single action. For example,
during the Raising Arizona parallel editing chase scene
described earlier, a 7-second action of a chained dog at-
tacking (and just missing) Hi is conveyed in a sequence
of nine shots. The first four shots alternate between Hi’s
point of view of the dog racing toward him and the dog’s
moving-camera point of view of his intended victim.
The final five shots, all less than a half-second long, are
each devoted to highly specific canine-related subjects:
the dog’s final lunge, its teeth snapping inches from Hi’s
nose, its chain snapping taught, its collar jerking back, VIDEO In this tutorial, Dave Monahan attempts to
re-create the Kuleshov effect.
and finally its hard landing. This kind of fragmentation
does more than emphasize each discrete component of
the attack: the rapid-fire barrage of images infuses a feel-
ing of energy into the action. For this reason, fight scenes
in action movies are often fragmented in a similar fash-
ion. Darren Aronofsky used the term hip-hop montage shots provides a third and new meaning: “that person
for his use of a similar technique that fragments a sin- is looking at a tree.”
gle action in a way that also condenses time. In Requiem The early Russian film theorists and filmmakers placed
for a Dream, a jarring cause-and-effect series of extreme meaning through juxtaposition at the center of their
close-ups (that are each extremely short and extremely approach to filmmaking. These pioneers, including Ser-
specific) captures the process, as well as the exhilaration, gei Eisenstein, Vsevolod Pudovkin, and Lev Kuleshov,
of taking drugs. Repeating the technique five times over were the first filmmakers to systematically explore the
the course of the movie’s first 30 minutes helps convey expressive capacity of editing. In the 1920s, Kuleshov
the ritual (and habitual) aspect of the characters’ sub- conducted an experiment in which he juxtaposed a shot
stance abuse. Shortening and speeding up the sequence of an actor wearing a neutral expression with a number
each time it occurs suggests their accelerating addiction. of other shots and then screened them in sequence for
a test audience. When viewers saw the man paired with
a shot of a bowl of soup, they not only assumed he was
Juxtaposition and Meaning looking at the soup but also interpreted his expression
Juxtaposition refers to placing two shots together in se- as one of hunger. When shown the same shot of the ex-
quence. The creation and communication of meaning pressionless actor, but juxtaposed instead with the im-
through juxtaposition, a concept known as montage age of a girl in a coffin, viewers assumed a relationship
editing, is an essential aspect of editing that affects between the character and the corpse and felt the actor
nearly every cut in every film. Montage editing can be was expressing grief or remorse. Another juxtaposition,
as simple as showing the exterior of a building, then cut- this time with an attractive woman reclined on a couch,
ting to a shot of people in a room. Neither shot by itself caused viewers to read his expression as lustful. With
conveys that the room is inside the building, yet when this simple experiment, Kuleshov demonstrated a cre-
we watch the shots put together (or juxtaposed), that is ative capacity of film editing that editors still use: the
exactly what we assume. Likewise, when we see a shot juxtaposition of images to create new meaning not pres-
of someone looking, followed by a shot of a tree, we intu- ent in any single shot by itself.
itively understand that the person is looking at the tree. Pudovkin expanded upon the idea with an experi-
One shot tells us “that person is looking”; the other shot ment showing that shot order can influence meaning. He
tells us “here is a tree.” Only the juxtaposition of those started with three different close-up shots: A, a pistol
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10
11 12
Hip-hop editing in Requiem for a Dream

In Requiem for a Dream, a fast 5-second sequence fragments the experience of two characters shooting heroin into twelve extreme close-
ups. The technique condenses time and shows each cause-and-effect step of the process—right down to the cellular level. In narrative terms,
the sequence cinematically simulates the intoxicating rush that draws the protagonists into an ultimately devastating addiction. Director
Darren Aronofsky likens the expressive rapid-fire string of images and juxtaposition to the musical sampling of early hip-hop, an observation
that led him to dub his technique hip-hop montage.
being pointed; B, a man looking frightened; and C, the pairs contrasting or incongruent images in a manner
same man smiling. When the shots were shown in the that implies a thematic relationship. Sergei Eisenstein’s
BAC order, viewers understood the BA juxtaposition October (1928), an account of the Bolshevik Revolution
(frightened man/gun) as the man being frightened by the of October 1917, includes some of the earliest and most
gun. When the third shot of the man smiling was added, famous examples of associative editing. In one scene,
viewers assumed that the man had overcome his fear and shots of a mechanical peacock are intercut with shots
was demonstrating courage. But when a different audi- of a provisional governor to suggest the man is vain and
ence was shown the same shots in a new CAB sequence corrupted by power.
(smiling man/gun/frightened man), they interpreted the The climactic sequence of Francis Ford Coppola’s
man as reacting with cowardice. Pudovkin’s experiment epic Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now (1979) uses par-
was significant in asserting the flexibility of the viewers’ allel editing to incorporate associative juxtapositions
psychology. that lend symbolic meaning to the movie’s final act(s) of
The montage editing previously described functions violence. Special Operations Officer Benjamin Willard
on a relatively intuitive level. We apprehend the mean- has been sent on a mission to assassinate Colonel Walter
ing even when we do not overtly notice how it is being Kurtz, a rogue Special Forces officer who has abandoned
conveyed. Associative editing, also known as intellec- his command and led his troops into the jungle, where he
tual editing, uses juxtaposition to impart meaning in a has established himself as a ruthless philosopher king.
way that we usually can’t help but notice. This approach When Willard ultimately kills Kurtz with a machete, the
are watching any single shot from a film, our sense of the
overall space of the scene is necessarily limited by the
height, width, and depth of the film frame during that
shot. But as other shots are placed in close proximity to
that original shot, our sense of the overall space in which
the characters are moving shifts and expands. The jux-
taposition of shots within a scene can cause us to have
a fairly complex sense of that overall space (something
1 like a mental map) even if no single shot discloses more
than a fraction of that space to us at a time.
The power of editing to establish spatial relation-
ships between shots is so strong, in fact, that filmmakers
have almost no need to ensure that a real space exists
whose dimensions correspond to the one implied by ed-
iting. Countless films, especially historical dramas and
science-fiction films, rely heavily on the power of ed-
iting to fool us into perceiving their worlds as vast and
2 complete even as we are shown only tiny fractions of
the implied space. Because our brains effortlessly make
Associative editing spatial generalizations from limited visual information,
In the opening scene of Luc Besson’s science fiction-thriller Lucy George Lucas was not required, for example, to build
(2014), a recent acquaintance pleads with Lucy to deliver a briefcase an entire to-scale model of the Millennium Falcon to
to a mysterious Mr. Jang [1]. When editor Julien Rey inserts a shot convince us that the characters in Star Wars are flying
of a mouse approaching a baited trap [2], associative editing tells us
(and moving around within) a vast spaceship. Instead,
the true nature of this dangerous situation. After Lucy takes the bait
and enters a hotel to make the delivery, the editor intercuts shots
a series of cleverly composed shots filmed on carefully
of predatory cheetahs and their gazelle prey as the protagonist’s designed (and relatively small) sets could, when edited
situation goes from bad to worse. together, create the illusion of a massive, fully function-
ing spacecraft.
In addition to painting a mental picture of the space
scene unfolds in parallel with a native sacrifice happen- of a scene, editing manipulates our sense of spatial re-
ing outside. Juxtaposing shots of Willard slashing Kurtz lationships among characters, objects, and their sur-
with shots of tribespeople slaughtering a passive water roundings. For example, the placement of one shot of a
buffalo portrays Kurtz as a complicit participant and
depicts his execution as a ritual sacrifice performed in
an attempt to purge his assassin’s—and America’s—sins.
Coppola does something similar with parallel and asso- INTERACTIVE The editing interactive allows
ciative editing in a sequence from The Godfather (1972) you to rearrange the same three shots to change
discussed in Chapter 2. In that case, juxtaposing shots the way we interpret and engage a single narrative
scenario.
that depict a succession of mob murders with shots of a
baptism ceremony equates the killings with a sacred rite
of passage and points out the hypocrisy of the new crime
boss who ordered the murders as he vows to renounce
Satan.
Spatial Relationships
between Shots
One of the most powerful effects of film editing is to cre-
ate a sense of space in the mind of the viewer. When we
Spatial relations in a space chase

In 1977, George Lucas used a series of small sets to create the illusion of the massive Millennium Falcon in the original Star Wars. Six films
later, in J. J. Abrams’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), editing helps represent the interior space of a freighter huge enough to swallow
the Millennium Falcon whole. Combining footage shot on two relatively modest sets—the intersection of two long corridors and a small
crawl space—editors Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey use fragmentation, juxtaposition, crosscutting, and screen direction to create
the impression of a large labyrinth of passageways during a chaotic chase scene involving the ragtag protagonists, a couple of ruthless death
gangs, and a trio of ravenous space monsters.
person’s reaction (perhaps a look of concerned shock) maximizing the actor’s pauses between lines. Time nearly
after a shot of an action by another person (falling down always elapses between the last shot of one scene and
a flight of stairs) immediately creates in our minds the the first shot of the next. And unnecessary action—and
thought that the two people are occupying the same the time it consumes—is routinely removed from within
space, that the person in the first shot is visible to the scenes in a way that we’ve become conditioned to accept
person in the second shot, and that the emotional re- and understand without even noticing the missing time.
sponse of the person in the second shot is a reaction to For example, in Paul Greengrass’s The Bourne Supremacy
what has happened to the person in the first shot. To (2004), narrative suspense requires that we watch every
communicate all of these spatial relationships, editors step of a secret operative’s casual arrival home; context
rely on the juxtaposition of shots to convey meaning not tells us the fugitive Jason Bourne will be waiting for him—
contained in any single shot by itself—further evidence and that the operative may even be expecting Bourne.
that the tendency of viewers to interpret shots in rela- To go through the necessary buildup without wasting
tion to surrounding shots is the most fundamental as- precious screen time, the film’s editors used seven shots
sumption behind all film editing. totaling 42 seconds: a car driving down the street, the op-
erative climbing out of the parked car, the operative walk-
ing toward his door holding his key, the operative starting
to walk through the now-unlocked door, the operative’s
Temporal Relationships hand entering a code into a security system console, the
between Shots operative beginning to remove his overcoat, and the (now
Nearly every cut an editor makes provides an opportu- coatless) operative entering his kitchen. The audience
nity to expand or condense time. For the most part, this gets the full agonizing benefit of expecting Bourne to pop
temporal manipulation is more practical than expressive. up at any second, but the movie doesn’t have to spend the
The pace of an exchange between characters in separa- several minutes the full arrival home would have actually
tion can be sped up or slowed down by either trimming or consumed.
1
1
2
2
An ellipsis launches Lawrence of Arabia

In David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia (1962), set during World War I,
British Lieutenant T. E. Lawrence is a mischievous misfit who puts
matches out with his fingers to impress his fellow junior officers.
When an intelligence official orders him to track down and enlist re-
bellious Bedouin tribesmen to fight their mutual enemies, Lawrence
lights the official’s cigarette and considers the flame. Instead of put-
ting it out with his fingers, Lawrence says the dangerous mission “is
going to be fun,” then blows out the match [1]. An ellipsis cuts to the 3
Arabian Desert [2], instantly propelling Lawrence (and the viewer)
from the relative comforts of British headquarters to an unforgiving
landscape where our protagonist’s courage will be tested by more Ellipses for comic effect
than matchsticks. The juxtaposed moments are separated by many Edgar Wright’s zombie apocalypse comedy Shaun of the Dead (2004)
days and miles, but the thematic connection is immediate in every repeatedly uses sudden jumps in time and space to generate jarring
sense of the word. juxtapositions for comic effect. Two such ellipses happen in rapid or
der as the protagonists finally begin to realize their slacker existence
is under siege. A shot of Shaun and Ed frantically clubbing undead
invaders in their backyard [1] cuts to the roommates in their usual
sofa spots drinking tea and eating ice cream [2] while a TV news-
Oftentimes, editing is used to jump from one moment
caster reports that those bitten by zombies turn into zombies them-
to another in ways that are more evident—and more ex- selves. Another ellipsis then jumps to Shaun and Ed timidly calling
pressive. This temporal leap between shots is called an upstairs to their recently bitten roommate [3].
ellipsis. These cuts often interrupt the action of a scene
unexpectedly, usually in the middle of a continuing ac-
tion, and involve significant leaps of time. The direct
connection of images and actions that would normally watching those missing events unfold on-screen. For
be temporally and spatially distant empowers the film- example, in Gus Van Sant’s Drugstore Cowboy (1989), a
maker to create meaning with juxtaposition that other- policeman offers an ultimatum to Bob, a drug addict and
wise would have been impossible. The ellipsis also makes thief. Bob can tell him where the stolen drugs are hidden
viewers fill in the gap in the story for themselves, a par- or the police will tear his house apart looking for them.
ticipatory experience that can be more rewarding than Before Bob can answer, an ellipsis shows us the scattered
debris of an exhaustive and destructive search. The

function of this ellipsis is not simply to save screen time.
Skipping past the cause (Bob’s refusal to cooperate) to
jump straight to the effect (his destroyed house) invites
us to imagine the defiance and vicious consequences in
a way that is ultimately more compelling—and amusing.
A montage sequence is an integrated series of shots
that rapidly depicts multiple related events occurring
over time. Music or other sound often accompanies the
sequence to further unify the presented events. Although
all aspects of editing are related, the montage sequence
should not be confused with montage editing. Montage—
from the French verb monter, “to assemble or put to-
gether”—is French for “editing.” Because French schol- 1
ars and filmmakers were the among the first to take
cinema seriously as an art form, their broad term wound
up applied to more than one specific editing approach.
Montage sequences are usually used to condense time
when an accumulation of actions is necessary to the
narrative, but developing each individual action would
consume too much of the movie’s duration. Common
multi-event narrative progressions (such as a charac-
ter falling in love, undergoing a makeover or similar
transformation or training for some sort of occasion or
competition) are so often represented using a montage
sequence that the technique is sometimes the object of
parody. But the montage sequence can be both useful
and effective, and its application is not limited to these
time-condensing tropes. 2
Wes Anderson’s quirky coming-of-age comedy Rush-
more (1998) employs four distinct montage sequences, Citizen Kane montage sequence
each for a different narrative reason, and each set to an While many montage sequences have been used to portray char-
acters falling in love, one of cinema’s most eloquently expressive
infectious 1960s British rock song. The first sequence
examples of the technique chronicles the opposite process. This
conveys important character information and helps ex Citizen Kane (1941) montage sequence, set entirely in the same
plain why the irrepressible protagonist Max Fisher is dining room, opens with a two-shot that dollies in on the newlyweds
one of the worst students at the Rushmore Academy. Charles and Emily flirting in close proximity [1], then cuts back and
Nineteen artfully staged compositions, each portraying forth between single medium shots of each as they talk together
Max’s role in a different extracurricular activity, quickly over breakfast. As the sequence progresses, the characters grow
older and the dialogue grows colder until a slow-disclosure dolly-out
demonstrate Max’s ridiculously ambitious participation
reveals the former lovers now sit silently at opposite ends of a long
in every possible school club. The second montage se- table [2].
quence condenses and combines multiple story develop-
ments: Max’s continuing crush on the Rushmore teacher
Rosemary Cross, his developing friendship with industri- sequence efficiently chronicles the escalating feud be-
alist Herman Blume, his adjustment to public high school tween Max and his former friend. Finally, after Rose-
after being expelled from Rushmore, fellow student mary rejects both Max and Herman, a training montage
Margaret Yang’s interest in Max, and the spark of attrac- sequence pokes gentle fun at the cliché as it shows the
tion between Rosemary and Herman. After Max discov- heartbroken friends reunited and working together in a
ers Herman and Rosemary’s romance, a third montage misguided attempt to win Rosemary back.
Sometimes the temporal relationship between shots During an unusually long 15-second freeze-frame that
doesn’t condense or propel time. Editors can juxtapose suspends the beating, Henry matter-of-factly contin-
shots in sequence in a way that extends an action across ues his narration—suggesting his blithe acceptance that
time. The same Soviet innovators who brought us as- violence is now part of his life. Francois Truffaut’s film
sociative editing and the Kuleshov effect innovated ed- The 400 Blows (1959) ends with one of the most famous
iting techniques that manipulate time in this way. The freeze-frames in cinema history. This character study
famous “Odessa Steps” sequence in Sergei Eisenstein’s of a troubled and misunderstood adolescent concludes
Battleship Potemkin (1925) begins with overlapping with the protagonist Antoine escaping a youth detention
action, the repetition of parts or all of an action using center. He runs away to the beach, a place he’s always
multiple shots. This repetition holds viewers momen- wanted to visit, where a long take follows him as he trots
tarily in a single instant of time, which assigns empha- to the water. But when he gets there, he doesn’t seem to
sis and significance to the extended action. In this case, know what to do. When Antoine turns to the camera, the
a young woman gaping in shock is shown three times in image freezes and an optical zoom brings us in close to
rapid succession. This overlapping action is followed by the ambiguous expression on his face. This unexpected
a succession of shots showing people fleeing down the
steps before the cause—advancing Cossack soldiers—is
revealed. Overlapping action is used throughout the se-
quence, most notably when a young mother collapses
after being shot by the Cossacks. Forty-two years later,
in Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde, overlap editing was
again used to depict someone falling after being shot,
only this time the victim was a notorious bank robber.
Editor Dede Allen sets up the film’s climactic scene with
a series of shots (including a last meaningful glance be-
tween the outlaw couple) that extend the moments be-
fore the protagonists are gunned down by police in a 1
hail of machine-gun fire. The sequence is heavily frag-
mented; twenty-five shots in 23 seconds are used to de-
pict the attack that kills Bonnie and Clyde. But this brief
burst of action itself is extended with slow-motion cin-
ematography and five overlapping action cuts of Clyde
falling to the ground.
Editing can even suspend the viewer in a single in-
stant. The freeze-frame suddenly stops a shot to hold on
a single “frozen” image of the arrested action. The editor
2
accomplishes this by simply repeating the same frame
for whatever length of time is required for the desired
Freeze-frames and final shots
effect. Martin Scorsese frequently uses the freeze-frame
The famous freeze-frame at the end of The 400 Blows [1] was the
in his gangster film Goodfellas (1990) to hold our gaze on inspiration for the freeze frame that concludes George Roy Hill’s
a specific image while the first-person voice-over narra- 1969 western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [2]. The two
tion from protagonist Henry Hill relates his memories movies use the same technique in the same place, but the context
and observations. The juxtaposition of the arrested ac- and the meanings are different. Antoine in The 400 Blows doesn’t
tion and the voice-over can convey meaning that neither know what will happen next, and neither do we, but context and
sound make it clear that Butch and Sundance most certainly die in a
the image nor the audio could do on its own. In one mon-
blaze of gunfire. Hill’s movie is about the end of the old West and the
tage sequence chronicling young Henry’s induction to beginning of the era that would mythologize it. Instead of showing
gangster life, his father savagely beats him for skipping the humbled heroes’ bloody defeat, the final frozen image trans-
school to do odd jobs for the neighborhood mobsters. forms the flawed characters into legendary Western archetypes.
(at the time audacious) ending denies resolution, which

is appropriate, since Antoine doesn’t know what’s going
to happen to him next, either. The freeze-frame makes
us spend time contemplating the uncertainty of both the
boy’s state of mind and his future.
Duration, Pace, and Rhythm

There is no such thing as fast or slow cutting. Every cut
in every film happens instantaneously; there is no varia-
tion in the time it takes a cut to move from one shot to an-
other. The characteristic that determines the speed with
which we experience edited sequences is not the cut be-
tween shots, but the duration of each of the assembled
shots, as measured in frames (usually 24 per second),
The content curve
seconds, and (occasionally) minutes. Our perception of
The black line at the peak of this bell curve represents the conven-
the duration of any shot is affected by the content that
tional point in any shot where the audience has absorbed all imme-
shot presents. A shot with relatively straightforward con- diately available information and is instinctively ready to see another
tent, such as a close-up of a coffee cup, can be on-screen shot. Cutting before that peak (represented by a red line) or after
for a relatively short amount of time because the viewer that peak (represented by a green line) changes the way the viewer
only needs a moment to understand and absorb that con- interprets and experiences the shot.
tent before she is instinctively ready for the next image.

Holding on that simple coffee cup for anything longer
than a few seconds, past the point where the audience
has absorbed all of its available information, may even the risk of visually exhausting their audiences and thus
make the viewer uneasy. In contrast, a shot containing diminishing the intended experience. Very short shots
a great deal of information, such as an establishing shot that cut before the peak of the content curve are also
with background detail and multiple interacting char used to simulate flashes of lost or suppressed memories.
acters, typically takes longer for the viewer to process Sydney Lumet’s The Pawnbroker (1964) is about an alien-
and thus may be held on-screen for significantly more ated Holocaust survivor who has repressed his painful
time before the audience is ready to move on to another past and rejected meaningful human contact. As events
viewpoint. This interplay between duration and infor- in his present life force him out of his self-imposed isola-
mation is known as the content curve because it can tion, fragmented memories begin to force their way back
be visualized as a bell curve, with the peak represent- into his consciousness, which editor Ralph Rosenblum
ing that point of optimum duration where a cut will presents as very short intercut shots that are initially
typically occur. Editors often use the concept when over before we can fully comprehend their content. As
deciding—or sometimes just sensing—how long to make the story progresses, the shots get longer until they are
each individual shot. no longer cut off before the peak of the content curve,
Editors can also deviate from standard practice for and we finally understand the events responsible for his
expressive purposes. If the editor cuts before the peak— damaged psyche.
that is, before the viewer has had time to fully compre- Holding a shot until after the peak of the content
hend the content and prepare for the next shot—the curve, past the point where the viewer has processed
technique can disorient the audience or create a sense of all of the immediately available information, can make
excitement as viewers attempt to keep up with the accel- the viewer feel trapped. Béla Tarr didn’t intend his film
erated pace. A series of shots cut at this point amplifies The Turin Horse (2011) as entertainment; he wanted
the effect. Music videos, commercials, and action mov- viewers to experience the heaviness of human existence.
ies take full advantage of the phenomenon, but often run The extremely long takes in the film force us to endure
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Cutting before the peak of the content curve

The content curve is used to convey repressed memories in Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers (1994). When a TV reporter asks the impris-
oned Mickey Knox about his father, the normally cool mass murderer is momentarily shaken. Editing shows us why. Three very short images
of a snarling man (8 frames long [1], 1 frame long [2], and 1 frame long [3]) flash across the screen so quickly the viewer can only register a
sense of violent rage before the sequence cuts back to Mickey [4] for 20 frames—long enough for us to read his unsettled expression. Dura-
tion and juxtaposition give us a glimpse of Mickey’s suppressed past that he does not share with the reporter.
the mundane tasks that fill the characters’ bleak lives flows. The pace of a scene or sequence is accomplished
in real time. But being stuck in a shot beyond when we by using shots of the same general duration. An action
would normally be ready to move along does not have sequence using a series of short-duration shots could be
to be unpleasant. In some contexts, extended duration described as fast paced. A slow-paced sequence made up
causes viewers to look deeper into an image in search of of shots of a similarly long duration might be found in
meaning not readily apparent at first glance. Consider a serious dialogue-driven drama. Rhythm in editing ap-
the close-up of the gorilla in Visitors (2013) from the dis- plies to the practice of changing the pace, either gradu-
cussion of the long take in Chapter 6. If the shot had cut ally or suddenly, during a scene or sequence.
after a few seconds, viewers may have only registered: The German thriller Run Lola Run (1998) makes use
“There’s a gorilla.” But when compelled to stare into the of pace and rhythmic shifts to create a sense of urgency,
primate’s eyes for more than 2 minutes, we can’t help punctuate key moments, and convey state of mind in an
but contemplate her existence and perspective. opening sequence in which Lola gets a call from her boy-
When the editor employs patterns of duration over friend, Manny. We learn that she was supposed to give
time, she is using pace and rhythm. Those two terms Manny a ride earlier that morning but didn’t show up
are often used interchangeably, but there are important because her scooter was stolen. Manny, a low-level crim-
differences. Pace is the speed at which a shot sequence inal, needed the lift to deliver a bag of cash to his boss.
Cutting after the peak of the content curve

In Stanley Kubrick’s Cold War satire Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned
to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), a deranged general ex
plains a bizarre conspiracy theory to an officer he has taken prisoner.
The ridiculous situation is made all the more awkward when it is pre-
sented in a single extended shot lasting more than 2 minutes that
makes the viewer feel as trapped as the general’s hostage. The lon-
ger duration also allows us to notice details we may have missed in 2
a shorter shot, such as the decorative pistols on the wall, which are
framed so that they appear to be pointed at the anxious victim of The duration, the pace, and the rhythm
the general’s paranoia. The climactic three-way standoff in Sergio Leone’s Western The
Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) starts with an extreme long
shot [1] lasting 36 seconds that establishes the spatial relationship
between the three gunslingers described in the film’s title. The
next seventy-three shots cut back and forth between shots of the
characters as they size each other up and wait for their moment to
When Lola didn’t show up, he was forced to take the sub-
draw and fire. The tension increases as shots get closer and shorter
way. While on the train, Manny assisted a homeless man and the pace gradually increases over the course of three rhythmic
who had stumbled, leaving the bag momentarily unat- shifts. By the time the bullets fly, the final three extreme close-ups
tended. At that moment, Manny noticed police on board, each last only a fraction of a second. The shot of Angel Eyes (“the
so he reflexively ducked out of the train. This first sec- Bad”) going for his gun lasts 5 frames (less than one-quarter of a
second) [2].
tion of the sequence is covered in fifty-three shots that
crosscut between images of Lola in her bedroom, Manny
in a phone booth, and shots depicting the events Manny
is recounting. The average shot length is about 2½ sec-
onds, setting a brisk pace appropriate to the building with the slightly longer shots of Manny’s face registering
tension, which is reinforced by the subtle but steady beat realization.
of the underlying score music. The rhythm shifts again as Lola and Manny each re-
The sequence’s first major rhythmic shift covers the peatedly voice that terrible realization—the bag—in a
next series of shots, which depict Manny’s recollection rhythmic sequence of ten shots (all less than a second
of what happened after he exited. A 4-second shot of long), that bounces back and forth between Lola and
Manny walking onto the subway platform is followed Manny three times before settling on images showing
by a shot that is only 4 frames (or one-sixth of a second) Lola repeating the words four times from different angles.
long: the bag of cash left behind on the seat. The image After two relatively long shots (4 seconds and 3 sec-
comes and goes so quickly, we barely have time to regis- onds) that show Manny trying (but not succeeding) to
ter the content before it is replaced by a half-second shot get back on the train, a series of five 1½-second shots
of Manny. This pattern (4 frames of the bag, followed by cuts back and forth between Manny and the departing
a half-second of Manny) is repeated twice more, with the bag—another sudden rhythmic shift that ratchets up
short shots functioning as flashes of memory juxtaposed the tension before resolving with a 4-second shot of the
train departing the station. That relatively long shot be- remains predominant in most of the movies and televi-
gins a series of eight shots of similar duration showing sion produced today.
the homeless man picking up the bag, seeing the bundles But movies are a malleable medium. Even in cine-
of cash inside, and stepping off the train with it as we ma’s infancy, some filmmakers were more concerned
hear Manny and Lola frantically speculate about what with ideas and expression than with orientation and in-
happened to the lost money. visibility. They embraced discontinuity editing, which
That temporary lull in pace sets us up for the final emphasizes dynamic, often discontinuous relationships
climactic shifts in rhythm that convey Manny’s esca- between shots, including contrasts in movement, camera
lating anxiety. A series of twelve shots, all 16 frames angle, and shot type. This approach deliberately incor-
(two-thirds of a second) or less long, cuts between the porates abrupt spatial and temporal shifts between shots,
homeless man exiting the subway and the various coun- especially if doing so conveys meaning or provokes reac-
tries (in Manny’s imagination) the new owner may have tion. Instead of seeking to make viewers forget they are
taken the money. Suddenly, the rhythm shifts again for watching a movie, discontinuity editing calls attention
a 2-second panic-attack barrage of fifty shots, each only to itself as an element of cinematic form. Discontinuity
1 frame long. The first half pummels the viewer with ex- editing was pioneered by the same Soviet filmmakers
otic locations one might use a found fortune to visit. The whose experiments and innovations with juxtaposition
final burst intersperses a repeated image of the ruthless and order we discussed earlier in this chapter. Eisenstein,
crime boss, Ronnie, staring directly into the camera. Kuleshov, Pudovkin, and others influenced the maverick
directors of the French New Wave of the 1950s and 1960s,
who in turn inspired a generation of Hollywood and inde-
pendent filmmakers looking for expressive alternatives
Major Approaches to conventional continuity. The resulting discontinuous
to Editing: Continuity editing techniques include associative editing, the freeze-
and Discontinuity frame, split screen, the jump cut, and the ellipsis.
Like realism and antirealism, continuity and discon-
The world we live in today is inundated with motion pic- tinuity are not absolute values but are instead tenden-
tures. From our modern perspective, it may be difficult
to imagine how astounding, and potentially confound-
ing, movies were to their first audiences. No one at the
beginning of the twentieth century had any experience
with photographic images that moved, much less moving LOOKING AT MOVIES
pictures that jumped instantaneously between different THE EVOLUTION OF EDITING:
viewpoints and points in time. In most of the world, the MONTAGE
first filmmakers to employ editing were in the business
of entertainment. To attract and satisfy audiences, they
had to develop methods that exploited the expressive
power of cinema without confusing their fledgling view-
ers. They also recognized the movies’ unprecedented
capacity to transport viewers into a different world and
so took care to avoid reminding audiences they were
watching a manufactured illusion. The continuity
editing that evolved out of these concerns seeks to keep
viewers oriented in space and time, to ensure a smooth
and subtle (preferably invisible) flow between shots, and VIDEO This tutorial explores montage and
to maintain a logical connection between adjacent shots discontinuity editing in Sergei Eisenstein’s film
and scenes. Because commerce and coherence are still Battleship Potemkin.
vital elements of mainstream movies, continuity editing
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Continuity editing in the classic Casablanca

This scene that introduces the protagonist of the Hollywood classic Casablanca (1942) flows smoothly from shot to shot, each of which has a
meaning that is directly related to those that precede and follow it. The moving camera and the editing always let us know us exactly where
we are in space and in the story.
cies along a continuum. An average Hollywood movie its very last shot, when a discontinuous freeze-frame best
may exhibit continuity in some parts and discontinuity provides the narrative the thematic resolution it requires.
in others, even if the movie’s overall tendency is toward Lucy inserts associative images, such as incautious mice
conventional continuity. Similarly, an experimental film and hunted gazelles, into sequences that otherwise ad-
that is mostly discontinuous may include scenes that here to standard continuity.
employ continuity editing. Many of today’s creative film-
makers use whichever approach best suits the expressive
needs of the story at any given moment. We’ve already Conventions of Continuity Editing
encountered plenty of evidence of this practice earlier Continuity editing seeks to achieve logic, smoothness,
in this chapter. For example, Butch Cassidy and the Sun- sequential flow, and the temporal and spatial orienta-
dance Kid employs conventional continuity right up until tion of viewers to what they see on the screen. As with so
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Discontinuity in the groundbreaking Breathless

The scene that opens Jean-Luc Godard’s seminal French New Wave film Breathless (1960) makes little or no attempt to orient viewers in
time and space. There are no clear spatial cues to tell us if the woman in shot [2] is looking at the smoking man in shot [1] or the car in shot
[3]. When the scene cuts to the man stealing the car [4], nothing in the coverage or the edit makes it clear where he is in relationship to his
accomplice or even if it is the same car we saw before. Godard’s use of discontinuity compels the viewer to figure out spatial, temporal, and
even narrative relationships using the images provided.
many conventions of film production, the conventions Maintaining a coherent sense of space in a medium that
of continuity editing remain open to variation, but in comprises constantly shifting viewpoints is one of conti-
general, continuity editing ensures that nuity editing’s primary functions. Filmmakers have de-
veloped a number of different techniques to help viewers
what happens on the screen makes as much maintain their bearings from shot to shot.
narrative sense as possible.
Shot Types and Master Scene Technique As we
screen direction is consistent from shot to shot.
learned earlier in this chapter, the master scene tech-
graphic, spatial, and temporal relations are nique provides the editor with a variety of different shot
maintained from shot to shot. types covering the same action so that the scene may be
between different implied proximities and thus avoid

jarring leaps in spatial perspective. Cinematographers
also vary the angle of their camera position in relation
to the subject when shooting coverage so that when the
editor does cut from, say, a medium shot to a close-up of
the same character, there is enough variation in framing
to avoid a jarring effect that makes the subject appear to
“jump” forward or backward. This so-called 30-degree
1 rule states that the camera should shift at least 30 de-
grees between different shot types of the same subject.
Filmmakers sometimes intentionally break this rule to
intentionally “jump” in at (or away from) a character
or object multiple times in quick succession, an effect
called the three-shot salvo.
The 180-Degree Rule and Screen Direction Screen

direction applies to both the movement of subjects in the
frame and to the direction each subject faces in relation
2
to other characters. If either is inconsistent from shot to
shot, the scene risks losing its spatial coherence. For ex-
ample, if we are watching two different characters inter-
act across different shots, as long as character A is facing
left and character B is facing right, we intuitively under-
stand that characters A and B are facing each other, even
if we don’t see them together in the same frame. But if
character A is suddenly facing right in her shots, just like
character B, it now appears as if they are both looking in
3 the same direction, rather than speaking face to face. To
The three-shot salvo

Intentional discontinuity in the form of a jarring sequence of increas-
ingly closer shots all captured from the same camera angle is some-
LOOKING AT MOVIES
times used to punctuate particularly shocking moments, in this case
a high school teacher’s sudden realization he’s been caught falsify- THE 180-DEGREE RULE
ing the student body president election results in Alexander Payne’s
Election (1999).
constructed using the framing that best serves each dra-

matic moment. The master shot is a long shot covering
most or all of the scene’s action. The editor uses the mas-
ter shot to provide the viewer with a kind of reference
map: whenever the location, background detail, and spa-
tial relationship of the characters need to be established
(or reestablished), she can simply cut to the master shot
before proceeding with the rest of the scene. Typically, VIDEO This tutorial illustrates the 180-degree
coverage is captured in spatial increments (long shot, system by analyzing its use in a scene from Alfred
medium long shot, medium shot, medium close-up, Hitchcock’s Vertigo.
close-up, etc.) so that the editor can move gradually
Figure 8.1 | THE 180-DEGREE SYSTEM
Shots 1 and 2 are taken from positions within the same 180-degree space (green background). When viewers see the resulting shots
on-screen, they can make sense of the actors’ positions relative to each other. If a camera is placed in the opposite 180-degree space
(red background), the resulting shot reverses the actors’ spatial orientation and thus cannot be used in conjunction with either shot 1 or
shot 2 without confusing the viewer.
help editors avoid this spatial disjunction, cinematogra- 180-degree system—various editing techniques are used
phers devised the 180-degree rule. This system uses an to ensure that graphic, spatial, and temporal relations
imaginary line (called “the line,” or the axis of action) are maintained from shot to shot.
drawn between the interacting characters being photo-
graphed (Figure 8.1). Once the line is determined, the Match Cuts Editors use a match cut to carry an element
camera remains on the same side of the line as it moves from one shot into the next shot using action, graphic
from position to position to capture different shots. As content, or eye contact. These match cuts help create a
long as the camera stays within the 180-degree half- sense of continuity between contiguous shots in the same
circle defined by that line, the characters on-screen will scene or between shots that connect different scenes.
remain in the same relative spatial orientation regard-
less of which shots the editor chooses to use when cut- Match-on-Action Cut Cutting during a physical action
ting the scene. helps hide the instantaneous and potentially jarring
shift from one camera viewpoint to another. When con-
necting one shot to the next, a film editor often ends the
first shot in the middle of a continuing action and starts
Editing Techniques That the connecting shot at the same point in the same action.
Maintain Continuity As a result, the action flows so continuously over the cut
In addition to the fundamental building blocks—master between different moving images that most viewers fail
shot coverage and maintaining screen direction with the to register the switch. For example, suppose a class-
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Crossing the line for dramatic effect

Cinematographers and directors are careful to follow the 180-degree rule on set, so that editors can maintain spatial continuity when con-
structing sequences involving multiple shots with multiple characters. Keeping the camera in the half-circle defined by the imaginary line (the
axis of action) drawn between the characters ensures that each subject will remain on the same side of the frame in every shot. But some-
times, the filmmakers intentionally “jump the line” and shoot from the opposite side of the axis of action to provide the editor an opportunity
to punctuate a key moment. When the war hero Billy first meets NFL cheerleader Faison in Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2016),
the shots depicting their awkward small talk (a medium two-shot [1], and a series of shot/reverse shots like [2] and [3]) are all framed from
one side of the axis of action so that Billy is screen right and Faison is screen left. But the moment their encounter turns serious—when
Faison asks Billy about his religious faith—the coverage “jumps the line” so that the characters switch positions on screen [4]. This sudden
discontinuity grabs our attention and signals that this meet-cute is heading in a new direction.
room scene included the action of a student standing Eyeline Match Cut When looking at others, we humans
to ask a question. The coverage may include a medium are naturally drawn to the eyes. Filmmakers use this ten-
long shot of the assembled students, as well as a medium dency to create spatial continuity between sequenced
close-up of the student who asks the question. If the ed- shots depicting interacting characters. On set, camera
itor wanted to cut from the general shot of the students positions are calculated so that if one actor’s gaze is
to the medium close-up focused on the student asking aimed in a particular direction offscreen in one shot, the
the question, she could end the medium long shot in the direction of the other actor’s eyes is mirrored in the cor-
middle of the student’s action of standing and begin the responding shot. The direction in which an actor looks
subsequent medium close-up at approximately the same is known as his or her eyeline. When the editor cuts be-
point in that action. The continuous act of standing would tween two such corresponding shots, the resulting eye-
carry the viewer’s eye over the switch between spatial line match cut creates a logical and spatial connection
viewpoints. between the juxtaposed images.
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Match-on-action and eyeline cuts in Stagecoach

Near the conclusion of John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939), Doc Boone fearlessly confronts Luke Plummer, the outlaw that murdered his friend’s
father and brother. In response to Doc’s casual request, Luke slings a bottle of whisky down the bar. Doc catches the bottle with practiced
ease, then holds eye contact with Luke as he takes a drink—a display of confidence that unnerves the outlaw. A match-on-action edit uses
the movement of the bottle to cut from the medium long shot of the gathered patrons [1] to a medium shot of Doc [2]. An eyeline match cut
then uses Doc’s assured gaze [3] to make a spatial, logical, and meaningful connection to Luke’s corresponding reaction [4].
Graphic Match Cut By repeating a similar shape, color, positionally similar extreme close-ups of fingers ner-
or other compositional element from one shot to the vously scratching on the armrests of chairs links Chris’s
next, the graphic match cut implies a direct link between current situation with a hypnotically imposed childhood
the events and content presented in the two different memory. The fluid nature of time in Denis Villeneuve’s
shots. For this reason, graphic match cuts are often used Arrival (2016) is conveyed when an embrace between
to bridge scenes taking place in the present to sequences protagonist Louise Banks and her daughter cuts to a
depicting past events or memories. For example, when similarly composed shot of her hugging fellow scientist
the diabolical hypnotherapist Missy Armitage hypno- Ian Donnelly. When that cut happens, we assume the
tizes the protagonist Chris Washington in Jordan Peele’s graphic match is signaling the connection between a
Get Out (2017), a graphic match cut between two com- memory and a present event. Only later do we come to
For example, at the end of the infamous shower murder

sequence in Psycho (1960), director Alfred Hitchcock
matches two circular shapes: bloody water washing down
a round shower drain, and the lifeless eye of victim Mar-
ion Crane. Here the graphic match cut implies a meta-
phorical visualization of Marion’s life ebbing away.
Point-of-View Editing Point-of-view editing also uses

1 a character’s eyeline to create connections between sub-
jects in separate shots, but instead of simply imparting
a spatial relationship between interacting characters,
the point-of-view edit seeks to convey the viewpoint
and perspective of a character’s offscreen gaze. Most fre
quently, a point-of-view edit juxtaposes an objective shot
of a character looking offscreen with a shot of an object,
person, or action. The juxtaposition causes the viewer
to interpret the second shot as the object of the looking
character’s gaze. This framing of this point-of-view shot
2 often reflects a spatial relationship between the looking
character and the looked-at object. However, if the film-
makers wish to communicate how the looking character
feels about the object of her gaze, the second shot can be
framed in a way that conveys significance, rather than
distance.
Other Transitions between Shots

3
Jump Cut The term jump cut is often generally (and in-
Graphic match cut in 2001: A Space Odyssey correctly) applied to any noticeably discontinuous edit,
An instantaneous graphic match cut conveys an evolutionary leap but this particular editing technique defies our expecta-
spanning millions of years in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odys- tions of continuity in a very specific way. A jump cut is
sey (1968). After a prehistoric tribe of hominids discovers the first created when two shots of the same subject taken from
tool—a bone used as a weapon against an enemy band—one of
the same camera position are edited together so that the
the proto-humans celebrates the invention by tossing it in the air [1].
A shot tracking the bone’s trajectory [2] cuts to a spacecraft of the
action on-screen seems to jump forward in time. This
same general shape and position in the frame [3]. Eons of incremen- jump usually amounts to a matter of moments; the effect
tal advances driven by the desire of the human race to harness knowl- is often created using a single shot of an ongoing action.
edge are suggested in this graphic match cut, which itself harnesses The editor simply removes a portion of the shot and then
other editing techniques. The cut is perhaps the most dramatic ellip- relinks the remaining footage. Breathless, the influential
sis in cinematic history, and it uses associative editing to equate the
French New Wave film cited earlier in this chapter, was
first primitive tool with advanced space-age technology.
among the first to intentionally (and repeatedly) violate
conventional continuity with jump cuts that call atten-
understand that the causal and temporal relationship tion to the movie’s construction. For example, during a
actually moves in the opposite direction: the mother- scene of the young lovers Michel and Patricia primping
daughter embrace happens in the future; Ian will eventu- and flirting in the bathroom of Patricia’s apartment, edi-
ally marry Louise and father the girl. But not all graphic tor Cécile Decugis cuts five pieces out of one continuous
matches connect events happening at different times. shot, creating five obvious jump cuts. Decugis may have
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Point-of-view editing
Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954) tells the story of L. B. Jefferies, an adventurous globe-trotting photographer stuck in his New York City
apartment with a broken leg. To alleviate his boredom, Jefferies observes his neighbors. This point-of-view editing sequence conveys his initial
curiosity about a seemingly unhappy couple in the apartment across the courtyard—an interest that will eventually draw him into a murder
mystery. An initial shot of Jefferies looking offscreen [1] is followed by a second shot that depicts his point of view with a wide framing that
reflects the physical distance between Jefferies and the neighbors [2]. The sequence cuts back to Jefferies [3] as his expression indicates
growing interest. The cut to the next point-of-view shot [4] confirms that impression. The tighter framing conveys a psychological relationship,
not a spatial one. Jefferies hasn’t moved, yet the quarreling couple he’s looking at is larger in the frame, and thus reads as more significant
to his state of mind. As this brief setup suggests, Rear Window exploits the expressive power of point-of-view editing to explore themes of
perception and voyeurism.
made the jump cuts to add a sense of spontaneity to the Fade Unlike the cut, which moves from shot to shot in-
encounter or she may have simply edited out unneces- stantaneously, the fade transitions between shots over
sary material without regard for traditional continu- multiple frames. The first shot fades out (gets progres-
ity. The sequence accomplishes both. In contemporary sively darker) until the screen is entirely black. After a
films, intentional jump cuts are often used to express a moment, the succeeding shot fades in (becomes increas-
lack or loss of control in scenes featuring disturbed or ingly exposed). The editor can control the duration of
distressed characters. When the protagonist of Vincent every step of the process; the fade-out, the moment of
Gallo’s Buffalo 66 (1998) strides through a bus station in pure black, and the fade-in can each be as long or as short
search of a restroom, a series of jump cuts helps viewers as the edit requires. Fades are traditionally used as tran-
feel his distracted desperation. sitions from one scene to another. Because the darker/
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Jump cuts
In Duncan Jones’s dystopic science-fiction film Moon (2009), the lonely caretaker of an automated lunar mining station becomes convinced
that clones of himself are hidden somewhere in the sealed complex he inhabits. His desperate search of the facility is presented in an es-
calating series of jump cuts that lurch through his ongoing action [1, 2]. But jump cuts aren’t limited to conveying distress. When Harry and
Hermione share a dance in David Yates’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (2010), their mood is somber and their movements are
cut using continuity editing. But when the friends relax and begin to have fun, the editing signals the shift from careworn to carefree with a
playful series of jump cuts [3, 4].
black/lighter progression mimics the setting and ris- scored by the buoyant rhythm of the fades, which convey
ing of the Sun, a visual indicator of passing time in our both the passage of time and the character’s calm state
everyday lives, the fade is often used to emphasize the of mind.
passage of time between scenes. It should be noted that Fading into and out of colors other than black defies
almost every transition from one scene to the next in- expectations and adds new potential meanings. Perhaps
volves the passage of time, including those accomplished the most common such deviation is the fade to white.
with an instantaneous cut. Fades and other transitions Because this approach to the fade involves the image be
simply add additional weight to the temporal shift. A ing overwhelmed with light, the fade to white is often
slow fade at the end of a scene can also lend a solemn used to communicate a feeling of transcendence or obliv
sense of finality to the end of a dramatic scene, such as ion, as in the transition between the final shot and the
after the gunslinger-turned-lawman Wyatt Earp vows to end credits of Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About
avenge his young brother’s death at the boy’s makeshift Kevin (2011). After 17 years attempting to raise and love
grave in John Ford’s classic Western My Darling Clem- her emotionally detached and violent child, a mother
entine (1946). Fades can also be used within a scene, as visits the boy as he is being prepared to serve a prison
in John Boorman’s The General (1998), the story of the sentence for a massacre that claimed, among others, his
notoriously brazen thief Martin Cahill. A night scene father and sister. As she walks away from the son that
in which he breaks into the home of a wealthy family is destroyed everything she loved, including himself, the
presented in eleven brief segments, each separated by mother experiences a devastating ambivalence that com-
a fade. Cahill’s stealth and self-confidence are under- bines overwhelming loss and euphoric release, which is
1 2
3 4
5 6
Fade and dissolve in My Darling Clementine

When a shot of Wyatt Earp at his brother’s grave [1] fades [2] to a shot of Tombstone’s main street [3], the transition imbues a sense of so-
lemnity and emphasizes an important passage of time. In the grave scene, Earp has just taken on the position as town marshal. In the scene
following the fade, he’s been at the job for a while. Later in the story, when a shot of Earp cavorting at a church dance [4] dissolves [5] into a
shot of a communal Sunday dinner [6], the dissolve’s combined images help stress Earp’s (and Tombstone’s) increasing civilization.
visually expressed when her point of view of the prison gests a more violent transition. Unlike the subtler cut,
hallway is gradually consumed in white. In Cries and fade, and dissolve transitions, the ostentatious and old-
Whispers (1972), Ingmar Bergman builds the emotional fashioned wipe is rarely used in contemporary films. On
intensity of his story by cutting back and forth between those rare occasions when filmmakers do employ the wipe,
scenes of the past and the present and ending most of they usually do so to evoke a previous era. The wipes in
those scenes with a fade-out to a blood-red screen. Berg- Star Wars (1977) recall the look of the old 1930s Flash
man has said that he thinks of red as the color of the Gordon adventure movies that in part inspired direc-
human soul; his film’s sets also often feature the color. tor George Lucas. The overt flamboyance of the wipe is
The set designs and these edit transitions function in a also sometimes used to add a level of graphic energy to
symbolic system that suggests the cycles of life, love, and montage sequences, such as the one that introduces the
death. various scoundrels who populate Guy Ritchie’s raucous
2001 crime caper Snatch.
Dissolve A dissolve is similar to the fade in a number of
ways. Both the fade and the dissolve are commonly used
to transition between scenes but are sometimes used
within scenes or sequences: both are gradual rather than
instantaneous, and the editor controls the duration of
each. The differences lie in appearance and usage. With
a dissolve, the first shot is gradually replaced with the
second shot, with no intervening period of a solid color.
Instead, the first shot appears to dissolve into the sec-
ond, so that both images exist simultaneously for a mo-
ment before the first shot is completely replaced with
the new image. (It sounds more complicated than it
looks; usually, this entire process lasts only a matter of
a second or two.) Dissolves are also used to emphasize a 1
passage of time between scenes, but because the dissolve
combines the two shots so that they momentarily share
the screen, the technique is also often used to imply a
relationship between the people, objects, or events de-
picted in the scenes connected by the transition. A good
example can be found in My Darling Clementine, when a
scene depicting the normally rough and tumble Marshal
Earp participating in a church dance dissolves to a shot
of him carving meat at a communal Sunday dinner. A cut
or a fade might have sufficed to get from the last shot of
the dance scene to the first shot of the dinner scene, but
the dissolve more effectively conveys the relationship 2
between the events: both depict the former gunfighter’s
evolving role as a civilizing force in the community. Iris-in and iris-out
Volker Schlöndorff’s The Tin Drum (1979) contains an iris transition
Wipe Like the dissolve and the fade, the wipe is a tran- that denotes the passage of time, as well as the fall of a woman’s
sitional device—often indicating a change of time, place, fortunes. In a full-screen image, we see the young prosperous Anna
or location—in which shot B wipes across shot A ver- selling freshly killed geese. This image irises out [1] until the com-
pressed circular image around the young Anna transitions to another
tically, horizontally, or diagonally to replace it. A line
image [2] with a subsequent iris-in revealing Anna as a middle-aged
between the two shots suggests something like a wind- woman with only turnips to sell. This iris transition dramatically
shield wiper. A soft-edge wipe is indicated by a blurry and economically portrays the social shift in Germany caused by
line; a hard-edge wipe by a sharp line. A jagged line sug- World War I.
Iris Shot An iris shot appears on the screen in two Once you are able to identify what the scene is trying to
ways. The iris-out begins with the image shown as a do, you can be prepared to evaluate how editing is ap-
large circle, which shrinks and closes in around the sub- plied toward those goals.
ject, leaving the rest of the surrounding screen in black. City of God is a 2002 film set in the 1970s in the favela
The iris-in works in the opposite direction. The image (“shanty town”) of Cidade de Deus (aka City of God) out-
begins as just a small circle in a field of black, and then side Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The movie relates the rise
expands. These terms can be confusing, since the circle of organized crime in the slum through a number of in-
of an iris-in is actually expanding outward. In this case, terconnected characters, principally Li’l Zé, the socio
the “in” refers to the shot image, which is expanding into pathic leader of a criminal gang, and Rocket, a young
the frame and into the edit. Likewise, the shot in an iris- photographer struggling to escape the favela’s poverty
out is being moved out of the sequence to be replaced by and violence. Editor Daniel Rezende packs a lot of story
another image. Like the wipe, the iris-in and iris-out are into the 155 shots that make up the film’s first 3½ min-
associated with early cinema and thus are rarely used in utes. A boisterous outdoor party is underway in the
modern films. But these transitions still carry expressive crowded favela: musicians play, drinks are mixed, and
potential in the right context. For example, in Gus Van food is prepared. A chicken about to be slaughtered for
Sant’s To Die For (1995), an iris-out conveys the state of stew meat slips out of the string that binds his foot and
mind of Suzanne Stone Maretto, a small-town woman bolts an escape down the slum’s narrow winding alley-
obsessed with becoming a TV celebrity. When her un- ways. Li’l Zé spots the runaway bird and orders his mot-
ambitious husband proposes that she abandon her pipe ley gang of young men to catch it. A chaotic chase ensues.
dreams and help him work at the family restaurant, an Nearby, Rocket and a friend walk and talk about Rocket’s
iris-out takes over Suzanne’s point of view to squeeze plan to take a risky photo as a way to get a job at a news-
his oblivious face into a tiny circle, which then closes to paper. Meanwhile the chase continues. When a man
black, thus visualizing her contempt. carrying a load of pots and pans momentarily hampers
the pursuit, Li’l Zé pushes him down, draws a pistol, and
threatens the man. The chicken flies into a street, where
it is almost run over by a passing police truck. Rocket and
his friend, who are now walking down the same street,
Looking at Editing: find themselves facing both the chicken and the armed
City of God thugs pursuing her. Li’l Zé orders Rocket to catch the
chicken, but his attempt to comply is interrupted when
As a viewer, you can get a sense of the overall effects policemen pile out of the truck, the gang members draw
of an editor’s decisions by studying a film as a creative their guns, and our protagonist finds himself caught be-
whole. But you can effectively analyze an editor’s con- tween the heavily armed adversaries.
tributions to a film only by closely examining specific This opening credit sequence serves a number of func-
scenes and sequences. For this reason, we will limit this tions. It introduces and differentiates the two principal
case study to the intertwined scenes that make up City characters: Li’l Zé and Rocket. It also establishes the
of God’s opening credit sequence. To understand the setting as crowded and dirty, but also vibrant, colorful,
editing in any scene, we need to determine the scene’s and full of life. Rocket’s impossible position is clearly vi-
intent. To do that, we must first ask ourselves a series of sualized and dramatized in the sequence’s final standoff.
questions. Perhaps most important, the central conflict of Rocket’s
struggle to escape the favela is presented metaphorically
What is the story of the scene, and how does that in the form of a desperate chicken. The sequence’s tone
story contribute to the movie’s overall narrative? is one of exhilaration and volatility, a mood that places
the viewer squarely inside life in the favela. The scene
What mood or tone does the scene impart? How does
that follows this sequence jumps back in time to begin
it make you feel?
the story in the 1960s when the characters are children.
What meaning and information do you comprehend Knowing how Li’l Zé and Rocket end up changes the way
while watching and after watching the scene? we understand and interpret the story of their begin-
1 2
3 4
Montage editing creates a fowl performance

The opening sequence in City of God demonstrates the montage editing principle Lev Kuleshov tested with his famous experiment: the
juxtaposition of images can create new meaning not present in any single shot by itself. When we see shot [1] and shot [2] juxtaposed in
sequence, we assume the chicken is watching another chicken being plucked and interpret its expression as one of trepidation. Later in the
same sequence, the juxtaposition of a chicken carcass lowered into a pot [3] with a close-up of our star chicken [4] makes us believe that
witnessing its fellow hen’s fate is increasing its anxiety.
nings. In addition, the chicken-chase scene and its after- favela where the story is set) and enlisted the documen-
math is repeated and extended at the end of the movie. tary filmmaker Kátia Lund as his codirector. Much of
When we ultimately see the scenes again, we know that the movie—and this scene in particular—was shot docu-
the photo Rocket seeks is an image documenting Li’l Zé’s mentary style, with mobile handheld cameras capturing
criminal activities. Seeing the action once more in the action as it unfolded. This approach imbues the footage
context of previous events alters our experience the sec- with a dynamic energy that serves the story’s tone, but
ond time around. The stakes are higher, since we have it also limits the editor’s ability to employ conventional
now come to care about Rocket and his goals—and have continuity. Most of the cuts in this sequence use discon-
learned to fear Li’l Zé. tinuity and fragmentation, which reinforce the anarchic
Because editors must work with the footage provided, vitality of the setting, characters, and story.
how a scene is shot has a profound influence on the way
that scene is cut. For this reason, considering the way
in which a scene was photographed is another useful The Opening Sequence
step in any editing analysis. Director Fernando Meire-
lles wanted to give the film a sense of realism, so he cast Sharpening the knife The scene begins with a black,
mostly nonactors (many of whom were residents of the silent screen. The film’s first shot, a sudden extreme
close-up of a knife blade stroked quickly across a stone, for 44 frames (less than 2 seconds) before another knife
is on-screen less than a half-second before it is replaced stroke takes its place. Even the movie’s title card doesn’t
by a cut to black that lasts just over 1 second. This black- merit much screen time in this frenetic sequence.
blade-black pattern repeats three more times, with each
knife shot lasting less than 11 frames, thus pushing the The chicken gets the gist The next 43-second sec-
limits of the content curve—we have just enough time tion maintains the rapid-fire pace with sixty-six shots
to recognize the content before the image is over. In- with an average shot length of 16 frames. No master shot
terspersing longer durations of black makes these short is employed, so we are never exactly sure where we are
knife shots feel even more abrupt, and the back and or where each element is in relation to the many other
forth pattern initiates a propulsive visual rhythm that is people and objects that populate the scene. In fact, every
further accentuated by the alternating direction of the image is an extreme close-up containing only one small
blade strokes and the Latin drum music slowly rising in piece of the overall action. The fragmentation includes
the background. These images of implied violence, and shots of vegetables being chopped, instruments being
the way they are presented and repeated, create an in- played, people dancing, butchered chickens, and—of
stant and exhilarating expectation. We know that any course—the knife being sharpened. Many of these ac-
blade shown repeatedly and up close is bound to be used. tions are overlapped and repeated in ways that add to the
The pattern is broken by an 11-frame extreme close-up edit’s percussive nature. Interspersed throughout these
of a guitarist’s hand gripping a fretboard. The Sun flares myriad fragments are seven different close-up shots of
in the frame, and this burst of light is used to create a particular chicken in the act of looking. Rezende uses
a graphic match cut to a camera flash in the next shot: montage editing to convey the chicken’s state of mind and
an intercut image of Rocket taking a photograph. This tell a story. The same principles Kuleshov demonstrated
camera pulls back, and the film’s title appears—but only in his experiment impel us to interpret the chicken’s
1 2
Editing differentiates characters

During City of God ’s opening scene, Li’l Zé himself is portrayed in
an overlapping action jump cut linking two extreme close-ups of his
laughing face [1, 2]. His distorted features combine with the discon-
tinuity to imply instability and menace. The protagonist Rocket is
introduced in a way that clearly differentiates the young photog
rapher from his volatile nemesis. The sustained and smooth shot [3]
is in stark contrast to the fast-paced handheld fragmentation that
dominates the rest of the sequence.
3
expression as increasingly fearful each time the bird’s

staring face is juxtaposed with another extreme close-up.
Editing makes it seem as if she is ogling the knife being
sharpened, a carrot being chopped, and another, less for-
tunate chicken having its throat cut, getting plucked, be-
ing lowered into boiling water, and finally gutted.
The chicken escapes The next fourteen shots present

a rhythmic and narrative shift. The average shot dura-
tion almost doubles, and only three images of the party
1
are included. The action is still highly fragmented, but
the focus is now clearly on the chicken. Three sequential
shots show different discontinuous angles of the chicken
tugging on, pecking at, and slipping free of its string
leash. In a conventional continuity–style sequence, these
actions would seem disjointed, but by this stage in the
sequence, viewers have been conditioned to a different
way of seeing. A single 19-frame shot of a hand striking a
tambourine separates the leash sequence from another
fragmented action: five shots depict the chicken jumping
off the party platform and flapping to the alleyway
below. The final downward tilt shot of this leap to free-
dom leads to a kind of comparative match cut that ex- 2
tends the downward movement of the chicken’s landing
over the cut to another downward tilt shot to reveal the
blood and feathers of less rebellious poultry. A rhythmic
shift concludes the sequence with a 4½-second shot
(more than twice as long as any other shot in the scene
thus far) of the chicken peering around a corner and
treading cautiously into a walkway. At least the chicken
seems to be peering and treading, thanks to the previous
juxtapositions that have invested the runaway fowl with
a goal-driven personality. This sustained shot provides a
reprieve from the nonstop action and editing, as well as a
sort of false resolution. For a brief moment, it seems the
chicken is safe at last. 3
Violating the 180-degree rule to convey character

The Chase, Part 1 That expectation is quickly shat- The camera viewpoint jumps back and forth across the axis of ac-
tered when Li’l Zé notices the loose chicken and gleefully tion [1–3] to repeatedly reverse spatial orientation during a recurring
orders his gang to capture the bird. The young crew leaps action in a way that conveys the violent instability of the charac-
into action, and so does the determined chicken. The av- ter Li’l Zé.
erage shot duration lengthens to two full seconds in this

fifteen-shot sequence. But the pace doesn’t necessarily stinctively ready for the next shot. The chase through
diminish, since the wider-framed shots contain setting the winding alleyways is disorderly, but not necessarily
details, multiple subjects, and physical action. This more discontinuous. Although the action is captured with a
complex subject matter takes longer to process, which handheld camera from constantly shifting perspectives,
means that it takes the viewer more time to feel in- the unbroken action of the running men unifies the
The Chase, Part 2 This sequence of twenty-four shots

picks up the pace of the chase by shortening the aver-
age shot length to 1¼ seconds. When the gang’s pursuit
intersects the path of a man carrying a load of tin cook-
ware, discontinuity is again employed to characterize
Li’l Zé as dangerously unstable. The gang leader shoves
the man to the ground in one shot. For the next shot, the
camera violates the 180-degree rule by crossing the line
to show a reversed composition of the characters per-
forming the same overlapped action. The camera then
1 once again jumps the line back to its original position to
repeat the same action in the opposite spatial orienta-
tion we just witnessed. A measure of continuity returns
when a match-on-action is used to link the two to a shot
depicting Li’l Zé drawing his gun to threaten his victim.
But it doesn’t last—Li’l Zé’s action of yelling after his
scrambling underlings is conveyed with a jump cut. The
pursuit continues with alternating shots of the sprinting
gang and the fleeing chicken until the chase sequence
finally concludes with five shots that fragment the ac-
tion of the chicken taking a flying and flapping leap into
a city street.
The Standoff in the Street The parallel actions of

Point-of-view editing Rocket and Li’l Zé (and the chicken) converge in the open-
The final moments of City of God ’s opening sequence uses point-
ing’s final sequence of twenty-two shots. A change in pace
of-view juxtapositions like this one [1, 2] to structure the scene
around the protagonist Rocket.
momentarily reduces the manic energy; the 2¼-second
average shot length is the longest we’ve experienced so
far. But the tension doesn’t fully dissipate; it simply re
focuses. The moment the chicken runs into Rocket, the
multiple angles and allows for cuts that match on the ac- young photographer takes over as the target of the gang
tion of their movements. and the center of the scene. This pivotal position is re-
flected in the editing that uses point of view to struc-
Parallel Editing One minute forty-three seconds into ture the remaining shots around Rocket. He is either the
the film, an extended and stable shot suddenly interrupts looking character whose point of view the next shot de-
the pandemonium of the chicken chase. At 13½ sec- picts or the subject of a point-of-view shot that follows
onds, the shot of Rocket and a friend discussing a photo- a looking shot of Li’l Zé and his gang. The scene’s final
graph is almost three times longer than any other shot in shot uses the act of looking to launch a graphic match cut
the film’s opening sequence. This sudden rhythmic and that propels the story back in time. As Rocket crouches
stylistic shift clearly differentiates the protagonist from defensively and looks back and forth between the po-
the chaos that precedes his appearance. As Rocket walks lice and the gang, the camera rapidly circles the trapped
off the screen, a cut to Li’l Zé leading his minions drops protagonist until the shot dissolves into an image of the
us back into the action. character as a child hunkered in defense of a soccer goal.
1 2
A moving graphic match transition

A revolving shot of Rocket [1] dissolves into a shot that matches the camera movement as well as the subject’s crouching posture [2]. This
graphic match transitions to a Rocket as a child in a scene set in the previous decade.
ANALYZING EDITING
Studying a film as a whole can provide you with a and ordered. Don’t let editing’s intentional invisibility
sense of the editing styles and techniques the movie make you miss cuts and other transitions. Resist the
employs. But to effectively analyze how editing shapes tendency to consider editing an inevitable assembly
your experience, you must closely examine specific of predetermined shots. Remember that fragmenta-
scenes and sequences, paying attention to the ways tion, juxtaposition, and duration can impart meaning,
in which individual shots have been selected, linked, mood, and state of mind.
SCREENING CHECKLIST: EDITING

Determining the intent of a scene will help Look for different types of match cuts in the
you understand how and why editing is used. film. What sort of visual or narrative information
Ask yourself what is the story of the scene, is each match cut conveying?
and how does that story contribute to the
Is editing used to convey spatial relationships
movie’s overall narrative? What mood does between characters, objects, and actions? If
the scene make you experience? What mean- so, how?
ing and information do you derive from watch-
ing the scene? Does the scene use point-of-view editing? If
so, does the point-of-view shot convey a spatial
Are actions and events presented in a single or psychological relationship?
unbroken shot or are they fragmented into
How does time function in the sequence? Is
multiple shots? If fragmentation is used, time condensed between shots? Are transi-
how does it affect your understanding and tions used to indicate or emphasize a move-
experience? ment through time?
Remember that juxtaposing two images can Do any shots seem to be cut before or after
create new meaning not present in either the peak of the content curve? How does
shot by itself. What kind of juxtapositions deviating from a standard approach to duration
in the scene or sequence impart a third and change the way you experience and interpret
new meaning? the shot?
As each shot cuts to the next shot in the scene moments appear on-screen. What do you
or sequence, tap your finger to get a feeling think is the significance of these discontinuous
for the pace of the editing. How would you de- edits? What information, meaning, or mood do
scribe that pace? Does it stay constant or does they impart?
it speed up or slow down? How do rhythmic
Keep track of the types of transitions from shot
shifts and patterns affect mood and meaning? to shot and scene to scene. Are the transitions
Are there any moments in the scene in which smooth and subtle or intentionally jarring?
the traditional conventions of continuity editing What information and meaning, if any, is con-
are violated in some way? Describe how these veyed by the transition?

1. What is the basic building block of film editing? 7. Name and describe the various types of match cuts.
2. What are the five primary functions of editing? 8. What is the difference between crosscutting and
3. What are some of the differences between editing intercutting?
of narrative movies and documentaries? 9. How is the content curve used to determine the
4. How does editing influence and inform the way duration of a shot?
movies are shot? 10. What is discontinuity editing? Given the dominance
5. What is continuity editing? What does it contribute of continuity editing in mainstream filmmaking,
to a movie? what role does discontinuity editing usually play?
6. What is the purpose of the 180-degree system? How
does it work?
Dunkirk (2017). Christopher Nolan, director. Pictured (looking up ): Fionn Whitehead.
SOUND
CHAPTER
9
320 Chapter 9 Sound
about the creative powers of the human mind—how

LEARNING OBJECTIVES our thoughts and dreams create imaginary worlds—the
After reading this chapter, you should be able to story is complex and intellectually challenging. And the
nn explain the assumptions influencing contemporary sound design, which shifts seamlessly between imagina
sound design. tion and reality, and our perceptions of them, is equally
nn differentiate among sound recording, sound editing, caught up in its own intricacies. Richard King is respon
and sound mixing. sible for the memorable sound editing of Inception and
nn understand the perceptual characteristics of sound: many other distinguished movies, including War of the
pitch, loudness, and quality. Worlds (2005; discussed later in this chapter). His style
nn name and define the principal sources of film sound. produces sound that is multilayered and deeply tex
nn describe the difference between diegetic and tured, incorporating a bold and aggressive mix of sounds
nondiegetic sound. and music that complement the vivid visual and special
nn distinguish between the four major types of film sound. effects. Virtually all of the sounds were produced in the
nn explain the functions of film sound. studio, including the incredible sounds of the weapons,
nn describe how sound can call attention to both the vehicles, explosions, and scenes of destruction.
spatial and temporal dimensions of a scene. Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) opens with a se
nn explain how sound helps to create meaning in a movie. ries of helicopter point-of-view shots that, without the
accompanying sound, might be mistaken for a TV com
mercial. In these shots, we see a magnificent landscape,
a river, and then a yellow Volkswagen driving upward
into the mountains on a winding highway. Whereas we
What Is Sound? might expect to hear a purring car engine, car wheels
rolling over asphalt, or the passengers’ conversation, in
The movies engage two senses: vision and hearing. Al stead we hear music: an electronic synthesis by compos
though some viewers and even filmmakers assume that ers Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind of the Dies Irae, one
the cinematographic image is paramount, what we hear of the most famous Gregorian chants, which became
from the screen can be at least as significant as what we the fundamental music of the Roman Catholic Church.
see on it, and sometimes what we hear is more signifi The Dies Irae (literally, “the day of wrath”) is based on
cant. Director Steven Spielberg says, “The eye sees bet Zephaniah 1:14–16, a reflection on the Last Judgment.
ter when the sound is great.” Sound—talking, laughing, It is one section of the Requiem Mass, or Mass for the
singing, music, and the aural effects of objects and Dead. Experiencing the shots together with the sound
settings—can be as expressive as any of the other narra track, we wonder about the location, the driver, and the
tive and stylistic elements of cinematic form. What we destination. What we hear gives life to what we see and
hear in a movie is often technologically more compli offers some clues to its meaning. The symbolic import
cated to produce than what we see. In fact, because of and emotional impact of this music transforms the foot
the constant advances in digital technology, sound may age into a movie pulsating with portentous energy and
be the most intensively creative part of contemporary dramatic potential. Once we identify this music, we sus
moviemaking. Spielberg, for one, has also said that, since pect it is warning us that something ominous is going
the 1970s, breakthroughs in sound have been the movie to happen before the movie ends. Thus forewarned, we
industry’s most important technical and creative inno are neither misled nor dissatisfied.
vations. He does not mean “using the technology to show The sound in the scenes just described (or in any
off” by producing gimmicky sounds that distract you movie scene) operates on both physical and psycholog
from the story being told, but rather sound used as an ical levels. For most narrative films, sound provides cues
integral storytelling element.1 that help us form expectations about meaning; in some
Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010) is a case in point. cases, sound actually shapes our analyses and interpre
As seems appropriate for a science-fiction

action movie tations. Sound calls attention not only to itself but also to
1. Rick Lyman, “A Director’s Journey into a Darkness of the Heart,” New York Times (June 24, 2001), sec. 2, p. 24.
Sound as meaning
Inception is about an illegal espionage project that enters the subconscious minds of its targets to gain valuable information. Dominic Cobb,
the leader of the team, has hired Ariadne, a gifted young architecture student, to design labyrinthine dreamscapes for this work, but she (like
the viewer) is still in the learning stage. In this image, they sit in a Parisian café that is part of a larger street scene exploding all around them.
Ariadne (like the viewer) is astonished to see that they sit unhurt while the perceivable world is destroyed around them, but then Ariadne
awakens in the design studio to realize that she has been dreaming this episode. The action is crafted with such visual and aural detail that
everything we see—flower pots, people, wine glasses, tables, chairs, automobiles—explodes in its own unique way and with its own unique
sound. Every sight and sound image has been created and implanted in Ariadne’s dream to show her (and the viewer) the power of the
“dreams within dreams” project in which she is now a key player.
silence, to the various roles that each plays in our world Like every other component of film form, film sound
and in the world of a film. The option of using silence is is the product of specific decisions by the filmmakers.
one crucial difference between silent and sound films; a The group responsible for the sound in movies, the
sound film can emphasize silence, but a silent film has sound crew, generates and controls the sound physi
no option. As light and dark create the image, so sound cally, manipulating its properties to produce the effects
and silence create the sound track. Each property—light, that the director desires. Let’s look more closely at the
dark, sound, silence—appeals to our senses differently. various aspects of sound production controlled by the
In film history, the transition to sound began in 1927. sound crew.
It brought major aesthetic and technological changes
in the way movies were w ritten, acted, directed, and
screened to the public (see Chapters 10 and 11). After Sound Production
the first few sound movies, where sound was more of
a novelty than a formal element in the telling of the Sound production consists of four phases: design, re
story, a period of creative innovation helped integrate cording, editing, and mixing. Although we might sup
sound—vocal sounds, environmental sounds, music, and pose that most of the sounds in a movie are the result of
silence—into the movies. The results of this innovation recording during filming (such sounds are called pro-
can be seen and heard in some of the great movies of the duction sounds), the reality is that most film sounds
1930s, including Rouben Mamoulian’s Applause (1929), are constructed during the postproduction phase (and
Fritz Lang’s M (1931), and Ernst Lubitsch’s Trouble in thus are called postproduction sounds). But before any
Paradise (1932). Comparing one or more of these movies sounds are recorded or constructed, the overall plan for
to several silent classics will help you to understand how a movie’s sound must be made. That planning process is
profoundly sound changed the movies. called sound design.
322 Chapter 9 Sound
Design (different tones equal different colors) to create the sup

Sound design is the art of creating the sound for a film. port necessary for adding the specific sounds that help
As motion-picture sound has become increasingly inno the scene to function. According to Tomlinson Holman
vative and complex, the result of comprehensive sound (the creator of Lucasfilm’s THX sound technology), “Sound
design, the sound designer’s role has become more well design is the art of getting the right sound in the right place
known. Given its name by film editor Walter Murch—the at the right time.”3 Today, many directors—Joel Coen and
sound designer for such movies as Francis Ford Coppola’s David Lynch, among others—are notable for their com
The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979) and prehensive knowledge and expressive use of sound.
Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient (1996) and Cold Before sound design was widely accepted, the re
Mountain (2003)—sound design combines the crafts of sponsibilities for sound were divided among recording,
editing and mixing and, like them, involves matters both rerecording, editing, mixing, and sound-effects crews;
theoretical and practical.2 these crews sometimes overlapped but often did not. In
Although many filmmakers continue to understand the industry’s attempt to integrate all aspects of sound
and manipulate sound in conventional ways, sound de in a movie, from planning to postproduction, the sound
sign has produced major advances in how movies are con designer began to supervise all these responsibilities—a
ceived, made, viewed, and interpreted. Until the 1970s, the development initially resented by many traditional sound
vast majority of producers and directors thought about specialists, who felt their autonomy was being compro
sound only after the picture was shot. They did not design mised. It is now conventional for sound designers (or
films with sound in mind and frequently did not fully rec supervising sound editors) to oversee the creation and
ognize that decisions about art direction, composition, control of the sounds (and silences) we hear in movies.
lighting, cinematography, and acting would ultimately They are, in a sense, advocates for sound.
influence how sound tracks would be created and mixed. During preproduction, sound designers encourage
They considered sound satisfactory if it could distract directors and other collaborators to understand that
from or cover up mistakes in shooting and create the il what characters hear is potentially as significant as what
lusion that the audience was hearing what it was seeing. they see. This is especially true for point-of-view shots,
By contrast, the contemporary concept of sound de which focus characters’ (and audiences’) attention on
sign rests on the following basic assumptions: specific sights or sounds. Sound designers encourage
screenwriters to consider all kinds of sound; working
with directors, they indicate in shooting scripts what
Sound should be integral to all three phases of voices, sounds, or music may be appropriate at particu
film production (preproduction, production, and lar points. They also urge their collaborators to plan the
postproduction), not an afterthought to be added settings, lighting, cinematography, and acting ( particu
in postproduction only. larly the movement of actors within the settings) with
an awareness of how their decisions might affect sound.
A film’s sound is potentially as expressive as
During production, sound designers supervise the imple
its images.
mentation of the sound design. During postproduction,
Image and sound can create different worlds. after the production sound track has been cut along with
the images, they aid the editing team. But although their
Image and sound are co-expressible.
results may far exceed the audience’s expectations of
clarity and fidelity, sound designers keep their eyes and
A sound designer treats the sound track of a film the ears on the story being told. They want audiences not
way a painter treats a canvas. For each shot, the designer only to regard sound tracks as seriously as they do visual
first identifies all the sounds necessary to the story and images but also to interpret sounds as integral to under
plot. The next step is laying in all the background tones standing those images.
2. Randy Thom, “Designing a Movie for Sound” (1998), www.filmsound.org/articles/designing_for_soundelder.htm (accessed February 4, 2006).
3. Tomlinson Holman, Sound for Film and T
elevision (Boston: Focal Press, 1997), p. 172.
Recording
The process of recording sound is very similar to the pro
cess of hearing. Just as the human ear converts sounds
into nerve impulses that the brain identifies, so the mi
crophone converts sound waves into electrical signals
that are then recorded and stored. The history of record
ing movie sound has evolved from optical and magnetic
systems to the digital systems used in today’s profes
sional productions. Of the various types of film sound
(which will be described later in the chapter), dialogue is
the only type typically recorded during production. Ev
erything else is added in the editing and mixing stages
of postproduction.
The recording of production sound is the responsi
ADR in action
bility of the production sound mixer and a team of as
For the American version of Hayao Miyazaki’s animated movie
sistants, which includes, on the set, a sound recordist, Spirited Away (2001), it was necessary to rerecord the characters’
a sound mixer, a microphone boom operator, and wran voices using English-speaking actors and the ADR (automatic dia-
glers (in charge of the power supply, electrical connec logue replacement) system. Here, Jason Marsden (the voice of
tions, and cables). This team must place and/or move Haku), standing in front of a microphone and holding his script, lip-
the microphones so that the sound corresponds to the synchs his lines to coordinate with the action on the monitor in the
background.
space between actors and camera and the dialogue will
be as free from background noise as possible.
On set, the motion-picture camera is responsible only
for recording the image; the dialogue sound is recorded
using a separate sound recorder, an approach known nel, and Foley artists. The editor also works closely with
as double-system recording. Before any dialogue shot the musical composer or those responsible for selecting
is captured on set, an assistant “claps” the hinged pieces music from other sources. In the editing room, the edi
of a simple device called the slate (also known as a clap tor is in charge; but the director and the sound designer
board or sticks) to create a simultaneous image and may also take part in the process.
sound “mark” that are used to line up (or synchronize) The process of editing, of both pictures and sounds,
the separate image and sound recordings in postpro usually lasts longer than the shooting itself. Sound edit
duction, a process referred to as synching. Newer digital ing takes up a great deal of that time, because a significant
slates place matching electronic mark on the correspond portion of the dialogue and all of the sound effects and
ing elements instead of relying on actual visual and music are created and/or added during postproduction.
sound cues. This system allows both for maximum qual Included in this process is the addition of Foley sounds
ity control and for the manifold manipulation of sound (discussed later in the chapter) for verisimilitude and
during postproduction editing, mixing, and synchroni emphasis and the creation and layering of ambience us
zation. Once the sound has been recorded and stored, ing traffic, crowd voices, and other background sounds.
the process of editing it begins. Filmmakers first screen the dailies (or rushes), which
are synchronized picture/sound work prints of a day’s
shooting. From these they select the usable individ
ual shots from among the multiple takes, sort out the
Editing outtakes (any footage that will not be used), log the usable
The editor is responsible for the overall process of edit footage so it is easy to follow through the rest of the pro
ing and for the sound crew, which consists of a supervis cess, and decide which dialogue needs rerecording and
ing sound editor, sound editors (who usually concentrate which sound effects are necessary. If ambient or other
on their specialties: dialogue, music, or sound effects), noises have marred the quality of the dialogue recorded
sound mixers, rerecording mixers, sound-effects person during photography, the actors are asked to come back,
324 Chapter 9 Sound
view the faulty scene, and perform the dialogue again recording, editing, and mixing—we’re ready now to look
while watching a looped (repeating) recording of the more closely at the actual characteristics that make up
moment in question, a process known as automatic the sounds we hear in real life as well as in the movies.
dialogue replacement (ADR), or looping. It’s very much
like selective lip-synching; when an acceptable rerecord
ing that matches the take has been made, an ADR editor
inserts it into the movie. Finally, the sound-editing team
Describing Film Sound
synchronizes the sound and visual tracks. Because the
When talking or writing about a movie’s sound, you
entire editing and mixing process is now done digitally, a
should be able to describe a sound in terms of its percep
certain amount of overlap can occur between the sound
tual characteristics (determined by its pitch, loudness,
editing and mixing stages.
quality, and fidelity), its source (where it comes from),
and its type (vocal or musical, for example). To that end,
let’s begin by taking a closer look at the perceptual char
Mixing
acteristics of sound.
Mixing is the process of combining all of the different
individual edited tracks of dialogue, sound effects, mu
sic, and so forth, into one composite sound track to play
in synchronization with the edited picture. Pitch, Loudness, Quality
The number of sound tracks used in a movie depends The pitch (or level) of a sound can be high (like the
on the kind and amount of sound needed to tell each screech of tires on pavement), low (like the rumble of
part of the story; thus, filmmakers have an unlimited re a boulder barreling downhill), or somewhere between
source at their disposal. No matter how many tracks are these extremes. Pitch is defined by the frequency (or
used, they are usually combined and compressed during speed) with which it is produced (the number of sound
the final mixing. Working with their crew, sound mixers waves produced per second). Most sounds fall some
adjust the relative loudness and various aspects of sound where in the middle of the scale. But the extremes of
quality; filter out unwanted sounds; and create, accord high and low, as well as the distinctions between high
ing to the needs of the screenplay, the right balance of pitch and low pitch, are often exploited by filmmakers to
dialogue, music, and sound effects. The result is a sort influence our experience and interpretation of a movie.
of “audio mise-en-scène” that emphasizes significant In Victor Fleming’s The Wizard of Oz (1939; sound by
sound elements in the mix, just as a visual composition Douglas Shearer), the voice of the “wizard” has two
uses placement and size in frame to feature significant pitches—the high pitch of the harmless man behind the
subject matter in a shot. Sound elements that are mixed curtain and the deep, booming pitch of the magnificent
with lower loudness may not be emphasized, but they “wizard.” Each helps us to judge the trustworthiness of
may still contribute to a scene’s mood or meaning, much the character’s statements. Pitch is used to convey a
like background or other less prevalent visual elements character’s state of mind in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shin-
affect the way we interpret composed images. ing (1980). Wendy is already afraid of her increasingly
This resembles the typical recording process for pop agitated husband, Jack, when she enters the vast room
ular music, in which drums, bass, guitars, vocals, and so where he’s been diligently working on his novel. The
on are recorded separately and then mixed and adjusted low, ominous notes dominating the abstract score mu
to achieve the desired acoustic quality and loudness. The sic underline her dread as she treads closer to his now-
ideal result of sound mixing is clear and clean, so what unoccupied typewriter. When Wendy sees that all of his
ever the desired effect is, the audience will hear it clearly hours of writing have been devoted to writing the same
and cleanly. Even if what the filmmakers want is distorted ten words over and over again, the pitch of the musical
or cluttered sound, the audience will hear that distortion tones rise to signal that dread has turned to alarm. By
or clutter perfectly. the time Jack creeps up behind her, Wendy is consumed
With this background on the four basic stages of with panic, and the notes of the score are shrieking at the
sound production—what goes on during sound design, highest possible pitch.
Describing Film Sound 325
by the depth and width of the pond. The loudness

(or volume or intensity) of a sound depends on its
amplitude, the degree of motion of the air (or other
medium) within the sound wave. The greater the am
plitude of the sound wave, the harder it strikes the ear
drum and thus the louder the sound. Again, although
movies typically maintain a consistent level of moder
ate loudness throughout, filmmakers sometimes use the
1 extremes (near silence or shocking loudness) to signal
something important or to complement the overall mood
and tone of a scene. In The Shining, during the scene in
which Wendy and Jack argue and she strikes him with
a baseball bat, Kubrick slowly increases the loudness of
all the sounds to call attention to the growing tension.
The quality (also known as timbre, texture, or color)
of a sound includes those characteristics that enable us
to distinguish sounds that have the same pitch and loud
ness. In music, the same note played at the same volume
2
on three different instruments (say, a piano, violin, and
oboe) will produce tones that are identical in frequency
and amplitude but very different in quality. The sound
produced by each of these instruments has its own
harmonic content, which can be measured as wave
lengths. In talking about movie sounds, however, we do
not need scientific apparatus to measure the harmonic
content, because most often we see what we hear.
In the opening sequence of Francis Ford Coppola’s
3 Apocalypse Now (1979; sound designer Walter Murch),
the sound comes from many sources—including heli
Sound and state of mind copters, the fan in a hotel room, explosions, jungle
The sound design of the first scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s Viet- noises, a smashed mirror, the Doors’ recording of “The
nam war epic Apocalypse Now (1979) helps us experience the state
End,” voice-over narration, and dialogue—each contrib
of mind of the troubled protagonist, Captain Benjamin L. Willard. In
the opening images, firebombs explode across a jungle but produce
uting its own qualities to an overall rich texture. Al
no sound; all we hear is a haunting Doors song. These incongru- though many of these sounds are distorted or slowed
ous elements are revealed to be Willard’s dreamlike musings when down to characterize both the dreamlike, otherworldly
the picture dissolves to his inverted face [1]. As military helicopters quality of the setting and Captain Benjamin L. Willard’s
cross the images superimposed over Willard [2], the reverberations ( Martin Sheen) state of mind, they have been recorded
of their rotating blades morph into the sound of the ceiling fan,
and played back with such accuracy that we can easily
back in the real world, in the sweltering Saigon hotel room where he
is stuck awaiting orders [3]. Later, as Willard explains (in voice-over)
distinguish among them.
his consuming need to return to the jungle, the ambient noises of
the city surrounding him are gradually replaced with the sounds of
wild birds and insects.
Fidelity
Fidelity is a sound’s faithfulness or unfaithfulness to its
Sound moves through the air in a wave that is acted source. Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm (1997; sound-effects de
upon by factors in the physical environment. Think of signer Eugene Gearty) faithfully exploits the sounds of
this as analogous to the wave that ripples outward when a violent ice storm to underscore the tragic lives of two
you throw a rock into a pond—a wave that is acted upon dysfunctional Connecticut families, the Hoods and the
326 Chapter 9 Sound
sounds heard in a movie literally originate from post

production processes. But when we talk about source,
we’re speaking of the implied origin of that sound,
whether it’s a production sound or a postproduction
sound. For example, the sound of footsteps that accom
pany a shot of a character walking along a sidewalk may
have been constructed by Foley artists in a sound studio
after filming was completed, but the source of that sound
is implied to be on-screen—created by the character
while walking.
The terms used to describe the source of a movie
Nonfaithful sound sound are diegetic or nondiegetic, on-screen or offscreen,
In Mean Streets (1973), Martin Scorsese uses nonfaithful sound when
and internal or external. Let’s look at how these sounds
Charlie, after making love to Teresa, playfully points his fingers at her
are used in movies.
as if they were a gun and pulls the “trigger.” We hear a gunshot, but
there is no danger, for this is just a lovers’ quarrel.
Diegetic versus Nondiegetic

Carvers. At the climax of the movie, in the midst of the As you know from the “Story and Plot” section in Chap
storm, Lee meticulously observes the phenomena and ter 4, the word diegesis refers to the total world of a film’s
records the sounds of icy rain as it falls on the ground story, consisting perceptually of figures, motion, color,
or strikes the windows of houses and cars, icy branches and sound. Diegetic sounds come from a source within
that crackle in the wind and crash to the ground, and the a film’s world; they are the sounds heard by both the
crunch of a commuter train’s wheels on the icy rails. As movie’s audience and characters. Nondiegetic sounds,
the marriage of Ben and Elena Hood (Kevin Kline and which come from a source outside that world, are heard
Joan Allen), which is already on the rocks, completely only by the audience. Most diegetic sound gives us an
falls apart, the ice storm has a powerful, even mystical ef awareness of both the spatial and the temporal dimen
fect on the lives of these characters, and its harsh break sions of the shot from which the sound emanates; most
ing sounds serve as a metaphor for their frail lives while
providing an audibly faithful reminder of the power of
nature.
An excellent early example of a sound effect that is
not faithful to its source occurs in Rouben Mamoulian’s
Love Me Tonight (1932). During the farcical scene in
which “Baron” Courtelin tells Princess Jeanette, whom
he is wooing, that he is not royalty but just an ordinary
tailor, pandemonium breaks out in the royal residence.
As family and guests flutter about the palace singing of
this deception, one of the princess’s old aunts acciden
tally knocks a vase off a table. As it hits the floor and
shatters, we hear the incongruous sound of a bomb ex
ploding, as if to suggest that the aristocratic social order Diegetic sound in action
is under attack. In John Schlesinger’s Midnight Cowboy (1969), right after stepping
in front of an oncoming car (which screeches to a halt and honks
its horn), “Ratso” Rizzo (right ) interrupts his conversation with Joe
Sources of Film Sound Buck (left ) to shout one of the most famous movie lines of all time:
“I’m walkin’ here!” Even surrounded by everyday Manhattan pedes
trian and traffic noise, Rizzo’s nasal voice and heavy “Noo Yawk” ac
By source, we mean “the location from which a sound cent help characterize him as the extremely eccentric and comic foil
originates.” Obviously, as mentioned already, most of the to Buck, a new and unseasoned arrival in the big city.
Sources of Film Sound 327
occurs simultaneously with the image. All of the sounds

that accompany everyday actions and speech depicted
on-screen—footsteps on pavement, a knock on a door,
the ring of a telephone, the report from a fired gun, ordi
nary dialogue—are diegetic.
Nondiegetic sound is offscreen and recorded during
postproduction, and it is assumed to be inaudible to the
characters on-screen. The most familiar forms of non
diegetic sound are musical scores and narration spoken
by a voice that does not originate from the same place
1 and time as the characters on the screen. When Red
mond Barry attracts the attention of the countess of
Lyndon in Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (1975) dur
ing a visually magnificent scene accompanied by the
equally memorable music from the second movement
of Franz Schubert’s Trio no. 2 in E-flat Major (D. 929,
op. 100) for piano, violin, and cello, the instrumentalists
are nowhere to be seen; furthermore, we do not expect
to see them. We accept, as a familiar convention, that
this kind of music reflects the historical period being de
picted but does not emanate from the world of the story.
2
The standard conventions of diegetic and nondiegetic
sound may be modified for other effects. In Bobby and
Diegetic and nondiegetic sounds share a scene
Peter Farrelly’s There’s Something about Mary (1998), for
The Lobster (2015; director Yorgos Lanthimos) is a dystopian satire example, the “chorus” troubadour, Jonathan exists out
depicting a world in which unpaired adults are forced to stay at a side the story, which makes him and his songs nondiege
remote resort. Those who cannot find a suitable (and willing) partner tic even though we can see him. The Farrellys play with
within 45 days are forcibly transformed into animals. The sappy ro- this concept by having Jonathan get shot accidentally in
mantic music we hear in a scene in which the mostly doomed single
the climactic scene and thus become part of the story.
residents attend a dance lends a sense of irony to their absurd and
sad situation. This music is clearly sourced in the scene [1] and is
thus diegetic. But when the protagonist, David, crosses the dance
floor in search of a potential partner, the band’s diegetic song is tem- On-Screen versus Offscreen
porarily replaced by dramatic—and nondiegetic—orchestral score On-screen sound emanates from a source that we can
music that emphasizes his anxiety in this high-stakes situation [2]. see. Offscreen sound, which can be either diegetic or
nondiegetic, derives from a source that we do not see.
When offscreen sound is diegetic, it consists of sound
effects, music, or vocals that emanate from the world
nondiegetic sound has no relevant spatial or tempo of the story. When nondiegetic, it takes the form of a
ral dimensions. For example, the electronic music that musical score or narration by someone who is not a
plays during the opening sequence of Stanley Kubrick’s character in the story. Note that on-screen and offscreen
The Shining (1980) is completely nondiegetic: we’re not sound are also referred to, respectively, as simultaneous
supposed to assume that the music is coming from the and nonsimultaneous sound. Simultaneous sound is
sky, or playing on the car radio, or coming from any loca diegetic and on-screen; nonsimultaneous sound oc
tion in the scene on-screen. curs familiarly when a character has a mental flashback
Diegetic sound can be either internal or external, on- to an earlier voice that recalls a conversation or an ear
screen or offscreen, and recorded during production or lier sound that identifies a place. We recognize the sound
constructed during postproduction. The most familiar too because its identity has previously been established
kind of movie sound is diegetic, on-screen sound that in the movie.
328 Chapter 9 Sound
Somewhere between on-screen and offscreen sound being held in a Nazi prison during World War II. Once he
is asynchronous sound. We are aware of it when we has entered the prison, he never sees outside the walls,
sense a discrepancy between the things heard and the although he remains very aware, through offscreen sound,
things seen on the screen. It is either a sound that is of the world outside. In fact, sounds of daily life—church
closely related to the action but not precisely synchro bells, trains, trolleys—represent freedom to Fontaine.
nized with it or a sound that either anticipates or follows
the action to which it belongs. Because we cannot see
its source, asynchronous sound seems mysterious and Internal versus External
raises our curiosity and expectations. Thus it offers cre An internal sound occurs whenever we hear what we
ative opportunities for building tension and surprise in assume are the thoughts of a character within a scene.
a scene. The character might be expressing random thoughts or a
Asynchronous sound was used expressively in some sustained monologue. In the theater, when Shakespeare
of the first sound movies by such innovators as King wants us to hear a character’s thoughts, he uses a solilo
Vidor, Rouben Mamoulian, and René Clair. For example,
in his classic Le Million (1931), director René Clair uses
asynchronous sound for humorous effect when we see
characters scrambling to find a valuable lottery ticket
and hear the sounds of a football game. Another classic
example (with a variation) occurs in Alfred Hitchcock’s
The 39 Steps (1935). A landlady enters a room, discov
ers a dead body, turns to face the camera, and opens her
mouth as if to scream. At least, that’s what we expect to
hear. Instead, as she opens her mouth, we hear the high-
pitched sound of a train whistle, and then Hitchcock cuts
to a shot of a train speeding out of a tunnel. The sound
seems to come from the landlady’s mouth, but this is in
fact an asynchronous sound bridge linking two simulta
neous actions occurring in different places.
Most movies provide a blend of offscreen and on-
screen sounds that seems very natural and verisimilar,
Internal sound in Hamlet
leading us to almost overlook the distinction between To be, or not to be; that is the question:
them. Some uses of sound, however, call attention to Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
themselves; for example, when a scene favors offscreen The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
sounds or excludes on-screen sounds altogether, we usu Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
ally take notice. The total absence of diegetic, on-screen And, by opposing, end them.4
sound where we expect it most can be disturbing, as it

Few lines cut deeper into a character’s psyche or look more unflinch-
is in the concluding, silent shots of a nuclear explosion ingly into the nature of human existence, and yet it’s not hard to
in Sidney Lumet’s Fail-Safe (1964). It also can be comic, imagine how ineffective these well-known lines might be if simply
as in the conclusion of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove recited at a camera. In his Hamlet (1948), actor-director Laurence
or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Olivier fuses character and psyche, human nature and behavior, by
(1964) when the otherwise silent nuclear explosion is both speaking his lines and rendering them, in voice-over, as the
Danish prince’s thoughts while simultaneously combining, in the
accompanied by nondiegetic music (Vera Lynn singing
background, music and the natural sounds of the sea. Olivier’s ver-
“We’ll Meet Again”). sion of Hamlet was the first to apply the full resources of the cinema
In Robert Bresson’s A Man Escaped (1956), a member to Shakespeare’s text, and his innovativeness is especially apparent
of the French Resistance named Lieutenant Fontaine is in the sound.
4. William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, act 3, scene 1.

quy to convey them, but this device lacks verisimilitude. sounds), (3) music, and (4) silence. As viewers, we are
Laurence Olivier’s many challenges in adapting Hamlet largely familiar with vocal, environmental, and musi
for the screen included making the title character’s so cal sounds. Vocal sounds tend to dominate most films
liloquies acceptable to a movie audience that might not because they carry much of the narrative weight, envi
be familiar with theatrical conventions. Olivier wanted ronmental sounds usually provide information about
to show Hamlet as both a thinker whose psychology mo a film’s setting and action, and music often directs our
tivated his actions and a man who could not make up his emotional reactions. However, any of these types of
mind. Thus in his Hamlet (1948), Olivier (as Hamlet) deliv sound may dominate or be subordinate to the visual im
ered the greatest of all Shakespearean soliloquies—“To be, age, depending on the relationship that the filmmaker
or not to be”—in a combination of both spoken lines and desires between sound and visual image.
interior monologue. This innovation influenced the use
of internal sound in countless other movies, including sub
sequent cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays. Vocal Sounds
External sound comes from a place within the world Dialogue, recorded during production or rerecorded
of the story, and we assume that it is heard by the char during postproduction, is the speech of characters who
acters in that world. The source of an external sound are either visible on-screen or speaking offscreen—say,
can be either on-screen or offscreen. In John Ford’s My from an unseen part of the room or from an adjacent
Darling Clementine (1946), Indian Charlie is drunk and room. Dialogue is a function of plot because it develops
shooting up the town of Tombstone. The townspeople out of situations, conflict, and character development.
are afraid of Charlie, and the sheriff resigns rather than Further, it depends on actors’ voices, facial expressions,
confront him, so Wyatt Earp—who is both on-screen and gestures and is thus also a product of acting. By ex
and offscreen during the scene—is appointed sheriff and pressing the feelings and motivations of characters, dia
takes it upon himself to stop the chaos that Charlie has logue is one of the principal means of telling a story. In
created. most movies, dialogue represents what we consider or
The scene effectively combines both on-screen and dinary speech, but dialogue can also be highly artificial.
offscreen sounds. The characters (and the viewer) hear During the 1930s, screwball comedies invented a fast,
the offscreen sounds of Charlie shooting his gun inside witty, and often risqué style of dialogue that was frankly
the saloon followed by the offscreen sounds of women theatrical in calling attention to itself. Among the most
screaming; then the women appear on-screen as they exemplary of these films are Ernst Lubitsch’s Trouble in
run from the saloon with Charlie right behind them, still Paradise (1932), Howard Hawks’s Bringing Up Baby
shooting his gun. When Earp, on-screen, starts to enter (1938), and Preston Sturges’s The Lady Eve (1941). Each
the building through an upstairs window, we hear the of these movies must be seen in its lunatic entirety to be
offscreen screams of the prostitutes who are in the room fully appreciated, but they nonetheless provide count
as he says, “Sorry, ladies.” Offscreen, Earp confronts less rich individual exchanges.
Charlie and conks him on the head, for we hear the thud Movie speech can take forms other than dialogue. For
of Charlie falling to the saloon floor. This is followed by example, French director Alain Resnais specializes in
an on-screen shot of Earp dragging Charlie out of the spoken language that reveals a character’s stream of con
saloon to the waiting crowd. This use of sound demon sciousness, mixing reality, memory, dream, and imagina
strates Earp’s courage and skill while treating his seri tion. In Resnais’s Providence (1977), Clive Langham, an
ous encounter with Charlie with a comic touch. elderly novelist, drinks heavily as he drifts in and out
of sleep. Through the intertwining strands of his inte
rior monologue, we learn of his projected novel—about
Types of Film Sound four characters who inhabit a doomed city—and of his
relationships with members of his family, on whom his
The types of sound that filmmakers can include in their fictional characters are evidently based. Langham’s mono
sound tracks fall into four general categories: (1) vo logue and dialogues link the fantasy to the reality of what
cal sounds (dialogue and narration), (2) environmen we see and hear; in this way, sound objectifies what is or
tal sounds (ambient sound, sound effects, and Foley dinarily neither seen nor heard in a movie.
330 Chapter 9 Sound
Narration, the commentary spoken by either off

screen or on-screen voices, is frequently used in narra
tive films, where it may emanate from a third-person
narrator (thus not one of the characters) or from a char
acter in the movie. In the opening scene of Stanley Ku
brick’s The Killing (1956), when Marvin Unger enters the
betting room of a racetrack, a third-person narrator de
scribes him for us. This offscreen narrator knows details
of Unger’s personal life and cues us to the suspense of
the film’s narrative.
In Terrence Malick’s Badlands (1973), the character of
Holly narrates the story in first-person voice-over, help
ing us understand her loneliness, her obsession with her
older boyfriend, Kit, her participation in a series of bru 1
tal murders, and her inability to stop. This technique en
hances our appreciation of her character because rather
than simply reinforcing what we are seeing, Holly’s un
derstanding and interpretation of events differ signifi
cantly from ours. She thinks of her life with Kit as a
romance novel rather than a pathetic crime spree.
In The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Orson Welles
uses both offscreen and on-screen narrators. Welles
himself is the offscreen, omniscient third-person narra
tor who sets a mood of romantic nostalgia for the Amer
ican past while an on-screen “chorus”—a device that
derives from Greek drama—of townspeople gossip about 2
what is happening, directly offering their own interpre
tations. Thus the townspeople are both characters and On-screen and offscreen narration
narrators. Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity (1944) uses on-screen narration in a
Multiple voice-over narrators are also used effec unique way. Walter Neff, a corrupt insurance investigator, is pictured
tively in two movies where such narration underscores here recording his confession of murder on an office Dictaphone [1].
His story leads to flashbacks that fill us in on events leading to that
the solitude and stress of characters living in small
confession. We see Elliot, the protagonist of the cable TV show
towns: Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s Padre Padrone (1977), Mr. Robot, on-screen [2] when he delivers his narration, but he doesn’t
a documentary-like account of the lives of sheepherders say it out loud. Instead, the sound design allows us to hear this nar-
in the Sardinian countryside, and Atom Egoyan’s The rator speaking directly to us from outside of his regular thoughts and
Sweet Hereafter (1997). Egoyan’s eloquent, disturbing actions. Elliot’s unreliable narration illuminates some events and mis-
movie concerns the fatal crash of a school bus and its represents or misinterprets others.
aftereffects on the townspeople who have lost children.

Two principal characters voice the narration—the bus
driver, Dolores Discolt, and Nicole Burnell, a teenager Nicole’s narration is made all the more haunting be
who survived the crash. In scenes where these two are cause she reads (both on-screen to two children and
giving sworn testimony, Egoyan brilliantly employs the offscreen to underscore the narrative) from the Rob
contrasts between the women in age, experience, and ert Browning translation of The Pied Piper of Hamelin
perspective. Since we have seen the crash in flashback, (1888), the legendary German folktale about a piper,
we know that Dolores gives an accurate account of the masquerading as a rat catcher, who lures a town’s chil
last moments before the crash; however, Nicole deliber dren to their death in a river. Although there are paral
ately lies as she accuses the bus driver of speeding and lels between this story and the movie narrative, Nicole’s
causing the crash. voice-over at the movie’s conclusion shows that she has
mixed fiction and fact, truth and lies. Angry about what ing the story. All sound effects, except those made on
life has handed her—an abusive father and an accident electronic equipment to deliberately create electronic
that has crippled her for life—she reads the fictional ac sounds, come from “wild” recordings of real things, and
count of a “strange and new . . . sweet hereafter” and lies it is the responsibility of the sound designer and the
to prevent her abusive father from gaining damages from sound crew to pick and combine these sounds to create
a lawsuit. The sound of her innocent, pure voice reading the hyperreality of the film’s sound track. (Wild record-
the grim folktale masks a tragedy as powerful as the bus ing is any recording of sound not made during synchro
crash itself. nous shooting of the picture.) In Ray’s Pather Panchali,
two children, Apu and Durga, find their family’s eighty-
year-old aunt, Indir Thakrun, squatting near a sacred
Environmental Sounds pond and think she is sleeping. As Durga shakes her, the
Ambient sound, which emanates from the ambience old woman falls over, her head hitting the ground with a
(or background) of the setting or environment being hollow sound—a diegetic, on-screen sound effect—that
filmed, is either recorded during production or added evokes death.
during postproduction. Although it may incorporate In the 1930s, Jack Foley, a sound technician at Univer
other types of film sound—dialogue, narration, sound sal Studios, invented a special category of sound effects:
effects, Foley sounds, and music—ambient sound should Foley sounds. There are two significant differences be
not include any unintentionally recorded noise made tween Foleys and the sound effects just described. The
during production, such as the sounds of cameras, static first is that traditional sound effects are created or re
from sound-recording equipment, car horns, sirens, foot corded “wild” and then edited into the film, whereas
steps, or voices from outside the production. Filmmakers Foleys are created and recorded in sync with the picture.
regard these sounds as an inevitable nuisance and gener To do this, the technicians known as Foley artists have a
ally remove them electronically during postproduction. studio equipped with recording equipment and a screen
Ambient sound helps set the mood and atmosphere of for viewing the movie as they create sounds in sync with
scenes, and it may also contribute to the meaning of a it. The second difference is that traditional sound ef
scene. fects can be taken directly from a library of prerecorded
Consider the ambient sound of the wind in John effects (e.g., church bells, traffic noises, jungle sounds)
Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Tom Joad, who has or created specifically for the movie. By contrast, Foley
just been released from prison, returns to his family’s sounds are unique. As an example of the latter, the sound
Oklahoma house to find it empty, dark, and deserted. technicians working on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the
The low sound of the wind underscores Tom’s loneliness Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) needed the
and isolation and reminds us that the wind of Dust Bowl sounds of arrows shooting through the air, so they set
storms reduced the fertile plains to unproductive waste up stationary microphones in a quiet graveyard and shot
and drove the Joads and other farmers off their land. In arrows past the mikes to record those sounds.
Satyajit Ray’s “Apu” trilogy—Pather Panchali (1955), The Foley artists use a variety of props and other equip
Unvanquished (1956), and The World of Apu (1959)— ment to simulate everyday sounds—such as footsteps
recurrent sounds of trains establish actual places, times, in the mud, jingling car keys, the rustling of clothing,
and moods, but they poetically express characters’ an or cutlery hitting a plate—that must exactly match the
ticipations and memories as well. These wind and train movement on the screen. Such sounds fill in the sound
sounds, respectively, are true to the physical ambience scape of the movie and enhance verisimilitude, but
of Ford’s and Ray’s stories, but filmmakers also use sym they also convey important narrative and character
bolic sounds as a kind of shorthand to create illusions information. Although these sounds match the action
of reality. In countless Westerns, for example, tinkling we see on the screen, they can also exaggerate reality—
pianos introduce us to frontier towns; in urban films, both loud and soft sounds—and thus may call attention
honking automobile horns suggest the busyness (and to their own artificiality. Generally, however, we do not
business) of cities. consciously notice them, so when they are truly ef
Sound effects include all sounds artificially created fective, we cannot distinguish Foley sounds from real
for the sound track that have a definite function in tell sounds.
332 Chapter 9 Sound
Sound effects in Raging Bull

The boxing film against which all others are measured is Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980). Based on former middleweight champion
Jake La Motta’s memoir of the same title, this movie fully employs every aspect of filmmaking technology as it re-creates the experience
of being in the ring. Close-ups don’t get much more vivid than this one, which depicts La Motta’s glove slamming into and breaking fighter
Tony Janiro’s nose; blood spurts and sweat flies. The image moves from powerful to unbearable, however, when accompanied by the Foley
sounds of impact, collapse, and explosion.
In Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980; sound by roles have made necessary the invention and develop
Frank Warner), brutal tape-recorded sounds from box ment of new equipment for sound recording, editing,
ing matches are mixed with sounds created in the Foley and mixing and have brought change to many theaters,
studio. Many different tracks—including a fist hitting a which have had to install expensive new equipment to
side of beef, a knife cutting into the beef, water (to simu process the superb sound made possible by the digital
late the sound of blood spurting), animal noises, and the revolution.
whooshes of jet airplanes and arrows—all work together
to provide the dramatic illusion of what, in a real boxing
match, would be the comparatively simpler sound of one
boxer’s gloves hitting another boxer’s flesh. Music
The artistry involved in using all the various sources Music is used in many distinct ways in the movies, but
and types of sound has permanently established the role in this discussion we are concerned principally with
of the sound designer and exponentially increased the the kind of music that Royal S. Brown, an expert on the
number of sound-related job titles, and therefore new subject, describes as “dramatically motivated . . . music
employment, in the field of movie sound. All of these jobs composed more often than not by practitioners special
are reflected in the large number of sound artists and izing in the art to interact specifically with the diverse
technicians receiving screen credit. Furthermore, these facets of the filmic medium, particularly the narrative.”5
5. Royal S. Brown, Overtones and Undertones: Reading Film Music (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994), p. 13.
Such music can be classical or popular in style, written

specifically for the film or taken from music previously
composed for another purpose, written by composers
known for other kinds of music (e.g., Leonard Bernstein,
Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, and Igor Stravinsky) or by
those who specialize in movie scores (e.g., Elmer Bern
stein, Carter Burwell, Bernard Herrmann, Ennio Morri
cone, Rachel Portman, Tôru Takemitsu, John Williams,
1
and Hans Zimmer, among many others). It also can be
music played by characters in the film or by offscreen
musicians (i.e., diegetic or nondiegetic). Some of Holly
wood’s most prolific contemporary composers were for
merly rock musicians: Oingo Boingo’s Danny Elfman has
scored more than ninety films, including sixteen Tim
Burton movies; Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh, another pro
lific composer, has scored more than seventy-five films,
including Wes Anderson’s first four movies. Songwriter
2 and singer Randy Newman’s twenty-seven composer
credits include eight animated features produced by
Pixar. Jonny Greenwood, the lead guitarist of the English
alternative rock group Radiohead, is also the composer
of the lush orchestral score for Paul Thomas Anderson’s
Phantom Thread (2017), as well as the scores for Ander
son’s previous three films: There Will Be Blood (2007),
The Master (2012), and Inherent Vice (2014).
Like other types of sound, music can be intrinsic, help
ing to tell the story, whether it pertains to plot, action,
3
character, or mood; indeed, music plays an indispens
able role in many movies. Perhaps the most familiar
Music, sound, and rhythm in Baby Driver
form of movie music is the large symphonic score used
Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver (2017) uses music and other sounds—
and even the lack of sound—to place its audience inside the per- to set a mood or manipulate our emotions.6 Few old-
spective of its protagonist. The getaway driver prodigy who calls Hollywood films were without a big score by masters
himself Baby suffers from tinnitus, a constant high-pitched ringing of the genre such as Max Steiner (who scored Victor
in his ears. Baby wears earbuds and listens to music on an iPod Fleming’s Gone with the Wind, 1939). Although recent
to drown out the ringing, and we hear what he hears. His playlist
movies have relied mainly on less ambitious scores, big
becomes the score for many of the movie’s scenes, including break-
scores are still used when large stories call for them.
neck chase scenes [1] and romantic interludes [2]. Because the
earbuds produce clear sound, and overwhelm most other sounds, These movies include Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the
Baby’s song selections have the same acoustic quality as score mu- Rings trilogy (2001–3; composer Howard Shore), James
sic. The driving rhythms of the songs propel the fast-paced rhythmic Cameron’s Avatar (2009; composer James Horner), Wes
editing in many of the film’s action scenes; their celebratory tone Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014; composer
alters the way we feel about otherwise violent events. When things
Alexandre Desplat), and the Star Wars (1977–2019) mov
go (very) bad after a bank robbery, and Baby loses his iPod in the en-
ies, all of which (with the exception of the “Star Wars
suing chase, the usual festive music is replaced by the high-pitched
whine of his tinnitus [3], a sound that adds to our experience of his Story” anthology series) were scored by John Williams.
anxiety. Movie music can be equally effective when it cre
ates or supports ideas in a film, as in Orson Welles’s The
6. See Larry M. Timm, The Soul of Cinema: An Appreciation of Film Music (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998), ch. 1.
334 Chapter 9 Sound
Audio assault and deception in Dunkirk

For Dunkirk (2017), director Christopher Nolan and his sound team used every audio element at their disposal to immerse audiences in the
overwhelming chaos of the 1940 Battle of Dunkirk. The thundering sounds of military aircraft and bomb strikes were mixed at maximum
volume—so much so that much of the film’s dialogue is lost in the cacophony. Composer Hans Zimmer’s score employed an audio illusion
caused by the Shepard tone, which is achieved by layering three separate tones, each of which is separated by an octave. Each of the three
tones repeats an ascending scale in a continual loop. Because the three scales fade in and out in turn, audiences always hear at least two at
a time but don’t notice when the successive scales fade and begin again. This system tricks our brains into interpreting the sound as contin-
ually rising in pitch, an effect that subtly but ceaselessly intensifies tension in Dunkirk’s battle scenes.
Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice (1952). Welles Michael Convertino has written a score that builds
takes a deterministic view of Othello’s fate, but he de with the suspense and establishes the mood of anx
picts the two central characters, Othello and Desdemona, iety that hangs over everyone involved. By contrast,
as being larger than life, even as they are each destined Don Davis’s score for the Wachowskis’ The Matrix (1999)
for an early death. uses the sounds of brass and percussion instruments
Accompanying their funeral processions is a musical and songs by the Propellerheads and Rage Against the
score that leaves no question that these tragic circum Machine to match the world of the story’s synthetic
stances are the result of fate. In fact, in their cumula technological environment. Davis also scored the music
tive power the sights and sounds express the inexorable for the two sequels (The Matrix Reloaded and The Ma-
rhythm of all great tragedies. The complex musical score trix Revolutions, both 2003).
covers several periods and styles, but to most ears it re Irony often results from the juxtaposition of music
sembles medieval liturgical music. Deep, hard, dirgelike and image because the associations we bring when we
piano chords combine with the chanting of monks and hear a piece of music greatly affect our interpretation of
others in the processions, spelling out (even drawing us a scene. Take, for example, composer Ennio Morricone’s
into) the title character’s inevitable deterioration and juxtaposition of “Ave Maria” with shots of Brazilian na
self-destruction. tives and missionary priests being slaughtered by Portu
For John Curran’s We Don’t Live Here Anymore (2004), guese slave traders in Roland Joffé’s The Mission (1986);
a dark melodrama about marital infidelities, composer Quentin Tarantino’s use of Stealers Wheel’s carefree,
1 2
3 4
5 6
Songs inspire a movie

Miraculous things happen, and people and events connect in unexpected ways, throughout Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia (1999). Part
of what inspired Anderson in writing his screenplay was hearing then-unreleased recordings by American pop-rocker Aimee Mann. In some
cases, connections between the songs and the narrative are explicit, as when the lyrics to “Deathly” (Now that I’ve met you / Would you
object to / Never seeing each other again) become a line of dialogue: “Now that I’ve met you, would you object to never seeing me again?” At
the film’s emotional climax, [1] Claudia Wilson Gator, [2] Jim Kurring, [3] Jimmy Gator, [4] Quiz Kid Donnie Smith, [5] “Big Earl” Partridge and
his nurse, Phil Parma, and [6] Stanley Spector—all in different places and different situations—sing along with Mann’s “Wise Up.”
groovy “Stuck in the Middle with You” to choreograph tween Crusader knights and the Russian people. Here,
the violent coptorture scene in Reservoir Dogs (1992); using a complex graph, the director integrated Sergei
or Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Accatone (1961), where the direc Prokofiev’s original musical score, note by note, with the
tor contrasts urban gang violence with themes from the visual composition, shot by shot. This mathematical and
St. Matthew Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach. Another theoretically rigorous experiment results, at its best, in
memorable juxtaposition of violent imagery with music a sublime marriage of aural and visual imagery, which
(Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor [BWV 582] has been influential, particularly in such epic movies as
for organ) is used in The Godfather (see Chapter 2, p. 47). Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus (1960) and Irvin Kershner’s
Perhaps the boldest experiment in juxtaposing music The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
and image occurs in Sergei Eisenstein’s Alexander Nevsky Neil Jordan makes a more sustained use of such
(1938), which depicts the thirteenthcentury conflict be juxtaposition in The Crying Game (1992), a political
336 Chapter 9 Sound
in this context, but Fergus falls in love with Dil and, be
cause of his love, takes a prison rap for him. At the end
of the movie, Dil is visiting Fergus in prison, and as
the camera pulls back to the final fade-out and closing
credits, we hear Tammy Wynette and Billy Sherrill’s
country-western classic “Stand by Your Man,” sung by
Lyle Lovett. (This irony would be missed if the viewer
did not stay for the credits, which today increasingly in
clude music or other information vital to understanding
the overall movie.) It’s funny and touching at the same
time, but especially ironic in light of the music under the
1 opening credits: Percy Sledge singing the R&B classic
“When a Man Loves a Woman” (by Cameron Lewis and
Andrew Wright). It is the perfectly ironic introduction,
although we do not know it at the time, to this story of
desperate love.
Among directors, Tom Tykwer is notable for his use
of music to enhance the pace, or tempo, of Run Lola Run
(1998), in which the relentless rhythm of the techno-
music matches the sped-up, almost surreal pace of the
action. Significantly, this music does not change with
developments in the action, so it takes on a life of its
own. Indeed, any action movie with many exciting chase
sequences, such as Paul Greengrass’s The Bourne Su-
2
premacy (2004), could become routine if the music
did not change significantly to suit the participants, loca
Great music, bad boy
tion, and outcome of each chase. In The Bourne Suprem
A principal theme of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971),
the loss of moral choice through psychological conditioning, is de- acy’s spectacular chase through Moscow traffic, Jason
veloped by a focus on Alex [1], a worthless, violent character, here Bourne, whose own musical theme is played by a bas
staring at a poster of the German classical/Romantic composer soon, successfully eludes the Russian police—but not
Ludwig van Beethoven [2]. Alex’s only good trait is his love for Bee- before many vehicles are destroyed. The sound in this
thoven’s Ninth Symphony—especially the setting of Friedrich von
scene is an expressive mix of ambient sounds, Foley
Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” music that represents all that is most noble
sounds, sound effects, and John Powell’s score. Indeed,
in the human spirit, in its finale. Here, however, this music is used
ironically to underscore Alex’s desire to preserve his freedom to do it’s impossible to disentangle these elements. The loud
what he wants (which consists mostly of violent acts), even though sounds of sirens, screeching tires, shattered glass, gun
society tries to socialize him away from these acts (using a fascis- shots, and revving car engines accentuate the violent ac
tic treatment that attempts to turn him into a “clockwork orange”). tion. Meanwhile the music, which is softer in volume, is a
In the somewhat muddled world of this controversial film, we’re
full orchestral score mixed with Russian folk themes and
supposed to be glad that Alex is still sufficiently human to embrace
electronic sounds, including techno-music. The chase
Beethoven and resist brainwashing.
ends with a final smashup and silence.
Many directors use music to provide overall struc
and psychological thriller that is also a frank, revealing tural unity or coherence to a story. In Wes Anderson’s
movie about loneliness, desire, and love. Its music helps Moonrise Kingdom (2012), Noye’s Fludde (Noah’s Flood),
underscore the surprises in its story. Fergus is inter a children’s opera by British composer Benjamin Brit
ested in Dil, who appears to be an attractive black woman ten, is at the heart of the story. As a boy, Anderson was
until Dil reveals that he is a transvestite. The personal in a production of the opera, which made a very strong
and political plot twists are too complicated to discuss impression, and he says, “It is the colour of the movie in
a way.”7 This music is used when a local church is putting

on the opera with a cast of children. Audiences hear it
again when a hurricane threatens the island and towns
people gather in the church, where a recording of the op
era is being played. Then, amid songs by Hank Williams
and Françoise Hardy, Alexandre Desplat interpolates
another familiar Britten work, The Young Person’s Guide
to the Orchestra, with his own take on that work, into the
final credits sequence. This passage is so fresh and imag
inative that it’s almost worth the price of admission.
Furthermore, if you tend to walk out during the final
credits, it should cure you of that bad habit forever. Diegetic music
Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone (2010) is a horrific narrative film that
A movie such as Stephen Daldry’s The Hours (2002),
shows how methamphetamine abuse destroys the lives of people
which tells a story spanning some 80 years in three dif
in the rural Ozarks. Actor Jennifer Lawrence gives a brilliant per-
ferent settings with three different women, presents a formance as Ree Dolly, a teenager who takes charge and tries to
unique challenge to a musical composer to find some keep her family together under the worst of circumstances. Her
way to unify all these elements. The movie’s narrative efforts are hampered by local traditions of patriarchy, secrecy, and
concerns the different ways these three women are af resistance to authority, but in this image, when she listens to local
bluegrass musicians, including Marideth Sisco singing “High on a
fected by Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway, in
Mountain,” she momentarily forgets the strife. Here, a traditional
cluding the novelist herself in the 1920s; an American
folk song offers her and the others a moment of peace and reveals
housewife, Laura Brown, in the 1940s; and a New York a creative side of their culture.
professional woman, Clarissa Vaughan, in the present.
Therefore, viewers might expect a three-part musical
score with one distinct sound for each historical period
and location, and perhaps even a distinct theme for each ing the sort of score we hear in other classic war mov
principal character. However, composer Philip Glass takes ies, such as Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979) or Oliver
a very different course. Stone’s Platoon (1986).
A New Age classical composer with minimalist ten Instead of using familiar classical themes for the
dencies, Glass links the three stories with recurring mu atrical effect, Zimmer relies heavily on diegetic music
sical motifs played by a chamber orchestra of a pianist that emanates from soldiers’ radios, street musicians,
and five string players. To create further unity among or mosques. Thus the score juxtaposes Western and Af
the lives of the three women, Glass emphasizes the bond rican music, Irish tunes, and songs by Elvis Presley and
that Woolf’s novel has created among them by avoiding popular groups such as Alice in Chains, Stone Temple
music from the periods in which they lived. The tensions Pilots, and Faith No More on the one hand, and tradi
in the score pull between the emotional and cerebral, tional Muslim prayer music and chants, mournful piano
underscoring the tensions that the characters experi and strings, African pop music, and tribal drums on the
ence in this psychological melodrama. other. At times, such as the beginning of the attack on
Finally, film music may emanate from sources within the marketplace, Zimmer fuses elements of both. His
the story—a television, a radio or stereo set, a person “score” goes beyond music to include many sound ef
singing or playing a guitar, an orchestra playing at a fects that function as rhythmic elements (the constant
dance. For example, Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down hum of military and civilian vehicles, the beating of he
(2001) depicts a complex and failed attempt by a group licopter rotor blades, the voices of American soldiers
of U.S. Army Rangers to depose a Somalian warlord— and African crowds). In this expanded sense of a mu
a conflict between Americans and African Muslims. For sical score, Zimmer and Jon Title, the sound designer,
this film, composer Hans Zimmer decided against writ worked together to create an original, seamless entity
7. Qtd. in www.brittenpears.org/page.php?pageid=771 (accessed September 8, 2014).

338 Chapter 9 Sound
that makes few distinctions between music and other may be unfamiliar with the idea that silence can be a
sounds. Of course, in Black Hawk Down sometimes mu sound. Paradoxically, silence has that function when the
sic is just music and sound effects are just sound effects. filmmaker deliberately suppresses the vocal, environ
But the major achievement here is the fusion of sounds. mental, or musical sounds that we expect in a movie. When
With this score, Zimmer does not make conflict ap so used, silence frustrates our normal perceptions. It can
pear to be the work of godlike warriors (such as the heli make a scene seem profound or even prophetic. Further
copter gunships in Apocalypse Now) but rather conveys more, with careful interplay between sound and silence,
the hell of war, reinforces the bond among the soldiers, a filmmaker can produce a new rhythm for the film—one
and helps us understand the agony they suffer on each that calls attention to the characters’ perceptions. The
other’s behalf. Near the end, we hear his “Leave No Man Silence before Bach (2007), a film by the legendary Span
Behind,” a beautiful tapestry of piano and strings that ish surrealist director Pere Portabella, does just that. It’s
includes familiar patriotic musical motifs, and his soft, a feast for the ears and eyes, providing an avant-garde
martial arrangement of the heartbreaking Irish ballad filmmaker’s look at how the music of Bach and the con
“Minstrel Boy,” sung by Joe Strummer & The Mesca temporary world might interact.
leros. This score, derived from many sources—both di A similar achievement distinguishes Carlos Reyga
egetic and nondiegetic—is not background music but das’s Silent Light (2007), a film that is as visually beau
central to portraying the movie’s almost unbearable tiful as it is aurally spare. It records a year in the lives
tension. of Flemish Mennonite farmers living in Mexico, God-
Although a movie’s characters and its viewers hear fearing people who are as silent as the extraordinary
diegetic music, which can be as simple as sound drifting sunlight in which they work. It is not a documentary, but
in through an open window, only viewers hear non a celebration of the life cycle, reminiscent of Ermanno
diegetic music, which usually consists of an original score Olmi’s The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978) and Terrence
composed for the movie, selections chosen from music Malick’s The Tree of Life (2011). Another most unusual
libraries, or both. John Carney’s Once (2006) is a con movie, Pat Collins’s Silence (2012), follows a sound re
temporary love story about a “Guy” and a “Girl.” Its song cordist who wanders the fields of Ireland in search
lyrics virtually replace the meager dialogue. The story is of pure sound—natural, not man-made. This hybrid
simple enough: boy meets girl, boy sings to girl, girl helps feature/documentary takes place amid magnificent scen
boy to perfect his songs, boy gets music contract and ery. And, based on the theories of American composer
leaves girl to make his first recording. Its goofy charm John Cage, the sound design results in a film that has
depends almost completely on this diegetic music. a quiet intensity. The sound design of Malgorzata Szu
Nondiegetic music is recorded at the very end of the mowska’s In the Name Of (2013) is uncredited, per
editing process, so that it can be matched accurately to haps because it is mainly a silent movie composed of
the images. In recording an original score, the conductor such powerful images that little sound is required. The
and musicians work on a specially equipped recording story—about a priest who cannot reconcile his calling
stage that enables them to screen the film and tailor ev with his sexual attraction to young men—is also about a
ery aspect of the music’s tempo and quality to each scene man who cannot, because of his vows, talk freely about
that has music (similar to the way that Foley sounds are his feelings. The perfection of the mise-en-scène, acting,
created). F urther adjustments of the sounds of individ and use of natural sounds help the director to tell this
ual musicians, groups of musicians, or an entire orches difficult story.
tra are frequently made by sound technicians after these Classic directors such as Ingmar Bergman (e.g., Wild
recording sessions and before the final release prints. Strawberries, 1957) and Michelangelo Antonioni (e.g.,
Similar efforts are made to fit selections taken from mu The Red Desert, 1964) control their own sound designs,
sic libraries with the images they will accompany. imaginatively using silence to evoke the psychological
alienation of their characters. Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams
(1990) consists of eight extremely formal episodes, each
Silence based on one of the director’s dreams. The third episode,
As viewers, we are familiar with all the types of film “The Blizzard,” tells of four mountain climbers trapped
sound that have been described in this chapter, but we in a fierce storm. We hear what they hear when they are
that they have slept in the snow only a few yards away
from the safety of their base camp. What is the meaning
of this dream? Perhaps that life equals consciousness
and, in this instance, awareness of sound.
While movies such as Dreams, JeanPierre Mel
ville’s Le Cercle Rouge (1970), or Patrice Chéreau’s Ga-
brielle (2005) are important for calling our attention to
the imaginative use of silence, no other contemporary
movie has done this better than Joel and Ethan Coen’s
No Country for Old Men (2007). Although Carter Bur
well is credited for the score, the sound track of this
The sound of silence
tense, bloody thriller has only 16 minutes of music.
In Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (director Apichat-
pong Weerasethakul), there is silence everywhere in the Thai set- Likewise, there is very little dialogue. In this absence,
tings. In this tranquil image, Boonmee and his sister-in-law Jen are the sound effects are particularly striking and memo
sampling honey harvested at Boonmee’s farm. Except for a few rable: gunshots, the prairie winds, car doors slamming
words, the only sound we hear is the soft hum of the bees and and engines roaring, the scrape of a chair or footsteps
some distant ambient sound, perhaps a gentle wind or small river.
in a creepy hotel, and the beeping tracking device that
This aesthetic pervades the entire movie, especially in the scenes
facilitates the movie’s violent ending. When long sec
where ghosts from Boonmee’s family appear. Of course, we cannot
call this a “silent film,” but it powerfully demonstrates how to tell a tions of a movie are as conspicuously silent as this one,
story primarily with visual images. audiences automatically are obliged, perhaps ironically,
to listen more carefully. However, unlike the approach
in many thrillers, where sound creates suspense and
conscious, but when they are exhausted and near death, even helps the audience to anticipate what might hap
they (and we) hear almost nothing. pen, we don’t have that to guide us here. Indeed, many
As the episode begins, we hear the climbers’ boots of the movie’s characters also have to strain to hear and
crunching the snow, their labored breathing, and the identify sounds.
raging wind. They are exhausted, but the leader warns In Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
them that they will die if they go to sleep. Nonetheless, (2010), the acclaimed Thai director Apichatpong Weer
they all lie down in the snow. The previous loud sounds asethakul has made a film about reincarnation that may
diminish until all we hear is the low sound of the wind. also seek to transform cinema itself by emphasizing si
Then, out of this, we hear the sweet, clear, high sounds of lence rather than sound. Significantly, it won the Palme
a woman singing offscreen. The leader awakens to see a d’Or for the best feature film at the 2010 Cannes Film
beautiful woman onscreen—the specter of Death—who Festival, and it is like nothing you have ever seen or
says, “The snow is warm. . . . The ice is hot.” As she cov heard on the screen. The story, based on the Buddhist
ers the leader with shimmering fabrics, he drifts in and belief in reincarnation, is about Boonmee, who is dying
out of sleep, trying to fight her seductive powers—all in of kidney disease and believes that he can see ghosts
silence. from his past. His belief is powerful enough to call forth
Ultimately, Death fails to convince the leader to give apparitions of his late wife, with whom he discusses the
up. When it’s clear that he has regained his conscious afterlife. It’s all treated very matteroffactly with super
ness and strength, he is able to hear the loud storm again. imposed images of the dead appearing on the screen.
Death disappears, accompanied by wind and thunder. Thus we (and some other characters) see the wife too,
Perhaps her beauty has given the leader the courage just as she was in life. One ghost returns reincarnated
to resist death and thus save the group. The other men as a monkey, another as a catfish. The director’s radical
awaken; they, of course, have not seen or heard any of vision involves a careful observation of ordinary life in
this. We then hear muted trumpets, horns, and alpine scenes shot in long takes and real time and using very
music—all nondiegetic sounds signifying the climbers’ austere sound design. He does not reject sound, for we
victory over the weather and death. Ironically, when they hear the standard types of film sound, all of them die
awaken in the bright sunshine, the climbers recognize getic, including vocal sounds (some dialogue, a short
340 Chapter 9 Sound
offscreen interior monologue, monks’ prayers), music

(from a TV melodrama, a stringed instrument), and en
vironmental sounds of all kinds, including jungle noises,
insects, water, and rainfall. Indeed, the combination of
long takes in which there is little action and the soft, low
tones of these sounds is hypnotic. Perhaps ironically, the
overwhelming and calming silence of this place defines
it. The silence of the perceivable world and the after
world is Weerasethakul’s most powerful sound.
Sounds introduce conflict

Types of Sound in Steven Spielberg’s At the beginning of Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds (2005;
War of the Worlds sound designer Richard King), we hear loud, high-pitched sounds
Let’s take a close look at how important sound is to one (accompanying eerie atmospheric effects) and realize that some-
thing terrible is going to happen. Here, Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) and
movie in particular: Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds
his daughter, Rachel (Dakota Fanning), brave the roaring winds to
(2005; sound designer Richard King; musical score John
watch the darkening skies.
Williams). To do this, we’ll catalog the types of sounds
we hear in the movie. Because the sound design of this
movie is so complex, it would be impossible to identify
every sound that we hear, but the following discussion
offers a sense of the many types of sound incorporated
into the overall sound design.
The movie begins with shots of protoplasm as seen
through a microscope, accompanied by the deep, sooth
ing voice of the narrator speaking the opening lines of
H. G. Wells’s 1898 novel The War of the Worlds, on which
the screenplay was loosely based:
No one would have believed in the last years of the nine

teenth century that this world was being watched keenly
and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet The tripods’ warning
as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves For the first time, Ferrier sees and hears the foghorn-like warning
“voice” of the tripods. He and his neighbors, who do not yet under-
about their various concerns they were scrutinised and
stand what’s happening, seem stunned by the tripods—as much by
studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a mi
their massive size as by their ominous sounds.
croscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that
swarm and multiply in a drop of water.
The ominous nature of this text, along with the grave of this industrial operation; traffic in and around the
voice of the narrator (Morgan Freeman), lets us know area; the television in Ray’s apartment (bringing an omi
that we’re in for a thrilling story. Furthermore, these nous news report of violent lightning strikes in Ukraine);
few lines establish the basis of the sound design. Those and dialogue between Ray, his ex-wife, Mary Ann, and
“intelligences greater than man’s” inhabit the colossal their children, Rachel and Robbie, who are spend
tripods, which make thunderous noises. By contrast, hu ing the weekend with their father. From this point on,
mankind is a puny thing, prone to making incredulous however—when the movie rapidly enters the surreal world
assumptions about what is happening and then whim of the story—most of the sounds we hear are the work of
pering or crying about it. Big/little, loud/soft: that’s the sound engineers and technicians: the violent lightning
pattern underscoring this conflict. storm that incites the action, sudden winds that make
As the action begins with Ray Ferrier working at a the laundry flap wildly on the line, shattering glass as a
New Jersey container port, we hear the ambient sounds baseball breaks a window, the earthquake that splits the
Flight from terror Panic

Ferrier, driving a van that he has stolen, and his two children (who The tripods cause a whirlpool that capsizes a ferry overcrowded with
are hiding from danger on the floor of the car) flee their New Jersey people trying to escape. Sounds here include the hornlike “voices”
town as it is destroyed by the tripods. Notable here are the sound of the tripods, the screams of the crowd (those still on deck and
effects of crumbling steel bridges, vaporizing concrete highways, those already in the river), the buckling steel of the ferryboat, under-
and debris falling everywhere. water sounds, and John Williams’s musical score.
streets and enables the giant tripods to emerge, electri honking as they fly by—a classic omen of the horror to
cal flashes that emanate from the tripods, and the sounds come. There is very little music in this part of the film
of explosions, falling debris, shattered glass, and people (the rising action of the plot), but we hear from a ra
being vaporized as the tripods wreak havoc. There are dio somewhere the sound of Tony Bennett singing “If
also implied sounds, such as what Robbie is listening to I Ruled the World.” Since viewers know that a new de
on his iPod, that we cannot hear. monic force now rules the world, it’s a particularly ironic
As the crisis in this New Jersey town worsens, we are use of music.
overwhelmed by the sounds of fires, explosions, bridges The Ferriers manage to get on the ferryboat, but their
and highways collapsing, and the screeching tires of escape is thwarted when the boat is caught in a whirlpool
the car as Ray drives frantically out of town. When Ray and capsizes, throwing cars and passengers overboard.
and his children reach the temporary safety of his ex- The sounds of this action are faithful and vivid. We also
wife’s new house, there are more lightning storms, heavy see and hear people thrashing underwater as they seek
winds, and the sounds of a jet aircraft crashing on the safety. By now, the tripods are on the scene, their huge
front lawn. Many of these sounds were produced in the tentacles (with their own peculiar noises) grabbing peo
Foley lab. ple out of the Hudson and gobbling them up into their
During a lull before the tripods appear again, we hear nasty “mouths.” Of course, the three members of the
more ambient sounds: Rachel’s shrill screams, a radio Ferrier family escape all of this.
report on the status of the emergency broadcast system, On the riverbank, we see an Armageddon-like scene—
a passing convoy of army tanks and trucks, and car horns what might be the final conflict between the tripods and
in the heavy traffic as the Ferriers approach a ferry on humanity—and hear the sounds of the massive tripods
the Hudson River. At the ferry landing we hear the deaf crashing through the landscape, army tanks firing mis
ening roar of a freight train as it passes in the night, the siles at them, and helicopters and fighter jets above also
jangling of the warning bells at the train’s crossing, a firing missiles and dropping bombs. The scene is com
female ferry employee shouting instructions through a plete chaos, and we hear ambient noises of the crowds
megaphone, and the ferry’s deep-sounding horns. The rushing back and forth. While all this is happening, Rob
crowd there is furious at Ray for having a car in which bie Ferrier pleads with his father for independence and
to escape and begins to attack it; we hear loud crowd escapes into the fray.
noises, individual voices, gunshots, and the sounds of As the crowds disperse, and a semblance of quiet and
the car’s windows being smashed. Amid all this pan order returns, Ray and Rachel are welcomed into the
demonium, Rachel looks up to the sky and hears geese basement of a nearby farmhouse by Harlan Ogilvy. Soon
342 Chapter 9 Sound
by singing; she sings also. But Harlan has now decided to

take on the tripods himself—an act that Ray knows will
prove fatal for him and his daughter—so Ray kills Harlan
(offscreen), apparently beating him to death with a shovel,
as indicated by the accompanying heavy drumlike sound.
When Ray and his daughter emerge from the base
ment, they are confronted with a desolate landscape
and an entire arsenal of eerie sounds associated with the
tripods and other creatures. For an instant all is quiet
(a rare moment in this very noisy movie), and then the
tripods strike again with all the familiar sounds we have
Armageddon
As the tripods attack the fleeing crowds and devastate the land- come to expect. Ray attempts to hide in a car, which is
scape, military jets and missiles fail in their attempts to subdue smashed by the tripods; Rachel and Ray scream as they
them. We hear the sounds of the tripods and the chaos they create. are grabbed separately by the tentacles that are swirling
Aircraft, music, and various electronic sounds add to the doomsday everywhere like giant snakes.
atmosphere.
It is already clear, though, that the Ferriers can with
stand anything. Fulfilling that expectation, they once
again escape—to Boston, where the tripods self-destruct
the sounds of his sharpening a large blade provide an in violent explosions and fireworks. We hear the last
other omen that the battle is not yet over and that this sputtering bursts of flame, the gushing red fluid, and the
man may also become an evil force for Ray to reckon last gasps of the creatures. At the conclusion, as leaves
with. We even suspect that Ogilvy is a murderer and blow across a Boston street (reminding us of the winds
that Ray and Rachel are in harm’s way, but in fact he just in New Jersey at the beginning of this adventure), Ra
wants to annihilate the tripods. chel and Robbie reunite with their mother, who has been
The basement is full of sounds that further estab visiting her own mother for the weekend. We hear som
lish the imminent evil: scurrying rats; the soft, whirring ber piano music and soft, muted horns as the camera
sound of a tripod’s tentacle as it searches the labyrinth surveys the dead landscape.
of rooms; rippling water that is pooling there; and the The musical score for War of the Worlds was written
sounds of the stealthy grasshopper-like creatures that by John Williams, the most famous composer of film
have emerged from inside the tripods. Meanwhile, as Ra music alive today. But the movie’s sound effects, more
chel continues to scream, her father attempts to calm her than its music, produce the fright that is the heart of
Farmhouse refuge Rachel captured

Rachel and her father take shelter in the house of Harlan Ogilvy. Their As her father screams, “No! No!” a tentacle of one of the tripods
initial meeting is a moment of comparative quiet that’s rare for this swoops down and captures Rachel. Other sounds include Rachel’s
movie; all we hear is Harlan’s soft voice and the offscreen sounds of screams and the ominous, insistent musical score that suggests the
distant battles being fought outside. inevitability of this incident.
Functions of Film Sound

Primarily, sound helps the filmmaker tell a movie’s story
by reproducing and intensifying the world that has been
partially created by the film’s visual elements. A good
sound track can make the audience aware of the spatial
and temporal dimensions of the screen, raise expecta
tions, create rhythm, and develop characters. Either di
rectly or indirectly, these functions give the viewer clues
to interpretation and meaning. Sounds that work di
Home, devastated home rectly include dialogue, narration, and sound effects (of
At the conclusion of Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, Ray, his daugh- ten Foley sounds) that call attention (the characters’ or
ter, Rachel, and his son, Robbie, are reunited with the children’s ours) to on-screen or offscreen events.
mother. The soft, muted horns suggest a happy ending, but as Ray In John Ford’s My Darling Clementine (1946), “Doc”
and his family tearfully celebrate their reunion, the camera reveals
Holliday tosses his keys noisily on the hotel desk to un
the full extent of the havoc wrought by the alien invaders. What
ever future the Ferriers may have is uncertain.
derscore his desire to leave town if Clementine won’t
keep her promise to leave before him. In Charles Laugh
ton’s The Night of the Hunter ( 1955 ), Harry Powell cov
ets the large sum of money that he knows is hidden
the story. Contrary to viewers’ expectations (if we are somewhere around the farm. His stepchildren, John
familiar with Williams’s other work), Williams does not and Pearl, have kept the money hidden inside Pearl’s
create a musical theme for each of the major characters— doll, but Pearl is too young to understand what’s going
although there is a recurring, low-key motif for the tri on and has cut two of the bills into figures that she calls
pods. Nor does he leave us with one of his memorable “Pearl” and “John.” When Harry comes out of the house
“wall of sound” experiences. We are frightened when we to tell the children that it’s bedtime, they quickly restuff
see the unfamiliar tripods, and Williams underscores the crackling bills into the doll. Although we hear this
that fear with atonal music, but he also understands that sound, Harry doesn’t; but a moment later, in a small but
what we see in this movie demands a level of sound ef easily missed visual moment in the wide frame, we see
fects that necessarily assigns music a secondary role.
It’s interesting to compare Steven Spielberg’s movie
adaptation of War of the Worlds with Orson Welles’s
classic radio adaptation. Spielberg spent some $135 mil
lion to make the movie and employed hundreds of artists INTERACTIVE In this interactive tutorial, see
and technicians in the fields of sound and special effects. how sound plays a major role in how movies convey
Welles’s budget (estimated at $2,000) paid for his eleven- meaning, mood, and narrative. Experience a single
person radio cast, small crew, and studio orchestra. We silent scene in several very different ways, thanks to
cannot easily compare a blockbuster movie released in three distinct soundscapes created by a professional
sound designer.
2005 with a radio show broadcast in 1938, not only be
cause of the differences in the two media but also be
cause the radio audience then was less media-savvy than
movie audiences of today. But for anyone who has turned
off the lights and listened to Welles’s production—the
most famous of all radio broadcasts—it’s clear how he
was able to convince millions of people in the audience
that aliens had actually landed and that humankind was
in mortal danger. At some level Spielberg instinctively
understood this because, like Welles, ultimately he cre
ated fright through sound.
344 Chapter 9 Sound
and hear the two “Pearl” and “John” bills blowing across
the path toward Harry. This ominous coincidence adds
tension to the scene because we fear that Harry will
surely hear it too, look down, and discover the children’s
secret. Happily, at least for the moment, he doesn’t.
The sound effects in both of these films were created by
Foley artists.
Sounds that function indirectly help create mood
and thus may help the audience interpret scenes sub 1
consciously. Tomlinson Holman, a sound expert, points
out that viewers differentiate visual elements in a movie
far more easily and analytically than they do sound el
ements. The reason is that they tend to hear sound as
a whole, not as individual elements. Filmmakers can
take advantage of viewers’ inability to separate sounds
into constituent parts and use sound to manipulate
emotions, often via the musical score. In Bride of Fran-
kenstein (1935), director James Whale uses lowpitched
2
music to accentuate the terror of the scene in which a
lynch mob pursues the Monster through the woods. In
Sound that defines cinematic space
Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975), composer John Wil The tapestry of sounds that underscores the opening of Sergio
liams uses four low notes as the motif for the shark—the Leone’s Once upon a Time in the West (1968) is based on recurring
sound of fear being generated in an otherwise placid sounds (squeaking windmill) [1], sounds heard only once (whimper-
environment. ing dog), sounds that advance the narrative (an approaching train),
sounds that emphasize the tension of the situation in which three
Whether direct or indirect, sound functions accord
desperadoes wait for a train (buzzing fly, dripping water), and sounds
ing to conventions, means of conveying information that
that remind us of the outside world (the clackety-clack of the
are easy to perceive and understand. In this section, we telegraph—until it is disabled by one of the desperadoes) [2].
look at some of these conventions.
This scene is worth studying both for its montage of

sounds and for its convincing way of pinpointing their
Audience Awareness sources. This sound tapestry is composed almost en
Sound can define sections of the screen, guide our atten tirely of sound effects: a creaking door inside the crude
tion to or between them, and influence our interpreta station, the scratch of chalk as the station agent writes on
tion. Once upon a Time in the West (1968), Sergio Leone’s a blackboard, a squeaking windmill, the clacketyclack
masterfully ironic reworking of the Western genre, of a telegraph machine, water slowly dripping from the
begins with a scene at the Cattle Corner railroad stop ceiling, a man cracking his knuckles, various animals
somewhere in the Arizona desert. This scene is notable and insects (a softly whimpering dog, loudly buzzing
for an overall miseenscène that emphasizes the isola fly, and chirping bird in a cage), the distant sound of a
tion of the location and the menacing behavior of three train approaching and the closer sounds of its chugging
desperadoes waiting for a man called Harmonica to ar steam engine, the music from Harmonica’s harmonica,
rive on the Flagstone train. Within that setting, the direc and the sounds of the shootout in which Harmonica
tor and his sound engineers have created a memorable swiftly kills the three waiting desperadoes.
audio miseenscène for the opening scene. Running We see and hear clearly the source of each of these
approximately 14 minutes, this sequence uses various sounds. Because we are in the desert, there is no back
diegetic sounds that we perceive as emanating from very ground sound per se (except the sound of the train ap
specific points on and off the screen. proaching); at two brief moments we hear voices and,
at the end, only a hint of Ennio Morricone’s musical

score. This sound design helps us distinguish the indi
vidual sounds and also helps us understand how they
are arranged in relation to one another. Furthermore,
it creates a brooding suspense and raises fundamental
questions about the narrative and characters: Who are
these desperadoes? Who are they waiting for? Why do
they seem to betray Harmonica the moment he arrives?
Why does he kill them?
In addition to directing our attention to both the
spatial and temporal dimensions of a scene, as in Once
upon a Time in the West, sound creates emphasis by how
it is selected, arranged, and (if necessary) enhanced. 1
In Robert Altman’s The Player (1992), sound helps us

eavesdrop on the gossip at one table in a restaurant and
then, even more deliberately, takes us past that table to
another in the distance where the protagonist is head
ing and where the gossip will be confirmed. Because the
scene takes place on the terrace of an exclusive restau
rant in Beverly Hills—the guests all seem to be in the
motionpicture business—the sound makes us feel as if
we’re among them, able to see the rich and famous come
and go and, more relevant here, able to hear what they’re
saying, even if they think they aren’t being overheard.
2
Audience Expectations
Sounds create expectations. For example, in a scene Sound that thwarts audience expectations
between a man and a woman in which you hear quiet A classic example of sound thwarting audience expectations occurs
music, the sounds of their movements, and a subtle in Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (1935). A landlady enters a room,
sound of moving clothes, you might expect intimacy discovers a dead body, turns to face the camera, and opens her
mouth as if to scream [1]. At least, that’s what we expect to hear.
between the characters. However, in a similar scene in
Instead, as she opens her mouth we hear a sound that resembles
which the characters are not moving and you cannot
a scream but is slightly different—a sound that, because it is out
hear their clothes—and instead you hear the harsh sound of context, we may not instantly recognize. Immediately, though,
of traffic outside or a fan in the room—you might expect Hitchcock cuts to a shot of a train speeding out of a tunnel [2], and
something other than intimacy. Sound also requires the mystery is solved: instead of a scream, we have heard the train
precise timing and coordination with the image. For ex whistle blaring a fraction of a second before we see the train.
ample, when a simple scene of meeting in a doorway is

accompanied by a musical chord, we know that the in
cident is significant, even if we do not know how it will
evolve. But in a scene where a small boy is taken away In Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979), sound (along with visual
by a bad guy at a carnival, and we hear only the carnival effects) plays an impressive role in helping to create and
music and loud crowd sounds and then see the look of sustain the suspenseful narrative. This sciencefiction/
terror on the parents’ faces when they realize their child horror movie tells the story of the crew of a commercial
is gone, dramatic music is probably not needed. spacecraft that takes aboard an alien form of “organic
When a particular sound signals an action and that life” that ultimately kills all but one of them, Lieutenant
sound is used repeatedly, it plays on our expectations. Ellen Ripley.
346 Chapter 9 Sound
One device used to sustain this suspense is the juxta taposition of natural sounds and computer-generated
position of the familiar “meow” sounds made by Ripley’s bird noises. Elisabeth Weis, an authority on film sound,
pet cat, Jonesy, against the unfamiliar sounds made by writes:
the alien. After the alien disappears into the labyrinthine
[In] The Birds, screeches are even more important
ship, three crew members—Ripley, Parker, and Brett—
than visual techniques for terrorizing the audience
attempt to locate it with a motion detector. This device
during attacks. Indeed, bird sounds sometimes replace
leads them to a locked panel that, when opened, reveals
visuals altogether. . . . Hitchcock carefully manipulates
the cat, which hisses and runs away from them. Because
the sound track so that the birds can convey terror
losing the cat is Brett’s fault, he is charged with finding it
even when they are silent or just making an occasional
by himself. We hear his footsteps as he proceeds warily
caw or flutter. . . . Instead of orchestrated instruments
through the craft, calling “Here, kitty, kitty . . . Jonesy,
there are orchestrated sound effects. If in Psycho music
Jonesy,” and we are relieved when Brett finds the cat
sounds like birds, in The Birds bird sounds function
and calls it to him. Before the cat reaches Brett, however,
like music. Hitchcock even eliminates music under the
it sees the alien behind him, stops, and hisses. Alerted,
opening titles in favor of bird sounds.8
Brett turns around, but he is swiftly killed by the crea
ture. This sound motif is repeated near the end of the Directors of visionary movies—those that show the
film, when Ripley prepares to escape on the craft’s emer past, present, or future world in a distinctive, stylized
gency shuttle but is distracted by the cat’s meow. manner—rely extensively on sounds of all kinds, includ
ing music, to create those worlds. In 2001: A Space Odys-
sey (1968), where the world created comes almost totally
Expression of Point of View from his imagination, Stanley Kubrick uses sounds (and
By juxtaposing visual and aural images, a director can the absence of them) to help us experience what it might
express a point of view. In countless movies, for exam be like to travel through outer space. The barks and howl
ple, the sounds of big-city traffic—horns honking, people ing of the apes in the prologue reflect Kubrick’s point of
yelling at one another, taxis screeching to a halt to pick view that aggression and violence have always been a
up passengers—express the idea that these places are part of the world—indeed, that such behavior removes
frenetic and unlivable. Similarly, when a movie is set in the distinction between such concepts as primitive and
other distinct environments—seashore, desert, moun civilized. The sounds of switches, latches, and doorways
tain valley—the natural sounds associated with these on the space shuttles have a peculiar hollow sound all
places (the placid, turbulent, and stormy rhythms of their own. The electronic sounds emanating from the
the sea; the howling winds of the desert sands; the cry monolith reflect its imposing dignity but also mirror the
of a lone wolf in an otherwise peaceful valley) reflect awe and fear of the astronauts who approach it.
the director’s point of view of landscape and often the Although Werner Herzog usually shoots his visionary
thoughts or emotional mood of the characters. movies with direct sound (meaning that it is recorded
Alfred Hitchcock is a master of expressing his point on-site), he frequently augments that sound with haunt
of view through sound. In The Birds (1963), for example, ing musical scores by the German group Popol Vuh.
one of the few of his movies that does not have back These sounds, as well as Herzog’s very deliberate use of
ground music, Hitchcock uses a design of electronic bird silence, are part of what elevates such films as Aguirre:
sounds to express his point of view about the human The Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979),
chaos that breaks out in an unsuspecting town that has and The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (1974) beyond being
been attacked by birds. Bernard Herrmann, who com mere poetic movies to being philosophical statements
posed the scores for many Hitchcock movies including about human life. Aguirre recounts the failed attempt
Psycho (1960), was the uncredited sound designer on of Don Lope de Aguirre, a sixteenth-century Spanish ex
this one. Its highly stylized sound track consists of a jux plorer, to conquer Peru and find the fabled city of El Do
8. Elisabeth Weis, The Silent Scream: Alfred Hitchcock’s Sound Track (Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1982), pp. 138–139.
rado. From the opening to the closing moments of this to use sound creatively—in which the different quali
extraordinary movie, it is clear that Aguirre is mad. In ties of sounds made by ordinary activities establish the
deed, Kinski’s performance as Aguirre leaves no doubt “symphony” that accompanies the start of the day in an
that he is possessed by ruthless ambition and greed. ordinary Parisian neighborhood.
Herzog’s style is frequently called hallucinatory (as Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro pay homage to
well as visionary) because it produces a feeling in the Mamoulian’s sound montage in Delicatessen (1991). One
viewer of being somewhere between fantasy and reality, comic scene in the film functions like a piece of music,
which is exactly where Aguirre is. In the opening scene, with a classic verse-chorus-verse-chorus-verse-chorus
in which Aguirre and his forces slowly descend a steep pattern. When a butcher, Monsieur Clapet, makes love
mountainside toward a river, most of the action is shot to his mistress, Mademoiselle Plusse, the mattress and
in real time, helping us to understand just how ardu frame of the bed squeak noisily and in an increasing
ous and dangerous the expedition will be. The primary rhythm that matches their increasing ardor. As the tempo
sounds are people’s low voices, footsteps on the path, increases, we expect the scene to end climactically. Play
and Popol Vuh’s minimalist score, which mixes elec ing on our expectations, though, Jeunet and Caro cut
tronic and acoustic sources with choral monotones.
This music makes clear Herzog’s view of the futility of
Aguirre’s quest. Thus at the end, when Aguirre is alone
on a drifting raft spinning slowly out of control on the
river (photographed impressively from a helicopter,
which, of course, we do not hear), we are not surprised to
hear this musical score again—except that now Aguirre
too seems to understand the futility of his quest. This
reuse of music reinforces the prophetic nature of the
director’s point of view.
1
Rhythm
Sound can add rhythm to a scene, whether it’s accom
panying or juxtaposed against movement on the screen.
In Citizen Kane (1941; sound by Bailey Fesler and James G.
Stewart), in the comic scene in which Kane moves into
the Inquirer office, Orson Welles uses the rhythms within
overlapping dialogue to create a musical composition—
one voice playing off another in its pitch, loudness, and
quality [see “Looking at (and Listening to) Sound in
2
Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane” later in this chapter]. In
Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter (1997), two conversa
Sound and characterization
tions overlap, joined in time but separated in on-screen
The opening montage in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now
space: Wendell and Risa Walker talk with each other (1979) sets a high visual and sonic standard. But Coppola and his
while Mitchell Stevens speaks with his daughter, Zoe, on collaborators meet and perhaps exceed that standard during the
a cell phone. “helicopter attack” scene, in which the lunatic Lieutenant Colonel
A montage of sounds is a mix that ideally includes Kilgore leads a largely aerial raid on a Vietnamese village. Accompa-
multiple sources of diverse quality, levels, and place nying horribly magnificent images of destruction and death are the
sounds of wind, footsteps, gunfire, explosions, airplanes, helicop-
ment and usually moves as rapidly as a montage of im
ters, crowd noise, shouting, dialogue, and Richard Wagner’s “Ride
ages. Such a montage can also be orchestrated to create of the Valkyries.” Although the grand operatic music gives unity,
rhythm, as in the famous opening scene of Rouben Ma even a kind of dignity, to the fast-moving, violent, and disparate im-
moulian’s Love Me Tonight (1932)—one of the first films ages, its main effect is to underscore Kilgore’s megalomania.
348 Chapter 9 Sound
back and forth between the lovers and other inhabitants

of the building, who hear the squeaking bed and subcon
sciously change the rhythm of their daily chores to keep
time with the sounds’ escalating pace. The sequence de
rives its humor from the way it satisfies our formal expec
tations for closure (the sexual partners reach orgasm)
but frustrates the tenants, who just become exhausted
in their labors.
Characterization
Music supporting characterization
All types of sound—dialogue, sound effects, music—can
Richard and Christine are just two of the endearing characters look-
function as part of characterization. In Mel Brooks’s ing for love in Me and You and Everyone We Know. When they meet
Young Frankenstein (1974), when Frau Blücher’s name initially, nothing clicks, at least not for Richard. But later they dis-
is mentioned, horses rear on their hind legs and whinny. cover that they live in the wacky world of L.A. and view it in the
It becomes clear in context that she is so ugly and intim same detached way. The musical score does not create a theme for
them; instead, it echoes their casual way of living and loving.
idating that even horses can’t stand to hear her name, so
for the rest of the movie, every time her name is men
tioned, we hear the same sounds.
In Jaws (1975), Steven Spielberg uses a sound effect
to introduce Quint, the old shark hunter. When Quint
enters a community meeting called in response to the theme, as with John Williams’s memorable one for Hed
first killing of a swimmer by the shark, he draws his fin wig, Harry’s owl in the Harry Potter series.
gernails across a chalkboard to show his power and brav Musical themes often identify characters, occurring
ery: he is affected neither by a sound that makes most and recurring on the sound track as the characters make
people cringe nor, by extension, by the townspeople or their entrances and exits on the screen. But music can
sharks. We might also observe that this sound is as abra also underscore characters’ insights. In Sam Mendes’s
sive as Quint is. American Beauty (1999), for example, Lester Burnham
Musical themes are frequently associated with a is having a midlife crisis. Although a wide variety of di
character’s thoughts, as in Lasse Hallström’s My Life as egetic popular music helps identify the musical tastes
a Dog (1985), where Björn Isfält’s score reflects the mel of the Burnham family, it is an original theme that helps
ancholic state of mind of a boy yearning for his dead identify and sustain Lester’s longing for a different life,
mother, or in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s The Ghost and literally a “bed of roses”—and roses are the symbol of
Mrs. Muir (1947), where Bernard Herrmann’s score re Lester’s lust for his daughter’s friend Angela. Lying on
flects a widow’s loneliness in an isolated house on a cliff his bed, Lester has this fantasy—shots of rose petals
overlooking the sea. Musical themes can also help us floating on him are intercut with shots of Angela naked
to understand the setting in which characters live. Mi among the rose petals on the ceiling above him—and we
randa July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know (2006) hear a peaceful theme played by a Javanese gamelan or
is an offbeat indie feature that tells the overlapping chestra. The repetitiveness and quality of this music em
stories of a diverse group of people living in Los Ange phasize Lester’s mood of wanting to escape to another
les and looking for love, affection, or whatever they can world.
find. These people—young, old, married, single, black,
Hispanic, and white—are poignant in their somewhat
goofy yearnings, and Michael Andrews’s whimsical mu Continuity
sical score (including solo guitar, solo piano, solo organ, Sound can link one shot to the next, indicating that
pop songs, and a hymn) reflects their casual lifestyles the scene has not changed in either time or space.
and provides the perfect comment on their activities. Overlapping sound carries the sound from a first shot
Animals can also be identified by a significant musical over to the next before the sound of the second shot be
by overlapping, nondiegetic bits of a Beethoven piano

sonata and two of which show Ed Crane listening to Ra
chael Abundas playing the sonata (diegetic music). In a
life filled with conflict and tragedy, Ed has found “peace”
listening to Rachael play this particular sonata, and this
sequence is made all the more peaceful by its lyrical
theme. But Carter Burwell, the movie’s composer, must
have chosen this sonata—no. 8 in C Minor, op. 13—for its
subtitle, Pathétique, as a pointedly ironic reminder that
Crane sees himself as a loser and so does everyone else.
Emphasis
VIDEO This short tutorial shows how sound A sound can create emphasis in any scene: it can func
functions in a short scene from Andrew Lund’s
tion as a punctuation mark when it accentuates and
Snapshot.
strengthens the visual image. Although some movies
treat emphasis as if it were a sledgehammer, others
handle it more subtly. In Peter Weir’s The Truman Show
(1998), Truman Burbank unknowingly has lived his en
tire life in an ideal world that is in fact a fantastic tele
gins. Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter (1955) vision set contained within a huge dome. When after
contains an effective sound bridge: Harry Powell, a con 30 years he realizes the truth of his existence, he over
man posing as an itinerant preacher, has murdered his comes his fear of water and attempts to sail away. To
wife, Willa, placed her in an automobile, and driven it deter him, the television producer orders an artificial
into the river. An old man, Birdie Steptoe, out fishing on storm, which temporarily disables Truman. But the Sun
the river, looks down and discovers the crime. comes out, he wakes up, and he continues his journey,
Through shot A, an underwater shot of great poetic thinking he is free. Suddenly the boom of one of his sails
quality in which we see Willa in the car, her floating hair pierces the inside of the great dome with a sound that
mingling with the reeds, we hear Harry singing one of is unfamiliar to him—indeed, one of the most memo
his hymns; that music bridges the cut to shot B, where rable sounds ever heard in a movie. His first reactions
Harry, continuing to sing, is standing in front of their are shock, anguish, and disbelief. How could there be an
house looking for his stepchildren. Hearing Harry’s hymn “end” to the horizon?
singing over Willa’s submerged body affects the meaning Distinct as this sound is, it has nothing of the sledge
of this scene in two ways: it both adds to the shot’s eerie hammer effect. Rather, it underscores Truman’s quiet,
feeling of heavenly peace (with her gently undulating slow epiphany of who and where he is. His next reaction
hair, diffused light, etc.) associated with what should be a is the awareness that something is very wrong with his
grisly image and connects Harry directly to the murder. world. Cautiously touching the dome’s metal wall, he
In addition, his calm, satisfied, even righteous attitude says, “Aah,” indicating a further insight into his situa
reinforces the interpretation that he sees his killings as tion. He walks along the edge of the “horizon,” mounts
acts of God. When the picture catches up with the sound a surreal staircase, pauses for a moment to talk with the
to reveal Harry calmly stalking the murdered woman’s show’s producer, and finally walks through an exit door
children, the dramatic tension is increased because of to the first free day of his life. The unique sound of the
the association between Harry and Willa’s body that the boom piercing the metal dome, underscored by the chord
sound bridge has reinforced. progressions of Burkhard Dallwitz’s score, is noth
Joel Coen’s The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001) is a ing like the ordinary sound of a boat bumping against
dark, twisted neo-noir film. It contains a smoothly edited a dock. And although it is a real sound, it is not a natu
sequence of fifteen shots, thirteen of which are linked ral one. This is a symbolic sound that both emphasizes
350 Chapter 9 Sound
1 2
3 4
Overlapping music
A fifteen-shot sequence in Joel Coen’s The Man Who Wasn’t There
(2001) documents a futile attempt by Ed Crane to find a man who
has swindled him out of $10,000. The sequence is one of many in
the movie that show the decent but ineffectual Crane coming to
grips with his life as an ordinary barber while his wife and everyone
else around him set higher goals. The sequence is underscored with
the nondiegetic and diegetic sounds of Beethoven’s Pathétique pi-
ano sonata. Here are five shots from the middle of the sequence:
Crane [1] tries to locate Creighton Tolliver, the swindler, by phone;
[2] checks the man’s business card; and [3] listens to Rachael “Birdy”
Abundas, a teenage neighbor, playing a Beethoven piano sonata.
5 [4] Rachael’s father, Walter, also listens. [5] Crane is back at his job in
the barber shop. When he asks, “How could I have been so stupid?”
we understand the appropriateness of the filmmakers’ choice of this
Truman’s captivity and heralds his liberation from a world Beethoven sonata to underscore his self-insight.
of illusion.
In Adrian Lyne’s version of Lolita (1997), the sexual
ambiguity of a confrontation between Humbert Hum
Looking at (and Listening to)
bert and his nemesis, Clare Quilty, is punctuated by the
insistent sound of an electric bug zapper. In action mov Sound in Orson Welles’s
ies, such as Sin City (2005; directors Frank Miller and Citizen Kane
Robert Rodriguez), the sounds of violent action are
greatly emphasized so that fists hit with a bone-crunching During the 1930s, the first decade of sound in film, many
“thunk” and cars crash with a deafening noise. The same directors used sound as an integral part of their movies.
exaggerated emphasis applies to many animated movies, Their innovations were all the more significant because
in which the violence is loud but usually harmless. most of them had little or no prior background in sound.
Looking at (and Listening to) Sound in Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane 351
Between 1933 and 1938, Orson Welles established him

self as one of the most creative innovators in American
radio broadcasting. Before Welles, radio broadcasting
had been a wasteland lacking in creativity, but Welles
approached the medium the way he approached the the
ater and, later, the movies: experimenting and making
things different.
As always, Welles was a one-man show: writer, direc
tor, producer, actor. As writer, he specialized in mak
ing modern adaptations of classic literary works; as
producer, he cast famous stage and movie actors, gen
erally saving the most important part for himself; and
as director, he orchestrated voices, sound effects, nar
ration, and music in a complex mix that had never been 1
tried before, at least on the scale that he created. There
was no commercial television broadcasting at the time,
and Welles understood the power of pure sounds, with
out images, to entertain, educate, and engage listeners.
He also understood the power of radio to shock people,
as his notorious 1938 production of H. G. Wells’s The
War of the Worlds proved. Indeed, the awesome imag
ination behind that one radio broadcast made Orson
Welles world famous overnight and was instrumental in
his recruitment by Hollywood.
Welles’s complex sound design for Citizen Kane (1941;
sound by Bailey Fesler and James G. Stewart) is a kind of
deep-focus sound that functions much like deep-focus
cinematography. Indeed, we can confidently call Welles
the first sound designer in American film history for 2
his comprehensive use of sound to establish, develop,
and call our attention to the meanings of what we see. Sound mise-en-scène
The mise-en-scène of this party scene from Orson Welles’s Citizen
In this discussion, we will look more closely at the im
Kane (1941) clearly reflects what’s going on both visually and aurally.
pressive uses of sound in the party scene that celebrates
Leland and Bernstein are talking, and even though there are com-
Kane’s acquisition of the Chronicle staff for the Inquirer. peting sounds around them, their voices are distinct because they
In addition to the combined staff of reporters, musi have been placed close to a microphone in a medium shot. Note
cians, waiters, and dancers, the principal characters are that Kane (Welles), both visually and aurally, dominates this scene
Charles Foster Kane, Mr. Bernstein, and Jed Leland. The through his presence in the middle background of each shot.
setting for the party is the Inquirer’s offices, which have

been decorated for the occasion. The room is both deep
and wide, designed to accommodate the deep-focus cin
ematography. Welles made his complicated sound de When Bernstein and Leland are talking, for example,
sign possible by covering the ceilings with muslin, which they appear in medium shots, and their dialogue is nat
concealed the many microphones necessary to record urally the loudest on the sound track. However, they
the multiple sounds as the scene was shot. literally have to shout to be heard because of the pitch,
We hear these multiple sounds simultaneously, dis loudness, and quality of the competing sounds: the mu
tinctly, and at the proper sound levels in relation to the sic, the dancing, the crowd noise.
camera’s placement, so that the farther we are from the We can say that the sound has its own mise-en-scène
sound, the softer and less distinct the sound becomes. here. Although these diegetic, on-screen sounds were
352 Chapter 9 Sound
recorded directly on the set, some additions were made

during the rerecording process. Reversing the ordinary
convention of composing the music after making the
rough cut of a film, Bernard Herrmann wrote the mu
sic first, and Robert Wise edited the footage to fit the
music’s rhythm.
Sources and Types

The sound in this scene is diegetic, external onscreen.
It was recorded during both production and postpro
duction and is diverse in quality, level, and placement.
The types of sound include overlapping voices, ordinary
dialogue, and singing; music from an onscreen band;
Complex mix of sound
sound effects; and ambient noise. Welles’s handling of
In addition to the distinct voices of the three main characters and
sound dominates this scene: he makes us constantly
those of the guests, there is a brass marching band—all of this con-
aware of the sources, the types, and the mix and (unsur stituted a sound design and mix that was very advanced for its time.
prisingly) doesn’t use much silence. However, two signs
mounted on walls read “SILENCE” and thus, as relics of
an earlier period, remind us how quiet these same offices
were before Kane took over from the previous editor. traordinary achievement. It creates the spatial, tempo
Through this visual pun, Welles employs a touch of si ral, emotional, and dramatic setting of the action, and
lence during the loudest sequence in Citizen Kane. also heightens our expectations and fears about Kane’s
future in journalism and politics. This complexity set
it far ahead of its time and deeply influenced the de
Functions velopment of movie sound. The sound montage in this
Given what was possible in sound design and recording party scene functions in many ways. Here are some nota
in 1941, the sound montage in this party scene is an ex ble ones:
Guides our attention to all parts of the room,

making us aware of characters’ relative positions
(e.g., the contrast between Kane and the others)
Helps define the spatial and temporal dimensions

of the setting and the characters’ placement within
the miseenscène (e.g., the sound is loud when the
source is closer to the camera)
Conveys the mood and the characters’ states of

mind (e.g., the sound is frantic and loud and gains
momentum until it almost runs out of control,
underscoring the idea that these men, Kane and
reporters alike, are being blinded and intoxicated
by their own success)
Helps represent time (e.g., the sound here is

Sound creates mood synchronous with the action)
At this party, where spirits are high, almost everyone joins in the act,
including Kane, the performers, and Kane’s staff of reporters, here Fulfills our expectations (e.g., of how a party of
pretending as if they were members of the band. this kind might sound and of the fact that Kane
is continuing on his rapid rise to journalistic and Enhances continuity with sound bridges (the
political power) smooth transitions from shot to shot and scene to
scene within the sequence)
Creates rhythm beyond that provided by the music
(within the changing dramatic arc that starts with Provides emphasis (e.g., the sound of the flashlamp
a celebration involving all the men and ends with when the staff ’s picture is taken punctuates Kane’s
one man’s colossal display of ego) bragging about having gotten his candy; after Kane
says, “And now, gentlemen, your complete attention,
Reveals, through the dialogue, aspects of each if you please,” he puts his fingers in his mouth and
main character (e.g., establishes a conflict between
whistles; the trumpets’ blare)
Kane and Leland over personal and journalistic
ethics, one in which Bernstein predictably takes Enhances the overall dramatic effect of the sequence
Kane’s side)
This overwhelming sound mix almost tells the story
Underscores one principal theme of the entire
by itself.
movie (e.g., the song “There Is a Man” not only puts
“good old Charlie Kane” in the spotlight—he sings
and dances throughout it—but also serves as the
Characterization
campaign theme song when he runs for governor
All the functions named in the previous section are im
and becomes a dirge after his defeat; at the same
portant to this particular sequence and the overall film.
time, while the lyric attempts to answer the question
In this section, we will look more closely only at how the
“Who is this man?” it has no more success than the
sound helps illuminate the characters of Charles Foster
rest of the movie)
Kane, Mr. Bernstein, and Jed Leland. Even though their
Arouses our expectations about what’s going to dialogue is primarily a function of the narrative, its vo
happen as the film evolves (e.g., the marching cal delivery brings it to life. Long after you have seen the
band signals both that the Inquirer won over the movie, you remember the characters, what they said,
Chronicle and that the Inquirer “declares” war on and the voices of those who portrayed them. As one leg
Spain—a war the United States will win) acy of his radio experience, Welles planned it that way.
Who is this man? Sound effects

“Who is this man?” a line in Kane’s campaign song “There Is a Man,” Welles rarely missed an opportunity to use sound effects expres-
might function as a subtitle for the movie itself and allows Kane— sively, as here, where the bright light of the old-fashioned flash unit
singing, dancing, and mugging his way through the act—to show a illuminates the scene and punctuates his bragging about acquiring
lighter side of his many-faceted personality. the Chronicle staff: “I felt like a kid in a candy store!”
354 Chapter 9 Sound
1 2
Sound aids characterization in Citizen Kane

[1] Standing at opposite ends of the banquet table, Bernstein (back-
ground ) and Kane (foreground ) banter back and forth as if they were
a comedy duo. [2] Welles dominates the scene with sound. Putting
his fingers between his lips, Kane gets the attention of his guests
and loudly calls for their “complete attention.” [3] Bernstein (left) and
Leland (right ) join in the singing of “There Is a Man,” but Leland, now
disillusioned with Kane, sings only to be polite.
Kane dominates the table of guests with the an

nouncement that he is going to Europe for his health—
3 “forgive my rudeness in taking leave of you”—but there
is in fact nothing physically wrong with him, as we learn
when he calls attention to his mania for collection (and
Each of the actors playing these characters has a dis wealth) by sarcastically saying, “They’ve been making
tinctive speaking voice that is a major part of their char statues for two thousand years and I’ve only been buy
acterization. Indeed, their voices are part of the key to ing for five.” This conversation between Kane and Bern
our understanding of their characters. The depth and stein is directed and acted as if it were a comedy routine
resonance of Welles’s voice, coupled with its many col on a radio show or in a vaudeville theater between the
ors (or qualities) and capabilities for both nuance and “top banana” (Kane) and the “straight man” (Bernstein).
emphasis, enhance his ambiguous portrayal of the char The implied nature of this exchange is something that
acter. In several distinct areas, the sound of his voice 1940s audiences would have instinctively understood.
deepens our understanding of this contradictory figure. The sound in this scene helps Kane build on his
It helps Kane flaunt his wealth and his power as the In- power, not only as the boss and host of the party—“And
quirer’s publisher: when he brags to the new reporters now, gentlemen, your complete attention, if you please”—
about feeling like a “kid in a candy store” and having but also as the flamboyant and influential publisher:
gotten his candy, his remarks are punctuated by the “Well, gentlemen, are we going to declare war on Spain,
sound of the photographer’s flashlamp. However, this or are we not?” He’s in charge because he’s the boss,
sound may also be interpreted as Welles’s way of mock and the boss’s voice also dominates his employees. As he
ing Kane’s bragging. asks this question, the band enters, playing “Hot Time
in the Old Town Tonight,” and is followed by women Themes

dancers carrying toy rifles. When Leland answers, “The Sound serves many functions in this scene, including the
Inquirer already has,” Kane humiliates him by calling development of several major themes and concerns:
him “a long-faced, overdressed anarchist.” Even though
Kane’s youthful longings fulfilled. A major strand
he says this humorously, he uses the tone of his voice,
of the narrative conveys Kane’s lifelong bullying of
as well as his words, to humiliate his subordinate.
others, mania for buying things, and egomania as
The song about “good old Charlie Kane”—here the
a reaction to being abandoned by his parents at an
excuse for more of Welles’s vocal theatrics—later be
early age. Here he begins the scene by addressing
comes his political campaign theme, so the sound in this
the new reporters and likening his acquisition of the
scene connects us with later scenes in which we hear
Chronicle staff to a kid who has just gotten all the
this musical theme again. By participating in the singing
candy he wants. This statement is punctuated by
and dancing, Kane continues to call “complete atten
the sound of a flashbulb.
tion” (his words) to himself. Through both visual and
aural imagery, Kane remains in the center of the frame Kane’s ruthless ambition. The mix of burlesque
for most of the scene, either directly on-screen himself dancing, loud music, and serious conversation about
or indirectly reflected in the windows. His voice domi ethics only underscores Kane’s determination to do
nates all the other sounds in this scene because it always whatever is necessary to attain his goals.
seems to be the loudest.
Leland and Bernstein are different from one another Kane’s disregard for ethics and principles and his
in family background, education, level of sophistica relation with his two closest associates. Kane’s
tion, and relationship to Kane, and their conversation domination of the scene is made personal by his
about journalistic ethics establishes another major dif humiliation of Leland (throwing his coat at Leland,
ference: these characters’ voices are also quite different as if Leland were a lackey) and teasing of Bernstein
from Kane’s voice. Leland has the soft patrician voice of (“You don’t expect me to keep any of those promises,
a Virginia gentleman, while Bernstein’s voice reflects do you?”), a further reference to the “Declaration
his New York immigrant-class upbringing. Leland gently of Principles” that Kane flamboyantly writes and
questions Kane’s motives in hiring the Chronicle’s staff prints on the first page of the Inquirer. The dialogue
and wonders why they can change their loyalties so eas in this scene (and those scenes that precede and
ily, but the pragmatic Bernstein bluntly answers, “Sure, follow it) further clarifies the relationships among
they’re just like anybody else. . . . They got work to do, Kane, Bernstein, and Leland.
they do it. Only they happen to be the best in the busi The care and attention that Welles and his colleagues
ness.” Their reading of these lines embodies one of the enthusiastically gave to the sound design of this scene
movie’s major themes: journalistic ethics. Even their was virtually unprecedented in 1941 and was seldom
singing sets them apart. Bernstein sings as if he’s having equaled until the 1970s. In giving this rowdy party the
a good time, but Leland seems to sing only to show his appearance of a real event, not something staged for the
good manners. Their differences, including the differ cameras, the sound—along with the visual design, mise-
ences in their voices, ultimately determine their future en-scène, acting, and direction, of course—plays a major
relationship with Kane. role in depicting a crucial turning point in the narrative.
356 Chapter 9 Sound
ANALYZING SOUND
By this point in our study of the movies, we know chapter has provided a foundation for understand-
that like everything else in a movie, sound is man- ing the basic characteristics of film sound and a
ufactured creatively for the purposes of telling a vocabulary for talking and writing about it ana
story. As you attempt to make more informed critical lytically. As you screen movies in and out of class,
judgments about the sound in any movie, remember you’ll now be able to thoughtfully appreciate and
that what you hear in a film results from choices describe how the sound in any movie either com
made by directors and their collaborators during and plements or detracts from the visual elements
after production, just as what you see does. This portrayed on-screen.
SCREENING CHECKLIST: SOUND

As you analyze a shot or scene, carefully note In the movie overall, how is music used? In a
the specific sources of sound in that shot or complementary way? Ironically? Does the use
scene. of music in this movie seem appropriate to the
story?
Also keep notes on the types of sound that are
used in the shot or scene. Do image and sound complement one another
in this movie or does one dominate the other?
Note carefully those moments when the
sound creates emphasis by accentuating and Does this film use silence expressively?
strengthening the visual image.
In this movie, do you hear evidence of a com-
Does the sound in the shot, scene, or movie prehensive approach to sound—one, specifically,
as a whole help develop characterization? If in which the film’s sound is as expressive as its
so, how does it do so? images? If so, explain why you think so.

1. What is sound design? What are the responsibilities 6. How do ambient sounds differ from sound
of the sound designer? effects? How are Foley sounds different from
2. Distinguish among recording, rerecording, editing, sound effects?
and mixing. 7. Can the music in a movie be both diegetic and
3. What is the difference between diegetic and nondiegetic? Explain.
nondiegetic sources of sound? 8. How does sound call our attention to both the
4. What are the differences between sounds that are spatial and temporal dimensions of a scene?
internal and external; on-screen and offscreen? 9. Cite an example of sound that is faithful to its
5. Is a movie limited to a certain number of sound source and an example that is not.
tracks? 10. What is a sound bridge? What are its functions?
FILM HISTORY
CHAPTER
10
358 Chapter 10 Film History
as radical and provocative as Godard’s. Also you might

LEARNING OBJECTIVES browse through a comprehensive history of film, such
After reading this chapter, you should be able to as the ten-volume History of American Cinema series
nn understand the basic approaches to studying film ( University of California Press). Such comprehensive
history. histories are written over many years, and often by
nn appreciate how different movements—groups of many people. Because of this, most film historians don’t
artists working to advance a shared cause—shaped undertake such massive projects. Most people who
film history. practice film history instead focus their energies on
nn understand how the general state of the filmmaking art studying specific moments, movements, and phenom-
at any moment in film history may help to explain how ena. Jeanine Basinger’s I Do and I Don’t: A History of
and why a movie was made the way it was. Marriage in the Movies (New York: Knopf, 2012) pro-
nn describe the chronological breakdown of film history vides a masterful account of its subject. C. S. Tashiro’s
and identify its major achievements. Pretty Pictures: Production Design and the History Film
nn explain how unique directors and movies have ( Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998) focuses on just
expanded our understanding of the medium and its one aspect of film production—production design—even
potential as an art. as it ranges widely over the full chronology of film his-
nn understand how major historical events may affect how tory. In both broad and specific studies, the film histo-
and why movies are made. rian is interested equally in change—those developments
that have altered the course of film history—and stabi
lity, meaning those aspects that have defied change. Film
What Is Film History?

In just over a hundred years, the cinema, like the classical
art forms before it—architecture, fiction, poetry, drama,
dance, painting, and music—has developed its own aes-
thetics, conventions, influence, and, of course, history.
Broadly defined, film history traces the development of
moving images from early experiments with image re-
production and photography through the invention of
the movies in the early 1890s and subsequent stylistic,
financial, technological, and social developments in cin-
ema that have occurred up to now.
To get some idea of the scope and depth of that re-
cord, you should start looking at as many of the mov-
ies as possible that made history. Because that could
take years, a good way to start is by seeing one or both A major turning point in film history
Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard (1950) is a haunting film noir about
of the following compilation films. The first is His
film history. Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), an aging silent-movie
toire(s) du cinéma (1998) by Jean-Luc Godard, one of the star who (in the 1950s) still represents the glamour and allure of the
world’s great film directors. Consistent with Godard’s silent era, hopes to revive her career in the sound era with the help
argumentative reputation, this highly original account, of Joe Gillis (William Holden), an aspiring screenwriter. Her fantasies
whose title correctly suggests that there is more than are apparent in one of her most famous (and unintentionally funny)
one way to look at this subject, is full of clips that will lines: “I am big. It’s the movies that got small.” Unfortunately, she
isn’t big anymore, and the movies just kept getting bigger and better
challenge your thinking. The second is Mark Cousins’s
after the conversion to sound, one of the major turning points in film
The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011), a 15-hour series history. All Desmond has left is her dreams, and Sunset Boulevard is
made for British television. Cousins, an Irish filmmaker all the more poignant because Gloria Swanson herself was actually
and critic, has gathered a highly personal list of movies one of the greatest stars of the silent era.
Basic Approaches to Studying Film History 359
history is not, to quote film historians Robert C. Allen tion. But the beginner should know the four traditional
and Douglas Gomery, “a list of film titles or an academ approaches: the aesthetic, technological, economic, and
ically respectable trivia contest. It has the much more social. In what follows, we describe each and cite one
important and complex task of explaining the histori- or two studies that exemplify each approach.2
cal development of a phenomenon on which billions of
dollars and countless hours have been spent.”1
Like other historians, film historians use artifacts The Aesthetic Approach
to study the past. These artifacts include the various Sometimes called the masterpiece approach or great man
machines and other technology—cameras, projectors, approach, the aesthetic approach seeks to evaluate indi-
sound recording devices, and so on—without which vidual movies and/or directors using criteria that as-
there would be no movies. Artifacts might include notes sess their artistic significance and influence. Ordinarily,
from story conferences, screenplays, production logs, historians who take this approach will first define their
drawings, outtakes, and other objects relevant to the criteria of artistic excellence and then ask the following
production of a particular movie. Of course, they might questions: What are the significant works of the cine-
also include first-person accounts by people involved matic art? Who are the significant directors? Why are
with the movie, newspaper and magazine articles, and these movies and these directors important?
books about the production and the people involved in Historians who take the aesthetic perspective do not
it. Obviously, the most important artifacts to the film necessarily ignore the economic, technological, and cul
historian are the movies themselves. tural aspects of film history—indeed, it would be impos-
Film history includes the history of technologies, sible to discuss many great movies without considering
the people and industrial organizations that produce these factors—but they are primarily interested in mov-
the movies, the national cinemas that distinguish one ies that are not only works of art but also widely ac-
country’s movies from another’s, the attempts to sup- knowledged masterpieces.
press and censor the movies, and the meanings and The most comprehensive, one-volume international
pleasure that we derive from them. Gaining knowledge history that takes an aesthetic approach is David A. Cook’s
about these and other aspects of film history is pleasur- A History of Narrative Film, 5th ed. (New York: Norton,
able and interesting in itself. But as you graduate from 2016). Other aesthetic studies are on the auteur theory,
merely watching movies to looking at movies in a criti- which holds that great movies are the work of a single cre-
cally aware way, your knowledge of film history will also ative mind; one outstanding study in this field is James
give you the perspective and context to understand and Naremore’s On Kubrick (London: BFI, 2007).3
evaluate the unique attributes of movies from the past as
well as the more complex phenomena of today’s movies.
The Technological Approach
All art forms have a technological history that records
Basic Approaches to the advancements in materials and techniques that
Studying Film History have affected the nature of the medium. Of all the arts,
though, cinema seems to rely most heavily on technol-
There are many approaches to studying film history, ogy. Historians who chart the history of cinema tech-
including studies of production, regulation, and recep- nology examine the circumstances surrounding the
1. Robert C. Allen and Douglas Gomery, Film History: Theory and Practice (New York: Knopf, 1985), p. 21.
2. These four traditional categories are covered in Allen and Gomery, Film History, chs. 4–7. Jon Lewis and Eric Smoodin, eds., Looking Past the Screen:
Case Studies in American Film History and Method (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007), pp. 4–5, identify four other categories: industrial
systems, regulatory systems, reception, and representation.
3. Film critic Andrew Sarris defines the auteur theory in his The American Cinema: Directors and Directions, 1929–1968 (New York: Dutton, 1968),
pp. 19–37. See also Pauline Kael’s famous rebuttal, “Circles and Squares,” in Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, ed. Gerald Mast and
Marshall Cohen, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979), pp. 666–691. Sarris’s essay is also included in this anthology (pp. 650–665), but it
should be read in the context of his pioneering 1968 study, cited here.
development of each technological advance as well as ment and organization, accounting and marketing prac-
subsequent improvements. They pose questions such tices, and censorship and the rating system. Finally, they
as: When was each invention made? Under what cir- try to place significant movies within the nation’s econ-
cumstances, including aesthetic, economic, and social, omy as well as within the output of the industry in general
was it made? Was it a totally new idea or one linked to and the producing studio in particular.
the existing state of technology? What were the conse- Excellent studies include Douglas Gomery’s The Holly
quences for directors, studios, distributors, exhibitors, wood Studio System: A History (London: BFI, 2005),
and audiences? Joel W. Finler’s The Hollywood Story, 3rd ed. (London:
By studying how the major developments (including Wallflower, 2003), and Tino Balio’s Grand Design: Holly
the introduction of sound, the moving camera, deep- wood as a Modern Business Enterprise, 1930–1939, His-
focus cinematography, color film stock, and digital tory of the American Cinema series, vol. 5 (Berkeley:
cinematography, processing, and projection) occurred, University of California Press, 1995).
historians show us how the production of movies has
changed and can also evaluate whether that change was
significant (like widescreen processes) or transitory (like The Social History Approach
Smell-O-Vision). This approach cuts across artists, stu- Because society and culture influence the movies, and
dios, movements, and genres to focus on the interaction vice versa, the movies serve as primary sources for
of technology with aesthetics, modes of production, and studying society. Writing about movies as social history
economic factors. continues to be a major preoccupation of journalists,
An excellent example of such a study is by David scholars, and students alike. Philosopher Ian Jarvie sug-
Bordwell, Janet Staiger, and Kristin Thompson, The gests that, in undertaking these studies, we ask the fol-
Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style and Mode of Pro lowing basic questions: Who made the movies, and why?
duction to 1960 (New York: Columbia University Press, Who saw the films, how, and why? What was seen, how,
1985). For a study of a specific technological subject, and why? How were the movies evaluated, by whom,
see John Belton’s Widescreen Cinema (Cambridge, MA: and why?4
Harvard University Press, 1992). In addition, those interested in social history consider
such factors as religion, politics, and cultural trends
and taboos. They ask to what extent, if any, a particular
The Economic Approach movie was produced to sway public opinion or effect so-
The motion-picture industry is a major part of the global cial change. They are also interested in audience com-
economy. Every movie released has an economic history position, marketing, and critical writing and reviewing
of its own as well as a place in the economic history of its in the media, from gossip magazines to scholarly books.
studio ( policies of production, distribution, and exhibi- Overall, they study the complex interaction between the
tion) and the historical period and country in which it movies—as a social institution—and other social institu-
was produced. tions, including government, religion, and labor.
Historians interested in this subject help us to under- Landmark studies include Robert Sklar’s Movie-
stand how and why the studio system was founded, how Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies,
it adapted to changing conditions (economic, techno- rev. and updated ed. (New York: Vintage, 1994), and Rich
logical, social, historical), and how and why different ard Abel’s Americanizing the Movies and “Movie-Mad”
studios took different approaches to producing different Audiences, 1910–1914 (Berkeley: University of California
movies, how these movies have been distributed and ex Press, 2006).
hibited, and what effect this had on film history. They Although some areas in the study of film history may
study how and why the independent system of produc- require experience and analytic skills beyond those pos-
tion superseded the studio system and what effect this sessed by most introductory students, you can use your
has had on production, distribution, and exhibition. They familiarity with film history in writing even the most ba-
are also concerned with such related issues as manage- sic analysis for a class assignment.
4. This paraphrase of Ian Jarvie comes from Allen and Gomery, Film History, p. 154.
Figure 10.1 | CAMERA OBSCURA
Before the advent of photosensitive film, the camera obscura was used to facilitate lifelike drawing. In this simple schematic, for
example, the interior “wall” upon which the upside-down image is projected was usually whitened; an artist could place a piece of draw-
ing paper on the wall and trace the image onto it.
Which approach—aesthetic, technological, economic, tions that made movies possible.5 First among these is
or social—will we take in this chapter? Where they are photography.
relevant, we will consider them all.
Photography In one sense, movies are simply a natu-
ral progression in the history of photography. The word
photography means, literally, “writing with light” and
A Short Overview of technically, “the static representation or reproduction of
Film History light.” The concept has its beginnings in ancient Greece.
In the fourth century bce, the Greek philosopher Aris
Precinema totle theorized about a device that later would be known
Before we discuss the major milestones of film his- as the camera obscura (Latin for “dark chamber”; Fig-
tory, let’s look at some of the key technological innova- ure 10.1). In the late fifteenth century, Leonardo da
5. This discussion of early film technologies is necessarily brief. For more on key filmmaking technologies, see Chapter 11, “How the Movies
Are Made.”
Vinci’s drawings gave tangible form to the idea. Both sim- gelatin emulsion; in 1889, he improved the process by
ple and ingenious, the camera obscura may be a box or it substituting clear plastic (film) for the paper base. Al-
may be a room large enough for a viewer to stand inside. though other technological improvements followed, this
Light entering through a tiny hole (later a lens) on one is the photographic film we know today.
side of the box or room projects an image from the out- This experimentation with optical principles and still
side onto the opposite side or wall. An artist might then photography in the nineteenth century made it possible
trace the image onto a piece of paper. to take and reproduce photographic images that could
Photography was developed during the first four de- simulate action in the image. But simulation was not
cades of the nineteenth century by Thomas Wedgwood, enough for the scientists, artists, and members of the
William Henry Fox Talbot, and Sir John Herschel in general public who wanted to see images of life in mo-
England; Joseph-Nicéphore Niépce and Louis-Jacques- tion. The missing step between still photography and
Mandé Daguerre in France; and George Eastman in the cinematography was discovered with the development
United States. In 1802, Wedgwood made the first re- of series photography.
corded attempt to produce photographs. However, these
were not camera images as we know them, but basically Series Photography Series photography records the
silhouettes of objects placed on paper or leather sensi- phases of an action. In a series of still photographs, we
tized with chemicals and exposed to light. These images see, for example, a man or a horse in changing positions
faded quickly, for Wedgwood did not know how to fix that suggest movement, though the images themselves
(stabilize) them. Unaware of Wedgwood’s work, Talbot are static. Within a few years, three men—Pierre-Jules-
devised a chemical method for recording the images he César Janssen, Eadweard Muybridge, and Étienne-Jules
observed in his camera obscura. More important was the Marey—contributed to its development.
significant progress he made toward fixing the image, In 1874, Janssen, a French astronomer, developed the
and he invented the negative, or negative photographic revolver photographique (or chronophotographic gun),
image on transparent material, that makes possible the a cylinder-shaped camera that creates exposures auto-
reproduction of the image. matically, at short intervals, on d
ifferent segments of a
Niépce experimented with sunlight and the camera revolving plate. In 1877, Muybridge, an English photog-
obscura to make photographic copies of engravings as rapher working in California, used a group of electrically
well as actual photographs from nature. The results of operated cameras (first twelve, then twenty-four) to pro-
this heliographic (“Sun-drawn”) process—crude paper duce the first series of photographs of continuous mo-
prints—were not particularly successful. But Niépce’s tion. On May 4, 1880, using an early projector known as
discoveries influenced Daguerre, who by 1837 was able the magic lantern and his zoopraxiscope (a version of
to create, on a copper plate treated with chemicals, an the magic lantern, with a revolving disk that had his pho-
image remarkable for its fidelity and detail. In 1839, Her- tographs arranged around the center), Muybridge gave
schel perfected hypo (short for hyposulfite thiosulfate, the first public demonstration of photographic images
or sodium thiosulfate), a compound that fixed the image in motion—a cumbersome process, but a breakthrough.
on paper and thus arrested the effect of light on it. Her- In 1882, Marey, a French physiologist, made the first
schel first used the word photography in 1839 in a lecture series of photographs of continuous motion using the
at the Royal Society of London for the Promotion of Nat- fusil photographique (another form of the chrono-
ural Knowledge. What followed were primarily techno- photographic gun), a single, portable camera capable of
logical improvements on Herschel’s discovery. taking twelve continuous images. Muybridge and Marey
In 1851, glass-plate negatives replaced the paper later collaborated in Paris, but each was more inter-
plates. More durable but heavy, glass was replaced by ested in using the process for his own scientific studies
gelatin-covered paper in 1881. The new gelatin process than for making or projecting motion pictures as such.
reduced, from 15 minutes to 0.001 second, the time nec- Marey’s invention solved the problems created by Muy-
essary to make a photographic exposure. This advance bridge’s use of a battery of cameras, but the series was
made it possible to record action spontaneously and si- limited to forty images—a total of 3 or 4 seconds.
multaneously as it occurred. In 1887, George Eastman The experiments that Janssen, Muybridge, and Marey
began the mass production of a paper “film” coated with conducted with various kinds of moving pictures were
1 2
Series photography
Eadweard Muybridge’s famous series of photographs documenting a horse in motion were made possible by a number of cameras placed
side by side in the structure pictured here [1]. The cameras were tied to individual trip wires. As the horse broke each wire, a camera’s shutter
would be set off. The result of this experiment—a series of sixteen exposures [2]—proved that a trotting horse momentarily has all four feet
off the ground at once (see the third frame). Series photography has been revived as a strategy for creating special effects in contemporary
movies.
limited in almost every way, but the technologies needed first motion picture made with the Kinetograph, and
to make moving pictures on film were in place and the earliest complete film on record at the Library of
awaited only a synthesis. Congress, was Dickson’s Edison Kinetoscopic Record of
a Sneeze (1894), popularly known as Fred Ott’s Sneeze,
which represents, on Edison and Dickson’s part, a bril-
liant choice of a single, self-contained action for a single,
1891–1903: The First Movies self-contained film of very limited length. Edison’s staff
Who invented the movies?6 Historic milestones such made their movies, including Fred Ott’s Sneeze, inside
as this are seldom the result of a few persons working a crude, hot, and cramped shack known as the Black
together on a single idea but rather the collaborative Maria. The Black Maria was really the first movie stu-
product of many dreams, experiments, and inventions. dio, for it contained the camera, technicians, and actors.
It did not occur in one moment, but rather took place in The camera, fixed on a trolley, was limited in its motion,
four major industrialized countries—the United States, able only to move closer to or away from the subject.
France, England, and Germany—in the years just before Light was provided by the Sun, which entered through
1895. Furthermore, in attempting to answer the ques- an aperture in the roof, and the entire “studio” could
tion, we must distinguish between moving pictures that be rotated to catch the light. Edison demonstrated the
were projected onto a surface for an audience and those Kinetoscope to various audiences, public and private.
that were not. And in April 1894, the first Kinetoscope parlor opened
In 1891, William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, working in New York City, thus inaugurating the history of com-
with associates in Thomas Edison’s research laboratory, mercial movies.
invented the Kinetograph (the first motion-picture Although the visual image seen in the Kinetoscope
camera) and the Kinetoscope (a peephole viewer). The peephole viewer was moving, it could be enjoyed by only
6. An invaluable history of the invention of the movies, and one on which this section draws, is Charles Musser’s The Emergence of Cinema: The
American Screen to 1907, History of the American Cinema, vol. 1 (New York: Scribner, 1990; repr., Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994).
Short records of real life

1
Before narrative or editing, Thomas Edison’s first movies (about
30 seconds in length) were simple records of ordinary people and
events: a man and woman kissing, a young woman dancing, a man
getting a shave and haircut in a barber shop, and a woman and child
feeding doves in a barnyard. In Seminary Girls (1897), we see young
girls having a rare moment of fun in a harmless pillow fight until the
school’s matron interrupts them. The scene, obviously staged for
the stationary camera, was photographed in Edison’s first studio,
the Black Maria.
the first time an invited audience had seen projected mo-

tion pictures in the United States. Meanwhile, in No-
vember in Germany, another pair of brothers, Max and
Emil Skladanowsky, projected short films in Berlin. Co-
incidentally, in France, two brothers (teams of broth-
ers figure significantly in this story) named Auguste
2 and Louis Lumière invented the Cinématographe, a far
more sophisticated device than either the Kinetoscope
Edison’s Kinetograph and the Black Maria or the Eidoloscope. In December 1895, they used it to
These images show Thomas Edison’s Black Maria, the first motion- project a movie on a screen set up in a small room inside
picture “studio,” pictured from the outside [1] and the inside [2]. The a public café that was converted into a theater. (They
interior view shows how awkward and static the Kinetograph was
had already projected it throughout Europe for small, in
thanks to its bulk and its need to be tethered to a power source. In
vited audiences.) Although that movie, Employees Leav
addition, the performers had very little room to move, and the envi-
ronment was hot and airless. The makeshift quality of the studio, as ing the Lumière Factory (1895), which the Lumières called
well as its relatively modest size, is evident from the external view. an actualité (a documentary view of the moment), was
only 1 minute in length, it captivated the audience with
its depiction of a spontaneous event. The Cinémato
graphe—a hand-cranked device that served as camera,
one person at a time. In the same month, the Lathams— projector, and film printer—was equally amazing. In 1896,
Woodville and his two sons, Grey and Otway, former Edison unveiled his own projector, the Vitascope, in a
Edison employees—used their movie projector, the Ei- New York City theater.
doloscope, to show a movie to the press. Although Edison The projection of moving pictures to a paying au-
put down the significance of this demonstration, it was dience ended the prehistory of cinema and freed it to
Real life as seen through the artists’ lens

At first glance, Auguste and Louis Lumière’s Children Digging for Méliès the magician
Clams (1896) may seem similar to Edison’s Seminary Girls as a sim- Georges Méliès, who was by trade a magician, took naturally to
ple record of an ordinary activity. But the differences between them motion pictures, which are primarily an illusion. He quickly under-
show that the Lumières were artists with a natural sense of style. stood that he could make the camera stop and start (what we now
Not only was it longer (44 seconds) and shot outdoors (with a sta- call stop-motion photography) and, with this technique, make things
tionary camera), but it also employs a deep composition. Across vanish and reappear (sometimes in a new form). Like all magicians,
the foreground, in a diagonal line, we see the clam-digging children; he reveled in fooling the public. In Long Distance Wireless Photog-
in the middle ground, we see adults, probably their parents, keep- raphy (1908), Méliès plays the inventor of a process for transmitting
ing an eye on them; and in the background, we see other people, photographs from one place to another and dupes his clients. When
the shoreline, and the horizon. As far as composition goes, nothing a man and woman ask for a demonstration, he photographs them
could be simpler; but by shooting it outdoors in a natural landscape, and, behind them, projects unflattering images of them. Annoyed at
the Lumières provide an aesthetically pleasing interpretation of an this deception, they try to destroy the studio, but are chased away
actual event rather than just a documentary record. in a scene of slapstick comedy. Here, Méliès shows a prophetic but
comic insight into two events that were decades away: the electronic
transmission of photographs and television. The action is staged for
the camera as if it were happening on a theater stage, and the movie,
become the art form of the twentieth century. Aesthet- which is nearly 6 minutes in length, tells a complete story.
ically, the work of the first filmmakers cannot compare

in any way with today’s movies, yet they managed, in a
few years’ time, to establish the basic types of movies: be less a curiosity that the public would soon tire of and
short narratives, documentary depictions of real life, more a durable and successful commercial entertain-
and experimental movies with special effects that fore- ment. They had to compete with and draw from other
shadow today’s animation. In addition, they recognized popular art forms, such as literature and theater.
that the movies—like the contemporary steam engine, Paramount among the early innovators of film form
electricity, and the railroad—would attract paying cus- was a Frenchman, Georges Méliès. In the late 1890s he
tomers and make them a great deal of money. What they began to make short narrative movies based on the the-
probably did not envision was the power of the movies to atrical model of short, sequential scenes shot from a
shape attitudes and values. fixed point of view. The only editing within these self-
After a few years of experimenting with very short contained scenes was for cuts or in-camera dissolves.
movies, a minute or two in length and hardly more than Rudimentary as these movies were, according to film
a novelty, Edison, the Lumière brothers, and other new historian David A. Cook, Méliès was “the cinema’s first
filmmakers realized that the cinema needed new forms narrative artist,”7 famous for innovating many techni-
and conventions. It was clear that the movies needed to cal and narrative devices. He is best known for his use
7. David A. Cook, A History of Narrative Film, 5th ed. (New York: Norton, 2016), p. 14.
cutting) that made it possible to depict parallel actions

occurring simultaneously. He also established the con-
cept that the shot was the basic structural unit of a movie
and pioneered the idea of continuity editing. The Great
Train Robbery was the first major milestone in the de-
velopment of the American narrative film as well as the
first “Western.”
1908–1927: Origins of the Classical

Hollywood Style—The Silent Period
The “silent era” of film history is distinguished by Edwin
S. Porter’s and D. W. Griffith’s developments in narrative
The beginnings of cinematic narrative
Realizing that they needed to tell stories, the early filmmakers began form, the crystallization of the classical Hollywood style,
to develop conventions of cinematic narrative. Among these artists the ascendance of Hollywood as the center of the world’s
were Georges Méliès in France, G. A. Smith in England, and Edwin S. motion-picture industry, the development of movie
Porter in the United States. In Life of an American Fireman (1903) and genres, and early experiments with color and animation.
The Great Train Robbery (1903), Porter broke away from the prevailing
The “classical Hollywood cinema”8 refers here to the
step-by-step, one-shot–one-scene editing of Méliès and invented an
traditional studio-based style of making motion pictures
early form of continuity editing in which he built a scene made up of
shots that seemed chronologically continuous from one shot to the in both the silent and sound periods. Although the rudi-
next. We make sense of this, as well as create meaning, by mentally ments of the classical style can be seen in the work of
connecting the shots into a logical narrative. Porter also cuts back and Edwin S. Porter, it began its ascendancy with the release
forth in time, showing simultaneous events taking place in different of D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915) and con-
locations. For example, in The Great Train Robbery, the robbers begin
tinues, with various modifications, to identify the cine-
their heist by shooting and tying up a telegraph operator at a train sta-
matic conventions used by most filmmakers today.
tion; then they board the next train, rob the passengers, uncouple the
engine, and head off. As they reach what they think is safety, Porter The classical Hollywood style is built on the princi-
cuts back to the telegraph office, where (as shown here) a little girl, ple of “invisibility” that we discussed in Chapter 1. This
presumably the operator’s daughter, discovers her father and revives principle generally includes two parts. The first is that
him. Porter then cuts directly to a barn dance, where the operator and the movie’s form (narrative, cinematography, editing,
the little girl report what has happened. Porter then jumps ahead to
sound, acting, and so forth) should not call attention to
the outlaws and the final shoot-out, continuing to use ellipsis when
itself. That is, the narrative should be as economical and
necessary to keep the action moving to the conclusion.
seamless as possible, and the presentation of the nar-
rative should occur in a cinematic language with which
the audience is familiar. The second part is the studio
of special effects—still captivating today—in such land- system itself, a mode of production that standardized
mark films as A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Impos the way movies were produced. Management was ver-
sible Voyage (1904). tically organized, meaning that a strong executive of-
Another early pioneer, Edwin S. Porter, was a direc- fice controlled production, distribution, and exhibition;
tor working with Edison and by 1903 had established a hired all employees, including directors and actors; and
relatively sophisticated approach to narrative filmmak- assigned work to them according to the terms of their
ing in such pioneering films as The Great Train Robbery contracts, thus ensuring a certain uniform style for each
(1903; 12 min.), which used multiple camera positions, studio. While we know that such principles were some-
interior and exterior settings, and crosscutting (inter- times ignored in practice, they nonetheless serve a pur-
8. A concept popularized by film scholars David Bordwell, Janet Staiger, and Kristin Thompson, in The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style and
Mode of Production to 1960 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1985).
pose in helping us chart the course of stylistic history.

Thus, for example, we can understand and appreciate
just how radical Orson Welles’s approach was in Citizen
Kane (1941) when he deliberately called attention to
technique and, in so doing, challenged the perceived
limitations of the classical Hollywood style and the stu-
dio system itself.
By 1907, a small film effort had started in and around
Hollywood, its founders lured by the favorable climate
and variety of natural scenery. While they were nearly
all uneducated immigrants, their business practices
were consistent with the ruthless tactics of other Gilded
Age entrepreneurs. D. W. Griffith made his first movie
there in 1910; in 1911, the first studio was built; and by
1912, some fifteen film studios were operating. By 1914, A great silent movie challenges the American dream
the American film industry was clearly identified with King Vidor was one of several important directors working in the
Hollywood. As a forward-looking sign of this growth, early 1920s who learned his art from D. W. Griffith. In The Crowd
the industry invested heavily in movie theaters, some (1928), Vidor dared—in the Roaring Twenties, a period of relative
of which were dubbed “palaces” for their imposing ar- prosperity before the stock-market crash of 1929—to make a social
critique of the American dream of opportunity and getting ahead. It
chitecture, lavish interiors, and seating for hundreds
tells the tragic story of a man who refuses to conform in the New
and sometimes thousands of people. It also established York business world, suggested by the office environment pictured
other “firsts,” including trade journals, movie fan maga- here, which reduces him and other employees to nonentities. The
zines, movie reviews in general-circulation newspapers, story seems to end with the promise of future happiness for the
the star system, and a film censorship law. man and his wife, but it’s really ambiguous, leaving us to use our
During this period, filmmakers began to replace short own values and experiences to come to grips with the characters’
fate. In the silent-movie period, exhibitors were sometimes offered
films (generally one reel in length) with f eature-length
the choice of alternate endings, particularly for movies with a contro-
movies (four or more reels). The term feature came to versial conclusion. Vidor shot seven different endings for The Crowd
mean major works that stood out on a program that and offered two of them to the theater owners. (Here we refer to
might include shorter films as well. In these early days, what the director called the “realistic” ending.)
the length of one reel was 1 0–16 minutes, depending on
the speed of projection. The longer format permitted
filmmakers to tackle more complicated narratives and
also emphasized the quality of the production, includ- the cinematic conventions that, however much they have
ing mise-en-scène, cinematography, acting, and edit- changed, we know today.
ing. The growing middle-class audience liked longer The first m ultiple-
reel movies included J. Stuart
narratives and more polished productions and was will- Blackton’s The Life of Moses (1909, five reels), D. W. Grif-
ing to pay more to see such movies. Accordingly, produc- fith’s Enoch Arden (1911; 34 min.), The Loves of Queen
ers could book them for extended runs and, of course, Elizabeth (1912; directors Henri Desfontaines and Louis
make more money. The transformation of the nickel- Mercanton, 44 min.), a film from France, and such Ital-
odeon into the movie palace, which exceeded in splen- ian epics as Dante’s Inferno (1911, 5 reels; director un-
dor any legitimate theater and thus had an attraction known), Enrico Guazzoni’s Quo Vadis? (1913; 120 min.),
all its own, further established the cinema as a serious and Giovanni Pastrone’s Cabiria (1914; 181 min.). In
artistic endeavor. Thus, with changes in a film’s length, 1914, clearly the turning point, Edwin S. Porter released
content, quality, and exhibition came the first major Tess of the Storm Country (1914; 80 min.) and directed
restructuring of the movie industry. The second was to an astonishing twenty features before retiring from film
come with the advent of sound, and the third with the directing the next year. Cecil B. DeMille, another in-
development of the independent system of production. dustry founder, began his feature film career with The
The movies took on the modern production system and Squaw Man (1914; 74 min.) and made fourteen features
released at the high point of the silent era, between

1926 and 1930, when sound was slowly transforming the
movie industry. Many other outstanding silent films
from that period also deserve mention: The Crowd (1926;
director King Vidor), Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis
(1927; also called Symphony of a Great City; director
Walter Ruttmann); An Italian Straw Hat (1927; director
René Clair), The Circus (1928; director Charles Chap-
lin); The Wind (1928; director Victor Seastrom); Un
chien Andalou (1928; directors Luis Buñuel and Salva
dor Dalí ); Pandora’s Box (1929; director G. W. Pabst); A
Cottage on Dartmoor (1929; director Anthony Asquith);
and Earth (1930; director Alexandr Dovzhenko).9
The social impact of the silent movies during this
period established trends that continue today. They ap-
The first female director
Among early filmmakers, Alice Guy Blaché stands out as the first pealed to all socioeconomic levels and stimulated the
female director in film history. Born in France, where she worked popular imagination through their establishment and
with the Gaumont Film Company, she came to the United States codification of narrative genres and character stereo
shortly after 1907, founded her own studio, and made dozens of types, particularly those that reinforced prejudices
narrative films, most of which are lost. Making an American Citizen
against Native Americans, African Americans, and for-
(1912; 16 min.) is unremarkable in its theatrical staging and acting
eigners in general. Their depiction of certain types of
but is well photographed and edited. What’s most important is its
outspoken feminist message. It tells the story of Ivan and his wife, behavior considered immoral provoked calls for censor-
new Russian emigrants. Ivan believes in the Old World custom of ship, which would become an even bigger problem in the
wife abuse. In this shot, a well-dressed New Yorker threatens Ivan next decade and on into today and raised issues of movie
when he catches him beating his wife (note the Statue of Liberty in content and violence. Although most jobs in the film in-
the background). This and other encounters with liberated American
dustry remained male-dominated for the next 50 years,
males (including a judge who sentences him to prison) convince him
at least acting jobs for women were plentiful from the
to love and respect his wife. With the happy ending, he is, as the ti-
tle card proclaims, “Completely Americanized.” Guy Blaché was not beginning. Two female directors were at work—Lois We-
only ahead of her time as a film director but also highly optimistic in ber and Alice Guy Blaché—and the African American ac-
her views about American male-female relationships. tor Bert Williams starred in his first movie in 1915.
The movie director was central to developing the art
of the motion picture in these early years. D. W. Griffith
would soon emerge as the most important of these fig-
in 1915 alone. Griffith’s Judith of Bethulia (61 min.) ures, and The Birth of a Nation would become known as
was released in 1914 and The Birth of a Nation (187 min.) one of the most important and controversial movies ever
in 1915. made. While its racist content is repugnant, its form is
Every 10 years since 1952, the influential British pub technically brilliant. Griffith, who borrowed freely from
lication Sight & Sound asks a large panel of international other early filmmakers, was an intuitive and innovative
film critics to choose the ten greatest movies. In polls artist. In this legendary movie we see him perfecting
between 1952 and 2002, the list always included at least and regularizing (if not inventing) a style that included
one silent film (there were five in 1952). The latest poll a dazzling set of technical achievements: the 180-degree
(2012) listed three silent films: no. 5, Sunrise (1927; di- system; cutting between familiar types of shots (close-up,
rector F. W. Murnau); no. 8, Man with the Movie Camera medium shot, long shot, extreme long shot, and soft-
(1929; director Dziga Vertov); no. 9, The Passion of Joan focus shot); multiple camera setups, accelerated mon-
of Arc (1928; director Carl Theodor Dreyer). All were tage, and panning and tilting; and the exploitation of
9. Ian Christie, “The Peak of Silent Cinema,” Sight & Sound 23, no. 11 (November 2013), 42–50.
camera angles, in-camera dissolves and fades, the flash-

back, the iris shot, the mask, and the split screen. He also
highly valued using a full symphonic score and, more im-
portant, developing screen acting by training actors for
the special demands of the silent cinema. At that time
the longest (3 hours) and most expensive ($2.7 million)
American movie yet made, The Birth of a Nation at-
tracted enormous audiences, garnered the critics’ praise,
and earned, within 5 years of its opening, approximately
$178 million (both are 2014 figures adjusted for infla-
tion). However, the social and political stance of this film’s
story had another impact.
Born in Kentucky, Griffith was in sympathy with the
antebellum South. He tells his story by distorting history
and reaffirming the racist stereotypes of his time and
The Birth of a Nation
background. The movie provoked controversy and riots The turning point in D. W. Griffith’s great epic (1915) comes in the
and was banned in many Northern states. Yet this pro- middle of the movie, as the title card says: “And then, when the
foundly American epic, a work of vicious propaganda, is terrible days were over and a healing time of peace was at hand . . .
also a cinematic masterpiece that garnered international came the fated night of April 14, 1865.” The scene is Ford’s The-
atre in Washington, D.C., where a gala performance is being held to
prestige for American silent movies. Unfortunately for
celebrate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender. In this shot, President
the future history of the movies, it demonstrated how a
and Mrs. Abraham Lincoln enter and greet the enthusiastic audi-
manipulative movie could appeal to the public’s worst ence. Moments later, he is assassinated, ending Part I, “War,” and
prejudices and make a fortune as a result. Griffith made opening Part II, “Reconstruction,” a saga of Southern white racism
other films, including such silent masterpieces as Intol that is the most controversial part of the movie.
erance (1916), Broken Blossoms (1919), Way Down East
(1920), Orphans of the Storm (1921), and Dream Street
(1921), a very early but unsuccessful attempt to add re-
corded voices to a movie. Nonetheless, his career was copies of these films in foreign countries, but it is a sad
virtually finished by 1931. ending to one of America’s great artistic achievements.10
The most successful American silent feature movies Other notable films produced in this period include
were epics (Erich von Stroheim’s Greed, 1924), melodra- Robert J. Flaherty’s Nanook of the North (1922), re-
mas (King Vidor’s The Big Parade, 1925), and comedies. garded as the first significant documentary film. The art
Comedy in particular was a major factor in Hollywood’s of animation progressed in the hands of such artists as
early success. These films starred gifted comic actors Otto Messmer (the Felix the Cat series), Walt Disney,
(Buster Keaton, Charles Chaplin, Roscoe “Fatty” Ar- who made his first cartoons in 1922, and Max and Dave
buckle, Harold Lloyd, Stan Laurel, and Oliver Hardy) Fleischer, who experimented with color and sound in
and had innovative directors (Mack Sennett and Hal the early 1920s and whose most endearing character was
Roach). They included such enduring silent movies Betty Boop. Benefiting from Griffith’s enormous influ-
(shorts, series, and features) as Chaplin’s The Gold Rush ence, other filmmakers made improvements in design,
(1925) and Keaton’s The General (1926). lighting, cameras and lenses, the use of color, special ef-
According to a 2013 study by the Library of Congress, fects, and editing equipment. Nothing, of course, would
almost 70 percent of the silent feature films made in the be more important than the experiments with sound
United States are lost due to various reasons, including that led to the complete transformation of the movie
neglect, poor cataloging, or the natural deterioration of industry after 1927. In the meantime, however, interna-
film negatives. Efforts are continually being made to find tional developments were influencing film history.
10. See http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/04/majority-of-silent-films-are-lost-study-finds/ (accessed December 18, 2013).

1919–1931: German Expressionism German film artists entered the postwar period de-
termined to reject the cinematic past and enthusias-
During part of the period just discussed, Eastern and tically embrace the avant-garde. Expressionism had
Western Europe were engulfed in chaos. World War I flourished in Germany since the early twentieth century
(1914–18), in which many millions of people died, pitted in painting, sculpture, architecture, music, literature,
the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, and the United States and theater. After the war, it reflected the general at-
against Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Em- mosphere in postwar Germany of cynicism, alienation,
pire, and Bulgaria. (The United States, isolationist and and disillusionment. German Expressionist film pres-
opposed to the war, did not enter the conflict until 1917.) ents the physical world on the screen as a projection, or
In March 1917, the Russian Revolution overthrew Czar expression, of the subjective world, usually that of the
Nicholas II. These events changed the world order. film’s protagonist. Its chief characteristics are distorted
By the end of the war, Germany had suffered a hu- and exaggerated settings; compositions of unnatural
miliating defeat. But a new democratic government spaces; the use of oblique angles and nonparallel lines;
emerged, known unofficially as the Weimar Republic. a moving and subjective camera; unnatural costumes,
Seeking to revitalize the film industry and create a new hairstyles, and makeup; and highly stylized acting. The
image for the country, the government subsidized the classic examples are Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of
film conglomerate known as UFA (Universum-Film AG). Dr. Caligari (1920), Paul Wegener and Carl Boese’s ver-
Its magnificent studios, the largest and best equipped in sion of The Golem (1920), F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu, a
Europe, enabled the German film industry to compete Symphony of Horror (1922)—the first vampire film—and
with those of other countries as well as attract filmmak- The Last Laugh (1924), Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927)
ers from around the world. This organization led to Ger- and M (1931), G. W. Pabst’s Pandora’s Box (1929), and
many’s golden age of cinema, which lasted from 1919 to Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel (1930).
Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in 1933. Its most important The most famous expressionist film, and the one tra-
artistic component was the German Expressionist film, ditionally cited as the epitome of the style, is Wiene’s The
which flourished from 1919 to 1931. Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. What we remember most about
1 2
Inside The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

In Robert Wiene’s eerie, foreboding movie (1920), Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss) operates a carnival attraction featuring a somnambulist (sleep-
walker) named Cesare (Conrad Veidt); the “cabinet” in the title refers to the type of early freak show called a “cabinet of curiosities” as well
as to the coffin-like box in which Cesare “sleeps” until Caligari awakens him and orders him to commit murders. The title card [1], written in
exaggerated letters, speaks in a folksy tone while echoing the graphics of the movie’s painted settings. The power of these settings is evident
when we see [2] Dr. Caligari (left ) attempting to rouse Cesare (right ), who is presumably “asleep” while standing upright in Caligari’s cabinet.
1 2
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’s influence

Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) is traditionally cited as the best example of German Expressionist film. But expressionist
elements also figure strongly in F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror (1922), the first of many film adaptations of the Dracula
story, and The Last Laugh (1924), a charming fable about social justice. Their narratives could not be more different, yet these films are
linked by their reliance on expressionist design. In contrast to Dr. Caligari, where the expressionism relies mostly on graphic effects, those
in Nosferatu rely primarily on cinematic effects: low camera angles, makeup and costume design, lighting, and editing create an eerie mise-
en-scène [1]. And even though the vampire figure is truly scary (Nosferatu is played by the memorable Max Schreck, who, pictured here with
Gustav von Wangenheim as the real-estate agent, looks like a rat), the movie also manages to make him a sympathetic human being. [2] Far
more sympathetic—and far more realistic—is the principal character of The Last Laugh, an unnamed hotel porter played equally memorably
by Emil Jannings. Here, expressionism can be seen in the mise-en-scène and actor’s movements as well as in the composition, play of light
and shadow, and exaggerated costume, all of which are subtler than what we see in either Dr. Caligari or Nosferatu. The Last Laugh is also
important for its impressive use of the moving camera and the camera’s subjective point of view.
this disturbing, complicated story of fantasy and hor- the outer world, Hitler (now rising to power) saw it as
ror told by a madman is its design. The floors, walls, and a revolt against the traditional values that he sought to
ceilings of the interior sets are sharply angled; windows preserve. With their lavish studio settings, expression-
admit no natural light, though shafts of illusionistic light ist films were expensive to make. Furthermore, foreign
and shadow are painted on the walls and floors of the films were taking an increasing share of the German
sets; dim staircases seem to lead nowhere; the calligra- market, prompting the German film industry to copy
phy of the titles is bizarre, as is the color tinting—blue, them in order to hold its market share. When the govern-
sepia, rose, and green (in the 1996 restored DVD edi- ment tightened control of UFA, it became clear that Hit-
tion). All this differentiates night from day and under- ler would curtail freedom of expression when he came
scores the different moods. The exterior sets are equally to power in 1933. Thus many great German filmmakers
artificial; buildings, piled on top of one another, jut up- were lured to the United States, stimulating the aesthet-
ward at strange angles. ics of Hollywood production for decades to come. Soon,
German Expressionist film was a short-lived but un certain tendencies of the expressionist look became evi
forgettable phenomenon that disappeared within 12 years dent in Hollywood’s psychological dramas, horror movies,
after it began. There are aesthetic, political, economic, and, most notably, the film noir. To quote film historians
and social reasons for this. Even though these films gave Gerald Mast and Bruce F. Kawin, “It is difficult to imag-
birth to the horror-film genre, German audiences did ine the history of American cinema without this infu-
not crave a steady diet of them. As far as politics goes, be- sion of both visual imagery and thematic commentary
cause expressionism emphasized the inner rather than from Weimar Germany.”11
11. Gerald Mast and Bruce F. Kawin, A Short History of the Movies, 11th ed. (New York: Pearson/Longman, 2010), p. 193.
1918–1930: French Avant-Garde

Filmmaking
In the 1920s, Paris was the world’s center of avant-
garde experimentation in painting, literature, drama,
music, and film. It was a time when the philosophical
approaches of surrealism, cubism, dadaism, and ex-
pressionism led to an explosion of artistic styles and
movements. The French Avant-Garde film movement
included both intellectuals and artists who took their in-
spiration not only from Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud
but also from the experimental French filmmakers who
preceded them in the earliest years of the movies:
Georges Méliès, Ferdinand Zecca, Max Linder, Émile
Cohl, Jean Durand, and Louis Feuillade, pioneering art- Surrealism on film
ists who influenced the course of avant-garde and exper- Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s famous story, Jean Epstein’s The Fall
of the House of Usher (1928) remains captivating with its complex
imental filmmaking around the world.
psychological themes, haunting exteriors and interiors, and over-
The French movies that we will discuss tend to fit into
all dreamlike quality. In this image, Madeleine Usher (Marguerite
one of three different types: (1) short dadaist and sur- Gance) returns from the tomb in which she was buried alive by her
realist films of an anticonventional, absurdist nature; brother, Sir Roderick Usher (Jean Debucourt), who dies from fright
(2) short naturalistic psychological studies; or (3) feature- when she falls upon him.
length films that also emphasize pure visual form.
Dada and surrealism were two European movements
in the arts that sought, provocatively and irreverently, to
shock the viewer with surprises and unexpected juxta- Dulac, one of the cinema’s first female artists, whose
positions. Specifically, they attempted to re-create the The Seashell and the Clergyman (1928) is one of the two
free play of the mind in its perceptions, dreams, or hallu- acknowledged masterpieces of surrealist cinema.
cinations. Dadaist and surrealist cinema attacks normal The other masterpiece is An Andalusian Dog (1929),
narrative conventions by eliminating causality, empha- created by two Spanish artists working in Paris: painter
sizing chance and unexpected occurrences, and creating Salvador Dalí and filmmaker Luis Buñuel. Here, the
strange and shocking relationships among images. The logic is that of a dream. Its visual effects include an open-
result is a visual world that appears to be neurotic, un- ing sequence in which we see a razor slitting a woman’s
natural, and illogical, resisting analysis and conclusion eyeball (for an image of this famous shot, see Chap-
by the viewer. And because it emphasizes free associa- ter 3, p. 79). While Dalí soon returned to painting his
tion over conventional cinematic language, it attracted surrealist masterpieces (including his version of Leonar-
painters who were visual artists first and filmmakers do’s Mona Lisa with his own face replacing hers), Buñuel
second. (Although dada preceded surrealism, they co became one of the very few major directors to continue
existed in the 1920s to such an extent that the two words making surrealist feature movies, including Viridiana
are often used interchangeably to describe works that (1961), Belle de Jour (1967), and The Discreet Charm of
demonstrate these characteristics.) the Bourgeoisie (1972).
In France, the major filmmakers working in these The second type of French Avant-Garde filmmaking
movements included the American-born Man Ray in the 1920s consists of psychological studies that em-
(Emak-Bakia, 1926); Jean Epstein, whose The Fall of the phasize naturalism, the idea that an individual’s fate is
House of Usher (1928), inspired by one of Edgar Allan determined by heredity and environment, not free will.
Poe’s most famous tales, uses dreamy, impressionistic This form becomes very powerful in a film such as Rien
visual effects (slow motion, out-of-focus shots, multiple que les heures (1926), by the Brazilian-born Alberto Cav-
exposures, and distortions); René Clair (Entr’acte, 1924); alcanti. A multilayered study of Paris over the course
Fernand Léger (Ballet mécanique, 1924); and Germaine of a day, the film employs cinematic effects, including
powerful films of Danish-born Carl Theodor Dreyer,

particularly his formalist masterpiece The Passion of
Joan of Arc (1928). All these films, especially the short
ones often screened in film history courses, offer an ex-
cellent introduction to the diverse art of the French si-
lent movie in the 1920s.
1924–1930: The Soviet

Montage Movement
The Soviet Montage movement represents, with the
German Expressionist film movement, one of the twin
high points of cinematic experimentation, innovation,
Turning of The Wheel and achievement in the years between the end of World
The movies have always been fascinated by trains, but Abel Gance’s War I in 1918 and the coming of sound in 1927. After the
The Wheel (1923) is obsessed with them. Its extraordinary mise- Bolshevik (Communist) Revolution of October 1917, led
en-scène is a world surrounded by locomotives, tracks, smoke, and by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the challenge was to reunify a
railroad workers. This highly melodramatic story contains elements
shattered nation. Lenin famously proclaimed that cinema
that remind us of classical tragedy, and its sweeping vision of life
would be the most important of the arts in this effort and
is matched by a vividly avant-garde style, creating an unforgettable
milestone in French cinema. valued the movies’ power to both attract and indoctri-
nate audiences. He nationalized the film industry and
established a national film school to train filmmakers
to make propaganda films in a documentary style. Be-
bold wipes, freeze-frames, double exposures, and split tween 1917 and 1929, the Soviet government supported
screens. It also reflects the influence of Soviet Montage the kind of artistic experimentation and expression that
in its juxtapositions and linkages of shots, some through is most effectively seen in the work of four directors:
contrast, others through irony, and still others unre- Dziga Vertov, Lev Kuleshov, Sergei Eisenstein, and Vse
lated. The overall impression of this film, which fits into volod I. Pudovkin. What they all share in varying degrees
a small, impressive category of films known as “city sym- is a belief in the power of montage (they adopted the
phonies,” is that of a mosaic: the images relate only when French word for “editing”) to fragment and reassemble
they are considered in connection to the whole picture. footage so as to manipulate the viewer’s perception and
Also impressive are Dimitri Kirsanoff’s Ménilmontant understanding.
(1926) and Marcel L’Herbier’s L’Argent (1928). Vertov was the first great theorist and practitioner
All of the films discussed so far in this section in of the cinema of propaganda in documentary form. In
one way or another emphasize visual form for its own 1922, the year of Robert J. Flaherty’s Nanook of the North,
sake, have a comparatively short duration, and for the Vertov launched kino-pravda (literally, “film truth”). He
most part were made independently of the French film was influenced by the spirit of Flaherty and the Lumières,
industry. There was, however, another type of French which focused on everyday experiences, as well as by the
Avant-Garde filmmaking of the 1920s—narrative, often avant-garde pursuit of innovation. Vertov is best known
feature-length movies far more ambitious in their scope, today for The Man with the Movie Camera (1929).
length, and overall visual effect. These include Abel Kuleshov, a legendary teacher who was influenced
Gance’s The Wheel (1923), which embodies naturalistic by the continuity editing in Griffith’s Intolerance (1916),
philosophy and reflects Griffith’s editing style, and Na built significantly on Griffith’s ideas. As a result, he be-
poléon (1927), an almost 6-hour epic of astonishing cin- came less interested in how editing helps to advance the
ematic beauty and power; Jean Cocteau’s The Blood of a narrative than in how it can create nonliteral meaning.
Poet (1930); Jean Vigo’s À propos de Nice (1930); René He was thus more interested in discontinuity rather
Clair’s An Italian Straw Hat (1928); and the strangely than continuity. Among his many feature-length films is
share several notable c haracteristics—chiefly, inventing

new modes of cinematic expression and producing epic
historical movies—they are very different artists. Grif-
fith was an American, a capitalist in his entrepreneurial
production activities, and a Southern sentimentalist at
heart. Unlike Eisenstein, he was self-taught (there were
no film schools in the United States until the 1930s); he
was not an intellectual, and he was influenced primarily
by English literature and theater, in which he worked as
an actor and director before turning to film. He did not
write theory, but rather produced movies that exempli-
fied his concepts.
By contrast, Eisenstein, a Russian Orthodox Chris-
tian, was also a Marxist intellectual whose propaganda
movies were financed by the Soviet government. He
studied to be an engineer but after the 1917 revolution
A day in the life of the Russians
joined an avant-garde theater group, where he was shaped
Dziga Vertov’s The Man with the Movie Camera (1929) is about how
the Russians live and how movies are made. On first viewing, it
does not seem to distinguish between the two. In this image, we
see the real subject: the man with the movie camera. As a record
of human life, it is the prototypical movie. Vertov shows us how
to frame reality and movement: through the human eye and the
camera eye, or through windows and shutters. But to confound us,
he also shows us—through such devices as the freeze-frame, split
screen, stop-action, slow motion, and fast motion—how the cine-
matographer and editor can transform the movements of life into
something that is unpredictable. He proves that the camera has a
life of its own while also reminding us of the editor, who is putting
all of this footage together. Reality may be in the control of the artist,
his camera, and its tricks, but it is also defined by the editor’s pre
sentation and ultimately the viewer’s perception.
The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of

the Bolsheviks (1924).
Pudovkin took a third approach to montage, one Eisenstein’s battle spectacle Alexander Nevsky
based on the idea that a film was not shot, but rather Sergei Eisenstein’s Alexander Nevsky (1938) stands out among Ei-
built up from its footage. This style is reflected in his senstein’s other movies, concerned chiefly with the class wars, for
its emphasis on nationalism and patriotism. Focusing on Alexander
film Mother (1926), which uses extensive crosscutting
Nevsky, a Russian prince who defended Russia’s northwest territo-
of images, such as a sequence of shots showing a prison ries against invading Teutonic hordes in the thirteenth century, the
riot intercut with shots of ice breaking up on a river (a movie’s parallels to contemporary events (i.e., the threat of invasion
reference to Griffith’s Way Down East [1920]). Because of Russia by Nazi Germany) were unmistakable. But the movie is
Pudovkin’s approach emphasized the continuity of the far more than a political parable. The movie’s set piece—the “Battle
film, where the shots are connected like the links in a on the Ice” sequence, choreographed to Sergei Prokofiev’s stirring
score—has influenced many other movie battle scenes (e.g., battles
chain, it is called linkage.
in the Star Wars saga), particularly in its massing of forces, brutal
In the first two decades after the birth of the movies, warfare, and defining costumes. Noteworthy is Eisenstein’s reversal
two pioneering geniuses tower above all other film of traditional iconography: throughout, as in this image, the bad guys
makers: D. W. Griffith and Sergei Eisenstein. While they (the Teutons) are in white while the Russian forces are in black.
by many powerful influences, including the theory and is important to film history. It depicts two events—the
practice of world-famous directors Konstantin Stanis 1905 workers’ mutiny on the Potemkin and the subse-
lavsky and Vsevolod Meyerhold, by Marx and Freud, quent slaughter of ordinary citizens on the Odessa Steps.
and by contemporary German, Russian, and American Through its dramatic reenactment of those events, the
movies, including those of Griffith. From these varied movie presents a successful example of revolution
sources, he developed his own theories of how an aes- against oppression. Overall, the film’s classic five-part
thetic experience can influence a viewer’s psychologi- structure emphasizes the need for unity in such strug-
cal and emotional reactions. Unlike Griffith, Eisenstein gles. But most people remember the “Odessa Steps” se-
was a modernist with a commitment to making cinema quence, even though its impact may lessen when seen
an art independent from the other forms of creative ex- out of context, as it so often is. The sequence, set in
pression. His films, few in number, are stirring achieve- Odessa on the wide steps leading from the town to the
ments: Strike (1925), The Battleship Potemkin (1925), harbor, depicts czarist troops brutally killing ordinary
October (Ten Days That Shook the World ) (1928), Alex citizens who are celebrating the successful mutiny on
ander Nevsky (1938; codirected by Dmitri Vasilyev), Ivan the Potemkin. Indeed, although the mass is the protag-
the Terrible, Parts I and II (1944, 1958), and Que Viva onist, it is the individual faces that we remember. The
México (1930–32, uncompleted and unreleased). movie’s brutal form ( jump cuts and montage editing)
Eisenstein regarded film editing as a creative process perfectly matches the brutality of the massacre. Many
that functioned according to the dialectic of Karl Marx directors have been influenced by Eisenstein’s theory
as well as the editing concepts of Griffith and Kuleshov. of montage; some pay homage to the “Odessa Steps” se-
In theory, Eisenstein viewed the process of historical quence, and others spoof it.
change as a perpetual conflict of opposing forces, in Battleship Potemkin is a great film not only because
which a primary force (thesis) collides with a counter- of its individual elements—the depth of Eisenstein’s hu-
force (antithesis) to produce a third force (synthesis), a manity, the historical and social significance of its story,
new contradiction that is more than the sum of its parts
and will become the basis of a new conflict.
In filmmaking practice, one shot (thesis) collides
with another shot of opposing content (antithesis) to
produce a new idea (synthesis). The result emphasizes a
dynamic juxtaposition of individual shots that calls at-
tention to each of these shots while forcing the viewer
to reach conclusions about the interplay between them.
This “montage of attractions,” as Eisenstein called it,
presents arbitrarily chosen images (some of them inde-
pendent of the action) to create the maximum psycho-
logical impact. Thus conditioned, viewers would have
in their consciousness the elements that would lead
them to the overall concept that the director wanted to
communicate. Artfully handled, of course, this is ma-
nipulation of the highest order, propaganda created to
serve the Soviet state. The purest, most powerful exam- The beginnings of a revolution
ple of this approach to filmmaking is Battleship Potem In the first part of Battleship Potemkin (1925), Sergei Eisenstein
kin (1925). steadily builds a case for the crew members’ discontent with their
Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin is one of the funda- lot—a discontent that will lead to violent revolt. Among other things,
the sailors are unhappy with the ship’s food. In this image, they
mental landmarks of cinema. Indeed, it has become so
examine a slab of the rotten meat they are forced to eat: “We’ve
popular from screenings in film-studies courses that, had enough rotten meat. It’s not fit for pigs.” Although the meat is
over the years, its ability to surprise has diminished. crawling with maggots, the ship’s doctor tells them that it will be
Nevertheless, it is essential to know why this movie edible if they just wash it off.
the formal perfection of its rhythm and editing, and its ies defined America, and America defined itself through
worldwide influence—but also because of the synergy by the movies. (The formidable technological and organi-
which each of these elements is enhanced by the others. zational challenges that enabled these achievements are
covered in Chapter 11.)
None of this could have been achieved without the
efficiency of the studio system, which standardized the
1927–1947: Classical Hollywood way movies were produced. It provided a top-down or-
Style in Hollywood’s Golden Age ganization with management controlling everything,
The golden age of Hollywood was the most powerful especially the employees, who regardless of their status
and prolific period of film history yet. It is notable for the were treated as employees, not artists, and whose ca-
transition from silent to sound production, consolida- reers were subject to the strict terms of their contracts.
tion of the studio system, exploitation of familiar genres, The transition to sound began in 1926 with the produc-
imposition of the Motion Picture Production Code, tion of some short as well as feature films with recorded
changes in the look of movies, and the economic success sound, and earlier experimental “talkies” were well
of feature-length narrative films. Yet it was less a move- known back to 1900. But once audiences saw Al Jolson—
ment than a force, for in this period, the movies became who in his prime was known as “the world’s greatest
inextricably linked with the development of American entertainer”—in Alan Crosland’s The Jazz Singer (1927),
culture and society. From this point forward, the mov- with its synchronized music score and a few sequences
Populism and popcorn “Wait a minute. You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!”
Frank Capra’s Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Mr. Smith Goes to While these are not the first words we hear Jack Robin (Al Jolson)
Washington (1939), and Meet John Doe (1941) are often described speak in The Jazz Singer (1927; director Alan Crosland), they are the
as a populist trilogy. Indeed, they are emblematic of populism in most memorable. Imagine the excitement of the 1927 audience
their belief that ordinary people have the right and power to struggle hearing—for the first time—actors speaking in a movie. This is the
against the privileged elite. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington offers a melodramatic story of a young Jewish boy, Jakie Rabinowitz, who
sentimental vision of America, filled with stereotypes. Yet it was very does not want to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a
successful with the American public, which was dissatisfied with cantor; instead, he becomes Jack Robin, a famous “jazz singer” in
Washington at the end of the Great Depression. In this image, Smith Broadway shows. It’s a classic show-business movie, and Jolson,
(James Stewart) finishes his filibuster before the U.S. Senate by the country’s biggest star in the 1920s, gracefully sings, whistles
pleading with his fellow senators to stand up and fight the corruption (image), and dances his way through it. His performance of several
that is preventing the realization of his dream to finance a national songs in blackface makeup may lead us today to make assumptions
camp for boys. Considering the national situation, this is a small is- about Jolson’s attitudes about race. Those songs are misleading,
sue indeed. And while it is almost impossible to imagine a similar however, because Jolson was a prominent leader in the fight against
incident paralyzing Washington today, it gives hope that the common show-biz segregation and was influential in promoting the careers of
man still has a voice in the direction of our country. African American actors, singers, songwriters, and writers.
Screwball comedy Censorship threatens the release of Baby Face

The genre of screwball comedy was popular during the Great De- The censors would have found plenty to dislike in Alfred E. Green’s
pression in the 1930s because it offered an escape from reality. It Baby Face (1933). It’s the story of Lily Powers (Barbara Stanwyck), a
continues to exist today (in movies such as Peter Bogdanovich’s Depression-era gold digger who sleeps her way to the top, both figu-
She’s Funny That Way (2014) and Joel and Ethan Coen’s Hail Cae- ratively and literally, of a Manhattan skyscraper where she works. At
sar! (2016), but without the wit or sting of the original. Its principal each new floor, she finds a powerful new lover and, as a result, gets
characteristics include stories of mistaken identity, often involving a better job. Eventually, she’s in deeper than she thinks when one of
a person of the working class who accidentally (or not so acciden- her lovers murders another. Because the Motion Picture Production
tally) meets with someone from the upper class and, contrary to all Code was not yet fully in power, the studio tried to get away with
expectations, becomes romantically involved; rapid, witty dialogue; this version, but the New York State Censorship Board rejected it, so
and farcical, even fantastic, rags-to-riches plot situations. Mitchell it trimmed some scenes and added a new ending that conformed
Leisen’s Easy Living (1937) easily fits the bill. Its script by Preston with the code’s principle that movies should endorse morality, not
Sturges, a master of the genre, begins when tycoon John Ball (Ed- exploit it for entertainment purposes.
ward Arnold), who resents his wife’s buying a new sable coat, throws
it from his penthouse roof. It lands on Mary Smith (Jean Arthur), an
office worker who is riding on the top of a Fifth Avenue double-decker edies, musicals, gangster movies, historical epics, melo-
bus (behind her, the man in the turban is a classic bit of screwball
dramas, horror movies, Westerns, and biographies. Many
incongruity). Seeing the coat, people assume she is rich, and she
of these movies were forgettable, but others are some of
quickly learns to enjoy that illusion as she is enticed into a world of
glamour and falls improbably in love with John Ball Jr. (Ray Milland). Hollywood’s most important, influential, and memora-
ble creations.
The moguls ran a tight, highly profitable business
of synchronized sound, they wanted more. Its appeal within their fortress-like studio walls. But outside there
was probably due less to the few moments of sound than were calls for censorship, which, if not answered, threat-
to Jolson’s exciting screen persona and his unexpected ened those profits. During the early 1920s, after several
vocal ad-libbing. The first a ll-talking film was a rou- years of relatively frank portrayals of sex and violence
tine gangster melodrama, Bryan Foy’s The Lights of New on-screen (while the industry also suffered a wave of
York (1928). scandals), Hollywood faced a credible threat of censor-
Once the conversion to sound was completed in 1930, ship from state governments and boycotts from Catholic
weekly attendance at the movies and box-office receipts and other religious groups.
had increased by 50 percent, again proving the Hollywood In 1922, in response to these pressures, Hollywood
principle that profits derive from giving the public what producers formed a regulatory agency called the Mo-
it wants. Between 1927 and 1941 (when film production tion Picture Producers and Distributors of America
was reduced sharply due to wartime considerations), (MPPDA, later the Motion Picture Association of Amer-
Hollywood produced more than 10,000 movies, an av- ica, or MPAA), headed by Will Hays. Originally conceived
erage of 744 each year (compared to 349 produced in of as a public-relations entity to offset bad publicity and
2013). The genres dominated production: screwball com- deflect negative attention away from Hollywood, the
MPPDA seal of approval before being released. For at

least 20 years, the Breen Office rigidly controlled the
general character and the particular details of Holly-
wood storytelling. After a period of practical irrelevance,
the code was officially replaced in 1968, when the MPAA
adopted the rating system that remains in use today.
Movies produced during Hollywood’s golden age were
made to be entertaining and successful at the box office,
and the result was a period of stylistic conformity, not
innovation. If an idea worked once, it usually worked
again in a string of similar movies. The idea was to get
the public out of the house and into the theater, give peo-
ple what they wanted (entertainment, primarily), and
thus help them forget the Depression and the anxieties
The golden age at its popular best:
caused by the events leading up to World War II. The
Gone with the Wind
values stressed in these movies were heroism, fidelity,
Many people think of Gone with the Wind (1939; director Victor
Fleming) as the enduring symbol of the golden age of Hollywood. Its family life, citizenship, community, and, of course, fun.
romantic story is told against the sweep of the Civil War, its cast is Movies with important ideas were most often softened
formidable, its mise-en-scène and music are memorable, and it was with comic touches and happy endings. So despite the
the first movie to dominate the Oscars. Furthermore, it has won large output, it is hard to find more than a few movies in
every award imaginable, and while it isn’t a great movie in purely
Hollywood’s golden age that stretched cinematic conven-
cinematic terms, it is a great crowd-pleaser, as attested to by its pe-
tions, challenged prevailing social concepts, or provoked
riodic theatrical revivals and television screenings. It also reflects the
highest possible production values for its time—the studio system new ways of looking at the world. Hollywood during the
at its best—a tribute to the extraordinary commitment of its pro- golden age was not Europe, with its passion for the avant-
ducer, David O. Selznick, who maintained tight, demoralizing control garde, the revolutionary, or the film as art; few of those
over every aspect of production. For example, the process of cast- factors were part of the predominant American movie
ing Scarlett O’Hara, which was not typical of Hollywood at the time
culture before World War II.
(or at any time), involved a 2-year process in which Selznick tested
In the realm of cinematic style, narrative and editing
nearly twenty-five major Hollywood and Broadway actors. Ironically,
this quintessentially American role went to Vivien Leigh (left ), a Brit- conventions adapted to the challenges of sound produc-
ish actress virtually unknown in the American film industry. tion. Significant innovations were made in design, cin-
ematography, lighting, acting, and editing, some related
to sound, others not. Black-and-white film remained
Hays Office (as the agency was commonly known) in the industry standard through the early 1950s despite
1930 adopted the Motion Picture Production Code, a some interesting feature movies in Technicolor, which
detailed set of guidelines concerning acceptable and un- would become the new industry standard. Other tech-
acceptable subject matter. Nudity, adultery, homosexu- nological advancements during the golden age included
ality, gratuitous or unpunished violence, and religious improvements in lighting, makeup, and film stock. While
blasphemy were among the many types of content that the predominant cinematographic style of the 1930s was
the code strongly discouraged. Perhaps even more sig- soft-focus, the new lighting and film stock made it easier
nificant, the code explicitly stated that art can influence, to achieve greater depth of focus, which created the illu-
for the worse, the morality of those who consume it (an sion of perspective.
idea that Hollywood has been reconsidering ever since). With the release of Citizen Kane in 1941, some 46 years
Adherence to the Motion Picture Production Code after the invention of motion pictures, everything changed.
remained fundamentally voluntary until the summer Orson Welles’s film revolutionized the medium and has
of 1934, when Joseph Breen, a prominent Catholic lay- since been considered the most important movie ever
man, was appointed head of the Production Code Ad made. Citizen Kane is noteworthy for many reasons, but
ministration (PCA), the enforcement arm of the MPPDA. its reputation is due to Welles’s genius as an artist and
After July 1, 1934, all films would have to receive an his vision of a new kind of cinema. He was twenty-four
when he began the project, his first movie. While the

story of newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane rests
firmly in the biopic genre, Welles tells it with a complex
plot consisting of nine sequences (each using a different
tone and style), five of which are flashbacks. Including
the omniscient camera, the movie has seven narrators—
some of them unreliable—who, taken together, present
a modern psychological portrait of a megalomaniac. Re-
leased just 7 months before the United States declared
war in December 1941, this was a radical film for Holly-
wood. And while the movie is open to various interpre-
tations (the Freudian interpretation of young Charlie’s
relationship to his mother remains influential), Citizen
Kane carries a strong antifascist message. It warns against
Cinematic innovation in Citizen Kane
Kane’s arrogant abuse of the First Amendment right of
Citizen Kane (1941; director Orson Welles) is marked by brilliant in-
freedom of speech and press, one of the many evils that
novations that changed cinematic language forever. Among these is
Americans, reading their own newspapers, associated deep-focus cinematography, pioneered by Gregg Toland, which per-
with Hitler. mits action on all three planes of the image. Here, the action is fo-
Citizen Kane was also radical in its handling of the cused both on the foreground and background. As Signor Matiste
prevailing cinematic language of its time. We see this in (Fortunio Bononova, standing second from left ) becomes increas-
ingly frustrated in his efforts to train the voice of Susan Alexander
the astonishing complexity and speed of the narrative. It
Kane (Dorothy Comingore), her husband, Charles Foster Kane (Orson
may not seem so radical today, but that is only because
Welles), standing in the background, registers his impressions of the
it influenced the structure and pace of nearly every sig- rehearsal. Husband, wife, and vocal coach are all participating in a long
nificant movie that came after it. In the other elements take, making cutting between them unnecessary. However, Kane
of cinematic form, Welles was equally innovative. The will soon make it clear—however small he may look in this image—
movie’s stark design is heavily influenced by German Ex- that he, not Matiste, is in charge of his wife’s singing career. She, of
course, has nothing to say about it. This is only one of Kane’s ego
pressionism, as seen in the size, height, and depth of the
tistical mistakes that help to ruin the couple’s careers and marriage.
rooms and other spaces at Xanadu. Through deep-space
composition, lighting, deep-focus cinematography, and
long takes, cinematographer Gregg Toland achieved the
highest degree of cinematic realism yet seen. In contrast real life). The film is also much louder than the typical
to the prevailing soft look of 1930s movies, Citizen Kane movie of the time, which is another innovation, and the
has a hard finish. The omniscient, probing, and usually bravado of its dialogue, sound effects, and music puts it
moving camera, emphasizing its voyeuristic role, goes in your ears as well as in your face. Bernard Herrmann’s
directly to the heart of each scene. The editing is mainly musical score was spare, modernist, and completely
conventional, most often taking place within the long ahead of its time. In the film’s acting, Welles called on his
takes (and thus within the camera). Welles avoids such stage and radio experiences to break another Hollywood
avant-garde techniques as Soviet Montage, for example, convention. Actors did not normally rehearse their lines
unless he wants to call attention to the editing, as he does except in private or for a few minutes with the direc-
in the “News on the March” sequence and the pans and tor before shooting, but Welles rehearsed his cast for a
swipes that create the passing of time during the famous month before shooting began, so his ensemble of actors
breakfast-table sequence. Before going to Hollywood, could handle long passages of dialogue in the movie’s
Welles revolutionized American radio broadcasting, and distinctive long takes. And the performances, including
his sound design for Kane creates an aural realism equiv- Welles as Kane, are unforgettable.
alent to the movie’s visual realism. He frequently uses Citizen Kane has been enormously influential on film
overlapping sound, which, like the deep-space compo- makers around the world. Martin Scorsese said that
sition, bombards us with a lightning mix of information Welles influenced more young people to become film
that challenges us to choose what to listen to ( just as in directors than anyone else in film history. References
to its unique style have been quoted in dozens of other lives of ordinary working people; decried such postwar
films, but Welles’s overall style has never been fully imi- conditions as widespread unemployment, poverty, child
tated. Even after repeated viewings, its tantalizing story, labor, government corruption, and inadequate housing
courageous political stance, provocative ambiguity, and (the results of Fascist rule); and focused on the struggle
razzle-dazzle style continue to exert their hold. for a decent life in the postwar world. Politically, neo-
realism is antiauthoritarian, skeptical of the Catholic
Church, antibureaucratic, and socialist. But overall, be-
1942–1951: Italian Neorealism cause it has no inherent political purpose, it is tradition-
With German Expressionism, the Soviet Montage Move- ally regarded more as a style than an ideology.
ment, and the French New Wave movements, Italian Stylistically, the characteristics of neorealism are
Neorealism stands as one of the most vital movements specific. Despite the lavish production facilities avail
in the history of world cinema. Developed during World able at the large studios that Mussolini built (or perhaps
War II, neorealism rose to prominence after the war because of them), the neorealists sought simplicity
and then flourished for a relatively short period before in their working methods. They used actual locations
ending abruptly. rather than studio sites and hired nonprofessional ac-
Benito Mussolini, the Fascist dictator who ruled Italy tors. Their films had a documentary visual style that
from 1922 to 1943, believed, as did Lenin, in the propa- included shooting in the streets with natural light and
ganda power of film. To revive Italy’s lackluster film in-
dustry, he instituted government subsidies and control,
banned American movies, established a national film
school, and constructed vast new studios. Although the
Italian movies produced during his regime were com-
mercially successful (audiences had no choices), they
were artistically inferior to what the French were pro-
ducing before the war. After Mussolini was driven from
power in 1943 and executed in 1945, an opportunity
arose to revitalize Italian cinema.
In 1942, Cesare Zavattini, a prolific Marxist screen-
writer, launched what came to be known as the neoreal-
ist movement, influenced its style and ideology, and led
a group of young filmmakers to make film history. The
group was also influenced by French poetic realism, a
movement that consisted of filmmakers seeking free-
dom in the increasingly repressive French society of the An early influence on neorealism
1930s, and by two contemporary Italian films: Luchino Luchino Visconti’s Ossessione (1943) represents a transition be
Visconti’s Ossessione (1943) and Roberto Rossellini’s tween the lackluster Italian cinema of the pre–World War II period
Rome, Open City (1945). Rossellini’s film most clearly ex- and the brief but significant flowering of neorealism. It reflects the
older traditions in several ways: it uses professional actors, is based
hibits every characteristic of neorealism and became the
on an American novel, and is known mainly for its torrid love story.
standard for the films that followed.
Soon after the two lovers—Giovanna (Clara Calamai), an unhappily
In cinema, as well as the other visual arts, realism is married woman, and Gino (Massimo Girotti), a drifter—first meet,
often an elusive concept. It is nothing more or less than they become obsessively involved with one another. Ossessione
the depiction of subjects as they appear to the artist in foreshadows neorealism in its depiction of the daily routines of or-
everyday life, without adornment or interpretation. In dinary people, its focus on rural Italy, and its consistent use of long
postwar period neorealism, this definition adhered, but shots to preserve real time and emphasize how the setting con-
strains the characters from becoming independent. Mostly, though,
the movement was revolutionary because it deliberately
its austere realism, in form and content, influenced the neorealist
broke with the Fascist past and adopted an ideology filmmakers. The film was remade in the United States twice, both
that reflects Marxist, Christian, and humanist values. times as The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946, director Tay Gar-
Neorealist filmmakers placed the highest value on the nett; 1981, director Bob Rafelson).
lightweight cameras, using long takes to preserve real

time, and employing deep-space cinematography to
maintain the look of the actual spaces where shooting
occurred. All of these characteristics broke with the pre-
vailing cinematic conventions in Italy.
Zavattini was primarily a screenwriter, but he was
also responsible for pioneering a kind of documentary
film, Love in the City (1953). In that film, he and several
other young filmmakers (Michelangelo Antonioni, Fed-
erico Fellini, Carlo Lizzani, and Dino Risi, each of whom
became a prominent director) worked with nonprofes-
sional actors who played themselves in dramatizing an
aspect of their lives. This approach, a sort of staged docu
mentary, would later influence the development of cinéma
The Bicycle Thieves: a neorealist masterpiece
vérité in France, free cinema in England, and direct cin-
A 3-day chronicle comprises the plot of The Bicycle Thieves (1948;
ema in the United States.
director Vittorio De Sica), which tells the story of Antonio Ricci’s
The most indispensable neorealist films are Vittorio (Lamberto Maggiorani) desperate search for his dignity. Bruno (Enzo
De Sica’s Shoeshine (1946), The Bicycle Thieves (1948; Staiola), his son, is the one person who stands by him. Through hard-
also known as The Bicycle Thief ), and Umberto D. (1952), ship after hardship, their shared bond of love and faith is challenged
which marks the end of the movement; Cesare Zavattini but never broken. Bruno gives his father the courage to survive
one heartbreaking moment after another, and although the movie
wrote the screenplays for all of these.
ends ambiguously, there is no question that father and son will re-
The Bicycle Thieves, the movement’s masterpiece, is
main friends. In this image, we see Bruno waving good-bye to his
set in Rome two years after the end of the war. It recounts father as they both begin their workday. When director De Sica cast
three consecutive days in the life of Antonio Ricci (Lam- Staiola, an unknown boy from the streets, in this part, he found a
berto Maggiorani), a laborer, Maria (Lianella Carell), his natural actor who gave the world an unforgettable performance.
wife, and Bruno (Enzo Staiola), his son, who looks about
eight years old but nonetheless works twelve hours a
day at a gas station. The story is simple but powerful. An-
tonio is out of work but, at the beginning of the movie, necessarily interpreting it. Nonetheless, he took com-
is offered a job (hanging movie posters) on the con- plete control over the setting, cinematography, lighting,
dition that he has a bicycle. Because his bicycle is in a acting, and sound. Even though it is a sound film, much
pawnshop, his wife takes the family linen to the pawn- of its power comes from its relative silence, particularly
shop so that he can reclaim his bicycle and take the job. its lack of voices. Like many films made before the com-
On his first morning at work, the bicycle is stolen. His ing of sound, The Bicycle Thieves demonstrates the in-
friends help him search for it, but they have no luck. tensity of silent acting.
When Antonio spots the thief, the Mafia protects that One definition of a “classic” movie is that it can mean
man. Social forces such as the church and fortunetellers different things to different people at different times in
cannot help him. Faced with a practical dilemma, he too their lives. The Bicycle Thieves is a classic and powerful
becomes a bicycle thief (hence the movie’s title) and is film because of the director’s spare style, humanist treat-
caught and publicly humiliated. At the end of the film, ment of the story, and willingness to trust his viewers to
Antonio is in exactly the same dilemma as when the film make up their own mind about what it means.
began. This, then, is the story of a good man caught in a Although neorealist films were innovative, they were
seemingly hopeless world, told with insightful observa- not popular with Italians, who preferred the more up-
tion and compassion. Its ending, true to the neorealist beat American movies. Consequently, they were not suc-
credo, is ambiguous. cessful at the box office (economic success was not one
In this film the stylistic characteristics of neoreal- of the movement’s primary goals). Critics, furthermore,
ism—the long takes, the actual locations, the spare dia- said the films gave a false, even sentimental, portrayal
logue, and so on—allow De Sica to show reality without of Italian society, one inconsistent with a country eager
for prosperity and change. The government discouraged itself, including the 1930s cinematic style known as
the neorealists’ interest in social problems by not sub- poetic realism. The term applied to movies that treated
sidizing them. Instead, it supported domestic films that everyday life with a moody sensitivity to mise-en-scène
focused on the new prosperity of the postwar society and to the more contemporary films of Jean-Pierre Mel-
and implemented taxes and quotas on foreign movies. ville. The second influence was the philosophy of Jean-
By 1952 the Italian Neorealism movement was fin- Paul Sartre, the leading figure in French philosophy in
ished, yet it had an enormous impact on later Italian the postwar period. Sartre believed that contemporary
and world cinema. In fact, a handful of neorealist films artists should rebel against the constraints of society,
helped rekindle greater awareness among filmmakers traditional morality, and religious faith; should accept
worldwide of the need to observe real life and to aban- personal responsibility for their actions; and should
don, insofar as possible, the make-believe world of the thus be free to create their own world. His existential-
movie studio. The movement also helped launch the ist views helped shape the new French cinema’s depic-
careers of many great Italian directors, including De tion of modern human beings, while his Marxist views
Sica, Rossellini, Visconti, Fellini, Antonioni, and Pietro helped form its interpretations of society and history.
Germi. Neorealism also influenced Italian directors who Finally, the movement learned much from film critic
were not directly involved, including Pier Paolo Pa and director Alexandre Astruc. He declared that a film-
solini, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ermanno Olmi, and Paolo maker should use the camera as personally as the nov
and Vittorio Taviani. Filmmakers as different as Satyajit elist uses a pen, thus inspiring the idea of the movie
Ray in India and Martin Scorsese in the United States director as auteur.
regarded neorealism as the principal inspiration in be- Other influences on the French New Wave include
ginning their careers. Today you’ll see its influence in Italian Neorealism, the contemporaneous British Free
such different movies as Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s Cinema (discussed on pp. 386–387), and contemporary
L’Enfant (2005), John Carney’s Once (2006), and even developments in the French documentary film. While
Matt Reeves’s Cloverfield (2008). the Italians and the British offered models of how to
make narrative films that told real stories about real
people, cinéma vérité evolved in France in the early
1959–1964: French New Wave 1960s as a documentary style (the name, which means
After World War II, France, which had been occupied “film truth,” pays homage to Dziga Vertov’s kino-pravda
by the Nazis between 1940 and 1944, faced a unique set work in the Soviet Montage movement). Among other
of problems, both foreign and domestic. Abroad, it was things, this style advocated using the lightweight, por-
engaged in two wars with French-controlled territo- table filmmaking equipment that enhanced a filmmak-
ries: the French Indochina War (1946–54), which ended er’s mobility and flexibility. Stylistically, its films had a
in a divided but independent Vietnam, and the Alge- rough, intimate look that often reflected the informality
rian War of Independence (1954–62), which led to Al- of the filmmaking process. Filmmakers appeared on-
geria’s independence from France. At home, President screen, cameras jiggled, framing was often informal,
Charles de Gaulle’s government faced many challenges scenes were generally unscripted, and continuity was
in dealing with myriad social, political, racial, ethnic, provided primarily through lots of close-ups and sound
and cultural differences produced in part by the twin tracks that continued under the shots. Later, such sty-
forces of collaboration and resistance during the Nazi listic innovations would characterize many New Wave
occupation. Everywhere, calls for change were coming movies.
from students, artists, intellectuals, and philosophers— Film theorist André Bazin, known as the father of
particularly the existentialists, who called for a new the New Wave, synthesized these concepts into the co-
world in which individuals would be more responsible herent model on which the New Wave was established.
for their actions. The French New Wave was born within This interaction of intellect and creativity recalls the
this broad context. origins of several movements you’ve already encoun-
The originators of the New Wave were influenced by tered: the German, Soviet, and French film movements
several movements. The first was the French cinema of the 1920s. Bazin cofounded Cahiers du cinéma, which
1 2
French New Wave: beginnings

Among the first New Wave movies were François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows (1959) and Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960). Truffaut’s protag-
onist, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), is a boy in his early teens who, as we see him here [1], has just escaped from a juvenile detention
center; Godard’s Michel Poiccard (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a man in his early thirties who is preparing to steal a car and will shortly murder a po-
liceman [2]. Antoine is just a boy prankster facing an unknown future, but Michel is a dangerous criminal whom the police will soon recognize
and shoot in cold blood as he attempts to flee capture. Noteworthy is that Truffaut wrote the original treatment of Breathless and, after his
great success with The 400 Blows, made a gift of it to Godard, suggesting that he submit it as the idea for his own first film.
became the leading French film journal of the time, and about the director-as-author. They recognized that most
in his capacity as editor, he became the intellectual and directors of Hollywood films had little say over most as-
spiritual mentor of the New Wave. His followers in- pects of production, but they believed that through his
cluded Cahiers’ contributors, many of whom would be- style, particularly the handling of mise-en-scène, a great
come directors: Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, director could undermine studio control and transform
Claude Chabrol, Jacques Rivette, and Eric Rohmer. Oth- even the most insignificant Western or detective story
ers went directly into filmmaking: Chris Marker, Alain into a work of art.
Resnais, Agnès Varda, and Louis Malle. (There were Obviously, the New Wave was based on a theory that
other major directors in postwar France who were not advocated a change in filmmaking practices. Truffaut’s
directly involved in the New Wave movement, includ- 1954 Cahiers essay “A Certain Tendency of the French
ing Jean Cocteau, Robert Bresson, Jean Renoir, Jacques Cinema” elaborated on the auteur concept and started
Tati, Jacques Becker, and Max Ophüls.) a critical controversy that has not yet abated.12 The is-
Bazin’s central tenets were realism, mise-en-scène, sue remains: Is it the director or the entire collaborative
and authorship (the director’s unique style). For him, team, including the director, that makes a movie? Truf-
the most distinctive nature of a movie was its form faut idolized directors who made highly personal state-
rather than its content. Accordingly, he encouraged his ments in their films—directors such as Jean Renoir, Jean
followers to see as many films as possible, looking par- Cocteau, and Max Ophüls in France, and Orson Welles,
ticularly at the relationship between the director and Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, Fritz Lang, John Ford,
the material. In viewing these films, great and otherwise, Nicholas Ray, and Anthony Mann in Hollywood—so
the young critics and would-be filmmakers developed a his answer was clear: the director was the primary “au-
particular fascination with those Hollywood films that thor” of the work. In another influential Cahiers es-
seemed to prove what Bazin, following Astruc, was saying say, “The Evolution of the Language of Cinema,” Bazin
12. See François Truffaut, “A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema,” in Movies and Methods: An Anthology, ed. Bill Nichols, 2 vols. (Berkeley: Univer-
sity of California Press, 1976), I, pp. 224–237.
Hitchcock’s influence on the New Wave

Alfred Hitchcock’s movies were greatly admired by New Wave di-
rectors. Claude Chabrol, who carefully studied the movies of the Time and mortality in the New Wave
master of suspense and surprise, is noted also for movies that com- Agnès Varda, one of the few women in the New Wave movement,
bine romance with gory murders. In The Butcher (1970), thought by was a unique force in shaping it. Her experiments in the handling of
many to be his masterpiece, a group of schoolchildren accompany cinematic time influenced such contemporaries as Jean-Luc Godard
Hélène (Stéphane Audran), their teacher, to see a magnificent cave and Alain Resnais. And her concern with the cinematic perception
that contains prehistoric drawings. Afterward—in the image here— of women is beautifully realized in Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962). It fol-
as they enjoy their picnic lunch, blood drips onto one girl’s bread lows 2 hours in the life of Cléo (Corinne Marchand), a pop singer
from a fresh corpse on a cliff above. When Hélène sees the body, who wanders aimlessly around Paris while waiting for the results
she suspects that it is yet another woman who has been victimized of a biopsy. Her story is told in near–real time, as she grapples with
by the local butcher, a man with whom the teacher has a platonic re- such issues as the meaning of friendship, her work, and mortality.
lationship. After that, the suspense—whose effect Chabrol learned Just before going to the hospital to meet her doctor—fearing that
well from Hitchcock—becomes almost unbearable. she has cancer—Cléo drops her purse; picking up the pieces, she
interprets her broken mirror as an omen of death. To call attention to
Cléo’s ordeal of killing time, Varda titles each episode and indicates
its precise running time (here, translated into English): “Chapter 11—
described mise-en-scène by stressing that everything we CLÉO from 6:04 to 6:12.”
see on the screen has been put there by the director for
a reason.13
The New Wave directors excelled at demonstrating the movement was finished by 1964, many of these di-
that cinematic form is more important than content; rectors continued to make films.
their films were self-reflexive, focusing attention on them If one movie symbolizes the fresh, innovative spirit
as movies and diverting our attention away from their of the New Wave, it is Godard’s Breathless (1960). This
narratives. In this, they manipulate our perceptions and work offers a comprehensive catalog of the movement’s
keep an aesthetic and psychological distance between stylistic traits: rapid action, use of handheld cameras, un-
us and their movies. The style, substance, and achieve- usual camera angles, elliptical editing, direct address to
ments of the French New Wave directors had an invigo- the camera, acting that borders on the improvisational,
rating effect on world cinema, and their movies remain anarchic politics, and emphasis on the importance of
very popular. Among their most important films are sound, especially words. It is not any one of these tech-
Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960), François Truffaut’s niques that defines the filmmaker’s style, but rather the
The 400 Blows (1959), Claude Chabrol’s The Butcher imagination and energy with which he uses them. Breath
(1970), Jacques Rivette’s Celine and Julie Go Boating less, a movie that asserts Godard’s personality and ide-
(1974), Eric Rohmer’s My Night at Maud’s (1969), Chris ology, virtually defines what is meant by an auteur film.
Marker’s La Jetée (1962), Alain Resnais’s Last Year at It tells a conventional crime story in an unconventional
Marienbad (1961), Agnès Varda’s Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962), manner, rejecting the traditional cinematic values of
and Louis Malle’s Murmur of the Heart (1971). Although unity and continuity in favor of discontinuity and con-
13. Among Bazin’s essays, students should know “The Myth of Total Cinema,” “The Evolution of the Language of Cinema,” and “Theater and Cinema,”
in André Bazin, What Is Cinema? ed. and trans. Hugh Gray, 2 vols. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967–71), I, pp. 17–22, 23–40, 76–124.
1947–Present: Movements and Developments in International Cinema 385
trast. Godard called his work a cinema of “reinvention,” from the early 1960s still look very modern, and the un-
meaning that he generally kept all kinds of cinematic usually stylized treatment of time and subjectivity in a
language in mind as he created his own. Consequently, film like Alain Resnais’s Last Year at Marienbad remains
by employing the iris-out, Godard not only offers hom- cutting-edge to this day, confusing and alienating many
age to D. W. Griffith but also reminds modern audiences viewers used to traditional cinematic conventions.
of a seldom-used visual device. Dedicating the film to
Monogram Pictures (one of Hollywood’s “B” or “Poverty
Row” studios), Godard evokes the Hollywood film noir
1947–Present: Movements
through allusions, direct and indirect, to tough films with
tough leading men. He also pays homage to French film and Developments in
director Jean-Pierre Melville, a major influence on the International Cinema
New Wave, by casting him in the movie and patterning the
role of his leading male character on the model in Mel- World War II, fought mainly in Europe and Asia but in-
ville’s Bob le flambeur (1956). Finally, Godard includes volving virtually every country in the world, was the
allusions to writers, composers, and painters. Through most destructive war in history. Between 40 million and
this broad range of intertextual reference, or pastiche 50 million people were killed, and millions of others fled
(making one artwork by mixing elements from others), from their homes or countries. The war destroyed many
Godard audaciously links his low-budget film noir with historic cities, shattered economies, and left the specter
the works of some of the greatest artists of all time. of the Holocaust to redefine the concept of a civilized
Most important, though, is Godard’s editing, which world. It was impossible for many countries to return to
is central to the telling of this narrative. Here, working normal, even though the victory over Fascism held the
in the radical tradition started by Eisenstein and his promise of establishing a new and more just society.
contemporaries—collision between and among images— How did filmmakers react to the war? They all knew
Godard consciously and deliberately manipulates the that whatever they did with their movies, the interna-
images with such editing techniques as jump cuts and tional landscape had changed utterly and that they must
nondiegetic inserts. Thus he deliberately avoids such de- acknowledge the horrors, postwar challenges, and hopes
vices as crosscutting, which traditional directors would for the future. For some fi lmmakers, it was an opportu-
have used in cutting between the good guys and bad nity to express their nation’s identity through what we
guys in the film’s chase scenes, as well as the familiar se- call a national cinema. While this term is used generally
quence used to set up a scene—an establishing shot, long to describe the films identified by and associated with a
shot, medium shot, and close-up, generally in that order. specific country—for example, through financing, lan-
The restless rhythm of the editing is perfectly suited guage, or culture—it remains a subject of debate among
to the restless mood of the story and the indecisiveness film scholars and critics.
of the movie’s two major characters. In the following pages, we differentiate between two
While the term New Wave began with the French, its kinds of countries. First are those that resumed film-
spirit soon spread internationally. These efforts were making pretty much as usual after the war, albeit with
significantly bolstered in many of the countries dis- a different perspective, audience, and set of responsi
cussed later by the establishment of state-supported bilities (e.g., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland,
filmmaking schools and film societies as well as the Italy, Sweden, Spain, Russia and the Soviet Union, Hun-
availability of lightweight filmmaking equipment. In gary, the former Czechoslovakia and former Yugoslavia,
the United States, the New Wave influence was notice- Romania, Bulgaria, and many countries in Central and
able early on—in Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde (1967) Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East). The
and recently in Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums second type of country includes those that established
(2001) and Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the the new wave movements we discuss in this section:
Spotless Mind (2004), to cite but three examples. Great Britain, Denmark, Germany, Japan, and China.
Many of the techniques pioneered by the French Today, new cinemas are also emerging in Albania, Bos-
New Wave filmmakers have become commonplace, es- nia, Slovenia, Serbia, Hungary, Estonia, Turkey, and the
pecially in today’s independent cinema. Godard’s films Czech Republic. ( We emphasize the new wave movements
because they represent pockets of resistance to dom-

inant filmmaking traditions and have revitalized the
cinemas of their respective countries with a distinctive
stylistic effect.)
In making this simple distinction and in choosing to
discuss the new wave movements, we do not overlook
the profound achievements of such British and Euro-
pean directors as Ingmar Bergman, Andrzej Wajda,
Michelangelo Antonioni, Satyajit Ray, David Lean, or
Federico Fellini, to name only a few. The work of those
artists significantly altered the psychological and imag-
inative landscape of postwar filmmaking. Nor do we
Victim: the first major movie about gay rights
over look more recent directors—such as Jane Cam- The British Free Cinema dealt courageously with controversial is-
pion, Pedro Almodóvar, Abbas Kiarostami, or Ousmane sues of class, race, gender, and sexual orientation. Basil Dearden’s
Sembène—whose films, although they don’t fall within a Victim (1961) was the first commercial British film to show that
definable movement or trend, are widely recognized as homosexuality existed at every level of contemporary society. At
modern masterpieces. the time, homosexual acts between consenting adults were illegal
in Great Britain, and gays suffered widespread discrimination and
Like the original new wave of directors in France,
blackmail. In Victim, Dirk Bogarde gave a moving performance as
each of the movements described next attempted to Melville Farr, a distinguished lawyer who is exposed by a blackmail-
(1) make a clean break with the cinematic past, (2) ining ring for having had an emotional, but nonsexual, gay affair before
ject new vitality into filmmaking, and (3) explore cin- he married. In this image, he sees the photograph that triggered
ema as a subject in itself. the blackmail. Outraged by the widespread injustices against ho-
mosexuals, he agrees to help the police by giving evidence in court,
knowing that sensational newspaper publicity could ruin his career.
Bogarde, then one of England’s major stars, was lauded for his per-
England and the sonal courage in helping to break a social barrier, and Victim was
instrumental in changing the social and legal climate. In 1967, Great
Free Cinema Movement Britain legalized homosexual acts between consenting adults.
The British Free Cinema movement developed between
1956 and 1959. Like Dziga Vertov and the Italian Neo-
realists, these British directors rejected prevailing cin- (1958), an attempt to understand working-class youth;
ematic conventions; in so doing, they also rejected an and Tony Richardson and Karel Reisz’s Momma Don’t
obstinately class-bound society, turned their cameras Allow (1955), an admiring view of the emerging British
on ordinary people and everyday life, and proclaimed pop culture in the mid-1950s.
their freedom to make films without worrying about the After the war, the British class system began its slow
demands of producers and distributors or other com- disintegration, and Anderson understood the inherent
mercial considerations. challenges facing the country, as well as the role that
Because the films of the Free Cinema movement were movies might play in the transition, when he defined
entirely the expression of the people who made them, his approach to filmmaking: “I want to make people—
they serve as another manifestation of the growing post- ordinary people, not just Top People—feel their dignity
war movement in Europe toward a new cinema of social and their importance, so that they can act from these
realism. Its primary effect was a small but impressive principles. Only on such principles can confident and
body of documentary films, including Lindsay Ander- healthy action be based.”14
son’s Every Day Except Christmas (1957), an affectionate This sentiment and Free Cinema movies helped to
look at the people who make the Covent Garden market inspire the British New Cinema of the 1960s, an almost
such a tradition; Karel Reisz’s We Are the Lambeth Boys unique situation in which the documentary form was
14. Lindsay Anderson, qtd. in Richard M. Barsam, Nonfiction Film: A Critical History, rev. and exp. ed. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992),
p. 252.
the catalyst for a revived spirit in narrative filmmaking.

Memorable socialist-realist films were outspoken on
the subjects of gender, race, and economic disparities
among the classes, including Jack Clayton’s Room at
the Top (1959), Karel Reisz’s Saturday Night and Sun
day Morning (1960), Basil Dearden’s Victim (1961), Tony
Richardson’s The Loneliness of the Long Distance Run
ner (1962), Lindsay Anderson’s if . . . (1968), Joseph
Losey’s The Servant (1963), Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s
Breaking the rules in Breaking the Waves
Night (1964), and Ken Loach’s Kes (1969). The Dogme rules are rigid, but Lars von Trier’s Breaking the Waves
(1996) demonstrates that a director can subvert them to facilitate
production. Although the cinematographer used the requisite hand-
Denmark and the Dogme 95 held camera, many of the scenes were shot not in real locations, but
in studio settings. The story takes place in the past, not the here and
Movement now; and contrary to Dogme rules, the movie contains nondiegetic
Postwar Danish cinema is noted primarily for the Dogme music. Furthermore, von Trier takes full credit for his role as director.
95 movement. It was founded in 1995 by three directors, Nonetheless, a major reason for seeing it is the astonishing perfor-
including Lars von Trier, the one best known outside mance by Emily Watson as Bess, a simple, childlike woman. When
her husband, seriously injured in an oil-rig accident, fears that their
Denmark. The movement was based on the Dogme 95
sex life has ended, he encourages her to have sexual relations with
manifesto of ten rules (known as “The Vow of Chastity”), other men. However, she believes, from voices that she hears, that
with which participating directors were required to af- what she is doing is God’s wish. These voices—if indeed she hears
firm their compliance. These are them—often come to her in a deserted church.
1. Shooting must be done on location. Props and

sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is
necessary for the story, a location must be chosen
where this prop is to be found). 8. Genre movies are not acceptable.
2. The sound must never be produced apart from 9. The film format must be Academy 35mm.
the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used
10. The director must not be credited.15
unless it occurs where the scene is being shot.)
3. The camera must be handheld. Any movement or This statement of principles brought considerable
immobility attainable in the hand is permitted. attention to the country’s cinema with such movies as
(The film must not take place where the camera is von Trier’s The Idiots (1998), Breaking the Waves (1996),
standing; shooting must take place where the film Dancer in the Dark (2000), Dogville (2003), and The Five
takes place.) Obstructions (2003). These rules were rigid, and direc-
4. The film must be in color. Special lighting is not tors often broke their vows, as seen in such Dogme films
acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure as Harmony Korine’s Julien Donkey-Boy (1999), Lone
the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached Scherfig’s Italian for Beginners (2000), Martin Ren-
to the camera.) gel’s Joy Ride (2001), and Susanne Bier’s Open Hearts
(2002). The Dogme movement—clearly as bold, if not as
5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.
significant, as the French New Wave—influenced some
6. The film must not contain superficial action. avant-garde directors in Europe and the United States.
(Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.) Its emphasis on freedom is relevant to filmmakers with
7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. access to digital video, home computers, and advanced
(That is to say that the film takes place here and now.) editing software.
15. www.dogme95.dk/the_vow/vow.html (accessed March 24, 2015).

Germany and Austria

Following World War II and until 1990 (when it was re-
unified as the Federal Republic of Germany), Germany
was split into western and eastern parts. In West Ger-
many, the Federal Republic reestablished independent
film production, even though German audiences pre-
ferred Hollywood movies. In East Germany, film pro-
duction remained under Soviet control, and little of
significance was produced, except in the work of Kurt
Maetzig, whose films helped Germans on both sides of
the Berlin Wall to understand the Nazi past. In many fea-
ture films and documentaries, he dealt with Fascism, Das neue Kino and Hollywood
anti-Semitism, and the complicity of German corpora German New Wave filmmakers had a genuine affection for Holly-
tions with the Nazi government. He founded East Ger- wood genres, including film noir. In Wim Wenders’s The American
many’s main film studio, which operated under the Friend (1977), a crime thriller and neo-noir (shot in color), the title
refers to the character of Tom Ripley, played by the American actor
ideological dictates of the Communist Party, and he
Dennis Hopper, shown here. Also appearing in the movie are two
made films about life under that regime. He also made the distinctly American movie directors: Nicholas Ray (who directed
most popular film of the postwar period—Marriage in the Hopper in Rebel without a Cause [1955]) and Samuel Fuller (Pickup
Shadows (1947)—as well as some that were banned, in- on South Street [1953]). Although the film was shot mostly in Ger-
cluding The Rabbit Is Me (1965), a blunt criticism of the many, some scenes were photographed in New York City.
East German judicial system.
In 1962 a movement called das neue Kino (the New
German Cinema) was born, and it flourished until the We have concrete intellectual, formal, and economic
1980s. Its founders, a group of young writers and film- conceptions about the production of the new German
makers, recognized that any attempt to revive the Ger- film. We are as a collective prepared to take economic
man cinema must deal with two large issues: the Nazi risks.
period and the brutal break that it made in the German The old film is dead. We believe in the new one.16
cultural tradition; and the reemergence of postwar Ger
many as a divided country whose western part was This 1962 document (known as the Oberhausen Man-
known, like Japan at the same time, as an “economic ifesto) fused economic, aesthetic, and political goals. It
miracle.” This group also knew the Italian, French, and sought to create a new cinema free from historical an-
British New Cinemas that preceded them and had a gen- tecedents, one that could criticize bourgeois German
uine affection for established genres in Hollywood, par- society and expose viewers to new modes of looking at
ticularly melodrama. Like all serious radical groups, it movies. A short list of the early work of the most sig-
issued a manifesto: nificant directors includes Volker Schlöndorff’s Young
Torless (1966); Alexander Kluge’s Artists under the Big
The collapse of the conventional German film finally Top: Perplexed (1968); and Margarethe von Trotta’s The
removes the economic basis for a mode of filmmaking German Sisters/Marianne and Juliane (1981; von Trotta
whose attitude and practice we reject. With it the new is perhaps the most important of a large group of female
film has a chance to come to life. . . . directors). Also included are Rainer Werner Fassbind-
We declare our intention to create the new German er’s The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), Fear of Fear
feature film. (1975), and Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980—a television se
This new film needs new freedoms. Freedom from ries, released theatrically in a 15½-hour version, the
the conventions of the established industry. Freedom longest narrative movie ever made); Wim Wenders’s The
from the outside influence of commercial partners. Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1972), The Ameri
Freedom from the control of special interest groups. can Friend (1977), and Paris, Texas (1984); and Werner
16. For the full text and list of signatories, see www.oberhausener-manifest.com/en/ (accessed June 15, 2015).
Herzog’s Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970), Aguirre: The To Western viewers, Akira Kurosawa is the most
Wrath of God (1972), Heart of Glass (1976), and Nosferatu recognizable Japanese director, both for the quality of
the Vampire (1979). Ultimately, the movement sparked a his work and because he, among his contemporaries,
renaissance in German filmmaking by encouraging the was most familiar with the conventions of Hollywood
production of quality films that created considerable filmmaking, especially the work of John Ford. However,
excitement in the international cinema community. Its aside from familiar cinematic technique, his films are
bold treatments of such contemporary issues as sexu thoroughly Japanese in their fatalistic attitude toward
ality, immigration, and national identity have signifi- life and death. He initiated the postwar rebirth of Japa-
cantly influenced filmmakers worldwide. nese cinema with Rashomon (1950), which tells a single
The history of Austrian cinema includes a rich leg- story—the rape of a woman—from four different points
acy from various film artists, such as Ernst Lubitsch and of view. Kurosawa shows us that we all remember and
Billy Wilder, who emigrated during the 1930s and en- perceive differently and that truth is relative to those
riched the cinemas of Great Britain, France, and the telling their stories. With this profound statement on
United States. In the twenty-first century, a young gen- the power of cinema, he produced a body of work that
eration of filmmakers has begun to create its own leg-
acy with films that are uniquely Austrian in subject and
style. These include Michael Haneke, arguably the best-
known and most important Austrian filmmaker, with
such films as Funny Games (1997; U.S. remake in 2008),
The Piano Teacher (2001), The White Ribbon (2009), and
Amour (2012); as well as Ulrich Seidl, Import/Export
(2007) and his 2012 trilogy, Paradise: Love, Paradise:
Faith, and Paradise: Hope; Jessica Hausner, Lonely
Rita (2001), Hotel (2004), and Lourdes (2009); and Jan
Schütte, Love Comes Lately (2007).
Japan
The movies were popular in Japan as early as 1896, a year Kurosawa’s Ran: “a scroll of hell”
after they were invented in the West. The Japanese film Ran, Kurosawa’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, pushes the
industry flourished, albeit with a highly stylized form of play to extremes. The word ran literally means “turmoil” or “chaos”
filmmaking that owed a great deal to Japanese literary and suggests rebellion, riot, or war. Kurosawa’s ran is full of blood,
violence, suffering, and death, qualities depicted in twelfth- and
and theatrical traditions as well as something to West-
thirteenth-century Japanese scrolls known as “scrolls of hell,” the
ern cinematic traditions, until World War II. term Kurosawa used to describe the movie itself. The director has
When the war ended in 1945, much of the country lay transformed King Lear’s three daughters into the three sons of power-
in ruins and was under occupation by the Allied pow- ful warlord Hidetora Ichimonji. Lady Kaede, the wife of Taro, one of the
ers. As the film industry began to revive, it was strongly sons, is a lethal schemer who wants her husband to become leader
influenced by such Hollywood masters as John Ford, of the clan. She fails, however, and at the end, she is confronted by a
clan loyalist, who tells her, “Vixen . . . you have destroyed the house
Howard Hawks, and Orson Welles. However, filmmakers
of Ichimonji, now you should know the shallowness and stupidity of
were limited, both by the occupying powers and by a film a woman’s wisdom.” But Kaede has the last word: “It is not shallow
industry lacking money, to making films that extolled or stupid. I wanted to see this castle burn and the House of Ichimonji
the freedoms made possible by democracy, particularly ruined by the long grudge of my family. I wanted to see all this.”
the emancipation of women. The three Japanese direc- We do not see Kaede beheaded, but in this spectacular image, her
tors most familiar in the West are Akira Kurosawa, Kenji spattered blood is running down the wall. A maid crouches to the
left and the assailant stands at the right; Kaede’s body is on the floor.
Mizoguchi, and Yasujirô Ozu. Mizoguchi and Ozu began
The image resembles a Japanese scroll; overall, it is framed by pots
their directing careers in the 1920s, but it was not until of flowers in the middle ground; in the background, the gruesome
1950 that Kurosawa launched the golden age of Japanese composition is framed by sliding doors. Ironically, the dripping blood
filmmaking with Rashomon. recalls various abstract modern paintings.
Painterly composition in Mizoguchi’s Sansho the Bailiff

Nothing could be further from the color and chaos of Kurosawa’s Ran than the calm compositions of Kenji Mizoguchi’s Sansho the Bailiff. After
her husband is banished to a distant province, an aristocratic woman named Tamaki (Kinuyo Tanaka), her lone servant, and her children are
forced to wander from place to place. In this image, the wife (center right ), who cannot find shelter elsewhere, builds a structure of branches
and reeds under the spreading limbs of a tree as the servant and children help her. The black-and-white composition of this image shows
why Mizoguchi is revered as a master of mise-en-scène. The tree is theatrically perfect, as is the light through the upper branches of the tree,
on the mother and daughter, and on the grasses at the right and left of the image. This pictorially pleasing image gives no hint of what’s to
come: the children are sold into slavery, and Tamaki is exiled to an island where she is forced to become a prostitute. Despite the loss of her
daughter and her other hardships, Tamaki perseveres; finally, blind and alone, she is reunited with her son. Overall, the movie demonstrates
Mizoguchi’s interest in issues of freedom and women’s place in society.
is notable for its interest in Japanese tradition, espe- of Shakespeare’s King Lear. In creating these works,
cially the samurai culture of medieval Japan, and for Kurosawa was a classic auteur, involved in every phase
its spectacle, action, and sumptuous design. As John of filmmaking.
Wayne represented John Ford’s idea of the ideal hero, If Kurosawa is the master of the samurai as well as
so did Toshirô Mifune for Kurosawa, who used him in contemporary social problem films, then Kenji Mizo-
16 of his films. In addition to Rashomon, there are many guchi, a sublime artist, is the master of mise-en-scène,
other masterpieces among Kurosawa’s thirty films: Ikiru pictorial values, the long shot, and the moving camera.
(1952), Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), His stories are about place as much as anything else, and
his version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Yojimbo (1961), his films, no less than Kurosawa’s, have had worldwide
Kagemusha (1980), and Ran (1985), his stylized version influence. Although they are much less known in the
In the Realm of the Senses: sex and violence

When Nagisa Oshima’s most provocative movie, In the Realm of
the Senses (1976), was released, it was banned (or cut) in many
Unique camera placement in Ozu’s Tokyo Story parts of the world. It explores various sexual activities, including the
Set in postwar Japan, this unforgettable movie tells a familiar and power dynamics between a man and a woman obsessed with one
touching story about Shukichi (Chishu Ryu, left ) and Tomi Hirayama another, and ends in one of the most disturbingly violent incidents
(Chieko Higashiyama, middle), two elderly parents who visit their in movie history. This image, a comparatively tame moment, depicts
children in Tokyo only to find that they are in the children’s way. How- eroticism in eating, where actor Tatsuya Fuji is playfully fed a rare
ever, Noriko (Setsuko Hara, right ), the couple’s widowed daughter- mushroom by his lover. The overall movie is based on a true story
in-law, who is less busy, cheerfully takes charge of entertaining involving death-obsessed eroticism and is widely thought to be
them. In this image, their first meeting, the three are traditionally pornography.
seated on the floor, where the low placement of Ozu’s static cam-
era (behind and to the left of Noriko) gives us Noriko’s perspective.
The image, with its deep-space composition, permits us to see the
rooms behind this group. While it’s a simple story, and Ozu observes
it with calm detachment, its ending reminds us of the oneness of
humanity and helped to make this film an international success.
family life; indeed, the values of the lower-middle-class
families who are the staple of his movies represent a
microcosm of postwar society. And since most of them
take place within the family home, their look is influ-
United States than they deserve to be, that may be so be- enced by Japanese domestic customs and architecture.
cause they were less influenced by Western filmmaking Because the Japanese often sit on the floor and thus
conventions than Kurosawa’s were. Unlike Kurosawa, make eye contact with others at that level, Ozu placed
he had a flourishing career before the war. Mizoguchi’s his camera similarly, pulling Western audiences im-
films are highly regarded for their treatment of women. mediately into a different world. His compositions are
Indeed, his major concerns are women’s social, psycho- very formal, and his camera seldom moved; his editing
logical, and economic positions (or lack of them), the consisted primarily of cuts rather than, say, fades or
differences between women and men, male-female rela- dissolves. Unlike Kurosawa, he did not seek to create
tions, and the idea that a man can be saved by a woman’s Western-style continuity. Furthermore, his distinctive
love. These themes characterize his greatest postwar style included the use of offscreen space, meaning that
movies: The Life of Oharu (1952), Ugetsu (1953), Sansho his compositions force our eyes to consider the world
the Bailiff (1954), and Street of Shame (1956). outside the frame and, as a result, heighten our sense of
Of these three directors, the films of Yasujirô Ozu are a movie’s reality. Like Kurosawa, he was an auteur, in-
considered by the international film community as the fusing his movies with a distinct style unlike any other.
most Japanese in their modes of expression and values. While that style might at first seem austere or rigid, the
Like Mizoguchi, he began his career long before World subject of his films is anything but. Many Western view-
War II. His best films are concerned not with the tra- ers find them difficult to watch and understand due to
ditional world of the samurai but with contemporary the differences in culture. Notable among his fifty-four
films are Late Spring (1949), Early Summer (1951), The with considerable sovereignty compared to the other
Flavor of Green Tea over Rice (1952), Tokyo Story (1953), regions of China. The tripartite Chinese film industry is
Early Spring (1956), Floating Weeds (1959), and An Au thus clearly affected by these circumstances of history,
tumn Afternoon (1962). ideology, and geography.
Between the 1950s and 1970s, there arose an extreme
new movement called Nubero Bagu. Also known as the The People’s Republic Postwar government-subsidized
Japanese New Wave, Nubero Bagu was significantly in- filmmaking here has reflected the shifting ideological
fluenced by the French New Wave in its emphasis on climate that developed after the 1949 Communist Rev-
upsetting cinematic and social conventions. Its repre- olution. Since 1976, with the death of Party Chairman
sentative directors were Hiroshi Teshigahara, Yasuzo Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai, filmmakers have
Masumura, and Nagisa Oshima, among others, and their focused less on party doctrines and become more con-
movies are full of brutality and nihilism. Oshima is, cerned with individuals, and the Chinese film industry
perhaps, the best known of the group, a provocative film- has become more oriented to the Western market. The
maker whose work is often compared to that of Jean- most important directors are Chen Kaige, Yimou Zhang,
Luc Godard. His movies include Cruel Story of Youth and Tian Zhuangzhuang, each of whom has managed,
(1960), full of violent passion, In the Realm of the Senses within a repressive society, to make films about tradi-
(1976), a disturbing exploration of human sexuality, and tionally taboo subjects. Among their best-known mov-
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), a film about inter- ies are Chen’s Farewell My Concubine (1993), about an
cultural communication in a Japanese prisoner-of-war extramarital love triangle; Yimou’s Raise the Red Lan
camp that established Oshima’s international reputation tern (1991), which, among other subjects, is concerned
as a director who could also communicate across cultures. with the struggle for women’s rights; and Tian’s The
Also well known in the United States is the work of Horse Thief (1986), a brilliant study of China’s ethnic
the experimental filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi, who is minorities.
best known for House (1977). This stylistically bizarre But the Chinese movies that are most popular and in-
horror film demonstrates a strong familiarity with fluential outside China—the action movies inspired by
French, British, and Italian cinema of the 1960s as well as
Japanese film history and silent film tradition. Although
a short-lived movement, the Japanese New Wave—along
with the postwar filmmakers of China—influenced the
style and content of the New American Cinema (dis-
cussed on pp. 399–403).
China
After World War II, film production resumed in the Peo
ple’s Republic of China (often referred to as mainland
China) as well as in two distinct political entities: Taiwan
(the Republic of China), which asserts its independence Farewell My Concubine: sex and politics
The Beijing Opera, one of China’s major cultural treasures, forms
from the People’s Republic, and Hong Kong (a British
the backdrop for two major contemporary Chinese movies, includ-
colony until 1997, when it was transferred by treaty to ing Hark Tsui’s Peking Opera Blues (1986). Chen Kaige’s Farewell
the People’s Republic). The People’s Republic, a vast My Concubine (1993) tells the lengthy, complicated story of two of
country with the world’s largest population, is ostensi- the opera’s male actors, whose happiness together onstage and off is
bly Communist. Taiwan, an island off the southern coast threatened by a prostitute. The turbulence of this personal story is mir-
of China, has a democratic government that desires inde- rored by the political upheavals of the period from the 1920s to Mao’s
Cultural Revolution. The movie was banned in China not because of its
pendence even in the face of mainland China’s threats
treatment of politics, but because of its homosexual subject matter.
of reunification. And Hong Kong, a small island near The Beijing Opera is known for its lavish productions, exotic costumes,
China’s south coast, is—by terms of the treaty that reuni- and stylized makeup as well as for its ancient tradition of using males
fied it with the People’s Republic—a limited democracy to play the female roles.
various martial arts—are produced in Hong Kong and,

to a lesser extent, Taiwan. Director Jia Zhangke found a
way to build on this subject, taking the style of the clas-
sic martial arts movie (wuxia) and applying it to a study
of one of the social problems growing out of the coun-
try’s transformation into a global economic power: the
growth of rebellious one-on-one violence. Even in a
society that strictly censors its movies, he was able to
speak out, perhaps because the problem was making
newspaper headlines and thus was widely familiar. In A
Touch of Sin (2013), his sixth feature, he recounts stories
Bands of bloody brothers
of four ordinary Chinese, one of them a furious mine A Better Tomorrow (1986), directed by John Woo, is considered a
worker, who under extreme circumstances goes on a classic example of Hong Kong cinema: violent action depicted in
shooting rampage against his boss. It’s as bloody as it can brilliantly choreographed scenes. The image here, from the movie’s
get, and a departure from the director’s previous work, spectacular conclusion, exemplifies Woo’s style: bright colors, gym-
nastic feats, dozens of blazing guns, exploding firestorms, blood
but a signal that Chinese cinema may be opening up.
galore, overwrought male bonding, and a certain sly humor that sug-
gests a surreal world. Woo was influenced by such action directors
Hong Kong The Hong Kong martial-arts action mov- as Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah (see The Wild Bunch, p. 402)
ies stem from a venerable tradition in Chinese film his- and in turn had wide influence on both Chinese and American di-
tory that, from the 1920s to the 1970s, shifted between rectors, including Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and the
two basic styles: wuxia (or wushu) and kung fu. Both Wachowskis.
of them combine, to varying degrees, these disparate

elements: an intricate, sometimes incomprehensible,
melodramatic plot; philosophical codes of honor based During this time, the film culture in Hong Kong ex-
on mystical beliefs; spectacular violence; brilliantly cho- panded to include popular film clubs and academic
reographed fight sequences; the conflict between cops programs in film studies and filmmaking. However, the
and gangsters; speeding vehicles; and lavish production strong personal style of the New Wave movies clashed
values. Their formal characteristics include spectacular with the prevailing commercial nature of the island’s cin-
studio settings and natural locations, saturated colors, ema; by 1985, the New Wave spirit had become diluted,
moody lighting, constant motion (slow and fast), dis- and the movement was absorbed into the mainstream
jointed editing techniques, and extensive computer ma- cinema. Important titles from this period include Hark
nipulation of images and motion. Tsui’s Peking Opera Blues (1986), Allen Fong’s Just Like
Between the late 1970s and early 1980s, a New Wave Weather (1986), Ringo Lam’s City on Fire (1987), John
of Hong Kong cinema emerged in the work of such di- Woo’s A Better Tomorrow (1986), and Kar-Wai Wong’s
rectors as Ann Hui, Yim Ho, Hark Tsui, Allen Fong, Pat- Ashes of Time (1994). Superstar performers like Bruce
rick Tam, Clifford Choi, Dennis Yu, and others. Although Lee, Jackie Chan (also a writer and director), Yun-Fat
many of these artists were trained in U.S. or U.K. film Chow, and Jet Li were an equally vital component of the
schools, they made movies that dealt with local experi- success of these movies, one reason that they all went to
ences in a distinctly individual style. Remarkably, they Hollywood. Hong Kong directors who have worked in
worked in both mainstream cinema and television. This Hollywood include John Woo and Sammo Hung.
movement also stimulated change in the film industries While the Hong Kong New Wave was short-lived, it
of the People’s Republic and Taiwan. Important early stimulated cinematic innovations throughout China,
titles are Yim Ho’s The Extras (1978), Ann Hui’s Viet encouraged the movement of directors between televi-
nam Trilogy (1980–81), Hark Tsui’s The Butterfly Mur sion and mainstream cinema, introduced new genres,
ders (1979), Patrick Tam’s A Spectrum of Multiple Stars: and tackled formerly taboo s ubjects. The influence be-
Wang Chuanru [sic] (1975), Alex Cheung’s The First tween Hong Kong and Hollywood has gone both ways.
Step: Facing Death (1977), and Allen Fong’s Father and The Chinese have learned from such action directors as
Son (1981). Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone and then influenced
Flying warriors in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

The films of Taiwan-born Ang Lee are known for their diversity (comedies, melodramas, traditional Chinese martial action), their ability to
provoke discussion (e.g., Brokeback Mountain [2005]), and their almost universal acclaim. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) has it all: a
traditional intrigue-filled story about a legendary sword, magnificent exterior and interior settings, beautiful costumes, a love story, and aston-
ishing swordplay. It is a fantastic feat of movie magic, distinguished by the exquisite choreography and special effects that give the illusion of
its principal characters in flight. In this image, two female principals, Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-pei) and Jen (Zhang Ziyi), engage in a deadly battle.
such Hollywood directors as Quentin Tarantino (Reser erature and themes and made, among other films, Sense
voir Dogs, 1992, and the Kill Bill movies, 2003–4), Robert and Sensibility (1995), The Ice Storm (1997), Brokeback
Rodriguez (Desperado, 1995), Sam Raimi (A Simple Plan, Mountain (2005), and Lust, Caution (2007). In between,
1998), the Wachowskis (The Matrix trilogy, 1999–2003), he returned to Taiwan to make Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Brett Ratner (the Rush Hour films, 1998–2007), and Rob Dragon (2000), a spectacularly beautiful martial-arts ac
Minkoff (The Forbidden Kingdom, 2008). Action choreo tion movie in the venerable Chinese tradition.
grapher Yuen Woo-ping played a major role in many of Postwar Chinese filmmaking was too diverse, aes-
these movies. thetically and politically, to represent a unified move-
ment such as the French New Wave, but its movies—
Taiwan By following European models, particularly particularly the Hong Kong action movies—have spoken
the Italian Neorealism movement, postwar Taiwanese in a distinct visual language across cultural and linguis-
cinema developed independently of Hong Kong and tic barriers and have had a dynamic effect on filmmaking
the People’s Republic. In contrast to the action mov- worldwide, especially in the United States.
ies of earlier decades, it was concerned with realistic
depictions of ordinary people. Excellent examples are
Hsiao-hsien Hou’s A City of Sadness (1989) and Flight India
of the Red Balloon (2007), Edward Yang’s Taipei Story Despite the worldwide success of Slumdog Millionaire
(1985), Tsai Ming-liang’s Vive l’amour (1994), and Stan (2008), an Anglo-Indian production, and the fact that
Lai’s The Peach Blossom Land (1992). The first films of the Indian film industry—producing more than 1,200
Ang Lee, the most familiar Taiwanese director—The feature movies and an even larger number of documen-
Wedding Banquet (1993) and Eat Drink Man Woman taries every year—is the world’s largest, Indian films are
(1994)—were so successful in the West that Lee went to little known in the United States except in cities with
Hollywood, where he showed an affinity for Western lit- a large Indian population. Indeed, India ranks first in
annual film production, followed by Hollywood and

China.
India, a vast country with some sixteen official lan-
guages, has a regional cinema that speaks to its many
different audiences in social, political, cinematic, and
linguistic terms it can understand. Thus a social protest
film made in Chennai, in the South, might never be seen
by those who live in Mumbai. These audiences not only
speak a different dialect but seemingly prefer the lavish
musicals made by Bollywood, as the Mumbai film in-
dustry is known. When Indian films are screened theat-
rically in the United States, the audiences are typically
Indians, who understand the culture in which the movie
was made and the language spoken in it. For others who
want to learn more about this vast, diverse body of film- The eye as symbol of consciousness
making, there are annual Indian (and South Asian) film in Pather Panchali
festivals in such U.S. cities as New York, Boston, Chicago, Director Satyajit Ray is known for his attention to detail in the lives
and San Francisco. In these settings, the films are likely of ordinary people and for the subtle, detached angle at which he
views them in his movies. His Apu trilogy, of which Pather Panchali
to be dubbed into English or have English subtitles.
is the first, recounts a series of small but significant episodes in the
The one exception to this description is director Sat- life of Apu, who lives with his impoverished family in a Bengali vil-
yajit Ray, the dominating figure in Indian cinema as it is lage. The trilogy spans the years from his childhood through his early
known in the West. He was always unique among Indian twenties, but here he is a boy of six or seven. Near the beginning
filmmakers and, to the moviegoing public in the West, of the movie, Apu’s sister Durga tries to awaken him so that he can
the only Indian director whose name they recognize. In get ready for school. She shakes him, but he does not budge. But
then, poking her fingers through a hole in his blanket, she tenderly
that respect, he very much resembles Akira Kurosawa;
pries open a closed eye. We would be wrong to think that Ray will
both were instinctive filmmakers who made power- henceforth see things from Apu’s point of view, for we are seeing
ful and personal films with recurring themes. Ray and the opening of Apu’s consciousness of the world around him. He is
Kurosawa, two of the most individually unique filmmak- a curious boy, delighted by everything he sees and hears—traveling
ers the world has ever produced, greatly admired each entertainers, a freight train, a pond—and he also learns about life
other’s work. Of Ray, Kurosawa said, “Not to have seen and death when realizing that his father is incapable of supporting
the family and by witnessing the death of his aged aunt. Careful,
the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without
connected observation characterizes both Apu and his creator.
seeing the Sun or the Moon.”
Ray was a Bengali, born in the Indian state of West
Bengal, the capital of which is Kolkata (Calcutta). The
principal influences on his cinematic style come from 1956), and Apar Sansar (The World of Apu, 1959). As a
the literature and art of Bengali culture as well as from chronicle of a family, and in particular Apu’s growth
four great filmmakers: Vittorio De Sica, Akira Kurosawa, from a boy to a man, they are unparalleled in their hu-
Jean Renoir, and John Ford. This helps to explain why manistic insight and wonder at the natural world. (Note:
his films are very Indian in content but the least Indian Both Indian and English titles are given because they are
in their cinematic form. cited in variant ways.) For these reasons, as well as for
Ray’s most formative influence was Italian Neoreal their cinematography and acting, the three films were
ism, The Bicycle Thieves (1949) in particular. It convinced recognized worldwide as landmarks of modern cinema.
him to make a film about everyday Indian life exactly as Ray, a true auteur, wrote, produced, and directed all
De Sica had made his; the characteristics of this approach three; he even scored the music.
are discussed earlier in this chapter. The result was not In all, Ray made some thirty-four films, most of which
one but three films, a trilogy known as the Apu trilogy for were successful both in India and worldwide. Besides
the name of its central character: Pather Panchali (Song the Apu trilogy, his films include Jalsaghar (The Music
of the Little Road, 1955), Aparajito (The Unvanquished, Room, 1958), Devi (The Goddess, 1960), Charulata (The
Lonely Wife, 1964), Shatranj-ke-Khilari (The Chess Play Contemporary Middle Eastern
ers, 1977), Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World, 1984), and North African Cinema
and Agantuk (The Stranger, 1992).
From its beginnings, cinema has been a part of the cul-
Ray’s work represented the beginnings of a “new In-
ture of many Middle Eastern and North African coun-
dian cinema,” or Parallel Cinema, meaning that it exists
tries. But recent widespread civil unrest, revolution,
alongside the mainstream commercial industry. Lead-
and repression in these countries have had a negative
ing this movement were Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen—
impact on artistic freedom. This, as well as heavy re-
like Ray, Bengalis; but unlike Ray, Marxists. Western
strictions and censorship by the governments of some
audiences are familiar with the work of these directors,
of these countries—especially Iran—has not stopped the
primarily because of their political views. Ghatak, in
creation of serious movies, a large number of which were
particular, influenced several young Marxist directors.
directed by women. Western films are often banned in
Ghatak’s most distinctive works are Ajantrik (Pathetic
these countries, leaving room for the development of a
Fallacy, 1958) and Jukti Takko Aar Gappo (Reason, De
cinema rich in social, cultural, and political themes.
bate and Story, 1974). Sen, the most prolific and experi
For the countries of Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel,
mental of the two, is best known for Bhuvan Shome
Lebanon, and Palestine, we have compiled a short list of
(Mr. Shome, 1969), Parasuram (Man with the Axe, 1978),
contemporary films to introduce you to the work of di-
Kharji (The Case Is Closed, 1982), Khandaar (The Ruins,
rectors who have earned a place in world cinema. Other
1983), and Antareen (The Confined, 1993). Shyam Bene-
Middle Eastern and North African countries—Bahrain,
gal’s reputation as the most commercially successful di-
Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia,
rector in the Parallel Cinema is largely due to his quartet
Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Western Sahara, and Ye-
of socially conscious films: Ankur (The Seedling, 1973),
men—produce a comparatively smaller output of films
Nishant (Night’s End, 1975), Manthan (The Churning,
that, in turn, are less well known in the West. Many ex-
1976), and Bhumika (The Role, 1977). He created a large
cellent books are available to help you learn more about
body of documentaries, including two biographies: Sat
the films of all these countries.
yajit Ray, Filmmaker (1985) and Nehru (1985).
The twenty regional cinemas of India—separate in- Algeria Days of Glory (2006; director Rachid Boucha-
dustries in virtually every major state that make movies reb), Masquerades (2008; director Lyès Salem), and Out
in their own language—are marked by a vibrant diversity side the Law (2010; director Rachid Bouchareb).
of aesthetic styles and political commitments. In the
1980s, for example, there was a resurgence of the Mal Egypt Sleepless Nights (2003; director Hani Khalifa),
ayalam cinema of the state of Kerala, including films The Yacoubian Building (2006; director Marwan Hamed),
that appealed to an international audience, particularly Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story (2009; director Yousry Nas-
Shaji N. Karun’s Piravi (1989) and Rajiv Anchal’s Guru rallah), Asmaa (2011; director Amr Salama), and Yomeddine
(1997). Similar commercial success, both inside and (2018, director Abu Bakr Shawky).
outside India, has been made by some Tamil and Oriya
films as well as by such commercial Hindi directors as Iraq Muhammad and Jane (2003; director Usama
Mira Nair, Nagesh Kukunoor, Nandita Das, and Sudhir Alshaibi), Jani Gal (2007; director Jamil Rostami), and
Mishra. Bollywood has developed a new genre called Son of Babylon (2009; director Mohamed Al Daradji).
Mumbai noir, urban films by such directors as Anurag
Kashyap (Black Friday, 2004) and Deva Katta (Prast Iran Offside (2006; director Jafar Panahi), Persepo
hanam, 2010). Finally, with such films as Homi Adaja- lis (2007; directors Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane
nia’s Being Cyrus (2005) and Sooni Taraporevala’s Little Satrapi), Women without Men (2009; directors Shirin
Zizou (2009), the English-language cinema continues Neshat and Shoja Azari), Circumstance (2011; director
to be a part of India’s multilanguage film industry. In- Maryam Keshavarz), A Separation (2011; director Asghar
deed, Kashyap’s two-part Gangs of Wasseypur (2010), Farhadi), Like Someone in Love (2012; director Abbas
a crime thriller about the Indian mafias’ control of the Kiarostami), This Is Not a Film (2012; directors Jafar
coal industry, is, with its bold and murderous plot, the Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb), and The Salesman
“Godfather” of the country’s movies. (2016; director Asghar Farhadi). Mania Akbari, an Ira-
nian filmmaker, has been self-exiled in London since lowed by a golden age of popular filmmaking that lapses
2012, when the Iranian government severely tightened into the state-funded production of sociopolitical films.
the restrictions on artists. Her distinctive, feminist view In Argentina, that’s not saying much in aesthetic terms,
of Iranian society in movies where women’s and family’s because the two major influences on the industry were
issues are inextricably linked include 10 + 4 (2007), a sort the Catholic Church and the dictator Juan Perón and his
of sequel to Abbas Kiarostami’s Ten (2002), in which she wife Evita. The Argentine film industry made conven-
starred; One. Two. One (2011); In My Country Men Have tional crime dramas, comedies, and adaptations of liter-
Breasts (2012); and I Slept with My Mother, My Father, My ary classics, all still under the watchful eye of the church
Brother and My Sister in a Country Called Iran (2012). and state. The turmoil of the Perón years yielded little of
cinematic quality, and the international community did
Israel Meduzot (2007; directors Shira Geffen and Etgar not begin to pay attention until The Hour of the Fur
Keret), The Band’s Visit (2001; director Eran Kolirin), naces (1968), a film by Octavio Getino and Fernando
Footnote (2011; director Joseph Cedar), and Foxtrot Solanas about the country’s struggle for freedom from
(2017, director Samuel Maoz). neocolonialism and violence. Along with Patricio Guz-
mán’s The Battle of Chile (1975–79), Getino’s movie es-
Lebanon Stray Bullet (2010; director Georges Hachem), tablished a template for future radical, revolutionary
Where Do We Go Now? (2011; director Nadine Labaki), filmmaking across Latin America. Leopoldo Torre Nils-
and A Play Entitled Sehnsucht (2011; director Roy Badran). son’s The Revolution of the Seven Madmen (1973) was
also highly regarded by foreign audiences.
Palestine Chronicle of a Disappearance (1996; direc- A tentative “New Cinema” was born in the 1960s and
tor Elia Suleiman), A Ticket to Jerusalem (2002; direc- 1970s. After democracy was established in 1983, Argen-
tor Rashid Masharawi), and Slingshot Hip Hop (2008; tine filmmakers began making serious movies about the
director Jackie Reem Salloum). country’s turbulent past, including Jeanine Meerapfel’s
The Friend (1988), to name but one. Today, the movies
in Argentina tackle a broader range of subjects—family
Latin American Filmmaking dramas, love stories, and crime dramas. The Secret in
Many countries in Latin America—primarily Argentina, Their Eyes (2009; director Juan José Campanella) won
Brazil, Cuba, and Mexico—have produced movies since the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
the silent era, when traveling exhibitions of work by the
Lumière brothers and others captivated audiences there Brazil Here, the cinema developed to the point where
as elsewhere around the world. Today cinema is vibrant its most unique actress, Carmen Miranda, appeared in
in those countries as well as in Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Hollywood movies to great acclaim. Its success contin
and Venezuela. Historically, their subject matter was ued into the 1960s, when Cinema Novo (“New Cinema”)
largely political and largely controlled by dictators and was born in the spirit of Italian Neorealism and the
religious groups. But since the 1960s, directors have French New Wave. The movement was deeply influ-
been able to turn to more personal stories concerning enced by the political and aesthetic theories of director
ordinary life and such previously taboo subjects as sex Glauber Rocha, whose most important movie is Black
and sexual identity. While the sociopolitical foundations God, White Devil (1964). Its advocates included direc-
of these movies make them more influential within tors such as Carlos Diegues (Bye Bye Brazil, 1979) and
Latin America than in other countries, they are suc- Nelson Pereira dos Santos (Memoirs of Prison, 1984).
cessful with audiences in theaters and at international Production of documentaries and experimental films
festivals. We’ll take a brief look at filmmaking in the four flourished, as did the importance of female directors
countries first mentioned. such as Carla Camurati, whose Carlota Joaquina, Prin
cess of Brazil (1995), an offbeat look at Brazilian history,
Argentina A historical pattern emerges in Argentina was a great success there and abroad.
that is applicable to filmmaking in almost every Latin Through the years, Brazilian cinema has been largely
American country: a pre-sound era consisting of experi- state supported, which accounts for its somewhat un-
ments with cinematic technique and subject matter, fol- even history. When there’s money, there are films, many
of them good; but when the money dries up, so does cre the Castro regime, and while these efforts did not have
ativity. Nonetheless, Brazilian cinema has gained inter much impact in Cuba, some are well-known worldwide.
national recognition as well as an Oscar nomination for These movies include Orlando Jiménez Leal’s The Other
Best Foreign Language Film for The Given Word (1962; Cuba (1983), Amigos (1986; director Iván Acosta), Le
director Anselmo Duarte). In the years when state fund- janía (1985; director Jesús Diaz), and Honey for Oshún
ing dried up, independent filmmakers tackled such prob- (2001; director Humberto Solás). Leal’s Improper Con
lems as poverty and hunger—never very popular with duct (1984; codirected by Néstor Almendros, one of the
the masses. When the support returned, it encouraged en world’s great cinematographers) focuses on the regime’s
trepreneurial filmmakers to produce movies with ques- imprisonment and mistreatment of dissidents and un-
tionable value and importance to the country’s film desirables, particularly homosexuals. Other films on the
history. Today there is a revival of serious filmmaking, as plight of LGBT Cubans include Strawberry and Choc
seen in such works as City of God (2002; codirectors Fer- olate (1993; directors Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan
nando Meirelles and Kátia Lund) and Fernando Coim- Carlos Tabío), which was nominated for an Oscar as Best
bra’s The Wolf at the Door (2013). Foreign Language Film. It’s important to note that many
talented Cuban exiles—writers, directors, cinematogra-
Cuba Although the Cuban cinema was a significant in- phers, and actors—have remained away from Cuba and
dustry, producing its own movies but relying heavily on enriched the international film world.
Hollywood imports, it changed profoundly with the 1959 Other notable Cuban films—again more popular out-
revolution led by Fidel Castro. Consistent with its Marx- side and than inside the country—are Tomás Gutiérrez
ist principles—and adhering to Lenin’s familiar remark, Alea’s Memories of Underdevelopment (1968), a brilliant
“cinema, for us, is the most important of the arts”—the film about a man who remains in Cuba rather than follow
Cuban government, in one of its first moves, established his family and friends into exile; Humberto Solás’s Lucía
the Cuban Institute for Cinematographic Art and Indus- (1969); and Miguel Coyula’s Memories of Overdevelop
try (ICAIC) to encourage, improve, and support film- ment (2010). This movie, playing on Alea’s film, con
making at all levels. cerns a man who leaves underdeveloped Cuba only to
Alfred Guevera, the father of modern Cuban cinema, be confronted by the challenges in an overdeveloped
headed the organization until 1980, when ideological United States.
differences between the Castro government and the
ICAIC forced his ouster. (He returned later in a lesser Mexico Like other Latin American countries, Mexico
capacity.) State funding has its price, and Cuban cinema had an early cinema as well as a golden age. It was dom-
suffered until it was revitalized by a movement known inated by film stars, such as Cantinflas and Dolores del
ironically as Imperfect Cinema. This experimental effort Rio, who were also popular in the United States, and was
affected all aspects of Cuban filmmaking as long as it val- brought to the world’s attention when the great Rus-
ued ideological content over aesthetic form. The party sian director Sergei Eisenstein began to make Que Viva
line remained dominant. But the movement’s films were Mexico there in 1931. He attempted an epic account of
colorful, provocative, and very popular with the Cuban Mexico’s history, but for various reasons it remained un-
people, particularly those who supported the revolution finished. Equally important, this film left a large Marxist
and remained in the country. The movement died out in influence on subsequent Mexican cinema. The country’s
the mid-1970s. The end of this effort, coupled with the films dominated the Latin American market during the
government’s sharp reduction of production subsidies, 1940s, bringing attention to the early work of directors
had a negative effect on both the levels and quality of the Emilio Fernández and Luis Buñuel, but this presence
Cuban cinema. It has been revitalized somewhat by in- weakened in the 1960s and 1970s. Mexican directors
ternational coproductions, especially with Mexico and had not yet found a voice for their national cinema, and
Spain. audiences were distracted by popular American movies.
The 1959 revolution created a vast diaspora of dis- But as we have seen, there was a fresh burst of innovative
affected Cubans (including many filmmakers) who filmmaking after World War II in countries across the
emigrated to the United States and Latin American globe. In Mexico, the New Mexican Cinema was founded
countries. There, they were free to make films critical of with the help of government support.
The success of this movement is seen in Arturo Rip- man looking for some excitement. She bounces back
stein’s No One Writes to the Colonel (1999), based on a from his deceit, though not without damage, and once
novel by Gabriel García Márquez; Alfonso Arau’s Like more heads for the bar. We see her there, dancing to the
Water for Chocolate (1992); Alfonso Cuarón’s Y Tu Rolling Stones version of Van Morrison’s “Gloria,” sung
Mamá También (2001); Guillermo del Toro’s The Dev in Italian by Umberto Tozzi. Just when you might begin
il’s Backbone (2001) and Pan’s Labyrinth (2006); and to feel sorry for her, she changes the ball game. We can’t
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Amores Perros (2000), make any assumptions about this mysterious, enigmatic
which not only introduced the popular actor Gael García person. And the actress is a marvel to watch.
Bernal but was also nominated for an Oscar as Best The globalization of economies means the globaliza-
Foreign Language Film. Iñárritu was nominated as Best tion of industries such as filmmaking. One result of this
Director for Babel (2005) and is the first Mexican di- change is that great directors have influence both inside
rector to be in the running for that award. In 2015, his and outside their countries. They are truly international
Birdman, or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), won directors, and the list of those working today includes,
nine Oscars, including Best Director and Best Picture. among others, Bernardo Bertolucci (Italy), Nuri Bilge
Iñárritu, Cuarón, and del Toro have moved easily into Ceylan (Turkey), Park Chan-wook (South Korea), Alfonso
the international filmmaking world. They have won ma- Cuarón (Mexico), Jean-Luc Godard (France), Michael
jor awards—as did Luis Buñuel, who worked primarily in Haneke (Germany), Roman Polanski (Poland, France),
Spain and France and was notable for his biting surre- Steven Spielberg (USA), Quentin Tarantino (USA), and
alist comedies such as The Discreet Charm of the Bour Béla Tarr (Hungary).
geoisie (1972).
Gabriel Figueroa, a cinematographer, was another
prominent Mexican film artist to achieve international
fame. A superb artist, he shot dozens of important movies, 1965–1995: The New
including Emilio Fernández’s La Perla (1947), Buñuel’s American Cinema
Los Olvidados (1950) and Simon of the Desert (1965), and
John Huston’s The Night of the Iguana (1964) and Under Twenty years after the end of World War II, the United
the Volcano (1984). Many other Mexican film artists have States began to face political, cultural, and social chal-
also worked in Hollywood: they include cinematogra- lenges that were unprecedented in its history. It was
phers Rodrigo Prieto and Emmanuel Lubezki (who shot now the most powerful and influential country in
Gravity and several Terrence Malick movies), and actors the world, yet it was locked with the Soviet Union in a
Selma Hayek, Anthony Quinn, and Katy Jurado, among “Cold War.” The next 40 years would be marked by anti-
many others. Today Mexico continues to produce im Communist vehemence; the Korean War; the begin-
portant movies with a social consciousness, including nings of the feminist, gay/lesbian/transgender, and en-
José Luis Valle’s Workers (2013) and Amat Escalante’s vironmental movements; the Vietnam War; and resolute
Heli (2013). antiwar and civil rights movements. There was also an
Finally, let’s look briefly at films from other Latin unusually high level of violence, including the assassina-
American countries—Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Haiti, tions of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Senator
Paraguay, and Peru. Widely varied in type and quality, Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in
these movies have achieved regional success and are be- 1968; the killing of four Kent State University students,
ginning to be noticed worldwide. Many are concerned who were protesting the Vietnam War, by the Ohio Na-
with local political issues, others with entertainment. tional Guard in 1970; assassination attempts on Pres-
A movie that is concerned with both is Gloria (2013; di- idents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan and Pope John
rector Sebastián Lelio), about a middle-aged divorcée Paul II; and terrorist attacks on the World Trade Cen-
looking for some stability and love in a large Chilean city. ter in 1993 and an Oklahoma City courthouse in 1995.
Paulina Garcia plays the lead, who—even though she is Other major events included the U.S. landing on the
attractive, has a good job, and is very independent—is ea- Moon, the beginnings of a vibrant popular music cul-
ger to meet a man she can trust. The man who wins her ture, the Watergate crisis, and the resignation in dis-
heart turns out to be a rat—a lying, henpecked married grace in 1974 of President Richard M. Nixon. The 1980s
saw the emergence of the AIDS virus, and in 1991 the

Soviet Union collapsed.
Against such a fast-moving, turbulent background, it
is not surprising that a New American Cinema emerged.
The “new” Hollywood encompasses too many transi-
tions from the “old” Hollywood to be simply called a
movement. In describing the changes that affected the
American film industry—and the resulting ripples that
spread throughout the international film community—
the term phenomenon is both more accurate and appro-
priate. These changes were hastened by the collapse of
the old studio system, which was replaced by scattered Stranger Than Paradise: a milestone in
the New American Cinema
enterprises known as “independent filmmakers.” This
Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise (1984) did more than any
event had both negative and positive implications. other movie to define the New American Cinema. It tells a distinctly
The negative factors included declining audiences, American story; it was made in a fresh, easy style clearly influenced
caused in part by competition from television; the es- by American movies as well as the new waves in European and
calating costs of producing films independently rather Asian cinema; and it was produced by a film-school graduate using
than in the studios, where the permanent physical and funds from various sources, both American and foreign. Although
unusual in production, form, and content, this art film was surpris-
human support structure was very cost-effective; and
ingly successful at the box office. It is a distinctly marginal effort, but
the forced retirement or relocation of studio personnel. in winning the Cannes Film Festival prize for best first feature, it en-
However, these were outweighed by the positive factors. couraged independent filmmakers and the reception of their work.
The new Hollywood adapted conventions of classical Stranger Than Paradise was shot in a series of long takes, which
genres to conform to new modes of expression and meet are structured into three stages of a journey undertaken by three
audience expectations, abandoned the code for a new offbeat travelers. They are Willie (John Lurie), a hipster living in New
York City; his cousin Eva (Eszter Balint), who comes from Hungary
rating system, and did more shooting on location; the re-
to visit him and their aunt in Ohio; and Willie’s friend Eddie (Richard
sult was a more authentic look for the movies. Edson). Eva’s visit to New York is the first stage; the second, which
Furthermore, though the studios retained their names takes place a year later, recounts a trip that Willie and Eddie make
and kept their production facilities open to ensure the to Cleveland to visit Eva and the aunt; and the third stage follows
smoothness of the established preproduction/produc- them to the “paradise” of Florida. Their travels through the bleak
tion/postproduction matrix, they have changed own- landscape, shot in washed-out black and white, ultimately show
that they are going nowhere, but they have a good time, and so do
ership frequently over the years. Movies are now made
we. Here, we see the trio in Florida—(left to right ) Eddie, Eva, and
in complex deals involving the studios and independent Willie— putting on their new sunglasses so they can look like “real
production companies headed by individual producers, tourists.”
many of whom invested capital in their own work. The
“star machine” collapsed as well, ushering in decades of
new talent whose careers, which once would have been
meticulously planned and monitored, were now sub- producers could hire artists from anywhere in the world,
ject to market forces. Marketing of movies remained a and American production was greatly enhanced by their
precise tool, carefully adapted to meet the needs of new contributions. Finally, to seal the death of the “old”
audiences. Hollywood, New York and other cities in the United
A positive effect of this transition was the increase in States and Canada emerged as thriving centers of film
audience members who, because of college film-study production.
classes and an overall greater awareness of film, had a Unlike the French New Wave, the New American Cin-
better understanding of cinematic conventions than ema was not born in theory but rather out of the more
their parents and were attracted to films by a new breed practical need to adapt to the values of its time. How-
of American directors, also trained in university film ever, like the French New Wave, the prevailing spirit was
schools. With the old labor-dominated system gone, innovation. But with so many auteurs, some from the
old Hollywood and some from film schools, no single

defining style emerged. Indeed, there was a range of
styles, resulting in personal, highly self-reflexive films;
edgy, experimental, low-budget movies; movies that paid
homage to great European directors; and, of course,
those that still adhered to the conventions of the golden
age. Thus diversity and quality are the only links among
such directors as Woody Allen, Robert Altman, Tim Bur-
ton, John Cassavetes, Joel and Ethan Coen, Francis Ford
1
Coppola, Brian De Palma, Clint Eastwood, George Roy
Hill, Jim Jarmusch, Diane Keaton, Stanley Kubrick,
Spike Lee, Sidney Lumet, David Lynch, Terrence Malick,
Gordon Parks, Sam Peckinpah, Roman Polanski, John
Sayles, Paul Schrader, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spiel-
berg, and Gus Van Sant. Typical of Hollywood, males
outnumber females. But that ratio is changing. In a re-
versal of the Hollywood tradition, female as well as Afri-
can American, Hispanic, and Asian directors have begun
to write and direct movies. 2
Their guiding principle was not to discard cinematic
conventions, but adapt them to the new audience. In Femmes fatales in the New American Cinema
terms of content, the most noticeable changes were in Faye Dunaway stars in two of the most important movies of the New
the predominance of sex and violence and in the nature American Cinema: Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Ro-
man Polanski’s Chinatown (1974). As Bonnie Parker [1], she partici-
of the protagonists, both male and female. To quote film
pates fully in a bank robbery with two other members of the fearless,
historians Bruce F. Mast and Gerald Kawin, “In most violent Barrow gang: (left to right ) Buck Barrow (Gene Hackman)
cases, the protagonists . . . were social misfits, deviates, and Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty). In Chinatown, she plays Evelyn
or outlaws; the villains were the legal, respectable de- Mulwray [2], the neurotic, scheming liar who tries to outwit J. J.
fenders of society. The old bad guys became the good Gittes (Jack Nicholson, pictured left ). In both cases, thanks in part
guys; the old good guys, the bad guys.”17 In a further twist to the rising feminist movement, these characters are at least the
equals of their male counterparts. But Dunaway is also beautiful and
of traditional gender roles, the female protagonists in
seductive, preserving the role of the classic film noir femme fatale.
two of the most distinctive movies of the period, Arthur
Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Roman Polanski’s
Chinatown (1974)—both insightful analyses of America
in the 1930s—were as evil as the men, if not more so. Al-
though sex and violence still dominate U.S. movies, there two notorious bank robbers that could have been taken
is a large, appreciative audience for films that tackle the from a 1930s Hollywood model. The audience easily
other serious issues that once were mainly the province read it as a comic/tragic parable of violent, amoral dis-
of foreign movies that played only in small “art houses.” sent against an authoritarian social order. Its style re-
Regarding form, the strongest influences were such flects not only the director’s experience as a Hollywood
contemporary directors as Ingmar Bergman, Michel- veteran but also the dynamic of Eisenstein’s montage
angelo Antonioni, Orson Welles, Jean-Luc Godard, and and the surprise of Kurosawa’s slow-motion violence.
François Truffaut. Plots became more complex in struc- Stories became palpably more sexual and violent in
ture and embodied new storytelling techniques. For ex- such movies as Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Dennis
ample, Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde (1967) tells the story of Hopper’s Easy Rider (1969), Peter Bogdanovich’s The
17. Mast and Kawin, A Short History of the Movies, 11th ed., p. 517.
The Wild Bunch: blood bath and beyond18

The New American Cinema ushered in a wave of movies as famous for good stories and superb filmmaking as they were for sex and vio-
lence. Director Sam Peckinpah, nicknamed “Bloody Sam,” is noted for a string of graphically violent movies, including The Wild Bunch (1969),
Straw Dogs (1971), and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). His brand of stylized violence reflects the influence of Arthur Penn’s
Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and in turn influenced many Hong Kong action movies as well as a host of American directors whose films include
violent action—Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, and Francis Ford Coppola. At the conclusion of The Wild Bunch, the American gang of the
title attempts to claim one of its men from Mapache, a Mexican rebel leader; when Mapache kills the man, he provokes one of the bloodiest
battles in movie history. In an impressively choreographed gunfight between the rebel army and the gang members, most of the characters
are killed, including the gang’s leader, Pike (William Holden). While manning a vicious machine gun, Pike is struck by a bullet fired by a boy
and dies in blood-drenched action.
Last Picture Show (1969), Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild a few—brought a familiarity with European techniques
Bunch (1969), Bob Rafelson’s Five Easy Pieces (1970), in framing, lighting, camera movement, shot duration,
and Terrence Malick’s Badlands (1973). Continuity edit- and, especially, an experimental approach to color. Un-
ing remained the norm, but there was an increased use of der the particular influence of such directors as C
oppola
such techniques as jump cuts, split screens, slow and fast and Lucas, there was also major experimentation with
motion, simulated “grainy” documentary footage, and a sound design, multichannel sound recording and repro-
mixture of color and black-and-white footage. Stanley duction, including the Dolby Digital system. Orchestral-
Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) used very long type scores gave way to popular music, whose sounds and
takes and an absence of editing that calls attention to it- lyrics often more directly underscore a movie’s action.
self to introduce us to outer space, where time shifts in Finally, for actors there was a seismic shift from the
unfamiliar ways. stables of highly groomed stars of the studio system to
Cinematography also adapted as more films were a large influx of new actors and a definite reliance on
shot on location rather than on soundstages, and the old naturalistic acting styles.
Hollywood ideal of visual perfection gave way to a de- In addition to these new directions in the narrative
piction of recognizable actuality. A new generation of film, important advances took place in documentary
cinematographers—including Néstor Almendros, John film—notably in direct cinema, essentially an Amer-
Alonzo, Conrad Hall, Geoffrey Unsworth, Haskell Wex- ican adaptation of cinéma vérité (by such filmmak-
ler, Gordon Willis, and Vilmos Zsigmond, to name but ers as Robert Drew, Albert and David Maysles, and
18. “Blood Bath and Beyond” is the title of A. O. Scott's review in the New York Times of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (October 10, 2003).
1 2
Documentary and experimental films as pure cinema

Both Albert and David Maysles’s Grey Gardens (1975) [1] and Stan Brakhage’s Dog Star Man (1962–64) [2] stand out in their respective
fields—documentary and experimental films—as superb examples of cinematic form. Grey Gardens is a candid, intimate, and often funny
look into the lives of two extraordinary women who live together: Mrs. Edith Beale (“Big Edie”) and her unmarried daughter, Edith (“Little
Edie”). The filmmakers (directors-as-editors) let the film’s content shape its form. The women constantly bicker and disagree with one another,
so the editing pattern, which juxtaposes the women with each other—the younger woman with the older—creates a line between them and
their views of the past and the present. The audience is left to put the pieces together and decide the nature of this power struggle. Dog Star
Man, like Grey Gardens, does not fit a categorical mold, although it is considered a classic experimental film. Stan Brakhage’s techniques
include superimposing four sequences at once—a kind of visual juxtaposition similar to that used by the director-editors of Grey Gardens
in creating multiple meanings—and cutting into the frame to add new material to it. Both movies are pure cinema: work that explores the
meaning and experiments with potential of the medium, challenging our perceptions. Films such as these help us understand that the work
of Stanley Kubrick, another maverick director, is also pure cinema. They involve, to quote the title of one of Brakhage’s films, “the act of seeing
with our own eyes.”
D. A. Pennebaker)—and in experimental films by such age. It is dependent on tradition, eager for innovation,
artists as Andy Warhol, Ken Jacobs, Bruce Baillie, Car- adapts to new audiences, and always keeps its eye on the
olee Schneemann, Stan Brakhage, and Hollis Frampton. bottom line.
Of late, feature-length animated films have thrived as Film history presents an impressive record of achieve-
never before. All of these efforts have had a liberating ment, ranging from the first modest efforts to record
influence on mainstream filmmaking. images on film to the sophisticated movies of today. Even
In the arena of industry economics and practices, as photography has remained the basis of cinema, in a
American cinema saw many new independent pro- little more than 100 years film artists, technicians, and
ducers, a new financing system by which actors inde- businesspeople have proved themselves flexible enough
pendently arranged their contracts and compensation, a to meet, with innovative responses, each challenge fac-
new rating system, and the ability of consumers to rent, ing the medium.
buy, or stream movies for home screenings. Combined, When audiences demanded movies with stories as
these had an impact on production, distribution, exhibi- complex as those in the novel and theater, the indus-
tion, and profits. try developed the full-length narrative film. When the
The New American Cinema is significant for these public wanted to hear actors speak as they did on the
many changes, both large and small, that have trans- stage, the industry was transformed with sound re-
formed the complete structure of the American film cording. And so it goes with other innovations: color
industry. Such redefinition and reorganization consti- film stock, images with greater width and depth, genres
tutes a new era, comparable in many ways to the golden to please virtually any audience, and a star system that
created every conceivable type of actor. At the same as a whole (in other words, film history). There is some-
time, major improvements were made in the techniques thing judgmental about old that has little place in a dis-
of cinematography, editing, special effects, acting, and cussion of art.
sound recording as well as in new cameras, lenses, film Citizen Kane is important to your study of the mov-
stocks, lighting equipment, and editing devices. ies because, within the borders of film history—1895 to
Today’s artists continue to create new techniques, the present—it marks a major turning point between the
technologies, and cinematic conventions. They work films produced before it and those produced after. To say
not just in Hollywood, London, Paris, or Berlin but also that Welles revolutionized moviemaking is no under-
in Calcutta, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Moscow—indeed, statement. Since the 1950s, when his movie became fa-
in virtually every country and culture in the world. miliar worldwide, dozens of young people have said that
The result—a cinematic language that is universally they became filmmakers because of Welles’s approach
understood—enables the films of Satyajit Ray, Ingmar in Citizen Kane. The movie’s influence can be measured
Bergman, Steven Soderbergh, Michelangelo Antonioni, or not necessarily by the specific cinematic effects in the
Andrei Tarkovsky to reach an international audience. films that followed (although that is often quite appar-
The historical development of film is a dynamic pro- ent), but rather by how it transformed people’s overall
cess that has created a constantly evolving art form. As thinking about making movies. Thus we began to talk
you will see in Chapter 11, the systems of production favorably about the Wellesian aspects of certain films,
have kept pace with this aesthetic evolution. In this whether that influence is in the cinematography, sound
short history of the movies, we emphasize the films that recording, or editing.
explore every aspect of this language and in many cases But you can’t know this about Citizen Kane, and you
are regarded as cinematic masterpieces. However, not certainly can’t understand it, unless you’ve seen a few
all movies are masterpieces. Like novelists, painters, or of its predecessor films and become familiar with their
composers, film artists can produce work that is medio- cinematic conventions. To do this, give yourself an en-
cre. But despite their weaknesses, such films please vast joyable crash course by looking at You Can’t Take It with
audiences and produce the profits that make the film You (1938; director Frank Capra), Stagecoach (1939;
industry a vital part of the world’s economy. The history director John Ford), Rebecca (1940; director Alfred
of the movies reveals, among many other things, that art Hitchcock), and The Maltese Falcon (1941; director John
and commerce can coexist. Huston). Then, in that context, watch Citizen Kane.
Although most critics loved it, the movie was so un-
popular with contemporary audiences that it virtually
disappeared until the early 1950s, when the French New
Looking at Citizen Kane and Wave filmmakers discovered it and declared it a master-
Its Place in Film History piece. For those contemporary audiences, what set Cit
izen Kane apart from the movies that they knew? Let’s
When you finish this chapter, you will be familiar with answer by describing it in light of the elements of cin-
the major trends in form and content shaping film his- ematic form we emphasize: narrative, mise-en-scène,
tory worldwide. In looking at some of the movies that cinematography, acting, editing, and sound.
have made this possible, you will know what made them The movie’s story, while in the familiar biography
important. And you may also come across the fact that, genre, is not told in a conventional manner. Instead of
for many years, Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane (1941) was a chronological plot that follows Charles Foster Kane
considered “the best movie of all time.” That conclusion from his impoverished youth to his status as one of the
represents the views of hundreds of international film- world’s richest and most powerful men, it begins with
makers, critics, and scholars and is one measure of its his death and works its way backward and forward in
global influence. How can that be, when the movie is his life through a series of interviews with people who
so old ? When you may never have heard of it? There knew him. This approach was so influential for French
are obviously many things we want you to learn from director Jean-Luc Godard that it could have been the
this book, and one of them is to evaluate a movie not by source of his memorable remark: “A story should have
its age but rather by its quality within the cinematic art a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in
Looking at Citizen Kane and Its Place in Film History 405
that order.” Welles’s handling of cinematic time broke to emphasize the immediacy and spontaneity of every
the mold—indeed, many people were confused by this scene. Except for Bernard Herrmann’s musical score,
and walked out. But today it is commonplace for a movie most sounds come from the world of the story. Although
to cut seamlessly between past, present, and future, the prevailing convention in Hollywood in 1940 was to
and not necessarily in that order—a legacy from Citi rerecord in the studio virtually all sound that had first
zen Kane. been recorded on the set, Welles insisted on direct sound
Its mise-en-scène owes far more to the theater than recording made on the set. He was certainly not the first
to the movies, using an art form that Welles helped rev- to do this, but the design of the setting itself—allowing
olutionize before going to Hollywood to make his first for hidden microphones to catch every sound—helped
movie. A major difference between looking at movies considerably to make it work smoothly. The sound in-
and looking at theater is that, in the former, audiences cludes single and overlapping voices, music, and ambi-
are accustomed to the frequent use of close-ups; in the ent sounds. He also uses sounds to help transitions from
latter, they see two or more people on the stage most of shot to shot and scene to scene, to define the space and
the time. But Welles also wanted depth in his sets, and so the characters’ placement within the mise-en-scène,
he used deep-focus cinematography to capture a picto- and, when it is synchronous with the action, to help to
rial depth that effectively allowed actors to move around represent time.
the set whenever and however they wanted. This way Welles’s innovations had their roots, but not their
of shooting also opens up the power of the long take to equivalents, in previous film history. He built on the
record this movement in depth and enables the actors work of others, extending, refining, and redefining tech-
to produce an entire scene uninterrupted by editing. niques. He is one of cinema’s greatest directors because
Previous directors had used deep-focus cinematography he had the vision to do something differently and the
in a limited way to achieve limited results, but Welles’s talent to inspire collaborators to experiment and help him
achievement overshadowed all of those efforts. No lon- realize that vision. While countless directors adopted
ger would audiences see actors working chiefly in the and refined those innovations, they claim him as their
foreground; now they moved easily from foreground to master, and many others say it was his example that en-
background. Today, picturing depth (including the in- couraged them to become filmmakers. His innovations
creasing use of 3-D technology) surprises no one; indeed, in Citizen Kane had their influence almost immediately
we expect it, because it’s how the human eye sees nat- in changing the look, sound, and overall effect of Holly-
urally. Despite some experiments, no directors before wood movies. And though it lacks many of the features
Welles used deep-space composition and deep-focus audiences expect today—color, widescreen, 3-D, fast-
cinematography in such sustained creative brilliance as paced action, violence, and sex—many of its aspects
Welles. That, too, is another reason for the importance make it a classic. These include a timeless story of ego-
of Citizen Kane. mania, greed, and cruelty; brilliant use of the flashback
In his editing and sound, Welles also broke away to tell that story; and an unforgettable look. Today,
from Hollywood conventions. He shot the film in the more than 75 years after its release, Citizen Kane is the
usual Hollywood way (nonchronologically), but instead one movie you must know if you are to understand film
of editing it into a chronological format, he devised an history. Is it the best movie in the history of cinema?
elaborate flashback structure that posed great chal- That’s up to you to decide. But one thing is certain: it’s
lenges for editing the footage and establishing rhythm. the movie that changed the movies forever.
For the sound, he called on his vast radio experience
ANALYZING FILM HISTORY
From this short history of the movies, we can reach (if it’s an older film) or to be alert to a contemporary
several conclusions. First, the movies—in their formal movie’s explicit or implicit connection to other eras
qualities, modes of expression, technologies, and of film history and/or particular movies in that history.
audiences—have changed radically in the course of As you continue to look at movies, whether in class
little more than a hundred years. Second, in many or on your own, you will see the rewards of appreci-
cases, the artists, technicians, and businesspeople ating, say, a 1927 masterpiece for what it is, where
responsible for these changes adapted or perfected it came from, and how it influenced subsequent film
the achievements of previous filmmakers to reach the history rather than thinking of it merely as an “old”
next level of development. Third, working in different movie. Likewise, you will also be able to appreciate
countries and cultures, they produced an art that the latest release for what it is, identifying how those
spoke to a diverse audience in a cinematic language who made it were influenced by past masters as well
that was universally understood. While there are as what they contributed that seems new. With this
obviously other common threads unifying the com- approach, you’ll understand that there are no “old”
plex course of film history, these should encourage or “new” movies, just a continuum of innovation
you—when you become excited about a particular and tradition composed of those movies that we
movie—to learn more about its place in film history treasure and others that we’d rather forget.
SCREENING CHECKLIST: FILM HISTORY

As you study a particular film, explore its histor- Does the film depict a notable moment in
ical context. What year was it made? Who was history, like the Great Depression, Watergate,
likely to have seen it? What elements of the or 9/11? Learn as much as you can about the
historical context are reflected in the film itself? historical context. What does the film portray
of these eras? What does it leave out? Does it
What is the film’s aesthetic context? Is it part of
a film movement or a reaction to the prevailing seem “accurate”? If not, in what way?
tradition of the period? How does it measure Does the film seem notable for its innovations
up to the ideals of the movement? How does it in cinematic language or technology? Have you
compare or contrast with the era’s mainstream seen antecedents to it in other films? Have you
aesthetic? seen its influence on films that followed? Who
created the innovation (the director, the sound
Consider the history of the filmmakers who
created the movie. Does the director have a designer, etc.)?
recognizable style or pattern of subjects? How Does the film deal with a topic, such as gay
does this film fit into that pattern? How has rights, differently than the films that preceded
the cinematographer approached the subject, or followed it? Can you trace how the pre
and is it different from past work? How does sentation of its subject on film has changed
the costume design reflect both the period over time?
depicted on-screen and the era when the film
was made?

1. What is meant by the term film history? Why is a Expressionism and Soviet Montage; (b) the
knowledge of it invaluable in looking at movies and classical Hollywood style and the New American
analyzing them? Cinema; and (c) Italian Neorealism and the French
2. What are the four traditional approaches to film New Wave?
history? What are the specific concerns of each? 7. The term New Wave is used to describe many
3. What stylistic movements made cinematic film movements after World War II. What are
innovations that, as a result, changed the course several of these movements, and what general
of film history? stylistic characteristics do they have in common?
4. The simplest approach to film history is to divide it 8. Who, in your understanding, are three of the most
into the eras of silent and sound production. What innovative and influential directors in film history?
was the general state of filmmaking in each of these What are their contributions?
periods, and how and why does that explain the way 9. Of the historic events occurring since the invention
movies were made? of the movies, which were most influential in
5. What (a) was the state of moviemaking in the providing subject matter for the movies? Discuss
golden age of the American studio system in the at least two events, and identify two movies for
late 1930s, and (b) what film(s) besides Orson each event.
Welles’s Citizen Kane (1941) had a profound effect 10. From the “prehistory” of the movies, what are
on filmmakers following its release? What effect(s) the key technological innovations that made
did they have? the movies possible? Who were three important
6. What are the principal differences between the inventors or innovators, what did they accomplish,
following sets of stylistic movements: (a) German and in what countries did they work?
Wonder Woman (2017). Patty Jenkins, director. Pictured: Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins.
HOW THE MOVIES ARE MADE

CHAPTER
11
410 Chapter 11 How the Movies Are Made
films can cost anywhere from around $5 million (e.g.,

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Get Out, 2017; director Jordan Peele) to $300 million
After reading this chapter, you should be able to (Justice League, 2017; director Zack Snyder). A 2016
nn explain the key technological milestones that laid the Film L.A. sampling of the highest-grossing films of that
foundation for the invention of the movies. year found the average budget to be $75.4 million. An
nn understand the basic nature of the two filmmaking additional 50 percent of those costs is then applied to
technologies: film and digital. marketing and distribution for the film, so a $75 million
nn understand the challenges and benefits involved in movie must earn around $113 million before it generates
converting the film industry to digital technology in the any profit. Thus the individuals and financial institu
areas of production, distribution, and exhibition. tions that invest in the production of films, and the pro
nn make a clear distinction between the three basic ducers and studios they invest in, care first about money
phases of making a movie: preproduction, production, (ensuring the safety and potential return of their invest
and postproduction. ments) and second—often a distant second—about art.
nn explain the studio system, its organization, and its They focus on movies as commodities. For that reason,
decline. they often consider release dates, distribution, and mar
nn explain the independent system, its current keting as more important than the products themselves.
prominence, and how it differs from the studio system. In view of this reality, it is all the more impressive, then,
nn understand the varieties of financing in the film that the movie industry produces a small number of
industry. films each year that can be appreciated, analyzed, and
nn understand how movies are marketed and distributed. interpreted as genuine works of art rather than simply
as commercial products to be consumed.
Why do films cost so much? It’s like everything else: la
bor and materials. Today’s films (particularly blockbuster
films) require hundreds of people at all levels of the ac
tual production who are trained to use highly advanced
Money, Methods, and digital technology. The next time you look at the rolling
Materials: The Whole credits at the end of an action movie, you’ll see dozens of
Equation job titles that did not exist before digital filmmaking. And
the more Hollywood gives the audience, the more the
The art of the movies—the primary concern of this audience wants, so when the industry adds such features
book—is inseparable from its business practices, film as screening in the 3-D or IMAX formats, it is generating
making technologies, and production systems. In his audience excitement but also increasing ticket prices.
novel The Last Tycoon, F. Scott Fitzgerald attempted to Because movie production involves a much more
explain how Hollywood works: complicated and costly process than do most other ar
tistic endeavors, very few decisions are made lightly.
You can take Hollywood for granted like I did, or you
Unlike some arts—painting, for example—in which the
can dismiss it with the contempt we reserve for what
materials and the process are relatively inexpensive,
we don’t understand. It can be understood too, but only
every decision in filmmaking has significant financial
dimly and in flashes. Not half a dozen men have ever
ramifications. Painters may paint over pictures many
been able to keep the whole equation of pictures in their
times without incurring steep costs, so their decisions
heads.1
can be dictated almost entirely by artistic inspiration.
In fact, however, that equation is simple: moviemaking Movies, in contrast, involve a constant tug-of-war be
is, above all, a moneymaking enterprise.2 tween artistic vision and profitability.
In the movie industry, costs and profits can be mea A great movie generally requires two key ingredients:
sured in hundreds of millions of dollars. Today’s feature a good script and a director’s inspiration, vision, intelli
1. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Last T

ycoon: An Unfinished Novel (New York: Scribner’s, 1941), p. 3.
2. David Thomson takes a nonfiction approach to defining the equation in The Whole Equation: A History of Hollywood (New York: Knopf, 2005).
Money, Methods, and Materials: The Whole Equation 411
gence, and supervision (but not necessarily control) of rector to review each take immediately after shooting,
all aspects of the film’s production. Because the direc when it is much easier to match details from shot to shot.
tor plays the paramount role in the production process The process once took place in the vast, factory-like
and in most cases has final authority over the result, studios that dominated Hollywood and other major
we ordinarily cite a film in this way: Greta Gerwig’s film-production centers around the world. Today it hap
Lady Bird (2017). But although movie history began with pens in the self-contained worlds of individual produc
staunchly individual filmmakers, movies have been car tion units, which often operate in leased studio facilities.
ried forward through the years by teamwork. From the The differences between these two modes of pro
moment the raw film stock is purchased through its ex duction are, in a sense, reflected in movies’ production
posure, processing, editing, and projection, filmmakers credits. In older films, all the (brief ) production cred
depend on a variety of artists, technologies, technicians, its generally appear at the beginning, and the names
and craftspeople. And no matter how clear filmmakers’ of the leading actors are sometimes repeated in (and
ideas may be at the start, their work will change consid constitute) the closing credits. Today opening credits
erably, thanks to technology and teamwork, between its vary widely, but closing credits are lengthy and often
early stages and the final version released to the public. include hundreds of names, accounting for virtually
Many movie directors—working under such pres everyone who worked on the film or had something to
sures as producers’ schedules and budgets—have been do with it (e.g., caterers, animal handlers, accountants).
known for taking their power all too seriously. They are Collective-bargaining agreements between producers
difficult on the set, throw tantrums, scream at and even and various labor unions—representing every person
physically assault members of the cast and crew, and who works on a union production—impose clear defi
rag at the front office. Still, moviemaking is essentially nitions of all crew members’ responsibilities as well as
a collaborative activity. Even then, as film scholar Jon the size and placement of their screen credits. These
Lewis observes, “What ends up on the screen is not only credits properly and legally acknowledge people’s con
a miracle of persistence and inspiration but also the re tributions to films. Because nonunion crews make many
sult of certain practical concessions to the limitations of independent films, these conventions of the division of
the studio system.”3 labor and screen credit do not necessarily apply to inde
Film production is complicated by the cost-effective, pendent films. Often on such films, crew members may
standard practice of shooting movies out of chronolog be relatively inexperienced, not yet qualified for union
ical order. This means that the production crew shoots membership, or unwilling to play several roles in return
the film not in the order of what we see on the screen, for the experience and screen credit. Government agen
but in an order that allows the most efficient use of hu cies and volunteer individuals or organizations may also
man and financial resources. During production, a script be credited for their contributions.
supervisor stays as close to the director as possible, for This chapter introduces readers to the history of
this person is an invaluable source of information about motion-picture technologies and production systems,
the shooting. The script supervisor records all details of showing that Hollywood is very much a product of its
continuity from shot to shot; he or she ascertains that past. Today’s Hollywood reflects how well the indus
costumes, positioning and orientation of objects, and try has adapted to the challenges of changing content,
placement and movement of actors are consistent in technologies, audiences, and exhibition opportunities.
each successive shot and, indeed, in all parts of the film. It remains one of the world’s largest industries, and the
Overall, the pattern of production includes securing impact of American movies is felt around the globe. To
and developing a story with audience appeal; break day Hollywood faces major challenges, most of which
ing the story into units that can be shot most profit will be decided almost entirely on the relationship be
ably; shooting; establishing through editing the order tween costs and profits, the only equation.
in which events will appear on-screen; and then adding To understand certain aesthetic judgments made
the sound, music, and special effects that help finish the by film producers, directors, and their collaborators,
movie. The use of a video assist camera permits a di you should be familiar with the fundamentals of how a
3. Jon Lewis, Whom God Wishes to Destroy . . . : Francis Coppola and the New Hollywood (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1995), p. 4.
movie is made—in particular, with the two filmmaking Unlike the newer technologies, film involves a me
technologies (film and digital) and the three phases of the chanical system that moves this film stock through sev
moviemaking process (preproduction, production, and eral machines: a camera, a processor, and a projector.
postproduction). These three machines bring images to the screen in three
distinct stages, and light plays a vital role throughout.
In the first stage, shooting, the camera exposes film
to light, allowing that radiant energy to burn a negative
Film and Digital image onto each frame. These single, discrete images
Technologies: An Overview are shot at a standard (for theatrical movies, anyway)
24 frames per second. In the second stage, processing,
Here, we cover the two major technologies used in film the negative is developed into a positive “work print”
making at a time when the film industry has nearly com that the film editor can cut. When the edit is completed,
pleted the conversion from film to digital technology. This the edited work print is then used as a guide to create a
conversion initially created significant opposition, but matching edited version of the original negative, a pro
the economic and logistic advantages of digital cinema cess called “conforming the negative.” This conformed
tography and projection made the newer technology negative is used to create a final positive film print for
impossible—and impractical—for most of the motion- screening. (These days, even those relatively rare mov
picture industry to resist. Even though film stock and film ies that are still shot on film stock get edited digitally; the
projectors may not be familiar items to some readers— negative is digitized into high-resolution, positive digi
and, indeed, may one day be obsolete—we believe it is tal files for editing and eventually, also for the creation
useful to describe briefly what is involved in film and dig of theatrical prints, whether the final prints are digital
ital technologies, both of which are still currently in use. or film.) In the third stage, projecting, the final print is
Looking at movies is more about what is on the screen run through a projector, which shoots through the film a
than the technology that is unique to this art form. And beam of light intense enough to project a large image on
since that technology is far less c omplicated than you the movie screen. (This account greatly condenses the
might think, knowing something about it should further entire process to emphasize, at this point, only the cycle
enhance your understanding of how movies are made. of light is common to all three stages.)
Motion-picture technology—and the production systems Projecting a strip of exposed frames at the same
it serves—has developed in a simple, straight line from speed—traditionally 16 frames per second (fps) for silent
the early 1890s until recently. film, 24 fps for sound—creates the illusion of movement.
Silent cameras and projectors were often hand-cranked,
and so the actual speed of the camera, which then had
to be matched by the projectionist, might vary from 12
Film Technology to 24 fps. Cameras and projectors used for making and
When we refer to film technology, we mean that film exhibiting professional films are powered by electric
stock is the medium on which the image is recorded. motors that ensure perfect movement of the film (Fig
Film is an analog medium in which the camera (1) creates ure 11.1). As digital technology replaces this mechanical
an image by recording through a camera lens the original process (Figure 11.2), it is changing the equipment and
light given off by the subject, and (2) stores this image on media on which the images are captured, processed, and
a roll of negative film stock. That stock, coated with an projected. But the role of light remains the same essen
emulsion containing silver crystals, yields an image that tial component.
closely resembles what the human eye sees. We call it A movie film’s format is the gauge, or width, of the
analog because the image is analogous, or proportional, film stock and its perforations (measured in millime
to the input. Put another way, once the film is processed ters) and the size and shape of the image frame as seen
(or “developed”), the negative image (on the negative on the screen (Figure 11.3). Formats extend from Super
stock) becomes a positive image (on positive stock); the 8mm through 70mm and beyond into such specialized
first image is analogous to the second. formats as IMAX (ten times bigger than a conventional
Figure 11.1 | THE MOTION-PICTURE CAMERA
Feed spool
Film
Aperture
plate
Aperture
(gate)
Shutter Sprocketed
Keepers
Pressure rollers
plate
Pull-down claw
Take-up spool
The motion-picture camera moves unexposed film from one storage area, called the feed spool (or, in professional cameras today, the
portion of the magazine that stores unexposed film), along the sprocketed rollers. The rollers control the speed of the film as it moves
through the camera and toward the lens, which focuses the image on the film as it is exposed. The aperture (or gate) is essentially the
window through which each frame of film is exposed. The shutter—a mechanism that shields the film from light while each frame is
moved into place—is synchronized with the motion of the pull-down claw, a mechanism used in both cameras and p rojectors to advance
the film frame by frame. The pull-down claw holds each frame still for the fraction of a second that the shutter allows the aperture to be
open so that the film can be exposed. The take-up spool (or, again, the portion of the magazine that stores exposed film) winds the film
after it has been exposed.
Figure 11.2 | THE DIGITAL MOVIE CAMERA
In a digital camera, the light that makes the image is captured by an electronic sensor. The size and configuration of the sensor and its
associated electronics determine the resolution, depth of field, and tonal color values possible in the final film.
35mm frame and three times bigger than a standard speed (or exposure index) indicates the degree to which
70mm frame). The format chosen depends on the type the film is light-sensitive. This speed ranges from very
of film being made, the financing available to support fast, at which the film requires little light, to very slow,
the project, and the overall visual look that the film at which it requires a lot of light. Film is also categorized
maker wants to achieve. For example, a wide-release into black-and-white and color stock.
narrative feature with a relatively healthy budget (such In traditional film production, cinematographers
as Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom [2012]) that seeks control the photographic image in many ways: with their
a certain stylistic look might be shot in 16mm, while a choice of stock; the amount and color of the lighting of
documentary designed for the big screen (such as Luc each shot, the exposure (the length of time that the film
Jacquet’s March of the Penguins [2005]) might shoot on is exposed to light), and the opening of the lens aperture
the expensive 70mm or IMAX format. The film-stock (this regulates the amount of light that passes through
length is the number of feet (or meters) or the number the lens onto the surface of the film); the resolution
of reels being used in a particular film. The film-stock (the capacity of the camera lens, film stock, and process
Figure 11.3 | STANDARD FILM GAUGES
Sound track Sound track Sound track
70mm 35mm 16mm Super 8mm 8mm
The most common variations on standard motion-picture film gauges. Digital technology does not use film, so the size and shape of the
image is determined by the sensor, a central component in determining visual qualities. (See the following section, “Digital Technology.”)
ing to provide fine detail in an image); the instructions discuss next, film and digital images are now virtually
provided to the processing laboratory, including special indistinguishable—just one factor spurring the momen
effects; and in the postproduction effort, through possi tum of making feature movies in digital technology.
ble involvement in the editing process.
Professional motion-picture photography using film
is a complex, time-consuming, and expensive process, Digital Technology
but many filmmakers think it’s worth it because it is the Digital technology involves an electronic process that
only way they can achieve the rich “look” that we tradi creates its images through a numbered system of pixels
tionally associate with the movies. However, as we will (which we can think of as the binary numbers 0 and 1).
Unlike the analog images, digital images do not have a ited on a work print (which allows the editor to see only
physical relationship to the original. Indeed, they are not one version of any scene or sequence at any one time).
exactly images but rather thousands of digits stored Digital takes that same light from the lens and pro
on a memory card. These digits are reconstructed into cesses it through a sensor chip into pixels, which were
visual images each time the movie is edited or shown traditionally put on various types of tape but increas
and, unlike film stock, can be manipulated endlessly. For ingly are now recorded directly onto a memory card or
example, filmmakers can make many alternate versions a computer hard drive. It doesn’t have to go through a
of any scene in searching for the perfect arrangement or laboratory for processing and can be manipulated with
timing of shots. They can also adjust and manipulate the complete freedom on the computer.
light, color, and quality of the image. These advantages have led to a nearly complete film-
Digital technology, like film technology, is used in to-digital conversion in every stage of the commercial
all three stages of filmmaking: preproduction, produc movie industry. In 2015, almost 90 percent of the top
tion, and postproduction. And there are many signifi 100 U.S.-grossing films were shot digitally 4; 100 percent
cant similarities between the film and digital processes. of those films are edited and otherwise prepared for
When making conventional theatrical motion pictures, release digitally. In 2014, Paramount became the first
both systems shoot single, discrete images at a standard major Hollywood studio to supply its films to theaters
24 frames per second. Every camera uses a lens, an ap in only a digital format. By the middle of 2016, roughly
erture, shutter speed, frame rate, and so on—whether it 98 percent of the world’s movie theaters had converted
shoots film or digital. The essential difference comes to digital projection systems.5 However, there is small
down to how the light is captured as an image. Digital but significant opposition on the creative side from di
uses a sensor, which transfers light as data onto a mem rectors and cinematographers, in particular, who say
ory chip; film uses silver nitrate particles embedded on they will continue to shoot on film. And the industry
celluloid. In shooting a movie, digital cameras have dif cannot afford to neglect people like Paul Thomas Ander
ferent sizes of sensors recording the image and transfer son, Quentin Tarantino, or Christopher Nolan, who are
ring it into electronic signals (see Figure 11.2). Instead dedicated to film’s particular aesthetic: its film grain, its
of using different sizes of film gauges to determine the depth of color and shadow, even its imperfections.
resolution and other visual performance/quality factors That opposition created a problem, because Fuji
(such as depth of field, color retention, etc.), a digital stopped manufacturing motion-picture film in 2013.
camera uses the sensor for this work. In both film and Eastman Kodak is now the only major company produc
digital processes, it all boils down to the size of the little ing it. Faced with rapidly falling sales, Kodak was ready
square that the camera is focusing light onto. The bigger to follow Fuji. In 2014, a coalition of studios found a
the gauge or sensor, the more information can be re solution and made a deal with Kodak to ensure that the
corded with each frame. company will continue manufacturing motion-picture
film for the next several years. Studios will buy a guar
anteed quantity of that film and make it available to di
Film versus Digital Technology rectors who wish to use it. The finished film, transferred
Before we proceed, let’s summarize the strengths and to digital media and edited digitally, will be screened
weaknesses of both technologies. Film stock is a phys in theaters using digital projection. This arrangement
ical thing; digital is virtual representation. Film stock preserves, in what we see, the visual quality of motion-
runs through a mechanical device and is subjected to a picture film stock that many prefer.
chemical reaction when light from the lens strikes silver- Another strength of digital technology is that it uses
nitrate crystals on the stock, which must be kept locked less light than film technology and involves no process
away from light and must be processed by a lab and ed ing. Overall, digital is much more versatile, easier, and (be
4. https://stephenfollows.com/film-vs-digital/
5. David Hancock, “The Global Digital Conversion of Cinemas is Almost Over.” IHS Technology (May 3, 2016). http://technology.ihs.com/577835/the
-global-digital-conversion-of-cinema-is-almost-over (accessed January 15, 2018).
yond the initial investment in new equipment) cheaper How a Movie Is Made
to work with than film. Film is fragile and disintegrates
over time; digital copies are easily duplicated and virtu The making of a movie, whether by a studio or an inde
ally indestructible under normal conditions. Archival pendent producer (as we’ll discuss later) and whether
copies of both film and digital movies are costly. it is shot on film or a digital medium, proceeds through
Digital distribution and projection represents major three basic phases: preproduction, production, and
cost savings for both distributors and theaters. Prior to postproduction.
digital distribution, hundreds—sometimes thousands—
of new film prints, each costing around $1200, had to
be made to even begin a theatrical release. Because a
print deteriorates as it runs through a projector, addi Preproduction
tional prints would be needed as the film worked its way The first stage, preproduction, consists of planning and
to smaller cities and second-tier markets. Print costs for preparation. It takes as long as necessary to get the job
a movie distributed to 25,000 screens (out of the 40,000 done—on average, a year or two. Initially, filmmakers
total in the United States) would cost the distributor develop an idea or obtain a script they wish to produce.
$30 million, a price that does not include the cost of ship They may secure from a publisher the rights to a success
ping the bulky, heavy cans that contain the prints. By con ful novel or buy a writer’s “pitch” for a story.
trast, securely downloading a digital copy of a film to a The opening segment of the late Robert Altman’s The
theater’s computer system costs virtually nothing. Player (1992) provides a comic view of the start of a stu
Digitally equipped theaters are able to offer program dio executive’s typical day. The executive, Griffin Mill
ming beyond feature films, including recorded or simul (Tim Robbins), has the responsibility of listening to ini
cast presentations of sports, entertainment, and cultural tial pitches from writers and recommending to his boss
events. Even independent movies that might not other the ones he likes. Moving blithely through a world of
wise seem profitable can be more or less subsidized for business politics, intrigue, and power games, he hears
short runs in a multiplex. With digital distribution, a from people with and without appointments, losers,
blockbuster movie can be released and screened simul hangers-on, hacks, and even experienced authors. Every
taneously in all areas of the United States, even around one he meets wants to be a screenwriter, and everyone
the world. Such instantaneous, widespread exposure wants to cast Julia Roberts. The pitches are mostly des
might curtail pirating, where an illicit copy of a film is perate attempts to make a new movie out of two previ
made surreptitiously inside a theater by a thief using a ously successful ones: one scriptwriter, who cannot even
camcorder and then duplicated to produce cheap copies agree with her partner on what they’re talking about,
that are sold on the streets or offered online for down summarizes a proposal as “Out of Africa meets Pretty
load. However, the industry also fears that digital exhi Woman.” The final pitch before the opening credits end,
bition will foster the theft and subsequent pirating of the about a political thriller, serves as a transition to the
digital release prints themselves. thriller at the heart of Altman’s film. One of Hollywood’s
Of course, thanks to bigger, better, and cheaper flat- most inventive and successful independent directors,
screen TVs, an increasing number of viewers now have Altman clearly knew the territory well enough to sati
their own relatively high-quality and large-format digi rize it.
tal venues at home and access to thousands of stream Once the rights to producing a story have been con
ing film titles, many of which are available immediately tracted and purchased, the producers can spend months
without an intervening theatrical release. In response, arranging the financing for a production. How easily
some moviemakers and many movie theaters seem to be they accomplish this, and the funds that they secure, de
intent on creating and exhibiting content designed for pends largely on the film they offer to their backers and
the theater experience. More and more theaters feature its projected financial returns. As we’ll see, a director
IMAX or similar large-format screen (and sound) sys may spend another month or more discussing the script
tems designed to maximize the immersive experience of with the screenwriter and the key people responsible for
watching a blockbuster spectacle in ways that are impos design, photography, music, and sound. Another 2 or
sible (so far) to re-create in anyone’s living room. 3 months may be spent rewriting the script.
Throughout the preproduction period, the producers were exposed for every hour actually used. During the
continually estimate and reestimate the budget. The fi 4 years it took to complete the film, Coppola spent more
nal budget, which should cover all foreseeable expenses, than twice his original budget.
also reflects their marketing strategy. As one example, In making a film, meticulous preparation is every
the producers of Inception (2010) allocated a produc thing, and key people take the time to think out alter
tion budget of $160 million and an advertising budget natives and choose the one that seems best for the film.
of $100 million, a shrewd calculation considering the Thorough planning does not stifle further creativity or
movie was a major box-office success and was also nomi improvisation during production but rather encourages
nated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. it, because planning makes the alternatives clear. Direc
During this process of previsualization, before the tor Sidney Lumet emphasizes the logistics:
cameras start to roll, the director and the chief collabo
rators decide how they want the film to look, sound, and Someone once asked me what making a movie was like.
move. At least 2 to 3 weeks more can be devoted to or I said it was like making a mosaic. Each setup is like a
ganizational issues and details such as scheduling studio tiny tile [a setup, the basic component of a film’s pro
space and scouting locations, obtaining permissions to duction, consists of one camera position and everything
use those locations, and arranging for the design and associated with it]. You color it, shape it, polish it as best
construction of sets, costumes, and properties. Just be you can. You’ll do six or seven hundred of these, maybe
fore shooting begins, another 2 weeks will probably be a thousand. ( There can easily be that many setups in a
devoted to rehearsals with the cast and crew. movie.) Then you literally paste them together and hope
Up to this point, likely almost a year has elapsed— it’s what you set out to do. But if you expect the final mo
assuming all has gone smoothly. Though the entire pro saic to look like anything, you’d better know what you’re
cess of making a movie may seem straightforward, this going for as you work on each tiny tile.6
description does not take into account the inevitable
delays, the continuing difficulties in pulling together the
financial package, and the countless details that must Production
be attended to. For example, a film made at the peak of Production, the actual shooting, can last 6 weeks to
the Hollywood studio system would have been carefully several months or more. Although the producer and di
planned, budgeted, and supervised by the producer in rector continue to work closely together, the director or
the front office, whether it was shot in a studio or on lo dinarily takes charge during the shooting. The director’s
cation. Daily reports to and from the set ensured that principal activities during this period are conducting
everyone knew, to the minute and to the dollar, the pro blocking and lighting rehearsals on the set with stand-
gress and the cost. ins, followed by rehearsals with the cast; supervising the
Orson Welles extensively composed and planned compilation of the records that indicate what is being
the shots of his first film, Citizen Kane (1941). It was shot each day and informing cast and crew members of
photographed entirely in the RKO studio and miracu their assignments; placing and, for each subsequent shot,
lously (considering Welles’s later reputation as a spend replacing cameras, lights, microphones, and other equip
thrift independent director) was completed in less than ment; shooting each shot as many times as necessary un
a year and almost within the allotted budget. By contrast, til the director is satisfied and calls “print”; reviewing the
Francis Ford Coppola, already a highly experienced di results of each day’s shooting (called rushes or dailies)
rector by the time he made Apocalypse Now (1979), be with key creative personnel and cast; and reshooting as
gan without a clear plan of what he wanted to achieve, necessary.
worked as an independent producer with financing from Every director works differently. Ordinarily, however,
United Artists, and shot the film in a foreign country un the director further breaks down the shooting script
der very difficult conditions. Ultimately, 115 hours of film into manageable sections and then sets a goal of shooting
6. Sidney Lumet, Making Movies (New Y

ork: Knopf, 1995), p. 58.
a specified number of pages a day (typically, three pages setting, with several camera positions and carefully cho
is a full day’s work). This process depends on the num reographed movement, normally requires a large crew.
ber of setups involved. Most directors try to shoot be The creation of artificial weather (rain, wind, or snow)
tween fifteen and twenty setups a day when they’re in the and the use of animals or crowds are all expensive efforts
studio, where everything can be controlled; for exterior that require additional personnel. Shooting on exte
shooting, the number of setups varies. In any event, every rior locations is usually more expensive than shooting
one involved in the production works a full day—usually in a studio because it involves transportation and food,
from about 8:00 a.m. to about 6:00 p.m. (depending on sometimes requires hotel accommodations, and de
their jobs and contracts), 5 days a week, with overtime pends largely on the weather.
when necessary. When complicated makeup and cos To better understand what’s involved in shooting, let’s
tuming are required, the actors may be asked to report look briefly at the production of Robert Zemeckis’s Cast
for work early enough to finish that preparation before Away (2000). The movie features Tom Hanks as Chuck
the crew is due to report. After each day’s shooting, or Noland, a FedEx systems engineer based in Memphis,
as soon as the processing laboratory can deliver them, Tennessee. While he is en route from Moscow to the Far
the director and others review the rushes. (Movies shot East, his plane crashes in the ocean. Chuck, the only sur
digitally or with a video assist camera can be reviewed vivor, washes ashore on a desert island. After sustaining
immediately, allowing retakes to be made with the same himself physically, emotionally, and spiritually for 4 years,
setup or a different one.) Chuck builds a raft and attempts to return to civiliza
At a recent movie shoot in a Manhattan store, which tion. Overwhelmed by the elements and near death, he
was closed for the day to give the crew maximum ac is picked up by a freighter and returned to Memphis,
cess, any observer would have seen why it takes longer where he faces yet another emotional challenge.
than might be expected to complete even the simplest In making Cast Away, the production crew faced
shot. By actual count, forty crew members were there daunting physical and logistical problems. Their largest
to support the director and four actors, who were ready challenge was to make the most efficient use of human,
to work. After the first setup was blocked, rehearsed, financial, and physical resources. The film, which cost
and lit, the director made three takes. This process took $85 million to produce, was shot on soundstages in Hol
3 hours. However, the rest of the day’s schedule was aban lywood as well as on actual locations in Texas, Tennessee,
doned because the lighting that had been brought in for Russia, and the Fiji island of Monuriki in the South Pa
the shoot failed. Why? The gaffer, the chief electrician, cific. The task of planning the overall production sched
had neglected to ensure that the store’s electrical capac ule was relatively routine, however. Although the largest
ity could support it. By the time generators were located part of the film’s three-part structure is set on Monuriki
and trucked to the site, 2 hours had been lost. Of course, and features only one actor (Hanks), the cast actually in
any one of a dozen problems—human and technical— cludes nearly sixty other actors. The credits list another
could have kept the director and crew from meeting their 123 members of the production crew, most of them in
schedule. volved in creating the visual and special effects.
During production, the number of people required When shooting on Monuriki, the crew had to en
to film a particular shot depends on the needs of that dure real winds, storms, and floods. When nature did
shot or, more precisely, on the overall scene in which not cooperate with their shooting schedule, they had to
the shot occurs. Many factors determine the size of the create their own bad weather. Furthermore, their work
crew for any shot or scene, including the use of studio depended on the tides and available sunlight (Chuck
or exterior locations, day or night shooting, shooting on would not have had artificial light on the island). The
an uncrowded exterior location or a crowded city street, airplane crash was simulated in Hollywood, where con
camera and lighting setups, and the extent of movement siderable shooting was done underwater, and the scenes
by the camera and the actors. For example, a scene that of Chuck’s attempted escape by raft were shot on the
involves two people in a simple interior setting, with a ocean as well as in the perilous surf off another Fiji island.
basic camera and lighting setup, may require a minimal After 1 month’s shooting on Monuriki, capturing foot
crew, while a scene involving many people in an exterior age that established Chuck’s overall challenge, the crew
took a yearlong hiatus while Hanks lost the 50 pounds men such as Thomas Edison, Carl Laemmle, Thomas H.
he had gained to portray Chuck in the early part of the Ince, and D. W. Griffith to make, distribute, and exhibit
film. This change helped create the illusion that Chuck movies. In 1905, Laemmle began to distribute and ex
had spent 4 years on the island. Meeting these challenges hibit films, but by 1909 his efforts were threatened by
as successfully as the filmmakers did (while maintaining the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC—not to be
visual consistency within the footage) was central to main confused with the Motion Picture Production Code), a
taining the film’s verisimilitude. protective trade association (or trust) controlled by Edi
son, which sought both to control the motion-picture
industry completely and to eliminate competition by
charging licensing fees on production and projection
Postproduction
equipment. However, widespread resistance to the MPPC
When the shooting on a film has been completed, post-
encouraged competition and laid the groundwork for
production begins. Postproduction consists of three
both the studio and independent systems of produc
phases: editing, finishing, and bringing the film to the
tion. The U.S. government broke the MPPC monopoly
public (marketing and distribution).
in 1915.
In brief, editing consists of assembling the visual im
Between 1907 and 1913, a large number of movie
ages and sound recordings, adding the musical score and
production companies in New York and New Jersey
sound effects, integrating the special effects, assembling
migrated to various spots in warmer climates, includ
the sound tracks, and doing any necessary dubbing. Fin
ing Florida, Texas, and New Mexico. But eventually the
ishing consists of mixing the many tracks of sound into
main companies settled in southern California, in and
one unified composite sound track and color grading the
around Hollywood. They did so to take advantage of
edited images to create the visual look of the film and
the year-round good weather, the beautiful and varied
maintain consistency of brightness and color from shot
scenery, the abundant light for outdoor shooting, and
to shot. Bringing the film to the public consists of de
the geographic distance from the greedy MPPC. Soon
termining the marketing and advertising strategies and
these companies had a critical mass of both capital and
budgets, setting the release date and number of theaters,
talent on which to build an industry. By 1915, more than
finalizing distribution rights and ancillary rights, and fi
60 percent of the American film industry, employing ap
nally exhibiting the film.
proximately 15,000 workers, was located in Hollywood.
In your study of movies, keep in mind that the art
The early studios relied on a system dominated
of the movies has been influenced not only by changes
by a central producer, a person in charge of the well-
in technology and cinematic conventions but also by
organized mass production system that was necessary
changes in the production process. Thus the Hollywood
for producing feature films. This system of central pro
studio-system process that created F. W. Murnau’s Sun-
duction began in 1912 and was the dominant practice
rise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) was very different
by 1914. At his Hollywood studio, Inceville, Thomas H.
from the independent production process that created
Ince was the first studio head to insist that the authority
Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird (2017). The history of Holly
and responsibilities of the producer, as executive head
wood production systems can be easily understood as
of a movie production, were distinctly different from
comprising three basic periods: the studio system, the
those of the director.
independent system, and a system today that manages
Before 1931, typical Hollywood studios were domi
to combine them. Let’s look more closely at each of them.
nated by central producers such as Irving Thalberg at
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Adolph Zukor at Paramount,
and Harry and Jack Warner at Warner Bros. These men—
The Studio System known as moguls, a reference to the powerful Muslim
Mongol (or Mogul) conquerors of India—controlled the
Organization before 1931 overall and day-to-day operations of their studios. Ex
The studio system’s roots go back to the first decade of ecutives in New York, generally called the “New York
the twentieth century and the pioneering attempts of office,” controlled the studios financially; various per
sonnel at the studios handled the myriad details of vored standardization, within which workers were al
producing films. Central producers, such as Thalberg, ways striving for the ideal relationship between cost and
supervised a team of associate supervisors (not yet called quality.
producers), each with an area of specialization such as The system produced movies that had a predictable
sophisticated comedies, Westerns, and so on. The asso technical quality, often at the cost of stylistic sameness,
ciate supervisors handled the day-to-day operations of or what we call the studio “look.” It resulted in an overall
film production, but the central producer retained total output that inevitably—since hundreds of films were pro
control. duced each year—valued profitability above all else. Yet
By the late 1920s, the film industry had come to see although it could be stifling, standardization allowed for
that the central-producer system encouraged quantity creative innovation, usually under carefully controlled
over quality and that less-than-stellar movies did not circumstances. To help ensure such creativity, unit pro
draw audiences into theaters. As a result, the industry ducers received varied assignments.
sought a new system, one that would value both profits Hunt Stromberg and Bernard Hyman were two of
and aesthetic value. Thalberg’s individual unit production supervisors. In
1936, a busy year for MGM, the studio released six mov
ies for which Stromberg received screen credit as pro
Organization after 1931 ducer: two musicals, two romantic comedies, and two
In 1931, the film industry adopted the producer-unit sys Thin Man movies. Hyman also produced four equally
tem, an organizational structure that typically included diverse films that year.
a general manager, executive manager, production man Although Hyman regularly produced fewer films each
ager, studio manager, and individual production supervi year than Stromberg, both were members of Thalberg’s
sors.7 Each studio had its own configuration, determined inner group. Reliable if not particularly imaginative (ex
by the New York office. The producer-unit system as it actly what Thalberg liked in his subordinates), these
functioned at MGM in the 1930s illustrates the struc producers made movies that enhanced MGM’s reputa
ture. (Figure 11.4 indicates the basic form and responsi tion for producing quality films, kept its major stars in
bilities of the producer-unit system. Note that the titles the public eye, and satisfied the studio’s stockholders.
of these team members are generic; the actual titles var That’s what the studio system was all about. Finally,
ied with each studio.) these producers were forerunners of what today we call
The general manager, Irving Thalberg, who had been a line producer, the person responsible for supervising
supervising MGM’s production since 1924, continued the daily operations of a film production.
this work in the new unit. At the time, MGM’s annual The Hollywood studio system established the col
output was some fifty films. Reporting directly to Thal laborative mode of production that dominated Ameri
berg was a staff of ten individual unit production super can filmmaking during its golden age while influencing
visors, each of them responsible for roughly six to eight the mode of film production worldwide. The studio sys
films per year; the actual number varied widely based tem also established an industrial model of production
on the scope and shooting schedules of different pro through which American filmmaking became one of the
ductions. Each producer, who usually received screen most prolific and lucrative enterprises in the world. Fur
credit with that title, was able to handle various types of thermore, although its rigidity ultimately led to its de
movies. Such flexibility also enabled the general man mise after some 40 years, the system contained within
ager to assign these producers according to need, not itself the seeds—in the form of the independent produc
specialization. This producer-unit management system ers that would replace it—to sustain American film pro
(and its variations) helped create an industry that fa duction until the present day.
7. T
he material in this section was drawn from David Bordwell, Janet Staiger, and Kristin Thompson, The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style and
Mode of Production to 1960 (New Y
ork: Columbia University Press, 1985), pts. 2 and 5; Thomas Schatz, The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmak-
ing in the Studio Era (1988; repr., New Y
ork: Holt, 1996), pts. 2 and 3; Joel Finler, The Hollywood Story, 3rd ed. (New Y
ork: Wallflower, 2003), pt. 2; and
Douglas Gomery, The Hollywood Studio System: A History (London: British Film Institute, 2005).
Figure 11.4 | PRODUCER-UNIT SYSTEM AT MGM
General Manager
Irving Thalberg
Thalberg supervised the overall production of some fifty films each year: his responsibilities included selecting the property,
developing the script (either by himself or in collaboration with writers), selecting the actors and key production people, editing
the film, and supervising marketing. Thus, without ever leaving his office to visit the set, he could be intimately involved in
every phase of every production at the studio. He generally received screen credit as “producer.”
Executive Manager Production Manager
Responsible for the studio’s financial and legal affairs as well Responsible for all preproduction and postproduction work;
as daily operations. key liaison among the general manager, studio manager, and
individual production supervisors.
Studio Manager
Responsible for the support departments (research, writing,

design, casting, cinematography, marketing research, etc.)
representing almost 300 different professions and trades.
Individual Unit Production Supervisors
Ten men (e.g., Hunt Stromberg and Bernard Hyman) were

each responsible for planning and producing six to eight films
per year. Films were assigned by the general manager and
production manager. These ten were often called associate
or assistant producers and sometimes given screen credit
as such. Each producer was sufficiently flexible to be able to
handle various types of movies.
Organization during the Golden Age Vanderbilt Whitney or Joseph P. Kennedy), financial
By the mid-1930s, Hollywood was divided into four institutions (e.g., Chase National Bank in New York or
kinds of film production companies: majors, minors, “B” Bank of America in California), corporations related to
studios, and independent producers (Table 11.1).8 The or dependent on the film industry (e.g., RCA, manufac
five major studios—Paramount, MGM, Warner Bros., turers of sound equipment used in movie production),
20th Century Fox, and RKO—were all vertically inte and stockholders (including studio executives and ordi
grated companies, meaning that they followed a top- nary people who purchased shares on the stock market).
down hierarchy of control, vesting ultimate managerial Controlling film production through their studios and,
authority in their corporate officers and boards of direc equally important, film distribution (the marketing and
tors. These managers were in turn responsible to those promotion of a film) and exhibition (the actual showing
who financed them: wealthy individuals (e.g., Cornelius of a motion picture in a commercial theater) through
8. See David A. Cook, A History of Narrative Film, 5th ed. (New Y

ork: Norton, 2004), pp. 239–255.
Table 11.1 | STRUCTURE OF THE STUDIO SYSTEM UNTIL 1950
Most Significant “B” Most Significant

Major Studios Minor Studios (Poverty Row) Studios Independent Producers
1. Paramount 1. Universal S tudios 1. Republic P ictures 1. S amuel Goldwyn Productions
2. Metro-G oldwyn-M ayer 2. Columbia Pictures 2. Monogram P roductions 2. D avid O. Selznick Productions
3. Warner B ros. 3. United Artists 3. Grand National Films 3. Walt Disney Studios
4. 20th Century Fox 4. P roducers Releasing Corporation
5. RKO 5. Eagle-L ion Films
their ownership of film exchanges and theater chains, mated films, such as Pinocchio (1940), at the Walt Disney
the majors produced “A” pictures, meaning those fea studios and released them through his own distribution
tured at the top of the double bill (ordinarily, for the company, Buena Vista Productions. Goldwyn produced
price of a single admission, moviegoers enjoyed almost such major pictures as William Wyler’s The Best Years
4 hours of entertainment: two feature films, a cartoon, a of Our Lives (1946), which he released through RKO. In
short subject, and a newsreel). 1936, Selznick left MGM to establish Selznick Inter
The three minor studios—Universal, Columbia, and national Pictures. In 1940, three of his films—Victor
United Artists—also produced “A” pictures, but they Fleming’s Gone with the Wind (1939), Alfred Hitchcock’s
were less similar than the majors. Universal and Co Rebecca (1940), and Gregory Ratoff’s Intermezzo (1939)—
lumbia owned their own production facilities but no together earned some $10 million in net profits, more
theaters, and thus depended on the majors to show their than all the films of any of the majors, each of which
films. By contrast, United Artists (UA)—founded in 1919 produced roughly fifty-two films that year. Although he
by Mary Pickford, Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, released his films through the major studios, including
and D. W. Griffith—was considered a studio even though MGM, Selznick’s prestige pictures and remarkable prof
it was essentially a distribution company established its established the independent producer as a dominant
by these artists to give them greater control over how force in Hollywood for the next 60 years and beyond.
their movies were distributed and marketed. During the The producer guides the entire process of making
1930s, however, UA was distributing the work of many the movie, from its initial planning to its release. This
other outstanding producers, directors, and actors. Al person is chiefly responsible for the organizational and
though UA declined during the 1940s, it was revived in financial aspects of the production, from arranging the
the 1950s and today is part of MGM. financing to deciding how the money is spent. The stu
The five B studios (sometimes called the poverty row dio system was dominated by producers who, in turn,
studios because of their relatively small budgets) were depended on directors who were under studio contract
Republic Pictures, Monogram Productions, Grand Na to direct a specific number of films in each contract
tional Films, Producers Releasing Corporation, and Eagle- period.
Lion Films. Their B movies filled in the bottom half of The work of the director is to determine and realize
double bills. on the screen an artistic vision of the screenplay; cast the
The most important independent producers in the actors and direct their performances; work closely with
1930s, when independent production was still a rela the production designers in creating the look of the film,
tively unfamiliar idea, were Hollywood titans Samuel including the choice of locations; oversee the work of
Goldwyn, David O. Selznick, and Walt Disney. Each the cinematographer and other key production person
producer owned his own studio but released pictures nel; and in most cases, supervise all postproduction activ
through his own distribution company, one of the ma ity, including the editing. Although some studio system
jors, or United Artists. Disney produced his classic ani directors—Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, and Vincente
Minnelli, for example—could be involved completely complex operations.10 If you were fortunate enough to
from preproduction through postproduction, most were get past a studio’s high walls and through its guarded
expected to receive a script one day and begin filming gates, you would find yourself in a vast industrial com
shortly thereafter. They were seasoned professionals plex. MGM, for example, the largest studio, covered
capable of working quickly and were conversant enough 117 acres, over which 10 miles of paved streets linked
with various genres to be able to handle almost any 137 buildings. There were 29 soundstages—huge air-
assignment. conditioned and soundproofed production facilities,
The career of Edmund Goulding, who directed thirty- the largest of which had a floor area of nearly an acre.
eight movies, clearly exemplifies the work of a contract The studio was a self-contained community with its
director. After starting in silent films in 1925 and direct own police and fire services, hospital, film library,
ing several films at Paramount Pictures, Goulding made school for child actors, railway siding, industrial sec
an auspicious start as a director at MGM with Grand Ho- tion capable of manufacturing anything that might be
tel (1932), an all-star blockbuster. He followed that with needed for making a movie, and a vast backlot contain
Blondie of the Follies (1932), a comedy featuring Marion ing sets representing every possible period and architec
Davies; the melodrama Riptide (1934), starring Norma ture. In the average year, MGM produced 50 full-length
Shearer; and The Flame Within (1935), also a melodrama. feature pictures and 100 shorts. Depending on the level
From MGM, Goulding moved to Warner Bros. There, as a of production, the workforce consisted of 4000 to 5000
contract director, he made That Certain Woman (1937), people. The other major studios had smaller but similar
Dark Victory (1939), and The Old Maid (1939), all star operations.
ring Bette Davis; The Dawn Patrol (1938), a World War
I action film; ’Til We Meet Again (1940), a wartime ro
mance; and The Constant Nymph (1943), a romantic The Decline of the Studio System
drama. Fostered by aggressive competition and free trade, the
After World War II, Goulding moved to 20th Century studio system grew to maturity in the 1930s, reached a
Fox, where the declining quality of the movies he was pinnacle of artistic achievement and industrial produc
assigned truly reflects the challenges facing a contract tivity in the 1940s, and then declined at the beginning
director. Starting with The Razor’s Edge (1946; a quasi- of the 1950s. We can see this trajectory clearly by look
philosophical movie nominated for an Oscar as Best ing at the actual number of films produced and released
Picture of 1946) and Nightmare Alley (1947), a melodra by American studios during that downward swing. As
matic film noir, he went on to direct We’re Not Married! Table 11.2 indicates, the average number of films annu
(1952), an episodic comedy featuring Marilyn Monroe; ally produced and released in the United States from
Teenage Rebel (1956), a drama; and for his last film, 1936 to 1940 was 495; from 1941 to 1945, the war years,
Mardi Gras (1958), a teenage musical starring Pat Boone. that number fell to 426; in the immediate postwar pe
Goulding made the most of the challenges inherent in riod, 1946–1950, it fell even further, to 370. In 1951, the
such variety. He was also popular with actors and noted total number of U.S. films was 391, the highest it would
for his screenwriting, which accounts for some of the be until 1990, when 440 films were released. In looking
gaps between pictures (most contract directors were ex at these data, remember that the total film releases in
pected to make three or four movies per year). Goulding any one year usually reflect two kinds of production:
was also noteworthy as an openly gay man who success those begun in that year and those begun earlier. In any
fully pursued his career at a time when most Hollywood case, one thing is clear: total Hollywood production be
gays and lesbians remained in the closet.9 tween 1936 and 1951 fell by 25 percent.
The actual, physical studios, called “dream facto By the mid-1930s, in fact, the system had reached
ries” by anthropologist Hortense Powdermaker, were a turning point because of three intertwined factors.
9. See William J. Mann, Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood, 1910–1969 (New Y
ork: Viking, 2001).
10. See Hortense Powdermaker, Hollywood, the Dream Factory: An Anthropologist Looks at the Movie-Makers (Boston: Little, Brown, 1950).
had a major impact on Hollywood. On the one hand, it

Table 11.2 | FEATURE FILMS PRODUCED AND
RELEASED IN THE UNITED STATES, sustained certain practices that enabled the studios to
1936–1951 control the marketing and distribution of films to their
own advantage; on the other, it fostered the growth of
Number of Feature the labor unions, perennially unpopular with the stu
Year Films Released
dio heads, by mandating more thoroughgoing division
1936 522
of labor and job specialization than Hollywood had yet
experienced. In 1938, however, the federal government
1937 538
began trying to break the vertical structure of the ma
1938 455 jor studios—to separate their interlocking ownership of
1939 483 production, distribution, and exhibition—an effort that
1940 477 finally succeeded in 1948.
Third, the studios began to reorganize their man
1941 492
agement into the producer-unit system. Each studio
1942 488
had its own variation on this general model, each with
1943 397 strengths and weaknesses. Although the resulting com
1944 401 petition among the units increased the overall quality of
Hollywood movies, the rise of the unit producer served
1945 350
as a transition between the dying studio system and the
1946 378
emergence of the independent producer.
1947 369 Three additional factors further undercut the studio
1948 366 system. The first was a shift in the relations between top
management and creative personnel that loosened the
1949 356
studios’ hold on the system. From the mid-1930s on, ac
1950 383
tors, directors, and producers sought better individual
1951 391 contracts with the studios—contracts that would give
Note: These figures do not include foreign films released in the United States.
them and their agents higher salaries and more control
Source: Joel Finler, The Hollywood Story (New York: Crown, 1988), p. 280. over scripts, casting, production schedules, and working
conditions. For example, in the early 1950s actor James
Stewart had an agreement whereby he would waive his
First, the studios were victims of their own success. The usual salary for appearing in two films (then $200,000
two most creative production heads—Darryl F. Zanuck, per picture) in exchange for 50 percent of the net profits.
who dominated production at 20th Century Fox from Equally significant, these profits would extend through
1933 until 1956, and Irving Thalberg, who supervised the economic life of the film, whether it was shown on
production at MGM from 1923 until his death in 1936— a theater screen, broadcast on television, or distributed
had built such highly efficient operations that their stu via other formats.
dios could function exceptionally well, both stylistically The second factor was World War II, which severely
and financially, without the sort of micromanaging that restricted the studios’ regular, for-profit operations
characterized David O. Selznick’s style at Selznick In (they were also making movies that s upported govern
ternational Pictures. In a very real sense, these cen ment initiatives, such as films instructing people how
tral producers and others had made themselves almost to cope with food rationing or encouraging them to buy
superfluous. war bonds). As noted already, the production of feature
Second, several actions taken by the federal gov films fell precipitously during the war. Because many
ernment signaled that the studios’ old ways of doing studio employees (management and labor alike) were
business would have to change. President Franklin D. in the armed services and film stock was being rationed
Roosevelt’s plan for the economic revitalization of key to ensure the supply needed by armed-services photog
industries—the 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act— raphers, there were fewer people and materials to make
films. Thus, even though audiences went to the movies team, supervising the actual production (including the
in record numbers, fewer films were available for them editing), and marketing and distributing the finished
to see. product. Consider the career of Sam Spiegel, one of the
The third blow to the studio system was the rise of most successful independent producers; his movies in
television, to which Hollywood reacted slowly. When the cluded John Huston’s The African Queen (1951), Elia Ka
federal government made the studios divest themselves zan’s On the Waterfront (1954), David Lean’s The Bridge
of their theater holdings, it also blocked their plans to on the River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962),
replicate this dual ownership of production and distribu Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Suddenly, Last Summer (1959),
tion facilities by purchasing television stations. At first, and Elia Kazan’s The Last Tycoon (1976), inspired by the
the major studios were not interested in television pro life of his fellow producer Irving Thalberg. Spiegel con
duction, leaving it to the minors and to such pioneering trolled the money and thus the production. Although
independents as Desilu Productions (Desi Arnaz and Lu that attitude may seem arrogant, it makes excellent
cille Ball, producers). By 1955, though, the majors were business sense to a producer responsible for films like
reorganizing and retooling what remained of their stu Spiegel’s, which were characterized by high costs, high
dios to begin producing films for television. Some efforts artistic caliber, and high profits.
were more successful than others, but even more profit The producer’s team may include an executive pro-
able was the sale both of their real estate—on which the ducer, line producer, and associate or assistant pro-
studios were built—for development and of the valuable ducers. These variations on the overall title of producer
films in their vaults for television broadcasting. Univer reflect the changes that have occurred since the studio
sal Studios had the best of both worlds, continuing to use system collapsed and, in different ways, reinvented it
part of its vast property at the head of the San Fernando self. By the nature of film production, titles must be flex
Valley for film and television production and devoting ible enough to indicate greater or fewer responsibilities
the rest to a lucrative theme park dedicated to showing than those listed here. Unlike the members of the craft
how movies are made. unions—cinematographers or editors, for example—whose
obligations are clearly defined by collective bargaining
agreements, producers tend to create responsibilities for
The Independent System themselves that match their individual strengths and
experiences.
Through the 1930s and 1940s, the independent s ystem of At the same time, the comparative freedom of inde
production—sometimes called the package-unit system— pendent filmmaking brings new benefits. Creative inno
coexisted with the studio system, as it continues to do vation is both encouraged and rewarded; actors, writers,
with a much different set of studios. The package-unit and directors determine for themselves not only the
system, controlled by a producer unaffiliated with a stu amounts of compensation but also the ways in which
dio (independents such as Samuel Goldwyn, David O. they receive it; and though the overall number of movies
Selznick, Walt Disney, and others), is a personalized produced each year has decreased, the quality of inde
concept of film production that differs significantly from pendently produced films has increased considerably
the industrial model of the studio system. Based out from year to year. Whereas the producer helps trans
side the studios but heavily dependent on them for hu form an idea into a finished motion picture, the direc
man and technical resources, the package-unit system tor visualizes the script and guides all members of the
governs the creation, distribution, and exhibition of a production team, as well as the actors, in bringing that
movie (known as the package). The independent pro vision to the screen.
ducer does what a movie producer has always done: The director sets and maintains the defining visual
chooses the right stories, directors, and actors to produce quality of the film, including the settings, costumes, ac
quality films. tion, and lighting. Those elements produce the total vi
Depending on many factors, the producer may also sual impact of the movie’s image, its look and feel. When
choose to be involved in creative responsibilities, rang a film earns a profit or wins the Oscar for Best Picture,
ing from developing the property, revising the screen the producer takes a large share of the credit and accepts
play, assembling the key members of the production the award (true under the studio system also), but the di
The Independent System 427
rector usually bears artistic responsibility for the success lar earned on the film went to them. The movie reportedly
or failure of a movie. When a film loses money, the direc cost more than $100 million to make, and earned approxi
tor often gets most of the blame. mately $358 million in worldwide box office return and
Because creativity at this high level resists rigid cate sales of 4 million DVDs, promotional products, and movie
gorization, we cannot always neatly separate the respon rights. Thus, it is conservatively estimated that each man
sibilities of the producer and the director. Sometimes earned $55 million. As in any other industry, costs and
one person bears both titles; at other times the director or revenues are controlled by supply and demand. As costs
the screenwriter may have initiated the project and later increase for making the kind of blockbuster films that
joined forces with the producer to bring it to the screen. return sizable revenues, producers make fewer films,
But whatever the arrangement, both the producer and forcing people who work in the industry to become fi
the director are involved completely in all three stages of nancially creative in negotiating the contracts that pre
production. serve their jobs.
A quick snapshot of a few differences between the stu
dio and independent systems will give you an idea of how
moviemaking has changed. At first, each studio’s facili Labor and Unions
ties and personnel were permanent and capable of pro Before the industry was centralized in Hollywood, movie
ducing any kind of picture, and the studio owned its own production was marked by conflicts between manage
theaters, guaranteeing a market for its product. Now, by ment and labor. Strikes led to the formation of guilds
contrast, an independent producer makes one film at a and unions, which led to the division of labor; that devel
time, relying on rented facilities and equipment and a opment, as much as anything, led a hodgepodge of rela
creative staff assembled for that one film. Even figur tively small studios to prosper and grow into one of the
ing for those cost-saving elements, the expenses can be world’s largest industries. In 1926, the major studios and
staggering. unions stabilized their relations through the landmark
Moviemaking entails various kinds of “costs.” In both Studio Basic Agreement, which provided the foundation
the old and the new American film industry, the total for future collective bargaining in the industry.11
cost of a film is what it takes to complete the postproduc Workers in the industry formed labor unions for the
tion work and produce the release negative as well as one standard reasons: they sought worker representation,
or two positive prints for advance screening purposes. equity in pay and working conditions, safety standards,
But this “total cost” does not include the cost of market and job security. For example, the Screen Actors Guild,
ing or of additional prints for distribution, so it is use established in 1933, is the nation’s premier labor union
ful only for the special purposes of industry accounting representing actors. In the 1940s, it fought the attempt
practices. You will generally see this figure referred to as of the studio system to break long-term engagement
the negative cost of a movie, where negative refers to the contracts; today, it faces new challenges in protecting
costs of producing the release negative. artists’ rights amid the movie industry’s conversion to
Contemporary filmmakers have found creative ways to digital production. In addition, because of the uniquely
reduce costs and increase profits. For example, in making collaborative nature of their jobs, industry workers
Minority Report (2002), producer Steven Spielberg and needed a system that guaranteed public recognition of
his star Tom Cruise agreed to receive only minimal fees their efforts. Contracts between the labor unions and the
up front rather than their usual large salaries—a practice studios covered the workers’ inclusion in screen credits.
that Spielberg began with Tom Hanks in Saving Private Executive managers often had similar contracts.
Ryan (1998) and is now standard in the film industry. In any manufacturing enterprise, division of labor re
According to a clause in their contracts, Spielberg and fers to breaking down each step in that process so that
Cruise were each guaranteed 17.5 percent of the studio’s each worker or group of workers can be assigned to and
first-dollar gross profit, meaning that 35 cents of each dol responsible for a specialized task. Although this system
11. An excellent account of the power of labor unions in Hollywood, including the pervasive presence of organized crime, is Connie Bruck’s When
Hollywood Had a King: The Reign of Lew Wasserman, Who Leveraged T
alent into Power and Influence (New Y
ork: Random House, 2003).
was designed to increase efficiency in producing steel, and Television Engineers (1916), and the American Cin
cars, and the like, it was applied very successfully in the ema Editors (1950), which set and maintain standards in
film industry. Indeed, Hollywood has often been com their respective professions.
pared to Detroit. Both of these major industrial centers These organizations engage in the activities of a tra
are engaged in the mass production of commodities. ditional professional organization: conducting research
Detroit’s output is more standardized, though manufac related to equipment and production procedures; stan
turer and model differentiate the automobiles that roll dardizing that equipment and those procedures; meet
off the assembly line. ing, publishing, and consulting with manufacturers in
Like automobile manufacturers, each studio during the development of new technologies; promulgating pro
the studio era specialized in certain kinds of films in its fessional codes of conduct; and recognizing outstanding
own distinctive style (e.g., MGM excelled in musicals; achievement with awards. Although they do not repre
Warner Bros., in films of social realism); but unlike the sent their membership in collective bargaining, as do
Detroit product, each film was a unique creative accom labor unions, they voice opinions on matters relevant to
plishment, even if it fit predictably within a particular the workplace.
genre such as film noir. For the most part, each studio Membership in these societies has its distinctions.
had its own creative personnel under contract, though For example, members of the American Cinema Editors
studios frequently borrowed talent from each other on are nominated and elected on the basis of their profes
a picture-by-picture basis. Once a studio’s executive sional achievements and commitment to the craft of
management—board of directors, chairman, president, editing. Membership entitles them to place “ACE” after
and production moguls—determined what kinds of films their name in a movie’s credits.
would most appeal to its known share of the audience, In 1927, the industry established the Academy of
the studio’s general manager (here titles varied among Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which seeks, among
studios) developed projects and selected scripts and cre its stated objectives, to improve the artistic quality of
ative personnel consistent with that choice. films, provide a common forum for the various branches
In Hollywood, the activities in the three phases of and crafts of the industry, and encourage cooperation
making a movie—preproduction, production, and post in technical research. Since ancient times, an academy
production—are carried out by two major forces: man has been defined as a society of learned persons orga
agement and labor. Management selects the property, nized to advance science, art, literature, music, or some
develops the script, chooses the actors, and assigns the other cultural or intellectual area of endeavor. Although
key production people; but the actual work of making profits, not artistic merit, are the basic measure of suc
the film is the responsibility of labor (artists, craftspeo cess in the movie industry, using the word academy to
ple, and technicians belonging to labor unions). Mem describe the activities of this new organization suited
bers of management receive the highest salaries; the early moviemakers’ strong need for social acceptance
salaries of labor depend on the kind and level of skills and respectability.
necessary for each job. Such a division of labor across A masterful stroke of public relations, the Academy
the broad, collaborative effort in creating a film shapes is privately funded from within the industry and is per
the unavoidable interaction between the work rules set haps best known to the public for its annual presentation
by union contracts and the standards set by professional of the Academy Awards of Merit, or Oscars, as they are
organizations. commonly known. Membership in the Academy is by
invitation only. Now numbering around 5800, members
fall into sixteen categories: actors, art directors, cine
matographers, directors, documentary, executives, film
Professional Organizations editors, makeup artists and hairstylists, music, produc
and Standardization ers, public relations, short films and feature animation,
Beyond the labor unions, other organizations are de sound, visual effects, members-at-large, and writers.
voted to workers in the motion-picture industry, includ Members in each category make the Oscar nominations
ing the American Society of Cinematographers (founded and vote to determine the winners. All voting members
in 1918; chartered in 1919), the Society of Motion Picture are also eligible to vote for the Best Picture nominees.
Financing in the Industry 429
Currently, Academy members award Oscars for the theaters and could compete successfully for the outside
“best” in these twenty-four categories: Actor in a Lead financing they required. The early success of indepen
ing Role, Actor in a Supporting Role, Actress in a Leading dent producers—such as David O. Selznick in gaining the
Role, Actress in a Supporting Role, Animated Feature, financing for such major undertakings as Gone with the
Animated Short Film, Art Direction, Cinematography, Wind (1939)—demonstrates their individual strengths as
Costume Design, Director, Documentary Feature, Docu well as the viability and possible profitability of their al
mentary Short Subject, Film Editing, Foreign Language ternative approach to the studio system.
Film, Live Action Short Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, No rule governs the arranging of financing. Money
Original Score, Original Song, Picture, Sound Editing, may come from the studio, the producer, the investment
Sound Mixing, Visual Effects, Writing—Adapted Screen community, or (most probably) a combination of these.
play, and Writing—Original Screenplay. In addition, the Nor does one timetable exist for securing money. By
Academy has the option to present honorary awards, sci studying the production credits of films ( known as the
entific and technical awards, special-achievement awards, billing block), you can see just how many organizations
and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and Irving G. may back a project.
Thalberg Memorial Award. Various attempts to add the For example, Figure 11.5 lists the opening credits of
following new categories have not been approved: Cast Bill Condon’s Gods and Monsters (1998) in the order of
ing, Stunt Coordination, and Title Design. their appearance on the screen. Universal Studios re
leased the film, which involved the financial as well as
creative input of six entities: Lionsgate Films, Showtime,
Financing in the Industry Flashpoint, BBC Films, Regent Entertainment, and
Gregg Fienberg. Separate title screens identify two line
The pattern for financing the production of motion pic producers, three co-executive producers, two executive
tures, much like the establishment of labor practices, producers, and two more executive producers. Finally,
developed in the industry’s early years. Within the two a “Produced By” screen credit lists three more names.
decades after the invention of the movies, there were Each person receiving credit as a producer was affiliated
two major shifts: first from individual owners of small with one of the six entities listed at the beginning of the
production companies (e.g., Edison and Griffith) to film and may also have had some creative responsibility
medium-sized firms and then to the large corporations beyond her or his financial and organizational concerns.
that not only sold stock but also relied heavily on the With twelve people listed as producers at one title or
infusion of major capital from the investment com another on Gods and Monsters, you might wonder about
munity. Because prudent investors have traditionally the hierarchy among these names, who the actual pro
considered producing films to be a risky business, the ducers are, and what they do. You would not be alone
motion-picture industry recognized that it would need in feeling confused. Apparently, the Producers Guild of
efficient management, timely production practices, and America (e.g., the producers’ union) saw that confusion
profitable results to attract the capital necessary to sus and, in 2012, adopted the “producers’ mark,” a desig
tain it. As Hollywood grew, its production practices be nation ( p.g.a.) that appears on the screen following the
came more and more standardized. Today, producers names of those producers receiving the “produced by”
aggressively seek the support of a newer breed of investors. credit in motion pictures. This mark signifies that those
From the beginning, however, the vertical organiza persons have met the guild’s standard of undertaking
tional structure of the studios was challenged by inde “a majority of producing duties on a motion picture”
pendent producers. Although the studios dominated so that, should their movie win the Academy Award for
the distribution and exhibition of films (at least until Best Picture, each would receive an Oscar statuette.12
1948, when the federal government broke that monop Some producers will have enough start-up financing
oly), the independents did have access to many movie to ensure that the preproduction phase can proceed
12. See Ben Schott, “Assembling the Billing Block,” New York Times (February 24, 2013), Sunday Review section. www.nytimes.com/interactive
/2013/02/24/opinion/sunday/ben-schott-movies-billingblocks.html (accessed September 22, 2014).
Figure 11.5 | PRODUCERS' CREDITS ON GODS AND MONSTERS
Next, separate titles list the principal members of the cast, film
title, and major members of the production crew.
UNIVERSAL
[Title superimposed over company logo]
LINE PRODUCERS
JOHN SCHOUWEILER
&
LISA LEVY
LIONSGATE FILMS
SHOWTIME and FLASHPOINT
in association with
BBC FILMS
Present
CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
VALORIE MASSALAS
SAM IRVIN
SPENCER PROFFER
A
REGENT ENTERTAINMENT
PRODUCTION
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
CLIVE BARKER
&
STEPHEN P. JARCHOW
in association with
GREGG FIENBERG
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
DAVID FORREST
&
BEAU ROGERS
A
BILL CONDON
FILM
PRODUCED BY
PAUL COLICHMAN
GREGG FIENBERG
MARK R. HARRIS
with key people on the payroll; others will not be able to independent corporation) or by one of the studios (in
secure the necessary funds until they present investors which case it is a distinct project among many), financial
with a detailed account of anticipated audiences and and logistic control is essential to making progress and
projected profits. Whether a movie is produced inde ultimately completing the actual work of production as
pendently (in which case it is usually established as an well as to holding down costs. Initial budgets are subject
to constant modification, so budgeting, accounting, and company as well as for family, friends, and advisers, the
auditing are as important as they would be in any costly producer may show it to audiences at previews. Mem
industrial undertaking. bers of preview audiences are invited because they rep
In the old studio system, the general manager, in con resent the demographics of the audience for which the
sultation with the director and key members of the pro film is intended (e.g., female teenagers).
duction team, determined the budget for a film, which After the preview screening, preview viewers are
consisted of two basic categories: direct costs and in asked to complete detailed questionnaires to gauge their
direct costs. Direct costs included everything from art reactions. At the same time, the producer may also have
direction and cinematography to insurance. Indirect chosen a smaller focus group from this audience and
costs, usually 20 percent of the direct costs, covered the will meet with them personally after the screening to
studio’s overall contribution to “overhead” (such items get their reactions firsthand. After analyzing both the
as making release prints from the negative, marketing, questionnaires and the responses of the focus group, the
advertising, and distribution). Table 11.3 shows the sum person in charge of the final cut—either the producer or
mary budget for Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca (1942), in the director—may make changes in the film.
cluding a line-item accounting for each major expense. Although this procedure is presumably more “sci
Direct costs were 73 percent of the total budget. entific” than that employed in previous years by the
Today, in the independent system, budgeting is done studios, it reflects the same belief in designing a film by
differently. Usually the producer or a member of the pro the numbers. Since most major movies are intended as
ducer’s team prepares the budget with the assistant di entertainment for the largest, broadest audience possi
rector. The total cost of producing the completed movie ble, the strategy makes business sense. Films intended
generally breaks down into a ratio of 30 percent to to appeal to smaller, more homogeneous audiences
70 percent between above-the-line costs (the costs of the must attract them through publicity generated by media
preproduction stage, producer, director, cast, screen coverage, festival screenings and awards, and audience
writer, and literary property from which the script was word of mouth.
developed) and below-the-line costs (the costs of the The mode of production determines how the ac
production and postproduction stages and the crew).13 tivities in this final phase of postproduction are ac
Categorizing costs according to where they are incurred complished. Under the studio system, in the days of
in the three stages of production is a change from the vertical integration, each studio or its parent company
studio-system method. controlled production, distribution, and exhibition. In
Costs also vary depending on whether union or non dependent producers, however, have never followed any
union labor is being used. In some cases, producers have single path in distributing films. A small producer with
little flexibility in this regard, but usually their hiring of out a distribution network has various options, which
personnel is open to negotiation within industry stan include renting the film to a studio (such as Paramount)
dards. Finally, we must always remember that no matter or to a producing organization (such as United Artists or
what approach is taken to making movies, movie-industry Miramax) that will distribute it. These larger firms can
accounting practices traditionally have been as creative also arrange for the film to be advertised and exhibited.
as, if not more creative than, the movies themselves. Deciding how and where to advertise, distribute, and
show a film is, like the filmmaking process itself, the
work of professionals. During the final weeks of post
Marketing and Distribution production, the people responsible for promotion and
marketing make a number of weighty decisions. They
After screening a movie’s answer print (the first com determine the release date (essential for planning and
bined print of the film, incorporating picture, sound, carrying out the advertising and other publicity neces
and special effects) for executives of the production sary to build an audience) and the number of screens
13. An excellent source of information on current budgeting practices is Deke Simon with Michael Wiese, Film and Video Budgets, 4th ed. (Studio City,
CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2006).
Table 11.3 | SUMMARY BUDGET FOR CASABLANCA
Subtotals Totals Grand Totals
DIRECT COSTS $638,222
Story $67,281
Story $20,000
Continuity and treatment (writers, secretaries, and script changes) $47,281
Direction $83,237
Director: Michael Curtiz $73,400
Assistant Director: Lee Katz $9,837
Producer: Hal Wallis $52,000
Cinematography $11,273
Camera operators and assistants $10,873
Camera rental and expenses $400
Cast $217,603
Cast salaries: talent under contract to studio, including Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, Paul Henreid, $69,867
and others
Cast salaries: outside talent, including Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Dooley Wilson, Peter Lorre, and others $91,717
Talent (extras, bits, etc.) $56,019
Musicians (musical score, arrangers, etc.) $28,000
Sound expenses $2,200
Sound operating salaries $8,000
Art department $8,846
Wardrobe expenses $22,320
Makeup, hairdressers, etc. $9,100
Electricians $20,755
Editors’ salaries $4,630
Special effects $7,475
Negative film stock $8,000
Developing and printing $10,500
Property labor $10,150
Construction of sets $18,000
S tandb y labor $15,350
Striking (dismantling sets and storing props) $7,000
Property rental and expenses $6,300
Electrical rental and expenses $750
Location expenses $1,252
Catering $1,200
Subtotals Totals Grand Totals
Auto rental expenses and travel $5,000
Insurance $2,800
Miscellaneous expenses $3,350
Trailer (preview) $2,000
Stills $850
Publicity $3,000
INDIRECT COSTS $239,778
General studio overhead (35%) $223,822
Depreciation (2.5%) $15,956
GRAND TOTAL COST (release negative) $878,000
Source: Adapted from Joel Finler, The Hollywood Story (New York: Crown, 1988), p. 39.
on which the film will make its debut. At the same time, aters. Such distribution practices are not yet proven to
they finalize domestic and foreign distribution rights and be economically or technically feasible and, in any event,
ancillary rights, contract with firms who make DVDs, are likely to throw the current method of theatrical dis
schedule screenings on airlines and cruise ships, and, for tribution into turmoil. For example, on-demand stream
certain kinds of films, arrange marketing tie-ins with fast- ing services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have
food chains, toy manufacturers, and so on. already begun to change when, how, and where we look
The model for distributing and exhibiting a movie at movies.
depends on the product itself. For example, there are Some or all of this activity is responsive to the volun
exclusive and limited releases (a first-run showing in tary movie rating system administered by the Motion
major cities, often used to gauge public response before Picture Association of America (MPAA), the trade asso
a wider release), key-city releases (a second-tier release ciation of the industry. Because the rating helps deter
that further measures public response), and wide and mine the marketing of a film and thus the potential size
saturated releases on hundreds or thousands of screens of its audience, it is very important. But ratings should
in the major markets as good reviews and word of mouth also tell parents all they need to know to make wise
build public awareness and demand. In addition, based choices about what their children see, and that’s where
on the mode of release, there are complex formulas for they fall short, especially with the PG-13 ratings. Such
establishing the rental cost of a print (or digital down films have increasing amounts of violence, profanity,
load), ticket prices, length of run, up-front guarantees, and nudity, factors that are often played down by the rat
and box office grosses. The latter do not reflect what a ing system. Since movies rated PG-13 appeal to a teenage
theater or studio earns, but rather what the public spends audience—especially boys, whose attendance is vital to
to see a film. What part of a movie’s gross goes to the their success at the box office—the rating language has
producers, investors, and those (directors, writers, ac become less useful (Table 11.4).
tors, etc.) who have a share of the gross included in their Once initial marketing and distribution decisions
contracts remains one of Hollywood’s most mysterious have been made, all that remains is to show the film to
dealings. the public, analyze the reviews in the media and the
In a further attempt to create new revenue streams box office receipts of the first weekend, and make what
for studios and new viewing options for consumers, ever changes are necessary in the distribution, advertis
Hollywood is planning to bring movies to homes at the ing, and exhibition strategies to ensure that the movie
same time (or close to it) that they are released in the will reach its targeted audience.
Table 11.4 | MPAA MOVIE-RATING SYSTEM
Rating Category Explanation
G: General Audience Nothing that would offend parents for viewing by children.
PG: Parental Guidance Suggested Parents urged to give “parental guidance.” May contain some material parents might not like for their young
children.
PG-13: Parents Strongly Cautioned Parents are urged to be cautious. Some material may be inappropriate for preteenagers.
R: Restricted Contains some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their young children
with them.
NC-17: No One 17 and under Admitted Clearly adult. Children are not admitted.
Source: From www.mpaa.org/film-ratings/ (accessed August 2014).
lion in the U.S. market. Of that total number of films, 139

Production in were produced by the major studios (19 percent) and 579
Hollywood Today (81 percent) by the independents, some of which are
subsidiaries of the majors. These figures alone show how
The production system in Hollywood today is an amal dramatically production has changed in Hollywood.14
gam of (1) a studio system that differs radically from that Because they dominate the international market, the
of the golden age described earlier and (2) independent major studios continue to define movie production in
production companies, many of which are “small pic the United States. When one of the smaller studios has
ture” or “prestige” (non-genre) divisions of the larger a larger corporate owner, the parent firm is usually the
studios. The term studio system no longer means what it distributor. In addition, countless independent produc
once did: a group of vertically integrated, meticulously ers must distribute their movies through the “big six”
organized factories that employ large numbers of con studios if they want the largest possible audience and
tract employees in the creative arts and crafts. Today the maximum profits on their investments.15
there is no “system,” and the studios exist to make and To get a better sense of how this arrangement works
release movies, one at a time. In addition, now that al today, consider Table 11.6, which shows how the nine
most every studio has its own prestige “indie” division, Oscar nominees for Best Picture of 2016 were produced
very few producers are truly independent. and released. All nine involved multiple coproduction
As Table 11.5 shows, there are currently six major stu deals, and three were released by major studios: Arrival,
dios in the United States, as well as four independent Fences, and Hidden Figures. In one way or another, the
producers that are referred to in Hollywood as mini- major studios kept control of the box office.
majors. The best known of these mini-majors are Lions Today, with its reorganization into a production sys
gate and Lantern Entertainment (formerly The Weinstein tem dominated by independent producers and its on
Company). There are, in addition, many other indepen going conversion to digital technology, Hollywood is in
dent producers too numerous to list. In terms of numbers a strong position to face the future. But television is at
of films and earning power, the mini-majors and other tracting new audiences with programs of content that ri
independents have become more important than the ma val Hollywood in sophistication, violence, and previously
jor studios. Altogether in 2016 (the latest year for which untouched subjects. The traditional networks and cable
definitive information is available), these three groups companies have been joined in such production by Net
released 718 theatrical movies that grossed $11.4 bil flix and Amazon. In addition, new delivery systems have
14. Data from https://www.mpaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2016_Final-1.pdf (accessed January 15, 2018).

15. Benjamin M. Compaine and Douglas Gomery, Who Owns the Media: Competition and Concentration in the Mass Media Industry, 3rd ed.
(Mahwah, N.J.: Erlbaum, 2000), p. 373.
Table 11.5 | HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS AND INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION COMPANIES TODAY
Major Studio Owner Independent Production Companies Owned by Studio
20th Century Fox 21st Century Fox Blue Sky Studios, Fox Searchlight Pictures
Columbia Pictures Sony Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Animation, Sony Pictures Classics
Paramount Pictures Viacom
Universal Pictures Comcast DreamWorks Animation, Focus Features, Illumination Entertainment, Working Title Films
Disneynature, DisneyToon Studios, Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios, Pixar, Walt Disney

Walt Disney Pictures The Walt Disney Company Animation Studios
Warner Bros. Pictures Time Warner New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Animation
Mini-Major Production Companies
Lionsgate Films Lionsgate Summit Entertainment
Open Road Films Tang Media Partners
STXfilms STX Entertainment
The Weinstein Company Bob Weinstein Dimension Films
Table 11.6 | PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION DATA FOR THE 2016 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST PICTURE
Number of
Coproduction
Title Producers* Companies U.S. Distributors
Arrival Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Ryder, David Linde 3 Paramount Pictures
Fences Todd Black, Scott Rudin, Denzel Washington 5 Paramount Pictures
Bill Mechanic, David Permut, Terry Benedict, Paul Currie, Bruce Davey,
Hacksaw Ridge 5 Summit Entertainment
Brian Oliver, William D. Johnson
Hell or High Water Sidney Kimmel, Peter Berg, Carla Hacken, Julie Yorn 4 CBS Films
Donna Gigliotti, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Pharrell Williams,

Hidden Figures 3 20th Century Fox
Theodore Melfi
La La Land Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz, Gary Gilbert, Marc Platt 6 Summit Entertainment
Lion Iain Canning, Angie Fielder, Emile Sherman 5 The Weinstein Company
Matt Damon, Kimberly Steward, Chris Moore, Kevin J. Walsh,

Manchester by the Sea 7 Roadside Attractions, Amazon Studios
Lauren Beck
Moonlight Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner 3 A24
*Names recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for legal and award purposes.
been developed for both movie and television content, stay. In 2010, Avatar (2009; director James Cameron),
including streaming video and renting movies on de Toy Story 3 (2010; director Lee Unkrich), and Alice in
mand. These systems are sure to negatively affect DVD Wonderland (2010; director Tim Burton) helped 3-D
and Blu-ray sales. While formats remain the same, it’s movies capture 21 percent of box office sales in North
still an open question whether 3-D movies are here to America. By 2016, revenue drawn by 3-D movies had
shrunk to just 14 percent of total ticket sales. When 3-D list below. Of the ten non-franchise films on this list, two
was first introduced, some industry analysts predicted are remakes (Beauty and the Beast and It), and one is a
the technology might be applied to almost all industry sequel (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle). Only seven are
output. Today, 3-D is primarily reserved for major an entirely self-contained stories.
imated children’s films and big-budget science-fiction
and action spectacles.16 1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
As the following discussion shows, Hollywood is also 2. Beauty and the Beast
facing other challenges: new sources of production and
3. Wonder Woman
distribution, the importance of movie franchises to the
whole equation, new movie content, shifting demograph 4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
ics in audiences, and new delivery systems. 5. Spider-Man: Homecoming
6. It
Audience Demographics 7. Thor: Ragnarok
While Hollywood is aggressively planning its future in 8. Despicable Me 3
various ways, it must also be able to attract a broad au 9. Logan
dience globally as well as in the United States. The 2016
10. The Fate of the Furious
U.S. box office of $11.4 billion was up 2 percent over that
of 2015; 3-D box office was down 8 percent from the pre 11. Justice League
vious year. More women (52 percent) than men went to 12. Dunkirk
the movies, and the overall demographic composition
13. Coco
was 59 percent white, 20 percent Hispanic, 12 percent
African American, and 9 percent composed of Asian 14. The LEGO Batman Movie
Americans and others. The largest share of the audience 15. Get Out
was in two groups: 18- to 24-year-olds and 25- to 39-year- 16. The Boss Baby
olds, with shrinking figures in the 40- to 49-year-old age
17. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell
group. Of the five top-grossing films of 2016, three of the
No Tales
more family-friendly features attracted more female au
dience members, while two more action-oriented films, 18. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Captain America: Civil 19. Kong: Skull Island
War, attracted primarily male audience members. Fig
20. Cars 3
ures such as these play an incalculable role in planning
and making movies. 21. War for the Planet of the Apes
22. Split
23. Transformers: The Last Knight
Franchises
24. Wonder
A franchise offers a fertile if not always fresh source of
content. Literally, a movie franchise involves the licens 25. Girls Trip
ing of an original work to others, such as the licensing of
J. K. Rowling’s fantasy novels to Warner Bros. studios, The movie franchise is almost as old as the movies
which then produced a series of (so far) seven Harry themselves. When a movie featuring a certain type of
Potter films and two Fantastic Beasts movies. Fifteen of character or story is successful, Hollywood seeks to re
the twenty-five top-grossing films of 2017 in the United peat that success with as many sequels as the market will
States were in this category, as indicated in bold in the bear. For example, when the first Tarzan film attracted a
16. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/is-golden-age-3d-officially-1025843 (accessed January 15, 2018).

large audience in 1918, a sequel was rushed into produc Other studios have attempted to follow Marvel’s ex
tion and came out the same year. Three additional Tar ample, notably Warner Bros., owner of the rights to Mar
zan films were released in the next three years. And it’s vel’s rival, DC Comics. A “DC Cinematic Universe” was
not over yet; the most recent Tarzan film (Tarzan of the launched with Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel (2013). The
Jungle; director David Yates) was released in 2016. studio has had varying levels of success with follow-ups:
Among the most long-lasting and successful of Holly Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
wood franchises, both live action and animation, are the (2016), David Ayer’s Suicide Squad (2016), Patty Jen
Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings movies, as kins’s Wonder Woman (2017), and Snyder’s Justice League
well as those featuring (in various guises, settings, and (2017). In addition, Warner Bros. is currently coproduc
plots) characters such as James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, ing a different “universe” of films alongside Legendary
Batman, Shrek, Wolverine, Captain Jack Sparrow, vari Pictures; dubbed the “MonsterVerse,” the films revolve
ous vampires and zombies (in the Twilight and Resident around the famous movie monsters Godzilla and King
Evil series), the indestructible policeman John McClane Kong. Installments include Gareth Edwards’s Godzilla
of the Die Hard films, and animals such as Lassie and (2014), Jordan Vogt-Roberts’s Kong: Skull Island (2016),
Beethoven. Movie franchises tap into the same audience and the upcoming Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019).
preferences that propel TV franchises such as Game of Plans are currently in place for the fourth film to pit
Thrones and Stranger Things. Viewers enjoy following Godzilla and Kong against each other.
the development of a particular story and cast of charac Universal’s “Dark Universe” represents a less suc
ters over a long course of time. cessful franchise effort. The studio attempted to develop
One such franchise is the X-Men series from 20th Cen an entire expanded series of films, each of which would
tury Fox, which is based around the titular Marvel Com feature a monster from the studio’s acclaimed horror
ics characters. At this writing, the series includes X-Men franchises from the 1930s and 1940s. However, the fran
(2000), X2 (2003; both directed by Bryan Singer), X-Men: chise’s inaugural release, Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy
The Last Stand (2006; director Brett Ratner), X-Men: Ori (2017), was critically panned and lost money, leaving the
gins: Wolverine (2009; director Gavin Hood), X-Men: future of this particular “universe” uncertain.
First Class (2011; director Matthew Vaughn), The Wol- The animated series Despicable Me, which includes
verine (2013; director James Mangold); X-Men: Days a film trilogy as well as the spin-off film Minions (2015),
of Future Past (2014; director Bryan Singer), Deadpool is another notable contemporary franchise. All four films
(2016; director Tim Miller), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016; have been tremendous box office successes, with Despi-
director Bryan Singer), Logan (2017; director James cable Me 3 (2017) and Minions each grossing more than
Mangold), and The New Mutants (2018; director Josh $1 billion worldwide. The four films combined have
Boone). earned more money than any other animated film fran
In the wake of the success of Twentieth Century Fox’s chise in history.
X-Men series, Marvel Entertainment (formerly Marvel James Cameron’s 3-D science-fiction spectacle Ava-
Comics) launched a franchise based on character rights tar (2009) is the best-selling movie in history, but it has
the company still retained. The franchise, known as the yet to launch a franchise. But fear not: Cameron plans
Marvel Cinematic Universe, is composed of multiple four successive Avatar movies to be released between
film series that take place in the same narrative and cin 2020 and 2025. Its producers can only predict box office
ematic world. Individual trilogies exist for characters numbers at this point, but much is riding on this proj
such as Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, yet these ect’s success.
characters often appear in one another’s films, the stories
of which maintain a shared narrative continuity. The
Marvel Cinematic Universe is the highest-grossing fran LGBT Movies
chise in history. Seventeen films have been released as Recent years have seen an increased prominence for
of 2017, as have multiple television series; seven more LGBT cinema, as attitudes about queer, genderqueer,
films are currently in development. Disney took control and transgender individuals continue to change around
of the project following its acquisition of Marvel in 2009. the globe. Although Todd Haynes’s critically acclaimed
film Carol (2015), a romance about two women in 1950s Theodore Melfi), Loving (2016; director Jeff Nichols),
New York, was denied nominations for Best Picture and and Moonlight (2016; director Barry Jenkins) for various
Best Director at the 88th Academy Awards (to some con awards; Moonlight became the first film with an all-black
troversy), the next year saw Moonlight (2016; director cast to win the Oscar for Best Picture.
Barry Jenkins), a rare film dealing with homosexuality F. Gary Gray’s The Fate of the Furious (2017) and Ryan
and black masculinity, achieve a surprise win for Best Coogler’s Black Panther (2018) have brought African
Picture, making it the first LGBT-themed film to win the American directors into the blockbuster franchise field.
prestigious award. A Wrinkle in Time (2018) made Ava DuVernay the first
Other noteworthy films of the past few years include woman of color to direct a feature film with a budget of
Tom Hooper’s The Danish Girl (2015), about transgen more than $100 million.
der artist Lili Elbe, Park Chan-wook’s erotic thriller The
Handmaiden (2016), Robin Campillo’s 2017 AIDS drama
BPM (Beats per Minute), and the romantic dramas Call
Me by Your Name (2017; director Luca Guadagnino) and Foreign Influences on
God’s Own Country (2017; director Francis Lee). Hollywood Films
Of the $38.6 billion global box office in 2017, 71 percent
came from foreign audiences, among which China was
African American Movies the largest. Hollywood faces a great challenge to make
In the first decade of the new century, an increasing movies that will continue to sell to these audiences. Stu
number of African American movies were released. Their dios try to enhance the appeal of their movies in various
stories, cast, and crew reflect a continuingly growing di ways by collaborating with local producers, hiring more
versity of race, gender, and background. foreign actors in blockbusters, rewriting scripts to en
The blockbuster franchises featuring black stories hance a story’s global appeal, and concentrating on pro
and characters include Michael Bay’s Bad Boys films ducing action movies that are the most successful.
(1995, 2003), Barry Sonnenfeld’s Men in Black series Toward this end, we have recently seen a surge of
(1997, 2002), Brett Ratner’s Rush Hour franchise (1998, multinational productions in which the United States
2001, 2007), and the nine films in Tyler Perry’s Madea shares financing with China, Germany, Britain, or France.
franchise (2005–13). These movies, which are truly international in story and
Other notable films in this period were Jim Sheri casting as well as financing and distribution, include
dan’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2008), Lee Daniels’s Pre- blockbusters like Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014;
cious (2009) as well as The Butler and The Paperboy director Michael Bay), The Great Wall (2017; director
(both 2012), Tate Taylor’s The Help (2011), Joshua Bee Zhang Yimou) and Kong: Skull Island (2017), and pres
Alafia’s Let’s Stay Together (2011), Quentin Tarantino’s tige dramas such as Lion (2016; director Garth Davis)
Django Unchained (2012), Tim Story’s Think Like a Man and Dunkirk (2017). These examples and other multi
(2012), Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), national productions are engineered to appeal to global
Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave (2013), Ryan Coogler’s audiences.
Fruitvale Station (2013), Creed (2015), and Black Panther
(2018), Justin Chadwick’s Mandela: Long Walk to Free-
dom (2013), Ava DuVernay’s Selma (2014), and F. Gary
Gray’s Straight Outta Compton (2015). Looking at the Future of
Following criticisms of the lack of diversity in the the Film Industry
filmmakers and films nominated for the 87th and 88th Among the major U.S. industries—including manufac
Academy Awards, Hollywood has seen increased recog turing, banking, chemicals, mining, utilities, and health
nition for films starring and/or made by African Amer care—one of the most resilient is the entertainment in
icans over the past several years. At the 89th Academy dustry (particularly the movies). Since the founding of
Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sci this industry in the early years of the twentieth century,
ences nominated such films as Fences (2016; director film studios have opened and closed, and creative talent
Denzel Washington), Hidden Figures (2016; director has come and gone. But the production of movies has
never stopped, although it slowed considerably during stay home to watch movies on television and shun the
World War II. Unlike the car manufacturing or banking theaters; they were partly right and partly wrong. The
industries, the movies have avoided large-scale govern tales of gloom and doom go on.
ment surveillance, takeovers, and bailouts. Hollywood So what happened to all these predictions? While a
realized early in the 1930s that self-regulation through significant number of blockbusters failed, the studios
various but relatively ineffective ratings systems was continued to make them and to be unfazed by such co
better than government censorship, no matter what it lossal wrecks as Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four (2015),
was called. Because the movie industry is continually Gore Verbinski’s A Cure for Wellness (2016), and Guy
adapting to new technological and market forces, be Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017). There
cause it enjoys a high rate of consumer satisfaction, and always have been, and always will be, big-budget stum
because its profits (despite its voodoo accounting meth bles. The studios know that the blockbuster strategy
ods) please its investors, it remains a significant part of works. And, as for digital technology, the fast-paced con
the U.S. industrial economy. version continues without any studio or theater chains
We know that today’s movie industry is more con going bankrupt or out of business. The cinema, in this
cerned with explosions. Moviegoers are seeing more dig country and around the world, is neither dying nor dead.
ital demolition per movie than ever before. But director Hollywood is sticking with the two strategies that work
Steven Spielberg recently warned that the failure of six or most effectively—producing blockbusters and mov
so $250 million movies would cause an implosion—a vi ies that are part of a successful franchise. But it is also
olent inward collapse—that could alter the industry for producing the kind of carefully budgeted, star-driven
ever. Director George Lucas agreed that the film industry movie that many say isn’t being made anymore, such as
is going through a period of extraordinary turmoil, and David Mackenzie’s Hell or High Water (2017), as well as
he predicted a virtual trifecta of doom: fewer films would a healthy list of art house movies, such as Darren Aro
be released and they would stay in theaters longer (about nofsky’s Mother! (2017). A film critic for the Wall Street
a year), and ticket prices would be much higher. Books Journal says, “The future for films of quality is break
appeared with titles like Do the Movies Have a Future? ing good.”17 Large capital investments are ensuring a
(2012) and Film after Film: Or, What Became of 21st Cen- steady digital conversion. Enrollments in film produc
tury Cinema? (2012). tion schools have never been higher, and we are seeing a
People have been predicting the death of the film in growing list of new directors including Sean Baker, Ryan
dustry for as long as it has existed. Of all the major indus Coogler, Ava DuVernay, Greta Gerwig, Barry Jenkins,
tries, it is probably the one most vulnerable to the ups and Dee Rees.
and downs created by technological changes, particu Statistics support this careful, optimistic outlook.18
larly the rapid development of alternative digital means In 2016 (the last year for which authoritative figures are
of getting the movie to the viewer; available financing for available), U.S. box office income was up, thanks to in
production; and unpredictable customer tastes. When creased ticket prices, while admissions remained steady.
sound came in, industry analysts predicted that theater More than two-thirds of the population went to the
owners would go broke in refitting their theaters with movies at least once in that year. Attendance was higher
new projectors and sound systems; they were wrong. for most age groups, and 25- to 39-year-olds, the most
The advent of color caused die-hard traditionalists to active movie-viewing demographic, accounted for 24 per
argue that movies were supposed to be made in black cent of tickets sold.
and white. Depending on your preferences, they may Because the movie industry is driven by the box of
have been right; depending on the creative opportunities fice numbers, the following analysis of the twenty-five
afforded by shooting on color film stock (as a contrast to top-grossing movies of 2017 (see the list of movies on
black and white), they were completely correct. When p. 436) will provide a good idea of what U.S. audiences
television came in, analysts predicted that people would were seeing.
17. Joe Morgenstern, “In Defense of the Movies,” Wall Street Journal (September 20, 2013), sec. D1, p. 1.
18. https://www.mpaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2016_Final-1.pdf (accessed January 16, 2018).
Overall, twenty (80 percent) of these twenty-five Loveless (Andrey Zvyagintsev; Russia, France,
movies were live-action features; five were animated Germany, and Belgium)
features.
Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan; U.K., Netherlands,
• Thirteen movies (52 percent) were in the
France, and USA) tied with The Florida Project
action/adventure genre.
(Sean Baker; USA)
• Thirteen (52 percent) were in the action/
adventure genre with some secondary overlap A Ghost Story (David Lowery; USA)
in one or more of the following genres: comedy,
drama, fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, and crime. Lady Macbeth (William Oldroyd; U.K.) tied with
• One (4 percent) was a comedy. 120 BPM (Robin Campillo; France) and You Were
• One (4 percent) was a drama. Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay; U.K., France,
and USA)
• One (4 percent) was a history film.
• Three (12 percent) were horror movies. God’s Own Country (Francis Lee; U.K.)
Percentages of total by rating: Personal Shopper (Olivier Assayas; France, Germany,
• One (4 percent) was rated G. Czech Republic, and Belgium) tied with The Shape
• Six (24 percent) were rated PG. of Water (Guillermo del Toro; USA and Canada) and
Strong Island (Yance Ford; USA and Denmark)
• Fourteen (56 percent) were rated PG-13.
• Four (16 percent) were rated R. I Am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck; Switzerland,
France, Belgium, and USA) tied with Lady Bird
Fifteen (60 percent) of the total twenty-five movies (Greta Gerwig; USA), Let the Sunshine In (Claire
were part of a franchise series.
Denis; France and Belgium), Moonlight (Barry
Seven (12 percent) of the total twenty-five movies Jenkins; USA), Mother! (Darren Aronofsky; USA),
were based on a comic book. and Mudbound (Dee Rees; USA)
The movies in this list offer plenty of good entertain The Other Side of Hope (Aki Kaurismäki; Finland,
ment for all ages. But there are other movies in all and Germany) tied with Silence (Martin Scorsese;
genres, from all parts of the world, that help us to track USA, Mexico, and Taiwan)
other trends in contemporary film production. For
example, the annual international poll conducted by By comparing this list of favorites, based on an interna
Sight & Sound, the international film magazine, pro tional poll, with the list of the twenty-five top-grossing
duced the following list of the best films of 2017 (with movies in the United States, you will see that there is
director and countries of production): only a small amount of overlap: only Get Out and Dunkirk
were both international favorites and among the U.S. top-
Get Out (Jordan Peele; USA and Japan) grossing films. Many critically acclaimed films are theat
Twin Peaks: The Return (David Lynch; U.S.) rically distributed in limited areas and never reach large
audiences. In the past, discerning movie lovers outside
Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino; Italy, of large cities might never see or even hear about these
France, Brazil, and U.S.) important and worthy films. But, thanks to the Internet,
Zama (Lucrecia Martel; Argentina and others) viewers now have new ways to read about, research, and
watch these and other high-quality movies. In addition to
Western (Valeska Grisebach; Germany, Bulgaria, online DVD and Blu-ray sales and major video streaming
and Austria) and disc rental companies such as Netflix, curated sites
and services such as FilmStruck and Kanopy offer large
Faces Places (JR/Agnès Varda; France)
catalogs of new releases, as well as classic and cult films,
Good Time (Benny Safdie/Josh Safdie; U.S.) to anyone willing to pay the subscription fee.
Analyzing How the Movies Are Made 441
ANALYZING HOW THE MOVIES ARE MADE
Understanding and appreciating what can, and has conventions of moviemaking. But even Citizen Kane,
been, achieved in a particular movie is closely linked revolutionary as it was, has its weaknesses. Take,
to understanding the technology and production sys- for example, the special effects used throughout the
tems that existed at the time it was made. Major— movie. Although the effects represent the state of
sometimes revolutionary—advances in technology the art in 1940, they are not seamlessly integrated
and production systems (the how and where movies into the images and so, in contrast to what we see
are made) have generally been made when a direc- today, are clumsy. Understanding what could (and
tor or producer asks for a stylistic effect for which could not) be achieved at a particular time in film his-
neither technique nor technology currently exist. tory helps us to understand the current state of film
Sometimes, the response is “That’s impossible” or art and the opportunities (and limitations) available
“That’s not the way we do things here.” Fortunately, to filmmakers. Keeping this perspective is vital today
though, such requests throw down challenges to as we watch the film industry making its first steps
the artists and technicians working on the movie. toward what most experts agree will be an almost
For example, even though Orson Welles had never total conversion to digital technologies. Yesterday’s
made a movie before Citizen Kane, he knew what movies are being digitally remastered to restore the
he wanted and was sufficiently enthusiastic and visual depth and sparkle of the original 35mm prints,
persuasive to convince his crew to improve existing and while those movies today that are being shot
technologies (e.g., in deep-focus cinematography) digitally do not necessarily improve the image, they
or invent new ones (e.g., in sound recording). The are challenging our visual perception and thus the
result, of course, radically changed the prevailing way we look at movies.
SCREENING CHECKLIST: HOW THE MOVIES ARE MADE

In studying a particular movie, learn as much as movie by one studio that was produced near
you can about the prevailing cinematic conven- the beginning of that studio’s history, and then
tions and state of the filmmaking art at the time compare it to another made more recently.
it was made. In particular, do some research on From this comparative viewing, what can you
the major creative personnel to determine if any say about how and to what extent that studio
of them are known for particular innovations. For has changed from its beginnings?
example, if you are studying the influence of
An interesting way to gain insight into the pro-
F. W. Murnau’s Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans duction of an independent movie is to examine
(1927) on Hollywood conventions, it’s impor its financing, particularly the nature and invest-
tant to know his key role in the development of ment of each producer and/or production com-
the German Expressionist film as well as his pany. This and other related information can be
pioneering use of the moving camera. found in such publications as the Wall Street
Movies made during the height of the studio Journal, Variety, and the Hollywood Reporter
system in Hollywood and those made in the in- as well as online at IMDbPro (https://www.pro
dependent system that followed are often quite .imdb.com). From this information, you can see
similar in their look. However, the studio system the hierarchy of financial influences behind the
had some space for mavericks, the independent film and pose questions about how they might
system relies heavily on traditional methods have affected the movie’s content and form.
of moviemaking, and the production system in
The conversion to digital technology is a key fac
place today is very much a hybrid of the two. In tor in the overall future of the production, distribu
studying a movie, try to determine how much tion, and exhibition systems of the international
the production system affected its production. film industry. As such, a study of the challenges,
You might, for example, examine such related costs, and implications of just one of these areas
aspects as design, lighting, and cinematography. is an excellent subject for your further study, per-
Today we have six major studios (all carryovers haps even a term paper. One way to look at this
from the golden age) as well as four “mini-major” phenomenon is in the context of the conversion
production companies. Take a close look at a to sound in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

1. What are the key technological milestones that laid 7. In what major ways does the independent system
the foundation for the invention of the movies? differ from the studio system?
2. How do the two filmmaking technologies—film and 8. What are the principal activities in each of the three
digital—differ from each other? basic phases of making a movie: preproduction,
3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of film and production, and postproduction?
digital technology? 9. How is a movie financed, and why are today’s
4. Why are some filmmakers less than enthusiastic movies so expensive to make?
about digital technology? 10. How are movies marketed and distributed? Have
5. What are the challenges and benefits involved in these aspects changed between the studio and
converting the film industry to digital technology in independent systems?
the areas of production, distribution, and exhibition? 11. Who were three major Hollywood producers (choose
6. How was the studio system organized in the golden from both the studio and independent systems),
age, and what factors contributed to its decline? and what are the similarities among them?
GLOSSARY
A previously and by different sources, including radio broadcasts, news

AC See assistant cameraperson. footage, historical photographs, official documents, and home movies.
ADR See automatic dialogue replacement. art director The person responsible for transforming the production
designer’s vision into a reality on the screen, assessing the staging
additive color systems In early filmmaking, techniques used to add
requirements for a production, and arranging for and supervising
color to black-and-white images, including hand-coloring, stencil-
the work of members of the art department.
ing, tinting, and toning. Compare subtractive color systems.
aerial-view shot See bird’s-eye-view shot. art house A movie theater featuring independent or foreign mov-
ies that appeal to small, discerning audiences. While the term is
alienation effect Also known as distancing effect. A psychological dis-
somewhat outdated, it frequently appears in industry business
tance between audience and stage for which, according to German
publications.
playwright Bertolt Brecht, every aspect of a theatrical production
should strive, by limiting the audience’s identification with charac-
aspect ratio The relationship between the frame’s two dimensions:
the width of the image related to its height.
ters and events.
ambient sound Sound that seems to the viewer to emanate from assistant cameraperson (AC) Member of the camera crew who assists
the camera operator. The first AC oversees everything having to do
the ambience (background) of the setting or environment being
with the camera, lenses, supporting equipment, and the material
filmed. Ambient sound is almost always added or enhanced during
on which the movie is being shot. The second AC prepares the slate
postproduction.
that is used to identify each scene as it is being filmed, files cam-
American shot See medium long shot.
era reports, and is responsible for moving the camera to each new
amplitude The degree of motion of air (or other medium) within
setup.
a sound wave. The greater the amplitude of the sound wave, the
associate (or assistant) producer Person charged with carrying out
harder it strikes the eardrum, and thus the louder the sound. Com-
specific responsibilities assigned by the producer, executive pro-
pare loudness.
ducer, or line producer.
analog When shot using film stock, film is an analog medium in which
associative editing Also known as intellectual editing. An editing
the camera creates an image by recording through a camera lens the
technique in which contrasting or incongruent images are inserted
original light given off by the subject and stores this image on a roll
into a scene or sequence to create juxtapositions that imply a the-
of negative film stock. Opposite of digital.
matic relationship between the content of the paired images.
animated film Drawings or other graphical images placed in a series
asynchronous sound Sound that comes from a source apparent in
photography–like sequence to portray movement. Before computer
the image but is not precisely matched temporally with the actions
graphics technology, the basic type of animated film was created
occurring in that image.
through drawing.
auteurism A film theory based on the idea that the director is the
animatic A video that is produced by sequencing storyboard im-
sole “author” of a movie. The application of auteurism frequently
ages and adding sound; it is used during previsualization to help
takes two forms: a judgment of the whole body of a film director’s
filmmakers envision how planned shots will function in an edited
work (not individual films) based on style, and a classification of
sequence.
great directors based on a hierarchy of directorial styles.
animatronics A mechanized puppet programmed or remotely con-
automatic dialogue replacement (ADR) Also known as looping. A
trolled by computers or humans. Existing before digital special ef-
postproduction process that is used to replace dialogue compro-
fects, it is used to create human figures or animals that do not exist
mised by intrusive sounds or other on-set recording problems.
and action that is too risky for real actors or animals or too fantastic
Actors perform new dialogue in a recording studio while watching
to be possible in real life.
looped (repeating) footage of the moment in question.
antagonist The character, creature, or force that obstructs or resists
avant-garde film See experimental film.
the protagonist’s pursuit of her or his goal. Compare protagonist.
axis of action An imaginary line connecting two interacting figures
antihero An outwardly unsympathetic protagonist pursuing a mor-
in a scene that defines the 180-degree space within which the cam-
ally objectionable or otherwise undesirable goal.
era can record shots of those figures. See 180-degree rule.
antirealism A treatment that is against or the opposite of realism.
However, realism and antirealism (like realism and fantasy) are not
strict polarities. Compare realism. B
aperture The opening in an iris through which light passes to fall backlight Also known as rim light. Lighting positioned behind the
upon the camera film or sensor. See iris. subject and the camera, used to create highlights on the subject as
archival material Preexisting images or sound that is incorporated a means of separating it from the background. When the subject
into a documentary film. This material can be any media captured is positioned directly between the backlight and the camera, the
444 Glossary
subject is thrown into silhouette. Using shadows to eliminate recog- acted on. Characters can be flat or round; major, minor, or marginal;
nizable surface detail abstracts the character, which can make him protagonists or antagonists.
or her (or it) more frightening or impressive, depending on the con- characterization The process of developing a character in a movie.
text of the story at that moment. Characterization is the collaborative result of the creative efforts of
backlighting A technique that depicts the subject as a silhouette by the actor, the screenwriter, and the director.
using a backlight as the sole light source. character role An actor’s part that represents a distinctive character
backstory A fictional history behind the cinematic narrative that is type (sometimes a stereotype).
presented on-screen. Elements of the backstory can be hinted at in a chiaroscuro The use of deep gradations and subtle variations of
movie, presented through narration, or not revealed at all. lights and darks within an image.
best boy First assistant electrician to the gaffer on a movie produc- chronophotographic gun See revolver photographique.
tion set. cinéma vérité See direct cinema.
bird’s-eye-view shot Also known as aerial-view shot. An extreme high cinematic conventions Accepted systems, methods, or customs by
angle shot that is typically taken from a crane, drone, or aircraft. which movies communicate. Cinematic conventions are flexible; they
bit player An actor who holds a small speaking part. are not “rules.”
Black Maria The first movie studio—a relatively small shack in which cinematic language The systems, methods, or conventions by which
Thomas Edison and his staff began making movies. The Black Maria the movies communicate with the viewer.
had a retractable roof and was built on a large turntable that allowed cinematic time The passage of time within a movie, as conveyed and
it to be turned to face the sun. manipulated by editing. Compare real time.
blimp A soundproofed enclosure somewhat larger than a camera, cinematography The process of lighting, framing, and capturing mov
in which the camera may be mounted to prevent its sounds from ing Images on film stock or a digital medium.
reaching the microphone. classical cutting Editing decisions made for dramatic emphasis.
blockbuster A movie that, whatever its cost, has exceptionally large climax The highest point of conflict in a conventional narrative; the
box office receipts. moment of the protagonist’s ultimate attempt to attain the goal by
blocking The actual physical relationships among figures and overcoming the final obstacle. Compare crisis.
settings. Also, the process during rehearsal of establishing those closed frame An approach to framing a shot that implies that neither
relationships. characters nor objects may enter or leave the frame, rendering them
boom A pole-like mechanical device used to position the microphone hemmed in and constrained. Compare to open frame.
outside the camera frame, but as close as possible to speaking actors. close-up (CU) A shot that often shows a part of the body filling the
b-roll Documentary footage of subjects in action and events as they frame—traditionally a face, but possibly a hand, eye, or mouth.
unfold. codec A computer program that encodes and decodes data captured
by a digital camera. Codecs compress information into manageably
C sized files for editing and viewing.
cameo A small but significant role often played by a famous actor. color As related to sound, see quality.
camera angle The level and height of the camera in relation to the color grading In postproduction, the process of altering and enhanc-
subject being photographed. ing the color of a motion picture (or video or still image) using elec-
camera crew Technicians that make up two separate groups: one tronic, photochemical, or digital techniques.
concerned with the camera, and the other concerned with electric- colorization The use of digital technology to “paint” colors on
ity and lighting. movies meant to be seen in black and white; a process similar to
camera obscura Literally, “dark chamber.” A box (or a room where hand-tinting.
a viewer stands), in which light entering (originally through a tiny color temperature The variations of light wavelengths emitted by
hole, later through a lens) on one side of it projects an image from different light sources. These wavelengths register as different col-
the outside onto the opposite side or wall. ors when captured on film or digital video.
camera operator The member of the production crew who operates composition The organization, distribution, balance, and general
the camera under the supervision of the director of photography. relationship of stationary objects and figures—as well as of light,
casting The process of choosing and hiring actors for a movie. shade, line, and color—within the frame.
catalyst See inciting incident. compositional stress Mood or meaning created by intentionally
causality The relationship between cause and effect. Compare framing subjects and objects in a way that denies viewer expecta-
narrative. tions of balanced composition.
celluloid roll film Also known as motion-picture film or raw film computer-generated imagery (CGI) The application of computer
stock. A material for filming that consists of long strips of perforated graphics to create images, backgrounds, animated characters, and
cellulose acetate on which a rapid succession of frames can be re- special effects.
corded. One side of the strip is layered with an emulsion consisting content The subject of an artwork. Compare form.
of light-sensitive crystals and dyes, and the other side is covered content curve A concept that considers and applies the interplay
with a backing that reduces reflections. Each side of the strip is between the information presented in a shot and the time needed
perforated with sprocket holes that facilitate the movement of the for a viewer to comprehend that information.
stock through the sprocket wheels of the camera, the processor, and continuity editing A style of editing that seeks to achieve logic, smooth-
the projector. ness, sequential flow, and the temporal and spatial orientation of
character An essential element of film narrative; any of the beings viewers to what they see on the screen. Compare discontinuity
who play functional roles within the plot, either acting or being editing.
Glossary 445
costumes The clothing worn by an actor in a movie; sometimes called diegetic element An element—event, character, object, setting, and
wardrobe. sound—that helps form the world in which the story occurs. Com-
cover shot See master shot. pare nondiegetic element.
coverage The use of a variety of shots of a scene—taken from multiple diegetic sound Sound that originates from a source within a film’s
angles, distances, and perspectives—to provide the director and edi- world. Compare nondiegetic sound.
tor a greater choice of editing options during postproduction. digital An electronic process that creates its images through a num-
crane shot A shot that is created by movement of a camera mounted bered system of pixels (which can be thought of as the binary num-
on an elevating arm (crane) that in turn is mounted on a vehicle bers 0 and 1) that are stored on a memory card or a computer hard
that, if shooting requires it, can move on its own power or be pushed drive. Opposite of analog.
along tracks. digital animation Also known as computer animation. Animation
crisis A critical turning point in a story when the protagonist must that employs computer software to create the images used in the
engage a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. animation process (as opposed to analog techniques that rely on
crosscutting Also called parallel editing. Editing that cuts between stop-motion photography, hand-drawn cells, etc.).
two or more lines of action, often implied to be occurring at the digital imaging technician (DIT) Working in collaboration with the
same time but in different locations. cinematographer, during production the DIT is responsible for man
CU See close-up. aging media capture that will result in the highest image quality.
cut 1. the act of an editor selecting an in point and an out point of a direct address narration A form of narration in which an on-screen
shot as part of the editing process; 2. a direct change from one shot character looks and speaks directly to the audience.
to another as a result of cutting; that is, the precise point at which direct cinema A documentary filmmaking movement originating in
shot A ends and shot B begins; 3. an edited version of a scene or film, the late 1950’s and early 1960’s that pioneered an observational ap-
as in a “rough cut”. proach to nonfiction filmmaking. See observational documentary.
cutting In a process that predated digital editing, editors used scis- director The person who determines and realizes on the screen an ar-
sors or a devise known as a splicer to cut shots out of a roll of film tistic vision of the screenplay; casts the actors and directs their per-
before joining them together with glue to form a continuous whole. formances; works closely with the production design in creating the
Also, a general term for the editing process. look of the film, including the choice of locations; oversees the work
cutting on action Also known as match-on-action cut. A continuity of the cinematographer and other key production personnel; and in
editing technique that smooths the transition between shots portray- most cases, supervises all postproduction activity, especially editing.
ing a single action from different camera angles. The editor ends the discontinuity editing A style of editing (less widely used than con-
first shot in the middle of a continuing action and begins the subse- tinuity editing, and often but not exclusively used in experimental
quent shot at approximately the same point in the matching action. films) that joins shots A and B in ways that upset the viewer’s expec-
tations and cause momentary disorientation or confusion. The jux-
D taposition of shots in films edited for discontinuity can often seem
dailies Also known as rushes. Usually, synchronized picture/sound abrupt and unmotivated, but the meanings that arise from such dis-
work prints of a day’s shooting that can be studied by the director, cordant editing often transcend the meanings of the individual shots
editor, and other crew members before the next day’s shooting that have been joined together. Compare continuity editing.
begins. dissolve Also known as lap dissolve. A transitional device in which
decor The color and textures of the interior decoration, furniture, shot B, superimposed, gradually appears over shot A and begins to
draperies, and curtains. replace it at midpoint in the transition. Dissolves sometimes imply
deep-focus cinematography The process of rendering the figures on a passage of time, or a relationship between the people, objects, or
all planes (background, middle ground, and foreground) of a deep- events depicted in the scenes connected by the transition.
space composition in focus. distancing effect See alienation effect.
deep-space composition An approach to composition within the documentary film A film that purports to be nonfictional. Documen-
frame that places significant visual and narrative information on two tary films take many forms, including instructional, persuasive, and
or more of the three planes of depth (foreground, middleground, and propaganda. Compare narrative film.
background) in such a way that not only emphasizes depth, but also dolly A wheeled support for a camera that allows the camera to move
conveys information, mood and meaning. Deep-space composition is smoothly and noiselessly during moving camera shots. Dollies often
often, though not always, shot with deep-focus cinematography. run on tracks.
depth of field The portion of the space in front of a camera and its dolly in Slow movement of the camera toward a subject, making the
lens in which objects are in apparent sharp focus. subject appear larger and more significant. Such gradual intensi-
design The process by which the look of the settings, props, lighting, fication is commonly used at moments of a character’s realization
and actors is determined. Set design, decor, prop selection, light- or decision or as a point-of-view shot to indicate the reason for the
ing setup, costuming, makeup, and hairstyle design all play a role in character’s realization. See also zoom in.
shaping the overall design. dolly out Movement of the camera away from a subject. See slow
dialogue The lip-synchronous speech of characters who are either disclosure.
visible on-screen or speaking offscreen, say from another part of the dolly shot Also known as tracking shot. A shot taken by a camera fixed
room that is not visible or from an adjacent room. to a wheeled support called a dolly.
diegesis (adj. diegetic) The total compilation of a story—events, char- double-system recording The standard technique of recording film
acters, objects, settings, and sounds—that form the world in which sound on a medium separate from the picture. This technique al-
the story occurs. Compare story. lows for both maximum quality control of the medium and the
446 Glossary
many aspects of manipulating sound during postproduction edit- the amount of light passing through the lens. Normally, it is desir-
ing, mixing, and synchronization. able to have images that are clear and well defined, but sometimes
dubbing See rerecording. the story requires images that are overexposed (very light) or
duration A quantity of time. In any movie, we can identify three spe- underexposed (dark or dense).
cific kinds of duration: story duration (the time that the entire narra- exposure index See film-stock speed.
tive arc—whether or not explicitly presented on-screen—is implied external sound A form of diegetic sound that comes from a place
to have taken), plot duration (the time that the events explicitly within the world of the story, which we and the characters in the
shown on-screen are implied to have taken), and screen duration scene hear but do not see. Compare internal sound.
(the actual time elapsed while presenting the movie’s plot; that is, extra An actor who usually appears in a nonspeaking or a crowd role
the movie’s running time). and receives no screen credit.
Dutch-angle shot Also known as a Dutch tilt or oblique-angle shot. A extreme close-up (ECU, XCU) A very close shot of a particular detail,
shot in which the camera is tilted from its normal horizontal and such as a person’s eye, a ring on a finger, or a face of a watch.
vertical positions so that it is no longer straight, giving the viewer extreme long shot (ELS, XLS) A shot that is typically photographed
the impression that the world in the frame is out of balance. far enough away from the subject that the subject is too small to
be recognized, except through the context we see, which usually
E includes a wide view of the location as well as general background
ECU See extreme close-up.
information. When it is used to provide such informative context,
editing The process by which the editor combines and coordinates the extreme long shot is also referred to as an establishing shot.
individual shots into a cinematic whole; the basic creative force of
eye-level shot An angle in which the camera is positioned at the eye
cinema.
level of the subject; the standard camera angle used for most shots.
ellipsis In filmmaking, generally an omission of time—the time that If the camera is functioning as narrator, the eye level angle functions
separates one shot from another—to create dramatic or comedic as a neutral view of the action on screen. If the shot represents the
impact. point of view of a character, the eye level is a natural angle to repre-
ELS See extreme long shot. sent how and what that character sees. Camera angles take on a wider
ensemble acting An approach to acting that emphasizes the interac- range of expressive meetings as soon as the filmmakers deviate from
tion of actors, not the individual actor. In ensemble acting, a group this “normal and neutral” viewpoint.
of actors work together continually in a single shot. Typically expe- eye room Space placed on the side of the frame in which a subject is
rienced in the theater, ensemble acting is used less in the movies looking. The implied significance of the character’s gaze helps stabi-
because it requires rehearsal time that is usually denied to screen lize what would otherwise be considered an imbalanced composi-
actors. tion. Also known as looking room.
establishing shot A shot whose purpose is to briefly establish the eyeline match cut An editing transition that shows us what a partic-
viewer’s sense of the setting of a scene, and the relationship of fig- ular character is looking at. The cut joins two shots: the character’s
ures in that scene to the environment around them. Extreme long face, with his or her eyes clearly visible, then whatever the character
shots of exterior locations sometimes function as establishing shots, is looking at. When the second shot is of another character looking
as do long shots that establish the relative placement of characters back at the character in the first shot, the resulting reciprocal eye-
within a setting. See master shot. line match cut and the cuts that follow establish the two characters’
executive producer Person responsible for supervising one or more proximity and interaction, even if only one character is visible on-
producers, who in turn are responsible for individual movies. screen at any one time.
experimental film Also known as avant-garde film, a term implying
a position in the vanguard, out in front of traditional films. Exper-
imental films are usually about unfamiliar, unorthodox, or obscure F
subject matter and ordinarily made by independent (even under- factual documentary A documentary film that usually presents peo-
ground) filmmakers, not studios, often with innovative techniques ple, places, or processes in a straightforward way meant to enter-
that call attention to, question, and even challenge their own artifice. tain and instruct without unduly influencing audiences. Compare
explicit meaning Everything that a movie presents on its surface. instructional documentary, persuasive documentary, and pro-
Compare implicit meaning. paganda documentary.
exposition The images, action, and dialogue necessary to give the fade A transitional devise in which the first shot fades out (gets pro-
audience the background of the characters and the nature of their gressively darker) until the screen is entirely black. After a moment,
situation, laying the foundation for the rest of the narrative. the succeeding shot fades in (becomes increasingly exposed). Fades
expository documentary An approach to documentary filmmak- often imply a passage of time. Compare dissolve.
ing that uses formal elements, a script prepared in advance, and familiar image Any image that a director periodically repeats in a
an authoritative narrator to explain subject matter to the viewer. movie (with or without variations) to help inform or stabilize the
Compare observational documentary, poetic documentary, narrative.
participatory documentary, performative documentary, and fast motion Cinematographic technique that accelerates action on-
reflexive documentary. screen. It is achieved by filming the action at a rate less than the nor-
exposure Exposing the recording medium (film or digital) in a cam- mal 24 frames per second (fps). When the shot is then played back
era to light in order to produce a latent image on it, the quality of at the standard 24 fps, cinematic time proceeds at a more rapid rate
which is determined primarily by the source and amount of light. than the real action that took place in front of the camera. Compare
The cinematographer can further control that image by the choice slow motion.
of lens and film stock, use of filters, and the aperture that regulates featured role See major role.
Glossary 447
feed spool The storage area for unexposed film in the movie camera. formal analysis Film analysis that examines how a scene or
fiction film See narrative film. sequence uses formal elements—narrative, mise-en-scène, cine-
fidelity The faithfulness or unfaithfulness of a sound to its source. matography, editing, sound, and so on—to convey the story, mood,
figure Any significant thing—person, animal, or object—that moves and meaning.
on the screen. formalism An approach to style and storytelling that values conspic-
figure movement The movement of a character, animal, or object uously expressive form over the unobtrusive form associated with
used as an element of mise-en-scène. realism.
fill light Lighting, positioned at the opposite side of the camera from format When referring to film stock, also called gauge, the dimen-
the key light, that can fill in the shadows created by the brighter key sions of the film stock and its perforations, and the size and shape
light. Fill light may also come from a reflector board. of the image frame as seen on the screen. Formats extend from
Super 8mm through 70mm (and beyond into such specialized for-
film criticism Evaluating a film’s artistic merit and appeal to the pub-
mats as IMAX), but they are generally limited to three standard
lic. Film criticism takes two basic forms: reviews written for the
gauges: Super 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm. In reference to digital cine
general audience and appearing in popular media, and essays pub-
matography, format may refer to a specific codec or digital sensor.
lished in academic journals for a scholarly audience. Compare film
theory. fragmentation The breaking up of stories, scenes, events and actions
into multiple shots that provide a diversity of compositions and
film speed See film-stock speed.
combinations with which to convey meaning.
film stock Celluloid used to record movies. Different film stocks
capture light, color, contrast, and depth of field in different ways, frame 1. A still photograph that when recorded in rapid succession
so cinematographers exercise the care when selecting a film stock. with other still photographs creates a motion picture; 2) the borders
Compare codec. of a motion picture, within which formal elements are composed.
film-stock length The number of feet (or meters) of film stock, or the framing The process by which the cinematographer determines what
number of reels used in a particular film. will appear within the borders of the moving image (the frame)
during a shot.
film-stock speed Also known as film speed or exposure index. The
rate at which film must move through the camera to correctly cap- freeze-frame Also known as stop-frame or hold-frame. A still image
ture an image. Very fast film requires little light to capture and fix within a movie created by repetitive printing in the laboratory of the
the image, whereas very slow film requires a lot of light. same frame, so that it can be seen without movement for whatever
length of time the filmmaker desires.
film theory Evaluating movies from a particular intellectual or ideo-
logical perspective. Compare film criticism. frequency The speed with which a sound is produced (the number
of sound waves produced per second). The speed of sound remains
first AC See assistant cameraperson.
fairly constant when it passes through air, but it varies in different
first-person narration Narration by an actual character in the movie.
media and in the same medium at different temperatures. Compare
Compare third-person narration and voice-over narration.
pitch.
flashback The interruption of chronological plot time with a shot or
frontal light Light aimed at the subject from the same angle as the
series of shots depicting an event that has happened earlier in the
camera. Frontal light eliminates shadows on the subject’s face, thus
story.
flattening the appearance of facial features.
flash-forward A device for presenting the anticipation of the camera,
full-body shot See long shot.
a character, the audience, or all three. In a flash forward, the action
cuts from the narrative present to a future time, when, for example, fusil photographique A form of the chronophotographic gun—a
single, portable camera capable of taking twelve continuous images.
the omniscient camera either reveals directly or a character imag-
ines from his or her point of view what is going to happen. Compare See revolver photographique.
flashback. FX See special effects.
flat character A relatively uncomplicated character exhibiting few
distinct traits. Flat characters do not change significantly as the
story progresses. G
floodlight A lamp that produces soft (diffuse) light. Compare gaffer The chief electrician on a movie production set.
focusable spotlight. gauge See format.
focal length The distance from the optical center of a lens to the fo- generic transformation The process by which a particular genre is
cal point—the film plane that the cameraperson wants to keep in adapted to meet the expectations of a changing society.
focus—when the lens is focused at infinity. genre The categorization of narrative films by form, content, or both.
focusable spotlight A lamp that produces hard, mirror-like light that Examples of genres include musical, science fiction, horror, and
can be directed to precise locations. Compare floodlight. western.
Foley sound A sound belonging to a special category of sound effects, German expressionism In cinema, an approach to film style that
invented in the 1930s by Jack Foley, a sound technician at Univer- uses distorted settings, oblique angles, artificial and exaggerated
sal Studios. Technicians known as Foley artists create these sounds lighting, and highly stylized performances to present the world on
in specially equipped studios, where they use a variety of props and screen as a projection of a character’s subjective perception.
other equipment to simulate sounds such as footsteps in the mud, goal A narratively significant objective pursued by the protagonist.
jingling car keys, or cutlery hitting a plate. graphic match cut A match cut in which the similarity between shots
form The means by which a subject is expressed. The form for poetry is A and B is in the shape and form of the figures pictured in each shot;
words; for drama, it is speech and action; for movies, it is pictures and the shape, color, or texture of the two figures matches across the
sound; and so on. Compare content. edit, providing continuity.
448 Glossary
grip All-around handyperson on a movie production set, most often of a room (giving us the place); shot B, the insert, might be a close-up
working with the camera and electrical crews. of a clock photographed on a wall (giving us the time); and shot C
group point of view A point of view captured by a shot that shows would logically return us to the room.
what a group of characters would see at their level. Compare insert titles/intertitles Words (printed or handwritten) inserted into
omniscient point of view and single-character point of view. the body of a film, such as “The day after” or “Saturday morning”; in
common usage today, but used extensively in silent movies.
H instructional documentary A documentary film that seeks to edu-

cate viewers about common interests, rather than persuade them
Halloween lighting Also known as bottom lighting. Lighting directed
with particular ideas. Compare factual documentary, persuasive
at a subject from below, a direction that casts dramatic shadows on
documentary, and propaganda documentary.
vertical surfaces and distorts facial features by reversing the normal
placement of illumination and shadows.
intellectual editing See associative editing.
handheld camera An approach to operating the moving camera in intercutting The insertion of shots into a scene in a way that inter-
rupts the narrative. Examples of intercutting include flashbacks,
which the operator holds the camera (as opposed to mounting the
flash-forwards, shots depicting a character’s thoughts, shots depict-
camera on a tripod, dolly, or Steadicam). The relatively unstable
ing events from earlier or later in the plot, and associative editing
frame typical of handheld camera is often used to invoke distressed
that inserts shots to create symbolic or thematic meaning through
states of mind or documentary realism.
juxtaposition.
hard light Light that shines directly on the subject. Compare soft
light.
interior monologue A variation on the mental, subjective point of
view of an individual character that allows us to see the character
harmonic content The wavelengths that make up a sound. Compare
and hear his or her thoughts in their own voice, even though the
quality.
character’s lips don’t move.
headroom The amount of space above the top of the subject’s head in
internal sound A form of diegetic sound in which we hear the
the composition of a frame.
thoughts of a character we see on-screen but other characters can-
high-angle shot Also known as down shot. A shot that is made
not hear them. Compare external sound.
with the camera above the action; it typically implies the observer’s
interview A component of documentary filmmaking, traditionally
sense of superiority to the subject being photographed. Compare
shot with the person being interviewed speaking to an off-camera
low-angle shot.
interviewer.
high-key lighting Lighting that produces an image with very little
iris An adjustable diaphragm that controls the amount of light pass-
contrast between darks and lights. It’s even, flat illumination ex-
ing through the lens of a camera. See aperture.
presses virtually no opinion about the subject being photographed.
Compare low-key lighting.
iris-in Iris shot that begins with a small circle and expands to a partial
or full image.
hold-frame See freeze-frame.
iris-out Iris shot that begins with a large circle and contracts to a
I smaller circle or total blackness.
ideological meaning Meaning expressed by a film that reflects be- iris shot Optical wipe effect in which the wipe line is a circle; named
liefs on the part of filmmakers, characters, or the time and place of after the iris of a camera.
the movie’s setting. Ideological meaning is the product of social, po- J
litical, economic, religious, philosophical, psychological, and sexual
jump cut The removal of a portion of a continuous shot, resulting in
forces that shape the filmmakers’ perspectives.
an instantaneous advance in the action—a sudden, perhaps illogical,
implicit meaning An association, connection, or inference that a often disorienting ellipsis.
viewer makes based on the given (explicit) meaning conveyed by the
story and form of a film. Lying below the surface of explicit meaning, K
implicit meaning is closest to our everyday sense of the word mean- key light The primary source of illumination in a shot. Positioned to
ing. Compare explicit meaning. one side of the camera, it creates deep shadows, which are modified
implied proximity The apparent distance between the camera (and by the fill light.
thus the viewer) and the subject of a shot. This implied spatial rela- kinesis The aspect of composition that takes into account everything
tionship can influence how viewers interpret the significance of the that moves on the screen.
character, object, or action on screen. Kinetograph The first motion-picture camera.
improvisation Actors’ extemporization; that is, delivering lines based Kinetoscope A peephole viewer, an early motion-picture device.
loosely on the written script or without the preparation that comes Kuleshov effect The discovery of Lev Kuleshov, a Soviet film theo-
with studying a script before rehearsing it. Or “playing through” a mo- rist, that two shots need not have any actual relationship to each
ment; that is, making up lines to keep scenes going when actors for- other for viewers to perceive a spatial relationship. For example, the
get their written lines, stumble on lines, or have some other mishap. placement of one shot of a person’s reaction (a look of shock) after
inciting incident Also known as the catalyst. The narrative event a shot of an action by another person (falling down a flight of stairs)
that presents the protagonist with a goal that sets the rest of the immediately creates the perception that the two are occupying the
narrative in motion. same space.
insert/insert shot A shot containing visual detail (an object or figure
not from the scene) that is inserted between one shot and another to L
establish a story point or to provide additional information or dra- lap dissolve See dissolve.
matic emphasis. For example, shot A might be an establishing shot leading role See major role.
Glossary 449
lead room Open compositional space on the opposite side of the makeup artist A person responsible for using makeup to enhance or
frame from that of a character whose lateral screen movement is alter an actor’s appearance.
tracked by a moving camera. This method is necessary to balance marginal character A minor character that lacks both definition and
the composition because the implied lateral movement of a charac- screen time.
ter carries compositional weight. mask An opaque sheet of metal, paper, or plastic (with, for example,
lens The piece of transparent material in a camera that focuses the a circular cutout, known as an iris) that is placed in front of the
image on the film or digital processor. Lenses are classified by focal camera and admits light through that circle to a specific area of the
length. See short-focal-length lens, middle-focal-length lens, frame to create a frame within a frame.
long-focal-length lens, and zoom-lens; master scene technique A method of capturing footage to construct
lighting ratio The relationship and balance between illumination a scene in which the action is photographed multiple times with a
and shadow—the balance between key light and fill light. If the ratio variety of different shot types and angles. This approach allows the
is high, shadows are deep, and the result is called low-key lighting. If editor to construct the scene using the particular viewpoint that is
the ratio is low, shadows are faint or nonexistent and illumination is best suited for each dramatic moment.
even, and the result is called high-key lighting. master shot A wide angle shot that covers the action of a scene in one
line of action See 180-degree rule. continuous take. See coverage and master scene technique.
line producer The person, usually involved from preproduction match cut A cut that preserves continuity between two shots. Sev-
through postproduction, who is responsible for the day-to-day man eral kinds of match cuts exist, including eyeline match cut, graphic
agement of the production operation. match cut, and match-on-action cut.
loader The loader is the member of the camera crew that feeds film match-on-action cut Also called cutting on action. A match cut
stock into magazines to be loaded into a camera. Compare Digital that shows us the continuation of a character’s or object’s motion
Imaging Technician. through space without actually showing the entire action. This is a
long-focal-length lens Also known as telephoto lens. A lens that flat- fairly routine editorial technique for economizing a movie’s presen-
tens the space and depth of an image and thus distorts perspectival tation of movement.
relations. Compare middle-focal-length lens, short-focal-length mechanical effect A special effect created mechanically by an object
lens, and zoom lens. or event on the set and in front of the camera. Also known as practi-
long shot (LS) A shot that presents background and subject informa- cal effect. Compare optical effect and visual effect.
tion in equal measure and is as much about setting and situations as mediation An agent, structure, or other formal element, whether
any particular character. Long shots show the full human body and human or technological, that transfers something, such as informa-
some of its surroundings. Long shots that establish the relative place- tion in the case of movies, from one place to another.
ment of characters within a setting can function as establishing shots. medium close-up (MCU) A shot that shows a character from the mid-
long take Also known as sequence shot. An uninterrupted shot that dle of the chest to the top of the head. A medium close-up provides a
lasts significantly longer than a conventional shot. Long takes may view of the face that catches minor changes in expression, as well as
be as short as 1 minute or as long as an entire feature film. There some detail about the character’s posture.
are two basic approaches to the long take: 1. those that exploit the medium long shot (MLS) Also known as the plan Américain, or Amer-
mobile frame; and 2. those that hold the viewer in a state of relative ican shot. A shot that shows a character from the knees up and in-
stasis. cludes most of a person’s body.
looping See Automatic Dialogue Replacement (ADR). medium shot (MS) A shot framed to show the human body from the
loudness The volume or intensity of a sound, which is defined by its waist up.
amplitude. Loudness is described as either loud or soft. method acting Also known simply as the Method. A naturalistic acting
low-angle shot Also known as low shot. A shot that is made with the style, loosely adapted from the ideas of Russian director Konstantin
camera below the action; it typically places the observer in a posi- Stanislavsky by American directors Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg,
tion of inferiority. Compare high-angle shot. that encourages actors to speak, move, and gesture not in a traditional
low-key lighting Lighting that creates strong contrasts; sharp dark stage manner, but in the same way they would in their own lives. An
shadows, and an overall gloomy atmosphere. Compare high-key ideal technique for representing convincing human behavior, method
lighting. acting is used more frequently on the stage than on the screen.
low shot See low-angle shot. middle-focal-length lens Also known as normal lens. A lens that
does not distort perspectival relations. Compare long-focal-length
M lens, short-focal-length lens, and zoom lens.
magic lantern A device predating motion pictures that projected still minor character A supporting character in a movie. Minor charac-
images painted or printed on transparent plates. ters have fewer traits than major characters, so we know less about
main role See major role. them. They also may be so lacking in definition and screen time that
major character One of the main characters in a movie. Major char- they can be considered marginal characters.
acters make most things happen or have most things happen to minor role Also known as supporting role. A role that helps move the
them. Compare marginal character and minor character. plot forward—and thus may be as important as a major role—but
major role Also known as main role, featured role, or leading role. A is played by an actor who does not appear in as many scenes as the
role that is a principal agent in helping to move the plot forward. featured actors do. Compare major role.
Whether movie stars or newcomers, actors playing major roles ap- mise-en-scène The composition, or staging, of all of the elements
pear in many scenes and—ordinarily, but not always—receive screen within the frame, including setting, costumes and makeup, actors,
credit preceding the title. Compare minor role. lighting, and figure movement.
450 Glossary
mixing The process of adjusting relative volume of multiple sound negative space Intentional empty space within a composition that
tracks, and then combining those tracks onto one composite sound creates an expectation that something will arrive to fill the empty
track that is synchronous with the picture. space and restore compositional balance. The technique is often
mobile framing A technique that uses a moving camera to capture used to generate suspense in narrative contexts featuring the immi-
multiple viewpoints, compositions, and actions within a single shot. nent arrival of an anticipated character or force.
montage Another term for editing, from the French verb monter (“to nondiegetic element Something that we see and hear on the screen
assemble or put together”). Montage may also function as a noun to that comes from outside the world of the story, such as back-
refer generally to an edited assembly of images or sounds. ground music, titles and credits, and voice-over narration. Compare
montage editing An approach to editing pioneered by theorists and diegetic element.
filmmakers in the former Soviet Union who posited and proved that nondiegetic sound Sound that originates from a source outside a
the juxtaposition of images can create new meaning not present in film’s world. Compare diegetic sound.
any single shot by itself. nonsimultaneous sound Sound that has previously been estab-
montage sequence An integrated series of shots that rapidly depicts lished in the movie and replays for some narrative or expressive
multiple related events occurring over time. Not to be confused purpose. Nonsimultaneous sounds often occur when a character
with montage editing, montage sequences are used to condense time has a mental flashback to an earlier voice that recalls a conversation
when an accumulation of actions is necessary to the narrative, but or to an earlier sound that identifies a place, event, or other signifi-
developing each individual action would consume too much of the cant element of the narrative. Compare simultaneous sound.
movie’s duration. normal lens See middle-focal-length lens.
motion capture Also known as mocap, motion tracking, or perfor- normal world In a narrative screenplay, the state of the character and
mance capture. A process in which the movements of objects or ac- setting before the inciting incident.
tors dressed in special suits are recorded as data that computers
subsequently use to render the motion of CGI characters on-screen. O
motion-picture film See celluloid roll film. oblique-angle shot See Dutch-angle shot.
motif A recurring visual, sound, or narrative element that imparts observational documentary An approach to documentary film-
meaning or significance. making that seeks to immerse viewers in an experience as close
movie star A phenomenon, generally associated with Hollywood, as is cinematically possible to witnessing events as an invisible
comprising the actor, the characters played by that actor, an image observer. Observational documentaries typically rely entirely on
created by the studio to coincide with the kind of roles associated b-roll and eliminate as many other signs of mediation as possi-
with the actor, and a reflection of the social and cultural history of ble. Compare expository documentary, poetic documentary,
the period in which that image was created. participatory documentary, performative documentary, and
moving frame The result of the dynamic functions of the frame reflexive documentary.
around a motion-picture image that contains moving action, but obstacles Events, circumstances, and actions that impede a protago-
also can move and thus change its viewpoint. nist’s pursuit of the goal. Obstacles often originate from an antago-
nist and are central to a narrative conflict.
N offscreen sound A form of sound, either diegetic or nondiegetic, that
narration The act of telling the story of the film. The primary source derives from a source we do not see. When diegetic, it consists of
of a movie’s narration is the camera, which narrates the story by sound effects, music, or vocals that emanate from the world of the
showing us the events of the narrative on-screen. When the word story. When nondiegetic, it takes the form of a musical score or
narration is used to refer more narrowly to spoken narration, the narration by someone who is not a character in the story. Compare
reference is to the commentary spoken by either an offscreen or on-screen sound.
on-screen voice. When that commentary is not spoken by one of the offscreen space Cinematic space that exists outside the frame. Com-
characters in the movie, it is omniscient narration; when spoken by pare on-screen space.
a character within the movie, it is first-person narration. omniscient Providing a third-person view of all aspects of a movie’s
narrative A cinematic structure in which content is selected and action or characters. Compare restricted.
arranged in a cause-and-effect sequence of events occurring over omniscient point of view The most common point of view por-
time. Compare plot and story. trayed in movies. An omniscient POV allows the camera to travel
narrative film Also known as fiction film. A movie that tells a story— freely within the world of the film, showing us the narrative’s events
with characters, places, and events—that is conceived in the mind from a godlike, unlimited perspective that no single character in
of the film’s creator. Stories in narrative films may be wholly imagi- the film could possibly have. Compare group point of view and
nary or based on true occurrences and may be realistic, unrealistic, single-character point of view.
or both. Compare documentary film. on location Shooting in an actual interior or exterior location away
narrator Who or what that tells the story of a film. The primary narra- from the studio. Compare set.
tor in cinema is the camera, which narrates the film by showing us 180-degree rule Also known as the 180-degree system. The funda-
events in the movie’s narrative. When referring to the more specific mental means by which filmmakers maintain consistent screen di-
action of voice narration, the narrator may be either a character in rection, orienting the viewer and ensuring a sense of the cinematic
the movie (first-person narrator) or a person who is not a character space in which the action occurs. The system depends on three fac-
(omniscient narrator). tors working together in any scene: the action in a scene must move
negative When referring to shooting on film stock, a negative photo along a hypothetical line that keeps the action on a single side of the
graphic image on transparent material that makes possible the camera, the camera must shoot consistently on one side of that line,
reproduction of the image. and everyone on the production set—particularly the director, cine
Glossary 451
matographer, editor, and actors—must understand and adhere to and governmental injustice. Compare documentary, instructional
this system. documentary, and propaganda documentary.
on-screen sound A form of diegetic sound that emanates from a photography Literally, “writing with light.” Technically, the record-
source that we both see and hear. On-screen sound may be inter- ing of static images through a chemical interaction caused by light
nal or external. Compare offscreen sound. rays striking a sensitized surface.
on-screen space Cinematic space that exists inside the frame. Com- pitch The level of a sound, which is defined by its frequency. Pitch is
pare offscreen space. described as either high or low.
open frame A frame around a motion-picture image that, theoreti- pixel A combination of the words picture and element; the smallest
cally, characters and objects can enter and leave. Compare closed unit of visual information in a digital image.
frame. plan Américain See medium long shot.
optical effect An effect created manipulating an image captured on plane Any of three theoretical areas—foreground, middle ground,
celluloid in the camera during production and/or during film stock and background—within the implied depth of the frame.
processing after the negative has been exposed. Compare mechan- plot The specific actions and events that filmmakers select, and the
ical effect and visual effect. order in which they arrange those events and actions to effec-
option contract During the classical Hollywood era, an actor’s stan- tively convey on-screen the movie’s narrative to a viewer. Compare
dard 7-year contract was reviewed every 6 months. If the actor had narrative and story.
made progress in being assigned roles and demonstrating box-office plot duration The elapsed time of the events within a story that a film
appeal, the studio picked up the option to employ that actor for the chooses to tell. Compare screen duration and story duration.
next 6 months with a raise; if not, the studio dropped the option and plot point Significant events that turn the narrative in a new direction.
the actor was out of a job.
poetic documentary An expressive approach to nonfiction filmmak-
order The arrangement of plot events into a logical sequence or ing that provides a subjective and often impressionistic interpreta-
hierarchy. Across an entire narrative or in a brief section of it, the tion of a subject by an emphasis on conveying mood and generating
filmmaker can use one or more methods to arrange its plot: chrono- ideas, rather than developing a realistic observational experience
logical order, cause-and-effect order, logical order, and so on. or communicating an information-driven explanation. Compare
outtake Material that is not used in either the rough cut or the final expository documentary, observational documentary, partic-
cut, but is nevertheless cataloged and saved. ipatory documentary, performative documentary, and reflex-
overhead A diagram of a set as seen from above that is used as part of ive documentary.
the previsualization process to plan blocking and camera positions. point of view (POV) The position from which a film presents the ac-
overlapping action The repetition of parts or all of an action using tions of the story; not only the relation of the narrator(s) to the story,
multiple shots. but also the camera’s act of seeing and hearing. The two fundamen-
overlapping sound Also known as a sound bridge. Sound that carries tal types of cinematic point of view are omniscient and restricted.
over from one shot to the next before the sound of the second shot point of view (POV) shot: a shot that represents what a character is
begins. looking at. POV shots may be framed to present a literal spatial per-
spective, or how the character sees and feels about the object of her
P gaze. For example, a POV shot of a relatively distant but significant
pace The speed at which a multi-shot sequence occurs. The pace of a subject may be framed as a close up. Compare point-of-view editing.
scene or sequence is accomplished by using shots of the same gen- point-of-view editing The process of editing different shots together
eral duration. Compare to rhythm. so that the resulting sequence makes us aware of the perspective
pan shot The horizontal movement of a camera mounted on the gyro- or POV of a particular character or group of characters. Most fre-
scopic head of a stationary tripod; like the tilt shot, the pan shot is a quently, it starts with an objective shot of a character looking toward
simple movement with dynamic possibilities for creating meaning. something outside the frame and then cuts to a shot of the object,
parallel editing Also called crosscutting. The cutting back and forth person, or action that the character is supposed to be looking at.
between two or more lines of action that occur simultaneously. postproduction The third stage of the production process, consist-
Compare intercutting and split screen. ing of editing, preparing the final print, and bringing the film to the
participatory documentary An approach to nonfiction filmmaking in public (marketing and distribution). Postproduction is preceded by
which the filmmaker interacts with the subjects and situations being preproduction and production.
recorded and thus becomes part of the film. Compare expository POV See point of view.
documentary, observational documentary, poetic documentary, practical effect See mechanical effect.
performative documentary, and reflexive documentary. preproduction The initial planning and preparation stage of the
performance capture See motion capture. production process. Preproduction is followed by production and
performative documentary An approach to nonfiction filmmaking postproduction.
related to the participatory documentary. The filmmaker’s interac- previsualization A process used by filmmakers to aid in visualizing
tion with the subject matter is deeply personal and often emotional. each individual shot and help achieve a unified approach to shot
In a performative documentary, the filmmaker’s experience is cen- compositions and editing. Previsualization can include story-
tral to the way viewers engage and understand the subject matter. boards, overheads, and animatics.
Compare expository documentary, observational documen- prime lens A lens that has a fixed focal length. The short-focal-length,
tary, poetic documentary, participatory documentary, and re- middle-focal-length, and long-focal-length lenses are all prime
flexive documentary. lenses; the zoom lens is in its own category.
persuasive documentary A documentary film concerned with pre- processing The second stage of creating motion pictures, in which a
senting a particular perspective on social issues or with corporate laboratory technician washes exposed film that contains a negative
452 Glossary
image with processing chemicals. Processing is preceded by shoot- raw film stock See celluloid roll film.
ing and followed by projecting. realism In cinematic terms, an approach to narrative filmmaking
process shot Live shooting against a background that is front- or that employs naturalistic performances and dialogue; modest, un-
rear-projected on a translucent screen. embellished sets and settings; wide-angle compositions and other
producer The person who guides the entire process of making the unobtrusive framing; and story lines that portray the everyday lives
movie from its initial planning to its release, and is chiefly respon- of “ordinary” people. Compare antirealism and formalism.
sible for the organizational and financial aspects of the production, real time The actual time during which something takes place. In real
from arranging the financing to deciding how the money is spent. time, screen duration and plot duration are exactly the same. Many
production The second stage of the production process—the actual directors use real time within films to create uninterrupted “real-
shooting. Production is preceded by preproduction and followed ity” on the screen, but they rarely use it for entire films. Compare
by postproduction. cinematic time, stretch relationship, and summary relationship.
production designer A person who works closely with the director, reenactment A staged re-creation of actions and events used in a
art director, and director of photography in visualizing the movie nonfiction film when authentic documentary footage is unavailable
that will appear on the screen. The production designer is both or impossible to obtain. Reenactments are typically filmed and pre-
an artist and an executive and is responsible for the overall design sented in ways that make clear their status as fabricated represen-
concept (the look of the movie—its individual sets, locations, fur- tations of real events.
nishings, props, and costumes) and for supervising the heads of the reflector board A piece of lighting equipment, but not really a light-
many departments (art, costume design and construction, hairstyling instrument because it does not rely on bulbs to produce illumi-
ing, makeup, wardrobe, location, and so on) that create that look. nation. Essentially, a reflector board is a double-sided board that
production value The amount of human and physical resources de- pivots in a U-shaped holder. One side is a hard, smooth surface
voted to the image, including the style of lighting. Production value that reflects hard light, and the other side is a soft, textured surface
helps determine the overall style of a film. that reflects softer fill light.
projecting The third stage of creating motion pictures, in which reflexive documentary An approach to documentary filmmaking
edited film is run through a projector that shoots through the film a that explores and sometimes critiques the documentary form itself.
beam of light intense enough to project a large image on the movie- The documentary production process becomes part of the experi-
theater screen. Projecting is preceded by shooting and processing. ence in ways that may challenge viewer expectations of nonfiction
propaganda documentary A documentary film that systematically filmmaking conventions. Compare expository documentary,
disseminates deceptive or distorted information. Compare factual observational documentary, poetic documentary, participa-
documentary, instructional documentary, and persuasive tory documentary, and performative documentary.
documentary. reframing A movement of the camera that adjusts or alters the com-
properties Also known as props. Any object handled by actors on- position or point of view of a shot.
screen. Compare with set dressing. repetition The number of times that a story element recurs in a plot.
prop master The member of the production design crew responsible Repetition signals that a particular event has noteworthy meaning
for selecting and maintaining props and for ensuring that props are or significance.
properly prepared and placed prior to shooting. resolution The concluding narrative events that follow the climax
prosthetics Synthetic materials attached to an actor’s face or body to and celebrate, or otherwise reflect upon, story outcomes. Also, the
change the actor’s appearance. capacity of the camera lens, film stock, and digital sensors to provide
protagonist The primary character whose pursuit of the goal provides fine detail in an image.
the structural foundation of a movie’s story. Compare antagonist. restricted Providing a view from the perspective of a single character.
pull-down claw Within the movie camera and projector, the mecha- Compare omniscient.
nism that controls the intermittent cycle of shooting and projecting restricted narration Reveals information to the audience only as a
individual frames and advances the film frame by frame. specific character learns of it.
pull focus The act of adjusting focus within a shot to maintain focus reverse-angle shot A shot in which the angle of shooting is opposite
on a moving actor or object, or on a static object or actor recorded by that of the preceding shot.
a moving camera. Compare rack focus. revolver photographique Also known as chronophotographic gun. A
cylinder-shaped camera that creates exposures automatically, at
Q short intervals, on different segments of a revolving plate.
quality When referring to sound, also known as timbre, texture, or rhythm In cinematic terms, the practice of changing the pace, either
color. The complexity of a sound, which is defined by its harmonic gradually or suddenly, during a scene or sequence. Compare to
content. De-scribed as simple or complex, quality is the character- pace.
istic that distinguishes a sound from others of the same pitch and
rising action The development of the action of the narrative toward
loudness. In lighting, quality refers to the degree to which light is
a climax.
diffused between the source and the subject, and its effect on the in-
rough-draft screenplay Also known as scenario. The step after a
terplay between illumination and shadow.
treatment, the rough-draft screenplay results from discussions, de-
R velopment, and transformation of an outline in sessions known as
rack focus A change of the point of focus from one subject to another story conferences.
within the same shot. Rack focus guides our attention to a new, round character A complex character possessing numerous, subtle,
clearly focused point of interest while blurring the previous subject repressed, or contradictory traits. Round characters often develop
in the shot. over the course of a story.
Glossary 453
rule of thirds A principle of composition that breaks the frame into shooting angle The level and height of the camera in relation to the
three equal vertical sections, and three equal horizontal sections, subject being photographed. The five basic camera angles produce
resulting in a grid. This grid acts as a guide which filmmakers use eye-level shots, high-angle shots, low-angle shots, Dutch-angle shots,
to balance visual elements in the frame in terms of three: top, and bird’s-eye-view shots.
middle, bottom; left, center, right; foreground, middleground, and shooting script A guide and reference point for all members of the
background. Typically, for every visual element placed in one sec- production unit in which the details of each shot are listed and can
tion, there will be a corresponding element in the opposite section thus be followed during filming.
to counter-balance the composition. short-focal-length lens Also known as wide-angle lens. A lens that
rushes See dailies. creates the illusion of depth within a frame, although with some dis-
tortion at the edges of the frame. Compare long-focal-length lens,
middle-focal-length lens, and zoom lens.
S
scale The size and placement of a particular object or a part of a scene shot 1. In an edited film, an unbroken span of action captured by an
uninterrupted run of the camera that lasts until it is replaced by
in relation to the rest—a relationship determined by the type of shot
another shot by means of a cut or other transition. 2. During the
used and the placement of the camera.
pre-production and production process: a specific arrangement of
scenario See rough-draft screenplay.
elements to be captured in a particular composition from a pre-
scene A complete unit of plot action taking place in a continuous
determined camera position. Compare to setup and take.
time frame in a single location.
shot/reverse shot One of the most prevalent and familiar of all ed-
scope The overall range of a story.
iting patterns, in which the camera is repeatedly crosscutting
score music Nondiegetic music that is typically composed and re- between shots of different characters, usually in a conversation
corded specifically for use in a particular film and is used to convey or confrontation. When used in continuity editing, the shots are
or enhance meaning and emotion. typically framed over each character’s shoulder to preserve screen
screen direction The direction of a figure’s or object’s movement on direction.
the screen. shutter A camera device that shields the film from light at the aper-
screen duration The amount of time that it has taken to present the ture during the film-movement portion of the intermittent cycle of
movie’s plot on-screen; that is, the movie’s running time. Compare shooting.
plot duration and story duration. simultaneous sound Sound that is diegetic and occurs on-screen.
screen test A filming undertaken by an actor to audition for a par- Compare nonsimultaneous sound.
ticular role. single-character point of view A point of view that is captured by a
script supervisor The member of the crew responsible for ensuring shot made with the camera close to the line of sight of one character
continuity throughout the filming. (or surveillance camera), showing what that character would be see-
second AC See assistant cameraperson. ing of the action. Compare group point of view and omniscient
separation A framing and editing technique that uses eyelines and point of view.
juxtaposition to draw viewers into a participatory cycle that creates slate A device used to identify the scene, shot, and take on camera and
intensified relationships between alternating subjects seen sepa- on sound recordings before action is called. The slate creates an au-
rately on-screen. dio or digital mark used to synchronized picture and sound.
sequence A series of edited shots characterized by inherent unity of slow motion Cinematographic technique that decelerates action on-
theme and purpose. screen. It is achieved by filming the action at a rate greater than the
sequence shot See long take. normal 24 frames per second (fps). When the shot is then played back
series photography The use of a series of still photographs to record at the standard 24 fps, cinematic time proceeds at a slower rate than
the phases of an action. the real action that took place in front of the camera. Compare fast
set A constructed space used as the setting for a particular shot in a motion.
movie. Sets must be constructed both to look authentic and to pho- slow disclosure A technique that uses camera movement to allow
tograph well. Compare on location. new information into the frame that expands or changes the viewer’s
set decorator A person in charge of the countless details that go into initial interpretation of the subject or situation.
furnishing and decorating a set. soft light Light that is scattered or diffused so that it does not follow a
set dressing Objects and applications used to create the look of the direct path between the light source and the subject. Compare hard
environment in which the filmed action takes place. Set dressing light.
may include curtains, paint, carpets, and any object visible in the sound Transmitted vibrations received by the ear and thus heard by
area, such as furniture, books, knickknacks, and other objects or the recipient. In cinematic terms, the expressive use of auditory ele-
decorations. Compare prop. ments, such as dialogue, music, ambience, and effects.
setting The time and space in which a story takes place. sound bridge See overlapping sound.
setup One camera position and everything associated with it. sound crew The group that physically generates and controls a mov-
Whereas the shot is the basic building block of the film, the setup is ie’s sound, manipulating its properties to produce the effects that
the basic component of the film’s production. the director desires.
shooting Capturing images on a motion picture camera. In reference sound design A state-of-the-art concept, pioneered by director
to shooting on film stock, the first stage of photographing motion Francis Ford Coppola and film editor Walter Murch, combining
pictures in which images are recorded on previously unexposed film the crafts of editing and mixing and, like them, involving both the-
as it moves through the camera. oretical and practical issues. In essence, sound design represents
454 Glossary
advocacy for movie sound, to counter some people’s tendency to fa- story conference One of any number of sessions during which the
vor the movie image. treatment is discussed, developed, and transformed from an out-
sound effect A sound artificially created for the sound track that has line into a rough-draft screenplay.
a definite function in telling the story. story duration The implied amount of time taken by the entire narra-
soundstage A windowless, soundproofed, professional shooting en- tive arc of a movie’s story—whether or not explicitly presented on-
vironment that is usually several stories high and can cover an acre screen. Compare plot duration and screen duration.
or more of floor space. stream of consciousness A literary style that gained prominence
sound track In the sound editing process, a single track consisting in the 1920s in the hands of such writers as Marcel Proust, Virginia
of recordings of a specific type of sound, such as a character’s dia- Woolf, James Joyce, and Dorothy Richardson and which attempted
logue, sound effects, ambient sound, music, and so on. These indi- to capture the unedited flow of experience through the mind.
vidual sound tracks are layered during the sound editing process, stretch relationship A time relationship in which screen duration
and mixed during the finishing stages of post-production. Compare is longer than plot duration. Compare real time and summary
sound mix. relationship.
source light See key light. stunt-person A performer who doubles for another actor in scenes
special effects (FX, SPFX) A general term reserved for technology requiring special skills or involving hazardous actions, such as
used to create images that would be too dangerous, too expensive, crashing cars, jumping from high places, swimming, or riding (or
or simply impossible to achieve with traditional cinematographic falling off ) horses.
approaches. In the film industry, the current specific use of the term subplot A subordinate sequence of action in a narrative, usually rele-
refers to effects generated on set that can be photographed by the vant to and enriching the plot.
camera. See mechanical effect; compare visual effect. subtractive color system Adopted in the 1930s, this technique in-
speed See film-stock speed. volved shooting three separate black-and-white negatives through
SPFX See special effects. three light filters, each representing a primary color (red, green,
split screen A method that breaks the screen into multiple frames blue). Certain color components were subtracted or removed from
and images. Split screen typically conveys multiple simultaneous each of the three emulsion layers, creating a positive image in natural
actions, but may convey nonsimultaneous action or present multi- color. Compare additive color systems.
ple viewpoints of the same action. summary relationship A time relationship in which screen dura-
sprocketed rollers Devices that control the speed of unexposed film tion is shorter than plot duration. Compare real time and stretch
as it moves through the camera, printer, or projector. relationship.
staging See mise-en-scène. supporting role See minor role.
stakes In a conventional narrative, that which is at risk due to the surprise A taking unawares that is potentially shocking. Compare
protagonist’s pursuit of the goal. suspense.
stand-in An actor who looks reasonably like a particular movie star suspense The anxiety brought on by partial uncertainty—the end is
or an actor playing a major role—in height, weight, coloring, and so certain, but the means are not. Compare surprise.
on—and substitutes for that actor during the tedious process of pre- swish pan A type of transition between two or more shots made by
paring setups or taking light readings. moving the camera so rapidly that it blurs the moment of transition.
Stanislavsky system A system of acting, developed by Russian the- symmetry In cinema, a balanced composition in which one side of the
ater director Konstantin Stanislavsky in the late nineteenth cen- frame virtually mirrors the other.
tury, that encourages students to strive for realism, both social and synopsis A condensed description of a film’s essential narrative ideas
psychological, and to bring their past experiences and emotions to and structure. Compare treatment.
their roles. This system influenced the development of method act-
ing in the United States. T
Steadicam A camera suspended from an articulated arm that is at- take On a film production, one of sometimes multiple recordings
tached to a vest strapped to the cameraperson’s body, permitting the of a pre-determined shot. Multiple takes of a shot may be taken to
operator to remain steady during “handheld” shots. The Steadicam remedy mistakes or to provide the editor with varied performances,
removes jumpiness and is now used for smooth, fast, and extended blocking, or camera movements.
camera movement. take-up spool In a movie camera that shoots film stock, a device that
stock See film stock. winds the film stock inside the camera after it has been exposed.
stop-frame See freeze-frame. telephoto lens See long-focal-length lens.
stop-motion cinematography A technique that allows the camera text and graphics An element of documentary filmmaking that in-
operator to stop and start the camera to facilitate changing the sub- cludes statistics, graphs, maps and text. Text is commonly used to
ject while the camera is not shooting. Frequently used for Clayma- identify interview subjects, dates, and locations presented on screen.
tion and other forms of physical animation. texture As related to sound, see quality.
story In a movie, all the events we see or hear on the screen, as well as theme A shared, public idea, such as a metaphor, an adage, a myth, a
all the events that are implicit or infer to have happened but are not familiar conflict, or personality type.
explicitly presented. Compare diegesis, narrative, and plot. third-person narration Narration delivered from outside the die-
storyboard A shot-by-shot breakdown that combines sketches or gesis by a narrator who is not a character in the movie. Compare
photographs of how each shot is to look and written descriptions of first-person narration and voice-over narration.
the other elements that are to go with each shot, including dialogue, 30-degree rule A general principle of continuity editing that states
sound, and music. that the camera position in relation to the subject should shift at
Glossary 455
least 30 degrees between successive shots of the same subject. The visual effect An effect created and integrated using computers in
guideline is designed to avoid a jarring spatial effect that makes the postproduction. Compare mechanical effect and optical effect.
subject’s image appear to “jump” forward or backward. voice-over narration Narration heard concurrently and over a scene
three-point system Also known as three point lighting. Perhaps the but not synchronized to any character who may be talking on-
best-known lighting convention in feature filmmaking, a system screen. It can come from many sources, including a third person,
that uses three sources of light—key light, fill light, and backlight— who is not a character, to bring us up to date; a first-person narrator
each aimed from a different direction and position in relation to the commenting on the action; or in a nonfiction film, a commentator.
subject. The three-point system allows filmmakers to control the Compare first-person narration and third-person narration.
ratio between illumination and shadow.
three-shot A shot in which three characters appear; ordinarily, a me- W
dium shot or medium long shot. walk-on A role even smaller than a cameo, reserved for a highly
three-shot salvo An intentional disregard of the 30-degree rule that recognizable actor or personality.
uses multiple (typically three) increasingly closer or wider framings wardrobe The clothing worn by an actor in a movie; also the term
of the same subject, shot from the same camera position or angle, that designates the department in a studio in which clothing is made
which are then edited together in rapid succession. This discontinu- and stored. See costumes.
ous editing technique is typically used to add significance or empha- wide-angle lens See short-focal-length lens.
sis to a character reaction or point of view. widescreen aspect ratio Any aspect ratio wider than 1.33:1, the stan-
tilt shot The vertical movement of a camera mounted on the gyro- dard ratio until the early 1950s.
scopic head of a stationary tripod. Like the pan shot, the tilt shot is a wipe A transitional device between shots in which shot B wipes across
simple movement with dynamic possibilities for creating meaning. shot A, either vertically or horizontally, to replace it. Although (or
timbre As related to sound, see quality. because) the device reminds us of early eras in filmmaking, direc-
tonality In cinematography, the range of tones from pure white to tors continue to use it.
darkest black. workflow The term for the collective editing stages completed as part
top lighting Light cast on a subject from above. of the postproduction process, including rough cut, fine cut, picture
tracking shot See dolly shot. lock, finishing, and delivery.
treatment An extended prose outline of the action that relates a film’s
basic narrative progression. Compare synopsis. X
two-shot A shot in which two characters appear; ordinarily a medium XCU See extreme close-up.
shot or medium long shot. XLS See extreme long shot.
typecasting The casting of actors because of their looks or “type”
rather than for their acting talent or experience. Z
zoom in A shot in which the image is magnified by movement of the
V camera’s lens only, without the camera itself moving. This magnifi-
variable-focal-length lens See zoom lens. cation is the essential difference from the dolly in.
verisimilitude A convincing appearance of truth. Movies are verisim- zoom lens Also known as variable-focal-length lens. A lens that is
ilar when they convince you that the things on the screen—people, moved toward and away from the subject being photographed, has a
places, and so on, no matter how fantastic or antirealistic—are “re- continuously variable focal length, and helps reframe a shot within
ally there.” the take. A zoom lens permits the camera operator during shooting
video assist camera In cameras that shoot film stock, a tiny device to shift between wide-angle and telephoto lenses without changing
mounted in the viewing system that enables filmmakers to view the the focus or aperture settings. Compare long-focal-length lens,
framed shot on a video monitor. middle-focal-length lens, and short-focal-length lens. See also
viewfinder On a camera, the little window that the cameraperson prime lens.
looks through when taking a picture; the viewfinder’s frame indi- zoopraxiscope An early device for exhibiting moving pictures—a re-
cates the boundaries of the camera’s point of view. volving disk with photographs arranged around the center.
PERMISSIONS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Frontmatter p. 41 (all): The Grapes of Wrath © 1940, Twentieth Century Fox;

p. 42 (all): Atonement © 2007, Working Title Films and Studio
P. vii (top): © Walt Disney Co./courtesy Everett/Everett Collection;
Canal; p. 44: The Gold Rush © 1925, Charles Chaplin Pictures; p. 45
(bottom): Photo Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures; p. viii: © Co-
(all): The Gold Rush © 1925 Charles Chaplin Pictures; p. 46 (1a, b):
hen Media Group/courtesy Everett Collection; p. ix (top): © Fox
Boyhood © 2014, IFC Films; [2]: Victoria (II), MonkeyBoy; [3]: Happy
Searchlight/Courtesy Everett Collection; (bottom): © Walt Disney Co./
Death Day © 2017, Blumhouse Productions; [4]: Dunkirk © 2017,
courtesy Everett/Everett Collection; p. x: © Sony Pictures/Courtesy
Syncopy; [5]: Wonder Woman © 2017, RatPac-Dune Entertainment,
Everett Collection; p. xi (top): © Focus Features/courtesy Everett
DC Films, Atlas Entertainment; p. 47: City of God © 2002, O2 Films and
Collect/Everett Collection; p. xi (bottom): ©TriStar Pictures/Courtesy
VideoFilmes; p. 48 (all): Killer © 1989, Film Workshop; p. 50 (all): The
Everett Collection; p. xii: ©Warner Bros/courtesy Everett Collection;
Matrix © 1999 Warner Bros. Pictures; p. 51 (both): © 1895 Lumiere;
p. xiii: Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images; p. xiv: © Warner Bros./
p. 52 (top): Beasts of the Southern Wild © 2012, Cinereach; [1]: Two
courtesy Everett Collection.
Days, One Night © 2014, Les films du Fleuve; [2]: Cloverfield © 2008,
Paramount Pictures; p. 53 [1]: classicpaintings/Alamy Stock; [2]: Phila-
Chapter 1 delphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, PA, USA / The Louise and Walter
p. 1: © Walt Disney Co./courtesy Everett / Everett Collection; p. 2 [1]: Arensberg Collection © 1950 / Bridgeman Images; p. 54: The Shape of
Brokeback Mountain © 2017, Focus Features, River Road Entertain- Water © 2017, Bull Productions; p. 56: Jane Eyre © 2011 Focus Features;
ment, and Alberta Film Entertainment; [2]: Get Out © 2017, Blum- pp. 57–59 (all): Donnie Darko © 2001, Pandora Cinema.
house Productions and Monkeypaw Productions; p. 4: The Last of Us
© 2013, Sony Entertainment and Naughty Dog; p. 5 (bottom): Chen-
nai Express © 2013 Red Chillies Entertainment; (top): Christian Vor- Chapter 3
hofer/image BROKER/REX/Shutterstock; p. 7 (all): Sweeney Todd p. 63: ©Cohen Media Group/courtesy Everett Collection; p. 65 (all):
© 2007 Dreamworks Pictures; p. 8: Juno © 2007 Dancing Elk Produc- Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope © 1977, Lucasfilm Ltd. Production,
tions/FOX; p. 9 (both): Juno © 2007 Dancing Elk Productions/FOX; Twentieth Century Fox; p. 66 (all): Slacker © 1991, Orion Classics;
pp. 10–13 (all): Juno © 2007 Dancing Elk Productions/FOX; p. 14: p. 68 [1–2]: Twin Peaks © 1990-91, Lynch/Frost Productions and Pro
Back to the Future © 1985 Universal Pictures; pp. 15–20 (all): Juno paganda Films; [3]: Isle of Dogs © 2018, Indian paintbrush; p. 69: Na-
© 2007 Dancing Elk Productions/FOX; p. 22 [1]: Way Down East © 1920 nook of the North © 1922, Pathé Exchange; p. 70 (top): Dina © 2017,
D.W. Griffith Productions; [2]: The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek © 1944 Cinereach; (bottom): Triumph of The Will © 1935 Reichsparteitag-
Paramount Pictures; [3]: Rosemary’s Baby © 1968 William Castle Film; p. 71 [1]: Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control © 1997, Ameri-
Productions; [4]: Knocked Up © 2012 Apatow Productions; [5]: Wait- can Playhouse; [2]: Thin Blue Line © 1988, American Playhouse,
ress © 2007 Fox Searchlight Pictures; [6]: Obvious Child © 2014 Rooks [3]: Wormwood © 2017, Fourth Floor Productions and Moxie Pictures;
Nest Entertainment; p. 23 [1]: Star Wars: A New Hope: Episode IV p. 72: 13th © 2016, Kandoo Films; p. 73 (both): Grey Gardens © 1975,
© 1977, Lucasfilm Ltd.; [2]: The Hunger Games, © 2012 Lions Gate/ Portrait Films; p. 74 [1]: Supersize Me © 2004, The Con; [2]: Tarna-
Color Force; p. 24: Star Wars: The Last Jedi © 2017, Lucasfilm, Ram tion © 2003; (top right): The Act of Killing © 2012, Final cut for Real;
Bergman Productions, and Walt Disney Pictures; p. 25 [1]: Star Wars: p. 75 (all): Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies under America © 1992,
A New Hope: Episode IV, 1977, Lucasfilm Ltd.; [2]: Rogue One: A Star Other Cinema; p. 78: Ballet mécanique © 1924, Synchro-Ciné; p. 79
Wars Movie © 2016, Lucasfilm Ltd.; p. 26: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (all): An Andalusian Dog © 1929, Luis Bunuel; p. 80: Removed © 1995
© 2017, Lucasfilm, Ram Bergman Productions, and Walt Disney Pic- Naomi Uman; p. 81 [1]: Borat © 2006, Four by Two; [2]: Under the Skin
tures; p. 27: (top) Star Wars: The Last Jedi © 2017, Lucasfilm, Ram © 2013, Studio Canal; p. 82 (both): Symbiopsychotaxiplasm © 1968,
Bergman Productions, and Walt Disney Pictures; (bottom): Star Wars: Take One Productions; p. 83 [1]: Mean Streets © 1973, Taplin-Perry-
The Force Awakens © 2015, Lucasfilm, Bad Robot, Truenorth produc- Scorsese productions; [2]: Goodfellas © 1990, Warner Bros. Pictures;
tions, and Walt Disney Pictures. [3]: The Wolf of Wall Street © 2013, Paramount Pictures; p. 85: 2001
A Space Odyssey © 1968, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; p. 87 [1]: Iron Man 2
© 2010, Paramount Pictures; [2]: Under the Skin © 2013, BFI and
Chapter 2 Film4; [3]: Hitchcock © 2012, Fox Searchlight Picture; p. 88: The
p. 32: Photo Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures; p. 33 (both): Juno Godfather © 1972, Paramount Pictures and Alfran Productions; p. 89:
© 2007 Dancing Elk Productions/FOX; p. 34 [1]: Erich Lessing / Art White Heat © 1949, Warner Bros. Pictures; p. 91 [1]: Double Indem-
Resource, NY; [2–3]: Alamy Stock Photo, p. 35: Anomalisa © 2015, nity © 1944, Paramount Pictures; [2]: Sunset Boulevard © 1950, Para-
Harmonius Claptrap and Snoot Entertainment; p. 36 (both): Bon- mount Pictures; p. 92 [1]: Brick © 2005, Bergman Lustig Productions;
nie and Clyde © 1967, Warner Brothers/Seven Arts; p. 37 (both): [2]: Fargo © 1996, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment; [3]: Insomnia
Way Down East © 1920 D.W. Griffith Productions; p. 38 (all): The © 2002, Alcon Entertainment; p. 93 [1]: Close Encounters of the Third
Silence of the Lambs (1991), Strong Heart/Demme Productions; Kind, 1977, Columbia Pictures Corporation; [2]: War of the Worlds
p. 39 (all): The New World © 2005, First Foot Films, Sarah Green Film; © 1953, 2005, Paramount Pictures; p. 94: Interstellar © 2014, Legendary
457
458 Permissions Acknowledgments
Pictures; p. 95 [1]: Train to Busan, 2016, Next Entertainment World; (all): Okja © 2017, Plan B Entertainment, Kate Street Picture Company,
[2]: The Conjuring, 2013, Warner Bros. Pictures; p. 96 [1]: Suspiria Lewis Pictures; (bottom): The Leopard © 1963, Titanus; p. 161 [1]: The
© 1977, Seda Spettacoli; [2]: Get Out © 2017, Blumhouse Productions Get Down © 2016, Bazmark Films; [2]: Stranger Things © 2016, 21 Laps
and Monkeypaw Productions; p. 97: Bride of Frankenstein © 1935, Entertainment; p. 162: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images; p. 163
Universal Pictures; p. 98 (both): Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [1]: Monster © 2003, Denver & Delilah Films, K/W Productions; [2]:
© 1969, Campanile productions; p. 99 [1]: Unforgiven © 1992, James Mad Max: Fury Road © 2015, Village Roadshow Pictures, RatPac-Dune
Productions; [2]: Dead Man © 1995, Pandora Films; p. 100: My Darling Entertainment, Kennedy Miller Productions; [3–4]: Young Adult
Clementine © 1946, Twentieth Centure Fox Film; p. 101 [1]: The Broad- © 2011, Mandate pictures, Denver & Delilah Films, Mr. Mudd; p. 164 [1]:
way Melody © 1929, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; p. 102 [1]: Pitch Perfect The private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex © 1939, Warner Bros. Pictures;
© 2012, Brownstone Productions and Gold Circle Films; [2]: La La Land [2]: Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, UK / Bridgeman Images; (right): Al-
© 2016, Summit Entertainment, Black Label Media, and TIK Films; ice in Wonderland © 2010, Walt Disney Pictures, Roth Films; p. 165 (top
p. 104 [1]: Dracula © 1931, Universal Pictures; [2]: The Twilight Saga: left): No Country for Old Men © 2007, Scott Rudin Productions, Mike
Eclipse © 2010, Summit Entertainment; (bottom right): The Blair Zoss Productions; (bottom right) [1–2]: The Dark Knight © 2008, War-
Witch Project © 1999, Haxan Films; p. 105: Guardians of the Galaxy ner Bros., Legendary Entertainment; p. 166 [1–3]: City of God © 2002,
© 2014, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; p. 106 [1]: Tower © 2016, 02 Filmes, VideoFilmes; p. 167 (left) [1]: The Sweet Smell of Success
Go-Valley, Killer Impact, and Meredith Vieira Productions; [2]: Motion © 1957, Norma Productions, Curtleigh Productions; (left) [2]: Ja Man-
Painting No. 1 © 1947 Oskar Fischinger; [3]: The Comb © 1991, Channel hattan © 1979, Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions; (right) [1–2]:
Four, Koninck Studios, and La Sept; p. 107: Persepolis © 2007, The Ken- Citizen Kane © 1941, RKO Radio Pictures, Mercury Productions; p. 168
nedy/Marshall Company; p. 109: The Polar Express © 2004, Warner [1]: Scarlett Empress © 1934, Paramount Pictures; (bottom right): John
Bros. Pictures; pp. 110–111 (all): The Lego Movie © 2014, Warner Bros. Wick © 2014, Thunder Road Pictures; p. 169 (left) [1]: THX1138 © 1971,
American Zoetrope, Warner Bros.; [2]: Arrival © 2016, Xenolinguistics,
Lava Bear Films, FIlmNation Entertainment; (right) [1]: Citizen Kane
Chapter 4 © 1941, RKO Radio Pictures, Mercury Productions; [2]: Don’t breathe
p. 115: © Fox Searchlight/Courtesy Everett Collection; p. 117 (all): © 2016, Screen Gems, Stage 6 Films, Ghost House Pictures; p. 170 (top
Notorious © 1946, RKO Radio Pictures; p. 118: Stranger than Fiction left): Bride of Frankenstein © 1935, Universal Pictures; (bottom left):
© 2006, Mandate Pictures; p. 119 [1]: The Royal Tenenbaums © 2001, The Godfather © 1972, Paramount Pictures, Alfran Productions; (top
Touchstone Pictures; [2]: The Spectacular Now © 2013, Andrew Lauren right): Laura © 1944, 20th Century Fox; p. 171 (top) [1–2]: The Night
Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment; [3]: Deadpool © 2016, Marvel of the Hunter © 1955, Paul Gregory Productions; (bottom right): AF ar-
Entertainment; p. 120: Black Swan © 2010, Cross Creek Productions; chive/Alamy Stock Photo; p. 172 (top) [1–2): The Best Years of Our Lives,
p. 121 (both): Precious © 2009, Lee Daniels Entertainment; p. 122: 1946, The Samuel Goldwyn Company; p. 173 [1–2]: Hidden Figures
District 9 © 2009, QUED International and WingNut Films; p. 123: © 2016, Fox 2000 Pictures, Chernin Entertainment/Levantine Films;
Rocky © 1976, Chartoff-Winkler Productions; p. 125: The Big Lebowski p. 174 (top left): The Shinning © 1980, Warner Bros., Hawk Films; (top
© 1998, Working Title Films; p. 126 (both): The Grand Budapest Hotel right): Ratcatcher © 1999, Pathé Pictures, BBC Films; (bottom left)
© 2014, American Empirical Pictures and Indian Paintbrush; p. 127 [1–2]: Run Lola Run © 1998, X-Filme Creative Pool, WDR, Arte; p. 175
(all): 127 Hours © 2010, Pathé; p. 130 [1]: Howl © 2010, Werc Werk (top): The Return of the King © 2003, Wingnut Films, The Saul Zaentz
Works; [2]: Kill Your Darlings © 2013, Killer Films; p. 132 (all): The So- Company; (bottom left): Notorious © 1946, Vanguard Films; p. 176 (top
cial Network © 2010, Relativity Media; p. 134 [1]: Great Expectations left): Citizen Kane © 1941, RKO Radio Pictures, Mercury Productions;
© 1946, Cineguild; [2]: Great Expectations © 1998, Art Linson Produc- (bottom left): The Little Foxes © 1941, Samuel Goldwyn Productions;
tions; p. 135 (top): Citizen Kane © 1941, Mercury Productions; (bottom): (bottom right): Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon © 2000, Columbia
Memento © 2000, Summit Entertainment; p. 136 (both): Whiplash Pictures Film Production Asia, Good Machine International; p. 177 [1]:
© 2014, Bold Films and Blumhouse Productions; p. 137: Game of Thrones Gravity © 2013, Heyday Films, Esperanto Filmoj; [2]: Royal Wedding
© 2011, Television 360; p. 138 (both): Raging Bull © 1980, Charkoff- © 1951, MGM, Loew’s; [3]: Forrest Gump © 1994, Wendy Finerman Pro-
Winkler Productions; p. 139 (left): Timecode © 2000, Screen Gems; ductions; p. 178 (top): The Bicycle Thieves © 1948, Produzioni De Sica;
(right): Birdman © 2014, Regency Enterprises; p. 141 (both): Psycho (bottom): Georges Méliès’ The Eclipse Star-Film 1907; p. 179 [1–4]:
© 1960, Shamley Productions; p. 142: Blade Runner © 1982, The Ladd Com- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari © 1920, Decla-Bioscop AG; p. 180 [1]: Bride
pany; p. 143: Room © 2015, Telefilm Canada and Filmnation Entertain- of Frankenstein © 1935, Universal Pictures; [2]: The Third Man © 1949,
ment; pp. 145–149 (all): Stagecoach © 1939, Walter Wanger Productions. London Film Productions; [3]: The Night of the Hunter © 1955, Paul
Gregory Productions; [4]: Edward Scissorhands © 1990, Twentieth Cen-
tury Fox; [5]: Twin Peaks: The Return © 2017, Lynch/Frost Productions,
Chapter 5 Propoganda Films; p. 182: Sleepy Hollow © 1999, Mandalay Pictures,
p. 153: ©Walt Disney Co./courtesy Everett/Everett Collection; p. 154: Scott Rudin Pictures, American Zoetrope, Tim Burton Productions;
Selma © 2014, Pathé Plan B Entertainment; p. 155 [1]: Moonrise King- pp. 183–185 (all): Sleepy Hollow © 1999, Mandalay Pictures, Scott Ru-
dom © 2012, American Empirical Pictures, Indian Paintbrush; [2]: Chil- din Pictures, American Zoetrope, Tim Burton Productions.
dren of Men © 2006, Strike Entertainment, Hit and Run Productions;
p. 156: Trolls © 2016, DreamWorks Animation; p. 157 [1–2]: Pan’s
Labyrinth © 2006, Estudios Picasso, Tequila Gang, Esperanto Filmoj;
[3]: Andor Bujdoso/Alamy Stock Photo; [4]: Museo Nacional del Prado / Chapter 6
Art Resource, NYImage Reference; p. 158 (top): The Social Network p. 187: © Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection; p. 189: The Social
© 2010 Colombia Pictures, (bottom): Ex Machina © 2014, Flim4, DNA Network © 2010, Relativity Media, Scott Rudin Productions, Michael
Films, p. 159: (top left): Cabiria © 1914, Itala Film; [1-2]: Arrival © 2016, De Luca Productions, Trigger Street Productions; p. 190: In Cold Blood
Xenolinguistics, Lava Bear Films, FIlmNation Entertainment; p. 160 © 1967, Pax Enterprises, Inc.; p. 191 [1]: Pi © 1998, Protozoa Pictures;
Permissions Acknowledgments 459
[2]: Carol © 2015, Number 9 Films, film4, Killer Films; p. 193 [1]: Stage- © 2007, Endgame Entertainment; p. 240 [1]: We Need to Talk About
coach © 1939, Walter Wanger Productions; [2]: The Searchers © 1956, C.V. Kevin © 2011, BBC Films; [2]: Only Lover’s Left Alive © 2013, Rec
Whitney Pictures; [3–4]: Mad Max: Fury Road © 2015, village Roadshow orded Picture Company; [3]: Doctor Strange © 2016, Marvel Studios;
Pictures, Kennedy Miller Mitchell, RatPac-Dune Entertainment; p. 194 [4]: Okja © 2017, Plan B Entertainment; p. 244: Broken Blossoms,
(top left): The Seventh Seal © 1957, Svensk Filmindustri (SF); (bottom 1919, D.W. Griffith Productions; p. 245: Singin’ in the Rain © 1952,
left) [1]: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night © 2014, Logan Pictures, Spec- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; p. 248: The Philadelphia Story © 1940, Metro-
tre Vision; [2]: Ida © 2013, Opus Film, Phoenix Film Investments, Canal+ Goldwyn-Mayer; p. 249 [1]: A Place in the Sun © 1951, Paramount
Polska; p. 195: High Noon © 1952, Stanley Kramer Productions; p. 196 Pictures; [2]: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? © 1966, Warner Bros;
[1]: The Great Train Robbery © 1903, Warner Bros.; [2]: Way Down East p. 251 [1]: On the Waterfront © 1954, Horizon Pictures; [2]: East of
© 1920, D.W. Griffith Productions; [3]: Black Pirate © 1962, The Elton Eden © 1955, Warner Bros.; p. 252: Iron Man © 2008, Paramount Pic-
Corporation, Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation; [4]: Gone With tures and Marvel Enterprises; p. 253 [1]: The Letter © 1940, Warner
the Wind © 1939, Selznick International Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn- Bros; [2]: The Beguiled © 2017, American Zoetrope; p. 255 (left) [1]:
Mayer; p. 197 (bottom): Barry Lyndon © 1975, Hawk Films; (top): The Big Trail © 1930, Fox Film Corporation; (left) [2]: The Shootist
Tangerine © 2015, Duplass Brothers Productions; p. 198 (both): Fan- © 1976, Paramount Pictures; (right) [1]: Starman © 1984, Columbia
tastic Beasts © 2016, Heyday Films; (bottom): My Darling Clementine Pictures Corporation, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), and Delphi II
© 1946, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; p. 199 (left): Dave Productions; (right) [2]: True Grit © 2010, Skydance Productions;
Monahan, (right) [1–2]: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl © 2015, Indian p. 256: The Social Network © 2010, Relativity Media; p. 258: The
Paintbrush; p. 200 (top): Requiem for a Dream © 2000, Thousand Bank Dick © 1940, Universal Pictures; p. 259: The Maltese Falcon
Words, Protozoa Pictures; (right): Sunset Boulevard © 1951, Paramount © 1941, Warner Bros.; p. 261 (top left) [1]: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Pictures; (left): Barry Lyndon © 1975, Hawk Films; p. 201 (both): Hurt © 1979; BBC; [2]: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy © 2011, StudioCanal; (bot-
Locker © 2008, Voltage Pictures, Grosvenor Park Media; p. 202 (top tom right): Henry V © 1944, Two Cities Films; p. 262: The Man from
left) [1–2]: The Devil’s Backbone © 2001, Canal+ España; (bottom London © 2007, TT Filmulmuhely; p. 263 [1]: Knocked Up © 2007,
right): Cameraperson © 2016, Big Mouth Productions, Fork Films; Apatow Productions; [2]: Edward Scissorhands © 1990, Twentieth
p. 203 (all): The Grand Budapest Hotel © 2014, Indian Paintbrush; Century Fox; p. 265: Taxi Driver © 1976, Columbia Pictures; p. 266
p. 204: The Graduate © 1967, Mike Nichols/Lawrence Turman Produc- (both): Citizen Kane © 1941, Mercury Productions; p. 267: Citizen
tions; p. 206 (all): The King’s Speech © 2010, UK Film Council, See- Kane © 1941, Mercury Productions; p. 268 (all): Citizen Kane © 1941,
Saw Films; p. 208 [1–2]: Gold Diggers of 1933 © 1933, Warner Bros.; [3]: Mercury Productions; p. 269 (all): Citizen Kane © 1941, Mercury Pro-
Citizen Kane © 1941, Mercury Productions; p. 209 [1]: Jackie © 2016, ductions; p. 270: Boyhood © 2014, IFC Productions; p. 271 (top): The
LD Entertainment, Wild Bunch; [2]: Jackie © 2016, LD Entertainment, Passion of Joan of Arc © 1928, Société générale des films; (bottom):
Wild Bunch; p. 210 (left) [1]: Love Me Tonight © 1932 Paramount Pic- Morocco © 1930, Paramount Pictures; p. 273 [1]: Throne of Blood
tures; [2]: North by Northwest © 1959, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; (right) © 1957, Toho Studios; [2]: The Piano © 1993, CiBy 2000 and Jan Chap-
[1]: Do the Right Thing © 1989, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, [2]: man Productions; p. 274: 12 Years a Slave © 2013, Summit Entertain-
The Shining © 1980, The Producer Circle Company, Peregrine Produc- ment; p. 275: My Week with Marilyn © 2011, The Weinstein Company;
tions, Hawk Films; p. 211 (top left): The Bride of Frankenstein © 1935, p. 276: (all): Blue Valentine © 2010, Hunting Lane Films.
Universal Pictures; (bottom right) [1–2]: Lion © 2016, The Weinstein
Company; p. 212 (all): M © 1931, Nero-Film; p. 214 (top both): Citi-
zen Kane © 1941, Mercury Productions; (bottom): picture-alliance / Chapter 8
Newscom; p. 216 (all): Touch of Evil © 1958, Universal Pictures; p. 217 p. 281: © TriStar Pictures/Courtesy Everett Colle/Everett Collec-
(both): The Shining © 1980, The Producer Circle Company, Peregrine tion; p. 283: Step © 2017, Epiphany Story Lab; p. 284 [1]: Popperfoto/
Productions, Hawk Films; p. 218 (left): ©DreamWorks/Courtesy Ev- Getty Images; [2]: Photofest; p. 285: Annie Hall © 1977, Jack Rollins &
erett Collection; p. 218 (right): Russian Ark © 2002, Seville Pictures; Charles H. Joffe Productions; p. 286 (all): Loving © 2016, Raindog
p. 219 [1–6]: Chinatown © 1974, Paramount-Penthouse; p. 221 (top left): Films and Big Beach Films; p. 287: T2: Trainspotting © 2017, FIlm4,
Mother! © 2017, Protozoa Pictures; (bottom right) [1–2]: The Lower Creative Scotland; p. 288 [1]: 500 Days of Summer © 2009, Dune En-
Depths © 1957, Toho Studios; p. 222 (all): The Bad Batch © 2016, Anna- tertainment; [2]: Annie Hall © 1977, Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe
purna Pictures, VICE Films; p. 223 (both): Silence of the Lambs © 1991, Productions; p. 290 (all): Requiem for a Dream © 2000, Thousand
Strong Heart/Demme Production; p. 224 (all): The Birds © 1963, Al- Words, Protozoa Pictures; p. 291 (all): Requiem for a Dream © 2000,
fred J. Hitchcock Productions; p. 225 [1]: A Clockwork Orange © 1971, Thousand Words, Protozoa Pictures; p. 292 [1–2]: Lucy © 2014, Eu-
Hawk Films, Polaris Productions; [2]: 21 Jump Street © 2012, Original ropaCorp,; p. 293: Star Wars: The Force Awakens © 2015, Lucasfilm
Film; p. 226 [1]: The Revenant © 2015, Regency Enterprises, RatPac Ltd., Bad Robot Productions; p. 294 (left) [1]: Lawrence of Arabia
Entertainment; [2]: Visitors © 2013, Cinedigm; p. 227: Birth © 2004, © 1962, Horizon Pictures; [2]: Lawrence of Arabia © 1962, Horizon Pic-
New Line Cinema; p. 228: Swiss Army Man © 2016, Tadmor, Astrakan tures; (right) [1–3]: Shaun of the Dead © 2004, StudioCanal, Working
Films AB; p. 229: (top) Blade Runner © 1982, The Ladd Company, Shaw Title Films; p. 295 (both): Citizen Kane © 1941, Mercury Productions;
Brothers; (bottom): Metropolis © 1927, Ufa; p. 230 (both): The Hob- p. 296 [2]: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid © 1969, Newman-
bit © 2012, WingNut Films, New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; Foreman Company; p. 298 (all): Natural Born Killers © 1994, Regency
p. 231 (all): Moonlight © 2016, A24, Plan B Entertainment; pp. 232– Enterprises; p. 299 (top left): Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to
233 (all): Moonlight © 2016, A24, Plan B Entertainment. Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb © 1964, Hawk Films; (top right)
[1–2]: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly © 1966, Produzioni Europee
Associati (PEA); p. 301 (all): Casablanca © 1942, Warner Bros., First
Chapter 7 National Pictures; p. 302 (all): Breathless © 1960, Les Productions
p. 235: ©Focus Features/courtesy Everett Collect / Everett Collection; Georges de Beauregard; p. 303 [1–3]: Election © 1999, MTV Films,
p. 236: The Quiet American © 2002, Miramax; p. 239: I’m Not There Bona Fide Productions; p. 305 (all): Billy Lynn’s Long Half Time Walk
460 Permissions Acknowledgments
© 2016, Film4; p. 306 (all): Stagecoach © 1939, Walter Waner Pro- ages; (right): Seminary Girls © 1897, Edison Manufacturing Company;
ductions; p. 307 (all): 2001: A Space Odyssey © 1968, Stanley Kubrick p. 365 (left): Children Digging for Clams © 1896, Lumiere; (right):
Productions; p. 308 (all): Rear Window © 1954, Patron Inc.; p. 309 Long Distance Wireless Photography © 1908, Star Film Company;
[1]: Moon © 2009, Liberty Films UK, [2]: Moon © 2009, Liberty Films p. 366: The Great Train Robbery © 1903, Edison Manufacturing Com-
UK; [3–4]: Harry Potter and the, Deathly Hallows, Part 1 © 2010, Hey- pany; p. 367: The Crowd © 1928, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; p. 368:
day Films; p. 310 (all): My Darling Clementine © 1946, Twentieth Making an American Citizen © 1912, Solax Studios; p. 369: The Birth
Century Fox Film Corporation; p. 312 (both): The Tin Drum © 1979, of a Nation © 1915, David W. Griffith Corp.; p. 370 (both): The Cabi-
Jadran Film; pp. 314–317 (all): City of God © 2002, O2 Filmes and net of Dr. Caligari © 1920, UFA GmbH; p. 371 [1]: Nosferatu: A Sym-
VideoFilmes. phony of Horror © 1922, Prana Film; [2]: The Last Laugh © 1924, UFA;
p. 372: The Fall of the House of Usher © 1928, Films Jean Epstein;
p. 373: The Wheel © 1923, films Abel Gance; p. 374 (left): The Man with
the Movie Camera © 1929, VUFKU; (right) Alexander Nevsky © 1938,
Chapter 9 Mosfilm; p. 375: Battleship Potemkin © 1935, Mosfilm; p. 376 (left):
p. 319: © Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection/Everett Collec- Mr. Deeds Goes to Town © 1936, Columbia Pictures Corp. of Califor-
tion; p. 321: Inception © 2010, Legendary Pictures; p. 323: Spirited nia, ltd.; (right): The Jazz Singer © 1927, Warner Bros. Pictures and
Away © 2001, Studio Ghibli; p. 325 (all): Apocalypse Now © 1979, Omni the Vitaphone Corporation; p. 377 (left): Easy Living © 1937, Para-
Zoetrope; p. 326 (top): Mean Streets © 1973, Taplin-Perry-Scorsese mount Pictures; (right): Baby Face © 1933, Warner Bros; p. 378: Gone
Productions; (bottom): Midnight Cowboy © 1969, Jerome Hellman with the Wind © 1939, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; p. 379: Citizen Kane
Productions; p. 327 (both): The Lobster © 2015, Element Pictures; © 1941, Mercury Pictures; p. 380: Ossessione © 1943, Industrie, Cin-
p. 328: Hamlet © 1948, Two Cities; p. 330 [1]: Double Indemnity ematografiche Italiane (ICI); p. 381: The Bicycle Thieves © 1948, Pro-
© 1944, Paramount Pictures; [2]: Mr. Robot © 2015-present, Anony- duzioni De Sica (PDS); p. 383 [1]: The 400 Blows © 1959, Les Films du
mous Content and Universal Cable Productions; p. 332: Raging Bull Carrosse; p. 384 (left): The Butcher © 1970, Les Films de la Boétie;
© 1980, Chartoff-Winkler Productions; p. 333 (all): Baby Driver (right): Cleo from 5 to 7 © 1962, Cine Tamaris; p. 386: Victim © 1961,
© 2017, TriStar Pictures; p. 334: Dunkirk © 2017, Syncopy Inc.; Allied Film Makers; p. 387: Breaking the Waves © 1996, Argus Film,
p. 335 (all): Magnolia © 1999, Ghoulardi Film Company; p. 336 [1]: Produktie; p. 388: The American Friend © 1977, Road Movies Film-
A Clockwork Orange © 1971, Polaris Productions; [2]: Time Life, Pic- produktion; p. 389: Ran © 1985, Herald Ace; p. 390: Sansho the Baliff
tures/Contributor/Getty; p. 337: Winter’s Bone © 2010, Anonymous © 1954, Daiei Studios; p. 391 (left): Tokyo Story © 1972, Shochiku;
Content; p. 339: Uncle Boonmee Who Can, Recall His Past Lives © 2010, (right): In the Realm of the Senses © 1976, Argos Films; p. 392: Fare-
Kick the Machine; pp. 340–342 (all): War of the Worlds © 2005, Am- well My Concubine © 1993, Beijing Film Studio; p. 393: A Better
blin Entertainment; p. 344 (both): Once upon a Time in the West Tomorrow © 1986, Cinema City Company; p. 394: Crouching Tiger,
© 1968, Paramount Pictures; p. 345 (both): The 39 Steps © 1935, Hidden Dragon © 2005, Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia;
Gaumont-British Picture Corporation; p. 347 (both): Apocalypse p. 395: Panther Pachali © 1955, Government of West Bengal; p. 400:
Now © 1979, Omni Zoetrope; p. 348: Me and You and Everything We Stranger than Paradise © 1984, Cinesthesia Productions Inc.; p. 401
Know © 2005, film4; p. 350 (all): The Man Who Wasn’t There © 2001, [1]: Bonnie and Clyde © 1967, Warner Brothers/Seven Arts; [2]: China-
Working Title Films; pp. 351–354 (all): Citizen Kane © 1941, Mercury town © 1974, Paramount-Penthouse; p. 402: The Wild Bunch © 1969,
Productions. Warner Bros.-Seven Arts; p. 403 [1]: Grey Gardens © 1975, Portrait
Films; [2]: Dog Star Man © 1962-64, Canyon Cinema.
Chapter 10
p. 357: Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images; p. 358: Sunset Bou- Chapter 11
levard © 1951, Paramount Pictures; p. 364 [1]: Glasshouse Images/ p. 409: © Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection; p. 414: Science
Alamy Stock Photo; [2]: Science & Society Picture Library/Getty Im- Source.
INDEX
n indicates a footnote Best Foreign Language Film, 397, 398, 399 animal, 258
Best Original Song, 4 appearance and performance, 249
3 Godfathers (1948; John Ford), 98 Best Picture, 285, 399, 418, 438 auditions and interviews, 257
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007; Oscar categories and nominations, 257, “bankable”, 236, 246–47, 252, 255, 258
Cristian Mungiu), 21 428–29 the behaviors of, 242, 248, 258
7 Up series (1964–2012; documentaries; the peer review process, 249 bit players, 258, 259
Michael Apted), 270 producers, 426, 429, 429n cameo roles, 258, 259
8 1/2 (1963; Federico Fellini), 78 Special Achievement Award, 195, 196 careers, 87, 236, 244–49, 252–54
10 + 4 (2007; Mania Akbari), 397 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and casting, 257, 258
12 Years a Slave (2013; Steve McQueen), 133, Sciences (AMPAS), 67, 204, 428–29 chameleons, 238, 240
274, 438 Accatone (1961; Pier Paolo Pasolini), 335 character, 258
13TH (2016; Ava DuVernay), 72 Ackroyd, Barry, the work of on The Hurt digital makeup, 256
20th Century Fox, 422–25, 435, 437 Locker (2008), 201, 215, 217 directors and, 237, 242, 251, 258, 266
21 Jump Street (2012; Phil Lord and Acosta, Iván, Amigos (1986), 398 extras, 258, 259
Christopher Miller), 225 The Act of Killing (2012; Joshua incomes, 252, 254
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005; Judd Oppenheimer, Anonymous, and mediocre, 251–52
Apatow), 103 Christine Cynn), 73–74 as mise-en-scène elements, 242, 251
60 Minutes, 72 acting modern, 251, 252, 256, 257–58
120 BPM ( Beats per Minute) (2017; Robin against type, 238, 239 nonactors, 4, 178, 179, 241, 313, 380, 381
Campillo), 438, 440 alienation effect, 262–63 personas, 236, 238–39, 242
127 Hours (2010; Danny Boyle), 126–28, 129, approaches, 228, 236–38, 241–43, physical challenges, 258, 259, 267
217 249–51, 260, 262, 269 roles, 87, 163, 165, 236, 247, 248–49,
The 400 Blows (1959; François Truffaut), assessing a performance, 236, 274–75 251–54, 257, 258
296, 383 blocking, 177, 266–67 stage, 237
500 Days of Summer (2009; Marc Webb), body expressions, 236, 251, 266–67 stage and their audiences, 237
288 camera movement, 245–46 stand-ins, 259
A Place in the Sun (1951; George Stevens), cinematography and, 242, 267 stars, 246–48
249 the close-up, 237, 270–72 stunt doubles, 258, 259
À propos de Nice (1930; Jean Vigo), 373 continuity, 237, 266–67, 272 technical performances by, 242
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968; Stanley creating characters, 236, 260, 260n, 262, typecasting, 87, 251
Kubrick), 84, 85, 86, 94, 256, 346, 402 273 walk-on, 258, 259
2016: Obama’s America (2012; Dinesh early cinema, 243 See also acting; characters; performance
D’Souza), 70 ensemble, 250, 258, 267–70 Actors Studio (New York City), 250
A Trip to the Moon (1902; Georges Méliès), 51 “expressive objects”, 250 Adams, Amy, the part in The Master (2010)
Aardman Animations, 108 the face, 237, 262, 271 written for, 237
Abel, Richard, Americanizing the Movies and the gaze, 215, 218, 223, 226, 232, 267 Adler, Stella, 250
“Movie-Mad” Audiences, 1910–1914 improvisation, 264–65 Affron, Charles, 247, 247n
(2006; text), 360 monologues, 264 Africa, 385
About Schmidt (2002; Alexander Payne), 239 motion capture, 229–30, 256 African American experience in films, 133,
Abrams, J. J. Star Wars: The Force Awakens naturalistic, 250, 263, 273 274, 438, 440
(2015), 23, 293 nonnaturalistic, 242, 262, 263, 264, 273 African Americans in filmmaking, 51, 64,
Academy Awards nonverbal, 241, 381 72, 96, 121–22, 133, 154, 165, 230–33,
the 2016 Best Picture nominees, 434, 435 performance capture, 229–30 238, 250, 263, 274, 306, 340, 368, 401,
animated film features, 105 rehearsal, 250, 265, 266, 268, 269, 270, 438–40
Best Actor, 249, 252 379 The African Queen (1951; John Huston),
the Best Actress, 241, 248, 249, 253, 273, voice, 236, 244–45, 268–69, 323–24, 426
275–76, 285 353–55 Agantuk (The Stranger; 1992; Satyajit Ray),
Best Cinematography, 227 action movies, 47–49, 87, 112 396
Best Director, 295, 399 actors Aguirre, Lope de (1510-1561; Basque-
Best Documentary Feature, 67 agents, 257 Spanish explorer and conquistador),
Best Film Editing, 284 aging, 253 346–47
461
462 Index
Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972; Werner Alonso, Lisandro, Los Muertos (2004), 269n linguistic, 20
Herzog), 389 Alonzo, John (cinematographer), 402 movies as cultural artifacts, 20, 28
Ajantrik (Pathetic Fallacy; 1958; Ritwik Alphaville (1965; Jean-Luc Godard), 94 narrative, 24
Ghatak), 396 Alshaibi, Usama, Muhammad and Jane the purpose, 7
Akbari, Mania (2003; Iraq ), 396 sociocultural, 20
10 + 4 (2007), 397 Altman, Robert storytelling traditions, 24
the feminist, family-oriented films of, the films of, 222, 265, 401 Analyzing
397 Gosford Park (2001), 264 Chapter 1: Looking at Movies, 28
I Slept with My Mother, My Father, My Kansas City (1996), 251 Chapter 2: Principles of Film Form, 61
Brother and My Sister in a Country McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), 104 Chapter 3: Types of Movies, 113
Called Iran (2012), 397 Nashville (1975), 264 Chapter 4: Elements of Narrative, 151
In My Country Men Have Breasts (2012), Short Cuts (1993), 252, 264 Chapter 5: Mise-en-scène, 186
397 The Player (1992), 251, 259, 345, 417 Chapter 6: Cinematography, 233–34
One. Two. One (2011), 397 Alvarez, Fede, Don’t Breathe (2016), 2, 35 Chapter 7: Acting, 278
Ten (2002), 397 Amalie (2001; Jean-Pierre Jeunet), 226 Chapter 9: Sound, 356
Akerman, Chantal, breaking the fourth wall Amazon Prime Video, 3, 74, 433 Chapter 10: Film History, 406
as a tool in the films of, 263 American Beauty (1999; Sam Mendes), 348 Chapter 11: How the Movies are Made,
Al Daradji, Mohamed, Son of Babylon (2009; American Cinema Editors, 428 441
Iraq), 396 American Federation of Television and Anderson, Lindsay
Alafia, Joshua Bee Let’s Stay Together (2011), Radio Artists (AFTRA), 257 The Whales of August (1987), 253
438 American Film Institute (AFI) poll, 253 if . . . (1968), 386
Albania, 385 The American Friend (1977; Wim Wenders), Anderson, Paul Thomas (director-
Alberto Giacometti, Walking Man II (1960; 388 screenwriter)
sculpture; Switzerland), 33, 34 American Gangster (2007; Ridley Scott), 85 Inherent Vice (2014), 133
Alcott, John (cinematographer), the work American Hustle (2013; David O. Russell), 68 Magnolia (1999), 335
of on Barry Lyndon (1975), 197, 200 American Made (2017; Doug Liman), 239 Phantom Thread (2017), 237, 273
Aldrich, Robert, What Ever Happened to American Society of Cinematographers, 428 the preference of for film over digital
Baby Jane? (1962), 248, 253 American underground cinema, 78–80 photography, 416
Alfie (1966; Lewis Gilbert), 118 See also experimental films The Master (2010), 237
Algeria, 396 Americanizing the Movies and “Movie-Mad” There Will Be Blood (2007), 237
Alice in Chains (rock band), 337 Audiences, 1910–1914 (2006; Richard Anderson, Wes
Alice in Wonderland (2010; Tim Burton), Abel; text), 360 The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), 119, 385
164, 181, 240, 435 Amigos (1986; Iván Acosta), 398 Isle of Dogs (2018), 68, 155
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016; Amirpour, Ana Lily Moonrise Kingdom (2012), 155, 174, 178,
James Bobin), 164 A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014; 336–37, 337n, 414
Alien (1979; Ridley Scott), 95, 156, 345–46 Iran), 194 Rushmore (1998), 295
alienation effect (distancing effect), 262–63 The Bad Batch (2016), 222 the stylized settings and costumes in the
Alive (1993; Frank Marshall), 126 Les Amours d’Elisabeth, Reine d’Angleterre films of, 155
All about Eve (1950; Joseph L. Mankiewicz), (Queen Elizabeth; 44 min.; 1912; The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), 53–54,
249, 252 Henri Desfontaines and Louis 126, 178, 203
All the Money in the World (2017; Ridley Mercanton), 243 Andrews, Peter (editor). See Steven
Scott), 82 An Andalusian Dog (also called Un Chien Soderbergh
Allen, Robert (film scholar), 246, 246n Andalou; 1929; Luis Buñuel and Anémic cinéma (1926; Marcel Duchamp), 77
Allen, Woody Salvador Dalí), 77, 79 Anger, Kenneth, Scorpio Rising (1964), 80
Annie Hall (1977), 84 An Autumn Afternoon (1962; Yasujirô Ozu), animatic, 284
the average shot lengths in films by, 226 392 animation and animated films
Blue Jasmine (2013), 239 An Education (2009; Lone Scherfig), 121 3-D computer, 106, 107–9
the emphasis of on writing and analysis the advantages and uses of, 106
performance, 226 acting and performance, 247, 272–74, backgrounds, 106
neurotic sex as a comedic film topic of, 278–79 brickfilms, 110–12
103 anthropological and cultural, 21–22, 24 celluloid sheets, 106
a New American Cinema director, 401 approaches to, 15, 20 CGI and live interactions, 109, 256
Allures (1961; Jordan Belson), 78 based on a director’s career, 21 character movements, 106
Almendros, Néstor (cinematographer) beliefs, values and, 16 clay modeling, 108
as an influence on New American of cinematographic expression, 188 compositing, 108
Cinema, 402 comparative, 21–22 experimental films, 106
Improper Conduct (1984; with Orlando defined, 6 genres, 102, 105–7
Jiménez Leal), 398 of film form, 15, 20 the process, 105–6
the work of, 398 the filmmakers’ intent, 15 production design for, 156
Almodóvar, Pedro, Volver (2006), 141 genre and, 24 rendering, 108
Index 463
software, 106–7 Requiem for a Dream (2000), 200, 288, expectations, 10, 13–14, 35–40, 47, 54,
stop-motion, 35, 106, 106–7 289, 290–91 122, 135, 154, 159, 238–39, 297, 338
stylized versus realistic characters, Arquette, Patricia, 279 experience, 8, 14, 35–36, 47–49, 124, 133,
108–9 Arrival (2016; Denis Villeneuve), 47, 159, 229, 286, 372, 417, 431
television and DVD, 109 306–7, 434, 435 identification, 26, 120, 223, 230–33, 242,
two-dimensional drawings, 105–7 art 256, 262–63, 272–73
types, 106 architecture as an art of space, 43 international, 438
video games, 109 artists’ approaches, 33–35 meanings, 12–13, 118, 135, 286, 289
virtual characters and virtual lights, 108 compositional principles, 5 movie images, 3
wire framing, 108 content, 32 perception, 43–44, 44, 136, 143, 209,
animation and animated films experimental filmmaking, 75 209n, 220, 222, 225, 256, 292
See also cartoons; stop-motion form, 32 repetition, 141
Annie Hall (1977; Woody Allen), 84, 285 form and content, 32–35 sound, 326–28, 344–45, 345–46
Anomalisa (2015; Charlie Kaufman), 35, 80 idealizations, 33 stage, 405
Another Year (2010; Mike Leigh), 264 meanings, 33 stereotypes, 368–69
Antareen (The Confined; 1993; Mrinal Sen), movies versus other forms of, 5 subjectivity and biases, 2, 10, 54, 272
396 music as an art of time, 43 verisimilitude, 54, 272–73
antiheroes, 89, 91 painting, 53 video game, 4
See also characters; heroes patterns and progressions, 36 visual juxtapositions, 287, 289, 291, 293,
Antonioni, Michelangelo, 381, 386, 401, 404 realism versus formalism, 53 306, 314
The Red Desert (1964), 338 sculpture, 33–35 See also cinematic language
Apache Tribe (Native American), 144–49 stylizations, 34 Audran, Stéphane, 384
Apar Sansar (The World of Apu; Apu the unspoken and the unconscious Australia, 385
Trilogy III; 1959; Satyajit Ray), 395 in, 93 Austria, 440
Aparajito (The Unvanquished; Apu Arthur, Jean, 377 Austrian filmmaking and filmmakers, 389
Trilogy II; 1956; Satyajit Ray), 395 The Artist (2011; Michel Hazanavicius), 246 auteur concept, 382–85, 391, 393, 395,
The Apartment (1960; Billy Wilder), 123–24 Artists under the Big Top: Perplexed (1968; 400–401
Apatow, Judd Alexander Kluge), 388 See also international directors
Knocked Up (2007), 21, 22, 263 Ashes of Time (1994; Kar-Wai Wong), 393 automatic dialogue replacement (ADR)
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), 103 Asmaa (2011; Amr Salama; Egypt), 396 systems, 323, 324
Apocalypse Now (1979; Francis Ford aspect ratio, 196, 202–4 Avalanche (1937; Mikio Naruse), 269n
Coppola), 283, 322, 325, 337, 338, Asquith, Anthony, A Cottage on Dartmoor avant-garde
347, 418 (1929), 368 absurdism and anticonventionalism,
Applause (1929; Rouben Mamoulian), Assayas, Olivier, Personal Shopper (2017), 372
camera movement and static shots 440 city symphony films, 373
in, 101, 245–46, 246n, 321 assistant editors, 285 cubism, 372
Apted, Michael, 7 Up series (1964–2012; Asta (animal actor), 259 dadaism, 372
documentaries), 270 Astaire, Fred, 100 dreams and hallucinations, 372
Apu trilogy (Satyajit Ray), 331, 395 The Astronomer’s Dream (2004; Ernie narrative, 67
Arau, Alfonso, Like Water for Chocolate Gehr), 78 naturalism, 372–73
(1992; Mexico), 399 Astruc, Alexandre (film critic; director), 382 progression, 65
Arbuckle, Roscoe “Fatty” (silent era comedy Atonement (2007; Joe Wright), 42 pure visual form, 372
actor), 369 Attenborough, Richard the Soviet Montage Movement, 373
archival material, 71 Chaplin (1992), 252 surrealism, 372
Argentina, 397 Young Winston (1972), 143 visual form, 373
Argentinian filmmaking and filmmakers, audience See also French filmmaking and film
397, 440 3-D movies, 435–36 makers; German Expressionism;
Argento, Dario, Suspiria (1977), 96 access to movies, 2–3, 9, 23 silent movies
Aristotle, 129, 361 active viewing, 9, 47, 57, 134–35, 226, 232, Avary, Roger, The Rules of Attraction (2002),
Arnaz, Desi (actor; producer), and Desilu 287, 294–95 288
productions, 426 actor and, 248, 254, 270 Avatar (2009; James Cameron), as a promo-
Arnold, Edward, 377 breaking the fourth wall, 4, 5, 118–19, 263 tion of 3-D technology, 86, 108, 165,
Arnold, Martin, Passage à l’acte (1993), 77 camera viewpoint, 8, 223 256, 435, 437
Arnulf Rainer (1960; Peter Kubelka), 78 cinematic language, 55, 272–73, 286, 300 “Ave Maria”, 334
Aronofsky, Darren, [ pi], 191 cinematic realism, 49–50 Avildsen, John G., Rocky (1976), 123
Black Swan (2010), 120, 122, 125–26, demographics, 88–89, 195, 252, 431, 436 Ayer, David
128–29, 191 early moviegoing, 300, 367, 423 Bright (2017), 3
the hip-hop montage technique of, emotions, 3, 36–39, 133, 140, 226–27, 333 Suicide Squad (2016), 437
289–91 empathy, 36–38, 128 Azari, Shoja, Women without Men (2009;
Mother! (2017), 81, 191, 221, 439 entertainment, 2, 10, 431 with Shirin Neshat; Iran), 396
464 Index
b-roll film, 71, 72, 74, 81 Barney, Matthew (video artist), 80 the use of Friedrich von Schiller’s “Ode to
Babbit, Jamie, But I’m a Cheerleader (1999), Barrie, Sir James Matthew, Peter Pan; Joy” in the Ninth Symphony, 336
276 or, the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up Being John Malkovich (1999; Spike Jonze),
Baby Driver (2017; Edgar Wright), 55 (1904 play; 1911 novel), 240–41 260
Baby Face (1933; Alfred E. Green), 377 Barry Lyndon (1975; Stanley Kubrick), 197, Belgium, 440
Bach, Johann Sebastian 200, 266 believability. See verisimilitude
on how the music of Bach and the Barrymore, Lionel, recruited by D. W. Belle de Jour (1967; Luis Buñuel), 372
contemporary world might interact: Griffith, 243 Belmondo, Jean-Paul, 383
The Silence before Bach (2007; Pere Barthelmess, Richard (actor), the real Belson, Jordan, Allures (1961), 78
Portabella), 338 performance by in the “ice break” Belton, John Widescreen Cinema (1992;
Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor scene of Way Down East (1920), text), 360
(ca. 1706–1713; BWV 582), 335 36–38 Bendjelloul, Malik, Searching for Sugar Man
St. Matthew Passion (1727; BWV 244), Basinger, Jeanine (2012), 67
335 I Do and I Don’t: A History of Marriage Benegal, Shayam
Backstage ( journal), 257 in the Movies (2012; text), 358 Ankur (The Seedling; 1973), 396
Backstage journal, 257 on the traits of a movie star, 247, 247m Bhumika (The Role; 1977), 396
The Bad Batch (2016; Ana Lily Amirpour), Batman film franchise, 437 the films of, 396
222 Batman Forever (1995; Joel Schumacher), Manthan (The Churning; 1976), 396
Bad Boys film franchise (1995, 2003; Michael 253 Nehru (1985), 396
Bay), 438 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2106; Nishant (Night’s End; 1975), 396
Bad Moms (2016; Jon Lucas and Scott Zack Snyder), 437 Satyajit Ray, Filmmaker (1985), 396
Moore), 103 The Battle of Chile (1975–79: Patricio Benji (animal actor), 259
Badlands (1973; Terrence Malick), 118, 330, Guzmán), 397 Benton, Robert, The Human Stain, 253
402 The Battleship Potemkin (1925), 296, 300, Berenson, Marisa, in Barry Lyndon (1975),
Badran, Ray, A Play Entitled Sehnsucht (2011; 375 266
Lebanon), 397 Baumbach, Noah, Margot at the Wedding Bergman, Ingmar
Bahrain, 396 (2007), 254 breaking the fourth wall by, 263
Baillie, Bruce Bava, Mario, Black Sunday (1960), 182 Cries and Whispers (1972), 311
experimental films (New American Bay, Michael the international influence of, 386, 401,
Cinema), 403 Bad Boys film franchise (1995, 2003), 438 404
Mass for the Dakota Sioux (1964), 79 Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Persona (1966), 78
Baker, Baker, The Florida Project (2017), 440 438 The Seventh Seal (1957), 194
Baker, Sean, Tangerine (2015), 197, 217, 439 Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), Wild Strawberries (1957), 338
Balagueró, Jaume Rec (2007; with Paco 436 Bergman, Ingrid, 248
Plaza), 217 Bazin, André Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980; Rainer Werner
Balda, Kyle on deep focus cinematography, 209, Fassbinder), 388
Despicable Me 3 (2017; with Pierre 209n Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (also called
Coffin), 436 on the potential artistic cost to film Symphony of a Great City; 1927;
Minions (2015; with Pierre Coffin), 437 making presented by technology, Walter Ruttmann), 368
Baldwin, Craig, Tribulation 99: Alien 257, 257n Bernard, Mary Ann (editor). See Steven
Anomalies under America (1992), 76, 77 on Stagecoach (1939) and the evolution Soderbergh
Bale, Christian, the acting flexibility of, 240 of the Western, 147, 147n Bernhardt, Curtis, Possessed (1947), 248
Balint, Eszter, 400 BBC Films, 429, 430 Bernhardt, Sarah Bernhardt (1844–1923)
Balio, Tino, Grand Design: Hollywood Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012; Benh in Le Duel d’Hamlet (Hamlet; 2 min.;
as a Modern Business Enterprise, Zeitlin), 52, 81, 241, 438 1900), 243
1930–1939 (1995; text), 360 Beatty, Warren, 401 in Les Amours d’Elisabeth, Reine
Ball, Lucille (actor; producer), and Desilu Beaumont, Harry, The Broadway Melody d’Angleterre (Queen Elizabeth;
Productions, 426 (1929), 101 44 min.; 1912), 243
Ballast (2008; Lance Hammer), 81 Beauty and the Beast (2017; Bill Condon), reputation, 243
Ballet mécanique (1924; Fernand Léger and 436 Bernstein, Elmer (composer; conductor;
Dudley Murphy), 77, 78 Bechdel, Alison, 26 movie score specialist), 333
Bancroft, Anne, in The Graduate (1967), 204 Bechdel test, 26, 27 Bernstein, Leonard (composer; conductor;
Bancroft, George, in Stagecoach (1939), 144, Becky Sharp (1935; Rouben Mamoulian), 195 scholar; pianist), 333
145 Beebe, Roger, The Strip Mall Trilogy (2001), Bertolucci, Bernardo (director)
The Band’s Visit (2001; Eran Kolirin; Israel), 81 Last Tango in Paris (1972), 264
397 Beethoven, Ludwig van the work of, 264, 382, 399
The Bank Dick (1940; Edward F. Cline), 258 Ninth Symphony (Symphony No. 9 in Besson, Luc, Lucy (2014), 226, 292
Bank of America, 422 D minor, Op. 125; 1824), 336 The Best Years of Our Lives (1946; William
Bardem, Javier (actor; Spain), in No Country Pathétique (Symphony No. 8 in C Minor, Wyler), 172, 241, 270, 423
for Old Men (2007), 165 op. 13; 1798), 349, 350 Bettany, Paul, in Dogville (2003), 263
Index 465
A Better Tomorrow (1986; John Woo), 393 Blade Runner (1982; Ridley Scott), 94, 142, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for
Betty Boop cartoons (Max and Dave 156, 228 Make Benefit Glorious Nation of
Fleischer), 369 The Blair Witch Project (1999; Daniel Myrick Kazakhstan (2006; Larry Charles), 81
Bhuvan Shome (Mr. Shome; 1969; Mrinal and Eduardo Sánchez), 104, 217 Bordwell, David, The Classical Hollywood
Sen), 396 Blaise, Aaron, Brother Bear (2003; with Cinema: Film Style and Mode of
The Bicycle Thieves (1948; also known as Robert Walker), 204 Production to 1960 (1985; with Janet
The Bicycle Thief; Vittorio De Sica), Blake, Robert, in In Cold Blood (1968), 190 Staiger and Kristin Thompson; text),
177, 381 Blanchett, Cate 360
Bier, Susanne, Open Hearts (2002), 387 on acting and performance, 237, 237n Born into Brothels (2004; documentary;
Big Eyes (2014; Tim Burton), 181 Blue Jasmine (2013), 239 Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman), 67
The Big Lebowski (1998; Joel and Ethan Elizabeth (1998), 239 Bosnia, 385
Coen), 124–25, 126, 129, 240 I’m Not There (2007), 239–40 The Boss Baby (2017; Tom McGrath), 436
The Big Parade (1925; King Vidor), 369 Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003), Bouchareb, Rachid
The Big Trail (1930; Raoul Walsh), 204, 255 239 Days of Glory (2006; Algeria), 396
Bigelow, Kathryn blending. See hybrid films Outside the Law (2010; Algeria), 396
Detroit (2017), directorial preferences, blimp, 245 The Bourne Supremacy (2004, Paul
178 Blixen, Karen, Out of Africa (Danish Greengrass), 293, 336
The Hurt Locker (2008), 125, 201, 215 novelist, pseudonym Isak Dinesen; Bowers, David, Flushed Away (2006; with
Zero Dark Thirty (2012), 178 1937; memoir), 241 Sam Fell), 108
Bill and Coo (parakeets; animal actors), 259 blockbuster films and franchises, 4, 410, 417, Bowling for Columbine (2002; Michael
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2016), 225 424, 438–39 Moore), 70
biopic, 130, 143 blocking, 189, 190, 208–9, 226 Box Office Mojo, 23n, 26
Bird, Antonia, Ravenous (1999), 102 Blomkamp, Neill, District 9 (2009), 122 box office sales, 23, 254, 377, 433, 435–40
Bird, Brad Blondie of the Follies (1932; Edmund horror movies, 440
Ratatouille (2007), 105 Goulding), 424 Boyhood 2014; Richard Linklater, 46, 270
on storytelling and the language of film, The Blood of a Poet (1930; Jean Cocteau), Boyle, Danny
105–106 373 127 Hours (2010), 126–28, 217
The Incredibles (2004), 105, 108, 109 Blow (2001; Ted Demme), 240 T2: Trainspotting (2017), 287
The Iron Giant (1999), 105 Blu-rays and DVDs, 3, 9, 23, 427, 433, 435, Trainspotting (1996), 118, 287
Birdman (2015; Alejandro González 440 Brakhage, Stan, Dog Star Man (1962–1964),
Iñárritu), 64, 139, 227 The Blue Angel (1930; Josef von Sternberg), 79
The Birds (1963; Alfred Hitchcock), 224–25, 370 Branagh, Kenneth, Cinderella (2015), 133
266, 346 Blue Jasmine (2013; Woody Allen), 239 Brando, Marlon
Birth (2003; Jonathan Glazer), 227, 253 Blue Valentine (2010; Derek Cianfrance), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), 250
Birth of a Nation (1915; D. W. Griffith), 213, 275–78 Last Tango in Paris (1972), 264
243, 366, 368–69 Blue Velvet (1986; David Lynch), 123 On the Waterfront (1954), 250, 251, 272
Blaché, Alice Guy (early filmmaker), Making Bobin, James, Alice Through the Looking Brandon, Maryann (editor), the work of on
an American Citizen (1912; 16 min.), Glass (2016), 164 Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015),
368 body and body language, 205, 229, 236, 243, 293
black and white films, 191–97, 439 247, 267, 273 Brannon, Ash, Toy Story 2 (1999; with John
See also cinematography Boese, Carl, The Golem (1920; with Paul Lasseter and Lee Unkrich), 256
Black Friday (2004; Anurag Kashyap), 396 Wegener), 370 Brazil, 397–98
Black God, White Devil (1964; Glauber Bogarde, Dirk (actor; writer), in Victim Brazilian filmmaking and filmmakers,
Rocha), 397 (1961; Basil Dearden), 386 397–98
Black Hawk Down (2001; Ridley Scott), the Bogart, Humphrey The Breadwinner (2017; Nora Twomey), 107
music by Hans Zimmer for, 337 the breakthrough role of in The Maltese breaking the fourth wall, 4, 5, 118–19, 202,
Black Maria studio, 363, 364 Falcon (1941), 91–92, 273 263
Black Mass (2015; Scott Cooper), 241 the famous collaboration of with John Breaking the Waves (1996; Lars von Trier),
Black Panther (2018; Ryan Coogler), 438 Huston, 266 387
The Black Pirate (1926; Albert Parker), 195, Bogdanovich, Peter, The Last Picture Show Breathless (1960; Jean-Luc Godard), 84, 302,
196 (1969), 401–2 383, 384–85
Black Sunday (1960; Mario Bava), 182, 183 bokeh, 231 Brecht, Bertolt ( playwright, Germany), work
Black Swan (2010; Darren Aronofsky), 120, Bolivia, 399 and ideas, 262–63
122, 125, 126, 128–29, 191 Bong, Joon-ho Okja (2017), 3, 160, 240 Breer, Robert, Fist Fight (1964), 78
Blackfish (2013; Gabriela Cowperthwaite), 70 Bonnie and Clyde (1967; Arthur Penn), 36, 84, Bresson, Robert, A Man Escaped (1956), 328
Blackthorn, J. Stuart, The Life of Moses 296, 385, 401 Brick (2005; Rian Johnson), 92
(1909, five reels), 367 Bononova, Fortunio, 379 brickfilms, 110–11
Blade II (2002; Guillermo del Toro), 14 Boone, Josh, The New Mutants (2018), 437 Bride of Frankenstein (1935; James Whale),
Blade Runner 2049 (2017; Denis Villeneuve), Boone, Pat, in Mardi Gras (1958), 424 170, 180, 211, 344
95, 229 Boorman, John, The General (1998), 309 Bridesmaids (2011; Paul Feig), 103
466 Index
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957; David Buñuel, Luis Cameraperson (2016; documentary; Kirsten
Lean), 261, 426 An Andalusian Dog (Un Chien Andalou; Johnson), 202
Bridges, Jeff 1929; with Salvador Dalí ), 77 cameras
in The Big Lebowski (1998), 124–25, 240, Belle de Jour (1967), 372 the 180-degree rule, 303–4
255 career, 372, 398, 399 and actors, 236–37, 245, 270
career, 255 Los Olvidados (1950), 399 angle, 209, 306
Crazy Heart (2009), 255 Simon of the Desert (1965), 399 apertures, 192, 197, 199, 201, 208, 215, 413,
Fat City (1972), 255 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie 414, 416
Hell or High Water (2016), 240, 255 (1972), 372, 399 Arri Alexa XT, 230–31, 231
Iron Man (2008), 240 The Milky Way (1969), 78 camera obscura (Figure 10.1), 361–62
Starman (1984), 255 Viridiana (1961), 372 close-ups, 270–72
True Grit (2010), 240, 255 Burns, Ken, The Civil War (1990), 72 crane shots, 216
Winter Kills (1979), 255 Burstyn, Ellen, 250 cutting on action, 9
Bright (2017; David Ayer), 3 Burton, Tim digital (Figure 11.2), 190–91, 414
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974; Alice in Wonderland (2010), 164, 181, 240, dolly shots, 16, 214–15
Sam Peckinpah), 402 435 early, 49, 361
Bringing Up Baby (1938: Howard Hawks), Big Eyes (2014), 181 film cameras (Figure 11.1), 190–91, 413
329 career, 181, 181n, 266, 401 frame rates, 42–43, 223–26, 225
Briski, Zana, Born into Brothels (2004; with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), gimbals, 217n
Ross Kauffman), 67 181, 240 handheld, 198, 201, 213, 217, 218, 221,
British Film Institute (BFI), 359, 359n, 360 Ed Wood (1994), 181 232
British Free Cinema movement, 382, 386–87 Edward Scissorhands (1990), 165, 180, image magnification, 215
Britten, Benjamin (composer; conductor; 240 implied proximity, 205
pianist) Frankenweenie (2012), 107 instability, 172, 213, 215–17, 217
Noye’s Fludde (Noah’s Flood; 1958), 336 Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar light capture, 416
The Young Person’s Guide to the Children (2016), 181 master scenes, 302–3
Orchestra (1945), 337, 337n Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), 181 movement, 44, 68–69, 177, 211–13
Broadway, 83, 249, 250, 252 Planet of the Apes (2001), 181 as narrator, 116–17, 119, 209, 214–15, 222
The Broadway Melody (1929; Harry Sleepy Hollow (1999), 181–85 as observer, 177
Beaumont), 101 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet omniscient, 119–20, 144
Brokeback Mountain (2005; Ang Lee), 2, 104, Street (2007), 7, 240 pan and tilt shots, 213–14
276, 394 Burwell, Carter (composer), 333, 339, 349 point of view (POV ) framing, 222–23
Broken Blossoms (1919; D. W. Griffith), Buster’s Mal Heart (2016; Sarah Adina portable, 362
243–44, 369 Smith), 80 resolution, 412, 414, 416
Brontë, Charlotte, Jane Eyre (1847; novel), But I’m a Cheerleader (1999; Jamie Babbit), rollers, 413
133 276 the setup, 188–90, 200, 211, 213, 227
Brooks, Louise, Pandora’s Box (1929), 244 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, (1969; the shot, 189, 205–11, 213–17
Brooks, Mel George Roy Hill), 296 shutters, 413, 416
The Producers (1968), 103 The Butcher (1970; Claude Chabrol), 384 silent films, 412
Young Frankenstein (1974), 348 Butler, Chris, ParaNorman (2012; with Sam sizes, 244–45
Brooks, Richard Fell), 107 sound and, 351
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), 249 BUtterfield 8 (1960; Daniel Mann), 249 soundproof encasements, 244–45
In Cold Blood (1968), 190 The Butterfly Murders (1979; Hark Tsui), space perception, 44
Brother Bear (2003; Aaron Blaise and Robert 393 special effects, 183, 228
Walker), 204 Büttner, Tilman (cinematographer), the Stedicams, 213, 217, 218, 232
Brothers Quay (Stephen and Timothy Quay), work of on Russia Ark (2002), 227 Technicolor, 195
The Comb (1990), 106 Bye Bye Brazil (1979; Carlos Diegues), 397 the three-shot salvo, 303
Broughton, James, Mother’s Day (1948), 79 tripods and heads, 213–14
Brown, Clarence, National Velvet (1944), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920; Robert video-assist, 189, 411
249 Wiene), 96, 179, 181, 370–71 the viewfinder, 218
Brown, Royal S., film music scholar, 332, Cabiria (1914; 141 min.; Giovanni Pastrone; viewpoint, 44, 304–5
332n Italy), 159, 367 zoom lenses, 75, 200–201, 213, 215
Browning, Robert, The Pied Piper of Hamelin Cage, John (composer), 338 See also cinematography; lenses;
(1888; translation of the mediaeval Cagney, James, 90 photography; shot
German folktale), 330 Cahiers du cinéma ( journal), 382–83 Cameron, James
Browning, Tod, Dracula (1931), 96 Cahiers du cinéma journal, 382–83 Avatar (2009), 86, 108, 165, 435, 437
Buena Vista Productions (Walt Disney Caine, Michael, on the movie camera, 236 Terminator franchise (1984-2003), 94
Studios), 423 Calamai, Clara, 380 Titanic (1997), 133
Bulgaria, 385, 440 Call Me by Your Name (2017; Luca Campanella, Juan José, The Secret in Their
Bullock, Sandra, 254 Guadagnino), 438, 440 Eyes (2009; Argentina), 397
Index 467
Campbell, Joseph (mythologist) Cassavetes, John villains and super-villains, 86, 105,
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949, A Woman under the Influence (1974), 110–11
2nd ed.), 24, 24n 264 zombies, 95, 103, 109
on the “monomyth, ” or “hero’s journey”, career, 401 characters
111–12 Faces (1968), 264 allies and adversaries, 120
Campbell, Martin, Goldeneye (1995), 171 Gloria (1980), 264 antagonists, 14, 126, 135
Camper, Fred (film scholar), 75, 80, 113, 114 Cassin, Billie, 248 See Joan Crawford antiheroes, 89–91, 122
Campillo, Robin, 120 BPM (Beats per Cast Away (2000; Robert Zemeckis), 419–20 archetypes, 105, 112
Minute) (2017), 438, 440 casting, 257–59 audience expectations, 122, 123
Campion, Jane (filmmaker; New Zealand) casting directors (CDs), 257 audience identification with, 120, 223,
the films of, 386 Casting Society of America (CSA), 257 275
The Piano (1993), 273 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958; Richard breaking the fourth wall, 118–19, 263
The Portrait of a Lady (1996), 253 Brooks), 249 catalyst events, 125
Camurati, Carla, Carlota Joaquina, Princess causal minimalism, 66 character actors, 258–59
of Brazil (1995; Brazil), 397 cause-and-effect progression, 64–67 character design, 157
Canada, 385, 400 Cavalcanti, Alberto, Rien que les heures character development, 123, 126–29,
Cannes Film Festival, 339 (1926), 372–73 266, 272
Cannibal! The Musical (1996; Trey Parker), Cedar, Joseph, Footnote (2011; Israel), 397 character types, 85, 86, 90, 99, 101, 111
102 Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974; Jacques faceless other, 98
Cantet, Laurent, The Class (2008), 241 Rivette), 384 flat, 120, 121, 121n, 142, 199, 437
Canyonlands National Park, 127 censorship, 368, 376–78, 391–93 goals versus needs, 123
Caouette, Jonathan, Tarnation (2003), 74 Cera, Michael highly stylized, 108–9, 262
Capra, Frank Arrested Development (2003–2006), 14 obstacles to, 120, 126
It Happened One Night (1934), 103 Juno (2007), 14 protagonists, 14, 122–24
Meet John Doe (1941), 103 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), 14 quests, 120–26, 128–29
on nonverbal communication, 241 Superbad (2007), 14 round characters, 121–23, 128
You Can’t Take It with You (1938), 404 Le Cercle Rouge (1970; Jean-Pierre Melville), “ship of fools”, 144
Captain America: Civil War (2016; Anthony 339 Stagecoach (1939), 143–46
and Joe Russo), 436 Chabrol, Claude, The Butcher (1970), 384 stakes, 128
Captain Jack Sparrow film franchise, 437 Chadwick, Justin, Mandela: Long Walk to state of mind, 142
Carey, Harry, recruited by D. W. Griffith, 243 Freedom (2103), 438 superheroes, 83, 87, 104–5, 111, 112
Carlos, Wendy (composer), electronic Chaffey, Don, Jason and the Argonauts tertiary, 99
synthesis of Dies Irae used in The (1963), 107 traits, 120–21, 123–24, 233, 240, 275
Shining (1980; with Rachel Elkind), Chan, Jackie, 393 verisimilitude, 54, 68, 109, 123
320 change, 93 villains and super-villains, 86, 105, 110–11
Carney, John (Republic of Ireland), Once See also fear voices, 353–55
(2006; musical), 4, 338, 382 Chaplin (1992; Richard Attenborough), 252 See also actors; antiheroes; heroes;
Caro, Marc, Delicatessen (1991; with Jean- Chaplin, Charles protagonists
Pierre Jeunet), 347–48 The Gold Rush (1925), 44–45, 47, 369 Charles, Larry, Borat: Cultural Learnings of
Carol (Todd Haynes; 2015), 191, 191n, 437–38 on costume, 260, 260n America for Make Benefit Glorious
Carpenter, John, Starman (1984), 255 The Circus (1928), 369 Nation of Kazakhstan (2006), 81
Carradine, John, in Stagecoach (1939), 144, character types Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005;
145 antiheroes, 89–91 Tim Burton), 181, 240
Carroll, Lewis (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson; archetypes, 100, 105, 112 Charulata (The Lonely Wife; 1964; Satyajit
writer, mathematician; logician) cowboys and Indians, 86, 98–99, 104 Ray), 395–96
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865; crime bosses, 88 Chase Manhattan Bank, 422
novel), 164 detectives, 91, 92 Chastain, Jessica, the career of, 275–76
Through the Looking-Glass and What gangsters and criminals, 86, 88–91, 92 Chatterjee, Soumitra, 266
Alice Found There (1871; novel), 164 ghosts, 95 Chazelle, Damien
Cars 3 (2017; Brian Fee), 436 gunslingers and lawmen, 86, 98–100 La La Land (2016), 102, 435
cartoons highly stylized characters, 105, 108–9 Whiplash (2014), 136
Alison Bechdel (feminist cartoonist), 26 immigrants, 85, 88–89 Chbosky, Stephen, Wonder (2017), 82, 134,
Death Breath (1964; Stan van der Beek), molls and prostitutes, 86, 90, 99, 104 436
79 mothers, sisters, and schoolteachers, Cheeta (animal actor), 259
television networks, 109 86, 90 Chekhov, Anton (playwright; Russia), 35
See also animation outlaws, 86, 89, 98–99, 105 Chen Kaige Farewell My Concubine (1993),
Casablanca (1942; Michael Curtiz), 431–33 pirates, 111–12 392
The Case Is Closed (Kharji; 1982; Mrinal police, 89, 90, 91 Cheng Pei-pei, 394
Sen), 396 superheroes, 83, 87, 104–5, 111–12 Chennai Express (2013; Rohit Shetty), 5
case studies. See Looking at Movies vampires, 95, 97, 102–4 Chéreau, Patrice, Gabrielle (2005), 339
468 Index
The Chess Players (Shatranj-ke-Khilari; 1977; black and white, 191, 193–95 slow disclosure, 214–15
Satyajit Ray), 396 blocking, 189, 190, 208, 208–9, 226 slow motion, 225
Cheung, Alex, The First Step: Facing Death in Blue Valentine (2010), 276 special effects, 217–18, 229–30
(1977), 393 camera angle, 209 three-shot salvo, 303
chiaroscuro lighting, 41, 97 cinematic space, 207 tilt shots, 213, 214
Chicago 10 (2007; Brett Morgen), 106 color, 192, 194–98 tonal range, 194, 195
Child, Julia (American chef ), 241 coverage, 282–83, 302–3 viewer perception, 220
Children Digging for Clams (1896; Auguste crane shots, 216, 227 wide aspect ratios, 196
and Louis Lumière), 365 crew, 190 See also black and white films; cameras;
Children of Men (2006; Alfonso Cuarón), deep-focus, 207–9, 267–69, 405 color and color films; composition;
155, 227 deep space composition, 175–76 film; lenses; shot
Chile, 397, 399 depth of field, 191–92, 199, 201, 202, 208, Circumstance (2011; Maryam Keshavarz;
China, 385, 392, 438 231 Iran), 396
Chinatown (1974; Roman Polanski), 219, 250, digital, 191–92, 412, 414 The Circus (1928; Charles Chaplin), 368
260, 401 director of photography (DP), 188–91, Citizen Kane (1941; Orson Welles), 41, 47,
Chinese filmmaking and filmmakers, 392–94 230 134–35, 159, 167, 267–70, 347, 351–55,
See also Taiwanese filmmaking and duration, 226–27 366–67, 378–79, 404–5, 418
filmmakers fast motion, 226 City of God (2002; Fernando Meirelles and
Choi, Clifford, 393 film stock, 191–92, 195–96, 414 Kátia Lund), 47, 166, 312–16, 398
Chomsky, Noam (linguist and philosopher), fluid camera, 213 A City of Sadness (1989; Hsiao-hsien Hou),
106 footage ratios, 283 394
Chow, Yun Fat, 393 frame rates, 223, 225 City on Fire (1987; Ringo Lam), 393
Chronicle of a Disappearance (1996; Elia framing, 201–4, 218–23, 307 city symphony, 373
Suleiman; Palestine), 397 gaffers, 190 The Civil War (1990; Ken Burns), 72
Chung Chung-hoon (cinematographer; grips, 190 Clair, René
South Korea), Me and Earl and the illusions, 207–8, 215 An Italian Straw Hat (1927), 368, 373
Dying Girl (2015), 199 IMAX, 191, 195, 204 Entr’acte (1924), 77, 372
Churchill, Berton, in Stagecoach (1939), 144, the jump, 303 Le Million (1931), 328
145 the lens as audience, 223 Clark, Alfred, The Execution of Mary Stuart
Churchill, Winston, 143 lenses and filters, 197, 199–201 (1896), 227
Cianfrance, Derek, Blue Valentine (2010), light wavelengths, 195, 197 Clarke, Shirley, Skyscraper (1960), 78
275, 276–77 lighting, 166–71, 190 The Class (2008; Laurent Cantet), 241
Cidade de Deus (City of God or CDD), 312 lines of movement, 207–8 The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style
Cinderella, the many versions of, 133 locational shooting, 402 and Mode of Production to 1960 (1985;
Cinderella (1950; animation; Walt Disney), long takes, 226–27, 227 David Bordwell, Janet Staiger, and
133 magnification, 215 Kristin Thompson; text), 360
Cinderella (2015; Kenneth Branagh), 133 master scenes, 286 classification, 82–83
Cinderfella (1960; Frank Tashlin), 133 master shots, 302–3 Claymation, 108
cinema. See movies matte shots, 228 Clayton, Jack, Room at the Top (1959), 387
cinematic language miniatures, 229 Cleopatra (1963; Joseph L. Mankiewicz),
acting and movement, 32, 55, 56, 243 mobile framing, 226 162, 249
cinematography, 32, 55, 56, 205, 226–27 in Moonlight (2016), 230–33 Clift, Montgomery, 250
concealment of, 8–10, 14, 67 offscreen spaces, 218–19 Clinton, Hillary, 70
context, 2, 55, 68 open and closed frames, 220 The Clock (2010; Christian Marclay), 80
documentaries, 69 pan shots, 213–14 A Clockwork Orange (1971; Stanley Kubrick),
filmmaker intent, 15, 32, 55, 68 point of view, 224–25 225, 226, 266, 336
human instinct, 3, 9, 55, 204–5 postproduction, 192, 194, 197–98, 228, Clooney, George
juxtaposition, 55 231 Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), 252
mise-en-scène, 32, 56 power walk, 225 Leatherheads (2008), 377
new conventions, 404 previsualization, 156, 188 Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977;
sound, 32, 55 projection, 225 Steven Spielberg), 93
See also audience real time, 226 close-ups, 205, 221, 236–37, 243, 250, 262,
cinematography resolution, 191–92 267, 270–72
3-D, 195, 207, 230 the selective nature of, 192–93, 211–13 Cloverfield (2008; Matt Reeves), 52, 217, 382
the 30-degree rule, 303 separation, 223 Coco (2017; Lee Unkrich; codirector Adrian
the 180-degree rule, 303–4 sequences, 226–27 Molina), 82, 436
as a language, 188, 192–93, 204, 205, 226 the setup, 188–90, 200, 211, 213, 227 Cocteau, Jean, The Blood of a Poet (1930),
aspect ratio, 196, 202–4 the shot/reverse shot, 287 373
axis of action, 304 shot types, 190–91, 205–7 codec, 192, 194, 231
best boys, 190 the slate, 190 Cody, Diablo, the screenwriter of Juno, 12, 20
Index 469
coeditors, 285 lateral movement, 174 The Godfather (1972), 47, 84, 170
Coen, Joel lighting, 166, 171 The Godfather trilogy, 47, 59, 84, 88
Fargo (1996), 92, 322, 401 negative space, 174–75 Coppola, Sofia, The Beguiled (2017), 254
The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001), 349, offscreen space, 218 The Corn Is Green (1945; Irving Rapper), 253
350 previsualization, 156, 171 Cortez, Stanley (cinematographer), the work
Coen, Joel and Ethan relationships and meaning, 172, 175–76 of on The Night of the Hunter (1955),
Hail Caesar! (2016), 240 rule of thirds, 171–73 171
Intolerable Cruelty (2003), 377 significant information, 172, 176 Costa, Pedro, Colossal Youth (2006), 269n
No Country for Old Men (2007), 165, 339 the six segments of offscreen space, 218 Costa Rica, 397
Raising Arizona (1987), 287, 289 symmetry, 155, 174 costumes, 25, 154, 155–56, 156, 160–64, 166,
The Big Lebowski (1998), 124–25, 126, unbalanced, 173 178–79, 181, 184–85, 268–69
240 viewer expectations, 172–73 A Cottage on Dartmoor (1929; Anthony
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), 251 widescreen, 204 Asquith), 368
True Grit (2010), 35, 123, 125, 126, 129, See also cinematography; framing Cotten, Joseph, the walk-on role of in Touch
240 computer-generated imagery (CGI), 108 of Evil (1958), 259
Coffin, Pierre Condon, Bill Coulouris, George, in Citizen Kane (1941),
Despicable Me 3 (2017; with Kyle Balda), Beauty and the Beast (2017), 436 267
436 Gods and Monsters (1998), 429 Courtley, Steve (special effects supervisor),
Minions (2015; with Kyle Balda), 437 The Confined (Antareen; 1993; Mrinal Sen), the development with Brian Cox of
Cohen, Sacha Baron, 81 396 bullet time for The Matrix (1999),
Cohl, Émile, 372 Congo, Anwar (genocidist), 73–74 49, 50
Coimbra, Fernando, The Wolf at the Door Conner, Bruce, Marilyn Five Times (1973), 79 Cousins, Mark, The Story of Film: An Odyssey
(2013; Brazil), 398 The Constant Nymph (1943; Edmund (2011), 358
Cold Mountain (2003; Anthony Minghella), Goulding), 424 Cowperthwaite, Gabriela, Blackfish (2013),
253, 322 content, 32–35 70
Collateral (2004; Michael Mann), 239 context Cox, Brian (special effects supervisor), the
Collins, Pat, Silence (2012; feature film- juxtaposition, 135 development with Steve Courtley of
documentary), 338 meaning and, 8–9, 155, 169, 173–74, bullet time for The Matrix (1999),
Colombia, 399 210–12, 215, 218–19, 239, 273–74, 293, 49, 50
color and color films, 192–98, 231, 233, 296, 313, 345, 348 Coyula, Miguel, Memories of Overdevelopment
308–9, 311, 414, 416, 418, 420, 439 mise-en-scène, 142, 164 (2010), 398
See also cinematography third-person narrator, 119, 135, 142, 164 Crafton, Donald (film scholar), 245, 245n
Colossal Youth (2006; Pedro Costa), 269n verisimilitude, 54–55, 101–2, 262 Craven, Wes, A Nightmare on Elm Street
Coltrane, Ellar, 270 continuity editing, 238, 366, 373 (1984), 97
Columbia Pictures, 423, 435 contracts, 419, 423–28, 432–33 Crawford, Joan
The Comb (1990; The Brothers Quay), 106 See also labor unions career, 248, 275
Comédie-Française (French national The Conversation (1974; Francis Ford Mildred Pierce (1945), 248
theater), 243 Coppola), 322 Possessed (1947), 248
comedy, 21, 44–45, 47, 103, 103n, 251, Convertino (composer; movie score Sudden Fear (1952), 248
294–95, 377, 424 specialist), We Don’t Live Here What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Comingore, Dorothy, 379 Anymore (2004), 334 (1962), 248
compositing, 68, 108 Coogler, Ryan Crazy Ex-Girlfriend television series, 102
composition Black Panther (2018), 438, 439 Crazy Heart (2009; Scott Cooper), 255
aesthetic unity, 171 Creed (2015), 438 Creed (2015; Ryan Coogler), 438
as an influence on acting, 266 Fruitvale Station (2013), 51, 81, 438 Cries and Whispers (1972; Ingmar Bergman),
balance and counterbalance, 172–74 Cook, David A., A History of Narrative Film 311
blocking, 189, 190, 208–9, 226 (2016; 5th ed.), 359, 365 Crimson Peak (2015; Guillermo del Toro), 14
character gaze, 174, 182 Cooper, Bradley, 254–55 Cripple Creek Bar-Room Scene (1899;
character stress, 174 Cooper, Gary, in High Noon (1952), 195 Thomas Alva Edison), 98
character’s state of mind, 171 Cooper, James Fenimore, The Last of the Crisp, Donald, recruited by D. W. Griffith,
consistency of, 171 Mohicans (1826; novel), 98 243
context and, 173 Cooper, Merian C., King Kong (1933), 107 critics, 22, 55, 69, 91, 103, 108–9, 139, 147, 209,
deep-space, 175–76, 182 Cooper, Scott 225, 236, 295, 359, 359n, 382, 439
documentaries, 172, 202 Black Mass (2015), 241 See also scholars
the elements of, 202 Crazy Heart (2009), 255 Cronenweth, Jeff (cinematographer)
faces and eyes, 172, 174 Copland, Aaron (composer), 333 Fight Club (1999), 189
figure movement, 177 Coppola, Francis Ford Gone Girl (2014), 189
framing and, 201, 202 Apocalypse Now (1979), 283, 325, 337, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011),
headroom, 172 347, 418 189
illusions of depth, 171, 174 Rumblefish (1983), 226 The Social Network (2010), 189
470 Index
Crosland, Alan, The Jazz Singer (1927), 101 Dallwitz, Burkhard (composer), The Truman De Concini, Ennio, Hitler: The Last Ten Days
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000; Ang Show (1998), 349–50 (1973), 261
Lee), 176, 394 Dancer in the Dark (2000; Lars von Trier), de Gaulle, President Charles, 382
The Crowd (1928; King Vidor), 367 102, 387 De Niro, Robert
Cruel Story of Youth (1960; Nagisa Oshima), Dangerous (1935; Alfred E. Green), 249 career, 250, 266
392 The Daniels. See Daniel Kwan; Daniel Taxi Driver (1976), 265
Cruise, Tom Scheinert De Palma, Brian, 401
American Made (2017), 239 Daniels, Lee De Sica, Vittorio
career, 238–39, 427 Precious (2009), 121, 122, 438 Shoeshine (1946), 381
Collateral (2004), 239 The Butler (2012), 438 The Bicycle Thieves (1948; also known
Live, Die, Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow The Paperboy (2012), 438 as The Bicycle Thief ), 177, 381
(2014), 239 The Danish Girl (2015; Tom Hooper), 438 Umberto D. (1952), 381
Minority Report (2002), 427 Dante’s Inferno (1911; 5 reels; Italy; director Dead Man (1995; Jim Jarmusch), 99
the Mission Impossible franchise unknown), 367 Deadpool (2016; Tim Miller), 119, 263, 437
(1996–), 239 Dardenne, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dean, James
Rock of Ages (2012), 239 L’Enfant (2005), 382 East of Eden (1955), 250, 251
War of the Worlds (2005), 340 The Unknown Girl (2016), 81 Giant (1956), 250
The Crying Game (1992; Neil Jordan), Two Days, One Night (2014), 52 Rebel without a Cause (1955), 250
335–36 The Dark Knight (2008; Christopher Nolan), Death Breath (1964; Stan van der Beek), 79
Cuarón, Alfonso 165, 204 Death to the Tinman (2007; Ray Tintori), 81
career, 155, 213 Dark Victory (1939; Edmund Goulding), Debucourt, Jean, 372
Children of Men (2006), 227 252 Deception (2008; Marcel Langenegger), 276
Gravity (2013), 155, 177, 227 Darkest Hour (2017; Joe Wright), 83, 143 decor, 155, 156, 157, 159–60, 161, 181
Great Expectations (1998; Mexico), 134 Davies, Marion, in Blondie of the Follies Decugis, Cécile (editor; France) the work
Y Tu Mamá También (2001; Mexico), 399 (1932), 424 of on Breathless (1960), 307
Cuba, 398 Davis, Bette Del Toro, Benicio, 238
Cuban filmmaking and filmmakers, 398 All about Eve (1950), 249 del Toro, Guillermo
Cuban Institute for Cinematographic Art career, 247–49, 252–54, 260, 260n, The Devil’s Backbone (2001), 399
and Industry (ICAIC), 398 265–66, 275 Blade II (2002), 14
Cukor, George, 248, 265 Dangerous (1935), 249 career, 14–15, 178
culture, 3–4, 6, 54, 82, 98, 111–12, 133–34, Dark Victory (1939), 252, 424 Crimson Peak (2015), 14
247, 360, 365 Jezebel (1938), 249, 252 Hellboy (2004), 14
Cumberbatch, Benedict, The Hobbit: The Now, Voyager (1942), 252 Mimic (1997), 14
Desolation of Smaug (2013), 230 Of Human Bondage (1934), 252 Pacific Rim (2013), 14
A Cure for Wellness (2016; Gore Verbinski), That Certain Woman (1937), 424 Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), 14, 157, 399
439 The Corn Is Green (1945), 253 The Devil’s Backbone (2001), 14
The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005; Nick The Letter (1940), 253 The Shape of Water (2017), 6, 14, 54, 83,
Park), 107 The Little Foxes (1941), 253 440
Curtis, Simon, My Week with Marilyn (2011), The Old Maid (1939), 424 Delicatessen (1991; Jean-Pierre Jeunet and
275 The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex Marc Caro), 347–48
Curtiz, Michael (1939), 164, 252 DeMille, Cecil B.
Casablanca (1942), 431–33 What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? the prolific filmmaking of, 367–68
Mildred Pierce (1945), 248 (1962), 248 The Squaw Man (1914; 74 min.), 367
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex Davis, Don (composer; conductor; movie Demme; Jonathan, The Silence of the Lambs
(1939), 252–53 score specialist), the Matrix trilogy, (1991), 38–39, 47, 223, 287
Cynn, Christine, The Act of Killing (2012; 334 Demme, Ted, Blow (2001), 240
with Joshua Oppenheimer and Davis, Garth, Lion (2016), 211, 435, 438 DeMonaco, James, The Purge (2013), 2
Anonymous), 73 The Dawn Patrol (1938; Edmund Goulding), Demsky, Issur Danielovitch. See Kirk
Czech Republic, 385, 440 424 Douglas
Czechoslovakia, 385 Day, Doris, 248 Demy, Jacques, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Day-Lewis, Daniel (1964), 100
da Vinci, Leonardo, 361–62 Phantom Thread (2017), 237, 273 Denby, David, Do the Movies Have a Future?
Daguerre, Louis-Jacques-Mandé (inventor), There Will Be Blood (2007), 237 (2012; book), 439
362 Days of Glory (2006; Rachid Bouchareb; Denis, Claire, Let the Sunshine In (2017), 440
Dahan, Olivier, Grace of Monaco (2014), 254 Algeria), 396 Denmark, 440
Daldry, Stephen, The Hours (2002), 253, 337 Days of Heaven (1978; Terrence Malick), Depp, Johnny
Dalí, Salvador 118, 142 Alice in Wonderland (2010), 181, 240
An Andalusian Dog (also called Un Chien Days of Thunder (1990; Tony Scott), 253 Black Mass (2015), 241
Andalou; 1929; with Luis Buñuel), 77 DC Cinematic Universe, 437 Blow (2001), 240
Mona Lisa (1973; painting), 372 DC Comics, 437 career, 240, 252, 254, 266
Index 471
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), diegesis and diegetic elements, 130–31, 133, studio system, 423–24
181, 240 147–48, 326–27 the three-shot salvo, 303
Donald Trump’s The Art of the Deal: The See also nondiegetic elements usable footage versus outtakes, 323
Movie (2016), 240 Diegues, Carlos, Bye Bye Brazil (1979; the video assist camera, 411
Edward Scissorhands (1990), 181, 240, Brazil), 397 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972;
263, 264 Dies Irae (“the day of wrath”), 320 Luis Buñuel), 372
Fantastic Beasts movies (2016–), 241 Dietrich, Marlene Disney, Walt (producer), 133, 423
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), career, 248, 266 distancing effect (alienation effect), 262–63
240 The Scarlet Empress (1934), 168 District 9 (2009; Neill Blomkamp), 122
Finding Neverland (2004), 241 digital devices and formats, 43, 145–46, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007;
Pirates of the Caribbean (2003–), 241 190–92, 194, 230–32, 283, 285, Julian Schnabel), 223
Sleepy Hollow (1999), 182–85 414–17, 420 Django Unchained (2012; Quentin
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet digital imaging technician (DIT), 190 Tarantino), 438
Street (2007), 7, 240 Dina (2017; Antonio Santini and Dan Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968;
The Libertine (2004), 241 Sickles), 70 science fiction novel; Philip K. Dick),
depth of field, 192, 198–99, 201–2, 208, 231 Dinesen, Isak (pseudonym for Karen 142
See also framing; lenses Blixen), Out of Africa (1937; memoir), Do the Movies Have a Future? (2012; book;
Deren, Maya 241 David Denby), 439
career, 77–78, 79, 80 The Dinosaur and the Missing Link: A Do the Right Thing (1989; Spike Lee), 210
Meshes of the Afternoon (1943; with Prehistoric Tragedy (1915; Willis H. Docter, Pete, Monsters, Inc. (2001; with
Alexander Hammid), 78 O’Brien), 107 David Silverman), 108
Derrickson, Scott, Doctor Strange (2016), director of photography (DP), 188–90, 230 Doctor Strange (2016; Scott Derrickson),
230, 240 directors 230, 240
Desfontaines, Henri Les Amours d’Elisabeth, the 180-degree rule, 303–4 documentary films
Reine d’Angleterre (Queen Elizabeth; as a coordinating lead artist, 6, 178, 226, the actualité, 364
44 min.; 1912; with Louis Mercanton), 266, 410–11, 416, 423–24 the b-roll footage of, 71, 72, 74
243 and actors, 36–38, 236–37, 242–44, 250, cinematic language, 69
Desilu Productions (Desi Arnaz and Lucille 260, 262, 264–66, 271, 379, 411 direct cinema, 73
Ball), 426 as auteurs, 382–85, 391, 393, 395, as entertainment, 70
Desk Set (1957; Walter Lang), 251 400–401 expository films, 72
Desperado (1995; Robert Rodriguez), 394 axis of action, 304 factual films, 69–70, 70
Despicable Me 3 (2017; Kyle Balda and Pierre blocking, 6 footage ratios, 283
Coffin), 436 and cinematographers (DPs), 6, 188, the home movie influence on, 72
Despicable Me franchise, 437 208–9, 213, 230–33, 411 instructional (teaching) films, 70
Desplat, Alexandre (composer; movie score coverage, 282–83 the Interrotron interviewing device, 71
specialist) creative control, 284, 410–11 interviews, 71
Moonrise Kingdom (2012), 337 dailies (rushes), 6, 323 the Ken Burns Effect, 72
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2004), 333 director-screenwriters, 134, 139, 237 Lumière brothers, 70, 364, 365
Detroit (2017; Kathryn Bigelow), 178 directorial styles, 6, 226, 265, 266, 411 manipulation and editing by filmmakers,
Devi (The Goddess; 1960; Satyajit Ray), 395 and editors, 6, 283–85, 411 69, 369
The Devil Wears Prada (2006; David frame rate experimentation, 225 the narrative structure in, 4
Frankel), 241 framing, 222 objective truth and, 69–70
The Devil’s Backbone (2001; Guillermo master (long) shots, 303 observational film, 72, 73
del Toro), 14, 202, 399 the master scene technique, 286, 302–3 participatory versus performative, 73
Devine, Andy (character actor), 144, 145, mise-en-scène styles, 155–56, 159, 171, performative film, 73
259 176–78, 411 persuasive films, 70
dialogue, 323–25, 327, 329, 331, 334, 340, planning and pre-editing by, 284 poetic, 72, 72–73
343, 347–48, 351, 353–55 postproduction phase, 420 propaganda films versus, 70–71
Diaz, Jesús, Lejanía (1985), 398 preproduction phase, 417–18 reenactments, 71–72, 74, 98
DiCaprio, Leonardo, career, 240, 252, and producers, 423 reflexive, 73–74
254–55 and production designers, 6, 155, 155–57, social issues, 70
Dick (1999; Andrew Fleming), 276 159, 411 source material, 69, 71–72
Dick, Philip K., Do Androids Dream of production phase, 418–20 subjects in, 69, 72, 73
Electric Sheep? (1968; science fiction rehearsal times, 245, 266 viewer immersion in, 72
novel), 142 and screenwriters, 6, 129, 134–35 voice-over narration, 71
Dickens, Charles, Great Expectations (1861; and script supervisors, 411 zoom lenses for, 215
novel), 134 shot lengths, 226 Dog Day Afternoon (1975; Sidney Lumet),
Dickson, William Kennedy Laurie and sound designers, 6, 321, 351–55, 411 123
(inventor), 363 sound use by, 321–22 Dog Star Man (1962–64; documentary
Die Hard film franchise, 437 storyboards, 6 (five parts); Stan Brakhage), 79, 403
472 Index
Dogme 95 movement (Denmark), 83, 179, Duarte, Anselmo, The Given Word (1962; editing
387 Brazil), 398 analysis of, 311–12
Dogville (2003; Lars von Trier), 253, 263, Duchamp, Marcel animatics, 284
387 Anémic cinéma (1926), 77 associative editing, 287, 291–92, 296,
Dohrn, Walt, Trolls (2016; with Mike Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (1912; 300–301, 307
Mitchell), 156 France), 53 cinematography and, 282–83
Domino (2005; Tony Scott), 80–81 Le Duel d’Hamlet (Hamlet; 2 min.; Clément in City of God (2002), 311–17
Donald Trump’s The Art of the Deal: The Maurice; 1900), 243 classical cutting technique, 286
Movie (2016; Jeremy Konner), 241 Dulac, Germaine, The Seashell and the the communication of meaning, 285
Donen, Stanley Clergyman (1928), 372 conforming the negative, 412
Royal Wedding (1951), 177 Dunaway, Faye the content curve, 297–300
Singin’ in the Rain (1952; with Gene career, 250, 275, 401 continuity editing, 238, 300–301, 301–11,
Kelly), 84, 245 Chinatown (1974), 250, 401 366
Donner, Richard, Superman (1978), 104 Dunkirk (2017; Christopher Nolan), 46, 81, contrasting or incongruent images, 291
Donnie Darko (2001; Richard Kelly), 57–60, 143, 436, 438 coverage, 282–83, 303
226 Dunmore, Laurence, The Libertine (2004), crosscutting (parallel editing), 287
Don’t Breathe (2016; Fede Alvarez), 2, 35 241 the cut, 282
Don’t Look Back (1967; D. A. Pennebaker), Durand, Jean, 372 cutting on action, 9
239 duration, 282–85, 295, 297–300, 308–11, cutting versus, 209
Double Indemnity (1944; Billy Wilder), 41, 313–14 digital technologies and, 285, 412
91, 122 DuVernay, Ava discontinuity editing, 300–302
Dougherty, Michael, Godzilla: King of the 13TH (2016), 72 draft progressions, 285
Monsters (2019), 437 A Wrinkle in Time (2018), 438, 439 duration, 138, 226, 282, 285, 297,
Douglas, Kirk, 247 Selma (2014), 64, 154–55 297–300, 308, 311
Le Doulos (1962; Jean-Pierre Melville), 269n DVDs and Blu-rays, 3, 9, 23, 427, 433, 435, the ellipsis, 294–95, 307
Dovzhenko, Aleksandr, and Konstantin 440 the eyeline match cut, 305
Stanislavsky, the father of method Dyer, Richard, 247, 247n fades, 8, 309–11
acting, 249 Dylan, Bob, 238, 239 film structure and, 282
Downey, Robert Jr. I’m Not There (2007; Todd Haynes), 239 the fine cut, 285
the career of, 252, 254–55 dynamic range, 192 fragmentation, 286, 289
Chaplin (1992), 252 freeze-frame, 296–97, 296–98, 301
Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), 252 Eagle-Lion Films, 423 graphic match cut, 306–7
Marvel’s Avengers movies, 252 Early Spring (1956; Yasujirô Ozu), 392 intentional discontinuity, 303
Marvel’s Iron Man trilogy, 252 Earth (1930; Alexandr Dovzhenko), 368 intercutting, 287, 287–88
Natural Born Killers (1994), 252 Earthquake (1974; Mark Robson), 257 the “invisibility” of, 366
Restoration (1995), 252 East of Eden (1955; Elia Kazan), 250, 251 iris-out; iris-in, 311–12
Richard III (1995), 252 Eastman, George (inventor; entrepreneur), jump cuts, 307–89
Short Cuts (1993), 252 362 jumping the line, 303, 305
Wonder Boys (2000), 252 Eastwood, Clint juxtaposition and montage, 285, 287, 289,
Zodiac (2007), 252 Million Dollar Baby (2004), 259 291–93, 295, 306, 314
Downsizing (2017; Alexander Payne), 83 a New American Cinema actor and the long shot, 303
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop director, 401 manipulation of space, 44–45, 47, 292–93
Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964; rank on the 2016 Harris Poll, 254 manipulation of time, 46, 47, 293
Stanley Kubrick), 103, 215, 266, 299, Sully (2016), 65–66 master scene, 286, 302–3
328 Unforgiven (1992), 98, 99 the master shot, 287, 303
Dracula (1931; Tod Browning), 96 Easy Living (1937; Mitchell Leisen), 377 the match-on-action cut, 304–5
dream-related movies, 57–60, 77–80, 183 Eat Drink Man Woman (1994; Ang Lee), 394 multiple shot takes for, 283, 285
Dream Street (1921; D. W. Griffith), 369 The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon narrative flow, 272
Dreams (1990; Akira Kurosawa), 338–39 (1907; short; Georges Méliès), 178 outside-in structures, 287
Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947; Hans Ed Wood (1994; Tim Burton), 191 outtakes, 272
Richter), 79 Edison, Thomas Alva overlapping action, 296
Drew, Robert (documentary filmmaker), 402 the Black Maria research shack, 363, pacing, 87, 282, 293, 298
Dreyer, Carl Theodor, The Passion of Joan of 364 parallel editing (crosscutting), 36–39,
Arc (1928), 368, 373 Cripple Creek Bar-Room Scene (1899), 98 44–45, 47, 59, 287, 289, 292
Drugstore Cowboy (1989; Gus Van Sant), the early movies of, 364, 420 performance creation through, 238,
294–95 the Motion Picture Patents Company 272
D’Souza, Dinesh (MPCC) of, 420 picture lock, 285
2016: Obama’s America (2012), 70 the research laboratory of, 363, 364 point-of-view, 307–8
Hillary’s America: The Secret History of Seminary Girls (1897), 364 postproduction, 282, 284
the Democratic Party (2016), 70 the Vitascope projector, 364 preproduction planning and, 283–84
Index 473
repetition, 296 Elkind, Rachel (composer), electronic experimental films, 67, 74–82, 370–76
repurposed footage, 285 synthesis of Dies Irae used in The See also American underground cinema
rhythm, 298–300 Shining (1980; with Wendy Carlos), expository documentaries, 72
rough cuts, 285 320 expression
scene actions, 272, 282, 287–88, ellipsis, 294–95, 307, 366 camera angles, 209, 213
292–300, 311–12 Elsa (animal actor), 259 through cinematography, 188, 190, 192,
“scratch” suggestions, 285 Emak-Bakia (1926; Man Ray), 77 196–97, 233
screen direction, 303–4 emotions the close-up, 227, 262, 271
self-reflexive, 9 anxiety and partial uncertainty, 140 through color, 198, 231
sequence shots versus, 226–27 cinematography to manipulate, 230–33 expressionistic images, 196–97
shooting ratios, 283 fear, 38–40, 210, 324, 343, 344 film stock selection, 191, 192, 197
shot/reverse shot, 285 guidance of by filmmakers, 5–6, 133 through lighting, 198, 231
shots, 282 identification and empathy, 8–9, 123, 125, performance capture, 229, 230
sounds, 282 127–28, 144–50 through shot length, 226
Soviet contributions to, 287, 289, 291–92, music to manipulate, 333, 333n slow and fast motion, 225, 226
296, 300, 301, 307, 314 revulsion, 211 expressionism, 75, 96, 370–71, 374
splicers and splicing, 282 sequence shots to manipulate, 226–27 Eyes Wide Shut (1999; Stanley Kubrick),
split screen, 288–89 shock, 58, 79, 303 253, 266
storyboards, 283–84 short-lived versus prolonged, 140
three-shot salvo, 303 sound to manipulate, 343–44, 345–46 face
transitional devices, 282, 307–11 surprise, 58, 140 the as a tabula rasa, 262
unnecessary action, 293 suspense and tension, 35–36, 38–40, the camera and an actor’s, 237, 261
the wipe, 311 140, 384 character actors, 258, 259
workflow, 285 the uncanny valley reaction, 109 the close-up, 237, 243, 271–72
See also continuity editing viewer caring and verisimilitude, 3, 10, the expressionless, 262, 269
editors, 47, 283–87, 292–93, 297, 307, 312, 36–39, 54–55, 243–44, 272 the eyeline match cut, 305
322, 352 See also fear facial expressions, 236, 242–43, 247, 266,
Edson, Richard, 400 The Empire Strikes Back (1980; Irvin 273, 274, 278
Edward F. Cline, The Bank Dick (1940), 258 Kershner), 335 lighting and the, 268, 271, 276
Edward Scissorhands (1990; Tim Burton), Employees Leaving the Lumière Factory performance capture, 229
165, 180, 240, 262 (1895; Auguste and Louis Lumière), and the portrayal of a character’s image,
Edwards, Gareth 51, 364 248, 251
Godzilla (2014), 437 Enchanted (2007; Kevin Lima), 204 recognizable faces, 254, 258, 259
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), England See United Kingdom special effects faces, 256–57
26, 436 The English Patient (1996; Anthony Faces (1968; John Cassavetes), 264
Egoyan, Atom, The Sweet Hereafter (1997), Minghella), 322 Faces Places (2017; Agnès Varda), 440
330–31, 347 The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (1974; Werner factual films, 69–70
Egypt, 396 Herzog), 346 Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018; Michael Moore), 70
Eisenstein, Sergei Enoch Arden (1911; 34 min., D. W. Griffith), 367 Fail-Safe (1964; Sidney Lumet), 328
The Battleship Potemkin (1925), 296, Enoch Arden (1911; D. W. Griffith), 367 Fairbanks, Douglas, a, 423
300, 375 Enter the Void (2010; Gaspar Noé), 223 Faith No More (rock band), 337
Alexander Nevsky (1938), 335, 374, 375 Entr’acte (1924; René Clair), 77, 372 Falk, Penelope (editor), Step (2017;
career and theories, 9, 209, 249, 289, 291, Ephron, Nora, Bewitched (2005), 254 documentary), 283
373–75, 385, 398 epics, 159, 288, 291, 294, 366, 367, 368–69, “Fall of the House of Usher” (1839; short
Ivan the Terrible, Parts I and II (1944, 373–74, 377, 398 story; Edgar Allen Poe), 372
1958), 375 Epstein, Jean, The Fall of the House of Usher The Fall of the House of Usher (1928; Jean
October ( Ten Days That Shook the (1928), 372 Epstein), 372
World ) (1928), 291, 375 Epstein, Rob, Howl (2010), 130 Fan, Kung Ming (editor), The Killer (1989), 47
Que Viva México (1930–32; unfinished), equipment for portable filming, 380–82, 385 Fanning, Dakota (actor), War of the Worlds
375 Escalante, Amat Heli (2013; Mexico), 399 (2005), 340
Strike (1925), 374 Estonia, 385 Fantastic Beasts franchise, 436
Elbe, Lili (transgender artist), as the subject E.T. the Extra–Terrestrial (1982; Steven Fantastic Four (2015; Josh Trank), 439
of The Danish Girl (2015; Tom Spielberg), 256 Farewell My Concubine (1993; Chen Kaige),
Hooper), 438 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004; 392
Election (1999; Alexander Payne), 284–85, Michel Gondry), 385 Fargo (1996; Joel Coen), 92
303 Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970; Werner Farrelly, Bobby and Peter, There’s Something
Elfman, Danny (rock musician, formerly Herzog), 388–89 about Mary (1998), 103
with Oingo Boingo), 333 Ex Machina (2014; Alex Garland), 158 Fascism, 379, 380, 385, 388
Eliot, T. S., 84 The Execution of Mary Stuart (1895; Alfred Fassbender, Michael, in 12 Years a Slave
Elizabeth (1998; Shekhar Kapur), 239 Clark), 226 (2013), 274
474 Index
Fassbinder, Rainer Werner and depth of focus, 378 nonchronological order, 47

The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), 388 early mass-production of, 362 “normal” world starting points, 35, 51
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980), 388 Eastman Kodak, 416 parallel action (crosscutting), 36–40
Fast and Furious franchise, 177 exposed frames, 412, 413, 414, 418 patterns, 36
Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control (1997; Errol exposure index (speed), 192, 414 predictive questions, 35, 44–45
Morris), 71 film stock, 191–92, 378, 412, 414, 416–17 the principles of, 40
Fat City (1972; John Huston), 255 and filmmaker preferences, 191, 416 realism, 49–50, 51–54
The Fate of the Furious (2017; F. Gary Gray), Fuji, 416 simultaneous events, 47
177, 436, 438 gauges (formats), 191, 412, 414, 415 slow motion, 47–49
Father Figures (2017; Lawrence Sher), 83 IMAX, 191, 195, 204, 410 sound elements, 32, 40
Favreau, Jon, Iron Man (2008), 240 light sensitivity, 192 space-time “co-expressibility”, 43–44
fear, 93, 95 multiple stocks in a movie, 192 verisimilitude, 54
See also change; emotion; monsters; paper, 362 viewer expectations, 35–36, 40–41, 44
feature films. See audience; movies the physical fragility of, 417 See also content
Fee, Brian, Cars 3 (2017), 436 postproduction handling of, 231 film history, 77, 84, 96, 103, 150, 358–60, 412,
Feig, Paul, Bridesmaids (2011), 103 prints, 417 420
Felix the Cat cartoon series (Otto Messmer), processing, 412 See also movies; photography; silent era
369 projecting, 412 film movements
Fell, Sam reels, 414 British Free Cinema movement, 386–87
Flushed Away (2006; with David resolution, 191–92, 414–15 the collective and stylistic nature of, 83
Bowers), 108 selection, 192 Dogme 95 movement in Denmark, 83,
ParaNorman (2012; with Chris Butler), shooting, 192, 412 387
107 silver halide crystal content, 191, 192 French Avant-Garde (1918–1930), 372–73
Fellini, Federico slow stock, 192, 414 French New Wave, 83
8 1/2 (1963), 78 sound tracks, 415 French New Wave (1959–1964), 382–85
career, 381, 382, 386 speed, 225, 412, 414 genre versus, 83
females. See women; women in filmmaking Technicolor, 378 German Expressionism (1919–1931),
feminism, 26 unexposed, 413 370–72
feminism. See women; women in filmmaking See also cinematography; projection and intellect and creativity as hallmarks of
Fences (2016; Denzel Washington), 434, 435, projectors; reels 1920s, 382
438 Film after Film: Or, What Became of Italian Neorealism (1942–1951), 380–82
Fernández, Emilio, La Perla (1947), 399 21st Century Cinema? (2012; book; the revitalizing nature of, 385–86
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986; John Hughes), J. Hoberman), 439 Soviet Montage Movement (1924–1930),
118 film dubbing, 395 373–76
Fesler, Bailey (sound recordist), Citizen Kane film editor. See editor film noir, 86, 90–92, 91–92, 383–85, 424
(1941), 347, 351 film festivals, 4, 67, 80, 339, 400 FilmL.A., Inc., 410
Feuillade, Louis, 372 film form filmmaking schools, 373, 374, 380, 385, 393,
Fields, W. C. The Bank Dick (1940), 258 acting, 40 400, 401
Fifty Shades of Grey (2015; Sam Taylor- antirealism, 51, 52, 53–54 films. See movies
Johnson), 134 audience response, 35 FilmStruck, 440
Figgis, Mike Timecode (2000), 139 bullet time, 49, 50 Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001;
Figueroa, Gabriel cinematic language as form, 32, 40–41 Hironobu Sakaguchi and Moto
(cinematographer; Mexico), 399 cinematography, 40, 41–42 Sakakibara), 108
La Perla (1947; for Emilio Fernández), content, 32–33, 57 financing, 67, 360
300 context and verisimilitude, 54 See also Hollywood
Los Olvidados (1950; for Luis Buñuel), controversial subjects, 21–22 Fincher, David
399 the deliberate intent of filmmakers, 15, Gone Girl (2014), 134
Simon of the Desert (1965; for Luis 32, 35 The Social Network (2010), 130–33, 158,
Buñuel), 399 editing, 32, 40, 43–49 189, 256
The Night of the Iguana (1964; for John the elemental formal systems Zodiac (2007), 252
Huston), 399 underlying, 32 Finding Neverland (2004; Marc Forster),
Under the Volcano (1984; for John as expression or experience, 32 240–41
Huston), 399 fast motion, 47–49 Finland, 440
film formal analysis, 15 Finler, Joel W. The Hollywood Story (2003;
3-D, 195, 207, 230, 410 illusions of movement, 40, 42–43 3rd ed.; text), 360
analog technology, 412 manipulation of space, 40, 41, 44–45, 47 The First Step: Facing Death (1977; Alex
answer prints, 431 manipulation of time, 40, 46–49 Cheung), 393
black-and-white, 378, 414, 439 meaning as expressed through, 15 Fischinger, Oskar, 106
celluloid, 3, 43, 362 mise-en-scène elements, 32, 40 Motion Painting No. 1 (1947), 106
conforming the negative, 412 narrative structure, 32, 40 Fist Fight (1964; Robert Breer), 78
Index 475
Fitzgerald, F. Scott Fong, Allen, Just Like Weather (1986), 393 height space in, 202
The Great Gatsby (1925; novel), 133 footage image boundaries, 202
The Last Tycoon (1941; novel), 410, 410n the animatic and preproduction, 284 implied proximity, 202, 205
Five Easy Pieces (1970; Bob Rafelson), 402 the footage ratio, 283 inclusion and exclusion, 267
The Five Obstructions (2003; Lars von found, 77, 80, 104 the influence of on acting, 267
Trier), 387 inadequate captured, 285 the long take, 226
Flaherty, Robert J. manipulated, 80 the master shot, 286–87
Nanook of the North (1922), 69 the of documentary films, 283 mobile framing, 226
Nanook of the North (1922; documentary), the of stunt-heavy movies, 283 offscreen and on-screen spaces, 218, 219
369 reality, 52 open, 220, 221
The Flame Within (1935; Edmund rearranged, 76 point of view (POV), 202, 222, 233, 307
Goulding), 424 repurposed, 285 the process of, 201
Flaming Creatures (1963; Jack Smith), 80 review of by the director, 6 the rule of thirds, 172–73, 182
Flanagan, Tommy, 241 Footnote (2011; Joseph Cedar; Israel), 397 the scale of the human body, 205
Flash Gordon serial films (1936; 1938; 1940), The Forbidden Kingdom (2008; Rob the shot/reverse shot, 287
311 Minkoff ), 394 the viewfinder, 218
Flashpoint, 429, 430 Ford, Harrison, rank on the 2016 Harris Poll, widescreen aspect ratios, 203–4
The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice (1952; 254 width-to-height ratios, 202
Yasujirô Ozu), 392 Ford, John See also composition; depth of field; shot
Fleischer, Max and Dave (silent era 3 Godfathers (1948), 98 Frampton, Hollis (experimental filmmaker),
cartoons), 369 The Searchers (1956), 98, 192–93 Zorn’s Lemma (1970), 79, 403
Fleming, Andrew, Dick (1999), 276 career, 86, 144, 174–75, 222, 265, 266, France, 242–43, 382, 396
Fleming, Victor 284, 423–24 franchises, 97, 111, 436–38, 440
Gone with the Wind (1939), 195, 423 My Darling Clementine (1946), 86, 100, Francis (animal actor), 259
The Wizard of Oz (1939), 125, 126, 195, 198, 309, 310, 311, 329, 343 Frankel, David, The Devil Wears Prada
324 Stagecoach (1939), 98, 143–50, 259, 306, (2006), 241
Flickr, 80 404 Frankenstein (1931; James Whale), 96
Flight of the Red Balloon (2007; Hsiao-hsien The Grapes of Wrath (1940), 40–41, 150, Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus
Hou), 394 331 (1818; Mary Shelley; novel), 93
Flipper (animal actor), 259 The Searchers (1956), 84, 271–72 Frankenweenie (2012; Tim Burton), 107
Floating Weeds (1959; Yasujirô Ozu), 392 Ford, Yance, Strong Island (2017), 440 Fred Ott’s Sneeze (1894; William Kennedy
The Florida Project (2017; Sean Baker), 440 form. See art; content; film form Laurie Dickson), 363
Flushed Away (2006; David Bowers and form and content, 32–35, 50 Freeman, Morgan
Sam Fell), 108 formal analysis, 1, 15–20 career, 238, 250, 260, 260n
focus Forrest Gump (1994; Robert Zemeckis), 177 War of the Worlds (2005), 340
anamorphic lenses, 231 Forster, Marc French filmmaking and filmmakers, 74–78,
the camera lens, 199 Finding Neverland (2004), 240–41 77, 362–66, 372, 383–84, 404, 440
cinematic depth, 207 Stranger than Fiction (2006), 118 See also avant-garde
deep-focus cinematography, 208–9 Foster, Jodie The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981; Karel
depth of field and, 192, 201 The Silence of the Lambs (1991), 223 Reisz), 241
the first AC, 190 career, 260, 260n, 275 French New Wave movement, 83, 373, 383–85
focal length and perspective, 199, found footage, 77, 80, 104 Fresh (1994; Boaz Yakin), 264
200–201 Foxtrot (2017; Samuel Maoz; Israel), 397 Freudianism and Sigmund Freud, 372, 375,
focus shifts in long takes, 226–27 frame, 42–43, 172, 175–76, 182, 282 379
fresnel lights, 199 frame rate, 5, 43, 223–26, 412 Freund, Karl, The Mummy (1932), 96
gaffers, 198–99 framing Friday the 13th slasher franchise, 97
image sharpness and, 201 aspect ratios, 202–4 Friedrich, Su, Sink or Swim (1990), 75, 77
lenses, 201, 215 audience perspectives, 223 Fruitvale Station (2013; Ryan Coogler), 51,
manipulation of, 192 blocking, 204, 226 81, 438
rack focus, 201, 202 camera angle, 202, 212 Fuji, 416
sharp, 208 camera movement, 202, 211 Fukunaga, Cary, Jane Eyre (2011), 56, 133
soft focus, 207, 208 “character looking” shots, 223 Fuller, Samuel, Pickup on South Street
Foley, Jack, the invention of a special closed, 220–21 (1953), 388
category of sound effects by, 331 composition and, 201, 202 Funny Games (2007 (U.S. remake); Michel
Foley sounds, 323, 326, 329, 331–32, 336, to create meaning, 220–21, 267–70 Haneke), 118–19
341, 343, 344 deep space composition, 175–76, 202 Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus
folklore. See storytelling the elements of a frame, 267 (2006; Steven Shainberg), 254
Folman, Ari, Waltz with Bashir (2008), 106 the fourth wall, 202
Fonda, Henry, 247, 259 the frame as the window, 220 Gable, Clark, in The Misfits (1961), 250
Fonda, Jane, as a method actor, 250, 275 the gaze, 215, 218, 223, 226, 232 Gabrielle (2005; Patrice Chéreau), 339
476 Index
Gainsborough, Thomas The Hon. Frances German New Wave movement, 388–89 The Goddess (Devi; 1960; Satyajit Ray), 395
Duncombe (1777; England), 53 The German Sisters/ Marianne and Juliane The Godfather (1972; Francis Ford Coppola),
Game of Thrones, 137, 437 (1981; Margarethe von Trotta), 388 47, 84, 170
Gance, Abel Germany, 70–71, 370–71, 388 The Godfather trilogy, 47, 59, 84, 88
The Wheel (1923), 373 Germi, Pietro, 382 Gods and Monsters (1998; Bill Condon), 429
Napoléon (1927), 203–4, 288, 373 Geronimo (Goyahkla; 1829-1909; Apache God’s Own Country (2017; Francis Lee), 438,
Gance, Marguerite, 372 leader and medicine man), 146, 149 440
gangster movies, 47, 59, 84–86, 88–90 Gertie the Dinosaur (1914; Winsor McCay), Godzilla (2014; Gareth Edwards), 437
Garbo, Greta 106, 106n Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019; Michael
career, 247, 266 Gerwig, Greta, Lady Bird (2017), 82, 411, 420, Dougherty), 437
Queen Christina (1933), 262 439, 440 Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933; Mervyn LeRoy),
García Márquez, Gabriel, No One Writes to Get Out (2017; Jordan Peele), 2, 96, 165, 306, 208
the Colonel (1961; novella), 399 410, 436, 440 The Gold Rush (1925; Charles Chaplin),
Garcia, Paulina, actor (Chile), 399 Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2008; Jim Sheridan), 44–45, 47, 369
Garland, Alex, Ex Machina (2014), 158 438 Goldeneye (1995; Martin Campbell), 171
Garnett, Tay, The Postman Always Rings Getino, Octavio, The Hour of the Furnaces Goldwyn, Samuel (independent producer),
Twice (1946), 380 (1968; Argentina), 397 423
Gaynor, Janet, the performance of in Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World; 1984; The Golem (1920; Paul Wegener and Carl
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans Satyajit Ray), 396 Boese), 370
(1927), 244 Ghatak, Ritwik, 396 Gomery, Douglas, The Hollywood Studio
Gearty, Eugene (sound-effects designer), Ajantrik (Pathetic Fallacy; 1958), 396 System: A History (2005; text), 360
The Ice Storm (1997), 325–26 Jukti Takko Aar Gappo (Reason, Debate Gomez-Rejon, Alfonso, Me and Earl and the
Geffen, Shira, Meduzot (2007; Israel), 397 and Story; 1974), 396 Dying Girl (2015), 199
Gehr, Ernie, The Astronomer’s Dream The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947; Joseph L. Gondry, Michel
(2004), 78 Mankiewicz), 348 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The General (1926; Buster Keaton), 369 A Ghost Story (2017; David Lowery), 440 (2004), 385
genre and genre films Giacometti, Alberto, Walking Man II (1960; Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? (2013),
audiences for, 83–84, 103 sculpture; Switzerland), 33–35 106
biography, 83–84 Giant (1956; George Stevens), 249, 250 The We and the I (2012), 241
character types, 86 Gibson, Mel, Hacksaw Ridge (2016), 435 Gone Girl (2014; David Fincher), 134
comedy genre, 83–84, 103 Gilbert, Lewis, Alfie (1966), 118 Gone with the Wind (1939; Victor Fleming),
conventions, 84–86 Gilliam, Terry, Fear and Loathing in 195, 423, 429
as cultural artifacts, 83, 84–85 Las Vegas (1998), 240 Good Night, and Good Luck (2005; George
defined, 82 Ginsberg, Allen (beat poet), 130 Clooney), 252
film movements versus, 93 Giovinazzo, Buddy, No Way Home (1996), Good Time (2017; Benny and Josh Safdie),
film noir genre, 84, 90–93 263–64 440
film retailing and, 83 A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014; Goodall, Jane ( primatologist), 70
financing and, 84 Ana Lily Amirpour; Iran), 194 Goodfellas (1990; Martin Scorsese), 84, 296
the gangster genre, 84, 88–90 Girls Trip (2017; Malcolm D. Lee), 103, 436 Google Earth, 211
the horror genre, 95–97 Girotti, Massimo, 380 Gordon, Douglas (video artist), 80
literature as an influence on, 83 Gish, Dorothy, recruited by D. W. Griffith, 243 Gorky, Maxim, The Lower Depths
mixed genre movies, 83, 102–5, 105 Gish, Lillian (1902; play; Russia), 221
musicals, 83–84, 100–102 Broken Blossoms (1919), 243–44 Gosford Park (2001; Robert Altman), 265
nongenre films, 82 career, 36–38, 243–44, 275 Gosling, Ryan, Blue Valentine (2010), 276–78
the organic nature of, 83 The Wind (1928), 244 Goulding, Edmund
pastiches, 102 Way Down East (1920), 36–38 Blondie of the Follies (1932), 424
predictability versus novelty, 84 Glass, Philip (composer), The Hours (2002), career, 424
science fiction, 83, 84, 85, 86, 93–95 333, 337 Dark Victory (1939), 252, 424
stimuli for new, 83 Glazer, Jonathan Grand Hotel (1932), 424
story formulas ( plot structures), 85 Birth (2003), 227, 253 Mardi Gras (1958), 424
subgenres, 83, 93, 102–5 Under the Skin (2013), 80 Nightmare Alley (1947), 424
transformations of, 87, 102–3 Glee television series, 102 Riptide (1934), 424
transformative (landmark) films, 84 Gloria (1980; John Cassavetes), 264 Teenage Rebel (1956), 424
uses of categorizations, 82–83 Gloria (2013; Sebastián Lelio), 399 That Certain Woman (1937), 424
the Western genre, 98–100 The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick The Constant Nymph (1943), 424
See also nongenre films (1972; Wim Wenders), 388 The Dawn Patrol (1938), 424
German Expressionism, 96, 179–82, 183, Godard, Jean-Luc The Flame Within (1935), 424
370–71 Alphaville (1965), 94 The Old Maid (1939), 424
German filmmaking and filmmakers, 70–71, Breathless (1960), 84, 302, 383–85 The Razor’s Edge (1946), 424
77–78, 96, 178–79, 363, 364, 370–71, career and style, 263, 384–85 ’Til We Meet Again (1940), 424
388–89, 440 Histoire(s) du cinéma (1998), 358 We’re Not Married! (1952), 424
Index 477
Gowland, Gibson, Greed (1924), 244 Grierson, John (film critic), on the creative hairstyle, as a concern for avoiding
Goya, Francisco Satan Devouring His Son treatment of actuality, 69 continuity errors, 155, 160–65, 168,
(1819–1823; painting), 157 Griffith, D. W. 170, 184–85
Grace of Monaco (2014; Olivier Dahan), 254 Broken Blossoms (1919), 369 Haiti, 399
Gracey, Michael, The Greatest Showman career, 75, 159, 243, 366–69, 373–75, 385, Hall, Conrad (cinematographer), 402
(2017), 83 420, 423 the work of on In Cold Blood (1968), 190
The Graduate (1967; Mike Nichols), 204 Dream Street (1921), 369 Halloween slasher franchise, 97
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014; Wes Enoch Arden (1911; 34 min.), 367 Hallström, Lasse, My Life as a Dog (1985),
Anderson), 53–54, 126, 178, 203 Hearts of the World (1918), 243 348
Grand Design: Hollywood as a Modern Intolerance (1916), 369 Hamed, Marwan, The Yacoubian Building
Business Enterprise, 1930–1939 Judith of Bethulia, (1914; 61 min.), 368 (2006; Egypt), 396
(1995; Tino Balio; text), 360 Orphans of the Storm (1921), 369 Hamer, Robert, Kind Hearts and Coronets
Grand Hotel (1932; Edmund Goulding), 424 The Birth of a Nation (1915; 187 min.), (1949), 261
Grand National Films, Inc., 423 213, 366, 368–69 Hamlet (1948; Laurence Olivier), 328–29
Granik, Debra, Winter’s Bone (2010), 337 Way Down East (1920), 21, 22, 36–38, 47, Hamlet (ca. 1600; William Shakespeare;
Grant, Cary 196, 287, 369 play; first performed in 1609), 328,
the assets of as an actor, 248 Grisebach, Valeska Western (2017), 440 328n
career, 246–48 Group Theatre (New York City), 250 Hammer, Armie, in The Social Network
North by Northwest (1959), 248 Guadagnino, Luca, Call Me by Your Name (2010), 256, 257
Notorious (1946), 248 (2017), 438, 440 Hammer Films horror movies (1960s and
Suspicion (1941), 248 Guardians of the Galaxy (2014; James Gunn), 1970s), 182, 183
The Philadelphia Story (1940), 248 105, 165 Hammer, Lance, Ballast (2008), 81
To Catch a Thief (1955), 248 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017; James Hammett, Dashiell, 90
Grant, Oscar III, as the subject of Fruitvale Gunn), 436 Hammid, Alexander, Meshes of the Afternoon
Station (2013), 51 Guazzoni, Enrico, Quo Vadis? (1913; 120 (1943; with Maya Deren), 78
The Grapes of Wrath (1940; John Ford), min.; Italy), 367 handicapped individuals, Harold Russell
40–41, 150, 331 guilds and societies, 427–29 in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946;
Gravity (2013; Alfonso Cuarón), 155, 177, 227 See also labor unions William Wyler), 241
Gray, F. Gary Guinness, Alec The Handmaiden (2016; Park Chan-wook),
Straight Outta Compton (2015), 438 The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), 261 438
The Fate of the Furious (2017), 177, 436, career, 260, 260n, 261 Haneke, Michael
438 Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973), 261 The Piano Teacher (2001), 389
Great Britain See United Kingdom Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), 261 The White Ribbon (2009), 389
Great Expectations (1861; novel; Charles Lawrence of Arabia (1962), 261 breaking the fourth wall as a tool in the
Dickens, 134 Our Man in Havana (1959), 261 films of, 263
Great Expectations (1946; David Lean), 134 Star Wars (1977), 260–61 Funny Games (1997), 118–19, 389
Great Expectations (1998; Alfonso Cuarón), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy television Haneke, Michel, Funny Games (2007; U.S.
134 series, 261 remake), 289
The Great Gatsby (1925; novel; F. Scott Tunes of Glory (1960), 261 The Hangover (2009; Todd Phillips), 103
Fitzgerald), 133 Gunn, James Hanks, Tom
The Great Gatsby (2014; Baz Luhrmann), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), 105, 165 career, 236, 254
133 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Cast Away (2000), 419
The Great Train Robbery (1903; 12 min.; 165 Saving Private Ryan (1998), 427
Edwin S. Porter), 98, 196, 228, 366 Guru (1997; Rajiv Anchal), 396 Hanson, Curtis
The Great Wall (2017; Zhang Yimou), 438 Gutiérrez Alea, Tomás L.A. Confidential (1997), 92
The Greatest Showman (2017; Michael Memories of Underdevelopment (1968), Wonder Boys (2000), 252
Gracey), 83 398 The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001;
Greaves, William, Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Strawberry and Chocolate (1993; with Takashi Miike), 102
Take One (1968), 82 Juan Carlos Tabío; Cuba), 398 Hara, Setsuko, 391
Greed (1924; Erich von Stroheim), 244, 369 Guzmán, Patricio, The Battle of Chile A Hard Day’s Night (1964; Richard Lester),
Green, Alfred E. Dangerous (1935), 249 (1975–79; Argentina), 397 387
Greengrass, Paul, The Bourne Supremacy Gyllenhaal, Jake Hardcore Henry (2016; Ilya Naishuller), 223
(2004), 293, 336 Brokeback Mountain (2005), 2 Hardy, Françoise (singer-songwriter;
Greenwood, Jonny (composer; guitarist, Donnie Darko (2001), 60 France), 337
formerly with Radiohead), career, Hardy, Oliver (silent era comedy actor), 369
333 Hachem, Georges, Stray Bullet (2010; Israel), Hardy, Tom (actor)
Gregg Fienberg (television producer and 397 Locke (2013), 177
director), 429, 430 Hacksaw Ridge (2016; Mel Gibson), 435 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), 177
Grey Gardens (1975; Albert Maysles, Ken Hagen, Jean, 245 Haring, Keith, Self Portrait (1989; sculpture),
Maysles, Ellen Hovde, and Muffie Hail Caesar! (2016; Joel and Ethan Coen), 33–35
Meyer), 73 240 Hark, Tsui, Peking Opera Blues (1986), 392
478 Index
Harris, Jon (editor), the work of on T2: The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (1974), 346 Hollywood
Trainspotting (2017), 287 Woyzeck (1979), 269n 20th Century Fox, 422–25, 435, 437
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 Hidden Figures (2016; Theodore Melfi), 173, aesthetic value versus profitability in, 421
(2010; David Yates), 309 273, 434, 435, 438 annual production of movies, 252
Harry Potter franchise, 23, 120–21, 436, 437 The Hidden Fortress (1958; Akira Kurosawa), Columbia Pictures, 423, 435
Harryhausen, Ray, 107 25 experimental techniques in, 80
Hawke, Ethan, 270 Higashiyama, Chieko, 391 film companies in (ca. 1935–1950), 422,
Hawks, Howard High Noon (1952; Fred Zinnemann), 195 423
Bringing Up Baby (1938), 329 “High on a Mountain” (2010), 337 and the film industry’s adaptability, 252,
His Girl Friday (1940), 251 Hill, George Roy, Butch Cassidy and the 411
Scarface (1932), 85 Sundance Kid (1969), 296 the founding of a film industry in, 367,
Haynes, Todd Hillary’s America: The Secret History of 420
Carol (2015), 191, 191n, 437–38 the Democratic Party (2016; Dinesh Inceville studio, 420
I’m Not There (2007), 47, 239 D’Souza), 70 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), 420–25,
Hays, Will, 377, 378 Hindle, Jeremy (production designer) 428
Hazanavicius, Michel, The Artist (2011), 246 Detroit (2017), 178 the mini-majors in modern, 434
HBO, 214 Zero Dark Thirty (2012), 178 the modern production system, 434
Heart of Glass (1976; Werner Herzog), 266, His Girl Friday (1940; Howard Hawks), 251 as the nucleus of the American film
389 Histoire(s) du cinéma (1998; Jean-Luc industry, 367, 420
Hearts of the World (1918; D. W. Griffith), Godard), 358 Paramount Pictures Corporation, 416,
243 History of American Cinema series 420, 422–24, 431, 435
Hedren, Tippi, in The Birds (1963), 266 (10 volumes), 358 production systems in, 420
Heinrichs, Rick (production designer), history of movies. See film history RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., 418, 422, 423
Sleepy Hollow (1999), 182, 183 A History of Narrative Film (2016; 5th ed.; Russian theory of method acting in
Hell or High Water (2016; David Mackenzie), David A. Cook), 359 1950s, 249
240, 435, 438 Hitchcock, Alfred United Artists (UA), 418, 423, 431
Hellboy (2004; Guillermo del Toro), 14 the career and style of, 96, 140, 140n, 156, Universal Studios, 331, 423, 426, 429–30,
Henry, Dwight, 241 222, 242, 266, 284, 346, 423–24 435, 437
Henson, Taraji P. in Hidden Figures (2016), the MacGuffin in the films of, 36 Warner Bros., 420, 422–24, 428, 435–37
273 North by Northwest (1959), 209, 248 See also financing; motion picture
Hepburn, Audrey, 248 Notorious (1946), 116–17, 119–20, 214–15, industry
Hepburn, Katharine 216, 248 Hollywood golden age (1927–1947)
career, 248, 249, 253, 259 Psycho (1960), 96, 307 A and B pictures, 423
Desk Set (1957; Walter Lang), 251 Rear Window (1954), 120, 259, 308 and American culture, 376
Her, (2013; Spike Jonze), 236 Rebecca (1940), 237–38, 404, 423 animated films, 423
Hermes Carrying the Infant Dionysus Rope (1948), 139–40, 139n apex and decline, 424–25
(fourth century BCE; Greece; Suspicion (1941), 248 the Breen Office, 378
sculpture; Praxiteles), 33–35 The 39 Steps (1935), 328, 345 casting, 257
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949, The Birds (1963), 224–25, 266, 346 censorship, 376, 377, 378
2nd ed.; Joseph Campbell), 24, 24n To Catch a Thief (1955), 248 cinematography, 378
heroes Vertigo (1958), 266 competition among production units,
archetypal, 24 Hitler, Adolf, 71 425
the hero’s journey (quest; monomyth), Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973; Ennio contract agreements, 423, 425, 428, 432
24, 111–12 De Concini), 261 the conversion to sound, 244–46, 376
See also antiheroes; characters The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies directors during the, 376, 423–24
Herrmann, Bernard (composer; movie score (2014), 134, 134n the dominance of producers, 423
specialist) The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies dominant movie genres, 377
Birds (1963) by, 346 (2014; Peter Jackson), 134 film production, 376–78, 424–25
career, 333, 346 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013; the grooming of creative personnel, 161,
Citizen Kane (1941), 352, 379, 405 Peter Jackson), 230 259
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), 348 The Hobbit trilogy (2012-2014; Peter independent producers, 423
Herschel, Sir John (inventor), 362 Jackson), 43, 134, 165, 225 innovations, 378
Herzog, Werner Hoberman, J., Film after Film: Or, What the major and minor studios, 422–23
Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972), Became of 21st Century Cinema? management versus creative personnel,
346–47, 389 (2012; book), 439 425
career and style, 266, 346 Hoffman, Dustin, The Graduate (1967), 204 movie stars, 246, 259
Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970), Hoffman, Michael, Restoration (1995), 252 movie theater programs, 423
388–89 Hoffman, Philip Seymour, The Master Orson Welles in, 378–80
Heart of Glass (1976), 266, 389 (2010), 237 the prolific nature of the, 376
Nosferatu the Vampire (1979), 346, 389 Holden, William, 402 the screen test, 257
Index 479
Selznick International Pictures, 378, 423 culture and self-perception, 103 image as shock, 79
sound screenplays, 245 early movies about, 49–50 image resolution, 192
stylistic conformity, 378 everyday life as movie subject matter, montage techniques, 385
unit producers, 425 179, 374, 380, 382, 386 in movies that emphasize silence, 338–39
World War II, 377 movies that celebrate, 328, 338, 395 in one second of a motion picture, 192
See also New American Cinema; studio perception and cognitive processing, optical experimentation, 362
system 5, 36, 42–44, 136–40, 140, 171–72, the physical beauty, 3
The Hollywood Story (2003; 3rd ed.; Joel W. 289–90, 292, 321 positive and negative analogs, 412
Finler; text), 360 poetic realism, 382 realistic or expressionistic, 196–97
The Hollywood Studio System: A History populist filmmaking, 49–50, 178–81, 376, thematic symbols, 141
(2005; Douglas Gomery; text), 360 382, 386, 397 Imperfect Cinema movement (Cuba), 398
Holman, Tomlinson (audio engineer; stereotypes, 368, 369, 376 implied proximity, 205
inventor), Sound for Film and The Human Stain (2003; Robert Benton), Import/ Export (2007; Ulrich Seidl), 389
Television (1997; book), 322, 322n 253 The Impossible Voyage (1904; Georges
The Home and the World (Ghare-Baire; 1984; humanity Méliès), 365
Satyajit Ray), 396 cultural dialogues, 88–109 Improper Conduct (1984; Orlando Jiménez
The Hon. Frances Duncombe (1777; Thomas humanist value, 380 Leal and Néstor Almendros;
Gainsborough; England), 53 the loss of an individual’s, 93–94 diasporic), 398
Honey for Oshún (2001; Humberto Solás), religion and fear, 93–95 In Cold Blood (1968; Richard Brooks), 190
398 Hung, Sammo, 393 In My Country Men Have Breasts (2012;
Hong Kong, 392 Hungary, 385 Mania Akbari), 397
Hong Kong New Wave movement, 393–94 Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013; Francis In the Name Of (2013; Malgorzata
Hood, Gavin, X-Men: Origins: Wolverine Lawrence), 204 Szumowska), 338
(2009), 437 The Hunger Games series, 23, 120 In the Realm of the Senses (1976; Nagisa
Hooper, Tom Hunte, Otto, the work of on Metropolis Oshima), 391
The Danish Girl (2015), 438 (1927), 229 Iñárritu, Alejandro González
The King’s Speech (2010), 206–7 Hurd, Earl, 106 Amores Perros (2000), 399
Hopkins, Anthony, in The Silence of the The Hurt Locker (2008; Kathryn Bigelow), Babel (2005), 399
Lambs (1991), 223 125, 201, 215 Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue
Hopper, Dennis, 389 The Hustler (1961; Robert Rossen), 250 of Ignorance) (2015), 64, 139, 227
Easy Rider (1969), 401 Huston, John career and style, 213
Horner, James (composer; conductor; movie Fat City (1972), 255 The Revenant (2015), 226, 227
score specialist), Avatar (2009), 333 The African Queen (1951), 266, 426 Ince, Thomas H. (film pioneer), 420
horror movies, 21–22, 86, 93, 95–97, 103–4, The Maltese Falcon (1941), 91–92, 273, Inception (2010; Christopher Nolan), 320,
370–71, 392 404 321, 418
The Horse Thief (1986; Tian Zhuangzhuang), The Misfits (1961), 250 Inceville studio, 420
392 The Night of the Iguana (1964), 399 The Incredibles (2004; Brad Bird), 105, 108,
Hotel (2004; Jessica Hausner), 389 Huyghe, Pierry (video artist), 80 109
Hou Hsiao-hsien hybrid films, 81–82 independent filmmaking and filmmakers,
A City of Sadness (1989), 394 Hyman, Bernard (unit producer, MGM), 4, 8–21, 411, 417
Flight of the Red Balloon (2007), 394 421–22 independent producers and production
The Hour of the Furnaces (1968; Octavio creative innovations under, 426
Getino and Fernando Solanas), 397 I Am Not Your Negro (2017; Raoul Peck), 440 and film quality, 426
Hovde, Ellen, Grey Gardens (1975; with I Do and I Don’t: A History of Marriage in modern distribution options, 431
Albert Maysles, Ken Maysles, and the Movies (2012; Jeanine Basinger; modern “indie” divisions, 434
Muffie Meyer), 72 text), 358 modern mini-majors, 434, 435
Howl (2010; Rob Epstein), 130 I Kill Giants (2017; Anders Walter), 165 modern production and output, 426–27,
Hoyt, Harry O., The Lost World (1925), 107 I Slept with My Mother, My Father, My 434
Hranitzky, Ágnes The Man from London Brother and My Sister in a Country movies as independent corporations,
(2007; with Béla Tarr), 262 Called Iran (2012; Mania Akbari), 397 430–31
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994; Joel and Ethan The Ice Storm (1997; Ang Lee), 325–26, 394 movies as packages, 426
Coen), 251 Ida (2014; Pawel Pawlikoski; Poland), 194 opening movie credits, 429
Hughes, John, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off The Idiots (1998; Lars von Trier), 387 as outgrowths of the old studio system,
(1986), 118 if . . . (1968; Lindsay Anderson), 387 421, 425
Hui, Ann Vietnam Trilogy (1980–81), 393 Ikiru (1952; Akira Kurosawa), 390 the package-unit system, 426
Hulu, 5 illusion, 37–38, 40, 41, 44–45, 47, 51 the producer’s team, 426
human beings I’m Not There (2007; Todd Haynes), 47, 239 the self-imposed responsibilities of, 426
actualités, 51 images studio era, 366, 422, 423, 426, 429
biased portrayals of some groups, 146 the familiar image, 141 independent producers and production
clothing and self-presentation, 161–62 film, 412 See also producers
480 Index
India, 394–95 Italian Neorealism, 178–79, 380–82, 386, Joffé, Roland, The Mission (1986), 334
Indian filmmaking and filmmakers, Anurag 401, 404 Johansson, Scarlett
Kashyap, 4–5, 382, 386, 395–96, 404 An Italian Straw Hat (1927; René Clair), 368, career, 81, 87, 236, 254–55
India’s Parallel Cinema movement (new 373 Her (2013), 236
Indian cinema), Satyajit Ray, Italy, 380, 440 John Wick (2014; Chad Stahelski and David
Filmmaker; (1985; Shyam Benegal), Leitch ), 168
396 Jackie (2016; Pablo Larraín), 209 Johnson, Dwayne, career, 87, 254–55
Indonesia, 73–74 Jackman, Hugh, 254–55 Johnson, Kirsten, Cameraperson (2016;
Inglourious Basterds (2009; Quentin Jackson, Peter documentary), 202
Tarantino), 178 Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003), Johnson, Rian
Inherent Vice (2009; novel; Thomas 109, 239 Brick (2005), 92
Pynchon), 133 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), 23, 83,
Inherent Vice (2014; Paul Thomas (2014), 134 256
Anderson), 133 The Hobbit trilogy (2012-2014), 43, 134, Jolson, Al, 376–77
Insomnia (1997; Erik Skjoldbjærg), 92 225 Jones, Duncan, Moon (2009), 309
instructional films, 70 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Jonze, Spike
interactives. See tutorial videos and King (2003), 175 Being John Malkovich (1999), 260
interactives Jackson, Samuel L., 252 Her (2013), 236
Intermezzo (1939; Gregory Ratoff ), 423 Jacquet, Luc, March of the Penguins (2005), Jordan, 396
international directors 414 Jordan, Neil, The Crying Game (1992),
the influence of both within and outside Jalsaghar (The Music Room; 1958; Satyajit 335–36
their homelands, 399 Ray), 395 Joy Ride (2001; Martin Rengel), 387
landmark films in filmmaking, 360, 366, James Bond film series, 171, 437 Joyce, James, 78
375, 395 Jane (2017; Brett Morgen), 70 Judith of Bethulia (1914; D. W. Griffith), 368
masterpieces in filmmaking, 21–22, Jane Eyre (1847; novel; Charlotte Brontë), Jukti Takko Aar Gappo (Reason, Debate and
368–69, 372–73, 375, 381, 384, 386, 133 Story; 1974; Ritwik Ghatak), 396
390, 404 Jane Eyre (2011; Cary Fukunaga), 55, 133 Julien Donkey-Boy (1999; Harmony Korine),
See also auteur concept Jani Gal (2007; Jamil Rostami; Iraq), 396 387
international film collaborations, 438 Jannings, Emil, the performance of in The July, Miranda, Me and You and Everyone
Internet, 440 Last Laugh (1924), 244 We Know (2006), 348
The Interpreter (2005; Sydney Pollack), Janssen, Pierre-Jules-César (astronomer), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017; Jake
253–54 362 Kasdan), 83, 436
Interstellar (2014; Christopher Nolan), 94, 128 Japan, 385, 388–89 Juno (2007; Jason Reitman), 8–12, 15–20,
interviews, 71 Japanese filmmaking and filmmakers, 25, 20–21, 23, 33
Intolerable Cruelty (2003; Joel and Ethan 102–3, 107, 266, 273, 385, 389–92 Just Like Weather (1986; Allen Fong), 393
Coen), 377 Japanese New Wave movement (Nubero Justice League (2017; Zack Snyder), 83, 410,
Intolerance (1916; D. W. Griffith), 243, 369 Bagu), 392 436
Iran and Iranian filmmakers, 4, 107, 386, Jarmusch, Jim juxtaposition
396 Dead Man (1995), 99 as basic to cinematic language, 55
Iraq, 396 Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), 240 contrasting or incongruent images,
Ireland, 385 Stranger Than Paradise (1984), 400 291–92
The Iron Giant (1999; Brad Bird), 105 Jarvie, Ian ( philosopher), 360 duration with, 298, 299
Iron Man (2008; Jon Favreau), 134, 240 Jason and the Argonauts (1963; Don eyeline-matched images, 305
Irréversible (2002; Gaspar Noé), 47, 135 Chaffey), 107 Soviet experiments with, 287, 289,
Irving, Washington (short story writer), Jaws (1975; Steven Spielberg), 126, 215–16, 291–92, 296, 300, 301, 307, 313–14
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” 344, 348 spatial meaning through, 44–45, 47,
(1820; short story), 181–82 The Jazz Singer (1927; Alan Crosland), 101 292–93
Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? (2013; Michel Jenkins, Barry, Moonlight (2016), 230–33, temporal meaning through, 36–40, 46,
Gondry), 106 435, 438, 439 47–49, 293–94, 296
Isaac, Oscar, 252 Jenkins, Patty viewer assumptions and, 76, 287–93,
Isfält, Björn (composer; movie score spe Monster (2003), 163 298–99, 305–7, 313–14
cialist), My Life as a Dog (1985), 348 Wonder Woman (2017), 6, 46, 436, 437 See also montage
Isle of Dogs (2018; Wes Anderson), 68 Jennings, Emil, 371
Israel, 397 Jeunet, Jean-Pierre Kael, Pauline (critic), on the human material
It (2017; Andy Muschietti), 436 Amalie (2001), 226 in movies, 236
It Happened One Night (1934; Frank Capra), Delicatessen (1991; with Marc Caro), Kagemusha (1980; Akira Kurosawa), 390
103 347–48 Kammerspielfilm, 178–79
Italian filmmaking and filmmakers, 367, 380, Jezebel (1938; William Wyler), 249 Kanopy, 440
382, 399, 440 Jia Zhangke, 393 Kansas City (1996; Robert Altman), 251
Italian for Beginners (2000; Lone Scherfig), Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros (rock Kapur, Shekhar Elizabeth (1998), 239
387 band), 338 Karloff, Boris, 87
Index 481
Karun, Shaji N., Piravi (1989), 396 Dogville (2003), 253 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop
Kasdan, Jake, Jumanji: Welcome to the Eyes Wide Shut (1999), 253 Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964),
Jungle (2017), 83, 436 Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane 103, 215, 266, 299
Kashyap, Anurag Black Friday (2004), 396 Arbus (2006), 254 Eyes Wide Shut (1999), 253, 266
Katta, Deva, Prasthanam (2010), 396 Grace of Monaco (2014), 254 Lolita (1962), 250
Kauffman, Ross, Born into Brothels (2004; Moulin Rouge! (2001), 253 Spartacus (1960), 335
with Zana Briski), 67 Rabbit Hole (2007), 254 The Killing (1956), 330
Kaufman, Charlie The Beguiled (2017), 254 The Shining (1980), 97, 174, 210, 266, 320,
Anomalisa (2015), 35, 80 The Hours (2002; Academy Award for 324, 327
Synecdoche, New York (2008), 276 Best Actress), 253 Kuchar, Mike, Sins of the Fleshapoids (1965),
Kaufman, Philip, The Right Stuff (1983), 225 The Interpreter (2005), 253–54 79–80
Kaurismäki, Aki (Finland), The Other Side The Portrait of a Lady (1996), 253 Kuleshov effect, 289, 296, 313, 314
of Hope (2017), 440 To Die For (1995), 253 Kuleshov, Lev, 249, 289, 296, 313, 314
Kawin, Bruce F. (film historian), 371, 401, Kill Bill cycle (Vol. 1 (2003), Vol. 2 (2004); The Extraordinary Adventures of
401n Quentin Tarantino), 102 Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks
Kazan, Elia (director) The Killer (1989; John Woo), 47–49 (1924), 374
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), 250 Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949; Robert Kurosawa, Akira
career and style, 242, 250–51, 272 Hamer), 261 career and style, 266, 389–91, 395
East of Eden (1955), 250 kinesis (movement), 155, 176–77, 178 Dreams (1990), 338–39
On the Waterfront (1954), 250, 271–72, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017; Ikiru (1952), 390
426 Guy Ritchie), 439 Kagemusha (1980), 390
The Last Tycoon (1976), 426 King Kong (1933; Merian C. Cooper and Ran (1985), 389, 390
Keaton, Buster (silent era comedy actor), Ernest B. Schoedsack), 107 Rashomon (1950), 136, 389
The General (1926), 369 King Lear (1606; William Shakespeare; play), Seven Samurai (1954), 390
Keaton, Diane, 275, 401 389, 390 The Hidden Fortress (1958), 25
Keitel, Harvey, 250 King, Richard (sound editor) The Lower Depths (1957), 221
Kelly, Anthony Paul (screenwriter), the Inception (2010), 320, 321 Throne of Blood (1957), 273, 390
creator of the “ice break” scene in War of the Worlds (2005), 320, 340 Yojimbo (1961), 390
Way Down East (1920), 36–37 Kirsanoff, Dimitri, Ménilmontant (1926), Kurtzman, Alex, The Mummy (2017), 437
Kelly, Gene, Singin’ in the Rain (1952; with 373 Kuwait, 396
Gene Kelly), 84, 245 Kluge, Alexander, Artists under the Big Top: Kwan, Daniel, Swiss Army Man (2016; with
Kelly, Grace, 248 Perplexed (1968), 388 Daniel Scheinert), 80, 228
Kelly, Richard, Donnie Darko (2001), 57–60, Knight, Steven, Locke (2013), 177
226 Knight, Travis, Kubo and the Two Strings L.A. Confidential (1997; Curtis Hanson), 92
Ken Burns Effect, 72 (2016), 107 La La Land (2016; Damien Chazelle), 102,
Kennedy, Jackie, as portrayed by Natalie Knocked Up (2007; Judd Apatow), 21, 22, 263 435
Portman in Jackie (2016), 209 Kodak (Eastman Kodak), 195–96, 416 Labaki, Nadine, Where Do We Go Now?
Kennedy, Joseph P. (early film industry Kolirin, Eran, The Band’s Visit (2001; Israel), (2011; Lebanon), 397
investor), 422 397 Labor Day (2013; Jason Reitman), 21
Keret, Etgar, Meduzot (2007; with Shira Kong: Skull Island (2017; Jordan Vogt- labor unions, 411, 425, 427, 428, 431
Geffen; Israel), 397 Roberts), 436, 437, 438 See also contracts; guilds and societies
Kershner, Irvin, The Empire Strikes Back Konner, Jeremy, Donald Trump’s The Art Lachman, Ed (cinematographer), the work
(1980), 335 of the Deal: The Movie (2016), 241 of on Carol, 191, 191n
Kes (1969; Ken Loach), 387 Korine, Harmony, Julien Donkey-Boy (1999), Lady Bird (2017; Greta Gerwig), 82, 411, 420
Keshavarz, Maryam, Circumstance (2011; 387 Lady in the Lake (1947; Robert Montgom-
Iran), 396 Koster, Henry, The Virgin Queen (1955), 164 ery), 223
Khalifa, Hani, Sleepless Nights (2003; Koto, Herman (genocidist), 73–74 Lady Macbeth (2017; William Oldroyd), 440
Egypt), 396 Koyaanisqatsi (1982; Godfrey Reggio), 72–73 Laemmle, Carl (film pioneer), 420
Khandaar (The Ruins; 1983; Mrinal Sen), Kraus, Werner, 370 Lai, Stan, The Peach Blossom Land (1992),
396 Krokidas, John, Kill Your Darlings (2013), 394
Kharji (The Case Is Closed; 1982; Mrinal 130 Laika Entertainment, 107
Sen), 396 Kubelka, Peter, Arnulf Rainer (1960), 78 Lam, Ringo, City on Fire (1987), 393
Kiarostami, Abbas Kubo and the Two Strings (2016; Travis Landon, Christopher, Happy Death Day
career and style, 4, 4n, 386 Knight), 107 (2017), 46
Like Someone in Love (2012), 396 Kubrick, Stanley Lang, Fritz
Kidman, Nicole 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), 84, 85, 86, M (1931), 211, 263, 370
in Batman Forever (1995), 253 94, 256, 346, 402 Metropolis (1927), 86, 230, 370
Bewitched (2005), 253 A Clockwork Orange (1971), 225, 226, Lang, Walter, Desk Set (1957), 251
Birth (2003), 227, 253 266, 336 Langenegger, Marcel, Deception (2008), 276
career, 252, 253, 254 Barry Lyndon (1975), 197, 200, 266 Lanthimos, Yorgos, 253
Days of Thunder (1990), 252 career and style, 222, 266, 401 The Lobster (2015), 327
482 Index
L’Argent (1928; Marcel L’Herbier), 373 Chapter 4: Elements of Narrative, 116 Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich, 373, 380, 398
Larraín, Pablo, Jackie (2016), 209 Chapter 5: Mise-en-scène, 154 lenses
Lasseter, John Chapter 6: Cinematography, 188 anamorphic, 231
Toy Story 2 (1999; with Ash Brannon and Chapter 7: Acting, 236 aperture (iris; diaphragm), 199
Lee Unkrich), 256 Chapter 8: Editing, 282 bokeh, 231
Toy Story (1995), 108 Chapter 9: Sound, 320 for deep-space cinematography, 208
Lassie (animal actor), 259 Chapter 10: Film History, 358 depth of field, 192, 199, 201, 201–2, 208,
Lassie Come Home (1943; Fred M. Wilcox), Chapter 11: How the Movies are Made, 231
249 410 as the eye of the camera, 199
The Last Laugh (1924; F. W. Murnau), 244, Leatherheads (2008; George Clooney), 377 first assistant cameraperson (AC ), 190
370, 371 Léaud, Jean-Pierre, 266, 383 fisheye, 199, 200
The Last of the Mohicans (1826; James “Leave No Man Behind” (2002; Hans focal lengths, 199
Fenimore Cooper; novel), 98 Zimmer), 338 implied proximity, 205
The Last of Us (2013; video game), 4 Lebanon, 397 the influence of on shots, 190
The Last Picture Show (1969; Peter Lee, Ang movement and speed capture, 199, 200,
Bogdanovich), 401–2 Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2016), 223
Last Tango in Paris (1972; Bernardo 225 normal ( prime), 200
Bertolucci), 264 Brokeback Mountain (2005), 2, 104, 276, perception through, 22, 199
The Last Tycoon (1941; novel; F. Scott 394 reduced-glare, 208
Fitzgerald), 410, 410n Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), sizes, 199
The Last Tycoon (1976; Elia Kazan), 426 176, 394 spatial flattening effects, 200
Last Year at Marienbad (1961; Alain Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), 394 story and lens selections, 200
Resnais), 78, 384, 385 Life of Pi (2012), 109 telephoto, 200, 215
Late Spring (1949; Yasujirô Ozu), 392 Lust, Caution (2007), 394 wide-angle, 215
Latham, Woodville , Grey, and Otway Sense and Sensibility (1995), 394 zoom, 200, 201
(Eidoloscope developers), 364 The Ice Storm (1997), 325–26, 394 See also cameras; cinematography; depth
Latin American filmmaking, 385, 397 The Wedding Banquet (1993), 394 of field
Laughton, Charles, The Night of the Hunter Lee, Bruce, 393 Leone, Sergio
(1955), 171, 180, 343–44, 348–49 Lee, Christopher, Sleepy Hollow (1999), 183 career, 393
Laura (1944; Otto Preminger), 170, 266 Lee, Francis, God’s Own Country (2017), 438, Once upon a Time in the West (1968),
Laurel, Stan (silent era comedy actor), 369 440 344–45
Laurents, Arthur (screenwriter), the work Lee, Malcolm D., Girls Trip (2017), 103, 436 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966),
of on Rope (1948), 139 Lee, Spike 84, 299
Lawrence, Francis, Hunger Games: Catching career and style, 263, 266, 401 The Leopard (1963; Luchino Visconti), 160
Fire (2013), 204 Do the Right Thing (1989), 210, 263 LeRoy, Mervyn, Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933),
Lawrence, Jennifer Legendary Pictures, 437 208
career, 236, 252, 254–55, 275–76 Léger, Fernand, Ballet mécanique (1924; Lester, Richard, A Hard Day’s Night (1964),
Winter’s Bone (2010), 337 with Dudley Murphy), 77, 78, 372 387
Lawrence of Arabia (1962; David Lean), 84, The Lego Batman Movie (2017; Chris LeSueur, Lucille Fay. See Billie Cassin; Joan
261, 294, 426 McKay), 436 Crawford
Laxton, James, the work of on Moonlight Lego bricks Let the Fire Burn (2013; Jason Osder), 72
(2016), 230–33 3-D animation combined with, 110 Let the Sunshine In (2017; Claire Denis), 440
Leach, Archibald. See Cary Grant as a tool of amateur filmmakers, 110 Let’s Stay Together (2011; Joshua Bee Alafia),
Leal, Orlando Jiménez the aesthetic of, 110 438
Improper Conduct (1984; codirected by The LEGO Movie (2014; Phil Lord and The Letter (1940; William Wyler), 253
Néstor Almendros), 398 Christopher Miller), 109–12 Lewis, Cameron “When a Man Loves a
Improper Conduct (1984 with Néstor Leigh, Janet, in Psycho (1960), 36 Woman” (1966; with Andrew Wright),
Almendros), 398 Leigh, Jennifer Jason 336
The Other Cuba (1983), 398 The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), 251 Lewis, Jon (film scholar), on the collaborative
Lean, David The Player (1992), 251 nature of moviemaking, 411, 411n
the filmmaking achievements of, 386 Leigh, Mike LGBTQ rights and filmmaking, 2, 230–33,
Great Expectations (1946), 134 Another Year (2010), 264 298, 335–36, 338, 386–87, 398–99,
Lawrence of Arabia (1962), 84, 261, 294, Vera Drake (2004), 21 424, 437–38, 440
426 Leigh, Vivien, 378 L’Herbier, Marcel L’Argent (1928), 373
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), 261, Leisen, Mitchell, Easy Living (1937), 377 Li, Jet, 393
426 Leitch, David, John Wick (2014; with Chad The Libertine (2004; Laurence Dunmore),
Learning Objectives Stahelski), 168 241
Chapter 1: Looking at Movies, 2 Lejanía (1985; Jesús Diaz), 398 Libya, 396
Chapter 2: Principles of Film Form, 32 Lelio, Sebastián, Gloria (2013; Chile), 399 Life, Animated (2016; Roger Ross Williams),
Chapter 3: Types of Movies, 64 Lemmon, Jack, 260, 260n 70
Index 483
Life of an American Fireman (1903; Edwin S. to indicate sources of illumination in a location

Porter), 366 story, 169 the complications of shooting on
The Life of Moses (1909; five reels; J. Stuart intensity adjustments, 198, 199 location, 155–58, 166, 179
Blackthorn), 367 key lights, fill lights, and backlights, 168 the use of nonactors on location, 178, 179,
The Life of Oharu (1952; Kenji Mizoguchi), light meters, 198 241, 313, 380, 381
391 light “rims”, 168 Locke (2013; Steven Knight), 177
Life of Pi (2012; Ang Lee), 109 light versus lighting, 41 Logan (2017; James Mangold), 436, 437
light low contrast, 167 Lola Montès (1955; Max Ophüls), 262
in a digital movie camera, 414 low key, 168, 231 Lolita (1962; Stanley Kubrick), 250
in a film motion picture camera, 412–13 makeup and, 195 Lolita (1997; Adrian Lyne), 340
as an element of mise-en-scène, 198, 233 preproduction designs, 166 Loncraine, Richard, Richard III (1995), 252
dynamic range, 192 quality, 166 The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
film form and, 40 ratios, 166, 168, 198 (1962; Tony Richardson), 387
fresnel lights, 198–99 reflectors, 168, 198 Lonely Rita (2001; Jessica Hausner), 389
light capture, 416 scrims, 198 The Lonely Wife (Charulata; 1964; Satyajit
light meters, 198 setup, 166 Ray), 395–96
light versus lighting, 41 shadow, 166–71, 175, 179–81, 182, 231 Lonergan, Kenneth, Manchester by the Sea
natural versus artificial light sources, 198 shape and texture definition, 41, 166 (2016), 276, 435
sunlight, 166, 167, 182–83 to show time of day, 169 Lonesome Cowboys (1968; Andy Warhol), 80
the symbolic functions of, 40–41, 268 silhouettes, 169, 171 Long Distance Wireless Photography (1908;
lighting silks and flags, 198, 199 Georges Méliès), 365
as an influence on acting, 267 soft, 167 Looking at Movies
in animated movies, 166 in storyboard sketches, 166, 171 Chapter 1: Looking at Film Analysis in
backlighting, 169 sunlight, 40–41, 167 Juno, 8–23
barn doors, 199 three-point, 168 Chapter 2: Looking at Film Form:
beams and dimmers, 198 top lighting, 170 Donnie Darko, 57–60
bounce boards, 198 See also shadow Chapter 3: Looking at the Types of
candlelight, 40–41 Like Someone in Love (2012; Abbas Movies in The Lego Movie, 109–12
to capture crisp, defined details, 167 Kiarostami; Iran), 396 Chapter 4: Looking at Narrative in
changes in contrasts, 169 Like Water for Chocolate (1992; Alfonso Stagecoach, 143–50
to characterize settings, 167 Arau), 399 Chapter 5: Looking at Mise-en-scène
chiaroscuro, 41, 97 Lima, Kevin, Enchanted (2007), 204 in Sleepy Hollow, 181–85
composition and, 166 Liman, Doug Chapter 6: Looking at Cinematography
contrasts and shadows, 40–42, 169 American Made (2017), 239 in Moonlight, 230–33
the control of, 198 Live, Die, Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow Chapter 7: Looking at Acting: Michelle
conveying character, 40–42, 166–67 (2014), 239 Williams, 275–78
conveying meaning, 40, 41, 169, 267 The Limey (1999; Steven Soderbergh), 9, 120 Chapter 8: Looking at Editing in City
daylight, 198 Linder, Max, 372 of God, 311–17
to denote unnaturalness, 169–70 Linklater, Lorelei, 270 Chapter 9: Looking at (and Listening to)
design, 68–69 Linklater, Richard Sound in Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane,
diffused versus direct light, 198 Boyhood (2014), 46, 270 350–55
direction and angle, 166, 169 his encouragement of spontaneous, Chapter 10: Looking at Citizen Kane and
for distorting features, 169 improvisational development of Its Place in Film History, 404–5
in documentary films, 166 characters, 242 Ways of Looking at Movies, 6–28
for dramatic effects, 169, 268, 276 Slacker (1991), 66 looking versus watching, 2–5, 9–10, 12, 14, 20
early Technicolor, 195 Lion (2016; Garth Davis), 211, 435, 438 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
to evoke specific emotions, 86 Lionsgate Films, 429, 430, 431, 435 (2003; Peter Jackson), 175
for expressing mood, 40, 41, 166 Lipitz, Amanda Lipitz Step (2017; Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003; Peter
extreme high-key, 169 documentary), 283 Jackson), 23, 109, 134, 165, 239, 437
extreme overhead, 170 literature, 133–34 Lord, Phil
film noir schemes, 92 The Little Foxes (1941; William Wyler), 176, 21 Jump Street (with Christopher Miller;
fresnel lights, 198–99 253, 270 2012), 225
frontal, 170 Little Shop of Horrors (1986; Frank Oz), 102 The Lego Movie (2014; with Christopher
gaffers, 198 Live, Die, Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow (2014; Miller), 109–12
and genre conventions, 168, 169 Doug Liman), 239 Lorre, Peter, 263
Halloween (bottom), 169 Lizzani, Carlo, 381 Losey, Joseph, The Servant (1963), 387
hard, 167, 198 Lloyd, Harold (silent era comedy actor), 369 The Lost World (1925; Harry O. Hoyt), 107
high-key, 168–69 Lloyd, Phyllida, The Iron Lady (2011), 241 Lourdes (2009; Jessica Hausner), 389
highlights and shadows, 40, 41, 166 Loach, Ken, Kes (1969), 387 Love and Mercy (2014; Bill Pohlad), 47
illumination design, 40, 168 The Lobster (2015; Yorgos Lanthimos), 327 Love Comes Lately (2007; Jan Schütte), 389
484 Index
Love Me Tonight (1932; Rouben Mamoulian), Lurie, John, 400 Love Me Tonight (1932), 103, 209, 326, 347
101, 103, 210, 326, 347 Lust, Caution (2007; Ang Lee), 394 Queen Christina (1933), 262
Loveless (2017; Andrey Zvyagintsev), 440 Lynch, David A Man Escaped (1956; Robert Bresson), 328
The Loves of Queen Elizabeth (1912; 44 min.; Blue Velvet (1986), 123 The Man from London (2007; Béla Tarr and
Henri Desfontaines and Louis career and style, 322, 401 Ágnes Hranitzky), 262
Mercanton), 367 Twin Peaks series (2017), 80 Man of Steel (2013; Zack Snyder), 437
Lovett, Lyle (singer), singer of “Stand by Lynch, David Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001; Joel
Your Man” (1969), 336 440 Coen), 349, 350
Loving (2016; Jeff Nichols), 286, 438 Lyne, Adrian, Lolita (1997), 350 Man with the Axe (Parasuram; 1978; Mrinal
The Lower Depths (1902; play; Maxim Lynn, Vera (singer), “We’ll Meet Again” Sen), 396
Gorky), 221 (1939), 328 Man with the Movie Camera (1929; Dziga
The Lower Depths (1936; Jean Renoir), 221 Vertov), 368, 373, 374
The Lower Depths (1957; Akira Kurosawa), M (1931; Fritz Lang), 212, 370 Manchester by the Sea (2016; Kenneth
221 McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971; Robert Lonergan), 276, 435
Lowery, David, A Ghost Story (2017), 440 Altman), 104 Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013;
Loy, Myrna, 265 McCarthy, Thomas, The Station Agent Justin Chadwick), 438
Lubezki, Emmanuel (cinematographer; (2003), 276 Mangold, James
Mexico) McCay, Winsor, Gertie the Dinosaur (1914), Logan (2017), 436, 437
Birdman (2014), 227 106, 106n The Wolverine (2013), 437
career, 227, 399 McDormand, Frances, 275 manipulation
Children of Men (2006), 227 McGrath, Tom, The Boss Baby (2017), 436 of audience expectations, 9, 14, 36
Gravity (2013), 227, 399 MacGuffins, 36 of cinematic space, 40, 43, 46, 49, 59, 78,
Sleepy Hollow (1999), 182 McKay, Chris, The Lego Batman Movie 181
The Revenant (2015), 227 (2017), 436 of cinematic time, 40, 43, 46–47, 49, 60,
Lubitsch, Ernst, 389 Mackendrick, Alexander 78, 140, 296
Trouble in Paradise (1932), 103, 329 career and style, 266 of color, 156, 196, 197–98
Lucas, George Sweet Smell of Success (1957), 266 of digital film images, 416
career, 191, 439 Mackenzie, David, Hell or High Water in documentary filmmaking, 74, 81
Star Wars (1977), 23, 24–25, 65, 311 (2016), 240, 435, 438 editing, 270, 292–93
Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom McMillan; Stephenie (set decorator), the of footage, 77, 80
Menace (1999), 182, 191 Harry Potter films, 160 forced perspective, 181
the Star Wars universe created by, 25 McQueen, Steve (director), 12 Years a Slave of lighting, 41, 166, 198
THX 1138 (1971), 94 (2013), 133, 274, 438 the manipulation of patterns, 14
Lucas, Jon, Bad Moms (2016; with Scott Mad Max franchise, 177 of mise-en-scène, 181
Moore), 103 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015; George Miller), motion capture, 229
Lucas, Wilfred, The Romance of Tarzan 163, 177, 193, 283 through narrative structure, 64, 154
(1918), 436–37 Madea film franchise (9 films, 2005–2013; optical effects, 228
Lucy (2014; Luc Besson), 226, 292 Tyler Perry), 438 of plot order, 134, 135
Lugosi, Bela, 104 Maetzig, Kurt of sound, 321–23, 333, 344, 346
Luhrmann, Baz The Rabbit Is Me (1965), 388 of viewer emotions, 333, 344, 346
career and style, 226 Marriage in the Shadows (1947), 388 of virtual skeletons in digital animation,
Moulin Rouge! (2001), 253 Maggiorani, Lamberto, 381 108
The Get Down (2016–17), 161 The Magnificent Ambersons (1942; Orson Mankiewicz, Herman J. (screenwriter),
Lumet, Sidney Welles), the pioneering ensemble co-screenwriter for Citizen Kane
career and style, 260, 260n, 401, 418, 418n acting in, 270, 330 (1941), 134–35
Dog Day Afternoon (1975), 123 Magnolia (1999; Paul Thomas Anderson), 335 Mankiewicz, Joseph L.
Fail-Safe (1964), 328 Maitland, Keith, Tower (2016), 106 All about Eve (1950), 249, 252
The Pawnbroker (1964), 297 makeup, 154–56, 160–61, 163–66, 183–85 Cleopatra (1963), 162, 249
Lumière, Auguste and Louis Making an American Citizen (1912; 16 min.; Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), 249, 426
Children Digging for Clams (1896), 364 Alice Guy Blaché), 368 The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), 348
the Cinématographe, 364 Malick, Terrence Mann, Aimee (singer; songwriter), “Deathly”
Employees Leaving the Lumière Factory Badlands (1973), 118, 330, 402 and “Wise Up” in Magnolia (1999),
(1895), 51, 364 career and style, 242, 401 335
film composition by, 365 Days of Heaven (1978), 118, 142 Mann, Daniel, BUtterfield 8 (1960), 249
the recording of everyday life by, 49–50 The New World (2005), 39–40 Mann, Michael, Collateral (2004), 239
the traveling exhibitions, 397 The Tree of Life (2011), 338 Maoz, Samuel, Foxtrot (2017; Israel), 397
Lund, Andrew, Snapshot (2006; short), 282, The Maltese Falcon (1941; John Huston), March, Frederic, 265
349 91–92, 273, 404 March of the Penguins (2005; Luc Jacquet),
Lund, Kátia, City of God (2002; with Mamoulian, Rouben 414
Fernando Meirelles ; Brazil), 47, career and style, 101, 245–47, 262, 266, The March of Time (1935-51; newsreel
313, 398 321, 328 series), 135
Index 485
Marclay, Christian, The Clock (2010), 80 Maurice, Clément, Le Duel d’Hamlet Long Distance Wireless Photography
Mardi Gras (1958; Edmund Goulding), 424 (Hamlet; 2 min.; 1900), 243 (1908), 365
Marey, Étienne-Jules (chronophotog Maysles, Albert and David(documentary The Impossible Voyage (1904), 365
rapher), 362 filmmakers), Grey Gardens (1975; melodrama, 369, 373, 376–77, 388, 393, 394,
Margot at the Wedding (2007; Noah Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer), 73, 424
Baumbach), 254 402 Melville, Jean-Pierre
Marilyn Five Times (1973; Bruce Conner), 79 Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015; Le Cercle Rouge (1970), 339
markets and marketing Alfonso Gomez-Rejon), 199 Le Doulos (1962), 269n
animated movies, 107 Me and You and Everyone We Know (2006; Memento (2000; Christopher Nolan), 47,
B-movies, 96 Miranda July), 348 135
the “based on a true story” label, 68 Mean Streets (1973; Martin Scorsese), 83, Memoirs of Prison (1984, Nelson Pereira dos
Box Office Mojo monitoring of movie, 26 326 Santos), 397
brickfilms, 110 meaning Memories of Overdevelopment (2010; Miguel
drive-in movies, 96 color as a tool for conveying, 198 Coyula), 398
gender-based movie preferences and, 26 context and, 155 Memories of Underdevelopment (1968;
genre as a basis for marketing movies, continuity editing to establish, 366 Tomás Gutiérrez Alea), 398
84, 103 contrasting or incongruent images that Men in Black series, (1997, 2002, 2012; Barry
the home-video market, 3 imply, 291–92 Sonnenfeld), 438
the marketing of movies, 3, 13, 21, 25, 68 through culture, 247 Mendes, Sam, American Beauty (1999), 348
video-games, 109 through discontinuity, 373–74 Mercanton, Louis, Les Amours d’Elisabeth,
Markey, Mary Jo (editor), the work of on framing as a way to create, 155, 173, Reine d’Angleterre (Queen Elizabeth;
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), 175–76, 205, 220, 267 44 min.; 1912; with Henri
293 human construction of, 286, 287, 291, Desfontaines), 243
Marriage in the Shadows (1947; Kurt 293, 306, 314 Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983;
Maetzig), 388 implicit or explicit, 12–13 Nagisa Oshima), 392
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979; Rainer through juxtaposition and montage, 76, Meshes of the Afternoon (1943; Maya Deren
Werner Fassbinder), 388 285, 289, 291, 296, 313–14 and Alexander Hammid), 78
Marsden, Jason, the voice performance of the layers of in a movie, 7–8, 10–12 method acting, 249
for the English version of Spirited lighting to signify, 169, 267 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), 420–25,
Away (2001), 323 manipulation of footage to alter, 373 428
Marsh, Mae, recruited by D. W. Griffith, mise-en-scène to communicate, 155–56, Metropolis (1927; Fritz Lang), 86, 230, 370
243 159, 161 Metty, Russell, the work of on Touch of Evil
Marshall, Frank, Alive (1993), 126 props as symbols of, 160 (1958), 216, 227
Marshall, Garry, Pretty Woman (1990), 133 repetition and, 141 Mexican filmmaking and filmmakers,
Martel, Lucrecia Zama (2017), 440 through shots and shot order, 177, 205, 398–99
martial arts films, A Touch of Sin (2013; Jia 289–91 Mexico, 398
Zhangke), 176, 393–94 through sound, 130, 320, 324, 330–31, Meyer, Muffie, Grey Gardens (1975; with
Marvel Cinematic Universe, 437 340–43, 351, 352–53 Albert Maysles, Ken Maysles, and
Marvel Comics, 437 spatial meaning, 292–93 Ellen Hovde), 72
Marvel Entertainment, 437 temporal meaning, 293–94, 296 Meyerhold, Vsevolod, 375
Marvel Studios, 134 See also storytelling microcinema, 80
Marvel’s Avengers movies, 252 mechanical effects (practical effects), 183, Middle East, 385, 396
Marvel’s Iron Man trilogy, 252 228 Midnight Cowboy (1969; John Schlesinger),
Marx Brothers, 103 Meduzot (2007; Shira Geffen and Etgar 326
Marxism and Karl Marx, 372, 374, 375, 380, Keret; Israel), 397 Mifune, Toshirô
382, 396, 398 Meek, Donald, in Stagecoach (1939), 144, career, 266, 390
Masharawi, Rashid, A Ticket to Jerusalem 145 Throne of Blood (1957), 273
(2002; Palestine), 397 Meek’s Cutoff (2010; Kelly Reichardt), 276 Miike, Takashi, The Happiness of the
Masquerades (2008; Lyès Salem; Algeria), Meerapfel, Jeanine, The Friend (1988; Katakuris (2001), 102
396 Argentina), 397 Mildred Pierce (1945; Michael Cirtiz), 248
Mass for the Dakota Sioux (1964; Bruce Meet John Doe (1941; Frank Capra), 103, 376 The Milky Way (1969; Luis Buñuel), 78
Baillie), 79 Meirelles, Fernando, City of God (2002; with Milland, Ray, 377
Mast, Gerald (film historian), 371, 401, 401n Kátia Lund; Brazil), 47, 313, 398 Miller, Arthur, 250, 275
The Master (2010; Paul Thomas Anderson), Melfi, Theodore, Hidden Figures (2016), 173, Miller, Christopher
237 273, 434, 435, 438 21 Jump Street (2012; with Phil Lord),
The Master Builder (1892; Henrik Ibsen; Méliès, Georges 225
play), 111 The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and The Lego Movie (2014; with Phil Lord),
Matrix I; Matrix II (both 1971; John Moon (1907; short), 178 109–12
Whitney), 78 A Trip to the Moon (1902), 51, 365–66 Miller, David, Sudden Fear (1952), 248
The Matrix trilogy (1999–2003; the the contributions to filmmaking of, 51, Miller, Frank, Sin City (2005; with Robert
Wachowskis), 49, 50, 94, 394 178, 365 Rodriguez), 350
486 Index
Miller, George, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Miyazaki, Hayao Morrison, Marion. See John Wayne
163, 177, 193, 283 Spirited Away (2001), 323 Mother! (2017; Darren Aronofsky), 81, 191,
Miller, Tim, Deadpool (2016), 119, 263, 437 The Wind Rises (2013), 107 221, 439
Le Million (1931; René Clair), 328 Mizoguchi, Kenji Mother’s Day (1948; James Broughton), 79
Million Dollar Baby (2004; Clint Eastwood), The Life of Oharu (1952), 391 Mothersbaugh, Mark (rock musician,
259 career and style, 269n, 389–91 formerly with Devo), 333
Mills, John in Great Expectations (1946), 134 Sansho the Bailiff (1954), 390, 391 motion capture technology, 108, 165,
Mimic (1997; Guillermo del Toro), 14 Street of Shame (1956), 391 229–30
Minghella, Anthony Ugetsu (1953), 269n, 391 Motion Painting No. 1 (1947; Oskar
Cold Mountain (2003), 253, 322 Molina, Adrian, Coco (2017; with Lee Fischinger), 106
The English Patient (1996), 322 Unkrich), 82, 436 Motion Picture Association of America
Minions (2015; Kyle Balda and Pierre Molly’s Game (2017; Aaron Sorkin), 82 (MPAA), 67, 377–78, 431
Coffin), 437 Monogram Pictures Corporation, 385, 423 motion picture industry
Minkoff, Rob, The Forbidden Kingdom monologue, 328, 329, 340 3-D films, 410
(2008), 394 Monroe, Julie (editor), Loving (2016), 286 “A” pictures, 423
Minnelli, Vincente (director), 423–24 Monroe, Marilyn advertising, 418, 431
Minority Report (2002; Steven Spielberg), as a method actor, 250, 275 aesthetics, 410–12, 421
426 in The Misfits (1961), 250 answer prints, 431
“Minstrel Boy” (2001), 338 Monster (2003; Patty Jenkins), 163 archival film copies, 417
Mirtahmasb, Mojtaba, This Is Not a Film monsters, 93. See also fear; other art-house movies, 439
(2012; with Jafar Panahi; Iran), 396 Monsters, Inc. (2001; Pete Docter and David audiences, 410, 436
mise-en-scène Silverman), 108 “B” pictures, 423
audience expectations, 161–64 MonsterVerse, 437 billing blocks, 429, 429n
the audio, 324, 341–45 montage blockbusters, 439
authenticity, 154–56, 158–59, 160–65, hip-hop montage, 289, 291 box office grosses, 433
179, 182–83 juxtaposition and, 289 collective bargaining, 411, 426, 427, 428
backdrops, 158, 159, 183 montage editing, 289, 291, 295, 313–14 critic reviews, 433
character through, 154–55, 157, 160, 166, montage sequence, 295, 296 delivery systems, 435–36
179, 180–81 Soviet contributions, 289, 291–92, 314 digital technology, 416–17
cinematography and, 158–59, 171–77, wipes, 311 distribution, 410, 417, 423, 431–36
182–84 Montgomery, Robert, Lady in the Lake film prints for distributors, 417
components of, 154 (1947), 223 film production, 412–26, 434
cultural influences, 154–55, 167, 178–79, Monument Valley Park (Arizona-Utah film shooting, 412
185 boarder), 86, 193 filmmaking phases, 417
decor, 155–57, 159–61, 181 Moon (2009; Duncan Jones), 309 finances, 410–11, 418, 427, 429–34
deep-space, 175–76, 182, 208–9 Moonlight (2016; Barry Jenkins), 230–33, franchises, 436
expressionistic, 179–81, 183, 371 435, 438 industrialization, 411, 420, 421, 427–28
figure movement, 176–77 Moonrise Kingdom (2012; Wes Anderson), investors, 410, 429, 433, 434, 439
genre and, 155 155, 174, 178, 336–37, 414 marketing, 410, 423, 431
lighting, 166–71 Moore, Julianne, 252 modern mini-majors, 434
the look of a movie, 155, 156, 159, 160, Moore, Michael the package-unit system, 426
178, 181 Bowling for Columbine (2002), 70 Poverty Row, 423
makeup, 155, 156, 160–65 career., 73 the profitability threshold, 410
prosthetics, 163, 165, 183, 185, 228 Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018), 70 ratings (Table 11.4), 433–34, 439
sets and props, 154, 156, 158–60, 171, 176, Sicko (2007), 70 release negatives, 427
178–81 Moore, Scott, Bad Moms (2016; with Jon release options, 431
soundstages and studios, 68, 158–59, Lucas), 103 the resiliency of, 438–39
181–82, 183, 184 Moore, Tomm, Song of the Sea (2014), 107 screen credits, 410–11, 419, 421, 422, 427,
storytelling and, 154, 155–60, 165–66, Moorehead, Agnes, Citizen Kane (1941), 428, 429–30
178 267–69 scripts, 410–11
worlds and settings, 157, 167, 179, 180–81, Morgen, Brett self-regulation, 376–78, 439
183–84 Chicago 10 (2007), 106 theaters, 423
The Misfits (1961; John Huston), 250 Jane (2017), 70 ticket pricing, 410, 433
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Mori, Masahiro, 109 See also Hollywood
(2016; Tim Burton), 181 Morocco, 396 Motion Picture Patents Company (MPCC),
Mitchell, John Cameron, Rabbit Hole Morricone, Ennio (composer; movie score 420
(2007), 254 specialist), 333, 334, 345 Motion Picture Producers and Distributors
Mitchell, Mike, Trolls (2016; with Walt Morris, Errol of America (MPPDA), 377
Dohrn), 156 Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control (1997), 71 Motion Picture Production Code, 420
Mitchell, Thomas, in Stagecoach (1939), 144, The Thin Blue Line (1988), 71 Mottola, Greg, Superbad (2007), 14
145 Wormwood (2017), 71 Moulin Rouge! (2001; Baz Luhrmann), 253
Index 487
movement Murmur of the Heart (1971; Louis Malle), 384 Naishuller, Ilya, Hardcore Henry (2016), 223
bullet time, 49, 50 Murnau, F. W. Nanook of the North (1922; Robert J.
fast motion, 226 career and influence, 213, 262 Flaherty), 69, 369
kinesis (movement), 155, 176–77, 178 Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror (1922), Napoléon (1927; Abel Gance), 203–4, 288,
of LEGO characters, 110, 111 96, 370, 371 373
perception of, 199 Sunrise (1927), 213, 244, 368, 420 Naremore, James (film acting authority)
slow motion, 225 The Last Laugh (1924), 213, 244, 370 on improvisation, 264
spatial flattening e, 200 on the unchained camera, 213 On Kubrick (2007), 359
speed, 199 Murphy, Dudley, Ballet mécanique (1924; narration (telling the story)
zoom lenses, 200 with Fernand Léger), 77, 78 from a character’s perspective, 118
movement. See also space; time Murphy, Karen (production designer), the in a documentary, 71
Movie-Made America: A Cultural History work of on The Get Down (Netflix breaking the fourth wall, 118, 263
of American Movies (1994; rev. and series, 2016-17), 161 omniscient, 119–20
updated ed.; Robert Sklar; text), 360 Muschietti, Andy, It (2017), 436 restricted, 120
movies music the storyteller’s influence, 116
3-D, 435–36 as a device of contrast, 328 third-person, 118
the “B” movie, 90 in a symbolic role, 320, 327 visual elements as, 116
the capacity to transport viewers, 300 with a voice-over, 328 voice-over, 118
the “classic” movie, 381 and audience emotions, 329, 333, 333n, See also storytelling
controversial subjects, 21–22, 231 344 narrative
and culture, 2–3, 10–11 character themes, 348–50 the act, 32, 124
the expressive agility of, 7, 12–13 as complementary to a movie, 320, actor personas, 238
fictional storytelling, 4 321, 322, 323, 324, 333–34, 336–38, the biopic, 130
filmmaker intent, 5, 15, 32 340–43, 351–55 cause-and-effect, 3, 116
images needed to produce one second, to describe an environment, 348 cinematic language, 366
192 diegetic, 327, 333–34 components, 124
landmarks, 360, 366, 375, 395 to enhance pace and tempo, 336 context and, 64
the layers of meaning in, 7–8, 10–12 for film credits, 335, 337 contrasting images and sounds, 118
the linear nature of, 3, 67 the large symphonic scores, 333 directional changes, 126
masterpieces, 21, 368–69, 372–73, 375, nondiegetic, 338 in documentaries, 4, 116
381, 384, 386, 390, 404 from other sources, 323 documentary-narrative fusion, 81
the motion of, 3, 5 Sergei Prokofiev’s for Alexander Nevsky editing and flow, 272
naturalism in early, 49–50, 101 (1938), 335 events, 116, 141
projection modes, 363–64 the Shepard tone in Dunkirk (2017), 334 the familiar image, 141
the running times, 285 in sound mixing, 324 the functions of, 64, 116
the shot, 5 sources of for a movie, 333 the “invisibility” of the, 366
types, 67 symphonic scores, 333 juxtaposition of images, 116–18
See also film history; Hollywood; music composers and songwriters, Bernard meaning, 116
photography; silent era Herrmann (composer; movie score narrative commonality, 68
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936; Frank Capra), specialist), 333–34, 337–38, 340–46, narrative structure, 64, 124, 128
Frank Capra, 376 348–49, 352, 379, 405 narratology, 129
Mr. Robot television series (2015-), 330 The Music Room (Jalsaghar; 1958; Satyajit obstacles, 126–28
Mr. Shome (Bhuvan Shome; 1969; Mrinal Ray), 395 plot points, 126
Sen), 396 musicals, animated features presented as, the predictive questions, 35
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939; Frank 4, 100–102, 338, 382 repetition and meaning, 141
Capra), 376 Mussolini, Benito, 380 seamlessness and economy, 366
Los Muertos (2004; Lisandro Alonso), 269n Muybridge, Eadweard (photographer), 362, the “ship of fools” convention, 144
Muhammad and Jane (2003; Usama 363 story formulas, 84–85, 105, 111
Alshaibi; Iraq), 396 My Darling Clementine (1946; John Ford), story versus plot, 129, 131
Mulligan, Carey, the career of, 275–76 86, 100, 198, 310, 311, 329, 343 narrative films
Mulligan, Robert, To Kill a Mockingbird My Dog Skip (2000; Jay Russell), 259–60 acts, 124, 128
(1962), 77 My Life as a Dog (1985; Lasse Hallström), adaptations, 133–34
The Mummy (1932; Karl Freund), 96 348 antagonists, 126
The Mummy (2017; Alex Kurtzman), 437 My Night at Maud’s (1969; Eric Rohmer), audience experience, 124
Mungiu, Cristian (Romania), 4 Months, 3 384 backstories, 133
Weeks and 2 Days (2007), 21 My Week with Marilyn (2011; Simon Curtis), biopics, 130, 143
Murch, Walter (film editor; sound designer) 275 cause-and-effect, 64–67, 132–33
Apocalypse Now (1979), 322, 325 Myrick, Daniel, The Blair Witch Project character development, 66, 120, 122, 123,
Cold Mountain (2003), 322 (1999; with Eduardo Sánchez), 104, 128
The Conversation (1974), 322 217 chronology, 65, 67, 68, 69, 134
The English Patient (1996), 322 mythology, 111–12 cinematic antirealism, 51–52
488 Index
narrative films (continued ) summary relationships, 138 Nichols, Jeff, Loving (2016), 286, 438
cinematic realism, 49–50 thematic symbols, 141 Nichols, Mike
comic book adaptations, 134 time, 138–40 The Graduate (1967), 204
components of, 116–20 the tone, 124 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? (1966),
composited characters, 68 viewer experience, 116 249
conflict, 118, 123–24, 126–29, 133, 143–44, narratology, 129 Nicholson, Jack
146–47, 150 narrator in About Schmidt (2002), 239
continuity editing, 301–4 in an interview, 71 career, 250, 260, 260n
the crisis (narrative peak), 128–29 breaking the fourth wall, 119 nickelodeons, 367
diegetic plot elements, 116, 129–31, 133, the camera as the primary, 116–20 Niépce, Joseph-Nicéphore (inventor), 362
147–49 the first-person, 118 The Night of the Hunter (1955; Charles
documentaries, 67 multiple narrators, 118, 120, 330 Laughton), 171, 180, 343–44, 348–49
duration, 136–40 the omniscient, 119 The Night of the Iguana (1964; John
events in, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, on-screen and offscreen, 330 Huston), 399
129–37, 141–43 third-person, 118–19, 330 Nightmare Alley (1947; Edmund Goulding),
experimental and avant-garde, 67 voice-over, 71, 118, 119, 330 424
the familiar image, 141–42 who or what tells the story, 116 A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984; Wes
fictionalized true events, 64, 68 Naruse, Mikio, Avalanche (1937), 269n Craven), 97
form and expectations, 35–36 Nashville (1975; Robert Altman), 264 Nilson, Leopoldo Torre, The Revolution of
found footage, 104 Nasrallah, Yousry, Scheherazade, Tell Me the Seven Madmen (1973; Argentina),
German Expressionist influences, 371 a Story (2009; Egypt), 396 397
the inciting incident, 125 National Industrial Recovery Act (1933), Ninth Symphony (Symphony No. 9 in
investigative narratives, 67–68 425 D minor, Op. 125; 1824; Ludwig
mise-en-scène elements, 154, 155–60, National Velvet (1944; Clarence Brown), van Beethoven), 336
165–66 249 the use of Friedrich von Schiller’s “Ode
multiple narrators, 118–19 Native Americans, 144–49 to Joy” in the, 336
narrative-image conflicts, 118 Natural Born Killers (1994; Oliver Stone), No Country for Old Men (2007; Joel and
the narrative structure, 124, 128, 129 192, 252, 298 Ethan Coen), 165, 339
narratology, 129 Nazi Party (National Socialist German No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005; Martin
nonchronological order, 65, 67, 134–36 Workers’ Party), 25, 70, 71, 116–17, Scorsese), 239
nondiegetic elements, 116, 130–33, 119–20, 274, 382, 388 No One Writes to the Colonel (1961; Gabriel
147–48 Neame; Ronald, Tunes of Glory (1960), 261 García Márquez; novella), 399
nonfiction, 67 Neighbors (2014; Nicholas Stoller), 103 No One Writes to the Colonel (1999; Arturo
normal world components, 124 Nelson, Sean, in Fresh (1994), 264 Ripstein; Mexico), 399
objective contexts, 119 The Neon Demon (2016; Nicholas Einding No Way Home (1996; Buddy Giovinazzo),
parallel editing, 36–39 Refn), 80 263–64
patterns and illusions, 36–39 neorealism, 380–82, 394, 395, 397 Noé, Gaspar
plot order, 135, 136 See also realism; surrealism Enter the Void (2010), 223
predictive questions, 35 Neshat, Shirin, Women without Men (2009; Irreversible (2002), 135
quest obstacles, 120, 122, 125–26, 128 with Shoja Azari; Iran), 396 Nolan, Christopher
rendering of true events in, 64 Netflix, 3, 4, 5, 161, 433, 440 Dunkirk (2017), 46, 81, 143, 436, 438
resolution, 128–29 Netherlands, 440 Inception (2010), 320, 321, 418
rising action, 128 New American Cinema, 400–404 Interstellar (2014), 94, 128
the setup, 124 See also Hollywood golden age (1927–1947) Memento (2000), 47, 135
the storytelling function of, 4, 68 The New Mutants (2018; Josh Boone), 437 The Dark Knight (2008), 165, 204
plot points, 126 The New World (2005; Terrence Malick), nondiegetic elements, 130–32, 147–48,
progression, 124 39–40 326–27, 327
real time, 138 New York City, 420, 421 See also diegesis and diegetic elements
repetition and meaning, 141 New Zealand nongenre films, 82. See also genre and genre
running times, 137 Jane Campion (filmmaker), 386 films
scope, 143 the resumption of traditional filmmaking North Africa, 396
the screenplay, 68, 121, 126, 129 in post-World War II, 385 North by Northwest (1959; Alfred
screenwriters, 124–26, 129, 133, 134, 139, Newman, Paul Hitchcock), 209, 248
146 as a method actor, 250 Northup, Solomon, Twelve Years a Slave
settings, 142–43 in The Hustler (1961), 250 (1853; slave narrative memoir),
“ship of fools”, 144 Newman, Randy (songwriter and singer), 133–34
story components, 124 the composer credits of, 333 Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror (1922;
story-plot overlap, 131, 133 Nicholas II of Russia, 370 F. W. Murnau), 96, 370, 371
story versus plot (Figure 4.2), 131 Nichols, Bill (documentary theorist), 72, Nosferatu the Vampire (1979; Werner
the storyteller’s influence, 130, 133 114 Herzog), 389
Index 489
Notorious (1946; Alfred Hitchcock), 116–17, Oppenheimer, Joshua, The Act of Killing Paramount Pictures Corporation, 416, 420,
119–20, 214–15, 216, 248 (2012; with Christine Cynn and 422–24, 435
Novak, Kim, in Vertigo (1958), 266 Anonymous), 73 Parasuram (Man with the Axe; 1978; Mrinal
Now, Voyager (1942; Irving Rapper), 253 optical effects, 228 Sen), 396
Noyce, Phillip, The Quiet American (2002), ordinary people. See human beings Paris, 362, 372, 384
236 Orphans of the Storm (1921; D. W. Griffith), Park Chan-wook (South Korea), The
Noye’s Fludde (Noah’s Flood; 1958; children’s 369 Handmaiden (2016), 438
opera; Benjamin Britten), 336 Osder, Jason, Let the Fire Burn (2013), 72 Park, Nick, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Nubero Bagu. See Japanese New Wave Oshima, Nagisa, In the Realm of the Senses (2005), 107
movement (1976), 391 Parker, Albert, The Black Pirate (1926), 195,
Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (1912; Ossessione (1943; Luchino Visconti), 380 196
Marcel Duchamp; France), 53 The Other Cuba (1983; Orlando Jiménez Parker, Trey
Nyong, Lupita, the career of, 275–76 Leal), 398 Cannibal! The Musical (1996), 102
The Other Side of Hope (2017; Aki South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Obama, President Barack, 70 Kaurismäki), 440 (1999), 102
Obayashi, Nobuhiko, House (1977), 392 Our Man in Havana (1959; Carol Reed), 261 Team America: World Police (2004), 102
O’Brien, George, the performance of in Out of Africa (1937; Karen Blixen under the Parks, Gordon, a New American Cinema
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans pseudonym Isak Dinesen; memoir), director, 401
(1927), 244 241 Paronnaud, Vincent, Persepolis (2007; with
O’Brien, Willis H. Out of Africa (1985; Sydney Pollack), 241 Marjane Satrapi; Iran), 107, 396
career, 107 Outside the Law (2012; Rachid Bouchareb; participatory documentaries, 73
The Dinosaur and the Missing Link: Algeria), 396 Pasolini, Pier Paolo
A Prehistoric Tragedy (1915), 107 Oz, Frank, Little Shop of Horrors (1986), 102 Accatone (1961), 335
observational documentaries, 72, 73 Ozu, Yasujirô the indirect influence of Italian
Obvious Child (2014; Gillian Robespierre), An Autumn Afternoon (1962), 392 Neorealism on, 382
21, 22 camera placement and the use of Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor
October (Ten Days That Shook the World) offscreen space by, 391 (ca. 1706–1713; BWV 582; Johann
(1928; Sergei Eisenstein), 291, 375 career and style, 289, 391 Sebastian Bach), 335
Offside (2006; Jafar Panahi; Iran), 396 Early Spring (1956), 392 Passage à l’acte (1993; Martin Arnold), 77
Okja (2917; Bong Joon-ho), 3, 160, 240 Early Summer (1951), 392 The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928; Carl
Oldman, Gary, in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Floating Weeds (1959), 392 Theodor Dreyer), 368, 373
(2011), 261 Late Spring (1949), 392 pastiche, 102, 109–11, 383, 385
Oldroyd, William, Lady Macbeth (2017), 440 The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice (1952), Pastrone, Giovanni, Cabiria (1914; 181 min.;
Olivier, Laurence 392 Italy), 159, 367
career, 260–62, 262n, 265, 273, 273n, Tokyo Story (1953), 177, 391, 392 Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road; Apu
328–29 Trilogy I; 1955; Satyajit Ray), 395
Hamlet (1948), 328–29 Pabst, G. W., Pandora’s Box (1929), 368, 370 Pathetic Fallacy ( Ajantrik; 1958; Ritwik
Henry V (1944), 261–62 Pacific Rim (2013; Guillermo del Toro), 14 Ghatak), 396
Wuthering Heights (1939), 265 Pacino, Al, 250 Pathétique (Symphony No. 8 in C Minor,
Olmi, Ermanno Padre Padrone (1977; Paolo and Vittorio op. 13; 1798; Ludwig van Beethoven),
Italian Neorealist director, 382 Taviani), 330 349, 350
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978), 241, Page, Ellen, the characters portrayed by, patterns
338 275 audience expectations and, 14, 58
Los Olvidados (1950; Luis Buñuel), 399 Pakula, Alan J. Sophie’s Choice (1982), 241 fragmented, 58
Oman, 396 Palestine, 397 in genre movies, 89–90
on demand rentals, 23, 433, 435 Panahi, Jafar the “hero’s journey”, 111–12
On Kubrick (2007; James Naremore), 359 Offside (2006; Iran), 396 illusions through, 36–40
On the Waterfront (1954; Elia Kazan), 250, This Is Not a Film (2012; with Mojtaba image repetition, 40
251, 272, 426 Mirtahmasb ; Iran), 396 narrative, 40
Once (2006; John Carney), 4, 338, 382 Pandora’s Box (1929; G. W. Pabst), 244, 368, nonnarrative patterns, 40
Once upon a Time in the West (1968; Sergio 370 shot patterns, 40
Leone), 344–45 Pangborn, Franklin (character actor), 258 and simultaneous actions, 58
One. Two. One (2011; Mania Akbari), 397 Panofsky, Erwin (art historian and film sound patterns, 340, 347
O’Neal, Ryan, in Barry Lyndon (1975), 266 theorist), 43, 43n Pawlikoski, Pawel, Ida (2014; Poland), 194
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013; Jim Jarmusch), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006; Guillermo del Toro), The Pawnbroker (1964; Sidney Lumet), 297
240 14, 156, 399 Payne, Alexander
Open Hearts (2002; Susanne Bier), 387 Paradise: Faith (2012; Ulrich Seidl), 389 Downsizing (2017), 83
Ophüls, Max Paradise: Hope (2012; Ulrich Seidl), 389 Election (1999), 284–85, 303
career and style, 213 Paradise: Love (2012; Ulrich Seidl), 389 The Peach Blossom Land (1992; Stan Lai),
Lola Montès (1955), 263 Paraguay, 399 394
490 Index
Peck, Raoul, I Am Not Your Negro (2017), Peru, 346–47, 397, 399 plot order manipulation, 135
440 Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow plot point, 126
Peckinpah, Sam Up (1904 play; 1911 novel; Sir James repetition, 141
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia Matthew Barrie), 240–41 story versus plot, 129
(1974), 402 Phantom Thread (2017; Paul Thomas textural events, 136
career, 393, 401, 402 Anderson), 237, 273 time, 137
Straw Dogs (1971), 402 The Philadelphia Story (1940; George Plunkett, Walter (costume designer), the
The Wild Bunch (1969), 393, 402 Cukor), 248 work of on Gone with the Wind (1939),
Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985; Tim Burton), Phillips, Todd, The Hangover (2009), 103 162
181 Phoenix, Joaquin Poe, Edgar Allen, “The Fall of the House of
Peele, Jordan, Get Out (2017), 2, 96, 165, 306, acting as undefinable for, 236 Usher”, 372
410, 436, 440 as Theodore Twombly in Her (2013; poetic documentaries, 72–73
Peeping Tom (1960; Michael Powell), 96 Spike Jonze), 236 poetic realism (1930s), 382
Peking Opera Blues (1986; Hark Tsui), 392, photography, 361–63. See also cameras; film poetry, T. S. Eliot on imagination, 84
393 history; movies Pohlad, Bill, Love and Mercy (2014), 47
Pence, Josh, in The Social Network (2010), Pi ([π] ), (1998; Darren Aronofsky), 191, 191n Poitier, Sidney, 250
256, 257 The Piano (1993; Jane Campion), 273 Poland, Andrzej Wajda, 386
Penn, Arthur, Bonnie and Clyde (1967), 36, The Piano Teacher (2001; Michael Haneke), Polanski, Roman
84, 296, 381, 401 389 Chinatown (1974), 219, 250, 260, 401
Pennebaker, D. A. (documentary filmmaker), Pickford, Mary Rosemary’s Baby (1968), 21, 22
403 as a co-founder of United Artists (UA), The Polar Express (2004; Robert Zemeckis),
Don’t Look Back (1967), 239 423 108–9
Pereira dos Santos, Nelson, Memoirs of recruited by D. W. Griffith, 243 Pollack, Sydney
Prison (1984; Brazil), 397 Pickup on South Street (1953; Samuel Fuller), The Interpreter (2005), 253–54
performance 388 Out of Africa (1985), 241
acting and, 236, 243–44, 274 The Pied Piper of Hamelin (mediaeval polls
appropriateness, 274 German folktale; 1888 translation by actor popularity, 254, 256, 258
assessment of a, 274–75 Robert Browning), 330 the American Film Institute poll, 253
breaking the fourth wall, 263 Pier Paolo Pasolini, Accatone (1961), 335 the Harris poll, 254
the camera and the close-up, 237, 270–72 Pinocchio (1940; produced by Walt Disney), the Vulture entertainment poll, 254–55
deliberately exaggerated, 262 423 Polyester (1981; John Waters), 257
digital grafting, 256, 257 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Ponsoldt, James, The Spectacular Now
editing an actor’s, 250, 272 Tales (2017; Joachim Rønning and (2013), 119, 128
expressive coherence, 242, 274–75, 274n Espen Sandberg), 436 Popol Vuh (avant-garde electronic band;
improvisation, 265 Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, 23, 121 Germany), 346, 347
memorable, 36–38, 243–44, 259, 263, Pitch Perfect 3 (2017; Trish Sie), 83 pornography, the content of In the Realm of
267–69, 272–78, 381, 386–87 Pitt, Brad, 240, 254 the Senses (1976; Nagisa Oshima),
method acting, 250 Pixar Animation Studios, 108 391
motion capture, 108, 164–65, 229–30, pixels, 192, 415, 416 Portabella, Pere
256 Planet of the Apes (2001; Tim Burton), 181 The Silence before Bach (2007), Spanish
naturalistic, 263–64, 273 Planet of the Apes franchise, 109, 165 surrealist director, 338
nonnaturalistic, 263, 264 Platoon (1986; Oliver Stone), 337 the use of silence by, 338
persona and audience expectation, Platt, Louise, in Stagecoach (1939), 144, 145 Porter, Edwin S.
238–39 A Play Entitled Sehnsucht (2011; Roy Badran; continuity editing by, 366
portrayals, 239 Lebanon), 397 Life of an American Fireman (1903), 366
staying in character, 267, 272 The Player (1992; Robert Altman), 251, 259, the prolific filmmaking of, 367
the verisimilitude, 55 345, 417 the shot established as the basic
See also actors Plaza, Paco Rec (2007; with Jaume structural unit of a movie by, 366
performative documentaries, 73 Balagueró), 217 Tess of the Storm Country (1914; 80 min.),
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006; plot 367
Tom Tykwer), 218 diegetic elements, 116, 130–31, 133, The Great Train Robbery (1903), 98, 228
La Perla (1947; Emilio Fernández), 399 147–48 Portman, Natalie, in Jackie (2016), 120, 122,
Perry, Tyler, Madea film franchise (9 films, durations, 136–40 209
2005–2013), 438 events, 136, 141 Portman, Rachel (composer; movie score
Persepolis (2007; Marjane Satrapi and major characters, 258–59 specialist), 333
Vincent Paronnaud; Iran), 107 minor characters, 259 The Portrait of a Lady (1996; Jane Campion),
Persona (1966; Ingmar Bergman), 78 narrative progression, 141 253
Personal Shopper (2017; Olivier Assayas), nondiegetic elements, 116, 130–33, Possessed (1947; Curtis Bernhardt), 248
440 147–48 The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946; Tay
persuasive films, 70–71 outcomes, 133 Garnett), 380
Index 491
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981; Bob Pulp Fiction (1994; Quentin Tarantino), 135 Ratatouille (2007; Brad Bird), 105
Rafelson), 380 The Purge (2013; James DeMonaco), 2 Ratcatcher (1999; Lynne Ramsay), 174, 241
postproduction phase, 192, 194, 197–98, 228, Push (2009; Sapphire; novel), 121 ratings, 67, 433–34, 439
231, 283, 285, 321, 322, 338, 420, 431 Pynchon, Thomas, Inherent Vice (novel; Ratner, Brett
Powell, Michael, Peeping Tom (1960), 96 2009), 133 Rush Hour film franchise (1998, 2001,
practical effects (mechanical effects), 228 2007), 438
Praxiteles, Hermes Carrying the Infant Qatsi trilogy (Godfrey Reggio), 72 the Rush Hour films (1998–2007), 394
Dionysus (fourth century BCE; Queen Christina (1933; Rouben X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), 437
sculpture; Greece), 33–35 Marmoulian), 262 Ratoff, Gregory, Intermezzo (1939), 423
Precious (2009; Lee Daniels), 121, 123, 438 Questions for Review Ravenous (1999; Antonia Bird), 102
Preminger, Otto Chapter 1: Looking at Movies, 29 Ray, Man, Emak-Bakia (1926), 77
known as Otto the Ogre among actors, 266 Chapter 2: Principles of Film Form, Ray, Nicholas, Rebel without a Cause (1955),
Laura (1944), 170, 266 61–62 250, 389
preproduction phase, 166, 188, 226, 283–84, Chapter 3: Types of Movies, 114 Ray, Satyajit
322, 417–18, 429–31 Chapter 4: Elements of Narrative, 152 Agantuk (The Stranger; 1992), 396
Presley, Elvis (singer), 337 Chapter 5: Mise-en-scène, 186 the Apu trilogy, 331, 395
Pretty Pictures: Production Design and the Chapter 6: Cinematography, 234 Apu Trilogy I: Pather Panchali (Song of
History Film (1998; C. S. Tashiro; Chapter 7: Acting, 279 the Little Road; 1955), 395
text), 358 Chapter 8: Editing, 318 Apu Trilogy II: Aparajito (The
Pretty Woman (1990; Garry Marshall), 133 Chapter 9: Sound, 356 Unvanquished; 1956), 395
Prieto, Rodrigo (cinematographer; Mexico), Chapter 10: Film History, 407 Apu Trilogy III: Apar Sansar (The World
399 Chapter 11: How the Movies are Made, of Apu; 1959), 395
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex 442 career and style, 266, 382, 395–96, 404
(1939; Michael Curtiz), 164, 252 The Quiet American (2002; Phillip Noyce), Charulata (The Lonely Wife; 1964),
producers, 410–12, 418, 420–23, 425–31 236 395–96
See also independent producers and Quo Vadis? (1913; 120 min.; Enrico Guazzoni; Devi (The Goddess; 1960), 395
production Italy), 367 Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World;
The Producers (1968; Mel Brooks), 103 1984), 396
The Producers (2005; Susan Stroman), 103 Rabbit Hole (2007; John Cameron Mitchell), and India’s Parallel Cinema, 396
Producers Guild of America, 429 254 Jalsaghar (The Music Room; 1958), 395
Producers Releasing Corporation, 423 The Rabbit Is Me (1965; Kurt Maetzig), 388 Satyajit Ray, Filmmaker (1985; Shyam
Production Code Administration (PCA), 378 racism and xenophobia, 2, 122, 144–49, 146, Benegal), 396
production design, 155–57, 159–60, 178 149, 368, 369, 376 Shatranj-ke-Khilari (The Chess Players;
production designers, 159, 161, 178, 182–83 Radcliffe, Daniel 1977), 396
production phase, 225, 228, 322–23, 331, Kill Your Darlings (2013), 130 RCA (Radio Corporation of America), 422
418–19 Swiss Army Man (2016), 228 realism, in filmmaking, 379, 380, 382, 383,
projection and projectors, 40, 43, 223–26, radio, 337, 341, 351, 353, 354 386–87
228–30, 412, 416–17 Rafelson, Bob realism. See also neorealism; surrealism
See also film Five Easy Pieces (1970), 402 Rear Window (1954; Alfred Hitchcock), 120,
Prokofiev, Sergei, composer of the cantata, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), 259, 308
Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78, an 380 Reason, Debate and Story (Jukti Takko Aar
original score written by for Sergei Rage Against the Machine (rock band), 334 Gappo; 1974; Ritwik Ghatak), 396
Eisenstein’s Alexander Nevsky, 335, Raging Bull (1980; Martin Scorsese), 138, Rebecca (1940; Alfred Hitchcock), 237–38,
374 332 404, 423
Prometheus, 93 Raimi, Sam A Simple Plan (1998), 394 Rebel without a Cause (1955; Nicholas Ray),
propaganda films, 70–71 Raise the Red Lantern (1991; Yimou Zhang), 250, 388
The Propellerheads (electronic music duo, 392 Rec (2007; Jaume Balagueró and Paco
Will White and Alex Gifford), 334 Raising Arizona (1987; Joel and Ethan Plaza), 217
props, 156, 159, 160, 176, 179 Coen), 287, 289 The Red Desert (1964; Michelangelo
prosthetics, 163, 165, 183, 185, 228 Ramsay, Lynne Antonioni), 338
protagonists, 89, 99, 112, 231 Ratcatcher (1999), 174, 241 Redbox, 2
Proust, Marcel, 78 We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), 240, Redmayne, Eddie, in My Week with Marilyn
Providence (1977; Alain Resnais), 329 309–10 (2011), 275
Prozac Nation (2001; Erik Skjoldbjærg), 276 You Were Never Really Here (2017), 440 Reed, Carol
Psycho (1960; Alfred Hitchcock), 96, 307 Ran (1985; Akira Kurosawa), 389 Our Man in Havana (1959), 261
psychology. See emotions; state of mind Rapper; Irving The Third Man (1949), 41, 84, 180
Pudovkin, Vsevolod I. Now, Voyager (1942), 253 reels, 367, 414. See also film; silent era; silent
Film Acting (1935; book), 250 The Corn Is Green (1945), 253 movies
theories and experiments, 249–50, 289, Rashomon (1950; Akira Kurosawa), 136, 389, reenactments, 69, 71–72, 74, 98
291 390 Rees, Dee (director), 439
492 Index
Reeves, Matt Richardson, Tony Romania, 385

Cloverfield (2008), 52, 217, 382 The Loneliness of the Long Distance romantic comedies, the plot structure
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), 436 Runner (1962), 387 characteristic of, 85
reflexive documentaries, 73, 74 Tom Jones (1963), 118 Rome, Open City (1945; Roberto Rossellini),
Refn, Nicholas Einding, The Neon Demon Richert, William, Winter Kills (1979), 255 380
(2016), 80 Richter, Hans, Dreams That Money Can Buy Rønning, Joachim, Pirates of the Caribbean:
Regent Entertainment, 429, 430 (1947), 79 Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017; with
Reggio, Godfrey “Ride of the Valkyries” (Die Walküre, Der Espen Sandberg), 436
Koyaanisqatsi (1982), 72–73 Ring des Nibelungen; WWV 86; Room at the Top (1959; Jack Clayton), 387
the Qatsi trilogy, 72 ca. 1856; Richard Wagner), 347 Roosevelt, President Franklin D., 150, 425
Visitors (2013), 226, 298 Riefenstahl, Leni, Triumph of the Will Rope (1948; Alfred Hitchcock), 139–40, 139n
Reichardt, Kelly (1935), 70, 71 Rosemary’s Baby (1968; Roman Polanski),
Meek’s Cutoff (2010), 276 Rien que les heures (1926; Alberto 21, 22
Wendy and Lucy (2008), 276 Cavalcanti), 372 Rosenblum, Ralph
Reimann, Walter (painter; art director ; The Right Stuff (1983; Philip Kaufman), 225 Annie Hall (1977), 285
Germany), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Rin Tin Tin (animal actor), 259 When The Shooting Stops . . . The Cutting
(1920; with Hermann Warm and Ripstein, Arturo, No One Writes to the Begins (1979; memoir), 284
Walter Röhrig), 191 Colonel (1999), 399 Rosenblum, Ralph (editor), The Pawnbroker
Reisz, Karel Risi, Dino, 381 (1964), 297
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Ritchie, Guy Rossellini, Roberto, Rome, Open City (1945),
(1960), 387 King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017), 380, 382
The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981), 439 Rossen, Robert, The Hustler (1961), 250
241 Snatch (2001), 311 Rostami, Jamil, Jani Gal (2007; Iraq ), 396
Reitman, Jason Ritter, Thelma (character actor), 250, 259 Roth, Tim, No Way Home (1996), 263–64
the characteristics of films by, 21 Rivette, Jacques, Celine and Julie Go Boating Rowlands, Gena
Juno (2007), 8–20, 33 (1974), 384 A Woman under the Influence (1974),
Labor Day (2013), 21 RKO studios (RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.), 418, 264–65, 265n
Young Adult (2011), 163 422, 423 Faces (1968), 264
Removed (1999; Naomi Uman), 80 Robbins, Tim Gloria (1980), 264
rendering, 108 The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), 251 Rowling, J. K. (novelist), 436
Rengel, Martin, Joy Ride (2001), 387 The Player (1992), 251 Royal Society of London for the Promotion
Rennahan, Ray (cinematographer), Becky Roberts, Julia, 254, 275 of Natural Knowledge, 362
Sharp (1935), 195 Robespierre, Gillian, Obvious Child (2014), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001; Wes
Renoir, Jean 21, 22 Anderson), 119, 385
the open frame worlds of, 222 Robinson, Edward G., 87, 90 Royal Wedding (1951; Stanley Donen), 177
The Lower Depths (1936), 221 Robson, Mark, Earthquake (1974), 257 The Ruins (Khandaar; 1983; Mrinal Sen),
Republic Pictures, 423 Rocha, Glauber, Black God, White Devil 396
Requiem for a Dream (2000; Darren (1964; Brazil), 397 rule of thirds, 172–73, 182
Aronofsky), 200, 288, 289, 290–91 Rock of Ages (2012; Adam Shankman), 239 The Rules of Attraction (2002; Roger Avary),
Reservoir Dogs (1992; Quentin Tarantino), Rocky (1976; John G. Avildsen), 123 288
225, 394 Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975; Jim Rumblefish (1983; Francis Ford Coppola),
Resident Evil film franchise, 437 Sharman), 102 226
Resnais, Alain Rodriguez, Robert Run Lola Run (1998; Tom Tykwer), 174, 288
Last Year at Marienbad (1961), 78, 384, career and style, 393–94 Rush Hour film franchise (1998, 2001, 2007;
385 Desperado (1995), 394 Brett Ratner), 394, 438
Providence (1977), 329 Sin City (2005; with Frank Miller), 350 Rushmore (1998; Wes Anderson), 295
Restoration (1995; Michael Hoffman), 252 Rodriguez, Sixto (American folk singer), 67 Russell, David O., American Hustle (2013), 68
The Revenant (2015; Alejandro González Rogen, Seth, in Knocked Up (2007), 263 Russell, Jay, My Dog Skip (2000), 259–60
Iñárritu), 226, 227 Rogers, Ginger, 100 Russell, Rosalind, in His Girl Friday (1940),
The Revolution of the Seven Madmen (1973; Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016; Gareth 251
Leopoldo Torre Nilson), 397 Edwards), 26, 436 Russia, 370, 385, 440
Rey, Julien (editor), the work of on Lucy Rohmer, Eric See also Soviet Union
(2014), 292 breaking the fourth wall in the films of, Russian Ark (2002; Alexander Sukarov),
Reygadas, Carlos, Silent Light (2007), 338 263 218, 227
Reynolds, Ryan, in Deadpool (2016), 263 My Night at Maud’s (1969), 384 Ryu, Chishu, 391
Rezende, Daniel (editor), City of God (2002), Röhrig, Walter (art director; Germany),
312 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920; Safdie, Benny and Josh, Good Time (2017),
Rhubarb (animal actor), 259 with Hermann Warm and Walter 440
Richard III (1995; Richard Loncraine), 252 Reimann), 181 St. Matthew Passion (1727; Johann Sebastian
Richardson, Dorothy, 78 roles. See acting; actors; performance Bach), 335
Index 493
Saint, Eva Marie, in On the Waterfront Schlöndorff, Volker Chapter 7: Acting, 278–79
(1954), 272 The Tin Drum (1979), 312 Chapter 10: Film History, 406
Sakaguchi, Hironobu, Final Fantasy: The Young Torless (1966), 388 screenplay, 68, 121, 126, 129
Spirits Within (2001; with Moto Schnabel, Julian, The Diving Bell and the screenwriters and screenwriting, 6, 35–36,
Sakakibara), 108 Butterfly (2007), 223 125, 129, 133–35, 139, 146
Sakakibara, Moto, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Schneemann, Carolee, experimental sculpture. See art
Within (2001; with Hironobu filmmaker (New American Cinema), The Searchers (1956; John Ford), 84, 98,
Sakaguchi), 108 403 192–93, 271–72
Salama, Amr, Asmaa (2011; Egypt), 396 Schoedsack, Ernest B. Searching for Sugar Man (2012; Malik
Saldana, Zoe King Kong (1933), 107 Bendjelloul), 67
in Avatar (2009), 165 Mighty Joe Young (1949), 107 Seastrom, Victor, The Wind (1928), 368
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), 165 scholars, 43, 72, 75, 80, 113–14, 141, 147, The Secret in Their Eyes (2009; Juan José
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2014;), 218–20, 223, 246–47, 249–50, 257, Campanella), 397
165 262–64, 289, 295, 332, 346, 366n, 373, seeing, 75, 77
in I Kill Giants (2017), 165 375, 382–83, 397, 424 Seidl, Ulrich, Import/ Export (2007), 389
Salem, Lyès, Masquerades (2008; Algeria), See also critics Self Portrait (1989; sculpture; Keith Haring),
396 Schrader, Paul (writer; director) 33–35
Salloum, Jackie Reem, Slingshot Hip Hop on film noir, 9n, 91 Selma (2014; Ava DuVernay), 64, 154–55, 438
(2008; Palestine), 397 a New American Cinema director, 401 Selznick, David O. (independent producer),
San Fernando Valley (California), 426 Schubert, Franz, Trio no. 2 in E-flat Major 378, 423, 425, 426, 429
Sánchez, Eduardo, The Blair Witch Project (D. 929 op. 100; for piano, violin, and Selznick International Pictures, 423
(1999; with Daniel Myrick), 104, cello, 327 Sembène, Ousmane (director), 386
217 Schüfftan, Eugen (cinematographer), 228 Seminary Girls (1897; Thomas Edison), 364
Sandberg, Espen, Pirates of the Caribbean: Schüfftan process, 228 Sen, Mrinal
Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017; with Schumacher, Joel, Batman Forever (1995), Antareen (The Confined; 1993), 396
Joachim Rønning), 436 253 Bhuvan Shome (Mr. Shome; 1969), 396
Sansho the Bailiff (1954; Kenji Mizoguchi), Schütte, Jan, Love Comes Lately (2007), 389 Khandaar (The Ruins; 1983), 396
390, 391 science. See technology Kharji (The Case Is Closed; 1982), 396
Santini, Antonio, Dina (2017; with Dan science fiction movies, 84–86, 93–95, 230, Parasuram (Man with the Axe; 1978), 396
Sickles), 70 320, 340–43 Senegal, Ousmane Sembène (director), 386
Sapphire, Push (2009; novel), 121 scope, 143 Sense and Sensibility (1995; Ang Lee), 394
Sarandon, Susan, 238 Scorpio Rising (1964; Kenneth Anger), 80 Serbia, 385
Sartre, Jean-Paul (philosopher), 382 Scorsese, Martin Serkis, Andy
Satan Devouring His Son (1819–1823; career and style, 266, 379, 382, 401 career, 256
painting; Francisco Goya), 157 Goodfellas (1990), 83, 84, 296 Lord of the Rings films, 230, 256
satire, 240–41, 259 Mean Streets (1973), 83, 326 the Planet of the Apes reboot series, 256
Satrapi, Marjane, Persepolis (2007; with No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005), 239 Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), 256
Vincent Paronnaud), 107 Raging Bull (1980), 138, 332 The Servant (1963; Joseph Losey), 387
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960; Shutter Island (2010), 276 sets, 154–56, 158–60, 171, 178–81
Karel Reisz), 387 Silence (2017), 440 setting
Saudi Arabia, 396 Taxi Driver (1976), 265 in animated films, 156
Saving Private Ryan (1998; Steven Spielberg), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), 83, 122 and character, 142, 158
217, 427 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010; Edgar design, 155, 156
Sayles, John, a New American Cinema Wright), 14 diegesis, 142
director, 401 Scott, Ridley genres and, 155
Scarface (1932; Howard Hawks), 85 Alien (1979), 95, 345–46 immersive sets, 159
The Scarlet Empress (1934; Josef von All the Money in the World (2017), 82 invented, 142–43, 162–63
Sternberg), 168 American Gangster (2007), 85 lighting, 166
scene, 267, 284, 286 Black Hawk Down (2001), 337 mood, 157, 166–67, 182, 188
Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story (2009; Yousry Blade Runner (1982), 94, 142, 228 physical locations, 86, 142–43
Nasrallah; Egypt), 396 career and style, 157 realistic settings, 155, 179, 366
Scheinert, Daniel, Swiss Army Man (2016; Scott, Tony spatial features, 157
with Daniel Kwan), 80, 228 Days of Thunder (1990), 253 and story, 157
Scherfig, Lone Domino (2005), 81 stylized settings, 155, 181
An Education (2009), 121 Screen Actors Guild (SAG), 257 symbolic, 143
Italian for Beginners (2000), 387 Screening Checklist temporal qualities, 157
Schiller, Friedrich von, “Ode to Joy” (1785; Chapter 1: Looking at Movies, 29–30 verisimilitude, 143
published in 1786; ode), 336 Chapter 2: Principles of Film Form, 61 setup, 188–90, 200, 211, 213, 227
Schlesinger, John, Midnight Cowboy (1969), Chapter 3: Types of Movies, 113 Seven Samurai (1954; Akira Kurosawa), 390
326 Chapter 4: Elements of Narrative, 151 shadow, 166–70, 169–71, 175, 180, 182, 231
494 Index
See also lighting as communication, 205, 207, 210–11, 214 Shyamalan, M. Night, Split (2017), 436
Shainberg, Steven, Fur: An Imaginary continuity editing, 300–304 Sicario (2015; Denis Villeneuve), 229
Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006), 254 to convey interaction, 207 Sickles, Dan, Dina (2017; with Antonio
Shakespeare, William crane, 215, 216, 227 Santini), 70
Hamlet (play; ca. 1600; first performed in cuts and transitions, 189, 282 Sicko (2007; Michael Moore), 70
1609), 328n discontinuity editing, 300, 302 Sidney, Scott, Tarzan of the Apes (1918),
King Lear, 389 the dolly-out, 214–15 436–37
Macbeth (1606), 390 duration (length), 16, 189, 223, 226–27, Sie, Trish, Pitch Perfect 3 (2017), 83
the movies derived from, 133 297–98 Siegel, Don, The Shootist (1976), 254, 255
Shane (1953; George Stevens), 98 Dutch-angle, 211 Sight & Sound journal, 368, 440
Shankman, Adam, Rock of Ages (2012), 239 establishing shots, 205 silence, 338–40
Shannon, Harry, Citizen Kane (1941), 267 eye-level, 209 Silence (2012; feature film-documentary;
The Shape of Water (2017; Guillermo del fast motion, 226 Pat Collins), 338
Toro), 6, 14, 54, 83, 440 frame rate, 223, 225, 297, 412 Silence (2017; Martin Scorsese), 440
Sharff, Stefan (film theorist; filmmaker), group shot, 207 The Silence before Bach (2007; Pere
141, 223 high-angle shot, 210, 212 Portabella), 338
Sharman, Jim, Rocky Horror Picture Show image magnification, 215 The Silence of the Lambs (1991; Jonathan
(1975), 102 implied proximity, 205 Demme), 38–39, 47, 223, 287
Sharp, Henry (cinematographer), The Black in-point; out-point, 282 silent era, 366–69, 373–75, 385
Pirate (1926), 195 juxtaposition, 289, 291–92 See also film history; motion pictures; reels;
Shatranj-ke-Khilari (The Chess Players; 1977; length and acting, 267, 269 studio system
Satyajit Ray), 396 master scene, 286, 302–3 Silent Light (2007; Carlos Reygadas), 338
Shaun of the Dead (2004; Edgar Wright), 294 master shot, 286–87 silent movies, 195–96, 368–69, 412
Shawky, Abu Bakr (2018; Yomeddine; Egypt), matte shot, 228 See also avant-garde; reels
396 montage sequence, 295 silhouettes, 169, 171
Shearer, Douglas (sound designer), the work moving camera, 232 Silverman, David, Monsters, Inc. (2001; with
of on the Wizard of Oz (1939), 324 neutral point of view, 209, 212 Pete Docter), 108
Shearer, Norma, in Riptide (1934), 424 over-the-shoulder, 221, 222 Simon of the Desert (1965; Luis Buñuel), 399
Sheen, Martin, in Apocalypse Now (1979), overhead, 211 A Simple Plan (1998; Sam Raimi), 394
325 pan and tilt, 213–14, 232 Sin City (2005; Frank Miller and Robert
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein; or, The Modern perspectives, 223 Rodriguez), 350
Prometheus (1818; novel), 93 point of view (POV), 16, 222–25, 232–33, Singer, Bryan
Shelly, Adrienne, Waitress (2007), 21, 22 307 X-Men (2000), 437
Sher, Lawrence, Father Figures (2017), 83 previsualization of, 189 X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), 437
Sheridan, Jim, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2008), sequence, 226–27 X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), 437
438 the setup, 188–90, 200, 211, 213, 227 X2 (2003), 437
Sheridan, Taylor, Wind River (2017), 68 shot order and meaning, 289, 291 Singin’ in the Rain (1952; Gene Kelly and
Sherlock Holmes film series, 252, 437 shot rates, 223, 225 Stanley Donen), 84, 245
Sherrill, Billy, “Stand by Your Man” (1969; the shot/reverse shot, 287 Sink or Swim (1990; Su Friedrich), 75, 77
with Tammy Wynette), 336 slow disclosure, 214–17 Sins of the Fleshapoids (1965; Mike Kuchar),
Shetty, Rohit, Chennai Express (2013), 5 slow motion, 225 79–80
The Shining (1980; Stanley Kubrick), 97, 159, sound-to-image matching, 351 Sisco, Marideth (singer), 337
174, 210, 266, 320, 324–25, 327 spatial relationships, 217 Sjöström, Victor, The Wind (1928), 244
Shinkai, Makoto, Your Name (2016), 107 speed, 223–26 Skjoldbjærg, Erik
Shoeshine (1946; Vittorio De Sica), 381 Stedicam, 218, 232 Insomnia (1997), 92
shooting ratio, 283, 418 sustaining dramatic action, 208–9 Prozac Nation (2001), 276
The Shootist (1976; Don Siegel), 254, 255 the take, 189 Skladanowsky, Emil and Max (inventors;
Shore, Howard (composer; movie score temporal dimensions, 223 filmmakers), 364
specialist), composer for the Hobbit the three-shot, 207 Sklar, Robert, Movie-Made America: A
trilogy, 333 transitions between, 282 Cultural History of American Movies
Short Cuts (1993; Robert Altman), 252 the two-shot, 207 (rev. and updated ed.; text), 360
shot the video assist camera, 411 Skyscraper (1960; Shirley Clarke), 78
as a building block, 5, 188–89, 282 viewpoint shifts, 304–5 Slacker (1991; Richard Linklater), 66
animatics, 284 visual effects shots, 228–29, 229 Slade, David, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
aspect ratios, 203 the zolly shot, 215 (2010), 104
camera movement, 211 See also cameras; cinematography; slapstick, 103
“character looking” shots, 223 framing; take Sledge, Percy (singer), singer of “When a
cinematographic properties, 190 Showtime, 180, 429, 430 Man Loves a Woman” (1966), 336
classifications, 205–7 Shrek film franchise, 437 Sleepless Nights (2003; Hani Khalifa; Egypt),
the close-up, 206, 207, 270–72 Shutter Island (2010; Martin Scorsese), 276 396
Index 495
Sleepy Hollow (1999; Tim Burton) asynchronous, 328 nonfidelity, 326

1960s and 1970s British gothic horror for audience guidance, 321, 344–46, nonsimultaneous, 327
films as an influence on, 181–85 352–53 offscreen, 327–30, 333, 339, 340, 342, 343
the village constructed for exterior shots, the “audio mise-en-scène”, 324, 341–43, on-screen, 326–31, 339, 343, 347, 351–52,
182 344–45 355
Slingshot Hip Hop (2008; Jackie Reem automatic dialogue replacement (ADR), optical recording systems, 323
Salloum; Palestine), 397 323, 324 overlapping, 348–49, 352–53
Slovenia, 385 balance, 324 patterns, 340, 347
Slumdog Millionaire (2008; Danny Boyle and blending, 328 perception of, 320, 323–25, 334, 342–43
Loveleen Tandan), 394 boom microphones, 323 pitch, 324
Smith, G. A., 366 bridges, 348–49 postproduction, 322–23, 352
Smith, Jack, Flaming Creatures (1963), 80 for characterization, 347–48 production sounds, 321
Smith, Sarah Adina Buster’s Mal Heart the clapper (slate), 323 qualities, 324–25
(2016), 80 clarity, 322 recording, 322, 323
Snapshot (2006; short; Andrew Lund), 282, composite track, 324 recurring, 331, 334, 337, 343, 344, 345,
349 compression, 324 346, 348
Snatch (2001; Guy Ritchie), 311 consistency, 325 rhythm and image, 347
Snow, Michael, Wavelength (1967), 75, 79 crew, 321–22, 323, 331–32 the Shepard tone, 334
Snyder, Zack deep-focus, 351 silence as a, 321, 338–40
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice design, 322, 331, 332, 340–43 simultaneous and nonsimultaneous, 327
(2016), 437 dialogue, 329, 353–54 soundscapes, 331
Justice League (2017), 83, 410, 436 diegetic, 326–28, 331, 343, 352–53 source, 326
Man of Steel (2013), 437 digital technology, 320, 323–24 story, plot, and, 322, 324, 340–43
The Social Network (2010; David Fincher), direct and indirect, 343–44 symbolic, 320, 331
130–33, 158, 189, 256 distortion or clutter, 324, 352 tapestries, 320, 323, 325, 336–37, 344–47,
Société Film d’Art (Art Film Society), double-system recording, 323 351–53
242–43 editing, 322, 323 tracks, 322, 324, 329, 343, 415
societies. See guilds and societies effects, 322, 323, 331–32, 341–43 types, 32, 329
Soderbergh, Steven for emphasis, 349–50 unwanted, 323, 331
career and styles, 284, 404 the expressiveness of, 320 voices, 245, 347, 368
The Limey (1999), 9, 120 external, 329, 341–42 waves and wavelengths, 323, 324–25
Sokurov, Aleksandr, Russian Ark (2002), 227 extremes, 325, 342 “wild” recordings, 331
Solanas, Fernando, The Hour of the Furnaces fidelity, 322–26 world creation through, 322, 340–43
(1968; Argentina), 397 Foley, 323, 326, 329, 331–32, 336, 341, wranglers, 323
Solás, Humberto, Honey for Oshún (2001), 343–44 sound editing, 285, 320, 322–24
398 frequency, 324 sound editors and designers, 320, 322,
Somalia, 396 the harmonic content of a, 325 324–26, 325, 331–32, 337, 340, 344,
Some Like It Hot (1959; Billy Wilder), 103 Hollywood’s conversion to, 245, 245–46, 346–47
Son of Babylon (2009; Mohamed Al Daradji; 245n soundstage, 68, 158, 182, 183, 184
Iraq ), 396 image and, 320, 320n, 322–23, 329, 343, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999;
Sondheim, Stephen, Sweeney Todd: The 346–47, 351 Trey Parker), 102
Demon Barber of Fleet Street implementation of the sound design Soviet Montage movement, 287, 289, 291–92,
(theatrical production; 1979), 7 during production, 322 296, 300–301, 306, 373–75, 384, 398,
Song of the Little Road (Pather Panchali; Apu the influence of the director on the sound 401
Trilogy I; 1955; Satyajit Ray), 395 of a movie, 321 Soviet Union, 291, 373, 380, 385, 398, 400
Song of the Sea (2014; Tomm Moore), 107 innovations, 76, 246, 246n, 321, 350–55, See also Russia
Sonnenfeld, Barry, Men in Black series (1997, 369 space, 43, 75, 230, 292–93, 302–4
2002, 2012), 438 internal, 328–29 See also movement; time
Sophie’s Choice (1982; Alan J. Pakula), 241 libraries, 330, 331 Spain, 77, 372, 385–86
Sorkin, Aaron looping and ADR, 324 Spartacus (1960; Stanley Kubrick), 335
Molly’s Game (2017), 82 loudness, 324–25 special effects
screenwriter for The Social Network magnetic recording systems, 323 animatronics, 228
(2010), 256 microphones and booms, 244–46, 250, atmospheric, 228
sound 271, 323 bullet time, 49, 50
as a cue, 320–21, 340–42, 352–53 missing, 328 computer-generated imagery (CGI), 228
as a story element, 320, 340–43 mixing, 322, 324, 352–53 early, 51–52, 227
the ADR editor, 324 monologues, 329 flying and floating, 228
ambient, 323, 331, 340, 340–41, 341, music, 323, 332–38, 352 forced perspective, 228
346–47, 352–53 narration, 327–30 gunshots and gunshot wounds, 228
amplitude, 325 nondiegetic, 326–27 matte paintings, 86
496 Index
special effects (continued ) Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope (1977; The Stranger (Agantuk; 1992; Satyajit Ray),
matte shots, 228 George Lucas), 23, 128, 129, 311 396
mechanical effects, 228 Star Wars franchise, 23–27, 437 Stranger than Fiction (2006; Marc Forster),
miniatures, 86, 228, 229 Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980; 118
motion capture, 229–30 Irvin Kershner), 335 Stranger Than Paradise (1984; Jim
optical effects, 228 Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015; Jarmusch), 400
prosthetics, 228 J. J. Abrams), 23, 26, 293 Stranger Things (Netflix, 2016–), 161, 437
pyrotechnics, 228 Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017; Rian Strasberg, Lee, 250
rear projection, 228, 230 Johnson), 23, 25, 26, 83, 256, 436 Stravinsky, Igor (composer; conductor;
rotoscope animation, 86 Starman (1984; John Carpenter), 255 pianist), 333
the Schüfftan process, 229 state of mind, 15, 56, 60, 162, 179, 200, 205, Straw Dogs (1971; Sam Peckinpah), 402
the “stop trick”, 228 273, 288, 297, 298, 309, 313, 324–25, Stray Bullet (2010; Georges Hachem;
visual effects, 200, 228–30, 229–30 348 Lebanon), 397
See also technology The Station Agent (2003; Thomas stream of consciousness, 78
The Spectacular Now (2013; James McCarthy), 276 streaming, 1, 2–4, 9, 67, 74, 110, 417, 433, 435,
Ponsoldt), 119, 128 Stealers Wheel (rock band), 334 440
A Spectrum of Multiple Stars: Wang Chuanru Stefano, Joseph (screenwriter), the work Streep, Meryl
[sic] (1975; Patrick Tam), 393 of on Psycho (1960), 36 Julie & Julia (2009), 241
Spencer, Dorothy (editor) Steiner, Max (composer; conductor), Out of Africa (1985), 241
the Academy Award nominations of, 284 composer of the score for Gone with Sophie’s Choice (1982), 241
the work of on My Darling Clementine the Wind (1939), 333 The Devil Wears Prada (2006), 241
(1946), 284 Stella Dallas (1937; King Vidor), 277 The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981),
the work of on Stagecoach (1939), 284 Step (2017; documentary; Amanda Lipitz), 241
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017; Jon Watts), 283 The Iron Lady (2011), 241
436 stereotypes, 146, 149, 368, 369, 376 The Post (2017), 241
Spiegel, Sam (independent producer), 426 Stevens, George Street of Shame (1956; Kenji Mizoguchi),
Spielberg, Steven A Place in the Sun (1951), 249 391
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Giant (1956), 249, 250 A Streetcar Named Desire (1951; Elia Kazan),
93 Shane (1953), 98 250
the cost-reduction actions by, 427 Stewart, James Streisand, Barbara, 265
E.T. the Extra–Terrestrial (1982), 256 career, 247, 376, 425 The Strip Mall Trilogy (2001; Roger Beebe),
Jaws (1975), 126, 215–16, 344, 348 iRear Window (1954), 259 81
a New American Cinema director, 401 Meet John Doe (1941), 376 Stroman, Susan, The Producers (2005), 103
Saving Private Ryan (1998), 217, 426 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), 376 Stromberg, Hunt (unit producer, MGM),
on sound as a complement to sight, 320 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), 376 421–22
on the tenuous state of modern Stewart, James G. (sound recording “Stuck in the Middle with You” (1972;
filmmaking, 439 engineer), the work of on Citizen Stealers Wheel), 334–35
The Post (2017), 241 Kane (1941), 347, 351 Studio Ghibli (Japan), 107
War of the Worlds (2005), 93, 340–43 Stockhausen, Adam (production designer) studio system
Spirited Away (2001; animation; Hayao Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), 178 the advent of sound, 367
Miyazaki), 323 Moonrise Kingdom (2012), 178 the advent of television and the decline
Split (2017; M. Night Shyamalan), 436 Stoller, Nicholas, Neighbors (2014), 103 of the, 426
Spurlock, Morgan, Supersize Me (2004), 74 Stone, Oliver the apex and decline of the, 424–25
The Squaw Man (1914; 74 min., Cecil B. Natural Born Killers (1994), 192, 252, 298 artistic achievement, 424
DeMille), 367 Platoon (1986), 337 borrowing of talent, 428
Stagecoach (1939; John Ford), 98, 143–50, Stone Temple Pilots (rock band), 337 casting, 247, 258
259, 306, 404 stop-motion, in animated films, 106–7 censorship, 367
Stahelski, Chad, John Wick (2014; with See also animation and animated films contracts, 246–47, 423–25, 428, 432
David Leitch), 168 story. See narrative directors, 423–24
Staiger, Janet, The Classical Hollywood The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011; Mark film production, 367, 424–25
Cinema: Film Style and Mode of Cousins), 358 government dismantling, 429
Production to 1960 (1985; with David Story, Tim, Think Like a Man (2012), 438 movie theaters and palaces, 367
Bordwell and Kristin Thompson; storyboards and storyboarding, 166, 171, musicals, 428
text), 360 283, 284 the nickelodeon, 367
Staiola, Enzo, 381 storytelling, as an ingrained human need, overhead costs, 431
“Stand by Your Man” (1969; Tammy Wynette 3–4, 49–52, 68, 116, 124, 129, 134, 144, package-unit system, 426
and Billy Sherrill), 336 176–77, 230–31 the producer-unit system, 421
Stanislavsky, Konstantin, 249, 250, 375 See also meaning; narration (telling the production heads and producers, 411,
Stanwyck, Barbara, 247, 275 story) 423–25
Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace Straight Outta Compton (2015; F. Gary Gray), profitability, 248
(1999; George Lucas), 182, 191 438 project development under the, 428
Index 497
reviews, 367 The Sweet Hereafter (1997; Atom Egoyan), Tarr, Béla
sales of real estate, 426 330–31, 347 The Man from London (2007; with Ágnes
sales of vault film, 426 Sweet Smell of Success (1957; Alexander Hranitzky), 262
social realism movies, 428 Mackendrick), 266 career and style, 226
standardization of practices, 366 Swinton, Tilda The Turin Horse (2011), 227, 297
the star system, 246 Doctor Strange (2016), 240 Tarzan franchise, 436–37
studio management, 366–67 Hail Caesar! (2016), 240 Tarzan of the Apes (1918; Scott Sidney),
studio specializations, 428 Okja (2017), 240 436–37
trade journals and fan magazines, 367 Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), 240 Tarzan of the Jungle (2016; David Yates), 437
unit production supervisors, 421 We Need to Talk about Kevin (2011), 240 Tarzan: The Romance of Tarzan (1918;
See also Hollywood golden age Swiss Army Man (2016; Daniel Kwan and Wilfred Lucas), 436–37
(1927–1947); independent producers Daniel Scheinert), 80, 228 Tashiro, C. S., Pretty Pictures: Production
and production; silent era Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968; Design and the History Film (1998;
studios William Greaves), 82, 82n text), 358
acreage and soundstages, 424 symbols and symbolism, 13, 25, 141, 143, 150, Tashlin, Frank Cinderfella (1960), 133
backlots, 424 160, 163, 191, 195, 207 Tatum, Channing, 254–55
control over mise-en-scène, 181 Synecdoche, New York (2008; Charlie Taviani, Paolo and Vittorio
Edison’s Black Maria shack, 363, 364 Kaufman), 276 careers and styles, 382
production, 159 Szirtes, Ági Szirtes, 262 Padre Padrone (1977), 330
productivity, 424 Szumowska, Malgorzata, In the Name Of Taxi Driver (1976; Martin Scorsese), 264
sound, 320 (2013), 338 Taylor, Elizabeth
studio-based filmmaking, 366 in A Place in the Sun (1951), 249
studio setups and shooting, 158, 159, 181 T2: Trainspotting (2017; Danny Boyle), 287 BUtterfield 8 (1960), 249
Sturges, Preston Tabío, Juan Carlos, Strawberry and career, 249
career and style, 377 Chocolate (1993; with Tomás Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), 249
The Lady Eve (1941), 329 Gutiérrez Alea; Cuba), 398 Cleopatra (1963), 162, 249
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944), 21 Taipei Story (1985; Edward Yang), 394 Giant (1956), 249
STXfilms and STX Entertainment, 435 Taiwan, 392, 394 Lassie Come Home (1943), 249
subtitles, 395 Taiwanese filmmaking and filmmakers, National Velvet (1944), 249
Sudan, 396 394 Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), 249
Sudden Fear (1952; David Miller), 248 take The Taming of the Shrew (1967), 249
Suddenly, Last Summer (1959; Joseph L. categories, 190 in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?
Mankiewicz), 249, 426 coordination for a long, 226–27 (1966), 249
Suicide Squad (2016; David Ayers), 437 the extreme long, 100 Taylor-Johnson, Sam, Fifty Shades of Grey
Sukarov, Alexander, The Russian Ark (2002), the long, 226–27, 231–32, 269n (2015), 134
218, 227 long take close-ups, 226, 227 Taylor, Juliet (casting director), 257
Suleiman, Elia, Chronicle of a Disappearance multiple, 189, 226–27 Taylor, Tate The Help (2011), 438
(1996; Palestine), 397 the rushed, 233 Team America: World Police (2004; Trey
Sully (2016; Clint Eastwood), 65, 67 sequence shots, 226 Parker), 102
Sunrise (1927; F. W. Murnau), 244, 368, 420 the setup, 189 Technicolor, 195–96, 378
Sunset Boulevard (1950; Billy Wilder), 90, the shot and the, 188, 189 technology
200, 246, 358 slate identification, 190 3-D, 435–36
Superbad (2007; Greg Mottola), 14 See also shot artistic costs of, 257, 257n
superhero movies (subgenre), 104–5 Takemitsu, Tôru (composer; movie score blimps, 244–45
Superman (1978; Richard Donner), 104 specialist; scholar; Japan), 333 bullet time technology, 49, 50
Supersize Me (2004; Morgan Spurlock), 74 Talbot, William Henry Fox (inventor), 362 camera movement, 213
surrealism, 372. See also neorealism; realism Tam, Patrick, A Spectrum of Multiple Stars: the camera obscura, 361–62
Surtees, Robert (cinematographer), the Wang Chuanru [sic] (1975), 393 camera sizes, 244–45
work of on The Graduate, 204, 1967 The Taming of the Shrew (1967; Franco and change, 93
Suspicion (1941; Alfred Hitchcock), 248 Zeffirelli), 249 computer-generated imagery (CGI),
Suspiria (1977; Dario Argento), 96 Tangerine (2015; Sean Baker), 197, 217 197, 228–30, 256
Svankmejer, Jan, 106 Tarantino, Quentin digital, 190–92, 414–17, 416, 416n, 439
Swan, Buddy, in Citizen Kane (1941), 267 career and style, 178, 393–94, 416 digital grafting, 256, 257
Sweden, 385–86 Django Unchained (2012), 438 film, 191–92, 412–17
Sweeney Todd: The Barber of Fleet Street Inglorious Basterds (2009), 178 high-definition video, 43
(2007; Tim Burton), 7, 240 Kill Bill (Vol. 1, 2003), 102, 178, 394 the human fear of, 93
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Kill Bill (Vol. 2, 2004), 102, 178, 394 light-based, 412
Street (1979; theatrical production; Pulp Fiction (1994), 135 mechanical systems, 412
Steven Sondheim), 7 Reservoir Dogs (1992), 225, 334–35, 394 microcinemas, 80
Sweet, Blanche, recruited by D. W. Griffith, Tarkovsky, Andrei, 404 microphones, 244–46, 250, 271
243 Tarnation (2003; Jonathan Caouette), 74 motion-capture, 229, 256
498 Index
technology (continued ) The Truman Show (1998; Peter Weir), as malleable or volatile, 226
multiple-reel movies, 367 349–50 montage sequences, 138–39, 295
the Odorama process, 257 The We and the I (2012; Michel Gondry), 241 and narrative meaning, 47
projection systems, 43, 225, 417 theater, 5–6, 7, 43, 129, 154, 177, 221, 237–38, nonchronological and reverse
Sensurround (earthquake “tremors” 249–50, 252, 262–63, 270 chronological, 47
effects), 257 themes the perception of, 47, 229–30, 306–7
series photography, 362, 363 cultural, 10 real time, 43, 139–40, 226–27, 297–98
the silent to sound transition, 244 film genres and, 24 screen and plot duration, 138
soundproof encasements for cameras, implied meanings, 13 shot interrelationships, 293–94
244–45 Lego sets, 111 simultaneous events, 46, 47
special effects, 256, 269 recurring, 14–16 slow motion; fast motion, 47–49
technologies that allow viewers to pause in Star Wars, 23–24 stretch relationship, 138–39
and ponder movies, 9 There Will Be Blood (2007, Paul Thomas summary, 138–39
television, 416 Anderson), 237 See also movement; space
virtual reality, 257 There’s Something about Mary (1998; Bobby Timecode (2000; Mike Figgis), 139
visual effects, 228, 228–30 and Peter Farrelly), 103 The Tin Drum (1979; Volker Schlöndorff ),
See also special effects Theron, Charlize 312
Teenage Rebel (1956; Edmund Goulding), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015; George Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (television series;
424 Miller), 163 1979), 261
television, 4–5, 14, 80, 137, 204, 252, 257, 330, Monster (2003; Patty Jenkins), 163 Tintori, Ray, Death to the Tinman (2007), 81
426, 434, 437 Young Adult (2011; Jason Reitman), 163 RMS Titanic, 133
Ten (2002; Mania Akbari), 397 The Thin Blue Line (1988; Errol Morris), 71 Titanic (1997; James Cameron), 133
Tent, Kevin (editor), the work of on Election Thin Man series, 421 Title, Jon (audio engineer), the work of on
(1999), 284–85 Think Like a Man (2012; Tim Story), 438 Black Hawk Down (2001), 337
Terminator franchise, (1984-2003; James The Third Man (1949; Carol Reed), 41, 84, TiVo, 2
Cameron), 94 180 To Catch a Thief (1955; Alfred Hitchcock),
Tess of the Storm Country (1914; 80 min.; This Is Not a Film (2012; Jafar Panahi and 248
Edwin S. Porter), 367 Mojtaba Mirtahmasb; Iran), 396 To Die For (1995; Gus Van Sant), 311
text and graphics, 72 Thompson, Kristin, The Classical Hollywood To Kill a Mockingbird (1962; Robert
Thalberg, Irving (central producer, Cinema; Film Style and Mode of Mulligan), 77
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), 420, 421, Production to 1960 (1985; with David Tokyo Story (1953; Yasujirô Ozu), 177, 391,
422, 425, 426 Bordwell and Janet Staiger; text), 360 392
That Certain Woman (1937; Edmund Thor: Ragnarok (2017; Taika Waititi), 436 Toland, Gregg (cinematographer)
Goulding), 424 Throne of Blood (1957; Akira Kurosawa), 273, Citizen Kane (1941), 176, 208, 379
Thatcher, Margaret (British Prime Minister, 390 innovations by, 174–75, 208
1979-1990), 241 Thurman, Uma, the characters portrayed The Grapes of Wrath (1940), 40–41
The 39 Steps (1935; Alfred Hitchcock), 328, by, 275 The Long Voyage Home (1940), 208
345 THX 1138 (1971; George Lucas), 94 Tolkien, J. R. R.
The Butler (2012; Lee Daniels), 438 Tian, Zhuangzhuang, The Horse Thief The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
The Extras (1978; Yim Ho), 393 (1986), 392 (1936; children’s fantasy novel), 134
The General (1998; John Boorman), 309 A Ticket to Jerusalem (2002; Rashid The Lord of the Rings (published in three
The Get Down (Netflix series; 2016–17), 161 Masharawi; Palestine), 397 parts, 1954-55), 134
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966; Sergio ’Til We Meet Again (1940; Edmund Tom Jones (1963; Tony Richardson), 118
Leone), 84, 299 Goulding), 424 tonality, 194
The Help (2011; Tate Taylor), 438 time Touch of Evil (1958; Orson Welles), the
The Hours (2002; Stephen Daldry), 337 audience experience of, 47–49 opening crane shot (sequence shot)
The Killing (1956; Stanley Kubrick), 330 bridging past and present, 306–7 of, 216, 227
The King’s Speech (2010; Tom Hooper), bullet time, 49, 50 A Touch of Sin (2013; Jia Zhangke), 393
206–7 cinematic time, 43, 140, 384 Tower (2016; Keith Maitland), 106
The Lady Eve (1941; Preston Sturges), 329 the “co-expressibility” of space and, 43, Toy Story 2 (1999; John Lasseter, Ash
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (1820; short 43n Brannon, and Lee Unkrich), 256
story; Washington Irving), 181–82 cuts and editing devices, 140 Toy Story 3 (2010; Lee Unkrich), 435
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944; duration, 136–40, 295, 297–300, 308, 311, Toy Story (1995; John Lasseter), 108
Preston Sturges), 21 313–14 Tracy, Spencer, Desk Set in (1957), 251
The Mission (1986; Roland Joffé), 334 the ellipsis, 294–95 Trainspotting (1996; Danny Boyle), 118, 287
The Old Maid (1939; Edmund Goulding), fades, 8, 308–11 Trank, Josh, Fantastic Four (2015), 439
424 flashbacks, 40, 55 Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014;
The Paperboy (2012; Lee Daniels), 438 freeze-frame time, 49 Michael Bay), 438
The Player (1992; Robert Altman), 345 intercutting, 138 Transformers: The Last Knight (2017;
The Post (2017; Steven Spielberg), 241 jump cuts, 307–8 Michael Bay), 436
The Sopranos television series, 214 lapses, 226 The Tree of Life (2011; Terrence Malick), 338
Index 499
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978; Ermanno persona and performance, 238 the Eighteenth Amendment (1919;
Olmi), 241, 338 point of view and framing, 220 Prohibition), 88
Trevor, Claire, Stagecoach (1939), 144, 145 setting and German Expressionist the first film schools, 374
Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies under influences, 181 German Expressionist émigrés in
America (1992; Craig Baldwin), 76, 77 shot rearrangement interactive, 292 filmmaking, 371, 371n
A Trip to the Moon (1902; Georges Méliès), shot types and implied proximity, 207 government dismantling of the studio
365–66 sound interactive (meaning, mood, and system (1938-1948), 425
Triumph of the Will (1935; Leni Riefenstahl), narrative), 343 Great Depression, 40, 89, 90, 150, 195,
70, 70–71, 71 sound: Snapshot (2006; short), 349 376, 377, 378
Trolls (2016; Mike Mitchell and Walt suspense versus surprise, 140 History of the American Cinema series
Dohrn), 156 zoom lens versus moving camera effects, (University of California Press), 360
Trouble in Paradise (1932; Ernst Lubitsch), 215 horror films, 96
103 Twelve Years a Slave (1853; slave narrative the Industrial Revolution, 93
True Blood series (HBO), 104 memoir; Solomon Northup), 133–34 the isolationist stance of during part of
True Grit (2010; Joel and Ethan Coen), 35, Twilight film franchise, 437 World War I, 370
123, 125, 126, 129, 240 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010; David the Korean War (1950–1953), 399
Truffaut, François Slade), 104 major film genres, 64
career and style, 140n, 150, 266 Twin Peaks series (2017; David Lynch; major industries, 438
The 400 Blows (1959), 296, 383 Showtime), 80 the Moon landing (1969), 399
Trump, Donald, 70 Twin Peaks: The Return (David Lynch; 2017), National Industrial Recovery Act (1933),
truth, 68–69 440 425
Tsai, Ming-liang, Vive l’amour (1994), 394 Twomey, Nora, The Breadwinner (2017), 107 post-World War II innovations in music,
Tsui, Hark, The Butterfly Murders (1979), Tykwer, Tom 399
393 Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 150
Tunes of Glory (1960; Ronald Neame), 261 218 Prohibition, 88–89, 90
Tunisia, 396 Run Lola Run (1998), 174, 288, 336 the self-perceptions of Americans, 103
The Turin Horse (2011; Béla Tarr), 227, Tyler, Tom, Stagecoach (1939), 144, 145 the sociopolitical turmoil in the
297–98 post-World War II, 399
Turkey, 385 UFA (Universum-Film AG), 370, 371 space exploration, 94
Turner, Jean Mildred Frances Turner. See Ugetsu (1953; Kenji Mizoguchi), 269n, 391 the Supreme Court legalization of
Lana Turner Ullmann, Liv, 260, 260n same-sex marriage (2015), 2
Turner, Lana, the acting name of Julia Jean Uman, Naomi, Removed (1999), 80 the Thirteenth Amendment (abolition of
Mildred Frances Turner, 247 Umberto D. (1952; Vittorio De Sica), 381 slavery), 72
tutorial videos and interactives The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964; Jacques the Vietnam War (1955-1975), 399
the 180-degree system: Vertigo (1958), 303 Demy), 100 the Watergate scandal and President
camera angles, 209 “uncanny valley”, 108–9 Richard Nixon’s resignation
the camera as mediator: Gold Rush, 44 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past (1972–1974), 399
camera movement, 213 Lives (2010; Thailand; Apichatpong Universal Studios, 331, 423, 426, 429–30,
color grading, 197 Weerasethakul), 339–40 435, 437
composition interactive (interactions Under the Skin (2013; Jonathan Glazer), 80 The Unknown Girl (2016; Jean-Pierre and
and situations derived from a single Unforgiven (1992; Clint Eastwood), 98, 99 Luc Dardenne), 81
scenario), 172 United Artists (UA), 418, 423, 431 Unkrich, Lee
composition within the frame, 175 United Kingdom filmmaking and filmmakers, Coco (2017; with codirector Adrian
diegetic and nondiegetic elements, 130 94, 182–83, 362, 366, 386, 440 Molina), 82, 436
editing and performance, 272 United States Toy Story 2 (1999; with John Lasseter and
editing techniques: Snapshot (2006; 1929 stock market crash, 89 Ash Brannon), 256
short), 282 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act, 425 Toy Story 3 (2010), 435
the evolution of editing: continuity and AIDS epidemic (1981), 400 Unsworth, Geoffrey (cinematographer), 402
classical cutting, 288 American 1950s underground cinema, The Unvanquished (Aparajito; Apu
form and content, 32 78–81 Trilogy II; Satyajit Ray; 1956), 395
form and conventions of the Western, 99 American underground cinema, 78 Ustinov, Peter, in Lola Montès (1955), 263
the key properties of lighting, 166 the American West, 86, 88, 98, 98–100,
the Kuleshov effect, 289 103–4 Valle, José Luis, Workers (2013; Mexico), 399
lens focal lengths, 201 animated narrative features, 109 The Vampire Diaries series (CW), 104
lighting and the familiar image: Night of anti-Communist vehemence post-World vampires and the vampire film (subgenre),
the Hunter (1955), 141 War II, 399 103–4
lighting interactive (quality, exposure, the Civil Rights Movement (1954–1968), van der Beek, Stan, Death Breath (1964), 79
ratio, and direction), 170 399 Van Sant, Gus, 253
montage and discontinuity: Battleship contributions to motion picture Drugstore Cowboy (1989), 294–95
Potemkin (1925), 300 development, 363–65, 366 a New American Cinema director, 401
narration, narrators, and narrative, 116 contributions to photography, 362 To Die For (1995), 253, 311
500 Index
Varda, Agnès Visconti, Luchino Wallis, Quvenzhané, 241

Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962), 384 Ossessione (1943), 380 Walsh, Raoul
Faces Places (2017), 440 The Leopard (1963), 160 The Big Trail (1930), 204, 255
Vasilyev, Dmitri, 375 Visitors (2013; experimental documentary; White Heat (1949), 89
vaudeville, 83 Godfrey Reggio), 226, 298 The Walt Disney Company
Vaughn, Matthew, X-Men: First Class (2011), Vitruvius, 111 the Marvel Studios subsidiary, 134, 435,
437 Vive l’amour (1994; Tsai Ming-liang), 394 437
Veidt, Conrad, 370 Vogt-Roberts, Jordan, Kong: Skull Island Pixar Animation Studios subsidiary, 108
Venezuela, 397 (2017), 436, 438 Walt Disney Studios subsidiary, 87, 102,
Vera Drake (2004; Mike Leigh), 21 voice 133, 134
Verbinski, Gore, A Cure for Wellness (2016), in a close-up, 271 Walter, Anders, I Kill Giants (2017), 165
439 the as a narrative device, 267–69, 271–73, Walthall, Henry B., recruited by D. W.
verisimilitude 278 Griffith, 243
action as a tool for achieving, 68 and character, 239–40, 251, 258, 268, Waltz with Bashir (2008; Ari Folman), 106
characters, 68, 109 353–55 war
context and, 54–55 in creature characters, 256 the Algerian War of Independence
dialogue as a tool for achieving, 68 the disembodied, 236, 273 (1954–62), 382
Donnie Darko (2001; Richard Kelly), “finding” a voice, 245 distractions from, 90
60 microphones, 245, 250, 271 financial profit and, 90
ensemble acting and, 269–70 the recognizable, 247, 258 the French Indochina War (1946–54),
Foley sounds, 323 sound versus silent films, 237, 243, 245 382
form, content, and, 54–55 stage versus camera, 237 and national identity, 385
the in Doctor Strange (2016), 230 voice capture, 245 postwar disillusionment, 90
logic and, 60 voice-over, 71, 273 Russian Revolution (1917), 370
motion capture, 229 Volver (2006; Pedro Almodóvar), 141 World War I (1914–1918), 90, 369–70
in musicals, 101, 102 von Sternberg, Josef World War II (1939–1945), 36, 90, 92,
in narrative films, 68 the famous collaboration of with 385
period movies, 161 Marlene Dietrich, 266 War for the Planet of the Apes (2017; Matt
perspectives, 161 The Blue Angel (1930), 370 Reeves), 436
realism versus, 54 The Scarlet Empress (1934), 168 War of the Worlds (1898; novel; H. G. Wells),
reference sources, 161 von Stroheim, Erich, Greed (1924), 244, 369 340
truth versus, 68 von Trier, Lars War of the Worlds (1938; radio broadcast;
verisimilar contexts, 101, 102 Breaking the Waves (1996), 387 Orson Welles), 343, 351
viewer perception of, 54–55 the closed frame worlds of, 222 War of the Worlds (2005; Steven Spielberg),
Vermette, Patrice (production designer), the Dancer in the Dark (2000), 102, 387 340–43
work of on Arrival (2016), 159 and the Dogme 95 movement, 179, 387 Warhol, Andy
Vertov, Dziga, Man with the Movie Camera Dogville (2003), 253, 263, 387 experimental films (New American
(1929), 368, 373, 374 The Five Obstructions (2003), 387 Cinema), 403
video games, 4 The Idiots (1998), 387 Lonesome Cowboys (1968), 80
Vidor, King Wallis von Trotta, Margarethe, The German Sisters/ Warm, Hermann (art director; Germany),
career and style, 328, 367 Marianne and Juliane (1981), 388 the work of on The Cabinet of
Stella Dallas (1937), 277 Dr. Caligari (1920) with Walter
The Big Parade (1925), 369 The Wachowskis, The Matrix series (1999– Reimann and Walter Röhrig, 191
The Crowd (1928), 367 2003), 49, 50, 94, 393–94 Warner Bros., 420, 422–24, 428, 435–37
Vietnam Trilogy (1980–81; Ann Hui), 393 Waggner, George, The Wolf Man (1941), 96 Warner, Frank (sound editor), the work of on
viewer. See audience Wagner, Cristian, 80–81 Raging Bull (1980), 332
Vigo, Jean, À propos de Nice (1930), 373 Wagner, Richard, (“Ride of the Valkyries”, Warner, Harry and Jack (central producers,
Villari, Libby, 270 Die Walküre; Der Ring des Nibelungen; Warner Bros.), 420
Villeneuve, Denis WWV 86; ca. 1856), 347 Washington, Denzel
Arrival (2016), 47, 159, 229, 306–7 Waititi, Taika, Thor: Ragnarok (2017), 436 career, 254, 258, 266
Blade Runner 2049 (2017), 95, 229 Waitress (2007; Adrienne Shelly), 21, 22 Fences (2016), 434, 435, 438
Sicario (2015), 229 Walken, Christopher (actor) in Sleepy Wasko, David (production designer)
Vimeo, 80 Hollow (1999), 185 Inglorious Basterds (2009), 178
Vinterberg, Thomas, and the Dogme 95 Walker, Robert, Brother Bear (2003; Aaron Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003), 178
movement, 179 Blaise), 204 Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004), 178
Vinyl (2016; HBO), 81 Walker, Roy (production designer), the work watching
Viola, Bill (video artist), 80 of on The Shining, 159 audience expectations, 9, 14, 20
The Virgin Queen (1955; Henry Koster), Walking Man II (1960; sculpture; Alberto binge-watching, 5
164 Giacometti; Switzerland), 33–35 looking versus, 3, 8–9, 12
Viridiana (1961; Luis Buñuel), 372 Wall Street Journal, 439 the passive nature of, 2–3
virtual reality technology, 5, 257 Wallace & Gromit movies, 108 video games, 4
Index 501
Water for Chocolate (1992; Alfonso Arau), 399 Wendy and Lucy (2008; Kelly Reichardt), creator of Hedwig’s theme for the Harry
Waters, John, Polyester (1981), 257 276 Potter series, 348
Watson, Emily, 387 We’re Not Married! (1952; Edmund creator of the shark’s motif for Jaws
Watts, Jon, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Goulding), 424 (1975), 344
436 West, Mae, 248 War of the Worlds (2005), 340, 341, 342,
Wavelength (1967; Michael Snow), 75, 79 Western (2017; Valeska Grisebach), 440 343
Way Down East (1920; D. W. Griffith), 21, 22, Western Sahara, 396 the work of on the Star Wars movies, 333
36–38, 47, 196, 287, 369 Westerns, 85–86, 98–99, 100, 103–4, 143–50, Williams, Michelle
Wayne, John 306, 310–11 Brokeback Mountain (2005), 276
career, 87, 247, 254–55, 266, 266n, 390 Wexler, Haskell (cinematographer), 402 in But I’m a Cheerleader (1999), 276
Stagecoach (1939), 144–46, 259 Wexman, Virginia Wright (film scholar), career, 275–76
The Big Trail (1930), 255 264 Deception (2008), 276
The Searchers (1956), 272 Whale, James Dick (1999), 276
The Shootist (1976), 254, 255 Bride of Frankenstein (1935), 170, 180, Manchester by the Sea (2016), 276
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011; Lynne 211, 344 Meek’s Cutoff (2010), 276
Ramsay), 240, 309, 311 Frankenstein (1931), 96 My Week with Marilyn (2011), 275, 276
Webb, Marc, 500 Days of Summer (2009), 288 The Whales of August (1987; Lindsay Prozac Nation (2001), 276
websites Anderson), 253 Shutter Island (2010), 276
Criterion Collection on Symbiopsycho- What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962; Synecdoche, New York (2008), 276
taxiplasm, 82n Robert Aldrich), 248 The Station Agent (2003), 276
curated movie sites, 440 The Wheel (1923; Abel Gance), 373 Wendy and Lucy (2008), 276
film industry data and education (https:// “When a Man Loves a Woman” (1966; Williams, Roger Ross, Life, Animated (2016),
stephenfollows.com), 416, 416n Cameron Lewis and Andrew Wright), 70
the Flickr site for promoting experimental 336 Willis, Gordon (cinematographer), 402
films, 80 Where Do We Go Now? (2011; Nadine Labaki; Willy (animal actor), 259
Fred Camper (film scholar), 75n Lebanon), 397 The Wind (1928; Victor Sjöström), 244,
the Lego Movie, 111n Whiplash (2915; Damien Chazelle), 136 368
Motion Picture Association of America White Heat (1949; Raoul Walsh), 89 The Wind Rises (2013; Hayao Miyazaki),
(www.mpaa.org), 434, 434n, 439 The White Ribbon (2009; Michael Haneke), 107
video-sharing, 74 389 Wind River (2017; Taylor Sheridan), 68
The Wedding Banquet (1993; Ang Lee), 394 Whitney, Cornelius Vanderbilt (early film Winter Kills (1979; William Richert), 255
Wedgwood, Thomas (experimenter), 362 industry investor), 422 Winter’s Bone (2010; Debra Granik), 337
Weerasethakul, Apichatpong (director; Whitney, John Winters, Shelley
Thailand), Uncle Boonmee Who Can Matrix I (1971), 78 as a method actor, 250
Recall His Past Lives (2010), 339–40 Matrix II (1971), 78 in Lolita (1962), 250
Wegener, Paul, The Golem (1920; with Carl Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? (1966; Mike Wintour, Anna, Vogue magazine editor, 241
Boese), 370 Nichols), 249 Wise, Robert (editor), the work of on Citizen
Weimar Republic, 370 Widescreen Cinema (1992; John Belton; Kane (2914), 352
Weir, Peter, The Truman Show (1998), 349 text), 360 The Wizard of Oz (1939; Victor Fleming),
Weis, Elisabeth (film sound scholar), 346, 346n Wiene, Robert, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 125, 126, 195, 324
“We’ll Meet Again” (song; 1939; Ross Parker (1920), 96, 179, 181, 370–71 Wladyka, Faith, in Blue Valentine (2010),
and Hughie Charles; sung by Vera Wilcox, Fred M. Lassie Come Home (1943), 277
Lynn), 328 249 The Wolf Man (1941; George Waggner), 96
Welles, Orson The Wild Bunch (1969; Sam Peckinpah), 393, The Wolf of Wall Street (2013; Martin
career and style, 174–75, 213, 216, 227, 402 Scorsese), 83, 122
237, 237n, 347, 351, 353–54, 366–67, Wild Strawberries (1957; Ingmar Bergman), The Wolverine (2013; James Mangold), 437
379, 418 338 A Woman under the Influence (1974; John
Citizen Kane, 41, 134–35, 267–70, 347, Wilder, Billy Cassavetes), 264
378–80, 418 career and style, 226, 389 women
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), 270, Double Indemnity (1944), 41, 91, 122, 330 the Bechdel test, 26–27
330 Some Like It Hot (1959), 103 controversial issues, 21–22
Touch of Evil (1958), 216, 227 Sunset Boulevard (1950), 90, 200, 246 family issues, 39
War of the Worlds (1938; radio The Apartment (1960), 123–24 feminist movements, 399, 401
broadcast), 343, 351 wilderness, 86–87, 93, 98–100, 104 in Japan, 389, 390, 391
Wells, H. G. War of the Worlds (1898; novel), Williams, Bert (silent era African American in mainland China, 392
340 actor), 368 Star Wars females, 26
Wenders, Wim Williams, Hank (singer-songwriter), 337 women in filmmaking
Paris, Texas (1984), 388 Williams, John (composer; conductor; in arrested development comedy, 103
The American Friend (1977), 388 pianist; movie score specialist) in Brazil, 397
The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick the creation of musical themes for major directors in Iran, 396
(1972), 388 characters by, 343 feminists, 368, 397
502 Index
women in filmmaking (continued ) Wright, Joe You Can’t Take It with You (1938; Frank
German directors, 388 Atonement (2007), 42 Capra), 404
Hollywood writers and directors, 401 Darkest Hour (2017), 83, 143 You Never Really Here (2017; Lynne
Middle East and North Africa, 396 A Wrinkle in Time (2018; Ava DuVernay), Ramsay), 440
New American Cinema, 401 438 Young Adult (2011; Jason Reitman), 163
silent era, 368 Wyler, William Young Frankenstein (1974; Mel Brooks), 348
Women without Men (2009; Shirin Neshat The Letter (1940), 253 The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
and Shoja Azari; Iran), 396 The Little Foxes (1941), 176, 253, 270 (1945; Benjamin Britten), 337
Wonder (2017; Stephen Chbosky), 82, 134, career and style, 174–75, 265–66 Young Torless (1966; Volker Schlöndorff ),
436 Jezebel (1938), 249 388
Wonder Boys (2000; Curtis Hanson), 252 The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), 172, Young Winston (1972; Richard
Wonder Woman (2017; Patty Jenkins), 6, 46, 241, 270, 423 Attenborough), 143
436, 437 The Little Foxes (1941), 253, 270 Your Name (2016; Makoto Shinkai), 107
Wong Kar-Wai, Ashes of Time (1994), 393 Wuthering Heights (1939), 265 YouTube, 4, 74, 80, 110
Woo, John Wynette, Tammy, “Stand by Your Man” Yu, Dennis, 393
A Better Tomorrow (1986), 393 (1969; with Billy Sherrill), 336 Yuen Woo-ping (action choreographer),
The Killer (1989), 47–49 394
Wood, Natalie, in On the Waterfront, 272 X-Men (2000; Bryan Singer), 437 Yugoslavia, 385
Woolf, Virginia (writer; England) X-Men: Apocalypse (2016; Bryan Singer),
Mrs. Dalloway (1925; novel), 337 437 Zama (2017; Lucrecia Martel), 440
portrayals of, 249, 253 X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014; Bryan Zanuck, Darryl F. (producer), 425
stream of consciousness, 78 Singer), 437 Zatorsky, Ernest (sound recording
Workers (2013; José Luis Valle), 399 X-Men: Deadpool (2016; Tim Miller), 437 technician), 245
The World of Apu (Apar Sansar; Apu X-Men: First Class (2011; Matthew Vaughn), Zecca, Ferdinand, 372
Trilogy III; 1959; Satyajit Ray), 395 437 Zeffirelli, Franco, The Taming of the Shrew
worlds X-Men: Logan (2017; James Mangold), 437 (1967), 249
artificial, 68–69 X-Men: Origins: Wolverine (2009; Gavin Zeitlen, Benh, Beasts of the Southern Wild
diegetic elements, 129–30, 326 Hood), 437 (2012), 52, 81, 241, 438
dystopian, 222 X-Men series, 437 Zemeckis, Robert
framing, 220 X-Men: The Last Stand (2006; Brett Ratner), Cast Away (2000), 419
futuristic, 229 437 Forrest Gump (1994), 177
imaginary, 228 X-Men: The New Mutants (2018; Josh Zero Dark Thirty (2012; Kathryn Bigelow),
normal world story components, 124 Boone), 437 178
the of avant-garde filmmakers, 372 X-Men: The Wolverine (2013; James Zhang Yimou
realistic, 49 Mangold), 437 Raise the Red Lantern (1991), 392
sound, 346–47 X-Men: X2 (2003; Bryan Singer), 437 The Great Wall (2017), 438
transporting audiences into, 8 Zhang Ziyi, 176, 394
the verisimilitude of fictional, 54–55, The Yacoubian Building (2006; Marwan Zimmer, Hans (composer; movie score
68–69 Hamed; Egypt), 396 specialist)
viewer perceptions, 292 Yakin, Boaz, Fresh (1994), 264 composer of the music score for Black
the world of common day, 112 Yang, Edward Taipei Story (1985), 394 Hawk Down (2001), 337–38
the world of The Lego Movie, 110–12 Yates, David composer of the music score for Dunkirk
Wormwood (2017; Errol Morris), 71 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of (2017), 333, 334
Woyzeck (1979; Werner Herzog), 269n Grindelwald (2018), 241 “Leave No Man Behind” (2002), 338
Wright, Andrew, “When a Man Loves a Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Zinnemann, Fred, High Noon (1952), 195
Woman” (1966; with Cameron Part 1 (2010), 309 Zodiac (2007; David Fincher), 252
Lewis), 336 Tarzan of the Jungle (2016), 437 Zorn’s Lemma (1970; Hollis Frampton), 79
Wright, Edgar Yemen, 396 Zsigmond, Vilmos (cinematographer), 402
Baby Driver (2017), 55 Yim Ho, The Extras (1978), 393 Zukor, Adolph (central producer,
career amd style, 226 Yojimbo (1961; Akira Kurosawa), 390 Paramount), 420
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), 14 Yomeddine (2018; Abu Bakr Shawky; Egypt), Zvyagintsev, Andrey Loveless (2017; Russia),
Shaun of the Dead (2004), 294 396 440

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6TH EDITION

W. W. NORTON & COMPANY

All rights reserved.

Editor: Peter Simon

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., 15 Carlisle Street, London W1D 3BS

About the Authors v

Six Major American Genres 88

Major Approaches to Editing: Continuity and Discontinuity 300

Looking at Editing: City of God 312

Germany and Austria 388

1965–1995: The New American Cinema 399

Marketing and Distribution 431

An Accessible and Comprehensive Model Analyses

Students in an introductory film course are already mo-

guides). Questions are labeled by concept, difficulty, and

Coursepacks for Learning

Looking at Movies is not just a book that is supplemented

Five steps to getting the most out of the

LOOKING AT MOVIES DIGITAL RESOURCES

expectations and filmmakers’ decisions about the

in some form, cultural differences often affect exactly

as Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Netflix’s Stranger

ual shots joined to one another in an extended sequence.

The expressive agility of movies

Invisible editing: cutting on action in Juno

Invisible editing: continuity of screen direction

Cultural invisibility in Juno

antagonists along the way toward a clear (and usually

such as oppression, childhood trauma, or the role of the

Juno’s status and emotional state and foreshadows the

Comparative cultural analysis

more concerned with narrative considerations than a

Cultural and Formal Analysis

What genre is Star Wars?

to have been engineered for universal appeal. George

The new faces of Star Wars

force be with you,” spoken as Rey prepares to board the

An evolved and empathetic Jedi heroine

ANALYZING LOOKING AT MOVIES

SCREENING CHECKLIST: LOOKING AT MOVIES

Questions for Review

PRINCIPLES OF FILM FORM

Form and content

Form and content

sculptures. Giacometti’s version, because of its exag-

cide whether they like or dislike a movie within its first

the otherwise ­meaningless term MacGuffin to refer to

Parallel editing in Way Down East

Patterns and suspense

Breaking patterns for dramatic effect

It is useful to distinguish between the luminous en-

Movies Provide an Illusion

Expressive use of light in The Grapes of Wrath

Lighting and character in Atonement

By contrast, when you watch a movie, your relation-

Manipulating space in The Gold Rush

the otherwise meaningless term MacGuffin to refer to

modified to suit the story and technical demands of pro

films, including Nanook of the North, usually present peo

Whereas gangster icons such as James Cagney are com

were popular on British and American stages through

Because story and storytelling are so ingrained in our

a case of mistaken i dentity—they’re looking for a much