Using Films in the English Class5.docx

Using Films in the English Class5.docx

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UsingFilmsintheEnglishClass5

Section5  Filmcriticsintheclassroom

   Ifwewanttoescapeintoadreamworld,itisparticularlyeasytodoitwithfilm.Everydayrealityandimaginedrealitycanbecomeconfused.Film'svividimagesandstrongimpressionstemptustotakeforrealwhatappearsbeforeoureyes.Whereasreadingrequiresus,tomakeaneffort,wecanbecometotallypassiveasviewers.Inthedarknessofthecinema,wecanbecomeimmersedintheworldofthefilm,seducedbywhatisservedtousonthescreen.Withoutbeingawareofwhathashappenedtous,webecome'propagandized'-persuadedthatthefilm'sversionofrealityistheonlyonewhichexists.Thedifferencebetweenlifeandthefilmedworldcanbecomeblurred.YoungBilly,inHopeandGlory,wasatanagewhenthisblurringishighlypossible.Aninfatuationwiththescreencanrenderyoungstersdangerouslyoutoftouchwiththeworldtheyinhabit.Billy,watchinghisHopalongCassidyandhisfighterplanesin1939,ishalfacenturyawayfromtheyoungviewerimmersedinvirtualrealityvideotoday,forboth,reallifemightwellseemtohavelessimpactandmeaningthantheescape-worldonthescreen.

Allofthispaintsatiresomelyfamiliarpictureoffilmasacorruptanddangerousmedium,apropagandatool,potentiallyevilandmind-menacing.Tiresomeandfamiliarthispicturemaybe,butitisitselfdangeroussinceitleadsfatallyandmistakenlytoaprotectiveapproachtofilmintheclassroom.Itismistakenbecause,foronething,itassumesthatstudentscometoclassasnaifs,withblankminds.Mostofthemarealreadyfamiliarwiththetechniquesoffilmmakerswithouthavingbecomescreenjunkies.Secondly-and,forourpurposes,moreimportant-therightwayforwardissurelynotaprotective,butaninvestigativeone.Studentsmustdeveloptheabilitytoknowandjudgeforthemselveswhattheyseeonthescreen.Theycanonlygainthiscriticalautonomyandformtheirownimpressionsaboutthewaysfilmspresentinformationbyexpressingandexchangingtheirownopinionsaboutthem.Theteachercanhelpthisprocess,throughsuggestionandguidance.Butultimately,theteachingrolemustneitherprotectivenorauthoritative.

Doesthismeanthatstudentsshouldhuntthroughfilmstoseekoutthefilmmakers'tricksandstrategies,inordertofreethemselvesfromtheirinfluences?

Thisapproachwouldinevitablykilloffanyideaoffilmasanart,orassomethingtobeenjoyed.Certainly,criticalinvestigationoffilmleadstoanawarenessofcinematictricksandmanipulations.But,instudyingfilm,themainobjectiveisforstudentstoknowwhattheyareseeing.

Toachievethisaim,itishardlynecessarytosetupaspecial'course'infilmcriticismorfilmappreciation.Anyfilmactivitiesyouuseinclassarestepping-stonestothevocabularyandmethodsoffilmcriticism.Comprehendingafilmsceneisalreadyamovementtowardscriticalautonomy,and'filmtalk'takesonthecharacterofcriticaldiscussionwheneveritshiftsfromthestorytothewaythefilmisconstructed.And,aswehaveseen,sincestudentsarefamiliarwithfilmsintheirownlanguage,andsincefilmtechniquescrosslanguageboundaries,theyarealreadyequippedwithabasisforcriticalwork.

Stageandscreen

Tointroducethetechniquesofcriticismandanalysis,youcouldbeginwithacoupleofphotographsorpaintingsandworkoutalistoftermsfordiscussion:

lightandshadow,sizeandproportion,fore-,middleandbackground.Theideaistorecognizethepicture'scomponentsasdeliberatetechniqueswhichcombinewiththeviewer'sperception.Thiswillleadtoanawarenessofthemethodsandeffectsofformingimages.

Butaparticularlyusefulpathintofilmcriticismistodrawcomparisonsbetweencinemaandtheatre.Thiswillsharpenstudents'awarenessofthepossibilitiesandmethodsoffilm.Itwillpavethewayformoreindependentcriticalworkbasedonscenes.

Havestudentsworkoutanswerstothesequestions.ListfindingsontheblackboardorOHP.Thegeneralpicturetoemergeshouldbeasummaryofthepeculiarfeaturesoffilm:

1.Whyarethefrontseatsinatheatrethemostexpensive,whileinacinematheyarethecheapestones?

（Answer:

Inordertofollowwhat'shappening,thetheatreaudiencewanttobeascloseaspossibletotheactors'facialexpressionsandmovements.Thecinemaaudience,though,needtositfarbacksothattheycanscaneverythingwhichishappeningonthescreen.）

2.Whichaudiencehasmorefreedomtomakedecisionsaboutwhichcharactersoractiontowatch-thetheatreorthecinemaaudience?

Why?

（Answer:

Theatrespectatorsarefreetowatchanypartofthestageortheactors.Butfilmviewershavetofollowthedirectionthecameratakesthemin.Sothefilmmakerhasgreatersteeringpower-andcontroloverviewers-thanthetheatreproducer.）1

3.Afilmmakerhasatheatrescript（=writtenforthestage）andwantstomakeafilmofit.Listthethingshecandowhichcan'tbedoneonstage.

Listthemundertheseheadings:

A Photographicimages

B Writingonthescreen

C Speech

D Musicandsoundeffects

（Answer:

A Photographicimages:

●       cameratechniques,e.g.close-ups,slowmotion,visualsurprises

●       variationofcameraposition,angleanddistance

●       instantchangesofscene;unlimitedchoiceoflocations

●       morevisibletechniquesandfreedomforactors

●       greaterrefinementofcharacter

B Writingonthescreen:

●       explanatorywrittenmaterial（e.g.historicalbackgroundatthestartofafilm）

●       subtitles

●       close-upsofhandwrittenletters

CSpeech:

●widerrangeandmorevariationsoftone,pitch,emotion

● muchcanbeleftunsaid:

lefttoaction,gesture,bodylanguage,facialexpression,etc.

DMusicandsoundeffects:

∙∙∙∙∙∙●moreextensivethanintheatre,e.g.blendedbackground'mood'music,bothquieterandloudermusic.）

Getstudentstostartbuildingupaglossaryoftermsusedinfilmcriticism,especiallythoserelatingtocameraposition.Youcouldusethelistonpages81-83asasource.Itisnotnecessarytolearnthetermsenbloc.Introducethemonebyone,asandwhentheycanbeillustratedbyparticularscenesshowninclass.

Becauseoftheircentralplaceinfilmcriticism,mise-en-sceneandmontageshouldbeamongtheearliestexpressionsintroduced. 

Mise-en-scene

Thismeansthearrangementofimagesanddetailswithintheframe-thewayanindividualshotiscomposed.Asviewers,welearnalotfromthis,whetherunconsciouslyorpartlyconsciously.Wesawearlierhowmuchinformationcanbecommunicatedbyastreetscene-evenfromasingleframefrozenonscreen.Mise-en-scenecanbeusedtocreate,sotospeak,theworldofthefilm.Itcanexpressanethos,amilieu,anatmosphereofplace-likethefusty,tattybohemianismofthebookshopinTurtleDiary,orthedrearinessandworking-classpovertyoftheLiverpoolstreetatthestartofTheLongDayCloses.

Afacelookingupwardswithsearchingeyescanconveyawealthofmeaningtoo,withoutcameramovementorediting.Purelythroughthearrangementofdetailsintheframe,characterscanrevealthemselvestouswithoutrevealingthemselvestoothercharacters.Inthisway,mise-en-scewnehelpsthestorytodevelop.2 

Montage

Basically,thismeansputtingtogetherpiecesoffilm.Theeditingtechniqueofmontageisthebasicstructuringtechniqueusedinfilm.Itisimportantbecause（a）thefinaleffectandmeaningofmontageisalwaysmorethanthesumofitsparts,and（b）theorderinwhichtheimagesarefittedtogether,oneafteranother,givesafilmitslogicalcontinuityandsense.

Throughmontage,filmcangiveusa'transformed'reality.ThepowerofmontagetopersuadeandaffectwasfamouslyusedinSovietfilmpropagandabetweenthewars,andcannowadaysbeseenprominentlyinmodernadvertisingandmusicvideoclips.Earlier,wesawhowitisusedtocondensetime（ashotofaspeedingtrain,thenacuttoanewlocation）.Throughmontage,bydictatingtheorderofimagesandthecontext,thefilmmakerisabletosteertheviewer'seyesandperceptions.3 

Analyzingfilm

Filmconsistsofanumberofcontributingelements.Studentscanexamineoneelementatatime,trytodecidewhatithascontributed,howthisorthatchangemightalterthemeaning.The'long-termaimisforstudentstobecomeconsciouslyawareoftheusesandeffects（ontheviewer）ofdifferentelements,andtoformcriticalresponsestothem.'Shot-consciousness''Shot-consciousnessistheessentialtoolformeasuringfilm.'4Agoodwaytodevelop'shot-consciousness'istohavestudentswritedownashot-by-shotgridofascene,usingplaybackandfreezeframebuttons:

Shot

Time

Description

Soundtrack

1

5sec

Close-upofLynda'sface

--

2

3secs

MediumshotofLyndaandpsychiatristattable

Lynda:

'No,can'tthinkofone

Usingthegrid,askthemtoinvestigatequestionsaboutcamerapositionandshotsequence,like:

∙∙● Whatkindeffectdoesthefilmmakertrytoachievethroughalongshotinshot2andaclose-upinshot4?

●       Whatistheeffectofsomanyshortshotsoneafteranotherhere?

●       Whatistheeffectontheviewerofthecameratechniquesusedinshots4and5?

●       Describetheeffectofthechangefromlowtohighangleinshots4to5.

●       Whatdoesthefilmmakerdoherewhenheknowshisaudienceislessattentive?

●       Whatistheeffectofmovingthecamerahere?

●       Whydoesthecameralookdownatthischaracter?

●       Lookatwhatisgoingoninthebackground-howisthisrelevant?

●       Whydidthefilmmakerdecidetohavealowcameraangle