Film Form
Week 2 Film: The Wizard of Oz
FORM: is the sum of all parts of the film, unified and given shape by patterns such as repetition and variation, story lines and character traits.
- Film is not the product of a random collection of technical devices, but rather, it is a system
THE CONCEPT OF FORM IN A FILM
- Artworks involve us by engaging our senses, feelings and mind in a process.
- The artwork cues the spectator to perform a specific activity.
Example: A poem’s words may guide us to imagine a scene, to notice a break in rhythm or to expect a rhyme
- Like all artworks, film is not simply a random batch of elements, film has a form.
- Film form is the overall system of relations that we can perceive among the elements in the whole film.
•
Form as System
- Cues are not random; they are organized into systems and in any systems, a group of elements affects one another
- The artwork and the person experiencing it depend on one another.
- Narrative Elements: These constitute the films story, we can link and compare narrative elements
• Wizard of Oz: We see the tornado causing dorothy’s trip to Kansas, we also can identify the characters in Oz as similar to those in Kansas
- Stylistic Elements: I.E. the way the camera moves, the patterns of colour in the frame and the use of music.
• Wizard of Oz: We can recognize the “we’re off to see the Wizard” tune whenever Dorothy picks up a new companion.
- We attribute unity to the film by positing 2 organization principals, a narrative one and a stylistic one, within the larger system of the film
- The narrative development can be linked to the stylistic patterning
• Colours identify prominent land marks such as Kansas: in black and white and the Yellow Brick Road; Movements of the camera call our attention to story action; and the music serves to describe certain characters and situations.
Form V Content
- People sometimes think that form is the opposite of content, we don’t accept this assumption
FORM: is the sum of all parts of the film, unified and given shape by patterns such as repetition and variation, story lines and character traits.
- Film is not the product of a random collection of technical devices, but rather, it is a system
THE CONCEPT OF FORM IN A FILM
- Artworks involve us by engaging our senses, feelings and mind in a process.
- The artwork cues the spectator to perform a specific activity.
Example: A poem’s words may guide us to imagine a scene, to notice a break in rhythm or to expect a rhyme
- Like all artworks, film is not simply a random batch of elements, film has a form.
- Film form is the overall system of relations that we can perceive among the elements in the whole film.
•
Form as System
- Cues are not random; they are organized into systems and in any systems, a group of elements affects one another
- The artwork and the person experiencing it depend on one another.
- Narrative Elements: These constitute the films story, we can link and compare narrative elements
• Wizard of Oz: We see the tornado causing dorothy’s trip to Kansas, we also can identify the characters in Oz as similar to those in Kansas
- Stylistic Elements: I.E. the way the camera moves, the patterns of colour in the frame and the use of music.
• Wizard of Oz: We can recognize the “we’re off to see the Wizard” tune whenever Dorothy picks up a new companion.
- We attribute unity to the film by positing 2 organization principals, a narrative one and a stylistic one, within the larger system of the film
- The narrative development can be linked to the stylistic patterning
• Colours identify prominent land marks such as Kansas: in black and white and the Yellow Brick Road; Movements of the camera call our attention to story action; and the music serves to describe certain characters and situations.
Form V Content
- People sometimes think that form is the opposite of content, we don’t accept this assumption