The Significance of Film Form

Introduction to Film Form
Chapter One was about the people that make film and process to make a film.
In Chapter Two we turn to how they are “made” in a different sense—how they are composed of parts that add up to a shape and pattern across the film as a whole. That patterned shape we call “form.”
Formal Expectations
Suspense is created by a delay in fulfilling an established expectation.
Conflict drives the form of the film.
The viewer has expectations that the conflict will be resolved.
Formal Expectations
Surprise is a result of an expectation that is revealed to be incorrect.
This may cause the viewer to readjust our expectations about what can happen in the story.
Comedy often depends on surprising the viewers expectations.
Formal Expectations
Curiosity is the ability of the viewer to make guesses about prior events.
Any set of elements in a film that depend on and effect each other make a system.
When viewing a film, we look at the individual parts and try to explain why they are in the film and what effect they have on the viewer.
Stylistic elements: Mise-en-scene, Editing, Cinematography, Sound, etc.
The viewer relates, compares, contrasts, and connect these system of elements to one another.
Form vs Content
Content is the suLeabharlann Baiduject matter and other abstract ideas in the film.
Content is not opposite or external of form.
Content is a component that functions as a part of the overall pattern that makes form.
The purpose of a film’s form is to communicate with the viewer in a uniquely cinematic way.
Systems of Elements
Narrative elements: the film’s story. Dorothy dreams that a tornado takes her to Oz, where she encounters certain characters
For example, the opening scene of The Wizard of Oz
Conventions and Experience
A large factor in the viewer’s understanding and interpreting a film is their prior experience.
Chapter Two suggests why close analysis of films is important.
Form as System
Form is the overall system of relationships among the parts of the whole film.
The main way a viewer is able to predict the outcome of a film is based on prior experience.
Conventions and Experience
Common traits, called conventions, are apparent in several different films and create traditions, dominant styles, and popular forms.
The Significance of Film Form
Chapter Two Reading Hollywood
Julian Roberts
Concepts of Film Form
Introduction to Film Form Form as System “Form vs Content” Formal Expectations Conventions and Experiences Form and Feeling Form and Meaning Evaluations