"We seem as a species to be driven by a desire to make meanings: above all, we are surely Homo significans - meaning-makers." Sings (Semiotics for Beginners).
FILM GRAMMAR ... Monaco (1981) suggests that film has no grammar. However, he only rejects the term in favour of another: syntax. He admits there are “vaguely defined rules of usage in cinematic language” and defines the syntax of film: “its systematic arrangement -- orders these rules and indicates relationships between them”.
A further set of variables that must be considered by film makers during the production of a film falls into the category ‘mise en scène’. Mise en scène refers to the elements that take place in the scene, such as lighting, costume, make-up, movement, direction of actors, gesture etc. In other words anything that comes in front of the camera (primary motion). The amount of variation at this level is endless, but includes such ideas as: creating depth by using a moving camera; creating off-screen space by having actors reacting to off-screen activity; creating intimacy by using a big close-up; matching the lighting or colours to mood, etc. In controlling the mise en scène the director stages the event for the camera.
Bordwell&Thompson (1986) divide mise en scène into four general areas:
Setting
Costume and Make-Up
Lighting
Figure expression and movement
Quoting Bazin (1958), Bordwell & Thompson write about setting:
The human being is all-important in the theatre. The drama on the screen can exist without actors. A banging door, a leaf in the wind, waves beating on the shore can heighten the dramatic effect. Some film masterpieces use man only as an accessory, like an extra, or in counterpoint to nature, which is the true leading character. (Bordwell & Thompson, 1986; 122)
The setting, whether it is a carefully designed studio set, or a specially chosen location, is of the utmost importance in defining the whole character of the film. The setting is obviously chosen to match the narrative of the film, but the director has a lot of control over the exact look of the scene. Every element in the setting suggests something about how the viewer is to interpret the film. The viewers' impression of the characters and events is largely influenced by the setting in which the narrative takes place.
The Glasgow University Media Group (1976) notes the effect that setting can have on news interviews. The striker on a picket line is interviewed in the cold outside, but the employer is interviewed in his / her office behind their desk. The setting of the boss gives much more authority to their argument (sitting behind a desk almost like the news reader) compared with the striker who is portrayed as 'the man on the street'.
Composition is coupled with setting. The director chooses the camera position and angle, along with the layout of the set or location, to draw attention to certain elements and to create a certain overall impression. Millerson (1992) notes of composition: “You can compose a picture to create anticipation, unease, apprehension, excitement, restful calm.”
Similar to the selection of setting is the selection of costume and make-up. These are controlled to give us clues to how we are meant to view the character. The selection of the actor and the use of costume and make-up can be used to create recognisable stereotypes that the viewer uses as a basis for predicting how this character might behave.
Lighting in cinema controls the impact of the image. Lighter and darker areas help to create the composition of the shot and can guide the viewer's eyes to certain objects or actions. A darkly lit scene hides detail and can create suspense since the viewer cannot be so sure of what is on screen. The proper lighting adds depth and realism to a scene. An immaculately built set will be unconvincing if the lighting does not match.
Lighting plays a role in the production of meaning in television news. In the studio, the presenters and guests are normally lit to avoid any embarrassing shadows, but guests who have not been able to make it to the studio and so have been shot in some small regional studio, are not lit so kindly, and are often seen against unflattering backgrounds (such as curtains). The guidelines for televising parliament insist that all sides of the house are lit equally. If it were not so, members that were in greater shadow would look less trustworthy.
The director also controls the expression and movement of figures in front of the camera. The viewer’s interpretation of the movement of actors is based on the interpretation of people’s expressions and movements in everyday life. Though, in front of the camera, rather than happening naturally, these movements need to be considered and acted explicitly to suggest a certain reading by the viewer. The most natural looking film sequences are normally very carefully thought out and controlled. Even the interpretation of what appears ‘natural’ on screen is a convention. A comparison of realism in the 1980’s against realism in film in the 1950’s reveals very different styles - both considered realistic at the time.
Mise en scène is derived in part from processes of interpreting our surroundings that everyone carries out as part of life. What film has been able to do is extend the use of these existing interpretational skills in order to prefer specific interpretations of a scene over others. Such interpretation is based on an understanding of existing cinema codes and our own cultural make-up. An educator who wishes to use multimedia to suggest a particular interpretation will need to consinder what the mise en scène of multimedia comprises of now that there is more than just video on the screen.
http://kn.open.ac.uk/public/getfile.cfm?documentfileid=846.
Editing
In this section I will talk about editing, and in doing so, will refer to both the director who provides the shots that are filmed and the editor who selects the shots that are in the final film cut. The director’s and editor’s role are complementary in constructing the narrative.
One element of film language that is under the film maker’s control is montage or editing. There are two ways that editing is used. One way is to create seamless transitions from shot to shot, used to concentrate attention on the action. This editing avoids cuts that disrupt the flow of action, whereas good edits are the ones that go unnoticed. This seamless editing even works over cuts that eliminate a section of action. For example, a person may be seen to enter a building then a cut shows them arriving at a desk: a whole sequence has been omitted, but still the cut looks smooth.
Bordwell & Thompson (1986) describe four different types of edit:
1. Graphic relations between shot A and shot B.
2. Rhythmic relations between shot A and shot B.
3. Spatial relations between shot A and shot B.
4. Temporal relations between shot A and shot B.
Graphic and rhythmic editing are often used to create a smooth flow in a narrative and to maintain the viewer’s interest and attention.
It is normal for an editor to establish the spatial relationship of characters and the location in the viewer’s mind near the start of a sequence using a wide shot. Closer shots are then easily related to the position of the whole afterwards. Should characters in this space move, or new characters arrive, the editor will often use another wide shot to re-establish their relative positions.
An editor may change spatial relationships using editing. Locations that may be many miles away or from different times may be edited together to create a spatial relationship that did not exist before.
It is normal practice in film to record both sides of a single conversation at different times, and later edit the two films together to give the illusion of the camera switching between the parties as an observer might look from one person to another if they were there.
Spatial editing can be used to relate events as cause and effect that were shot at separate times and places. For example, a news report might show a cannon fire, then cut to a shot of a shell hitting its target, implying that the shell being fired is the one that is seen landing, which, of course, is very unlikely.
Bordwell & Thompson (1986) report the Soviet film maker Lev Kuleshov’s experiments in creating spatial relations. Kuleshov intercut a neutral shot of an actor’s face with shots of soup, nature scenes, a dead woman and a baby. The audience believed that the actor’s expression changed, and that he was responding to things that were present.
An editor may alter temporal relationships in a film. An edit may take the viewer backward in time to a flashback, or alter the sequence of a number of events. Parallel editing can be used to intercut two events that are happening at the same time. Elliptical editing enables the editor to present an action that takes less time on the screen than in the story. There are three ways that editors can lose time like this. The most common is the use of the cutaway, in which the editor cuts to another shot that does not last as long as the action that has been cut from. When the film returns to the first shot the action has finished. In an example of a man climbing a set of stairs we would see him start climbing the stairs, cut to someone waiting in a flat on the top floor, cut back to him arriving at the top of the stairs. A further way of losing time in this example would be to use empty frames. This time the man climbing the stairs walks out of shot leaving the screen empty, the editor then cuts to another empty frame of the top of the stairs that the man enters into as he reaches the top. A third way of losing time is to use some form of conventional punctuation such as a wipe or dissolve. An editor would dissolve the shot of the man starting his climb into the shot of him finishing this action.
A less common way of altering temporal relationships in a film is by expanding the on screen time so that it lasts longer than the actual action. The same action is seen from different angles, each new cut overlapping some of the action already seen. Or returning from a cutaway to either see some of the action happen again or having been on the cutaway shot for longer than the action would have taken to complete. This expansion of time can be used to create tension as it can be used to delay or expand a dramatic moment.
This manipulation of time is essential in creating a narrative, since few films’ on screen time matches the story length.
The power of editing comes from the notion that adjacent shots combine to make a meaning that neither of the shots had on their own. This is done either by creating a juxtaposition, or by drawing a parallel between similar movements (of the camera or action), or other similar mise en scène elements (such as similar objects, lighting, sounds etc.). By matching elements over the cut, the editor can often make a smooth cut that covers a very long time, or suggest a connection in order to make a point. In Kubrik’s 2001, a primitive man hurls a bone spinning into the air, and this picture matches the shot that is cut to of a spinning space station of the future. Not only is the transition smooth, but it also draws attention to the evolution of man’s tools from bone to space station.
There are a number of conventions which relate to continuity editing that are used to build a narrative space and to encourage an agreed reading of the film. For example, in a sequence where a couple meet and start talking, we would expect to see an establishing shot at the beginning, and as they talk the camera should cut to the person who is talking, or to the listener to see their reaction. As the conversation becomes more involved the editor will use closer shots of the actors to heighten the involvement of the viewer, or use a slow zoom in to signify growing interest in the topic (a technique often used in party political broadcasts). Extreme close-ups where the camera invades the personal space of the actor are used to heighten the emotional content, such as anger or distress. If there is a natural break or lessening of tension then the editor will start using wider shots again.
The 180_ rule is used to create and maintain narrative space. Shots are used which are all taken from one side of an imaginary line through the scene. By following this convention, cutting between people always maintains the direction of their gaze and so also their positional relationships. To break this rule and cut to the other side of a person would make them appear to face a different direction, or to cut to the other side of an action (such as someone walking) would make it seem as though the action changed direction.
In order that the viewer does not recognise or notice the technical aspects of the film, continuity editing relies on narrative motivation for all of its construction decisions. Each cut is motivated by an action in the scene, a sound, some one talking, or the need to see someone’s reaction. The idea that the film’s construction is motivated by the narrative is reflected in the adage “if it’s in the shot then it’s in the plot”. If other elements are allowed to dictate an edit then the viewer’s attention will be focused away from the narrative on to something that is unrelated to the film’s progression. Such elements act as ‘red herrings’ and confuse the narrative and the viewer. For example, if the editor were to leave a shot of an actor on screen for even just a few seconds longer than was necessary for them to fulfil their role in the plot, the viewer is likely to interpret this as having some significance -- what’s the actor thinking? Are they having second thoughts about what has just happened? Maybe he’s planning his revenge...
Such conventions are used abundantly in modern narrative film and television, though at any time the director may choose to disregard any of these conventions for dramatic effect or to deliberately mislead the viewer. If the director were to disregard many of the conventions though, the film would soon begin to lose its socially agreed meaning.
Editing can be used to manipulate time (shorten or lengthen), show parallel action, suggest spatial relations, suggest additional meaning through juxtapositions and denote flashbacks / forwards. The fragmented non-sequential nature of multimedia video will mean that editing video in multimedia will be very different, this contrast is taken up in section 6.3.3.
