Media Aesthetics Notes

- September 19th - exposure Form record & Critical Analysis Chapter 11 * Step 1 Develop a thesis * What is interesting, disturbing or noteworthy? * Does that aspect illustrate a concept from lecture w clarity? Is it a good mannequin of nighthing we talked about in class? * Did it have a unique resultant on you? * Step 2 Segment the film * What features stuck out the well-nigh ( inclined that weeks class topic)? * How ar those features related to the film as a intact of purportlong?Pay attention to details and how they affect the film * Step 3 Identify the outstanding instances of technique * Understand the techniques/concepts * Note specific examples of techniques * Types of lighting, angle, savors, archives, style, etc. - September 26th - Styles of Film * Two major directions realistic and formalized * Directions or types are defines by form, not content Three Styles of Film/Media * Realistic (focused on content, portraying as real life) * spotlessism (in-between) affectation (manipulation, taking out of reality) Realism * Reproduce reality with minimum distortion-objective reverberate * Major concern is with content, rather than form * Subject head is irresponsible * Documentary film * Imagine as were watching it as we would gain it through with(predicate) our own eyes * Ex Big comrade raw, unscripted, stagnant television cameras, not playing w manipulation * Would never envision something like a birds eye view of crowds of batch, because we would never see that in real life. If we were watching a conversation happening it would be from angiotensin converting enzyme angle Formalism Deliberately stylized and distort images (special effects, explosions, zooming in/out, narrative structure in real life happens in temporal narrate as it would happen to us, in these movies jumps nigh in time) * Wants no angiotensin converting enzyme to mistake manipulated image for real thing (not pretending that this is reality, want to memorial ise the manipulation) * Concerned with form rather than content * Referred to as expressionist (self-expression, essay to create connections between stories/events that if watched over & over it has deeper casing matter) * Avant-garde cinema genuine What most fictional films/shows are classified as (we would never live like this notwithstanding its fun to watch, drama, comedy, group of characters that the similarities lowlife relate to your life but also an element that the paper is manipulated that wouldnt be reality) * Films are strong in story, star (some integrity we identify), and production values (summer block busters, high financial investment in production because high financial return) * intelligibly defined plot, conflict, rising climax, and resolution/closure * Avoids extremes of realism and formalism (wouldnt see camera work that seems natural, but wouldnt have random objects on the screen) (realistic enough but also fantasy) - Narrative as a Formal System Cha pter 3 I. Principles of Narrative Construction * Plot & level * Cause-Effect * Time * Space * Patterns of development II. Flow of Story Information annals * Range of Story Information * Depth of Story Information * bank clerk Narrative Form Most common in fictional media, but house be nonfictional too (ex Bachelor whats leaving to happen next week suspense) * Identify because stories are both around us * What is narrative? Narrative is a chain of events linked by cause and effect and occurring in time (how is this constructedchronological? Jumping from clock? ) and space (location, extras in background, cars, etc) Components of Narrative Form * Plots and Stories * Story is the subject matter or raw material of a narrative * A denounce of all events * Plot orders the events and actions of the story according to temporal and spatial patterns * Plots can vary jump around or chronological, can focus on one person at a time or a group in the end still has comparable story bl oodline * Cause and Effect faces create causes and effects by making sure things happen and reacting to events * Qualities of the character influence cause-effect relationships * Physical characteristics, traits, personality * Action/ reaction * Can be a natural disaster, etc * Time * Construct story time establish on order the plot maps them * We dont need mundane elements (shower, sleep) to make sense of a story * lay order is the order which events occur (are they happening in chronological, or flashbacks, or jumping) * Temporal duration is the length and which events span (is there a heartbeat they pay more time to? What is the significance of that scene) * Temporal frequency is how ofttimes events within a story are revisited * Space Events occur in clearly defined locations where the action takes vex * Associate other elements based on locations * Tells us information that isnt stated * Opening, closing, patterns of development * Classic paradigm most popular in media * Set of conventions are present in classical narrative structure * Characters are goal point * Three-act structure model * Set up, Confrontation, Resolution - October 3rd - Mise-en-Scene Mise-en-Scene the arrangement of all the ocular elements of a theatrical production within a mothern playing area the stage.Derived from a French theatrical term meaning between the scenes * The number * Com localisation & Design * Territorial Space * Proxemic Patterns The Frame * Each movie image is enclosed in a retch * Filmmaker doesnt fit a digit to the subject, but the subject matter to the frame * Dimensions of a frame are known as the aspect ratio Frame Top suggest ideas of power, controls all visual elements (usually someone scary, or authoritative) Center reserved for area of interest, realism (expectation that through real eyes we expect something to be there) Bottom powerlessness left over(p)/Right Edges suggest insignificance, unnoticed Off the Frame fearful, importanceComp osition & Design * The visual balance in the composition of the film * Want to maintain residuum between elements because it is easy to follow * Depending on the type of film, a atrocious composition may be effective * The human eye attempts to work elements in composition Dominant Contrast * The area of an image that instantaneously attracts out attention because of contrast * Stand out in some kind of isolation Subsidiary Contrast * After we take in dominant we scan for counterbalancing devices Lines & Diagonals Exaggerate Movement Light & Dark, Shadow colourise Framing Territorial Space 1. Full Front a. Facing the camera b. Most intimate c.Viewer feels involved 2. stern Turn d. Favorite position for filmmakers e. Less emotional, but high intimacy still 3. Profile lay f. Character is less aware of being observed 4. Three Quarter Turn g. Even more isolated than profile sweep h. unfriendly or anti-social 5. Back unsettled i. Suggests alienation from world j. Mystery, auditory modality wants to see more * Setting can have symbolic meaning * mirthful exterior, inside, public/private * matter Contextual use setting * Consider way one setting is used to create different effects Proxemic Patters * The relationship of objects within a given space * Many factors baffle space * Light, climate, noise level Patterns are similar to the way people obey certain special rules in social situations * The more outdo between the camera and with subject, the more emotionally neutral we remain * ample shot for comedy, close up for tragedy Chaplin * Space is seen through 4 patterns * Intimate extreme close * Personal medium * Social full range * Public long and extreme long - October 17th - change Classical Cutting * French were the first to use cutting to perseveration to create arranged scenes * Editing for emotion and drama, rather than for purely strong-arm reasons * Presents a series of psychologically connected shots * Film A bring out to the Moon by Georges Melies Concepts in Classical Cutting Content kink up where a cut should be made point at which listening has been able to assimilate shots information (audience wont be bored because scene is too long ex Jaws one frame too long risks boredom, one too shot risk audience being able to make sence) * Parallel Editing switching of shots of one scene with another at a different location to adopt idea of simultaneous time Continuity Editing * Also called undetectable alter, a system devised to minimize the audiences awareness of shot diversitys, especially cuts, in order to improve the flow of the story to avoid interrupting the viewers submersion in it * Continuity and Space editors follow a standard shot patter to maintain spatial continuity * Establish shot, moves to a series of individual shots, back to establishing shot * Film American Beauty Shot/Reverse Shot shot of one character is followed by shot of another taken from the reverse angle as they have a convo we always see the back shoulder of the other person lecture across the table so we always know how close they are * 180 Degree Rule once camera starts filming on one side of action, it must continue filming on same side for the rest of the scene * Eyeline disembodied spirit intoes using characters line of vision as motivation for a cut, matching another characters * Continuity and Time * Match on Action Different views of the same action pieced together to look continuous (someone jumping building to building we see them take rancid & land) * Jump Cut abrupt shift in time and place of an action which s not announced by a transition CLIP Breathless capricious in car only shows clips of driving while theyre talking=cuts out blank space * Continuity mistake any unintentional discrepancy from shot to shot (seeing a elaborate in the corner) * Change in location, posture, hair, costume, etc. Soviet Montage and Formalist usage * 1920s Soviet filmmakers developed editing style aroun d the surmise that editing should exploit the differences between shots to create meaning * Film was seen as a political tool * Soviet montage, also called collision montage rhythmic, intellectual (The Godfather baptism scene baptism + murder + he knows the killings are happening so this becomes a 3rd meaning) Realism Photography, TV, and cinema produce realistic images mechanically * Viewed classical cutting and montage to be distorting, corrupting * After WW2 neorealism emerged which deemphasized editing * Film Stranger than Paradise shows boy on phone, doesnt give us other side of conversation we only know what he says shots hardly move to accommodate characters we see what can fit into the frame doesnt cut out useless times, shows everyone doing every action goes minatory in between scenes) - November 14th Film genre Understanding Genre * Genres are various types of films that audiences and filmmakers recognize by their familiar narrative, stylistic, and thematic conv entions * motley conventions I. Narrative Elements Most important criteria for defining a genre Character types Plot events Thematic recurrence general meanings from plot that surface again and again II. Visual, sound, objects & setting * Lighting tends to be similar in films w same genre * Sound draws attention to possibilities that neither the characters nor the audience can see * Objects/setting serve as recurring symbolic images that stand meaning from film to film III. Predictability and Variation * Genres meet audience expectations * However, a film without surprises become cliche * Sub genres begin to form littler clusters of films within a genre * Many films incorporate characteristics of multiple genres, creating a hybrid * No genre can be defined in a single way *