Acting the Actors Who Help to Tell the Story

1 Film Technique – Gattaca

The range of areas outlined in this handout will help you to understand the language and messages behind film. Some of them are about the film as a whole and others refer to particular scene study.

Acting – the actors who help to tell the story Areas to consider, which are usually up to personal opinion Body language – Stance Facial expression Gesture

Voice - pace Tone Accent

Movement – Pace fluidity

Costume – Clothes Hair Props

Stars – Charisma Type casting

The Language of the Film-through the eyes of the camera The most important piece of equipment that the film maker has is the camera. It is used to produce the photography that is assembled to narrate the story of the film.

The camera is used to take a series of individual photographs called frames. The frames are then projected on to the screen at twenty-four frames per second to simulate natural movement.

Thus a single photograph is called a frame, a sequence of frames is called a shot and a sequence of shots is called a scene. The whole film is then made up of sequences of scenes assembled to tell the story.

Shots Extreme long or establishing shot – large amount of landscape – establishes location, atmosphere – often used at beginning.

Long shot – background material + people able to be seen as male or female.

Full shot – less background + whole of the figure(s).

Medium shot – (mid-shot) even less background + figure(s) from waist up. 2 Film Technique – Gattaca

Close-up – focuses on all of an object or a face.

Extreme close-up – focuses in detail on object, part of body, face etc.

Angles Overhead/overshot – camera is directly overhead – effect of this is to make what is being filmed look like, for example a map / maze / ants or seem small / vulnerable. Moving objects look mechanical.

High angle – camera above but not directly – suggests powerlessness / vulnerability / insignificance.

Eye level – camera is level with the object or figure. It suggests realistic effects.

Low angle – camera below / looking up – effect is power / dominance of object(s) or figure(s)

Undershot – directly below – can suggest danger / power, for example stampeding cattle.

Movement Panning – where the camera goes from left to right, right to left, up to down from object to object or following a figure or object – moves slowly – clear focus – can be an establishing shot to suggest expanse of scene.

Tracking – camera mounted on moving platform – keeps moving subject in view – can move with subject or at angle to it – suggests to viewer sharing the journey of object or figure in the frame – invites viewer involvement.

Dolly – includes viewer in movement of subject, for example walking in a crowd.

Tilt – camera tilted different ways – suggests reaction to scene / object and involving strangeness, imbalance, tension, the unexpected.

Point of view – camera becomes the eyes of the character / sees only from their point of view. Camera can be placed on shoulder to simulate walking ‘jerkily’ etc.

Zoom – allows continuous movement from a wide angle or long shot to a close-up without moving camera.

Focus Sharp – when object / figure is very sharply defined – used like the eye and used most often in filming.

Soft – when object / figure is highlighted but not hard edged, it suggests softness of romantic vision / hazy vision / drunkenness or drugs.

Deep – different objects kept in focus together suggests some kind of relationship between the two. 3 Film Technique – Gattaca

Lighting – creating the mood of the film

Key Lighting This technique emphasises the main light on the set, proving even and shadow-free light.

High Key lighting This technique emphasises the key light to suggest the light source. The director might want to suggest that it’s a brilliantly sunny day outside and that the major light source is the window.

Low Key lighting This technique emphasises shadows; it if often used in thriller and horror films.

Natural Lighting Lighting which is intended to mimic what would appear natural for a given scene, e.g., darker grey tones on a cloudy day when the characters are outside.

Colour Colour is often used to represent different moods. A range of tones can be used within the lighting to give this effect. Some examples are:

Blue  Sadness/depression, cold, damp, no warmth between characters, water Yellow  Sunshine, happiness, closeness, warmth between characters, ‘golden times’ White  Purity, innocence, religion, cleanliness, ‘good’ guys, can be used to show illness/frailty Black  Evil, ‘bad’ guys, dark/cold situations Red  Love, anger, danger, warmth Green  Envy, the natural world, sickness

For each of the stills from the film captured below, comment on the following: The acting - Body language Movement Costume Through the eyes of the camera - Shots Angles Movement Focus Lighting – Key Natural/unnatural Colour 4 Film Technique – Gattaca

______

______5 Film Technique – Gattaca

______

Soundtrack – helps in the telling of the story

Natural Sound Often in the background to convey a sense of location, for example a gushing river.

Dialogue This is crucial in the development of the story; this is where the themes and issues of the films are largely explored.

Voice-over This is when words are spoken by someone who is not in the frame, and it used to give a character the opportunity to comment on scenes they are not in, the beginning of the story or comment about their feelings.

Music Music is used to create the atmosphere in a film. It is often used to shape the viewer’s attitude to what they are about to see. Certain music can be associated with particular characters, for example Jaws. Sometimes songs can be written for certain films, in which the words can expand on some of the themes in the film. Certain songs can suggest a particular time, place or feeling.

Comment of two different uses of soundtrack in the film. Describe the scene, the characters involved and the effect that the sound is having on the audience.

Natural Sound / Dialogue / Voice-over/Music:

______

Natural Sound / Dialogue / Voice-over/Music:

______

Editing – editor assembles the shots from various locations and places them in the sequence they wish to see the film.

Cut Some films have a very large number of cuts, whereas other films might have very few. A film that is heavily edited (lots of cuts), tends to control the audience more. A common use of this technique is in montage sequences. We are made to look at everything the editor wants us to see. A suspense-thriller is usually edited this way because the director wants to control our reactions. A film with few cuts tends to let events unfold from a middle distance. This way the viewer watches the scene in mid-shot and selects what she or he wants to watch. This approach is less controlling of the viewer.

Fade A fade occurs when an image gradually fades to a blank or coloured screen. This can suggest the passing of time.

Dissolve This occurs when one frame is gradually replaced by another. These are used to suggest a special relationship between the scenes that dissolve into one another, or a change of location or time.

Wipe This occurs when one image appears to wipe off or replace another image.

Flashback Change in time within the story to piece all the ideas together.

Choose one scene from the film and comment on the message conveyed to the audience through the editing techniques used. ______

Imagine you are the director and recreate this scene using and alternative sequence of shots. How have you altered the message? 9 Film Technique – Gattaca