Types of Form in Films l Categorical l

Types of ‘Form’ in Films

l Categorical l Rhetorical l Abstract l Associational l Narrative

l Categorical: A type of filmic organization in which the parts treat distinct subsets of a topic. l For example, a film about the united states might be organized into fifty parts, each devoted to a single state.

l Rhetorical: A type of filmic organization in which the parts create and support an argument.

l Abstract: A type of filmic organization in which the parts relate to one another through repetition and variation of such visual qualities as shape, color, rhythm and direction of movement.

l Associational: A type of organization in which the film’s parts are juxtaposed to suggest similarities, contrasts, concepts, emotions, and expressive qualities.

l Narrative: A type of filmic organization in which the parts relate to each other through a series of causally related events taking place in time and space.

Film Formal System Interacts with Narrative Categorical Rhetorical Abstract Associational Stylistic system patterned & significant use of techniques Mise-en-scene Cinematography Editing Sound

Narrative film Should constitute the following elements: l it will have a plot that cues us to construct a story; l it will manipulate causality, time and space, l it will have a distinct pattern of development from opening to closing, l it may use parallelism, l its narration will choose between restricted and more unrestricted knowledge at various points.

How to identify Non-narrative films: l Try and seek to understand what other type of formal organization it uses. l Is the film unified as a set of categories, or an argument, or a stream of associations? l Is it structured by an abstract set of technical features? l Grasping the logic that underlies the whole film supplies a context for its use in films techniques.

Style can create subtle sense of narrative progression. l A scene will usually have a dramatic pattern of encounter, conflict, and outcome, and the style will often reflect this, with the cutting becoming more marked and the shots coming closer to the characters as the scene progresses.

Sometimes however stylistic patterning will not respect the nonnarrative or narrative structure of the film. l style can claim our attention in its own right. Since most stylistic devices have several functions, a technique may interest the analyst for different reasons.

Meanings in Films l Meaning is only one type of effect, and there is no reason to expect that every stylistic feature will posses thematic significance. l One part of a director’s job is to direct our attention, and so style will often function simply perceptually – to get us to notice things, to emphasize one thing over another, to misdirect our attention, to clarify, intensify, or complicate our understanding of the action.