TENTH EDITION AN INTRODUCTION David Bordwell Kristin Thompson University of Wisconsin Madison Connect Learn 1 Succeed'"
C n M T F M T Q UUIN I L. IN I O s PSTdlC XIV PART 1 Film Art and Filmmaking HAPTER 1 Film as Art: Creativity, Technology, and Business 2 Art vs. Entertainment? Art vs. Business? 3 Creative Decisions in Filmmaking 4 CREATIVE DECISIONS-To See into the Night in Collateral 5 Mechanics of the Movies 9 Illusion Machines 9 Making Films with Photographic Film 9 Films as Digital Media 13 Making the Movie: Film Production 16 The Scriptwriting and Funding Phase 17 Fhe Preparation Phase 18 The Shooting Phase 20 The Assembly Phase 24 A CLOSER LOOK Some Terms and Roles in Film Production 24 Artistic Implications of the Production Process 28 Modes of Production 29 Large-Scale Production 29 Exploitation, Independent Production, and DIY 30 Small-Scale Production 31 Artistic Implications of Different Modes of Production 32 Bringing the Film to the Audience: Distribution and Exhibition 34 Distribution: The Center of Power 34 Exhibition: Theatrical and Nontheatrical 39 Ancillary Markets: Taking Movies beyond the Theater 41 Artistic Implications of Distribution and Exhibition 43 SUMMARY 47 RECOMMENDED DVD AND BLU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 47 PART 2 Film Form CHAPTER 2 The Significance of Film Form 50 The Concept of Form in Film 51 Form as Pattern 51 "Form" Versus "Content" 52 Formal Expectations 54 Conventions and Experience 56 Form and Feeling 56 Form and Meaning 57 Evaluation: Good, Bad, or Indifferent? 60
VÜi CONTENTS Principles of Film Form 62 Function 62 Similarity and Repetition 63 A CLOSER LOOK-Creative Decisions: Picking Out Patterns 64 Difference and Variation 66 Development 67 Unity and Disunity 69 SUMMARY 70 RECOMMENDED DVD AND BLU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 71 CHAPTER 3 Narrative Form 72 Principles of Narrative Form 72 What Is Narrative? 73 Telling the Story 74 CREATIVE DECISIONS-How Would You Tell the Story? 74 Plot and Story 75 Cause and Effect 77 Time 79 A CLOSER LOOK-Playing Games with Story Time 82 Space 84 Openings, Closings, and Patterns of Development 85 Narration: The Flow of Story Information 87 Range of Story Information: Restricted or Unrestricted? 87 Depth of Story Information: Objective or Subjective? 90 The Narrator 93 A CLOSER LOOK-Creative Decisions: When the Lights Go Down, the Narration Starts 94 CREATIVE DECISIONS Choices about Narration in Storytelling 96 The Classical Hollywood Cinema 97 Narrative Form in Citizen Kane 99 Overall Narrative Expectations in Citizen Kane 99 Plot and Story in Citizen Kane 100 Citizen Kane's Causality 102 Time in Citizen Kane 103 Motivation in Citizen Kane 105 Citizen Kane's Parallelism 106 Patterns of Plot Development in Citizen Kane 107 Narration in Citizen Kane 108 SUMMARY 110 RECOMMENDED DVD AND BLU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 110 PART 3 Film Style CHAPTER 4 The Shot: Mise-en-Scene 112 What Is Mise-en-Scene? 112 The Power of Mise-en-Scene 113 Components of Mise-en-Scene 115 Setting 115 Costume and Makeup 119
CONTENTS Lighting 124 Staging: Movement and Performance 131 A CLOSER LOOK-The Film Actor's Toolkit 134 Putting It All Together: Mise-en-Scene in Space and Time 140 CREATIVE D E C I S i O N S - M i s e - e n - S c e n e in a S e q u e n c e from L'Avventura Space CREATIVE DECIS10NS-Mise-en-Scene in Two Shots from Day of Wrath Time 150 Narrative Functions of Mise-en-Scene in Our Hospitality 154 SUMMARY 158 RECOMMENDED DVD AND BLU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 159 CHAPTERS The Shot: Cinematography The Photographic Image 160 The Range of Tonalities 160 Speed of Motion 165 A CLOSER LOOK From Monsters to the Mundane Perspective 169 Framing 178 A CLOSER LOOK-Virtual Perspective: 3D 180 Frame Dimensions and Shape 182 CREATIVE D E C I S I O N S - U s i n g W i d e s c r e e n Framing 160 166 184 Onscreen and Offscreen Space 186 Camera Position: Angle, Level, Height, and Distance of Framing CREATIVE D E C I S I O N S - C a m e r a Position in a Shot from The Social Network 192 The Mobile Frame 195 CREATIVE DECISIONS-Mobile Framing and Film Form: Grand Illusion and Wavelength 204 Duration of the Image: The Long Take 210 Real Time Is... What? 211 Functions of the Long Take 211 188 The Long Take and the Mobile Frame 212 SUMMARY 141 143 216 RECOMMENDED DVD AND BLU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS CHAPTER 6 Editing 218 What Is Editing? 216 The Relation of Shot to Shot: 219 CREATIVE DECISIONS-Why Cut? Four Shots from The Birds Dimensions of Film Editing 221 Graphic Relations between Shot A and Shot B 221 Rhythmic Relations between Shot A and Shot B 226 Spatial Relations between Shot A and Shot B 227 Temporal Relations between Shot A and Shot B 228 Continuity Editing 232 Spatial Continuity: The 180 System 233 Continuity Editing in The Maltese Falcon 235 Continuity Editing: Some Fine Points 239 220 149
x CONTENTS CREATIVE DECISIONS-Are You Looking at Me? Point-of-View Cutting in Rear Window 243 Crosscutting 246 Temporal Continuity: Order, Frequency, and Duration 247 A CLOSER LOOK Intensified Continuity: Unstoppable, L. A. Confidential, and Contemporary Editing 248 Alternatives to Continuity Editing 255 Graphic and Rhythmic Possibilities 255 Spatial and Temporal Discontinuity 257 CREATIVE DECISIONS-Discontinuity Editing in October 261 SUMMARY 264 RECOMMENDED DVD AND BLU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 265 CHAPTER 7 Sound in Cinema 266 Sound Decisions 266 The Powers of Sound 267 Sound Shapes Our Understanding of Images 268 Sound Directs Our Attention 268 Fundamentals of Film Sound 270 Perceptual Properties 270 Choosing, Altering, and Combining Sounds 273 CREATIVE DECISIONS Editing Dialogue: To Overlap or Not to Overlap? 275 Dimensions of Film Sound 281 Rhythm 281 Fidelity 283 Space 284 A CLOSER LOOK-Offscreen Sound and Optical Point of View: The Money Exchange in Jackie Brown 286 Time 294 Functions of Film Sound: The Prestige 298 Transported Men 298 The Sounds of Magic 299 Echoes, Visual and Auditory 301 Two Journals 302 Hinting at Secrets 303 The Opening 304 SUMMARY 306 RECOMMENDED DVD AND BLU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 307 CHAPTER 8 Summary: Style and Film Form 308 The Concept of Style 308 CREATIVE DECISIONS Style and the Filmmaker 309 Decision Making: Techniques Working Together 310 Watching and Listening: Style and the Viewer 310 Analyzing Style 311 1. What Is the Film's Overall Form? 312 2. What Are the Primary Techniques Being Used? 312 3. What Patterns Are Formed by the Techniques? 312 4. What Functions Do the Techniques and Patterns Fulfill? 314 A CLOSER LOOK-Stylistic Synthesis in Shadow of a Doubt 315
CONTENTS xi Style in Citizen Kane 316 Mystery and the Penetration of Space 317 Style and Narration: Restriction and Objectivity 319 Style and Narration: Omniscence 321 Narrative Parallels: Settings 321 Parallels: Other Techniques 322 A Convincing Newsreel 324 Plot Time through Editing 324 SUMMARY 326 RECOMMENDED DVD AND BLU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 326 PART 4 Types of Films CHAPTER 9 Film Genres 328 Understanding Genre 329 Defining a Genre 330 Analyzing a Genre 331 Genre History 333 A CLOSER LOOK Creative Decisions in a Contemporary Gen The Crime Thriller as Subgenre 334 The Social Functions of Genres 338 Three Genres 339 The Western 339 The Horror Film 341 The Musical 344 SUMMARY 348 RECOMMENDED DVD AND BLU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 348 CHAPTER 10 Documentary, Experimental, and Animated Films 350 Documentary 350 What Is a Documentary? 350 The Boundaries between Documentary and Fiction 352 Genres of Documentary 353 Form in Documentary Films 354 Categorical Form: Introduction 355 ISIONS Engaging Viewers Using Categorical Form 356 An Example of Categorical Form: Gap-Toothed Women 357 Rhetorical Form: Introduction 362 An Example of Rhetorical Form: The River 364 Experimental Film 369 A Range of Technical Choices 370 Types of Form in Experimental Film 371 Abstract Form: Introduction 371 CREATIVE DECISIONS-Designing Form in an Abstract Film An Example of Abstract Form: Ballet Mecanique 373 Associational Form: Introduction 378 An Example of Associational Form: Koyaanisqatsi 379
xii CONTENTS The Animated Film 386 Types of Traditional Animation 387 Types of Computer Animation 389 An Example of Traditional Animation: Duck Amuck 392 An Example of Experimental Animation: Dimensions of Dialogue SUMMARY 395 398 RECOMMENDED DVD AND BLU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 399 PART 5 Critical Analysis of Films C H A P T E R 11 Film Criticism: Sample Analyses 402 The Classical Narrative Cinema 403 His Girl Friday 403 North by Northwest 406 Do The Right Thing 410 Narrative Alternatives to Classical Filmmaking 415 Breathless (A bout de souffle) 415 Tokyo Story (Tokyo Monogatari) 420 Chungking Express (Chung Hing sam lam) 425 Documentary Form and Style 429 Man with a Movie Camera (Chelovek s kinoapparatom.) 429 The Thin Blue Line 433 Form, Style, and Ideology 439 Meet Me in St. Louis 439 Raging Bull 445 Appendix: Writing a Critical Analysis of a Film 450 Preparing to Write 450 Step 1: Develop a Thesis That Your Essay Will Explain and Support Step 2: Draw Up a Segmentation of the Entire Film 450 Step 3: Note Outstanding Instances of Film Technique Organizing and Writing 450 451 451 Introducing Your Thesis 452 The Body: Reasons, Evidence, Examples Wrapping Things Up 452 453 Summary: Key Questions for an Analytical Essay A Sample Analytical Essay 453 453 Fantasy and Reality in The King of Comedy Sample-Analysis Films on DVD 454 456 PART 6 Film Art and Film History C H A P T E R 12 Historical Changes in Film A r t : Conventions and Choices, Tradition and Trends CREATIVE DECiStONS-Film Form and Style a c r o s s History Traditions and Movements in Film History 461 Early Cinema (1893-1903) 462 Photography and Cinema 463 Edison vs. Lumiere 463 459 458
CONTENTS Early Form and Style 464 Melies, Magic, and Fictional Narrative 465 The Development of the Classical Hollywood Cinema (1908-1927) 466 Hollywood and the Studio System of Production 466 Classical Form and Style in Place 468 German Expressionism (1919-1926) 469 French Impressionism and Surrealism (1918-1930) 472 Impressionism 473 Surrealism 474 Soviet Montage (1924-1930) 476 Artists and the State 476 NEP Cinema 477 The Priority of Editing 478 The Movement Ends 478 The Classical Hollywood Cinema after the Coming of Sound, 1930s-1940s 480 Converting to Sound 480 Problems and Solutions 480 Studios, Genres, and Spectacle 481 Deep Focus and Narrative Innovations 482 Italian Neorealism (1942-1951) 483 Leaving the Studio 484 A New Model of Storytelling 484 The Movement's End and Its Legacy 485 The French New Wave (1959-1964) 485 Movie Critics Become Moviemakers 486 A New Wave Style 486 Neorealism Recast 487 Into the Mainstream and Beyond 487 The New Hollywood and Independent Filmmaking, 1970s-1980s 488 Blockbusters and Indie Pictures 489 The Rise of the Movie Brats 489 Other Paths 490 The 1980s and After 491 Hollywood and Independents, To Be Continued 493 Hong Kong Cinema, 1980s-1990s 494 A Local Tradition Goes Global 494 The New Generation: Two Schools 494 Story and Style 495 Legacy Overseas 496 RECOMMENDED DVD AND BLU-RAY DISCS 498 Glossary 500 Credits 506 Recommended DVD and Blu-ray Discs 506 Index 507