Since the early days, movies followed 2 major styles: Realistic & Formalistic

• Realism – attempts to duplicate the look of reality; tries to keep things looking real
  • Extreme forms of realism are real life stories (i.e. documentary)
• Formalism – art forms take precedence over the subject matter as content; deliberately distorts the environment
  • Formalists are often called expressionists – expressionists are concerned with spiritual and psychological truths
• Few films are completely realism or formalism in style

During the mid 1890s in France, the Lumiere brothers created short films dealing with everyday occurrences (e.g. waiting for a train to arrive at the stations and boarding it).

• They captured the spontaneity of real life
• The Lumiere brothers are regarded as the founders of the realist tradition

George Melies created fantasy films, he is regarded as the founder of the formalist tradition

Producer – Provides and oversees budget and makes sure everything is organized efficiently

Director and Screenwriter – have most influence on a film

Director

• supervises the whole filming process
• responsible for transferring from paper to screen
• films communicate primarily through making images (films are not books!)
• director chooses shots, angles, lighting effects, editing… etc

Screenwriter

• screenwriter is the author of the film
• some directors write their own screenplays, others have writers help them expand on ideas

Spectator – we are conditioned to viewing films a certain way

• we expect certain things before even watching a movie
  • westerns have a sheriff and robbers
  • Singing in the Rain – expected only singing, but there was actually a plot involved

Time and Space – Directors can spend more time on one thing than another (to emphasis clarity)

With spoken language, Directors could easily express any kind of thought

• Motif – a technique/object systematically repeated but does not draw attention to it
• Symbols are apparent – they apply meaning
• Metaphor – comparison that is not literally true
  • e.g. poisonous time, torn with grief, devoured by love…

Point of View (POV)

• In novels, people have different images in their heads (they can use their imagination)
• In films, the director chooses how it looks from their point of view

Allegory – total avoidance of realism and probability
Allusion – implied reference (e.g. Scarface was modeled after Al Capone)

In cinema, reference to another movie, director, or shot is called Homage.