TENTH EDITION

AN INTRODUCTION

David BordweIl Kristin ThompsonUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison

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BRIEF CONTENTS

Preface xiv

PA RT 1 • Film Art and Filmmaking

1 Film as Art: Creativity, Technology, and Business 2

PA RT 2 • Film Form

2 The Significance of Film Form 50

3 Narrative Form 72

PART 3 • Film Style

4 The Shot: Mise-en-Scene 112

5 The Shot: Cinematography 160

6 The Relation of Shot to Shot: Editing 218

7 Sound in the Cinema 266

8 Summary: Style as a Formal System 308

PAR T 4 • Types of Films

9 Film Genres 328

10 Documentary, Experimental, and Animated Films 350

PAR T 5 • Critical Analysis of Films

11 Film Criticism: Sampie Analyses 402

Appendix: Writing a Critica,1 Analysis of a Film 450

PART 6 • Film History

12 Historical Changes in film Art: Conventions and Choices, Tradition and Trends 458

Glossary 500

Credits 506

Recommended DVO and Blu-Ray Supplements 506

Index 507

vi

Preface xiv

PA RT 1 • Film Art and Filmmaking

CONTENTS

Art VS. Entertainment? Art vs. Business? 3Creative Decisions in Filmmaking 4

V DECISIO S To See into the Night in Collateral 5

Mechanics of the Movies 9Illusion Machines 9

Making rilms with Photographie Film 9

Films as Digital Media /3

Making the Movie: Film Production /6Thc Scriptwriting and Funding Phase /7

Thc Preparation Phase /8

Thc Shooting Phase 20

Thc Assembly Phase 24

A CLOSER LOOK-Some Terms and Roles in Film Production 24

Artistic Implications of the Production Process 28

Modes of Production 29Largc-Scale Production 29Exploitation, Independent Production, and DIY 30

Small-Scale Production 3J

Artistic Implications of Different Modes of Production 32

Bringing the Fi Im to the Audience: Distribution and Exhibition 34Distribution: The Center of Power 34Exhibition: Theatrical and Nontheatrical 39

Ancillary Markets: Taking Movies beyond the Theater 4J

Artistic Implications of Distribution and Exhibition 43

SUMMARY 47

RECOMMENDED DVD AND BLU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 47

CHAPTER 1and Business

Film as Art: Creativity, Technology,2

PART 2 • Film Form

CHAPTER 2 The Significance of Film Form 50

The Concept of Form in Film 5/Form as Pauem 5/

"Form" Ycrsus "Content" 52

Formal Expectations 54

Conventions anel Experience 56

Form and Feeling 56

Form ami Meaning 57

Evaluation: Good, Bad, or Indifferent? 60

viii 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

Narrative Form 72CHAPTER 3

Principles of Narrative Form 72What ls 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 LightsGo Down, the Narration Starts 94

CREATIVE DECISIO S-Choices about Narration in Storytelling 96

The Classical Hollywood Cinema 97

Narrative Form in Citizen Kane 99

Overall Narrative Expectations in Cilizen Kane 99

Plot and Story in Cilizen Kane 100

Cilizen Kane's Causality 102

Time in Cilizen Kane 103

Motivation in Cilizen Kane 105

Cilhen Kane's Parallelism 106

Patterns of Plot Development in Cilizen Kane 107

Narration in Cilizen Kane 108

SUMMARY Il()

RECOMMENDED DVD AND BlU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 110

PAR T 3 • Film Style

CHAPTER 4 The Shot: Mise-en-Scene 112

What ls Mise-en-Scene? 112

The Power 01' Mise-en-Scene 113

Components of Mise-en-Scene 115

Setting 115

Costume and Makeup 119

Lighting 124

Staging: Movement and Performance 131

A ClOSER lOOK-The Film Actor's Toolkit 134

Pulting 11 All Together: Mise-en-Scene in Space anel Time 140

IVE DECISIO S-Mise-en-Scene in a Sequence from L'Avventura 141

Space 143

C EATIVE DECISIONS-Mise-en-Scene in Two Shots from Day of Wrath 149

Time 150

Narrative Functions of Mise-en-Scene in Our Hospifality 154

SUMMARY /58

RECOMMENDED DVD AND BlU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 159

CHAPTER 5 The Shot: Cinematography 160

The Photographie Image 160

Thc Range 01' Tonalities 160

Speed or Motion 165

A ClOSER lOOK-From Monsters to the Mundane 166

Perspeetive 169

Fram ing 178

A ClOSER LOOK-Virtual Perspective: 3D 180

Frame Dimensions and Shape 182

C TIVE DECISIONS-Using Widescreen Framing /84

Onscreen and Offscreen Space /86

Camera Position: Angle, Level, Height, and Distance of Framing /88

LPEAf VE OECISIO S-Camera Position in a Shot fromThe Social Network 192

The Mobile Frame 195

EATIV DECISIONS-Mobile Framing and Film Form:Grand Illusion and Wavelength 204

Dur:nion of the Image: The Long Take 210

Real Time Is ... What? 2/l

FlInctions of the Long Take 211

The Long Take and the Mobile Frame 2/2

SUMMARY 216

RECOMMENDED DVO ANO BlU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 216

CHAPTER 6 The Relation of Shot to Shot:Editing 218

What Is Ecliting? 219

C TI EDEC SIO -Why Cut? Four Shots from The Birds 220

Dimensions of Film Editing 221

Graphie Relations between Shot A and Shot B 221

Rhythmie Relations belween Shot A and Shot B 226

Spatial Relations between Shot A and Shot B 227

Temporal Relations between Shot A and Shot B 228

Conlinllity Editing 232

Spatial Continuity: The 1800 System 233

Continuity Editing in The Ma/lese Fa/con 235

Continuity Editing: Some Fine Points 239

CONTENTS ix

x CONTENTS

CR OECISIO -Are You Looking at Me? Point-of-View Cutting in Rear Window 243

Crosseutting 246

Temporal Continuity: Order, Frequeney, and Duration 247

A ClOSER LOOK-Intensified Continuity: Unstoppable. L. A. Confidential, and Contemporary Editing 248

Alternatives to Continuity Editing 255

Graphie and Rhythmie Possibilities 255

Spatial and Temporal Diseontinuity 257

C E TI OECISIO S-Discontinuity Editing in October 26/

SUMMARY 26·/

RECOMMENDEO DVD AND BLU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 265

CHAPTER 7 Sound In Cinema 266

Sound Decisions 266

Thc Powers of Sound 267

Sound Shapcs Our Understanding of Images 268

Sound Directs Our Attention 268

Fundamentals or Film Sound 270

Pcrceptual Propertics 270

hoosing, Altering, and Combining Sounds 273

r.pEATIVE DECISIONS-Editing Dialogue: Ta Overlap orNot to Overlap? 275

Dimensions of Film Sound 28/

Rhythm 28/

Fidelity 283

Spaee 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 Magie 299

Eehoes, Visual and Auditory 30/

Two Journals 302

Hinting at Seerets 303

The Opening 304

SUMMARY JOt)

RECOMMENDEO DVD AND BLU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 307

CHAPTER 8 Summary: Style and Film Form 308

The Concept or Style 308

TI OECISIO S-Style and the Filmmaker 309

Deeision Making: Techniques Working Together 3/0

Watehing and Listening: Style and the Viewer 310

Analyzing Style 3//

1. What Is the Film's Overall Form') 3/2

2. What Are lhe Primary Teehniques Being Used') 312

3. What Patterns Are Formed by the Teehniques') 3/2

4. What Funetions Do the Teehniques and Patterns FuInll? 3/4

A CLOSER lOOK-Stylistic Synthesis in Shadow of a Doubt 3/5

Style in Citizen Kane 316

Myslery and the Penetrarion of Space 317

Style and Narration: Resrriction and Objectivity 319

Style and Narration: Omniscence 321

Narrative Parallels: Settings 321

Paralleis: Other Techniques 322

A Convincing Newsreel 324

Plot Time through Editing 324

SUMMARY 326RECOMMENDED DVD AND BLU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 326

PA RT 4 • Types of Films

CHAPTER 9 Film Genres 328

Understanding Genre 329Defining a Genre 330

Analyzing a Genre 331

Genre History 333

A CLOSER LOOK-Creative Decisions in a Contemporary Genre: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 Documenrary~ 350

The Boundaries between Documenrary and Fiction 352

Genres of Documentary 353

Form in Documentary Films 354

Categorical Form: Introduction 355

C EATIVE DECISIONS-Engaging Viewers UsingCategorical Form 356

An Example of Categorical Form: Gap-Toolhed Women 357

Rhetorical Form: lntroduction 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

Abslract Form: Introduction 371

eR JIVE OE ISIO S Designing Form in an Abstract Film 371

An EX<lmple 01' Abstract Form: Ballet Mecanique 373

Associational Form: lntroduction 378

An Example of Assoeiational Form: Koyaanisqalsi 379

CONTENTS xi

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 0/ Dialogue 395

SUMMARY 398

RECOMMENDED DVD AND BLU-RAY SUPPLEMENTS 399

PAR T 5 • Critical Analysis of Films

The Classical Narrative Cinema 403

His Girl Frida)' 403

Norrh !Jy Norrhwesr 406

/)" The Riglzr Thing 410

Narrative Alternatives 10 Classical Filmmaking 4/5

Brearh/ess (A !Jout de soujfle) 415

Tokyo Story (Tokyo Monogatari) 420

Chungking Express (Chung Hing sam 10m) 425

Documentary Form and Style 429

Man wirh a Movie Camera (Che/ovek s kinoappararom) 429

The Thin B/ue Line 433

Form, Style, and Ideology 439

Meer Me in Sr. Louis 439

Raging Bu" 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 450

Step 2: Draw Up a Segmentation of the Entire Film 450

Step 3: Note Outstanding Instances of Film Technique 45/

Organizing and Writing 451

Introducing Your Thesis 452

The Body: Reasons, Evidence, Examples 452

Wrapping Things Up 453

Summary: Key Questions for an Analytical Essay 453

A Sam pie Analytical Essay 453

Fantasy and Reality in The King of Comedy 454

Sample-Analysis Films on DVD 456

CHAPTER 11 Film Criticism: Sampie Analyses 402

PA RT 6 • Firn Art and Film History

CHAPTER 12 Historical Changes in Film Art:Conventions and Choices, Tradition and Trends 458

CRE TlVE DECISIONS-Film Form and Style across History 459

Traditions and Movements in Film History 461

Early Cinema (1893-1903) 462

Photography and Cinema 463

Edison VS. Lumiere 463

Early Form and Style 464Melies, Magie, and Fietional Narrative 465

The Devclopment of the Classical Hollywood Cinema (1908-1927) 466

Hollywood and the Studio System of Produetion 466Classical Form and Style in Place 468

German Expressionism (1919-1926) 469

French Impressionism and Surrcalism (1918-1930) 472Impressionism 473

Surrealism 474Soviet Montage (1924-1930) 476

Artists and the State 476

NEP Cinema 477

The Priority of Editing 478The 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 481Deep Focus and Narrative Innovations 482

Ilalian Neorealism (1942-1951) 483Leaving the Studio 484

A New Model of Storytelling 484The Movement's End and Its Legacy 485

The French New Wave (1959-1964) 485

Movie Critics Become Moviemakers 486A New Wave Style 486

Neorealism Recast 487Into the Mainstream and Beyond 487

The New Hollywood and Independent Filmmaking, 1970s-1980s 488

Blockbusters and Indie Pictures 489The Rise of the Movie Brats 489Other Paths 490

The 1980s and After 491Hollywood and Independents, To Be Continued 493

Hong Kong Cinema, 1980s-1990s 494

A Local Tradition Goes Global 494

The New Generation: Two SchooIs 494Story and Style 495

Legaey Overseas 496

RECOMMENDED DVD AND BlU-RAY DISeS 49R

Glossary 500Credits 506Recommended OVO and Blu-ray Oiscs 506Index 507

CONTENTS xiii