Notes from “Looking at Film: An introduction to film” 2nd Edition by Richard Barsam
Before a movie even begins, we may start to form impressions quickly. As the film plays out we may experience a more complex web of expectations which may be tied to the events within the world of the film and to our sense that certain events follow others (related by cause and effect and logic).
Once a film begins some aspect will be altered by an incident or catalyst which will force certain characters to pursue certain goals. As the film progresses we immediately ask questions about the story’s outcome, questions we will be asking repeatedly and waiting to have answered over the course of the film. Sometimes our expectations can be led astray. In Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), the case of money that is stolen has nothing to do with Marion Crane’s (Janet Leigh) downfall and turns out to have little purpose in the events of the story all together. The money plays no role in motivating any of the other characters except for Marion Crane. Our expectations that the stolen money would be involved in the plot resolution is never realized.
“Seemingly insignificant and abstract elements of film such as color schemes, sounds, the length of shots, and the movement of the camera often cooperate with the dramatic elements to either heighten or confuse our expectations.” One way films accomplish this is by establishing patterns. “Instinctively, we search for patterns and progressions in all art forms. The more these meet out expectations (or contradict them in interesting ways), the more likely we are to enjoy, analyze and interpret the work.” When reading a poem or watching a film we, subconsciously, know that the artist has organized the work according to structural principles. If we read a sonnet, for example, we expect that it will be a sonnet because it follows a structure and, specifically, a pattern of rhyming schemes. When watching a film we can be given a series of scenes that are all different but yet similar enough in content that we know that all these scenes are related and telling one story. An action sequence is busy with quick shots that are separate from the last, but when seen as a whole we can piece together that all the action occurs at the same time and in a certain scene. We can easily interpret this structure because patterns give us the ability to do so.
Before a movie even begins, we may start to form impressions quickly. As the film plays out we may experience a more complex web of expectations which may be tied to the events within the world of the film and to our sense that certain events follow others (related by cause and effect and logic).
Once a film begins some aspect will be altered by an incident or catalyst which will force certain characters to pursue certain goals. As the film progresses we immediately ask questions about the story’s outcome, questions we will be asking repeatedly and waiting to have answered over the course of the film. Sometimes our expectations can be led astray. In Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), the case of money that is stolen has nothing to do with Marion Crane’s (Janet Leigh) downfall and turns out to have little purpose in the events of the story all together. The money plays no role in motivating any of the other characters except for Marion Crane. Our expectations that the stolen money would be involved in the plot resolution is never realized.
“Seemingly insignificant and abstract elements of film such as color schemes, sounds, the length of shots, and the movement of the camera often cooperate with the dramatic elements to either heighten or confuse our expectations.” One way films accomplish this is by establishing patterns. “Instinctively, we search for patterns and progressions in all art forms. The more these meet out expectations (or contradict them in interesting ways), the more likely we are to enjoy, analyze and interpret the work.” When reading a poem or watching a film we, subconsciously, know that the artist has organized the work according to structural principles. If we read a sonnet, for example, we expect that it will be a sonnet because it follows a structure and, specifically, a pattern of rhyming schemes. When watching a film we can be given a series of scenes that are all different but yet similar enough in content that we know that all these scenes are related and telling one story. An action sequence is busy with quick shots that are separate from the last, but when seen as a whole we can piece together that all the action occurs at the same time and in a certain scene. We can easily interpret this structure because patterns give us the ability to do so.
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