Film Analysis: Cinematography, Sound, Writing, and Acting

Introduction to Film Analysis

Film is a comprehensive work of art with visual, symbolic, auditory, and potentially political elements. Yet individual scenes can be deconstructed to reveal the role of the camera, its angles, and lighting on the overall impact of the movie. Directorial cues and cinematography therefore comprise the most basic means of analyzing a film. A movie is, after all, a motion picture. Cinematography is a key element of film quality, but the visual dimension of film is not limited to its cinematography. Directorial elements including setting, tone, and mood are also part of a comprehensive film analysis. The use of special effects and editorial technique should also be viewed as part of the overall impact of a film.

Beyond its visual dimensions, films depend on the deft use of sound. Moreover, issues related to screenplay quality and dialogue must also be taken into consideration when analyzing a film. The casting and quality of acting also make a movie memorable. Casting and acting play a role in how a film is marketed, which in turn affects its social impact. While some films are unabashedly trivial, others aim for political or emotional punch. Film analysis takes into account the various manifestations of cinematography, sound, writing, and acting.

Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather demonstrates how each of these individual elements can come together in a cinematic masterpiece. The setting and lighting impart mood, just as the deft use of camera angles and other directorial cues determine the impact of each scene. Decades before The Godfather, director Orson Welles revealed the power of film to evoke the chiaroscuro of Dutch painters such as Rembrandt and Vermeer. Alfred Hitchcock's command of setting and cinematographic elements set the stage for future directors. Prototypical films like the original German silent film Nosferatu are also emblematic of the visual power of cinema. Cinematography is therefore the most foundational of all analytical elements.

Cinematography: Camera, Lighting, and Visual Language

In Cinematography: Theory and Practice, Brown (2002) lists the most crucial elements of a film's visual language. What a director opts to focus on in each frame informs the viewer what to pay attention to as well. Thus, in a room full of people, the camera will focus on one face to signal to the audience who matters, without losing the context of the scene. Camera dynamics — including dolly movement, craning, and aerial shots — play a slightly different role than the lens itself. Whereas the lens may literally direct a viewer's focus onto a scene or character, camera dynamics have the power to change the pace and feel of the film. Action movies take full advantage of the range of camera dynamics made possible by technological advancements. Even slower, suspense-oriented films like those directed by Alfred Hitchcock rely on panning and other dynamic elements.

Like camera dynamics, lighting and color effects are crucial to the mood of a movie. Lighting has the power to create intense shadows, such as those in Orson Welles's The Third Man or in Murnau's 1922 silent masterpiece Nosferatu. Color and lens filters add unique dynamics that no other cinematographic technique can provide. For example, the Coen Brothers used an unusual sepia tone in their 2000 production O Brother, Where Art Thou? Modern filmmakers may opt for black-and-white film for deliberate effect, whereas filmmakers in the early days of the medium had no choice. For filmmakers in the 1930s, lighting, exposure, and shadow had to speak for themselves. Lighting can even be considered a means of storytelling in film noir (Brown, 2002). When analyzing a movie, the quality of the techniques employed is far more important than their quantity or relative technological sophistication. This is one reason why a 1922 film like Nosferatu can be a better example of filmmaking than a contemporary vampire film, despite the far greater number of special effects available to modern productions.

Modern filmmakers can choose from any number of visual elements that influence the overall outcome of their work. A filmmaker may use high-definition cameras or even 3D technology, as James Cameron did in his 2009 film Avatar. Such elements can dramatically alter the visual imagery of a film but cannot compensate for a poorly written script. Cinematography is therefore only one of many tools used to analyze and evaluate the quality of a film.

Screenplay, Dialogue, and Symbolic Depth

A film like Avatar can be visually stunning while lacking in emotional impact. Emotional impact is conveyed primarily through the strength of a screenplay. A good director can enhance an already well-written screenplay by incorporating cinematographic elements. A well-written screenplay can fall apart in the hands of the wrong director, but even an excellent director can only do so much with a poorly written one. Films like The Godfather combine the full package of stunning cinematography with stellar screenwriting.

Analyzing a film requires an appreciation for the screenplay as a whole, including but not limited to its dialogue. The quality of the screenplay determines the meaning, impact, and often the marketability of a movie. Even the most aggressively marketed film will fade over time, whereas classics like Casablanca continue to be purchased for film libraries. Dialogue is only one aspect of a successful screenplay. While dialogue propels some movies, others rely more on the writer's ability to communicate emotional intensity through action and image. For example, Mike Nichols's 1966 film Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is based on a stage play by Edward Albee. As such, the film is filled with extraordinary dialogue, and even though it unfolds in essentially one location, it achieves enormous emotional force. At the other end of the spectrum, surrealist cinema often relies solely on imagery to convey central themes, taking the meaning of "motion picture" quite literally, whereas dialogue-driven films focus more on cinema's potential to mimic theater. In either case, film analysis demands a genuine appreciation for both the medium and the message.

When medium and message converge, as they do in truly great works of cinema, analysis becomes especially enriching. Bellour (2000) points out the nuances in Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder, noting that Hitchcock embedded "M"-related symbols throughout the film — such as the character name Margot and a close-up shot of Margot's finger dialing the letter M on the telephone dial (p. 230). Master filmmakers like Hitchcock understood the power of cinema to combine sound, staging, lighting, script, and camerawork into a cohesive work of art. Symbols can be multilayered, enabling viewers to return to the same film again and again without losing interest.

In Hitchcock's Psycho, for instance, Marion's murder is not the only event propelling the plot. The psychotic Norman Bates is the true focal point of the film. By centering the viewer's attention on Bates, the film reveals that Freudian neuroses related to his dead mother have been generating the tension all along, forcing the audience to confront uncomfortable feelings related to matricide. The Silence of the Lambs similarly compels viewers to grapple with the interface between intelligence and insanity. How a protagonist deals with difficult situations allows viewers to project their own desires onto the characters, much as they might in a great work of literature. Film analysis can focus almost exclusively on this literary dimension of cinema, enabling exploration of themes ranging from psychosis to romantic love.

Conclusion

Film analysis takes into account the various manifestations of cinematography, sound, writing, and acting. The arrangement of visual elements on screen is the most immediate encounter a viewer has with a movie, while acting imparts the obvious dimensions of drama and marketability. However, more subtle and less immediately visible elements of filmmaking are equally important to analyze, because they ensure that the message is embodied in the medium. Film editors piece together individual shots and create thematic continuity, even in films with nonlinear plot lines. Sound and music go a long way toward creating mood and ambiance. Finally, the social and political context of a film contributes to its value and its impact on audiences.

References

Bellour, R. (2000). The Analysis of Film. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Bertolucci, B. (1993). Little Buddha. Feature film.

Brown, B. (2002). Cinematography: Theory and Practice. USA: Elsevier Science.

Cameron, J. (2009). Avatar. Feature film.

Coen, J., & Coen, E. (2000). O Brother, Where Art Thou? Feature film.

Coppola, F. F. (1979). Apocalypse Now. Feature film.

Coppola, F. F. (1972). The Godfather. Feature film.

Iñárritu, A. G. (2006). Babel. Feature film.

Jackson, P. (2001). The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Feature film.

Nichols, M. (1966). Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Feature film.

Rentschler, E., & Kaes, A. (n.d.). Reading a film sequence. Retrieved May 14, 2010, from