Film Art: An Introduction, Essay Example

What is film form?

Just like every work of art, film also has a form. It is a system that provides the art with structure. It is influenced by the viewers’ expectation, emotions, and relationships between characters and events. Overall, the film form is the total system by which the audience understands and perceives the film (Bordwell, 42).

Define it and its specific parts.

The specific tools used in e form of the film are emotion, feeling, meaning, evaluation. However, the main parts of the form are based on relationships between events, emotions, and characters, such as  function, similarity and repetition, and development, and unity/disunity. However, using the above rules of structure requires the person analyzing the structure to break down the film to smalller and larger parts, which is a process called segmentation.

What are the “principles of film form?” Define the five examples give in Film Art.

The formal principles of the film form are function, similarity and repetition, difference and variation, development, and unity/disunity. An example for function can be the role of Miss Gulch, as the person who makes Doroty run away from home in “The Wizard of Oz”, therefore, she is a motivator. In the same movie, similarity is represented by the characters who all lack something and desire help (scarecrow and tinman, etc). Difference and variation is represented by the same characters, as they appear different, and have one thing in common: lacking an ability, but they have limitations in unique areas. Development is also represented by how the characters changed, or by their journey. Unity and disunity  is also presented by taking the same path and asking for help together.

What is narrative?

Narrative is one of the subsystems of the film form, along with the stylistic one. Narrative is a chain of events that are in logical, chain-effect relationship with each other.

What is the difference between “plot” and “story?”

The story is the idea behind the system, while the plot is the starting point for the development. The story is the entire narrative, while the plot is designed to explain something through the events.

What is narration?

Narration is designed to create suspense and curiosity through a series of plots and narratives. It is how the plot provides information for the viewer.

Works Cited

Bordwell, David; Thompson, Kristin.. “Film Art: An Introduction” (4th Edition).  1993. Print.