Film Language vs Language about Film



IB Film Year One: Week 11.4Film Language VocabularyCinematic LanguageCinematic language is the name given by the authors to the conventions of filmmaking that have evolved over time to become something like an overall film grammar.As we do with spoken language, we often take the conventions and structures of cinematic language for granted, allowing our brains to passively experience them without much, or any, conscious interpretation.But, if we hope to understand movies better, we need to be alert to the components of cinematic language that most viewers experience without a second thought.Film Language vs Language about FilmYou have heard the term film language a few times so far.If you have looked over the IB Film Guide, especially the assessment rubrics, you will note that film language appears prominently throughout.It might easily be assumed this simply refers to a list of vocabulary, and this assumption would be partially correct.Part of your responsibility as aspiring filmmakers is to master the terminology of this artform.There is a definite set of terms that one employs when analyzing a film in a scholarly sense, rather than as an amateur who simply goes to the movies.However, that terminology might more properly be thought of as 'language about film', or the 'language of cinematic analysis'?rather than film language.Sub-plotIf you would like to see a fine portrayal of the idea that sign language can be more expressive than written or oral language, watch?the film?Children of a Lesser God, directed by Randa Haines, and based on the stage play by Mark Medoff.Do all Languages use Words?Not with Sign LanguageStandard languages, the ones we communicate with every day, break down into words?Those words are either written or spoken by a sender and are read or heard by a receiver.This is how ideas from one mind can be shared with another. It is one of the defining features of civilization.Words on the page or words in the ear, arranged in an order, which follows a language's rules - grammar or syntax - combine to make meaning.What about sign language?Hand gestures form letters or words instead.Meaning?is still communicated, sometimes even more clearly than with written or oral language, but hopefully you can see that language does not have to be tied to the standard definition of words?in order to be effective.What is Body Language?There is a wealth of meaning?we gather all the time about the people around us, with no words in the middle at all.'Reading' other peoples bodies, expressions and gesturesSmiles, frowns, tears, slumped shoulders?Body language can?communicate the inner state of another person's mind.Those facial expressions and body postures, in essence, are the 'words'?of body language.Like other Languages, Body Language relies on context in order for?meaning?to be clear.If you are taking IB Theory of Knowledge, you may have been asked in a class discussion to consider what the difference is between a 'wink' and a 'blink', as you pondered the nature of language.(If you haven't, think about it -?the same physical gesture, but a whole different meaning depending on whether your eye is irritated, or whether you want to catch someone's attention, romantically speaking).Where does body language stand on the abstract-concrete spectrum?One could certainly have a fine debate about this question, one which is again perhaps more suited to Theory of Knowledge, but it might be worth noting that the more concrete a language is, the less it has to be formally taught.In other words, no one had to ever tell you to smile when you are happy and cry when you are sad. It just happens.Written language has to be acquired, often over many years of formal instruction. Spoken language is acquired more informally, usually through immersion through oral language in the home and community.Formal sign language, though often more concrete, still has to be learned.The signs have to introduced and rmal sign language - the kind we do when we are lost in a foreign land - is usually a matter of pointing and miming...?so it just happens naturally.Body language is somewhere within this mix.Some expressions occur naturally, like smiles and tears, and others are not only learned, but culturally relative.A good example of this is conversational distance.What is a normal social-distance indicating friendship in one culture, could be understood as standoff-ish, or shy in another.What is Film Language?Film Language uses no words at all...It's the word?language?that is really the culprit here?We tend to think of language?as being intimately tied with words.The languages we use every day - French, Mandarin, Swahili, Maori?or any other for that matter - though different from each other, all rely on words, whether written or spoken.The specialized language of cinematic analysis also uses words -?words with which you have already become acquainted.Film language, on the other hand, uses no words at all.How can that be? Read on!Sign language is also often less abstract, in that the sign for a thing or an action, resembles the thing or action itself.The written or spoken word?ladder, for instance, bears no resemblance to the thing itself.The letters do not look like a ladder, and the sound does not resemble what it is like to be on one.The word is totally abstract.The sign for ladder?however, involves a hand over hand gesture that very closely resembles the act of climbing a ladder.The sign is far more concrete.In fact, if you think about it, this is how you would communicate if you were in a foreign country and did not know the language.If you wanted someone to climb a ladder, you could get that idea across, without using any words at all.Does Film Language need to be Formally Learned?Yes, and no...A language all its own?Hopefully, you understand how it is possible to have a language without words, at least without what we traditionally think of as words.Film language is like that. It uses a language all its own.Filmmakers have ideas they wish to communicate to an audience. They arrange their sets, scenes, shots, sequences, and acts in an order they believe will convey?meaning, or intent, and an audience 'reads'?that arrangement, and hopefully understands the intended meaning.As in any conversation, the audience, of course, brings its own ideas to the table, which only enriches the experience.Think back to the first films or television programs you watched as a small child.Did you have to learn how to 'read'?or interpret them the way you had to learn how to read a book? Or, did you more or less just do it?Certainly, a small child could not be asked to follow a twisting narrative sequence in a film noir, nor a complex action scene in a gangster film. ?But does a child need to be told that, when the shot cuts from one speaker to the next, the one character is not changing shape but the point-of-view has changed? ?No.Or, if a shot is only framed from the shoulders up, that the rest of the unshown body is there still? ?No, the child understands these things intuitively.However, film language does need to be learned in terms of the making of films.For whatever reason, once students get behind the camera, all of their audience intuitions and years of film viewing experience get thrown out the window!What do they do instead?Back the camera up and capture the whole scene in one long take, just like the early filmmakers did. Exactly as if the film were a play at a theatre.Mastering film language means you know that for every intended meaning, there is a camera position, lighting setup, shot length, mise-en-scene, etc. that will help you communicate it.We use traditional language and film terms to talk to our crew about how to film a scene.? We use the terms of cinematic analysis to discuss films in a scholarly manner. But film language, itself, refers to our understanding of?how?films communicate ideas from one mind to another.An Unusual Vocabulary LessonThis might seem to be a very unusual vocabulary lesson, since there are no actual terms and definitions.How are you supposed to figure out what all the variations of camera position, lighting, shot length, and other elements of mise-en-scene actually mean?The answer might seem a little disingenuous, but the simple matter is there is?no such master film language list.You learn film language by watching as many great films as you can, and discussing them with as many people as you can.You learn film language by making films and observing how your audience responds to them.From a practical standpoint, you still need to study the highlighted terms in each of your lessons, as well as the glossary in the IB Film Guide, but those are merely the words.Film language is inextricably bound up in?how?we make and?how?we experience films themselves. ................
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