Introduction

When we talk about reading a film what we actually mean is

looking at the film in great detail to see how it is put together.
There are many different elements to consider when undertaking
such an activity and it is usual to read an extract from a film rather
than the whole film.

Reading a film is just like reading a book, except that instead of

looking at a written page we are looking at the cinema screen. We
can look at text, books or film for a variety of purposes; we can
either read a book or watch a film purely for enjoyment, or, we
may want to look at it in more depth to see why it actually is that
we enjoy it so much.

As with any other creative text each person will have an individual
response to a film. Whilst you may enjoy say, the unusual camera
angles in a film, someone else might find them annoying because
they distract from the narrative. A friend may think that a certain
facial expression reveals something important about a character;
you may see it as meaning something completely different. When
we read a film we are interpreting the text as we see it; we are
saying why we think the filmmaker made certain choices and what
the film means to us.

If you read a written text and it has a certain effect on you, for
instance it makes you scared, we can look closely at the way the
text has been constructed to see how the writer has used the tools
at their disposal to create the fear.

Reading a film works in exactly the same way except that the tools
that are used to create meaning are different. We call these tools
film language.

The opening sequence - getting involved in a film

From the moment we first start watching the film we begin to get
involved. The first few images of a film (the opening sequence) are
very important to us as they give us lots of clues as to what the
film will be about. We look at the opening shots of place and time,
and put them into context. We look at the actors we are presented
with and make assumptions about their characters and roles in the
film and their relationship to each other. We look at the title of the
film – the way it is worded and the style of the lettering and we try
to guess what genre (type) of film it will be. We listen to the sound,
which is often predominantly music at this stage, and the tone and
beat of this again give us further clues as to how the film will
develop. We do all this automatically – at this time we are
extremely receptive and actively involved.

Without realising it, we have entered into the world of the film and
begun to read the signals that have been set up for us; we have
begun to decode the film language.

Film codes & signals

In the spoken or written language that we use, words often have
hidden meaning, or a 'signal' behind the literal meaning of the
word. For instance, the sun is literally a yellowish ball in the sky,
but the word 'signals' to us meanings such as warmth,
cheerfulness, life, etc. A teddy bear is a stuffed, brown plaything
but it 'signals' comfort and childhood innocence to us. These are
known as the denotative (literal) meaning and the connotative
(hidden signals and implications) meaning of the word.

Films use the same signals or coding systems. For instance if we

see a picture of a wooden thing with branches on screen, our mind
thinks 'tree'. If the tree is a gnarled, large, spiky and leafless
image, shot in black and white, we read the signal of disaster,
threat, maybe horror. If the tree is drawn in bright crayon colours
and is rounded and 'lollipop-like', it signals 'children', 'happy birdies
nesting', etc. to us.

The codes films use do not only have to be visual. The use of
sudden loud music signals 'something dramatic is about to happen
– pay attention!' An extreme close-up shot of a person’s face
signals 'this character's reaction is very important'. The study of
these systems of signs is called semiology.

Most film audiences are able to recognise these film codes; even
young children are aware of the basics. As students of film you will
learn how to analyse this film language in more detail. Your level of
interaction will be greater and you will be able to be more specific
about what it is that makes a film 'good' or 'bad'.

Let’s look at some of the elements which make up a film and

through which the signals are sent to us. These are the basic
criteria through which we can make judgements about a film.

Use of the camera

1) Different types of shots are used in a combination to give you

information about where and when something is happening, the
role of a character and his/her reaction, to draw attention to
someone or something, or to create an impression or feeling. Look
at the storyboard:

There are many variations and combinations of these shots.

2) Different camera movements can be used to create a specific

effect, for
example:

A character walks into a room and the camera slowly

pans across (moves from side to side). We feel as if
we are the character looking around. By stopping
something, our attention can be focused on this;

a feeling of unsteadiness or unease can be created

by moving the camera diagonally (rolling). Our
brains register that all is not well within this screen
world;
 the camera pulling backwards from a scene
(tracking) indicates to the audience that the action
that concerns us has now finished. In suspense films
the action may start suddenly again at this point,
thus surprising or shocking our expectations.

3) Mise-en-Scène. This is a French term meaning ‘what is put into

the scene’ or frame. It is the director’s job to decide this and what
is put in or left out can make a big difference to the signals we
receive and the way we decode them.

If a director wants to show that the story takes place in Victorian

times, he or she will signal this by the use of period clothes and
props. The specific inclusion of a bed and rocking horse will signify
a nursery. He may take this one step further and include a window
with a storm outside, thus creating atmosphere. He may sit a child
on a low stool in the middle of the floor, her toys lined up formally
against the walls, thus signalling that she is isolated and repressed
by this room and the society she lives in. So the selection of
specific objects and images carry broader ideas.

Like the words chosen to make up a poem, each item in a frame

may be carefully chosen and positioned. The director can draw our
attention to an object, a gun, say, by placing it in the foreground,
near the camera lens. We then decode that the gun will be
important in this scene.
One director who emphasised the importance of mise-en-scène was
André Bazin, who believed that it encouraged audiences to become
more involved in a scene since they had to look actively and
interpret what was included.

Use of lighting

Lighting is an important signifier as it conveys the mood or

atmosphere of the scene which we are observing. In a studio, the
lighting is usually from three sources and is set up as follows:
a) The key light, as the name suggests, is usually the brightest
and most influential.
b) The back light helps counteract the effect of the key light, thus
making the figure look more ‘rounded’.
c) The filler light helps to soften the harsh shadows created by the
use of the back and key lights. There may be more than one of
these.

The director manipulates this basic format to achieve the

atmosphere he wishes to signify. For instance, if he uses only the
key and back lights, he will produce a sharp contrast of dark and
light areas on the screen as shadows are formed. This is known as
low-key lighting. These shadows can be decoded by the audience
to suggest an air of mystery, as used in the ‘film noir’ (dark films)
of the 1940s and 1950s. They can also be decoded to suggest a
world where there is depression and decay, as we find in many
modern-day films depicting life in the future. Exaggerated use of
low-key lighting can be found in horror films, where underlighting
(placing a light under a face or an object) gives a dramatic, often
distorting effect. Low-key lighting is often seen as expressive.
High-key lighting means that filler lights are used. This will
appear much more normal and realistic to our eyes but can also be
manipulated to give a more glamorous appearance to a star’s face,
or add a ‘twinkle’ to their eyes. It is much ‘softer’ than low-key
lighting.

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Sound

The extra dimension that sound adds to film has been

acknowledged since the early days of cinema, when live music in
the form of a piano, organ or even a full orchestra accompanied the
images on the silent cinema screen. Although the first
demonstration of sound on film is meant to have taken place as
early as 1911 in the USA, it was only in1927 that Warner Bros.
released the first feature film with a soundtrack – ‘The Jazz Singer’
starring Al Jolson. One of the main reasons for the delay in the
implementation of sound technology is that the film companies
were unwilling to invest large sums of money into sound equipment
when they were making huge profits with silent movies. However,
the next commercial sound film ‘Lights of New York’ (1928) was so
impressive that it stimulated a rapid and total conversion to sound
within the entire film industry.

Sound on film today is of course much more sophisticated with a

digital synchronised soundtrack combining the elements of
dialogue, music and sound effects (SFX).

Diegetic & nondiegetic sound

The world of the film as we see it on the cinema screen is known as

the diegeic world. We can see only a section of this world – the
events which the filmmaker has chosen to include in the frame.
However, as a modern-day, cinema-going audience we accept that
there are things taking place around the edges of what we see on
screen. For instance, if a character has gone to make a cup of tea,
we accept that they have gone to the kitchen which is part of the
‘film’ house in which they live. However, they are still part of the
film world we are watching although they are out of vision.

Often, the edges of what we can see on the cinema screen are
extended by the use of sound. We might hear a doorbell ring and
we acknowledge that there is someone being let into the house
even though we can’t see them. Likewise, we might hear the siren
of a fire engine and we know that there is a road outside.

When we watch a film, the sounds that we hear can be diegetic or

nondiegetic.
Diegetic sound is sound which is part of the film world we are
watching. This can be dialogue, music or sound effects which come
from a source within the film world. The music in this instance will
be from a source in the film which we acknowledge could actually
be producing music, for example, a CD player or jukebox.

Diegetic sound can occur either on screen or off screen; in other

words we can either see the person or object that is making the
sound (on screen) or we don’t (off screen).

Nondiegetic sound is sound which we do not recognise as part of

the film world such as a voice-over or background music.

Use of editing

When the filming has been completed, the editing process begins.
This is a matter of choosing which shots to include, which to put
next to which, and what method to use to join the shots together.
So how does the audience interact with the film through the
editing?
1) Selecting and ordering the shots
The director can create a mood or atmosphere by choosing certain
shots in a certain order, to build a picture in our minds. We
automatically link what is happening in one shot with what happens
in those either side of it, as this is what happens in real life. Thus,
by showing us a window frame and then a shot of a house, we
presume the house is what you see out of that window. In this way
we are interacting with the film.

Some directors have exploited this idea to extremes. Lev Kuleshow,

a Russian filmmaker in the 1920s experimented by showing shots
of an actor in between shots of different objects – food, a dead
woman and a child. The audience interpreted the actor’s expression
(although it never changed!) as being hungry, sad and affectionate.
This is because our brains try to make continuative sense of what
we see. This placing together of images is called montage.

Sergei Eisenstein, another Russian filmmaker of the same era,

believed that it was more effective if consecutive shots were not
obviously linked, as the audience were forced to think and interact
more to make the mental jump from shot to shot. Montage can be
used effectively in propoganda, where the filmmaker wants the
audience to believe in a certain idea or concept and is a common
feature in present day advertising and pop videos.

2) Joining the shots

The director has a choice in the way he or she can join the shots
together.

Smooth continuity of events and ‘normality’ for the audience is best

achieved by using simple cuts. There are many technical rules to
be remembered in order that the actors in consecutive shots are
not suddenly looking in a different direction for no apparent reason.
The director can also manipulate time and space by, say, having a
car leaving one place in one shot and arriving at another in the
next. We accept the convention that the ‘journey’ has taken place –
we interact by knowing that the film is not real time.

The director can create suspense by using short shots frequently

edited with other shots. For example, the murderer breaks into the
house, we cut to the victim in the bedroom, then back to the
murderer on the stairs and so on. Shock tactics can be used by
jump cuts to a sudden close-up of an expression or object.
Expectations can be built up by cutting from one shot to another
and back again repeatedly, then suddenly replacing one shot with a
totally new one.

Fade out shots, where the screen fades to black, or dissolve

shots, where one image is slowly brought in underneath another
one, are used to indicate the end of an event and beginning of a
new one. These cause us to interact by giving us time to think
about what has happened. A third type of cut is a wipe cut, where
one part of the screen moves across the other. This is most often
done today using computer graphics (swirls, blocks etc.).
The director may also choose to slow the film down at certain
moments, thus highlighting say, a romantic moment or creating
suspense by delaying the action. We, the audience acknowledge
that in film language this is a significant part of the film. He or she
may also choose to use black and white film for part or all of the
film, which we will automatically read as being events in the past.

Conclusion

By now you should have more of an insight into the language of

film and how we interact with it, reading the signals we are given.
The criteria we have looked at can be applied to any film and
hopefully will help you appreciate why it is that some films are
acclaimed even though they may not be huge box office successes.