Film Study Prince Essay

(1)According to Prince, what are the three core questions that â€Å"frame the essential attributes of cinema† and why are they important to consider in film studies? (6 points) 1) How do movies express meaning? It is important to consider in film studies because the basic tools of filmmaking help organize design of a film, and the filmmakers are able to express a range of meanings. 2) How do viewers understand film? It is important to consider in film studies because viewers understand film by applying different aspects of their real-life visual, personal, and social experience as well as their knowledge of motion picture conventions and style. Viewers respond to films when watching movies. 3) How does cinema operate as an art and business on a global scale? It is important to consider in film studies because commercial filmmaking operates as part of a global communications industry, which exerts considerable influence on film content and style. At the same time, filmmakers around the world represent their countries, heritages, and styles. Moreover, filmmakers today are greatly affected by the economic and commercial problems. These issues including art and business influence filmmaking greatly. (2)To Prince, what is the difference between film structure and film content? (4 points) Film structure refers to the audiovisual design of a film and some tools and techniques used to create that design. However, film content refers to the description of story, characters and theme of the film. (3)Discuss three factors that make the director the chief artistic authority in the filmmaking process? (6 points) 1) Preproduction is one of the factors because it involves the planning and preparation period such as writing of a script, hiring of cast and crew, production design of sets, costumes, and locals. 2) Production is another factor which includes the work of filming the script and sound recording of the action. 3) Postproduction involves the editing of sound and image in the film, composition and recording of the music score, additional sound recording for effects and dialogue replacement, creation of digital special effects, and color timing to achieve proper color balance in the images. These factors (the production process) make the director the chief artistic authority in the filmmaking process because the director coordinates and organizes the artistic inputs of other members of the production team, who generally subordinate their artistic tastes or preferences to a directors stated wishes or vision. (4)Discuss two reasons why Hunt thinks it’s important to study films. (4 points) According to Hunt, the key reasons to study film are the issues of power and empowerment. Studying film is empowering because the formation of cinema is about identity, such as our self-image, values, beliefs, and world views. When we realize the role media play in defining and shaping our identity, we can begin to more actively take charge of our own identity. (5)What are the three artistic modes of filmmaking and how are they different? (6 points) 1) Narrative fiction mode refers to an historical or cultural event that is familiar to many film-going spectators; however, the characters and the way they act are fictionalized. 2) Documentary mode represents â€Å"real people† participating in â€Å"real life† events; it illuminates the life situation and the situation may represent larger issues and ideas about life. 3) Experimental mode is the arrangement of artistic elements, edit and construct the story in unconventional ways in order to illuminate life experience. (6)Discuss the importance of the shot in the filmmaking process (you can draw from both Hunt and Prince for this answer). (4 points) A shot is important in the filmmaking process because it is the basic unit for constructing a film. A film is built on shot by shot basis like a book is constructed sentence by sentence. Films are composed of many shots that are joined together in the process of editing. In a completed film, a shot is the interval on screen between edit points, and it is important in the filmmaking process. (7)Explain how it is that human beings are able to see still images as moving. (5 points) Under the right conditions spectators will see apparent motion when no real movement has occurred. If a series of closely spaced light bulbs are illuminated in rapid sequence in a darkened room, a spectator will see a single light source moving across the room rather than a series of lights illuminated one after another. This phenomenon is called beta movement. When the intervals between a series of illuminated light are very small, the eye’s motion detectors encode this information as movement. The viewer sees a single travelling light or a galloping horse on screen.