Understanding Movies

The motion-picture medium has an extraordinary range of
expression. It has in common with the plastic arts the fact that it
is a visual composition projected on a two-dimensional surface;
with dance, that it can deal in the arrangement of movement;
with theatre, that it can create a dramatic intensity of events; with
music, that it can compose in the rhythms and phrases of time
and can be attended by song and instrument; with poetry, that it can
juxtapose images; with literature generally, that it can encompass
in its sound track the abstractions available only to language.
MAYA DEREN
As Miss Deren's observation suggests, analyzing a good movie is no easy task. Because films can express many ideas and emotions simultaneously, the viewer is sometimes overwhelmed by the sheer density of meanings he is bombarded with. The following chapters may be of use in helping the moviegoer understand some of these complex elements. Each chapter isolates the basic techniques film directors have used in conveying meanings. Naturally, the chapters do not pretend to be exhaustive: they are essentially starting points. The organization develops from the most specific and narrow aspects of a film ("Picture") to the most abstract and comprehensive ("Theory"). But the seven chapters are not tightly interdependent. A reader coming from a background of the theatre might prefer to begin with Chapter 5, "Drama." Similarly, the more literary-oriented reader might prefer to begin with the subsection on language in Chapter 4, "Sound," and then move on to Chapter 6, "Literature." Inevitably, such looseness of organization involves a certain amount of overlapping, but I have tried to keep this to a minimum. Technical terms are defined when they first appear in the text, but for those who read the chapters out of sequence, the glossary at the end of the book should provide adequate temporary clarifications. Glossed terms appear in boldface the first time they are mentioned in each chapter.
I have tried to avoid the dogmatizing, the sentimental reminiscing, and particularly the profusion of examples which flaw so much of the writing on film. In most instances, I offer only one example, if I feel that it might truly clarify a general principle. This deliberate austerity involves a certain amount of simplification, but I believe that the advantages gained outweigh the shortcomings.