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The Language of Film
Taught by Andrew J. Douglas, Ph.D., Director of Education, Bryn Mawr Film Institute
Diegesis, mise-en-scene and chiaroscuro are not trendy Center City nightspots but rather some of the key terms of film analysis. This course introduces students to cinematic grammar, giving them the vocabulary and frames of reference to view and discuss motion pictures in an insightful and critical manner.
Screenings largely consist of clips from a wide assortment of films illustrating different aspects of the medium’s language, including cinematography, sound, editing and narrative. A highlight of the course is a screening of the documentary Visions of Light, which showcases some of the most beautiful and memorable images in cinema history and enriches them with commentaries by the cinematographers who made them and other luminaries in the field.
Understanding the language of film allows you to get more enjoyment out of your cinematic experience—and to impress your friends at the post-movie discussion!
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| Visions of Light (1992) | |
In this shot from Citizen Kane, director Orson Welles and cinematographer Gregg Toland want to indicate that the object being debated over and signed away is the boy (young Kane) himself, but they want to do so visually and with subtlety. The bright white document—the contract that seals Kane’s fate—is in the middle of the frame below the other bright white spot, also in the center of the frame, which contains the boy himself playing in the snow. |