What is Movie Script

Intro

you only need to have a quick lookonline to see just how many ways thereare of approaching film analysis do weapproach it purely as a storytellingmedium focusing on narrative do wescrutinize the director as an autterlooking at each of their films as partof a larger body of work or do we lookat it as a cultural artifact thatreflects the context in which it wasmade the list of options is endless andeach of these perspectives is equallyvalid but each of them would ultimatelystart with analyzing the creativeelements of a film itself so the methodof analyzing that I’m going to offer inthis video is one that I think is themost approachable to those who are newto film studies and will also lay thegroundwork for all further in-depthstudy of aors spectatorshiprepresentation when you’re ready andit’s all based on answering this simplequestion how does a film communicate itsmajor themes and ideas using the fivekey elements of film not sure what thoseare keep

The 5 key elements of film

watching so film analysis is largely allabout learning how to notice thedeliberate stylistic decisions made bythe filmmaker and then questioning howthat contributes to meaning but whatexactly are we supposed to be lookingout for enter the five key elements offilm cinematography editing Misan senperformance and sound think of these asthe toolkit available to filmmakers eachone able to signify meaning to theaudience each element has its ownglossery of technical language whichyou’re going to need to get your headaround but once you have you’ll be ableto start noticing how they are useduniquely in the films that you watchlet’s take a quick look at each now butfor a more in-depth explanation you canfind specific videos for each of theseon my

Mise en scene

channel the first element we’ll startwith is the one that I think you willfind the easiest to identify Mison senit’s the world in which our film takesplace and what it looks like and there’sless technical language Associatedbecause it’s really say what you see indiscussions with Daman about how hewanted the film to look visually fromthe GetGo he said I want to be veryhistoricallyaccurate this includes everything fromthe characters what they’re wearing andtheir props to the setting the objectswithin them and even the weather it’sessentially the main ingredient inestablishing the overall aesthetic ofthe film scene 17 take eight Mark how isthe setting lishing tone does it feelwarm and welcoming or hostile anduncertain is the overall design of themisen realistic or expressive what doyou notice about how each characterlooks does it reflect their narrativerole such as the hero or thevillain this leads us very nicely onto

Performance

the second key element of filmperformance when we look beyond theaesthetic of characters how is verbaland perhaps more importantly non-verballanguage being used to communicate istheir performance over the top or subtleare they open or closed all of theinfinite ways the actors interpret theirroles in collaboration with the directorare another layer of meaning maker forthe audience the one part of the storythat I believed was that he experiencedchildhood trauma and so going into thatresearch and seeing the effect that ithas on somebody and how they perceivethe world um basically he’s in thishighly reactive state in which heperceives and looks for uh threat every

Cinematography

if Mison sen and performance make up thevisual elements of the film world thenthe third key element of filmcinematography is how it’s captured no Imean a film is something that you don’twant any shot to be kind of outside ofall the others in a way this isprimarily all about shot size be itcloseup mid shot wide shot and so on andcamera movement be it static panningfreehand tracking and the framing of theMison sen on camera if film offers usthe the point of view of the directorwhat can we learn about how we are beingpositioned to view the events withinlook a bit deeper and cinematographyalso includes factors such as the formatof film used such as IMAX and itscorresponding aspect ratio whether it’sbeen shot in color or monochrome evenlighting comes Under the Umbrella ofcinematography which introduces a wholeextra list of technical terms which weused to describe the scene Butultimately it’s all about how the sceneis captured and why I think there’stimes to move the camera there’s timesto follow a character and there’s timesto stay back and allow that character toYou observe that the audience to observethat character within the

Editing

space the natural Next Step fromcinematography is our fourth key elementof film editing this is how individualshots are cut and assembled into scenesand how scenes are assembled into a filmthe order in which shots and scenes arepresented to us has the ability tocompletely change how we interpret themjust think every time we cut from oneshot to another we’re effectively beingoffered cause and effect it’s how weknow that this character has Cruel[Music]Intentions each cut is a cause andeffect it’s also evident in the pace ofediting which may for examplecommunicate the tension in ascene

Sound

and finally we have sound as our lastkey element be it diagetic or nondiagetic music or the score is perhapsthe most obvious part of sound for us tonotice but of course it also includeseverything in the soundscape Ambientsound vocal quality sound effectseverything you can hear is making[Music]meaning so now we know what the five keyelements of film are how do we go aboutputting it into practice well I’verecently been studying Kenneth Bran’s2021 film Belfast with my students solet’s use that as an

Step 1 – Research

example the first thing I get my filmstudents to do is a bit of backgroundreading to help us figure out what thedirector’s motivation behind the filmwas don’t get me wrong there’s an awfullot to be said for going into a filmabsolutely Blind part of the beauty ofall art is interpretation but if we’regoing to analyze film academically it’sworth doing a bit of homework first tohelp us identify how the five keyelements of film are going to be used toconstruct meaning and consider thecontext of when the film is set but alsowhen it was made Bast is a city ofstories um and particularly at the endof the 1960s it went through anincredible tumultuous phase in itshistory in the case of Belfast to trulyappreciate br’s ideas you need to havesome understanding of the troubles inNorthern Ireland in 1969 and also ofbr’s childhood in Belfast which isnostalgically reflected in the film’scelebration of the people and the cityand the family above all else well I’mfrom there I was born in Belfast and Ilived there till I was nine and thestory of the film is really aboutsomething that happened to me when I was9 years old there are a few ways you cango about this previewing research liketo watch q&as with the director orperhaps even listen to Mark herod’sreview on his podcast approaching ourfirst viewing of the film with thisinformation in mind will help Focus youon how this theme is being

Step 2 – Screening

constructed so now it’s time to watch Ipersonally recommend avoiding thetemptation to take notes in your firstscreening give the film your fullattention no wonder you brought us tothis it’s educational for the boys afterit’s time to reflect on the film andstart properly analyzing and to use anappropriate metaphor I think there aretwo different lenses we can look at itone is through a wide angle looking atthe film holistically and applying thefive key areas to help us describe thefilm’s aesthetic broadly and two byswitching to a closeup and examiningseveral key sequences in far greaterdepth let’s take a quick look at Belfastthrough that wideangle

Step 3 – Holistic analysis

lens across the film the camera work isincredibly realistic evident in thechoice of shooting in monochrome butalso the way most scenes favor wideangle static shots with a full depth offield that could easily have been takenfrom a late 60s pathdocumentary this also allows the actorsand their performance to take CenterStage by keeping an objective view ofthe film’s world these performances areincredibly naturalistic using languageand physicality to very subtly Expressthemselves I’m always saying jand therewhat shows is my what Minds meoh thanks granny the primary perspectivethroughout the film comes in the form ofthe Fairly restricted view of the mainstar Buddy who’s played by Jude Hill inthis sense the troubles and the conflictunveiling around him is actually thebackdrop to far more relatable childhoodconcerns like School crushes playingwith friends and potentially losingloved ones in terms of Misan sen theoverall look of the film immediatelyidentifies this as a workingclass areaof the 1960s cars buildings and clothingare all based on historical contextrather than being stylized orimpressionist the houses are packed alittle too close together which makesthe neighborhood feel communal like afamily and at the same time slightlycrowded and less affluent the set wasdesigned to be slightly tall toencourage our perspective of the childto describe the edit throughout the filmit’s fairly slow and unintrusivewhich again causes minimal Interruptionto the film’s reality and between scenesseamlessly jumps between periods of timewhich could be weeks or months giving usthe sense that these are a collection ofmemories from the childhood.

 Buddy, almost as if he is reflecting on this period of his, presents standout in of sound The non-diegetic soundtrack, provided by Belfast own Van, further nods city's rich culture and complements Buddy's innocent perspective of such a difficult time Ireland's history. Additionally, the very realistic dieic sound, much like the cinematography, is intended to add authenticity to the film. Street ambience and-world news excerpts help remind audiences that this fictional family story is set against very real events. By the five key areas holistically, one get a general sense of the aesthetic and construction of the film as a whole. If we zoom in on key scene, we can apply the elements of far more specifically. Let's take a look...

Step 4 – Scene analysis

memorable opening sequence of the filmwe fade into a series of wide Crane anddrone shots of modern-day Belfast beforewe meet any of the ensemble cast we’reintroduced to the main star the cityitself we see landmarks and buildings ofgreat cultural significance like theTitanic Museum Belfast castle and theold dockyards the message here is clearBelfast is thriving and proud We Areaccompanied by an upbeat original songby Van Morrison then the title for thefilm finally appears as we reach thesuburbs of row after row of teroristhouses where we will spend the majorityof the film this is the heart of Belfastyou won’t have missed that we begin incolor immediately placing us in thepresent but also allowing us to see thedawn a bright new Belfast has moved pastthe troubles and we see this in just howsaturated the color is our transitioninto the monochrome that we see for therest of the picture is seamless there isno cut as we crane over one of the peacewalls which effectively Bridges time aswe stay in the same place it feels verymuch as though the following film istaking place on the very same street wejust saw in color but the black whiteimmediately ages the footage and makesit feel raw andrealistic we are immediately invited tothe tightly knit Community whereeveryone on the street knows each otherneighbors stand outside their doorschatting and as a group beckon for themain character to come back home fordinner there is a sense of community andwe are part of it as the lack of anycutting suggests there’s a real sense ofcalm and presence and activity and wetake it all in with a controlledfreehand wide shot that takes in everyevery part of the set in the charactersthe performance of the entire cast isvery naturalistic and understated andnowhere is this more evident than in themain character buddy who we first meetwhile he’s play fighting dragons using awooden sword and a Dustbin lid hisyouthful nature is Carefree and innocentlisten to the way he speaks to hisneighbors without a careing the worldhello Mrs Ford have you been fightingany dragons only a couple I got a couplein my house was that right Mr West hiand can you lend us a she buddy I’ll seewhat I can do see your daddy for me willyou we’ll do buddy we are abruptlystopped in our tracks with an orbitingmid shot that tracks around buddy as thetroubles begin this innocent expressionfrom just moments ago was replaced bygenuine confusion when armed ProtestantsMarch around the corner by Framing themout of focus in the distance they aren’tgiven individual identities they fellowIrishmen indistinguishable from thosewho live on this street each time wepass buddy in an orbit we see hisexpression change to concern and as thesound becomes muffled until it reachesutter silence a Molotov is thrown andBuddy’s face becomes a picture ofabsoluteTerror the slow Meandering pace of theprevious wide shots of the community arereplaced by rapid chaotic handheld midshot and close-ups that create a verysudden sense of panic this only worksbecause of the contrast of what we hadbefore buddy cries out for his mom andsuddenly the toy weapons from theprevious scene are being used asdefensive items against Stones clearlyviolence in the real world is not likethe imagining of Buddy a moment ago andhis whole reality In This Moment hasshifted D don’tmove well we could go on but thisdemonstrates how we can analyze filmfrom two different perspectives the wideshot talking holistically and about theaesthetic as a whole and then close upon a beat bybe basis and if you thinkback to our original question how does afilm communicate its major themes andideas using the five key elements offilm if you follow the three steps youshould find the more you practice theskill the more you’ll find yourselfanalyzing without even trying and you’llappreciate film on a whole newlevel I’d like to take this opportunity