-
Chapter One
Understanding the
Film
（了解电影）
Film,
as one of the most influential mass
media
（大众传播媒介）
, has struggled
to achieve its
proper place as a
reputable
（声誉极高的）
art form. It
merges all the other forms of art: literature,
painting,
sculpture
（雕塑）
, music,
architecture, drama, and adopts the technical
achievements in
natural science and
applied science like
acoustics
（声学）
,
optics
（光学）
, electronics,
mechanics,
computer, etc.
As
a form of expression, the motion pictures is
similar to other artistic media, for the
basic
properties
of
these
other
media
are
woven
into
its
own
rich
fabric
（肌体）
.
Film
employs
the
compositional elements of all the
visual arts; line, form, mass, volume, and
texture. Like painting
and
photography,
film
exploits
the
subtle
interplay
of
light
and
shadow.
Like
sculpture,
film
m
anipulates
（
应用）
thr
ee-dimensional space. But, like
pantomime
（
哑剧）
,
film focuses on moving
images,
and
like
the
dance,
these
moving
images
have
rhythm.
The
complex
rhythms
of
film
resembles
those
of
music
and
poetry,
and
like
poetry
in
particular,
film
communicates
through
imagery
（意象）
,
metaphor, and symbol. Like the drama, film
communicates visually and verbally
（词语地）
: visually, through
action and gesture; verbally through dialogue.
Finally, like the novel,
film
expands
or
compresses
time
and
space,
traveling
back
and
forth
freely
within
their
wide
borders.
Film is unlimited
not only in its choice of subject matter but also
in the scope of its approach
to that
material. A film's mood and treatment can range
anywhere between the
lyric
（抒情的）
and
the
epic
（史诗的）
; in point view, it
can cover the full
spectrum
（范围）
from the purely
objective
to the intensely subjective;
in depth, it can focus on the surface realities
and the purely sensual, or
delve
into
the
intellectual
and
philosophical.
A
film
can
look
to
the
remote
past,
or
probe
the
distant
future;
it
can
make
a
few
seconds
seem
like
hour,
or
compress
a
century
into
minutes.
Finally, film can
run the
gamut
（
范围）
of
feeling from the most fragile, tender, and
beautiful to the
most brutal, violent,
and repulsive
（可憎的）
.
The
technological
history
of
film
can
in
fact
be
viewed
as
an
ongoing
evolution
toward
greater realism, toward
erasing
（抹去）
the border
between art and nature. The motion picture has
progressed step by step from drawings,
to photographs, to projected images, to sound, to
color, to
wide screen, to 3-D.
Experiments have even been conducted attempting to
add the sense of smell
to the film
experience by releasing
fragrances
（香气）
throughout the
theater.
Film has been exerting its
peculiar fascination
（魅力）
on
people for generations ever since it
came into being, for it has strikingly
wonderful features which make it unique and
different from
any
other
forms
of
art.
Man
seems
to
have
entered
into
a
new
era
characterized
with
IT,
and
people
enjoy having wide selections of entertainment
forms thanks to the rapid development of
information technology, yet film still
has its artistic charm and appeals to people of
different ages
from all walks of life.
1.
Film
History
（电影历史）
The
US Film
（美国电影）
The
US
was
the
first
country
to
turn
film
into
a
popular
form
of
entertainment
and
an
important
industry. Ever since the moment on December 28th,
1895 when the Lumiere brothers
- 1 -
（卢米埃尔兄弟）
started theater
projection, and started as well the over-a-
century-long history of
movies,
this
popular
art
has
been
affecting
life
for
generations.
Nevertheless,
given
American
movie’s influence
and position in the world, we should mention
Thomas Edison as an im
portant
element,
for
he
is
still
considered
to
be
the
father
of
motion
pictures
due
to
his
extraordinary
contributions
to
the
field
including
his
invention
of
the
incandescent
lamp
（白炽灯）
and
the
phonograph
（留声机）
.
The first full-length
（火车大劫案）
of 1903. From
1911 the center of the US film industry
was Hollywood in California. Great developments in
film
technique were made by D. W.
Griffith
（格里菲斯）
.His famous
Birth of Nation
（
《一个国家的
诞生》
, 1915 ) was the first major
feature film
（故事片）
made in the
US. At the same time the art
of film
com
edy was taking shape at Mack
Sennett’s Keystone Studios, where Charlie Chaplin<
/p>
（查
理斯·卓别林）
made his
first short silent
comedies
（无声喜剧片）
.
The US was far from the battlefield in
the First World War and its economy grew very
rapidly
during and after the war.
During the decade 1921
—
1931,
some called the
films
（被吸引）
to
Hollywood from
abroad,
infusing
（注入）
Hollywood with
new talents and different insights. Movies were
attaining
new heights in expression.
Innovations
（革新）
in technique,
content and structural forms were
being
introduced in films from Germany, France and
Russia. While the art of the film was being
developed in Hollywood, the business
side of the film industry was
constantly
（不断地）
growing,
and the rise of the great studios
formed and important part of the economic
structure as Americans
f
locked
（大量涌入）
to
the movies for their mass
entertainment
（大众娱乐）
.Even
during the
Great
Depression
（大萧条）
Americans continued to find some coins
to attend the local movie
house and be
transported away from their troubles to the
soothing balm
（安慰剂）
of the
silver
screen. Hence Hollywood's film
making culminated
（达到顶点）
for
the first time during the 1930s
and the
1940s, and many
distinguished
（出色地）
films came
into being, such as Citizen Kane
（
《公
民凯恩》
）
,
Great
Dictator
（
《大独裁者》
）
,
Waterloo
Bridge,
Gone
with
the
Wind
,
Rebecca
,
Casablanca , etc. ,
proving to be the classics in the history of world
movies.
In
the
1950s
American
movies
experienced
an
all
time
low.
This
was
partly
due
to
the
competition of
television, but also because of the
collapse
（溃败）
of film-making
monopoly
（垄
断）
and
simply
repeated
film
patterns
which
could
not
cater
to
（满足）
the
public's
demand.
Hi-
tech
（
高科技）
made new
ways of film-making and new market exploration
（
市场开发）
possible,
but there was still a way to go before
reaching the combination of hi-tech and film-
making.
In
the
1960s
Hollywood
began
to
adjust
herself
to
the
competing
situation
by
cooperating
with television, producing motion
pictures and other things for TV
. From
1970s on, Hollywood
combined the new
technology of video tape and DVD -with film-
making, which helped keep it in
the
competition of cultural consumption
（
文化消费）
. Meanwhile, American film
artists shot films,
like Jaw
（
《大白鲨》
）
; Star War
s
（
《星球大战》
）
< br>; Superman
（
《超人》
）
; and won the box
office
（票房）
and
audience
as
well.
Since
then,
the
American
film-making
industry
has
welcomed
another
blooming
（繁荣）
period.
The Most influential revision of
American film-making policy was that Hollywood no
longer
tried to conquer and build up
the seller 's
market
（
卖方市场）
but
rather to adapt herself
to
（适应）
the demand of the
buyer's market
（买方市场）
, for
example, many a film has been shot to reflect
the current
issues
（当前市场）
of American
society. Since people started to
meditate
（思考）
on
tradition and
materialism
（唯物主义）
, the
latter of which has been excessively developed,
these
- 2 -
were
ethical films
（伦理片）
: Wall Str
eet
（
《华尔街》
）
, Philadelphia
（
《费城故事》
）
, Bridges of
Madison County
（
《廊
桥遗梦》
）
; film on political
issues
（政治片）
: JFK
（
《刺杀肯尼迪》
）
, One
Flew Over the
Cuckoo
’
s Nest
（
《飞越疯人院》
）
; war-theme
films
（战争片）
: Born on the
Fourth
of July
（
《出
生在七月四日》
）
,
Schindler
’
s List
（
《辛德勒的名单》
）
, Saving
Private Ryan
（
《拯
救大
兵瑞恩》
）
; recreation of
American image
（美国形象）
: Rookie
（
《洛奇》
）
, Patton
（
《巴顿
将军》
）
, Forrest Gump
（
《阿甘正传》
）
.
With
social
development,
human
curiosity
was
stimulated(M$$K
greediness
and
fascination
（被
激发）
with the alien
world
（异己世界）
. Directors liked
to pursue high technology to make
super
movies
with
lifelike
effects
on
sound,
picture,
color,
etc.
The
audience
also
enjoyed
the
visual and psychological stimulation
from the science films like Star Wars, Alien
（
《外星人》
）
;
horror
film
（恐怖片）
like Silence of the
Lambs
（
《沉默的羔羊》
）
; Scream The Omen
（
《凶
兆》
）
,
and disaster
films
（灾难片）
like Twister
（
《龙卷风》
）
, V
olcano
（
《地火危城》
）
, Earthquake
（
《山
崩地裂》
）
, etc.
A
young
generation
of
directors,
who
has
been
well-
educated
at
the
university,
focused
on
both
aesthetic
（
美学）
and
commercial value. They were not restricted to
plot-designing. They were
inclined to
create profound
themes
（深刻的主题）
, lifelike
depictions
（生活化的描述）
, natural
casting
（自然的表演）
and
to try out new technolo
gy. The
1997’
s 270-million-dollar-cost Titanic<
/p>
（
《泰坦尼克》
）
, which won 11 academic awards, was directed by
James Cameron and satisfied
the
audience's demand for psychological comprehension
and sensual stimulation.
Another factor
cannot be ignored, the acting excellence of the
actors and actresses, especially
those
modern types such as Marlon
Brando
（马龙·白兰度）
, Dustin
Hoffman
（达斯廷·霍夫
曼）
,
Tom
Hanks
（汤姆·
汉克斯）
,
Arnold Schwarzenegger
（阿诺德·
施瓦
辛格）
, Tom
Cruise
（汤姆·
克鲁斯）
,
Al
Pacino
（艾二·
帕西诺）
,
Bruce
Willis
（布卢斯·
威利斯）
,
Harrison Ford
（哈里森·福特）
,
Michael Douglas
（迈克尔·道格拉斯）
,
etc .
The UK
Film
（英国电影）
Europe
was the birthplace of film, but the early history
of British cinema is not distinguished
（出色）
. It was behind the US
and even France and Italy. British was rather cons
ervative
（保守
的）
and
lacked activeness following the First World War,
because unlike the US, it sustained a vast
amount of damage. This gave the US an
opportunity to export its own movies to Britain.
When
British actors and actresses found
no promise at home, they poured into Hollywood;
actors such as
Victor Mclaglen
（维克多·
麦克拉格伦）
and George Arth
ur
（乔治·
阿瑟）
.This
was a great loss
to the British film-
making industry. The only director of importance
to come forward during the
silent
period was Alfred Hitchcock
（阿尔弗莱德·
希区柯克）
, who directed his first
film in 1923,
and worked in England
until the late 1930s. Some actors emerged as film
stars in Britain in the
30s: they
include Michael
Redgrave
（迈克尔·瑞德克利夫）
and Ralph
Richardson
（拉夫·瑞
查森）
.
In the 1930s a school of
documentary-making artists appeared in Great
Britain and produced a
series of
original documentaries
（纪录片）
,
which cast a new light on British films. John
Grierson
（约翰·克里森）
and Humphrey
Jennings directed many fine documentaries during
the Second
World War. Both before and
after the 1950s many screen plays were
successfully
adapted from
classical literary works and resulted
in films which reflected politics realistically.
The post-WWII period was the same in
America. British box office had dropped to the
lowest
point. Some film-making was
degenerated to the processing of Hollywood's
gigantic films.
In the 1980s, British
film industry came to life because of the
influence of the Thatcher
（撒切
- 3 -
尔）
policy.
The cabinet
（内阁）
in office
tried every means to restore the kingdom' s power,
and
films were provided by these
economic and political reforms with materials to
reflect reality. The
British film
industry quickly reverted to a thriving industry
with the help of the government, with
cooperation from the native TV and
America and European counterparts. The British
contributed a
great
deal
to
the
world'
s
screen,
primarily
in
theory
and
in
documentary-making.
The
British
contemporary film
featured the following points:
(1)
The
realistic
tradition:
British
was
comparatively
conservative,
but
its
literature
influenced film-
making very much by its critical realism. The
pre-1980s films directly exposed the
corruption
（腐败）
and
ugliness of high society but did not directly
denounced specific officials.
The
post-1980s
were
more
sharply
critical
of
British
society
on
historical,
political
or
colonial
issues
（殖民地问题）
.
Meanwhile, some films also called for the public'
s national feeling and
patriotism
（爱国主义）
,
such as The French Lieutenant’
s Woman
（
《法国中尉的女人》
）
< br>, A Room
with a View
（
《看得见风景的房间》
）
, My Left
Foot
（
《我的左脚》
）
, etc.
(2)
The artistic quality: British directors
placed a great deal of emphasis on the aesthetic
（美
学的）
effect. For
example, in The French Lieutenant's Woman, the
director Karel Reisz brought
every
film-making method into play, characterizing the
big social environment, emotionalizing the
natural scene, strengthening the theme
by a kind of visual language. The picture of Sahra
standing
on
the
e
mbankment
（开始）
embodies
profound
meaning
and
its
subtlety
requires
thoughtful
interpretation.
(3)
The
successful adaptation from the classics: The
conversion from literary works to film
is very
delicate
（不宜制作的）
. The
audience is familiar with the books and
preoccupied with
exclusiveness and
criticism toward the adapted films. However,
British films like Tess
（
《苔丝》
）
,
Howands End
（
《霍华兹庄园》
）
, Henry V
（
《亨利五世》
）
and their original literature are not
only
alike in appearance but also in
spirit, both of which will be preserved in
people's minds and be
worthy of
appreciation.
Talking
Movie
（有声电影）
Most
of the early
the
simultaneous
recording of
sound
and
image:
The
camera
was
restricted
to
one
position,
the
actors
couldn't
move
far
from
the
microphone,
and
editing
was
restricted
to
its
most
minimal
function
—
primarily
scene
changes.
The
images
tended
merely
to
illustrate
the
sound
track.
Before long, adventurous directors
began experimenting. The camera was housed in a so
undproof
（隔音的）
blimp
（
隔间）
, thus permitting the
camera to move in and out of a screen silently.
Soon,
several
microphones,
all
on
separate
channels,
were
placed
on
the
set.
Overhead
sound
booms
were
devised to follow an actor on a set, so that his
voice was always within range, even when he
moved around.
The first
talking movies were produced in France before 1900
by Leon Gaumont
（
里昂·
高门
特）
. They were short
films, starring great performers such as Sarah Ber
nhardt
（
萨拉·
贝因哈特）
,
in which the moving pictures
were synchronized
（同时录音）
with
a gramophone record. By 1912
Eugene Lau
ste
（
尤金·
劳斯特）
had discovered the basic method for recording
sound on film, while
Thomas Edison
produced several one-
reel
（一盘胶卷）
talking pictures
in the United States. An
American, Lee
de Forest
（李·德·弗雷斯特）
,
improved the system.
In all this the
public showed little interest until the
presentation on October 6, 1927, of The
Jazz Singer
（
《爵士乐歌
唱家》
）
. This was a silent
picture, starring Ae
Jolson
（阿·
琼森）
, with
four talking and
singing interludes. Jolson's electric
personality
（惊人的性格）
and the very much
- 4 -
improved
sound
began
a
movie
revolution.
Within
the
year
every
important
picture
was
being
produced as a
themselves
has-beens
（成为历史）
because their
voices recorded badly.
Movie
Awards
（电影奖）
(1)
Oscar Prize:
Oscar is a name of the annual awards,
in the form of small
statuettes
（雕
像）
,
that have been given by the American Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
（美国
电影艺术与科学研究院）
since 1927 for more
than 30
categories
（奖项）
involving
every stage of
film
making
during
the
year.
It
is
the
most
influential
（
有影响的）
movie
prize
for
those
who
contribute a great deal to film art.
They have been called
said the figure
looked like her uncle Oscar. Hollywood has another
legend
（传说）
about how it got
the nickname
（绰号）
.
It said that Betty Davis
coined
（杜撰）
the term when she
took a good look
at
the
statuette
and
remarked
how
much
the
back
side
looked
like
her
first
husband,
Herman
Oscar Nelson.
Countries from all over the world value
the Academy Awards, so that every filmartist from
near
and
far
assemble
（聚集）
in
Hollywood
to
celebrate
the
award
ceremony.
Undoubtedly
it
promoted
the
advancement
and
innovation
of
film
art,
the
film
artists'
enthusiasm
（热情）
and
diligence
（勤奋）
,
the exchange and cooperation of all the countries.
The Oscar has also elevated
Hollywood
to a more special position in the world of film
making.
(2)
Palme
d'Or (Golden Palm)
（金棕榈奖）
:
The Cannes International Film Festival
（戛
纳国际电影节）
opened
on
September
20,
1946
in
France
after
receiving
the
approval
of
the
provisional government.
18 countries were represented on the first
Festival, and all the delegates
were
automatically jury members. The Cannes Festival
awards every year Palme d' Or to the best
film of the competition. The Palme d'Or
is the most
coveted
（最具有吸引力的）
and
prestigious
（有声誉的）
award of
the Festival. Among the numerous other prizes in
the competition is the
Camera d' Or for
debut film, introduced in 1978.
(3)
The Golden
Globe Award
（金球奖）
: The Golden
Globe Award began from 1943. The
Hollywood
Foreign
Press
Association
awards
its
Golden
Globes
to
honor
achievements
in
film
and
television
during
the
calendar
year.
The
HFPA
currently
presents
awards
in
the
following
motion picture
categories: Picture ( Drama and Musical or
Comedy), Actor (Drama and Musical
or
Comedy),
Actress
(Drama
and
Musical
or
Comedy),
Supporting
Actor,
Supporting
Actress,
Director,
Screenplay,
Original
Score,
Original
Song,
Foreign
Film
and
the
Cecil
B.
DeMille
Award.
Hollywood
（好莱坞）
Hollywood is the center of the United
States motion picture
（电影）
and
television industries.
Its situation in
the northwest of Los Angeles, California, provided
many attractions for pioneers of
the
film industry at the beginning of this century.
The climate was ideal with maximum sunshine
and mild temperature. The
terrain
（土地）
was well suited
with ocean, mountains and desert. And a
large labor market was available.
One of Hollywood ' s first movies to
tell a story was The Count of Monte Cristo
（
《基督山恩
仇记》
）
, begun in 1908. By the end of 1911 there
were more than 15 producing companies in the
area. Among the famous people working
in Hollywood at the beginning of the First World
War
were Charlie Chaplin, Samuel
Goldwyn
（塞缪尔·高德温）
, Douglas Fa
irbanks
（道格拉斯·费
尔班克斯）
and Cecil e
（赛西尔·
B
·梅利）
.
- 5 -
The
advent
（来到，
来临）
of
the talkie
（
有声电影）
f
orced many famous stars of the silent screen
to
retire.
For,
although
they
could
act
well
enough,
their
voices
were
often
unsuitable.
Voice
training had been unnecessary for
actors and actress working in the silent movies
and, by the time
the talkies came, it
was too late for many of them to learn. But the
greatest threat to Hollywood
came
from
television
after
the
Second
World
War.
Many
production
companies
disappeared.
Others survived
and met the competition by also making television
films. Today Hollywood is not
only
the
center
of
the
motion
picture
industry,
but
also
of
the
television,
film
and
recording
industries of
America.
Hollywood suggests
glamour
（迷人的魅力）
, a place
where the young star-struck teenagers
could,
with
a
bit
of
luck,
fulfill
their
dreams.
Hollywood
suggests
luxurious
houses
with
vast
palm-
fringed
（以棕榈树为边）
swimming
pools, cocktail
bars
（鸡尾酒吧）
and furnishing fit
for
a millionaire. The big movie-stars
were millionaires. Many spent their fortunes on
yachts
（游艇）
,
Rolls-Royces and Diamonds. A few of
them lost their glamour quite suddenly and were
left with
nothing but emptiness and
colossal
（巨大的）
debts.
Movies
were
first
made
in
Hollywood
before
World
War
I.
Hollywood's
fame
and
fortune
reached its peak in the 1930s and
1940s, the golden days of the black and white
movies. Most of
the
famous
motion
pictures
corporations
of
those
days,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
Columbia
and
Warner Brothers are still very much in
business and great stars like Greta
Garbo
（格雷塔·
嘉宝）
,
Marlen
Dietrich
（马琳·黛德丽）
, Charlie
Chaplin, Gary
Cooper
（加里·库珀）
and many other
besides, have become immortal.
In
those
days,
Hollywood
was
like
a
magnet
（磁铁）
,
drawing
ambitious
young
men
and
women
from
all
over
the
world.
Now
Hollywood
is
no
longer
the
heart
of
the
world's
motion
picture industry. Most movies today are
film on location
（现场）
, that
is to say, in the cities, in the
countryside, and in any part of the
world that the script demands. The Hollywood
Studios are still
standing,
but
most
of
them
have
been
leased
（租借）
to
television
networks.
About
80%
of
all
American TV
entertainment comes from Hollywood.
Yet
Hollywood
has
not
lost
all
its
glamour.
Movie
stars
still
live
there,
or
in
neighboring
Beverly
Hills
（贝弗利山）
and so do many of
the famous and wealthy people who have made their
homes in Southern California.
Production
Code
（制作原则）
Described as a
（包含）
three general
principles:
(1)
No picture shall be produced which will
lower the moral standards of those who see it.
Hence
the
sympathy
of
the
audience
shall
never
be
thrown
to
the
side
of
crime,
wrongdoing,
evil, or sin.
(2)
Correct standards of life, subject only
to the requirements of drama and entertainment,
shall be presented.
(3)
Law, natural
or human, shall not be
ridiculed
（讥讽）
, nor shall
sympathy be created for
its
violation
（侵犯）
.
The Production Code's origins date back
to 1927, when Will H. Hays, president of the
Motion
Picture Producers and
Distributors of America
formulated
（系统阐述）
a group of
directives
（命
令）
for
producers, consisting of eleven
to
Maintain
Social
and
Community
Values
was
adopted
by
the
Association
and
ratified
by
its
board of directors on March 31, 1930.
- 6 -
All
producers belonging to the Motion Picture
Producers and Distributors of America were
obligated
（有义务的）
to
submit
（使
…
服从）
scripts and finished
films for Code approval. The
provisions
of the Production Code, initially published in a
nineteen-page booklet, could vary from
year to year. An up-to-date copy of the
Code appeared annually in International Motion
Picture
Almanac.
In the
fifties, theatres began screening films that did
not have the code seal
（批准）
of
approval.
In 1966, the Code was revised
and a new heading,
Eventually, the Code
became obsolete
（废弃的）
with the
introduction
—
in 1968
—
of the ratings
system.
Ratings
System
（分级制度）
The
rating system of rating motion pictures was
introduced by the Motion Picture Association
of America on Oct. 7, 1968, and went
into effect on Nov . 1 . The primary purpose of
the rating
system is to advise
patrons
（观众）
, particularly
parents as to the type of material in a particular
film. The Ratings Board is a
censorship
（审查）
board, and its
ratings are not intended to indicate
the quality or
artistry
（艺术性）
of any motion
picture.
There are four categories of
ratings.
This is a film which contains
nothing in theme, language,
nudity
（
裸体）
and
sex, or violence which
would, in the
view of the Rating Board, be offensive to parents
whose younger children view the
film.
about by parents before they let their
younger children attend. Parents are warned
against sending
their children to PG-
rated movies unseen.
accompanying
parent or
guardian
（
指导）
.
This is an adult film in some of its aspects and
treatment
so far as language, violence,
or nudity, sexuality or other content is
concerned. The language may
be tough,
the violence may be hard, and while
explicit
（详细的）
sex is not to
be found in R-rated
film, nudity and
lovemaking may be involved.
is patently
an adult film and no children are allowed to
attend. It should be noted, however, that X
dies not necessarily mean
obscene
（
污秽的）
or
pornographic
（
色情的）
in terms of
sex or violence.
Serious
films
by
lauded
and
skilled
filmmakers
may
be
rated
X.
The
reason
for
not
admitting
children to
X-rated films can relate to the accumulation of
brutal or sexually connected language,
or of explicit sex or excessive and
sadistic
（性虐待）
violence.
The Star
System
（明星制度）
The
star
system
is
an
approach
to
filmmaking
based
on
the
assumption
that
the
average
moviegoer is more interested in
personalities than in great stories or, in film
art. The star system
has been the
backbone
（支柱）
of the American
film industry since the mid-1910s. Stars are the
creation if the public, its reigning
favorites. Their influence in the fields of
fashion, values, and
public behavior
has been enormous. The stars were of course,
actors with great mass
appeal
（魅
力）
. The
studios did everything in their power to preserve
as carefully and rigidly as possible all
those qualities of the stars that
appealed to the public and created films around
the image of the
star personality.
Often the star' s presence in a film was the main
guarantee
（保证）
of financial
success,
and
such
films
became
nothing
more
than
a
suitable
package
in
which
to
display
and
market the attractive wares of the
actors. When the audiences became
fanatic
（
狂热的）
movie
fans,
the
built-up
stars'
box
office
appeal
was
totally
proved
and
they
brought
great
profits
to
themselves
as
well
as
the
producers.
Hollywood'
s
sky
shone
with
uncountable
stars,
whose
- 7 -
brightness conquered
the world: Charlie Chaplin, Ingrid Bergman, Vivien
Leigh, Marilyn Monroe,
Elizabeth
Taylor, Katherine Hepburn, Henry
Fonda
（亨利·方达）
, etc.
However, once these stars realized the
commercial advantages of their presence in a film,
they
demanded
to
be
paid
accordingly.
As
a
result,
the
star
system
began
to
lose
favor
within
the
industry. Producers now
often prefer to use lesser known actors who have
the range and flexibility
to play a
variety of roles and who, of course, demand less
money than established stars. However,
there
is
some
evidence
that
a
new
star
system
may
be
in
the
making.
After
all,
we
are
always
attracted
to
familiar
faces
and
personalities,
for
we
seem
to
have
a
psychological
needs
for
the
familiar,
the predictable, and the comfortable. Star system
can change but it can never die.
2.
Film
Appreciation
（电影鉴赏）
Appreciation of
Film
（电影艺术鉴赏）
Film
is
an
audio-
visual
art.
It
creates
images,
narrates
stories,
expresses
feelings,
states
philosophy and
attracts the audience by its sound color and
moving pictures; especially the latter.
To appreciate a film is to have
insight
（洞察力）
into the
infinite content
（无限的内容）
of
the finite
form
（有限的形式）
.An
appreciator has to go through perceiving and
comprehending processes,
which then
lead to emotionally and associatively thinking
activity. Film appreciation is a sort of
reprocessing
（在加工）
artistic
works,
a
sort
of
recreation.
It's
a
further
involvement
and
exploration of
aesthetic
（审美）
activity-
Director
（导演）
Director
is
the
true
of
a
movie.
The
other
collaborators
（合作伙伴）
(writers,
cinematographer,
actors,
editor,
etc.)
are
merely
the
director's
technical
assistants.
The
film
director controls
virtually every aspect of the finished work, for
movie directors can rephotograph
people
and objects until they get exactly what they want.
As we have seen, films
communicate
primarily through moving images, and
it's the director who determines most of the
visual elements:
the choice of shots,
angles, lighting effects, filters, optical
effects, framing,
composition
（结构）
,
camera movements, and editing.
Furthermore, the director usually authorizes the
costume and set
designs and the choice
of locales
（时间情发生场所）
.
The director is the soul of film art,
responsible for the success or failure of making a
film. The
director's style is greatly
influenced by the time, nation and school, but the
most important thing is
still his/ her
personal style . Here we’
ll see two
important directors in Holly wood: Oliver Stone
and
Steven
Spielberg.
They're
both
good
at
directing
political
films.
Oliver
Stone
has
won
the
Academy Award twice for
his Platoon
（
《野战排》
）
and Born on the Fourth of July. He
likes to
select a very novel angle to
look into the subject, to see through its nature.
JFK is a good example,
exposing the
inside story of President Kennedy's death, the
most famous unsolved
case
（案例）
of
this
century.
The
film
really
caused
a
stir
（骚动）
in
American
society
and
provoked
peoples
'
serious
introspection
（内省）
. Steve
Spielberg's Schindler' s List and Saving Private
Ryne also won
two Oscars for him.
Spielberg places much stress on humanity
（人性）
. Even a facial
expression,
a
small
action,
a
short
dialogue
can
have
an
insight
into
human
character
and
capture
the
psy-
chological
subtlety
（微妙）
.
Actor
（演员）
When we consider going to a movie, the
first question we usually ask has nothing to do
with
the director or the cinematographe
r
（
摄影师）
, but with
the actors:
- 8 -
question, because the art of the actor
is the most clearly visible one. The actor's work
commands
most of our attention,
overshadowing
（超过）
the
considerable contributions of the writer,
director,
cinematographer, editor and
composer of the score.
Actors must
possess the intelligence, imagination,
sensitivity, and insight into human nature
necessary
to
fully
understand
the
characters
they
play
—
their
inner
thoughts,
movements,
gestures, or
facial expressions, so the qualities seem true to
the characters portrayed
（
描述）
and to
the
situation
in
which
the
characters
find
themselves.
And
actors
must
maintain
the
illusion
of
reality in their characters with
complete consistency from beginning to end. It is
also important
that
actors
possess
with
seeming
ease
and
naturalness.
They
should
appear
to
be
completely
themselves
without
self-consciousness
or
a
sense
of
strain
（紧张）
.This
rare
quality
generally
seems to depend as
much on natural talent as disciplined study and
training.
Good actors must all be
experts in the use of body language. Body language
include a vast
array
（一系列）
of
nonverbal
（非词汇的）
communication
techniques, but the motion picture is
perhaps unique in its emphasis on the
eloquence of the human face. In film, the face
becomes a
medium
of
communication
in
its
own
right.
The
human
face
is
a
marvelous
complex
structure,
capable of transmitting a tremendously
wide range of emotions through slight changes in
mouth,
eyes,
eyelids
（眼睑）
,
eyebrows
（眉毛）
,
and
forehead.
Film
actors
must
also
be
able
to
communicate
more
with
bodily
movements
and
gestures
than
stage
actors.
In
film,
physical
movement and gesture may communicate
effectively without dialogue. The
magnification
（放大）
of the
human image on the screen enables the actor to
communicate with extremely
subtle
（微妙
的）
movements.
A
slight
shrug
of
the
shoulders,
the
nervous
trembling
of
a
hand
viewed
in
close-up, or the visible tension of the
muscles and tendons
（筋）
in the
neck may be much more
important than
anything said. If a killer's gesture is slow,
deliberate
（不慌不忙的）
, yet
tense, we
will sense with horror his
cold, cruel indifference to human life.
Acting can be divided into two
different kinds. One is action
acting
（动态表演）
, another is
dramatic
acting.
Action
acting
requires
a
great
deal
in
the
way
of
reactions,
body
language,
physical
exertion,
and
special
skills;
it
does
not
draw
on
the
deepest
resources
of
the
actor's
intelligence and
feelings. Dramatic acting involves
sustained
（持久的）
, intense
（
强烈的）
dialogue
with
another
person,
and
requires
an
emotional
and
psychological
depth
seldom
called
for
in
action acting. Action
acting is the art of doing, whereas dramatic
acting involves feeling, thinking,
and
communicating
emotions
and
thoughts. Action acting
is
on
the
surface,
with
little
need
for
nuance
（情感的细微差别）
.
Dramatic
acting
is
just
the
opposite:
beneath
the
surface,
full
of
subtlety. Each type of
acting requires its own particular gift or talent.
While some actors can do
both.
Generally speaking, the actor's style
may be divided into two groups: the
exterior
（外在的）
acting of
characterization and the
interior
（内在的）
acting of
personalization. Nowadays films of
simple content are becoming less
frequent, so stars with excellent acting ability
are more popular.
Here are two names
that are very familiar to us: Dustin Hoffman
（达斯廷·
霍夫曼）
and Harrison <
/p>
Ford
（哈里森·
福特）
. The previous one is a short, plain-looking
man, but everyone admits, he is
experienced, intelligent, profound and
his performance is superb. Kramer vs . Kramer
（
《克莱默夫
妇》
）
, Rain Man
（
《雨人》
）
and nearly every film he acted
in owes its great success to his acting,
while Harrison Ford, who has never won
the Academy Award, is recognized all over the
world. All
his films have gained
popularity and been box-
office
（票房）
successes, such as
Star Wars, The
Fugitive
（
《亡命天涯》
）
, Air Force No
. l
（
《空军一号》
）
, and Six Days and Seven
Nights
（
《六
- 9 -
天七夜》
）
. He has
lots of fans
（影迷）
, but
compared to Dustin Hoffman, he is regarded by many
people as simply a film star. However,
compared to Arnold Schwarzenegger
（阿诺德·<
/p>
施瓦辛格）
and Sylvester Stallone
（西尔威斯特·
史泰龙）
, Ford's
acting seems more intelligent and humane.
However a film actor is important,
virtually all performers in the films are
ultimately the tools
of the directors
—
another
and
emotions.
Theme
（主题）
The theme serves as the basic
unifying
（统一的）
factor in the
film; therefore, each element
'within
the film
must contribute in some manner
and to some degree to the development of the
theme.
It
is
essential,
then,
that
the
viewer
make
some
attempt
to
determine,
as
accurately
as
possible, the nature of that theme.
Unfortunately, determining the theme is often a
very difficult
process.
Although
we
can
easily
acquire
a
vague,
intuitive
（
直观的）
grasp
of
the
film's
basic
meaning from simply watching it,
accurately determining and stating the theme is
quite another
matter. Often we will not
accomplish this until we leave the theater and
begin thinking about or
discussing the
film in abstract terms.
The
traditional
use
of
the
word
theme
as
it
applies
to
fiction,
drama,
and
poetry
always
connotes
（意味着）
a
central idea. But a film' s theme means the
central concern around which a
film is
structured, the focus that unifies a film. In film
this central concern, or focus, can be broken
down into five more or less distinct
categories
（种类）
:
(1)
Plot as
Theme: In many types of films, such as the
adventure story or the detective story,
the primary emphasis is on the chain of
events, on what happens. These films are generally
aimed
at providing with a temporary
escape from the boredom and the drabness
（
单调，
乏味）
of
everyday
living. So the action must be
exciting and fast-paced. The character, the ideas,
and the emotional
effects in the films
are all subordinate
（从属的）
to
the plot, and the final outcome is all important.
However, the events and their final
outcome are important only within the context of
the story, out
of context, little if
any real significance in a general or abstract
sense can be attached to theme.
(2)
Emotional
Effect
or
Mood
as
Theme:
A
highly
specialized
mood
or
emotional
effect
serves as the focus
for a relatively large number of films. In such
films, a single primary mood or
emotion
prevails
（占主导地位）
th
roughout
the
film,
and
each
segment
of
the
film
acts
as
a
stair-step leading to a single powerful
emotional effect. Although plot may play a very
important
role in such a movie,
the chain of
events itself is subordinate to the emotional
response caused
by those events. Most
horror films, suspense thrillers, and romantic
tone films can be interpreted
as having
a mood or emotional effect as their primary focus
and unifying element.
(3)
Character as Theme: Some films, through
both action and dialogue, focus on
delineating
（描述）
a unique
character. Although plot is important in such
films, what happens is important
primarily in how it helps us understand
the character being developed. The major appeal of
such
characters lies in their
uniqueness, in those qualities that set them apart
from ordinary people. The
theme of such
films can be best expressed by a brief description
of the central character,
with
emphasis on the unusual
aspects of the individual' s personality.
(4)
Style or
Texture
（
结构）
as
Theme: In a relatively small number of films,
the filmmaker
tells the story in such a unique way
that the film' s style or texture becomes its
dominant
（重要）
and most
memorable aspect. Such films have a very special
quality that distinguishes them from
others,
a
unique
rhythm,
atmosphere,
or
tone
that
echoes
in
our
memory
long
after we've left the
theater. This unique style or texture
permeates
（充满）
the entire
film,
not just
- 10 -
isolated
segments,
with
all
the
cinematic
elements
woven
into one
rich
tapestry.
Such
films
are
often
not
commercially
successful
because
the
mass
audience
may
not
be
prepared
for
or
comfortable with the unique viewing
experience such films provide.
(5)
Idea as
Theme: In most films that are of serious intent,
the action and characters have a
significance
beyond
the
context
of
the
film
itself,
a
significance
that
helps
us
more
clearly
understand some aspects of life,
experience, or the human condition. Such a theme
can, of course,
be
stated
directly
through
some
particular
incidents
or
characters.
But
most
often
the
theme
is
arrived
at
indirectly,
and
we
are
challenged
to
seek
our
own
interpretation.
This
less
direct
approach increases the possibility that
the film will be interpreted in different ways by
different
viewers. But different
interpretations are not always contradictory. They
may say essentially the
same thing in a
different way, or approaching the same theme from
a different angle.
The
Title
（影名）
In most
films, the full significance of the title can be
determined only after seeing the film.
In many cases, the title
will have one meaning to a viewer before seeing
the film, and a completely
different,
richer and deeper meaning afterwards. Titles are
often ironic
（讽刺的）
,
expressing an
idea exactly the opposite
of the meaning intended, and many titles
allude
（暗指）
to biblical
（圣
经的）
passages,
mythology
（神化）
, or other
literary works.
Some titles may call
our attention to a
key
（重要的）
scene in the film
that becomes worthy of
especially
careful study when we realize that the title has
been taken from it. Although the title
seldom names the theme, it is usually
an extremely important clue in determining it.
Thus, it is
essential to think
carefully about the possible meanings of the title
after seeing any film.
Point of
View
（叙事角度）
Point
of view in fiction generally concerns the
narrator, through whose eyes the events of a
story are viewed . He or she may or may
not be a participant in the action, and may or may
not be
a reliable guide for the reader
to follow. In movies, point of view tends to be
less rigorous than in
novels. They are:
(1)
The first-
person-narrator: The first-person-narrator tells
his own story. In some cases, he
is an
objective observer who can be relied upon to
relate the events accurately. Many films employ
first-person narrative techniques, but
only sporadically
（偶尔的）
. The
cinematic equivalent to the
In literature, the
distinction between the narrator and the reader is
clear: It's as if the reader were
listening to a friend tell a story. In
film, however, it identifies with the lens, and
thus tends to fuse
with the narrator.
To produce first-person narration in film, the
camera would have to record all
the
action
through
the
eyes
of
the
character,
which,
in
effect,
would
also
make
the
viewer
the
protagonist
（主人公）
.
Unless the director breaks the first-person camera
convention, we can never
see the hero,
we can only see what he sees.
(2)
The
omniscient
（无所不知的）
point
of
view;
The
omniscient
point
of
view
is
often
associated
with
the
nineteenth-century
novel.
Generally,
such
narrators
are
not
participants
in
a
story, but are all-knowing observers
who supply the reader with all the facts he or she
needs to
know in order to appreciate
the story. Omniscient narration is almost
inevitable in film. Each time
the
director moves the camera
—
either within a shot or between shots
—
we are offered a new
point-of-view from which to evaluate
the scene. The filmmaker can cut easily from a
subjective
point-of-view
shot
(first
person)
to
a
variety
of
objective
shots.
He can
concentrate
on
a
single
- 11 -
reaction
(close-up) or the simultaneous
（
< br>同时的）
reactions of several characters
(long shot).
With
a matter of seconds, the film director
can show us a cause and effect,
an action and a reaction.
He
can
connect
various
time
periods
and
locations
almost
instantaneously
(parallel
editing),
or
literally
superimpose
different
times
periods
(dissolve
or
multiple
exposure).
The
omniscient
camera can be a
dispassionate observer,
as
it is in many of Chaplin' s films or it can be a
witty
commentator
—
an evaluater of events
—
as it often is in
Hitchcock's films.
(3)
The third person: In the third person,
a nonparticipating narrator tells a story from the
consciousness of a single character. In
some novels, this narrator completely penetrates
the mind
of a character; in others,
there is virtually no penetration, In Pride and
Prejudice, for example, we
learn
what
Elizabeth
thinks
and
feels
about
events,
but
we're
never
permitted
to
enter
the
consciousness
of
the
other
characters.
We
can
only
guess
what
they
feel
through
Elizabeth's
interpretations
—
which
are
often
inaccurate.
Her
interpretations
are
not
offered
directly
to
the
reader
as
in
the
first
person,
but
through
the
intermediacy
of
the
narrator,
who
tells
us
her
re-
sponses. In movies, there
is a rough equivalent to the third person, but
it's not so rigorous as in
literature.
Usually,
third-person
narration
is
found
in
documentaries
where
an
anonymous
commentator tell us about the
background of a central character.
(4)
The
objective
point
of
view;
The
objective
point
of
view
is
also
a
variation
of
the
omniscient. Objective narration is the
most detached
（与
…
无关）
of all: It does not enter
the
consciousness of any character, but
merely reports events from the outside. In deed,
this voice has
been likened to a camera
in that records events impartially. It presents
facts and allows readers to
interpret
for
themselves.
The
objective
voice
is
more
congenial
to
film
than
to
literature,
for
movies
literally
do
use
a
camera.
The
cinematic
objective
point
of
view
is
generally
used
by
realistic directors who
keep their camera at long shot and avoid all
distortions or
such as
angles, lenses, and filters.
Narrative
Structure
（叙事结构）
The way a director chooses to tell the
story
—
the narrative
structure
—
is also an
important
element
of
style.
A
director
may
choose
to
build
a
simple, <
/p>
straightforward
（平铺直述）
< br>,
chronological sequence of events
or a complex
elliptical
（省略的）
structure,
jumping back and
forth in time .
Flashback
（倒叙）
is an important
movie technique. It shows a scene earlier in time
than the rest of the film (e.g. to the
childhood days of the hero). Few stories are
structured in a
pure, straight
chronological sequence, and
divergence
（离开）
from strict
chronological order is
very common in
film, where the visual flashback gives it great
structural
flexibility
（结构灵活）
.
Through use of the flashback, the
filmmaker can bring us information as he or she
desires, when it
is most dramatically
appropriate and powerful, or when it will most
effectively
illuminate
（阐述）
the
theme
（主题）
.
A
director
may
choose
to
tell
the
story
objectively
（客观的）
,
putting
the
camera
and
the
viewer in the advantage point of a
sideline observer, bringing the action just close
enough so that
we get all the necessary
information without identifying with any single
character. On the other
hand, a
director may tell the story from the viewpoint of
a single character and
manipulate
（操纵）
us so that we
essentially experience the story as that character
perceives
（感知）
it.
Some directors will create a tight
structure
（结构紧凑）
, so that
every single action, every
word of
dialogue advance the plot in some way with no side
trips
（多于台词）
; others prefer a
rambling
（散漫）
,
loosely structured plot with side trips that may
be interesting for themselves but
actually have little or nothing to do
with stream of the action.
- 12 -
Directors also differ
in the way they handle films with
multiple
（多层次的）
narrative
levels.
Complex
plots,
with
several
lines
of
action
occurring
simultaneously
（同时地）
at
different
locations, can be broken into fragments
jumping quickly back and forth from one developing
story
to
another,
or
can
develop
each
stream
of
action
rather
completely
before
switching
to
another
steam of narrative.
Some directors may prefer a lazy, slow-
paced gradual unfolding of character or
information,
focusing
on
each
single
detail,
or
compressed
machine-gun
dialogue
and
quick
images
to
get
exposition out of the
way as quickly as possible and introduce
characters quickly so that he can
use
more time later to focus on the most dramatic
scenes .
What actually carries the
narrative forward may also vary greatly from one
director to the next.
Some may provide
dialogue for the most important bits of story and
action, and others may prefer
to tell
the story in strictly visual terms with a bare
minimum of dialogue.
The
sense
of
what
makes
a
story
and
how
to
tell
it,
of
course,
is
often
determined
by
the
screenwriter, but it should be
remembered that many directors simply look at the
screenplay as a
rough
outline
for
a
movie,
and
impose
their
own
feel
for
narrative
structure
on
it,
expressing
themselves
creatively in terms of the film's overall shape
and form.
Setting
（场景）
In the best movies and stage
productions, settings are not merely
backdrops
（背景）
for the
action,
but
symbolic
extensions
of
the
theme
and
characterization.
Settings
can
convey
an
immense
amount of information, especially in the cinema.
Stage sets are generally less detailed
than film sets, for the audience is too
distant from the stage to perceive many small
details.
The film director has far more
freedom in the use of settings. Most important, of
course, the
cinema permits a director
to shoot out-of-doors- an enormous advantage. Epic
film
（描述历史事
件的电影）
wo
uld be virtually impossible without extreme long
shots of
vast expanses of land.
Other genres, particularly those
requiring a degree of stylization or deliberate
unreality
（虚构的事
件）
,
have been associated with the studio : musicals,
horror films, and many period
films
（特定
历史时期
的电影）
.Such genres often
stress a kind of magical, sealed-off
（
封闭的）
universe,
and
images
taken
from
real
life
tend
to
cash
with
these
essentially
claustrophobic
（幽闭恐怖的）
qualities.
However,
these
are
merely
generalizations.
There
are
some
westerns
that
have
been
shot
mostly
indoors
and
some
musicals
that
have
been
photographed
in
actual
locations.
Spectacle
films
（场
面宏大的电影）
usually
require
the
most
elaborate
sets.
Historical
reconstructions
of
ancient Rome or Egypt are
enormously expensive to build, and they can
make
（成就）
or
break
（毁
坏）
a film
in this genre because spectacle is the major
attraction.
In short, what matters most
in a setting is how it embodies the essence of the
story materials
and the artistic vision
of the filmmaker. A film set, in order to be a
good set, must act. Whether
realistic
or
expressionistic,
modern
or
ancient,
it
must
play
its
part.
The
set
must
present
the
character before he has even appeared.
It must indicate his social position, his tastes,
his habits, his
lifestyle, his
personality. The sets must be intimately linked
with the action.
Suspense
（悬念）
To capture and
maintain
（维持）
out interest,
the filmmaker employs a
multitude
（多种）
of
devices and techniques, most of which
are in some way related to what we call suspense.
These
elements create a state of
heightened interest by exciting our curiosity,
usually by foreshadowing
-
13 -
（影射）
or
hinting
（暗示）
at the outcome .
By withholding bits of information that would
answer
the dramatic questions raised by
the story and by
floating
（悬浮）
some unanswered
questions just
beyond our
reach
（能力）
like a carrot
（
胡萝卜）
dangling
（悬挂）
before a donkey, the filmmaker
provides a motive force to keep us
constantly moving with the story' s flow.
Conflict
（矛盾冲突）
Conflict is the
mainspring
（主要因素）
of every
story, whether it be told on the printed page,
on
the
stage
or
on
the
screen.
No
conflict,
no
story.
It
is
the
element
that
really
captures
our
interest, that heightens
the intensity of our experience, and that quickens
our pulses
（脉搏）
and
challenges our minds. In come films,
the major conflict and its resolution may
contribute greatly
to the viewer's
experience, for it is this conflict, and its
resolution that does the most to clarify or
illuminate
（阐明）
the
nature of human experience. Various types of major
conflicts exist. Some
may
be
primarily
physical
in
nature;
other
may
be
almost
completely
psychological.
In
a
large
majority of films, however, the
conflict has both physical and psychological
implications, and it is
often
difficult
to
tell
where
one
stops
and
the
other
begins.
It
is
perhaps
simpler
and
more
meaningful to classify major conflicts
into external and internal.
External
conflict
may
consist
of
a
personal
and
individual
struggle
between
the
central
character
and
another
character.
It
can
be
the
contest
of
human
wills
in
opposition
or
seeking
similar goals, a
duel, or even by two suitors seeking to win the
affections of the same girl. Or it
may
be
the
one
that
pits
the
central
character
or
characters
against
some
nonhuman
force
or
agency
such
as
fate,
the
gods,
the
forces
of
nature,
or
the
social
system.
Here
the
forces
the
characters face, though
they may be manmade, are essentially nonhuman and
impersonal.
An internal conflict is one
that centers on an internal, psychological
conflict within the central
character,
so that the forces in opposition are simply
different aspects of the same personality. In
all
such
internal
conflicts,
we
see
a
character
caught
in
a
squeeze
（挤压）
equally
strong
but
conflicting desires, goals, or value
systems. In some cases, this inner conflict is
resolved, and the
character grows or
develops as a result, but in many cases, there is
no resolution.
Symbolism
（象征）
A symbol is something
concrete
（具体）
(a particular
object, image, person, sound, even place)
that stands for, suggests, or
triggers
（
激发起）
a
complex of ideas, attitudes, or feelings and thus
ac-
quires significance beyond itself .
A symbol therefore is a special kind of
energized
（加强了的）
communication
unit, which functions somewhat like a storage
battery
（充了电的电池）
. Once a
symbol is
（联想）
(ideas, attitudes, or
feeling), it is capable of
storing
those associations and communicating them any time
it is used.
We
have
< br>universal
（
通
用
的
）
symbols
and
natural
symbols.
Universal
symbols
are
（
充了电的）
—
ready-made symbols that
are already
infused
（
注入）
with
values and
associations
understood
by
most
of
the
people
in
a
given
culture.
By
using
objects
images,
or
persons that automatically
evoke
（唤起）
many complex
associations filmmakers save themselves
the job of creating each of the
associated attitudes and feelings within the
context of their films.
They
need
only
to
use
these
symbols
appropriately
（恰当地）
to
make
full
use
of
their
communication
potential
（潜能）
. Thus such
symbols as the American flag (triggering the
complex
set
of
feelings
and
values
that
we
associate
with
America),
or
the
cross
(evoking
a
variety
of
values
and feelings associated with Christianity), can be
used effectively as symbols for a broad
audience. Reactions would vary
according to the viewers' attitudes toward the
ideas represented,
but all people from
the same culture would get the general symbolic
message.
- 14 -
In
many
cases,
however,
filmmakers
cannot
depend
on
precharged
or
ready-made
symbols,
but must create symbols by charging
them with meaning
derived
（得出）
from the
context
（情景）
of
the
film
itself.
There
are
four
primary
methods
of
charging
symbols
to
which
we
must
pay
special attention:
(1)
Through
repetition; Perhaps the most obvious means of
charging an object is by drawing
attention to it more often than a
simple surface object might seem to deserve.
Through such repeti-
tion, the object
gains in significance and symbolic power with each
appearance.
(2)
Through value placed on an object by a
character: A object is also charged symbolically
when a particular character places
value and importance on it.
(3)
Through
context in which the object or image appears
Associations can be created
①
by
its
relationship to other visual objects in the same
frame,
②
by a relationship
established by the
editorial juxtaposit
ion
（
并行）
of one
shot with another and,
③
when it occupies an important place
in
the films structure.
(4)
Through
special
visual,
aural
（听觉的）
or
musical
emphasis:
For
example,
visual
emphasis
may
be
achieved
through
lingering
close-ups,
unusual
camera
angles,
changes
from
sharp to soft
focus
（
清晰与柔和聚焦）
,
freeze frames, or lighting effects. Similar
emphasis can be
achieved through sound
effects or use of the musical score.
Ch
aracterization
（人物塑造）
If we are not interested in a film's
most human elements, its characters, there is
little chance
that we will be
interested in the film as a whole. To be
interesting, characters must seem real,
un-
derstandable,
and
worth
caring
about.
The
way
to
describe
or
portray
the
particular
qualities,
features, or traits of characters in a
play, story, or film, etc. is called
characterization. A character
can be
characterized through several methods;
(1)
Characterization
by
appearance:
The
minute
we
see
actors
on
the
screen
we
make
certain assumptions about them based on
their facial features
（面部特征）
,
dress, physical build
（身体外形）
,
mannerisms
（独特风格）
,
and
the
way
they
move.
A
major
aspect
of
film
characterization
is
therefore
revealed
visually
and
instantaneously
（瞬间的）
by
our
first
visual
impression of each character.
(2)
Characterization
through
dialogue:
Characters
in
a
film
naturally
reveal
a
great
deal
about themselves by what they say. But
there is also a great deal revealed by how they
say it. Their
true thoughts, attitudes,
and emotions can be revealed in subtle way through
their choice of words
and through the
stress
（
重音）
,
pitch
（音高）
, and pause
patterns built into their speech. Actors' use
of grammar, sentence structure,
vocabulary, and particular
dialects
（地方音）
all reveal a
great deal
about their characters'
social and economic level, educational background,
and mental processes.
There
fore,
we
must
develop
a
keen
ear,
attuned
to
the
faintest
and
most
subtle
nuances
of
meaning revealed through the human
voice
—
not only by
listening carefully to what is said, but
also to how it is said.
(3)
Characterization
through
external
action:
Although
a
character's
appearance
is
an
important
measure of his or her personality,
appearances are often
misleading.
Perhaps the best
reflections
of
character
can
be
found
is
a
person's
actions.
Of
course,
some
actions
are
more
important
in
revealing
character
than
others.
Sometimes
the
most
effective
characterization
is
achieved not by the large actions in
the film, but by the small, seemingly
insignificant ones.
(4)
Characterization
through
internal
action:
There
is
also
an
inner
world
of
that
normally
remains
unseen
and
unheard
by
even
the
most
careful
observer/listener.
Inner
action
- 15 -
occurs
with
in
characters'
minds
and
emotions,
and
consists
of
secret,
unspoken
thoughts,
daydreams,
aspirations
（报复）
, memories,
fears, and fantasies
（奇想）
.
People's hopes, dreams,
and
aspirations can be as important to an
understanding of their character as any real
achievement,
and their fears and
insecurities can be more terrible to them than any
real catastrophic failure. The
most
obvious way in which the filmmaker shows us this
inner reality is by taking us visually or
aurally into the minds so that we see
or hear the things that the
character
imagines, remembers, or thinks about.
(5)
Characterization
by
reactions
of
other
characters:
The
way
other
characters
view
a
person
often
serves
as
an
excellent
means
of
characterization.
Sometimes,
a
great
deal
of
information about a character will
already be provided through such means before he
or she first
appears on the screen.
(6)
Characterization by contrast: One of
the most effective techniques of characterization
is
the
use
of
contrast
in
characters
whose
behavior,
attitudes,
opinions,
life-styles,
physical
appearances,
and
so on are opposite to those of the main
characters.
(7)
Characterization
by
< br>caricature
（漫画手法）
and
leitmotif
（重复）
:
In
order
to
etch
a
character
quickly and deeply on our minds and memories,
actors often exaggerate or
distort
（扭
曲）
one or
more dominant
（主要的）
features
or personality
traits
（
特点）
, a
device called caricature.
A similar
means of characterization, called leitmotif, is
the repetition of a single phrase or ideas by
a character until it becomes almost a
trademark or theme
song
（
主题曲）
for that
character. Because
it essentially
exaggerates and emphasizes, such a device acts
very much like caricature.
Types of
Characters
（人物类型）
(1)
Stock
< br>（普通的）
characters and
stereotypes
（套路人物）
: Stock
characters are minor
characters whose
actions are completely predictable
（
可预见的）
. Typical of their job or
profession,
they are in the film simply
because the situation demands their presence. Thus
they serve more as
a natural part of
the setting than anything else, much as stage
properties
（道具）
like a lamp or
a
chair might function in a play.
Stereotypes, on the other hand, are characters of
somewhat greater
importance to the film
who fit into
preconceived
（事先想好的）
patterns
of behavior common to or
representative
of a large number of people. Examples of
stereotypes are the rich play
boy
（花花公
子）
, the
western hero' s
sidekick
（帮手）
, the
pompous
（神奇的）
banker, and the
old maid aunt.
Our preconceived
notions
（概念）
of such
characters allow the director to economize greatly
in
treating them.
(2)
Static
（静态的）
and
developing characters: Static characters, as the
term implies remain
essentially the
same throughout the action of the film, either
because the action does not have as
important
an
effect
on
their
lives
or
simply
because
they
are
insensitive
to
the
meaning
of
the
action, and thus are not
really capable of growth or change . Developing
characters are those who
are
deeply
affected
by
the
action
of
the
plot
and
who
undergo
some
important
change
in
personality,
attitude,
or
outlook
on
life
as
a
result
of
the
action
of
the
story.
The
change
they
undergo is an
important, permanent one, not just a whimsical
shift in attitude that will change back
a-gain tomorrow. The character will
somehow never be the same person he or she was
when the
action of the film began.
(3)
Flat and
round characters : Flat characters are two-
dimensional
（两维的）
,
predictable
characters
who
lack
the
complexity
and
unique
qualities
associated
with
what
we
call
psychological depth. They often tend to
be representative character types rather than real
flesh and
blood human beings. Round
characters or three-dimensional characters are
unique, individualistic
-
16 -
characters
who
have
some
degree
of
complexity
and
ambiguity
and
who
cannot
easily
be
categorized
（分类）
.
Film Noir
（黑色电影）
Film noir
was first used as
a critical term
（评论术语）
in
France in the fifties and became
established after the publication in
1955. The term was used to
designate
（指出）
a group of
films
that was different from the usual
crime and gangster films, both visually and
structurally. Visually,
the high-key
lighting
（高调照明）
used in most
Hollywood films was replaced by a repeated use of
low-key
lighting
（
地调照明）
so
that the screen was often
literally
（
实际上）
in
the dark. Structurally,
the
redemptive
（拯救的）
elements of
the gangster and crime film
—
the police win; the city
is
cleaned
up;
the
gangster
dies
—
are
replaced
by
a
narrative
in
which
no
one
is
able
to
win,
especially not the
hero.
The visual style of these films
was derived from the German
expressionist
（表现主义的）
films
and was a
blend
（
结合）
of chiar
oscuro
（
明暗对照）
,
unusual camera angles, and extreme close-ups.
This type of style worked to compress
space and give the viewers a
disorienting
（杂乱的）
view of
the action. It also helped establish a
mood in which the characters in the film were
trapped by the
encroaching
（侵
犯性的）
darkness and the extreme close-ups,
without there being any place to
escape.
The mood was
intensified by the narrative structure of film
noir, in which the straight-ahead
drive
of the classic gangster film is replaced by a
twisting
（迂回的）
,
retrogressive
（倒叙的）
narrative.
Flashbacks become
crucial
（重要）
for film noir, as
a mood of hopeless and fatality is
established by beginning the film with
the protagonist
（主角）
defeated,
on the run, or in the most
extreme
case,
dead
but
still
moving
and
then
flashing
back
to
see
how
this
state
was
brought
about.
Since the films which
make up film noir do not have the thematic
coherence
（主题连贯）
of
westerns or gangster films, there has
been an argument as to whether film noir is a
genre
（种类）
or not. If the
films do not have common themes, they do share a
common perception of the world
and
of
life,
a
view
in
which
life
is
nasty
and
bleak
and
where
there
is
no
escape
through
the
blackness of death.
3.
Film
Technique
（电影技巧）
Editing
（剪辑）
Editing is the foundation of the film
art. In some -way a film is not shot, but built,
built up
from
separate
strips
of
celluloid
（胶片）
that
are
its
raw
materials.
Because
of
the
tremendous
importance of the editing process, the
editor's role can almost equal that of the
director. The raw
material
provided
by
the
director
may
be
worthless
unless
careful
judgment
is
exercised
in
deciding when each segment will appear
and how long it will remain on the screen. And
this
as-
sembly
（聚合）
of
parts must be done with artistic sensitivity,
perception, and aesthetic judgment as
well as a true involvement in the
subject and a clear understanding of the director'
s intentions.
Therefore, for
the most part, the director and the editor must be
considered almost equal partners
in the
construction of a film. In some cases, the editor
may be the true structuring
genius
（结构天
才）
, the
master builder of
architect
（建筑师）
of the film.
In fact, the editor may have the clearest
vision
of
the
film's
unity,
and
he
or
she
may
even
make
up
for
a
lack
of
clear
vision
on
the
director' s part.
Subtitles
（字幕）
- 17 -
When
voice dubbing
（配音）
is not
employed, a foreign-language film makes use of
printed
subtitles. Here a
concise
（明了的）
Chinese
translation of the dialogue appears in printed
form at
the
bottom
of
the
screen
while
the
dialogue
is
being
spoken.
The
use
of
subtitles
has
several
advantages over the
use of voice dubbing. Perhaps most importantly, it
does not interfere with the
illusion
of
reality
to
the
same
degree
as
dubbing,
even
though
the
appearance
of writing
at
the
bottom
of
the
screen
is
not
completely
natural
to
film
medium.
Because
the
actors
are
not
separated
from
their
voices,
their
performances
seem
more
real
and
human,
as
well
as
more
powerful.
Furthermore,
by
retaining
（保持）
the
voices
of
the
actors
speaking
in
their
native
language, the subtitled film keeps the
power, character, and unique emotional quality of
the culture
that produced it. The
importance of this last point cannot be
overestimated
（低估）
.
Special
Effects
（特殊效果）
Special effect created visual spectacle
on a grand scale
（大范围）
and
showed audiences things
they had never
seen before. Advances in recent technology have
made elaborate
（复杂的）
special
effects an important part of the modern
film.
Given
（
假设有）
proper
time and money, there are few
things
the modern special effects technician cannot
realize on screen
—
though
truly top-quality
visuals can be
prohibitively expensive. This capability has
opened an entirely new frontier to the
filmmakers; it allows them to use the
medium to its fullest extent, and enables them to
really show
their
audience
what
they
wish
to
show,
instead
of
just
telling
them
about
it.
This
increased
fl
exibility
（可变性）
is a great
asset
（财产）
to the industry;
too often, however, innovations have
become a
liability
（依靠）
as well, as
elaborate visual effects in certain films have not
just served to
enhance the story, but
have themselves to become the focus of the film.
Special effects have been
an
integral
（不可分的）
part
of
film
throughout
its
history.
But
only
recently
has
technology
produced
effects
so
sophis
ticated
（精巧）
that
the
audience
often
cannot
distinguish
between
footage
（电影胶片长度）
of
a real object and a special effect
miniature
（模型）
The
nature of any given special effect is one of three
types :
①
（可信的）
which simply
recreate in dramatic form a familiar, historic, or
real event;
②
which
simulate
（模仿）
potentially
real
events
in
a
heightened
or
extreme
fashion;
and
③
（事件）
that are
beyond
what is presently considered
possible.
Montage
（蒙太奇）
Montage originates from a French
architectural term
（建筑术语）
,
which has been borrowed
by
the
film-making
field
and
refers
to
the
choosing,
cutting
and
combining
of
separate
photographic
material
so
as
to
make
a
connected
film.
The
film
artists
divide
the
content
into
different stages, scenes, etc. and
treat them respectively; then based on the theme
and the plot, use
certain techniques,
to edit them, producing the effects of
coherence
（
连贯）
,
echo
（呼应）
, contrast,
< br>syrnbolization
（暗示）
,
exaggeration, foil
（衬托）
and
suspense, resulting in an integrated
（完整
的）
artistic
work .
By
using
Montage,
editors
can
often
express
an
attitude
or
tone
toward
the
material through unique
juxtaposition
（并列）
of images
and sounds, It is an especially effective
technique when the director desires to
compress a great deal of meaning onto a very brief
segment
（片断）
. In Charlie
Chaplin' s Modern Times, the first scene is of a
flock of sheep being put into
the
fold
（羊圈）
, and the next is of
a group of workers surging
into
（涌入）
the factory. The two
different
shots,
edited
and
splice
d
（拼接）
together,
imply
that
the
capitalists
treat
workers
as
livestock
（畜牲）
.
- 18 -
Montage
can
be
divided
into
narrative
（叙事）
and
expressive
（表现）
mon
tage.
Narrative
montage
includes
consecutive
（连接）
montage,
paralleled
（平行）
montage,
crossing
（交叉）
montage and
reviewing
（复现）
montage. But
they are not used separately. In film, they merge
into
（融合）
and
supplement
（互补）
one another to
manage the subject more freely and thoroughly.
Expressive montage consists of
contrastive
（对比）
montage,
metaphorical
（隐喻）
montage,
psy-
chological montage and
rational
（理性）
montage.
Expressive montage is a more abstract,
general
（概括）
,
suggestive
and
symbolic
method,
calling
for
the
audience's
initiative
（独创性）
,
meditation
（思考）
and
analysis.
Shot
（镜头）
Shots are the primary unit for
recording. By putting shots together and restoring
them on the
screen, we can present and
interpret reality again. The different scenes
[extreme long shot
（
特长镜
头）
, long shot, full
shot
（
全景）
, medium
shot
（
中景镜头）
,
close-up
（特写）
and extreme
close-up
（大特写）
] have
different functions and produce different visual
effects.
The extreme long shot is taken
from a great distance, sometimes as far as a
quarter of a mile
away. It is almost
always an exterior shot and shows much of the loca
le
（
事情发生的场所、
地点）
.
If people are included in
extreme long shots, they usually appear as mere
specks
（微粒）
on the
screen. The most effective use of these
shots is often found in epic films, where locale
plays an
important role: westerns, war
films, and historical films. Not surprisingly, the
greatest masters of
the
extreme
long
shot
are
those
directors
associated
with
epic
genres:
D.
W.
Griffith,
Sergei
Eisenstein, John
Ford, Akira Kurosawa, and Steven Spielberg.
Usually the long shot ranges correspond
approximately to the distance between the audience
and the stage in the live theater. The
full shot just includes the human body in full,
with the head
near the top of the frame
and the foot near the bottom. Charlie Chaplin and
other slapstick
（滑稽
剧）
< br>comedians favored the full shot because it was best suited to the art of pantomime
（哑剧）
, yet
was
close
enough
to
capture
at
least
gross
facial
expressions.
The
medium
shot
contains
figure
from
the
knees
or
waist
up.
It
illustrates
（刻画
）
the
center
of
a
view,
on
which
the
sight
is
concentrated. The close-
up gives prominence to a relatively small object
—
the human face, for
example. Since it
magnifies
（放大）
and exaggerates
a particular object, close-up tends to elevate
the importance of things, often
suggesting a symbolic significance. Perhaps the
most dictatorial
（专断的）
control
the
cinematographer
has
on
our
attention
is
achieved
by
use
of
the
tight
or
extreme close-
up
（大特写）
, which brings us so
close to the object of interest (an actor's mouth
or
an
eye,
for
example)
that
we
cannot
look
elsewhere.
The
face
so
fills
the
screen
that
there
is
nothing
else
to
see.
The
employment
and
alternating
of
the
different
scenes
directly
affect
the
film's
rhythm and style.
Moving
Camera
（移动摄像机）
Before
the
1920s,
filmmakers
tended
to
confine
（
限
制
）
movements
to
the
subject
photographed. There are relatively few
who moved their cameras during a shot, and then
usually
to keep a moving figure within
the frame
（画面）
. In the 1920s
some German filmmakers moved
the camera
within the shot not only for physical reasons but
for psychological and thematic
（主题
的）
reasons as well. The German
experiments permitted
subsequent
（后来的）
filmmakers to
use
the mobile camera to communicate
subtleties previously considered impossible. True,
editing
—
that
is, moving the camera between shots
—
is faster, cheaper, and
less distracting, but cutting is
also
abrupt, disconnected, and unpredictable compared
to the fluid lyricism
（抒情性）
of
a moving
- 19 -
camera.
There are eight
basic moving camera shots:
(1)
Pans
（摇摄）
:
Panning
shots
—
those
movements
of
the
camera
that
scan
a
scene
horizontally
—
are taken from a stationary
axis
（轴）
point, with the
camera mounted on a
tripod
（三角架）
. Pan shots tend
to emphasize the unity of space and the
connectedness of people and
objects
within that space.
Precisely because we expect a panning
shot to emphasize the literal
contiguity
of
people
sharing
the
same
space,
these
shots
can
surprise
us
when
their
realistic
contiguity is
violated
（违反）
.
(2)
Tilt
（斜）
shots:
Tilt
shots are
ve
rtical
（垂直的）
movements
of
the
camera
around
a
stationary horizontal axis. Many of the
same principles that apply to pans apply to tilts:
They can
be used to keep subjects
within frame, to emphasize special and
psychological interrelationships,
to
suggest
simultaneity,
and
to
emphasize
cause-effect
relationships.
Tilts
can
also
simulate
a
character' s looking up or down a
scene. When an eye-level camera tilts downward,
for example,
the person photographed
suddenly appears more
vulnerable
（易受伤害的）
.
(3)
Dolly
< br>（
小车）
shots: Dolly shots,
sometimes called
tracking
（
滑摄）
or
tracking shots,
are
taken from a moving vehicle (dolly).
The vehicle literally moves in, out, or alongside
a moving
figure
or
object
while
the
actions
being
photographed.
Tracks
are
sometimes
laid
on
the
set
to
permit
the
vehicle
to
move
smoothly;
hence
the
term
tracking
shot.
Today,
any
vehicular
movement of the
camera can be referred to as a dolly shot. The
camera can be mounted on a car, a
train, even a bicycle.
(4)
Hand-held
camera
（手提摄像机）
: It is a
specialized dramatic effect achieved through
use of the hand-held camera. Here the
jerky
（动荡的）
,
uneven
（不平稳的）
movement of the
camera
heightens
the
sense
of
reality
gained
from
the
subjecti
ve
（主观的）
viewpoint
of
a
participant
in motion.
In
Saving Private Rhan, the impressionistic hand-held
camera makes the
perspective
（画面）
jump madly to reflect the
disassociation his hero feels in a battle field.
If the
viewpoint is not intended to be
a subjective (participant) view,
the same technique can give the
sequence the feel of a documentary
（纪录片）
or
newsreel
（新闻片）
.
(5)
Crane
（升降机）
shots:
A crane is a kind of mechanical arm, often more
than twenty feet
in
length.
It
can
lift
a
cinematographer
and
a
camera
in
or
out
of
a
scene.
It
can
move
in
virtually any direction:
up, down, diagonally
（对角线的）
,
in, out, or any combination of these.
Because of this
flexibility
（可变性）
, a crane
shot can suggest a number of complex ideas.
(6)
Zoom
（迅速移离或移向）
:
Zoom
lenses
（
可变焦透镜）
do
not usually involve the actual
movement
of
the
camera,
but
on
the
screen
their
effect
is
very
much
like
an
extremely
fast
tracking
or
crane
shot.
The
zoom
is
a
combination
of
lenses,
which
are
continuously
variable,
permitting the
camera to change from close wide-angle distances
to extreme telephoto positions
(and
vice versa) almost simultaneously. Zoom shots are
used instead of dolly or crane shot for a
number of reasons. They can zip in or
out of a scene much faster than any vehicle. From
the point
of view of economy, they are
cheaper than dolly or crane shots since no vehicle
is necessary . In
crowed locations,
zoom lenses can be useful for photographing from
long distances, away from
the curious
eyes of passers-by.
(7)
Aerial
shots
（空中拍摄）
: Aerial shots,
usually taken from a
helicopter
（直升机）
, are
really variations of the crane shot.
Like a crane, the helicopter can move in virtually
any direction.
When a crane is
impractical
—
usually on
exterior locations
—
an
aerial shot can duplicate the
effect.
- 20 -
(8)
Flying
cam
（飞行摄像机）
: More and more
advanced technology and inventions are
being used in filming. Flying cam can
go places where a regular helicopter could never
go and
take you places you've never
even been before, like over
Disneyland
（迪斯尼乐园）
. Flying
cam
gets shots that used to be
impossible to capture. It's to tally free in the
air and it's of human size.
So you have
no connection between the ground like a crane; so
it's totally free. Basically you have
a
lot of freedom, far more freedom than ever before
because this one is so small. You can fly it
through a window coming from outside
the small room, then go outside and turn around
the
building.
Camera
Angles
（镜头角度）
Cinematographers, of course, do more
with the camera than simply position it for one of
the
four basic viewpoints. The angle
from which they photograph a certain event or
object is also an
important factor in
cinematic composition. Sometimes they may employ
different camera angles
simply for the
sake of variety or to create a sense of visual
balance between one shot and another.
But
camera
angles
are
also
extremely
effective
at
communicating
special
kinds
of
dramatic
information or
emotional attitudes. There are five basic angles
in the cinema:
(1)
The bird's-eye view: The bird's-eye
view is perhaps the most disorienting angle of
all,
for it involves
photographing a scene from directly overhead.
Since we seldom view events from
this
perspective, the subject matter of such shots
might initially seem unrecognizable and abstract.
For this reason, filmmakers tend to
avoid this type of camera setup. In certain
contexts, however,
this angle can be
highly expressive. In effect, bird's-eye shots
permit us to hover above a scene
like
all-powerful gods. Directors whose themes revolves
around the idea of fate
—
Hitchcock and
Fritz Lang, for example
—
tend to favor high angles.
(2)
The
high
angle:
It
is
achieved
by
placing
the
camera
above
eye
level.
The
high
angles give
a viewer a scene of a general overview, but not
necessarily one implying destiny or
fate.
The
high
angles
reduce
the
height
of
objects,
and
usually
include
the
ground
or
floor
as
background.
The
importance
of
setting
or
environment
is
increased;
the
locale
often
seems
to
swallow
people. High angles reduce the importance of a
subject. A person seems harmless and
in-
significant
photographed
from
above.
This
angle
is
also
effective
for
conveying
a
character's
self-contempt.
(3)
The eye-level
shot:
Filmmakers in the realistic
tradition tend to avoid extreme angles.
Most of their scenes are photographed
from eye level. Virtually all directors use some
eye-level
shots, particularly in
routine expository scenes.
(4)
The low
angle: When the camera is placed below eye level,
creating a low-angle
shot
（低角度拍摄）
, the size and
importance of the subject are exaggerated. It's an
effect opposite to
that of the high-
angle
shot
（
高角度拍摄）
. By
using the low-angle shot, the environment is
usually
minimized,
and
often
the
sky
or
a
ceiling
is
the
only
background.
Psychologically,
low
angles
heighten the importance of a subject. A
person photographed from below inspires fear, awe,
and
respect.
For
this
reason,
low
angles
are
often
used
in
propaganda
films
or
in
scenes
depicting
heroism.
(5)
The
oblique
（倾斜的）
angle: An
oblique angle involves a lateral
（侧面的）
tilt
（倾斜）
of the
camera. When the image is projected, the horizon
is skewed
（歪斜）
. A man
photographed at
an oblique angle will
look as though he's about to fall to one side.
Psychologically, oblique angles
suggest
tension, transition, and impending movement. In
scenes depicting violence, they can be
effective in capturing precisely this
sense of visual anxiety.
-
21 -
pictures,
pictures
—
all
these
phrases
suggest
the
central
importance of motion
in the art of film. Like images, motion can be
literal
（朴实的）
and concrete
or highly stylized and lyrical. In the
kinetic
（
活动的）
arts
—
pantomime,
mime
（
模拟表演）
ballet,
modern dance
—
we
find a wide variety of movements, ranging from the
realistic to the formally
abstract.
Naturalistic actor employs only realistic
movements, the same sort that could be observed
in
actual
life.
Pantomimists
are
more
stylized
in
their
movements.
Even
more
stylized
are
the
movements
of
performers
in
a
musical.
In
this
genre,
characters
express
their
most
intense
emotions through song and dance.
Since the eye tends to read a picture
from left to right, physical movement in this
direction
seems psychologically
natural, whereas movement from the right to left
often seems in explicably
tense
and
uncomfortable.
Movement
can
be
directed
toward
or
away
from
the
camera.
If
the
character is a
villain
（反面人物）
, walking
toward the camera can seem aggressive, hostile,
and
threatening, for in effect, he is
invading our space. If the character is
attractive, movement toward
the camera
seems friendly,
inviting, sometimes
seductive
（诱惑的）
. In either
case, movement
toward the audience is
generally strong and
assertive
（武断的）
, suggesting
confidence on the part
of
the
moving
character.
Generally
speaking,
if
the
character
moves
from
right
to
left
(or
vice
versa), he or she will seem determined
and efficient since lateral movements tend to
emphasize
speed and efficiency. On the
other hand, when a character moves in or out of
the depth of a scene,
the
effect
is
often
one
of
slowness,
because
movements
toward
or
away
from
the
camera
take
longer
to
photograph
than
lateral
movements.
Classic
filmmakers
also
tend
to
stage
movement
diagonally, to create a more dynamic
trajectory
（轨道）
of motion .
Slow Motion and Fast
Motion
（慢动作与快动作）
If
the
action
of
the
screen
is
to
seem
normal
and
realistic,
the
film
must
move
through
the
camera at the same rate at which it is
projected, which is generally twenty-four
frames
（格）
per
second. However, if the scene is filmed
at greater than normal speed and then projected at
normal
speed, the action will be
slowed. This is called slow motion, and the use of
slow-motion
footage
（总长度）
creates a
variety of effects in film:
①
to stretch the
moment in order to
intensify
（加
强）
its
emotional quality;
②
to exaggerate effort,
fatigue
（疲劳）
, and
frustration;
③
to
suggest
superhuman speed and power;
④
to emphasize
the grace of physical action;
⑤
to suggest the
passage of time;
⑥
to create a
sharp contrast with normal motion.
If a
scene is filmed at less than normal speed and then
projected at normal speed, the result is
called fast or speeded motion. Fast
motion, which
resembles
（相似）
the frantic,
jerky
（不平稳的）
movements of the old silent comedies,
is usually employed for comic effects or to
compress the
time of an event. An
extreme form of fast motion is called time-lapse
photography
（延时拍摄）
,
and has the effect of greatly
compressing
（压缩）
time. In
time-lapse filming, one frame is exposed
at
regular
intervals,
which
may
be
as
long
as
thirty
minutes
apart.
This
technique
may
be
employed
to compress
（压缩）
something
that normally takes hours or weeks into a few
seconds,
such as the
blossoming
（开花）
of a flower or
the construction of a house .
Ways to
Focus Our
Attention
（吸引观众注意力的几种方法）
Above all, the shot must be so composed
that it draws our attention into the scene and
toward
the object of greatest dramatic
significance. Several methods of directing our
attention are open to
the filmmaker.
(1)
Size
and
closeness
of
the
object:
Normally,
the
eye
is
directed
toward
larger,
closer
- 22 -
objects rather than toward smaller,
more distant objects. In a normal situation, then,
the size and
relative distance of the
object are important factors in determining the
greatest area of interest.
(2)
Sharpness of
focus
（焦点的清晰度）
: On the other
hand, the eye is also drawn almost
automatically to what can see best.
Therefore, if a face in the
foreground
（前景）
is slightly
blurred
（模糊）
and a face in
the background, though smaller and more distant,
is sharp and clear,
our
eyes are drawn to the background face,
because it can be seen best.
(3)
Movement: The
eye is also drawn to an object in motion, and a
moving object can divert
（分散）
our attention from a
static one.
Conversely
（
相反的）
,
if movement and flow are a general
part
of
the
background,
moving
objects
will
not
divert
our
attention
from
static,
but
more
dramatically important, objects.
(4)
Extreme
close-
ups
（大特写）
:
Perhaps
the
most
dictator
ial
（专断的）
control
the
cinematographer has on
our attention is achieved by use of the
tight
（
慢镜）
or
extreme
close-up,
which brings us so close to the object
of interest that we cannot look else where.
(5)
Foreground
framing
（前景画框）
:The director
might frame
（框架）
the object of
greatest
significance with objects or
people in the near foreground. To make sure that
our attention is not
distracted
by
the
framing
objects
or
people,
the
director
will
generally
emphasize
the
most
important subject with brighter
lighting and sharper focus.
(6)
Lighting and
color: Special uses of light and color also help
to draw the eye to the object
of
greatest significance. High contrast
（
强烈对比）
areas of light and dark
create natural centers of
focal
interest, as do the bright
colors
（亮光）
present in a
subdued
（柔和的）
or drab
background.
Transition
（镜头转换）
In the past, filmmakers made widespread
use of several special optical
effects
（视觉效果）
to
create smooth and clear bridges between
the film's more important divisions, such as
transitions
between
two
sequences
that
take
place
at
a
different
time
or
place.
Such
formula
transitions
include the following:
(1)
Wipe
（划变）
: A new
image is separated from the previous one by a
clear horizontal
（
水
平的）
,
vertical
（
竖的）
, or diagonal
（
对角线的）
line that
moves across the screen to
previous
image off the screen.
(2)
Flip-frame
（画面翻转）
:
The entire frame appears to flip over to reveal a
new scene,
creating a visual effect
very similar to turning a page.
(3)
Dissolve
（渐隐）
: The
gradual merging
（消失）
of the
end of one shot into the beginning
of
the next,
produced by
superimposing
（把
…
放在另一物的上面）
a fade-
out
（淡出）
onto a
fade-in
（淡入）
of
equal length, or imposing one scene over another.
(4)
Fade-out/fade-in; The last image of the
first sequence fades momentarily to black and
the first image of the next sequence is
gradually illuminated
（明亮）
.
Each
of
these
transitional
devices
has
its
own
effect
on
the
pace
of
the
film.
Generally
speaking, dissolves are relatively slow
transitions, and are used to make the viewer aware
of major
scene changes or
elapsed
（逝去的）
time. Flips and
wipes are faster, and are employed when the
logic of time-lapse or place change is
more apparent to the viewer. These devices are
still used in
some
films.
But
for
the
most
part,
modern
filmmakers
has
given
up
the
extensive
use
of
these
traditional
formulas,
and
often
rely
on
a
simple
cut
from
one
sequence
to
another
without
any
clear
transitional signal.
The Freeze
Frame
（定格）
- 23 -
In
the
Freeze
frame,
motion
stops
completely
and
the
image
on
the
screen
remains
still,
as
though the projector has stopped
suddenly or the image has suddenly been frozen .
The sudden use
of a freeze frame can be
so stunning in its
abruptness
（突然）
. The frozen
image compels our
attention
because
it
is
so
shockingly
still
in
comparison
to
the
movement
we
have
become
accustomed to.
The freeze frame has a number of
applications, but its most common use is to mark
the end of
a powerful dramatic sequence
[ and serve as a
transition
（过渡）
to the next],
or to serve as the
ending of the entire
film. The frozen image on the screen turns itself
into our brain, and is locked
into
our
memory
in
a
way
that
moving
images
seldom
are.
Freeze
frames
can
also
serve
as
transitional
function.
For
example,
the
camera
pulls
away
from
a
frozen
frame
to
reveal
it
as
a
newspaper picture in a paper being read
the next day, thus providing a quick time/ place
transition.
Color
（色彩）
The color of a film is not color film,
but the latter has really enriched the previous;
it is an
important means of film
making. The film artists become more
ingenious
（机智灵活的）
about the
color
treatment .
Some
will
use
filters
（滤光镜）
in
front
of
the
camera,
some
will
change
the
original
color
or
contrast
warm
and
cold,
bright
and
dark
to
form
a
certain
style,
others
even
design a theme color
permeating
（渗透）
the whole film
to form a unique tone
（格调）
and
style.
A variety of filters are used to
create a wide range of specialized effects.
Directors may use
special filters to
darken the blue of the sky, thereby sharpening by
contrast the whiteness of the
clouds,
or they may add a light-colored tone to the whole
scene by filming it through a colored
filter. For example, a love scene was
filmed with a red filter, which
imparted
（给予）
a romantic
warmth.
On rare occasions, a
special filter may be used to add a certain
quality to a whole film. For
example, a
subtle light-diffusing
（
使光线柔和
）
filter (supposedly a nylon stocking
over the camera
lens) was used to
soften the focus slightly and
subdue
（减弱）
the colors in a
way that gave the
whole film the
quality of a
Rembrandt
（伦勃朗）
painting, This
technique, called the Rembrandt
effect,
was designed to give the film a
mellow
（柔和的）
, aged quality,
intensifying the sense that
the action
was taking place in another time period.
By
using
all
the
technology
and
know-how
now
available,
whether
it
is
done
by
special
lighting, diffusion
filters
（柔光镜）
, special
film
（特制胶卷）
in the camera, or
by processing the
film in a certain way
in the laboratory, modern filmmakers are able to
create practically any color
effect
they want to achieve. This special color effect
must of course be consistent in the film from
beginning to end, unless it is used
only for a specialized segment set off from the
rest of the film
—
like a
flashback, a dream, or a fantasy.
Since
earliest times, visual artists have used color for
symbolic purposes. Color symbolism is
probably culturally acquired, though
its implications are surprisingly similar in
otherwise differing
societies. In
general, cool colors (blue, green, violet) tend to
suggest tranquility
（宁静）
,
aloof ness
（冷淡）
, and
serenity
（祥和）
. Cool colors
also have a tendency to
recede
（退去）
in an image.
Warm colors (red, yellow, orange)
suggest aggressiveness, violence, and stimulation
.
Colorization
（染色）
Colorization
is
the
generic
term
（一般词汇）
used
to
describe
a
computerized
process
that
transforms black-and-
white
films into color. It was
developed by Ralph Weinger, an electronics
engineer in 1978. An electronic scanner
breaks each frame of film into some 525,000 dots.
An art
- 24 -
director examines the first and last
frames of each scene and determines the color for
each object
in the frame. A computer
then colorizes the scene, selecting the colors by
comparing each frame
with the one
preceding it. Film and television distributors are
particularly interested in the process,
believing
it
will
give
new
life
to
black-and-white
subjects.
The
process
will
also,
from
a
legal
viewpoint, create new
films that can be recopy righted, providing
additional copyright protection
for
the
films'
owners.
However,
most
creative
people
within
the
industry
have
denounced
colorization as a
form of
vandalization
（故意破坏）
of films
that were shot and meant to be seen
only in black-and-white.
Color Versus Black and
White
（彩色影片与黑白影片）
Although there is a continuing
theoretical argument about the relative
merits
（优点）
of color
versus black and white film, on a
practical level
there is very clearly
no longer a real struggle,
because a
vast of film audience
awaits
（期待）
almost any decent
film today is made in color. For
some
films black and white is simply a more powerful
and effective medium, but this has almost
been entirely overlooked. Of course,
the director' s decision to use black and white or
color should
be determined by the film'
s overall spirit or mood. The overall effect of
black and white can seem
more true to
life, more realistic than color
—
in spite of the fact that
we obviously do not see the
world
around
us
in
black
and
white.
Generally,
films
that
seem
to
demand
color
treatment
are
those with a romantic, idealized, or
light, playful, or humorous quality, such as
musicals, fantasies,
historical pageant
s
（
华丽的历史事件表演）
and
comedies. Also, those with exceptionally beautiful
settings might be better filmed in
color. But the more naturalistic, serious, somber<
/p>
（
阴沉的）
stories
stressing the harsh realities of life
and set in drab, dull, or
sordid
（色彩暗淡的）
settings cry
out for
black
and
white.
There
are
those,
of
course,
that
fall
into
a
middle
ground
and
can
be
treated
equally well either
way. Some films have made effective use of
mixtures of black-and-white and
color.
Lighting
（灯光）
The
light,
from
the
view
of
camera
technique,
is
the
first
element;
no
light,
no
film.
The
treatment of light is
also a method to produce atmosphere, to present
the theme, to express feelings.
By
controlling the
intensity
（亮度）
, direction,
and degree of
diffusion
（散射）
of the light,
the
director is able to create the
impression of
spatial
（空间的）
depth,
delineate
（描绘）
and mold the
contours
（轮廓）
and
planes
（平面）
of the subject,
convey emotional mood and atmosphere, and
create special dramatic effects. For
example, hard light
（硬光）
is
focusing and is apt to create a
mysterious, anxious and
thrilling
（吓人的）
atmosphere,
while soft light
（软光）
is
even
（平和
的）
and
harmonious
（和谐的）
to show the
easy, joyful and natural state. An object under
strong
light appears to be very clear
with the intention of showing something directly,
and that under the
weak light appears
to be vague
（模糊的）
, but
suggestive
（暗示的）
. Good films
always have their
basic light style to
help convey the theme
（主题）
.
Thus
the
way
a
given
scene
is
lighted
is
an
important
factor
determining
its
dramatic
effe
ctiveness
（舞台效果）
. Variation
in lighting is used in extremely subtle ways to
create moods
and
impart
（给予）
to the place. Low-
key lighting refers to lighting where most of the
set is in
shadow
and
just
a
few
highlights
（强光部分）
define
the
subject. Since
this
type
of
lighting
is
effective in heightening suspense or
creating a
somber
（
忧郁的）
mood,
it is used in the mystery or
horror
film.
High-key
lighting,
on
the
other
hand,
has
more
light
areas
than
shadows,
and
the
subjects
are
seen
in
middle
grays
and
highlights,
with
far
less
contrast.
High-
key
lighting
is
- 25 -
suitable
for comic and light moods. Generally speaking,
high-contrast scenes, with a wide range of
difference between light and dark
areas, create more powerful and dramatic images
than scenes
that are evenly lighted.
The direction of the light also plays
an important role in creating an effective visual
image.
Flat overhead
lighting
（顶光）
, for example,
creates an entirely different effect from strong
side
lighting
（侧光）
from
floor
level.
Back
lighting
（逆光）
and
front
lighting
（顺光）
also
create
strikingly different
effects.
Sound
(
音响
)
Film
is
primarily
a
visual
medium,
and
its
areas
of
greatest
significance
and
interest
are
generally communicated through visual
means. But sound plays an increasingly important
role in
the modern film. Film sound can
be broken down into three categories
—
dialogue
（人声）
,
music
（音乐）
, and sound
effects
（音响效果）
—
a
typology
（类型）
which
corresponds not only to the
way in
which the film industry traditionally records,
edits, and mixes the
soundtrack
（声带）
but
also to the way in which an audience
perceives sound. The soundtrack, though conceived
of as a
whole, is, in fact, a
pastiche
（混合）
of fragments.
Hollywood, for example, records dialogue and
some sound effects during production,
while other sound effects, music, and even some
dialogue,
which may be
dubbed
（配音）
and recorded in
post-production
（后期制作）
.
Moreover, the indus-
try routinely edits
dialogue, music, and effects tracks separately,
combining them only during the
final
mix.
Soundtrack is not only the
imitation and
duplication
（配音）
of that in
the real world, but also
the film
artist's interpretation and recreation of the
aural perception
（听觉理解）
. It's
true that, if
everything that makes
sound waves is recorded on the film
indiscriminately
（不加选择的）
, the
result is more noise than sound. But
just as the right images should be selected for
the camera,
dramatically
pertinent
（恰当的）
sounds should
be selected for recording.
Loudness or
softness of the soundtrack as a whole may also
reflect something of a director's
style. One director may employ silence
as a
every second with some kind of
sound. Similarly, some may use a minimum of
dialogue, while
others fill the
soundtrack with dialogue and depend on it to carry
the major burdens of the film' s
communication.
The modern
soundtrack demands more and more of our conscious
attention, so much so in
fact, that if
we want to fully appreciate a modern film we
should perhaps go prepared as much to
hear the film as to see it.
Sound
Effects
（音响效果）
Inn
ovative
（
创新的）
filmm
akers have creatively used sound effects for a
variety of specialized
purposes.
(1)
Sound effects
to tell an inner story: Directors also
manipulate
（操纵）
and
distort
（
扭曲）
sound
for artistic
ends
（目的）
—
to put
us
or she is feeling. For example, a
natural sound grows increasingly louder, making us
aware of the
fear the character feels,
and we are suddenly inside him, feeling the shock
and the horror. Another
example, a room
is full of people who periodically break into
laughter. Suddenly without warning,
no
longer
hear
the
laughter
—
we
still
see
the
faces
laughing,
but
the
sound
is
gone.
The
soundtrack carries only the close-up
sounds of the character. We hear him striking a
match, his
finger drumming on the
table, a labored breathing, his wristwatch
ticking, and his shoe grinding
- 26 -