Assignment Sem-3 : Topic : Four Goals of Cultural Studies

 

Name  :   Pina Gondaliya 

Semester  : 3 

Assignment Paper No.  10 : Cultural studies 

Topic : Four Goals of Cultural Studies 

Submitted to: Department of English M.K.Bhavnager 

 What is Cultural Studies?

Cultural studies is an innovative interdisciplinary field of research and teaching that investigates the ways in which "culture" creates and transforms individual experiences, everyday life, social relations and power Research and teaching in the field explores the relations between culture understood as human expressive and symbolic activities, and cultures understood as distinctive ways of life. Combining the strengths of the social sciences and the humanities, cultural studies draws on methods and theories from literary studies, sociology. communications studies, history, cultural anthropology, and economics. By working across the boundaries among these fields, cultural studies addresses new questions and problems of today's world. Rather than seeking answers that will hold for all time, cultural studies develops flexible tools that adapt to this rapidly changing world.

 Cultural life is not only concerned with symbolic communication, it is also the domain in which we set collective tasks for ourselves and begin to grapple with them as changing communities. Cultural studies are devoted to understanding the processes through which societies and the diverse groups within them come to terms with history, community life, and the challenges of the future.

Cultural studies are one of the more controversial intellectual formations of the 1990s and the first decade of the third millennium. It has experienced a period of rapid growth in the academy, appearing at many universities in a variety of forms and locations (although rarely as degree-granting departments). At the same time, it has been broadly attacked both from inside the university and outside academia.

Definitions

The word "culture" itself is so difficult to pin down, "cultural studies" is hard to define. As was also the case in chapter 8 with Elaine Showalter's "cultural" model of feminine difference, "cultural studies" is not so much a discrete approach at all, but rather a set of practices. As Patrick Brantiinger has pointed out, 

cultural studies is not "a tightly coherent, unified movement with a fixed agenda," but a "loosely coherent group of tendencies, issues, and questions''.

 Arising from the social turmoil of the 1960s, cultural studies is composed of elements of Marxism, poststructuralism and postmodernism, feminism, gender studies, anthropology, sociology, race and ethnic studies, film theory, urban studies, public policy, popular culture studies, and postcolonial studies: those fields that concentrate on social and cultural forces that either create community or cause division and alienation, For example, drawing from Roland Barthes on the nature of literary language and Claude Lévi-Strauss on anthropology, cultural studies was influenced by structuralism and poststructuralism. Jacques Derrida's "deconstruction" of the world/text distinction, like all his deconstructions of hierarchical oppositions, has urged-or enabled--cultural critics ``to erase the boundaries between high and low culture, classic and popular literary texts, and literature and other cultural discourses that, following Derrida, may be seen as manifestations of the same textuality."

The discipline of psychology has also entered the field of cultural studies. For example, Jacques Lacan's psychoanalytic theory of the unconscious structured as a language promoted emphasis upon language and power as symbolic systems. From Michel Foucault came the notion that power is a whole complex of forces; it is that which produces what happens. 

Four Goals of Cultural Studies 

Cultural studies approaches generally share four goals.

1. First Goal of Cultural Studies. 

First, cultural studies transcends the confines of a particular discipline such as literary criticism or history. 

Practiced in such journals as Critical Inquiry, Representations, and boundary 2, cultural studies involves scrutinizing the cultural phenomenon of a text-for example, Italian opera, a Latino telenovela, the architectural styles of prisons, body piercing-and drawing conclusions about the changes in textual phenomena over time.

Cultural studies is not necessarily about literature in the traditional sense or even about "art." In their introduction to Cultural Studies, editors Lawrence Grossberg, Cary Nelson, and Paula Treichler emphasize that the intellectual promise of cultural studies lies in its attempts to "cut across diverse social and political interests and address many of the struggles within the current scene" (1-3).

Intellectual works are not limited by their own "borders" as single texts, historical problems, or disciplines, and the critic's own personal connections to what is being analyzed may also be described. Henry Giroux and others write in their Dalhousie Review manifesto that cultural studies practitioners are "resisting intellectuals" who see what they do as "an emancipatory project" because it erodes the traditional disciplinary divisions in most institutions of higher education (478-80). For students, this sometimes means that a professor might make his or her own political views part of the instruction, which, of course, can lead to problems. But this kind of criticism, like feminism, is an engaged rather than a detached activity.

    2 Second Goal of Cultural Studies. 

Second, cultural studies is politically engaged. 

Cultural critics see themselves as "oppositional," not only within their own disciplines but to many of the power structures of society at large. They question inequalities within power structures and seek to discover models for restructuring relationships among dominant and "minority" or "subaltern" discourses Because meaning and individual subjectivity are culturally constructed, they can thus be reconstructed. 

Such a notion, taken to a philosophical extreme, denies the autonomy of the individual, whether an actual person or a character in literature, a rebuttal of the traditional humanistic "Great Man" or "Great Book" theory, and a relocation of aesthetics and culture from the ideal realms of taste and sensibility, into the arena of a whole soci ety's everyday life as it is constructed.

      3. Third Goal of Cultural Studies 

Third, cultural studies denies the separation of "high" and "low" or elite and popular culture. 

You might hear someone remark at the symphony or at an art museum: "I came here to get a little culture." Being a "cultured" person used to mean being acquainted with "highbrow" art and intellectual pursuits. But isn't culture also to be found with a pair of tickets to a rock concert?

 Cultural critics today work to transfer the term culture to include mass culture, whether popular, folk, or urban. Following theorists Jean Baudrillard and Andreas Huyssen, cultural critics argue that after World War II the distinctions among high, low, and mass culture collapsed, and they cite other theorists such as Pierre Bourdieu and Dick Hebdige on how "good taste" often only reflects prevailing social, economic, and political power bases. For example, the images of India that were circulated during the colonial rule of the British raj by writers like Rudyard Kipling seem innocent, but reveal an entrenched imperialist argument for white superiority and worldwide domination of other races, especially Asians. But race alone was not the issue for the British raj: money was also a deciding factor. Thus, drawing also upon the ideas of French historian Michel de Certeau, cultural critics examine "the practice of everyday life," studying literature as an anthropologist would, as a phenomenon of culture, including a culture's economy. Rather than determining which are the "best" works produced, cultural critics describe what is produced and how various productions relate to one another. They aim to reveal the political, economic reasons why a certain cultural product is more valued at certain times than others.

Transgressing boundaries among disciplines high and low can make cultural studies just plain fun. Think, for example, of a possible cultural studies research paper with the following title: "The Birth of Captain Jack Sparrow: An Analysis." For sources of Johnny Depp's funky performance in Dis ney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). you could research cultural topics ranging from the trade economies of the sea two hundred years ago, to real pirates of the Caribbean such as Blackbeard and Henry Morgan, then on to Robert Louis Stevenson's Lorg John Silver in Treasure Island (1881), Errol Flynn's and Robert Morgan's memorable screen pirates, John Cleese's rendition of Long john Silver on Monty Python's Flying Circus, and, of course, Keith Richards's eye makeup. You'd read interviews with Depp on his view of the character and, of course, check out the extra features on the DVD for background (did you know Depp is a book collector?). And you wouldn't want to neglect the galaxy of web sites devoted to the movie and to all topics Pirate.

    4 Fourth Goal of Cultural Studies 

Finally, cultural studies analyzes not only the cultural work, but also the means of production. 

Marxist critics have long recognized the importance of such paraliterary questions as these: Who supports a given artist? Who publishes his or her books, and how are these books distributed? Who buys books? For that matter, who is literate and who is not? A well-known analysis of literary production is Janice Radway's study of the American romance novel and its readers, Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy and Popular Literature, which demonstrates the textual effects of the publishing industry's decisions about books that will minimize its financial risks. Another contribution is the collection Reading in America, edited by Cathy N. Davidson, which includes essays on literacy and gender in colonial New England; urban magazine audiences in eighteenth-century New York City; the impact upon reading of such technical innovations as cheaper eyeglasses, electric lights, and trains; the Book-of-the-Month Club; and how writers and texts go through fluctuations of popularity and canonicity. These studies help us recognize that literature does not occur in a space separate from other concerns of our lives.

Cultural studies thus joins subjectivity, that is, culture in relation to individual lives-with engagement, a direct approach to attacking social ills. Though cultural studies practitioners deny "humanism" or "the humanities'' as universal categories, they strive for what they might call "social reason," which often (closely) resembles the goals and values of humanistic and democratic ideals.

What difference does a cultural studies approach make for the student? 

First of all, it is increasingly clear that by the year 2050 the United States will be what demographers call a "majority-minority" population; that is, the present numerical majority of "white," "Caucasian," and "Anglo-Americans will be the minority, particularly with the dramatically increasing numbers of Latina/o residents, mostly Mexican Americans.

 As Gerald Graff and James Phelan observe, "It is a common prediction that the culture of the next century will put a premium on people's ability to deal productively with conflict and cultural difference. Learning by controversy is sound training for citizenship in that future". 

To the question "Why teach the controversy?" 

they note that today a student can go from one class in which the values of Western culture are never questioned to the next class where Western culture is portrayed as hopelessly compromised by racism, sexism, and homophobia: profes can acknowledge these differences and encourage students to construct a conversation for themselves as "the most exciting part of education ".

Citation  :

Bertend, Hans. “Cultural Materialism .” Cultural Materialism - Literary and Critical Theory - Oxford Bibliographies, 26 Feb. 2020, www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780190221911/obo-9780190221911-0091.xml.

Assignment Sem -3 : Topic : An Introduction by Kamala Das

Name : Pina Gondaliya 

Semester: 3 

Paper No. : 7 

Subject :  Indian  English literature post - Independence 

Topic  : Critical Analysis of the poem 'An Introduction by Kamala Das 

Submitted : Department of English M.K.Bhavnager. 

An Introduction by Kamala Das 

In ‘An Introduction,’ Das explores her complex emotions regarding the system controlling her life and the lives of countless suffering women. She also has the experience to back up her assertions about freedom and oppression as she played a critical role in the establishment of the Indian feminist movement.

This particular piece is one of her most well-known. It was published in her first collection, Summary in Calcutta in 1965. The collection focuses on love and the pain that follows betrayal.

Summary 

An Introduction begins with the speaker, Das, stating that she knows all the male leaders of India. Their names are a part of her, a tribute to their overwhelming power. This contrasts significantly with the lack of power she felt growing up and getting married at sixteen. She struggles with her identity and is finally able to step away from the traditional role of wife. 

Das describes the way that men are able to move through the world with a solid identity. They are allowed their choices and emotions. In the last lines, she pushes back against this way of life by stating that she feels things that do not belong to the man she loves. She too can be “I.” 

Themes 

Das explores powerful themes of feminism/equal rights, freedom, and marriage in ‘An Introduction’. This poem is a very clear feminist statement that advocates for free choice for all women. This is in regards to every aspect of life, but the poet puts a special emphasis on marriage. She compares and contrasts the roles of men and women in society and explains for the reader how her life, the rules she’s forced to obey, infringe on her freedom. Readers should be able to ask themselves while moving through the poem how, if at all, the things Das is talking about apply to their own life. If nothing matches up, they might ask themselves why and if some kind of unaddressed or unacknowledged privilege is making their lives better.

Structure and Form 

‘An Introduction’ is a sixty-line poem that is contained within a single stanza. The lines range from three words up to eleven and do not follow a specific metrical pattern. Das also chose not to use a rhyme scheme. The lines also vary greatly in length and syllable number. This means that the poem is written in free verse. This style of writing allows the poet to explore various structures and make use of more sporadic rhymes. There are several examples of half-rhyme and internal rhyme in ‘An Introduction’. 

Literary Devices 

Kamala Das uses techniques such as enjambment, repetition, and anaphora in ‘An Introduction’. Repetition and anaphora are seen at the beginning of a number of lines, such as four and five. In this instance, the speaker is giving two conviction-filled statements about who she is. This is conveyed through the repetition of the pronoun “I”.  Later on, repetition is used again to define her language as both “English” and “human”. She is a human being, as equal and valuable as any other.

There are also several examples of allusion. She references a specific place and the name of a politician that requires some research in order to understand. Enjambment is another important technique. it can be seen throughout this poem, but one good example is the transition between lines fifty-eight and fifty-nine.

Analysis of An Introduction 

Lines 1-13

I don’t know politics but I know the names

Of those in power, and can repeat them like (…)

Becomes mine, its distortions, its queernesses

All mine, mine alone.

In the first section of ‘An Introduction,’ the speaker begins by comparing her knowledge of politicians to the days of the week and months of the year. Although she does not have a firm grasp on politics itself, those in power have remained in her mind. This shows their power to be much greater than their role should allow. The first of these she is able to recall is “Nehru,” who served as India’s first prime minister after the withdrawal of the British. 

After these opening lines that set the scene, the speaker moves on to describe her own being. She is “Indian” and she is “very brown.” Lastly, she is from Malabar in southwest India. These are the basics of her life, but of course not everything. She adds that she is able to, 

[…]speak three languages, write in 

Two, dream in one. 

She continues to describe language and the role it plays in her life by saying that she is judged for writing in English.  It is not her “mother-tongue.” Whenever she is criticized for how she speaks and writes she feels as if she is alone. There is no one, not her friends or cousins, who back her up. They are critics of “Every one.” 

She directs the next line at this group, asking them why they care what she speaks. She feels a deep connection to the words she uses and how, through “distortions,” her language can only be defined as her own. 

Lines 13-25

It is half English, halfIndian, funny perhaps, but it is honest,

It is as human as I am human, don’t (…)

Funeral pyre. I was child, and later they

Told me I grew, for I became tall, my limbs

In the next twelve lines of ‘An Introduction,’ the speaker goes on to describe herself as “half English, half Indian.” She sees the humor in this combination and acknowledges that fact as it is “honest.” This seems to be one of the most important parts of her, a desire for authenticity and honesty. Her identity, as seen through her voice, is “human” just as she is human. It should be held under that single defining category and no other. 

Das describes the control she has over her voice, whether through speech or text. It can display all of her emotions and her, 

[…] mind that sees and hears and 

Is aware. 

Human speech is to humans as roaring is to lions. It is intelligible, unlike the roaring of a storm or the “mutterings of the blazing fire.” The speaker defines her freedom through the use of her voice. In the next lines, she explains to the reader that there are other circumstances in her life that infringe on that freedom. They are out of her control. 

She introduces this section by stating that she only felt older as she grew because she was told of her own physical changes. 

Lines 26-38

Swelled and one or two places sprouted hair.

WhenI asked for love, not knowing what else to ask (…)

Be a quarreller with servants. Fit in. Oh,

Belong, cried the categorizers. Don’t sit

Her unhappiness is defined in the next section of lines of ‘An Introduction’ and is directly related to a need for freedom. When she was young she “asked for love,” because she didn’t know what else to want. This ended with her marriage at sixteen and the closing of a bedroom door. Although her husband did not beat her, her, 

[…] sad woman-body felt so beaten. 

This line of An Introduction is interesting as she is placing her own body in one of the categories she rebelled against in the first stanza. It is due to this simplification of a woman as nothing more than a body that led her to marriage at sixteen. She also places blame on her own body for leading her to this place. Her distinctly female parts, “breasts and womb” are a crushing weight on her life. The pressure placed on her by her husband and by her family led to an emotional and mental shrinking. It was a “Pitiful” process. But it ended. 

She goes on to state that a change came over her. She decided to put on her “Brother’s trousers” and cut off her hair. The speaker is ridding herself of the female image that has harmed her. Now that she is remaking her identity she is able to say no to the traditions of womanhood. These include fitting in and dressing in “saree.” The “categorizers” might tell her not to, 

[…] peep in through our lace-draped windows 

But she is not going to listen. She chose to move her life beyond the traditional and therefore expand her presence in the world. 

Lines 39-50

On walls or peep in through our lace-draped windows.

Be Amy, or be Kamala. Or, better

(…)

Of rivers, in me . . . the oceans’ tireless

Waiting. Who are you, I ask each and everyone,

In the first two lines of the next section of ‘An Introduction,’ it becomes clear that the speaker is truly meant to be the poet herself. She wonders at her own identity and marvels over the fact that she can now be, 

Amy, or be Kamala. Or, better

Still, be Madhavikutty.

It is by this final name that the poet, Kamala Das, came to be known and is still called.  Das added another few reminders on behalf of the “categorizers.” She shouldn’t “play pretending games” or “cry embarrassingly loud.” Her role as a woman is supposed to be meek, quiet, and contained.

She goes on to describe a time in which she met and loved a man. This person is referred to as “man,” he is not named. This strips him of some of the agency he is so in control of in the next lines. Additionally, the name is of little importance as he is meant to represent every man in the world who uses women as he pleases.

At one point, at the height of her emotions, she asks the “man” who he is. He replies “it is I.” The “I” represents the agency he has in the world. Men make their own decisions and have the ability to use the pronoun in order to get what they want. 

Lines 51-61

The answer is, it is I. Anywhere and,

Everywhere, I see the one who calls himself I

(…)

Betrayed. I have no joys that are not yours, no

Aches which are not yours. I too call myself I.

‘An Introduction’ begins its conclusion with the speaker acknowledging the constant presence of “I” around her. In the world, she’s a part of there are “I” men everywhere she looks. A person of this nature is able to go and “Drink… at twelve” and stay in “hotels of strange towns.” As the lines continue the division between the speaker and the “I” is blurred. Eventually, a reader comes to understand that she is trying to come to terms with her own independence and identity as both “saint” and “sinner.”

She is trapped between her own need for free life and the world which tries to keep her contained. The final statement is one of protest and resistance. Das states that she has “Aches” which belong to no one but herself. She too can be “I.” 

How does Kamala Das introduce herself and her poetry in ‘An Introduction?’

She introduces herself as “Indian,” “born in Malabar,” “very brown,” and as a speaker of three languages. Two, she says, she writes in, and one she dreams in. She also notes that the languages she speaks are “mine,” tinted by her history and ideas.

What is Kamala Das' poetry known for?

Her poetry is for its open exploration of women’s lives, sexuality, oppression, and contemporary Indian life and politics.

What did Kamala Das want to say in ‘An Introduction?’

Kamala Das wanted to promote equal rights for women. She was concerned with the confines of marriage, societal restrictions and how they differ for men and women.

Why is ‘An Introduction’ a confessional poem?

‘An Introduction’ addresses personal emotions and experiences, trademarks of confessional poetry. Often, this type of poetry also engages with “taboo” feelings, or those that society normally doesn’t engage with.

How does Kamala Das speak for women in ‘An Introduction?’

She promotes independence for women and a respect for their individual lives. She spends parts of the poem talking about herself but does so in a way that advocates for equal rights between the sexes.

Citation 

Baldwin, E. (2021, May 28). An introduction by Kamala Das. Poem Analysis. Retrieved September 23, 2021, from https://poemanalysis.com/kamala-das/an-introduction/.

Assignment Sem-3 : Various Aspects of Film Studies

 

Name : Pina Gondaliya 

Semester  : 3 

Assignment : Paper No Contemporary Western Theory and Film Studies 

Topic  : Film Studies 

Submitted : Department of English M.K.Bhavnager University 

Film Studies 

Films can be analyzed both as stories, like novels, and as visual objects, like paintings. Narrative films are constructed in the same way as novels through the selection and combination of scenes; the same critical approaches that apply to verbal fiction, such as Formalism and Structuralism or Historical and Psychological Analysis, also apply to film. But as a visual medium, film demands a different set of analytic and critical tools in order to be understood. Films are carefully constructed visual objects, and each element of that construction can function to generate meaning. The primary elements of meaning in film are composition (the arrangement of objects within the visual frame), editing, and art direction, which encompasses everything from color and sound to set and location. An important element of compositional meaning is the frame. Where the camera is placed in relation to the action determines the size and shape of the frame of the image. Terms like “long,” “close,” “medium,” and “high angle” describe the various possibilities for camera placement. A close shot (one in which the camera is close to the action) generates “tight framing,” while a long shot (one in which the camera is distant from the action) generates “loose framing.”

The same kind of image, say a close-up, can vary in use and in meaning. In one film it may signify emotional openness and authenticity; in another, it might signify untrustworthiness, especially if it is combined with other elements of image construction such as dark lighting. Film techniques and the meanings they convey vary according to the context in which they are used. No particular meaning is guaranteed by a particular technique. The individual images created by the camera are combined in a narrative chain through editing. Most narrative editing provides “continuity,” the smooth flow from one image to another through similitude of setting and action. But editing can also use contrast to create meaning. And sometimes a long editing sequence (a montage sequence) can constitute a significant part of a film’s narrative.

The third major element of film meaning – art direction – comprises set design, sound, choice of location, props or significant objects, lighting, and color.

• Sound 

Sound, voice and music are integral to most films and/or film viewing experiences. Even the earliest silent films were often shown with live musical accompaniment. Sound enhances the imaginary world, it can provide depth, establish character and environment, introduce a new scene or cue the viewer to important information. We have organized the page according to the following categories: sound source, sound editing and film music.

DIEGETIC VS. NON-DIEGETIC SOUND

Diegetic sound is any sound that the character or characters on screen can hear. So for example the sound of one character talking to another would be diegetic. Non-diegetic sound is any sound that the audience can hear but the characters on screen cannot. Any appearance of background music is a prime example of non-diegetic sound. This clip from Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Deadsimultaneously depicts both diegetic and non-diegetic sound. The sounds of the characters speaking, the records flying, and the zombies are all diegetic; the characters can hear them. Meanwhile, the beats and riffs of the background music serves as an example of non-diegetic sound that goes unheard by Shaun, Pete, and the menacing zombies.

  2 . Camera Angles and moments 

There are so many camera movements and camera angles; it can be hard to keep track. To make film and television like the masters, you need to practice and learn the various camera movements, angles, shots, and tools. 

Shot sizes

Camera angles

Camera movements

Once you understand the basic principles of each type of shot, you can use them as building blocks to make more interesting combinations.

• Shot Sizes

Shot size refers to how big or small the frame is in relation to the subject. Does your character fill the frame or are they so far away as to be nearly invisible? What else is visible in your shot? Multiple characters? Objects? Landscapes?

Let’s look at the 5 most important shot sizes and see how they work

Close-up (CU)

The close-up is one of the most common shot sizes in cinema. It’s used when you want to highlight the facial features of your character without any other distractions in the shot. A typical close-up shows the character’s face from their forehead to their chin.

However, there’s room for some variation. An extreme close-up goes further, often showing nothing more than the character’s eyes. Think of a classic Western in which two characters stare each other down before a duel. This shot draws the viewer’s attention to facial features and expressions that would be lost in a wide shot.

• Long shot (LS)

A long shot is in some ways the opposite of a close-up. It shows the character’s entire body in frame, from their head to their toes. This gives the viewer a better sense of the subject’s surroundings, and conveys information that would be lost in a close-up.

Long shots are often used in action scenes, when it’s important to see how the character is moving through his or her environment. You might cut from that extreme close-up of your two dueling characters to a long shot that shows just how far they’re actually standing from each other, giving the viewer a better perspective on the scene.

One variation of this shot is an extreme long shot, in which the character is so far away they’re nearly lost in the frame or obscured by their surroundings. Think of a character riding off into the sunset, getting smaller as they get further away from the camera.

• Medium shot (MS)

The medium shot or mid shot is somewhere between a close-up and long shot. A typical medium shot shows the subject from their head to their waist. It’s close enough that you can still see their face, while also including some of their body language.

You might use this shot when a character is carrying an object or pointing a gun. Or, if they’re sitting at a desk, you can show them writing in a book, while avoiding wasting valuable screen space on their feet or their knees.

It’s also useful for when a character is moving through the frame, since it contains enough background information that the viewer doesn’t get disoriented.

Single, two shot, three shot

Another way to categorize a shot is by the number of people in the frame. We call this a single shot, a two shot, or a three shot, depending on how many people are in it.

Typically, you’ll combine this with one of the other shot sizes we’ve already looked at. For example, you might use a two-shot close-up for a scene of two characters kissing. Three characters in an office might call for a medium three .

• Camera Angles

The next category that we’ll look at is camera angle. Once you’ve decided on a shot size, you can add a bit more perspective to your shot by choosing an angle. The camera angle can help you create a sense of fear, empathy, or disorientation in the viewer.

Eye level

The most neutral camera angle is the eye level shot. The camera points straight ahead at about the same level as the subject’s face. This is how you would shoot an interview scene if you wanted to maintain a sense of objectivity.

The goal is to let the viewer follow the action without manipulating their emotions. While it’s called “eye level,” it doesn’t have to be a shot of the character’s face. You can get an eye level shot of an object by maintaining a neutral camera angle.

Low angle

A low-angle shot adds some subjectivity to the scene. Instead of facing straight ahead, the camera looks up at the subject from a low angle. This can make a character appear threatening, dominant, or in a position of power relative to another character.

As with some of the other shots we’ve looked at, you can vary the intensity of it. A slight low angle might be used to convey a sense of authority, such as a teacher looking down at a student. An extreme low angle shot might be used to show a monster like Godzilla or King Kong bearing down on other characters.

High angle

The reverse of the low angle shot is the high angle shot, which creates the opposite impression, and makes the subject of the camera seem small. For example, a shot from King Kong’s POV might point down from a higher angle to show how powerless the characters are in relation to him.

You can also take this to the extreme with a top angle or bird’s eye view. This shot looks down on the character from above and can be used indoors or outdoors. For example, you might look down on your subject entering a church or stadium.

Or, you could use this to show your character running away from a helicopter, in which case it would be an aerial shot or a drone shot.

Dutch angle

A Dutch angle is one of the most common ways to convey disorientation. For this shot, simply tilt the camera to one side so it isn’t level with the horizon. You might use this shot to show the POV of a drunk character stumbling down the street, or in a horror movie to give the impression that the walls of a haunted house are closing in.

Over-the-Shoulder (OTS)

An over-the-shoulder shot is another angle that can shift a viewer’s perception of the scene. A OTS shot is generally a close-up of another character’s face from “over the shoulder” of another character and is used to convey conflict or confrontation.

You could also use an OTS wide shot to show a character looking out over a landscape or moving through an action sequence, when you don’t want to use a POV.

Camera Movement

The third category that we’ll look at is camera motion or movement. Most of the shot sizes and angles we’ve look at can be used as either static shots or moving shots. By adding motion to a scene, you can move between camera angles easily, sometimes even within the same shot. Let’s look at 5 common camera movements here:

Pan or tilt

The simplest camera movement is a pan or tilt. A pan is when you keep the camera in one place and turn it to the side, and a tilt is when you turn it up or down.

If your camera is on a tripod, then you can simply turn the head of the tripod, just as you would turn your head to one side to get a new perspective on a scene. If a subject stands up, you can turn an eye-level shot into a low-angle by tilting the camera up as they rise.

A pan or tilt is also a good opportunity to experiment with speed. You could spend an entire minute slowly panning from left to right to show off a room or a landscape, or you can do a whip pan, in which the movement happens so fast that it becomes a blur.

Tracking shot, dolly shot, or crane shot

The key to a pan or tilt is that the camera itself doesn’t move, so the viewer feels mostly like a spectator. If you want to move with a subject and make the viewer feel like a part of the action, you can use a tracking shot, dolly shot, or crane shot.

Typically, a tracking shot moves sideways, a dolly shot moves forwards or backwards, and a crane shot moves up or down. Depending on your equipment, you can use these movements separately, or combine them to move on multiple axes at once.

Zoom

A zoom shot moves into or out of the frame by using a zoom lens rather than moving the camera. You can turn a medium shot into a close up by slowly zooming in on a subject’s face as they deliver an emotional monologue. Or you can zoom out to reveal a character or object that wasn’t previously in frame.

A zoom can be slow and subtle so that the viewer barely notices it happening, or it can be more obvious to give the shot a cinema verite style.

Random motion

Random motion is used to create energy and intensity, particularly in an action scene. Think of The Bourne Identity, in which the camera bounces around so quickly that the subject of the scene isn’t even always framed in the shot.

While random motion can be effective in creating a sense of disorientation, sometimes it can be too effective, leaving viewers dizzy and confused.

360-degree motion

The last type of motion that we’ll look at is 360-degree motion, in which the camera moves entirely around the subject of the shot. These shots can be challenging to do on large film sets, because they require hiding the crew and equipment from view, but they’re more common in the days of Steadicams and CGI.

The Matrix used a special camera setup for its 360-degree fight scenes, but you can also use a handheld camera or a drone.

Compound motion

The great thing about camera motion is that you don’t have to restrict it to one axis at a time. You can combine movements to move in multiple dimensions at once and create more complex shots. Let’s look at two popular compound shots:

Dolly zoom

The dolly zoom is used to create a sense of vertigo or unease. It was famously used in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. In this shot, the camera moves forward or backwards while the lens zooms in the opposite direction.

Single Take

A single take combines multiple movements, shot sizes, and angles into one extended shot. Rather that cutting from a long shot to a close-up, for example, the camera might track, zoom, pan, and tilt between a variety of different shots.

This can be the hardest to get right, but it’s an effective way to orient viewers to a new environment, such as with the opening shot in Goodfellas. It can also lend a theatrical feel to a movie, as in Birdman, which is made to appear like one very long shot.

3 . Lighting 

Without good lighting, the best camera in the world can’t capture a perfect picture. Learn how a film crew uses lighting to enhance images, create depth, and support the story’s mood and atmosphere

What Is Cinematic Lighting?

Cinematic lighting is a film lighting technique that goes beyond the standard three-point lighting setup to add drama, depth, and atmosphere to the story. Cinematic lighting utilizes lighting tricks like bouncing light, diffusing light, and adjusting color temperatures.

Why Lighting Is Important

Lighting is fundamental to film because it creates a visual mood, atmosphere, and sense of meaning for the audience. Whether it’s dressing a film set or blocking actors, every step of the cinematic process affects the lighting setup, and vice-versa.

Lighting tells the audience where to look. The lighting setup guides the eye to a specific actor, prop, or part of a scene.Lighting reflects the psychology of characters. The amount, size, color, and harshness of light surrounding a character can be adjusted to match their emotions.Lighting defines and supports the genre of the film. Lighting is the tool that conveys mood most clearly. For example, one of the film genres most known for its distinct lighting style is film noir, characterized by stark contrasts between light and dark, dramatically patterned shadows, and unique framing and composition choices.

Who Determines the Lighting Setup for a Scene?

The director shares visual inspirations and ideas for cinematic lighting.The director of photography or cinematographer: creates the lighting plan with input from the director.The gaffer designs and executes the cinematographer’s lighting plan and oversees the crew that brings the lighting plan to life.

How to Create a Simple But Effective Lighting Setup in 3 Easy Steps.

The most basic lighting setup is a three-point lighting setup, which highlights the main actor or subject of a scene and makes them stand out from their background. Here’s how to do it:

Place your main and strongest source of light, called a key light, off to one side of the actor to create a slight shadow on the opposite side of their face.Add a second light, called a fill light, on the opposite side of the actor to soften any harsh shadows created by the key light.Place a third light, a back light, behind the actor to help define and highlight their features and outlines.

4 . Explain Montage

it’s a technique that can help the director and editor of a movie advance the story quickly and effectively.

What Is a Montage?

Montage is a technique of film editing that combines a series of short shots or clips into one sequence, often set to music. The word montage is French for “assembly” or “editing.”

Montage sequences often imply the passage of time or multiple simultaneous events, and are a vehicle to present the audience with a lot of information at once. They can be used to evoke a range of emotions—for example:

In a romantic comedy, a montage can show a sense of growing love or attraction between two love interests getting to know one another. Example:In a sports movie, a montage can show an athlete training for a big game, and heighten suspense or tension about the outcome.In a drama, a montage can underscore grief and sadness by showing a widow struggling with the loss of her husband.In a horror movie, a montage can show the main characters preparing to defend their home against a killer or supernatural force.

Why Use Montage? 6 Things Successful Montages Do

A montage can accomplish various goals in a motion picture, including:

Speed up time. Whether it’s a day, a week, a month, a year, or a decade, a montage can accelerate time in a way that makes sense to the audience and stays true to the story. It can be like a highlight reel for the action passing.Convey a lot of information at once. Sometimes, a story has crucial details to communicate, but a director doesn’t want to devote a great deal of time to explaining them. A montage can speed up that process and catch the audience up in a matter of seconds.Heighten tension. You may have noticed that many montages happen about two-thirds of the way through a movie, often right after the climax of the story. A montage can renew and reinvigorate an audience’s interest in a character or a storyline as the film builds to a conclusion.Compare and contrast. Alternatively, sometimes montages happen at the very beginning of a movie. A montage that compares and contrasts the daily lives or routines of two characters can establish their statuses, and thus their levels of power, in relation to one another.Reveal character. A montage can be a vehicle to reveal the ways a character is changing. From quick cuts of a drug hallucination one night to the effects of illness over the course of six months, a montage can help the audience quickly understand a dramatic shift in a character’s physical and/or mental state.Combine multiple storylines. There isn’t always time to feature every single storyline from start to finish. A montage is an effective way to combine storylines and ensure every character gets their due.

Citation 

Film sound and music. College Film & Media Studies. (2011, September 27). Retrieved September 24, 2021, from https://collegefilmandmediastudies.com/film-sound-and-music/. 

MasterClass. (2020, November 8). Learn about montage in filmmaking: How to create a memorable movie montage - 2021. MasterClass. Retrieved September 24, 2021, from https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-montage-in-filmmaking-how-to-create-a-memorable-montage#common-montage-film-techniques.

MasterClass. (2021, August 23). Film 101: Understanding Film lighting - 2021. MasterClass. Retrieved September 24, 2021, from https://www.masterclass.com/articles/film-101-understanding-film-lighting#who-determines-the-lighting-setup-for-a-scene. 

Sudhakaran, P. author B. S., Christensensays:, J., Johnsonsays:, J., Mikesays: JAREDsays: & Sawantsays:, R. S. (n.d.). 15 essential CAMERA Shots, angles and movements. wolfcrow. Retrieved September 24, 2021, from https://wolfcrow.com/15-essential-camera-shots-angles-and-movements/.