Mark Dixon - Essential Revision for A Level Film Studies

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an invaluable resource for anyone studying Film A level. The book is split into three accessible and logical sections; Film forms, Film theories, and Context and forms, and is well supported throughout by relevant and interesting examples. Written with the student in mind, the revision activities and exemplars ought to help pupils achieve at a high level in their A level exams. The Experimental film and Lighting chapters are great examples of how to break down complex topics into digestible and fathomable content, allowing access across all ability ranges. This text is equally useful for 1st-year undergraduate students who are bridging into a film-related course.

Leigh Adams, British Film Institute: Director of Education and Skills

Essential in more than just name! With written examples relating to exam set texts and chapters on technical aspects of film, theories and contexts, Mark Dixons Essential Revision for A Level Film Studies is the perfect companion for any student embarking on an A level Film Studies course, or any teacher who wants to secure their subject knowledge.

Claire Pollard, Editor of EMC Media Magazine

Essential Revision for A Level Film Studies

This comprehensive revision guide contains everything students need to know to succeed on their A Level Film Studies course.

Essential Revision for A Level Film Studies features engaging and accessible chapters to help learners develop a deeper understanding of the key elements of film form, including cinematography, mise en scne, performance, lighting, editing and sound. The book offers detailed explanations of the specialist study areas required for the A Level course, including auteur theory, spectatorship, genre, key critical debates, narrative and ideology, as well as overviews of key film movements like French New Wave cinema, German Expressionism and Soviet Montage. Also included are practical exercises designed to help students apply essential concepts to film set texts, sample exam responses for both Eduqas and OCR exam boards, and challenge activities designed to help students secure premium grades.

With its practical approach and comprehensive scope, Essential Revision for A Level Film Studies is the ideal resource for students and teachers.

The book also features a companion website at EssentialFilmRevision.com, which includes a wide range of supporting resources including revision flashcards and worksheets, a bank of film set text applications for exam questions for all film specifications and classroom-ready worksheets that teachers can use alongside the book to help students master A Level Film exam content.

Mark Dixon works as a principal examiner for Eduqas and is the head of Media and Film at Durham Sixth Form Centre. He is also the author of Essential Theory for Media A Level (also published by Routledge) as well as having written for the Guardian, Media Magazine, TES magazine and Wired.

Essential Revision for A Level Film Studies

Mark Dixon

First published 2022

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2022 Mark Dixon

The right of Mark Dixon to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Dixon, Mark (Teacher), author.

Title: Essential revision for A level film studies / Mark Dixon.

Description: London; New York: Routledge, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2021004393 | ISBN 9780367634506 (hardback) |
ISBN 9780367634490 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003119241 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Motion picturesHistory. |
Motion picturesProduction and direction.

Classification: LCC PN1994 .D5385 2021 | DDC 791.4309dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021004393

ISBN: 9780367634506 (hbk)

ISBN: 9780367634490 (pbk)

ISBN: 9781003119241 (ebk)

Typeset in Bembo

by Newgen Publishing UK

Access the companion website: EssentialFilmRevision.com

To Mam and Dad

Contents

Table 1.1 What do you need to revise cinematography for?

Study of cinematography is core to all aspects of Film Studies. To provide effective analysis you should be able to discuss the use and impact of camera movement, shot distance, depth of field as well as the impact of composition and framing decisions (covered in ).

Essential background: paradigmatic and syntagmatic meaning-making

Filmmakers have two central jobs when planning a film. First, they must decide upon the overriding story to identify the characters, major plot points, subplots and so on. To complete this task, filmmakers must order scenes so that their audiences can make sense of the narratives presented. Script writers must invent dialogue, craft characters and work out where crucial plot moments must happen to maximise the emotional impact of their story.

The second, and equally vital, task for filmmakers is to think about the styling and aesthetics of the individual shots that their cinematic story will be composed from. Camera positioning must be worked out to capture actor movement, while locations and sets must be styled to reflect a specific aesthetic look. Those two central planning roles produce meaning in the following two ways:

• Syntagmatic meaning-making describes the effects produced by film stories as a result of the way narrative material is sequenced; through, for example, the choices made by script writers and editors in shaping the narrative flow of a product.
• Paradigmatic meaning-making, the second function, is less concerned with the way a story builds or changes direction, but in the way that single shots relay meaning.

The study of cinematography is largely concerned with the second form of meaning-making described above.

Cinematographic decisions, in this sense, are made from a fixed menu of shot types, wherein the technical application of a specific shot type constructs a specific connotative effect. If, for example, a shot is filmed using a low-angle tilt to depict a character, the intended effects can be decoded relatively quickly. We do not need to know the narrative events that have taken place before or after the shot to understand that the character has been deliberately framed to look powerful. Conversely, the use of a high-angle tilt would tell an audience that a character lacks authority.

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