How to Read a Film
In 1968, James Monaco published a groundbreaking book on how cinematic semiology defines a film's grammatical structure using signs and syntax. The book, “How to Read A Film,” became the basis for a system of analysis that broke down a film’s components in order to define meaning, giving weight and import to a predominately non-academic art form. This became the standard by which film buffs lived and died. In this article, you will learn the steps necessary in order to read a film, thus making you the guru of all your cinema-addicted friends.
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Instructions
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Understand the technology of cinema. It is impossible to decipher a film’s language if you do no understand how the sequences are constructed. Becoming familiar with how images are recorded and edited together is as essential as understanding the process of a painter or writer. Once you are familiar with the medium’s technology, you are able to have a better understanding of why a particular filmmaker used certain tools.
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Do not extrapolate information that is not there. Films do not imply; they state. One cannot extrapolate outside of what the filmmaker is saying to find meaning within the film. For example, a scene may show a man walking into a store and buying a pack of gum. There is no way you can misunderstand the man’s intended purpose in that action. However, the emotional state in which he purchases that gum is a different matter entirely, and can be left to the viewer’s interpretation or perception.
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Study the composition of the shots. The composition does the talking for the filmmaker, and the syntax of the frame is what is limited by that frame. Given your knowledge of film tools, you can understand what the filmmaker is saying via his chosen composition, his point of view, the use of lens focal lengths and the aspect ratio in which the film was shot.
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Define the sign and syntax. Syntax, as in literary language, is essentially how a film connects images--the harmonious arrangement of parts or elements. When dealing with sign and syntax, one has to look at cultural definitions--in other words, what is being said subtextually in the film.
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Don't forget the sound. Films are defined as much by their sound as by their visuals. The dialogue, sound effects and musical score all give meaning to the film.
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Put these elements together to read the film. When you look at them in unison, you can understand what the filmmaker is saying on several levels. The idea is not to over-analyze a film to the point of sucking the enjoyment out of it, but to be better educated so you can perceive aspects of that film you may otherwise have been unaware of.
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Tips & Warnings
Be open to experiencing a film on a whole new level.
