Elements of Film

Introduction 

    In a film, there are small and important elements that contribute to making it an art form. Small things just as the way an actor looks at another person, the way the light is shining behind an actor, or a placement of a prop are all elements that can help make form a film that we see on a screen. Elements that are the most important that contribute to making a film a form of art are the music and lighting. 

Music 

    Almost all types of films or videos have some type of music in them, even if it is as simple as a piano playing in the background, the radio in the film music songs, or just the main sound of the movie. Music can help bring the film along its path and allow the viewer to be prepared for many things. 

    One of the most famous music that everyone has heard of and knows what movie it is from would be Star Wars theme songs. The music sets the tone for the movie or even triggers the feelings of the viewer, like when you hear the song at the beginning of every Star Wars everyone knows it will begin with " A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." This also allows the viewer to know our adventure is about to start in this episode of the Star Wars trilogy. 

    Continuing with what I was saying about the music being able to set the tone for a scene would be an example in the Star Wars movies when we hear the 'The Imperial March' it hints (audionetwork.com) to us that we will be seeing Dark Vader really soon since his theme song is playing, and this has become an automatic thought or excitement for fans of the movie that we will be seeing the main evil character, this music will be non-diegetic since it is only heard for the viewers the characters in the movie does not hear the music playing as they are walking into the scene. 

    Music is able to create a mood for the viewer, just like above when we hear the 'Imperial March' many of our breaths stop as we are afraid of what might happen next or if a big fight will break out since the bad guys have arrived on the scene. Music is able to help create an intense feeling in the air but also create a beautiful loving atmosphere. One of my favorite scenes is where Padme and Anakin have their wedding in front of the beautiful water with a sunset in the background, but their theme song is playing in the background 'Across the Stars'. It shows the beauty in their love and sets the mood for the scene also at the same time. 

Lighting 

    Lighting can be simple: the light hits the actor's face to show the expressions more. But in many different films, it is also a type of way message being shown. As mentioned in THE LAST DETAIL, lighting can be used to generate the narrative meaning in a film. 

    A perfect example is in Fassbinders Lola (1981), there are two colors that are very important that will be blue and pink each representing the 2 main characters. Pink represents Lola, while blue represents Von Bohm. In the film in many scenes, the pink lights are shined on Lola while the blue shine on Bohm showing that they are in their separate worlds splitting perfectly and not interfering with the other person's light. 

    The light is a hidden message that in the relationship between the two characters, there are things that they both are hiding from the other and they just want to keep it to themselves, until one of the most important scenes in my opinion is where they are in the church and as they are walking out you can see the colors show up again. As they are singing you can see that there is a faint blue light being shown to both of them which means that the world Von Bohm is in and the secret he is trying to hide is not as important anymore and there is the world he wants Lola to be in along with him. At the end of the scene as they both are leaving the church you see the pink that represents Lola's world is seen, and both characters are walking toward it which means Von Bohm is walking into Lola's world and will be finding out her secrets and understand the way she is and the job she has of being in the club will slowly be unfolded. 

(Check out the Facebook page in the links to see the video) 

 

Conclusion 

    Everybody has their own idea of what are the most important elements that make a film a form of art. I hope you can think of some songs/soundtracks or sound from a film you have watched and if you just heard it on the street you know exactly where it came from. Also, the next time you watch a film looks closely at the lighting and colors in the film because they can have an important meaning. 

Links

http://thelastdetailfilm.weebly.com/mise-en-scene.html 

https://www.facebook.com/mubifrance/videos/lola-1981-%C3%A0-d%C3%A9couvrir-sur-mubi/1189862248260237/  (Lola church scene) 

https://www.audionetwork.com/content/the-edit/expertise/why-is-music-important-to-film