Understanding a film (Themes, Symbolism etc.)

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Dety

Usually when I watch a film I get so wrapped up within what's going on, I don't pay attention to the cinematography. I lose myself. And this shouldn't be a bad thing, right?

However, since I want to become a filmmaker, when someone asks me a question like "What did you gather from this famous director's movie?" I want to be able to say more than "Oh, I liked it because it had stunning visuals and a good story." I feel like I need to go deeper.

I've recently learned that filmmaking is a WHOLE LOT more than just setting up a shot that looks good and then shooting the script. Cinematographers/directors put a lot of work into thinking about composition. The directions the characters are walking, what's in frame at a certain place, all plays an important role.

Breaking Bad for example. Obviously there are some Themes and Symbols in there but I can never point them out! I can point out what is a Symbol, but I have a hard time figuring out what it may represent. I loved the story, but I can never tell why. I can never explain myself.

Maybe there's a book that could help me better understand this?
 
Hello new dude! :cool:

When you watch a film, really get into it. Don't talk to other people, don't be eating popcorn. Just sit there in the dark, and watch. Connect the things you see on screen with past experiences in your life, or events in history. Think of the character's backstory, and how that backstory may relate to the journey the character is currently on. When you get home from the theater or get done watching a film on DVD, think about it. Just sit, and think about it. Think about the colors you've seen in the film, and the way the audio sounded. Take mental notes during the film. Often in films, colors (set dressing, props, location) and sound are used to push and idea or theme of a film (ex. the use of the color red in the Sixth Sense). Maybe you may want to look up and read about symbolism in films, then watch those films. The movie that we're not allowed to talk about, The Shining, Life of Pi, and Gravity are good ones to start with. If you cannot find anything online, I will go in-depth on symbolism in those films, besides The Movie That Shall Not Be Named.

Anyway.. :welcome:

I hope you're not one of those posters who start one thread then leave forever!
 
Dety said:
Usually when I watch a film I get so wrapped up within what's going on, I don't pay attention to the cinematography. I lose myself. And this shouldn't be a bad thing, right?
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Watch it with the audio turned off. Good audio is almost invariably what sucks you in. Having it off allows you to focus on the visuals; framing, lighting, composition, etc. Most movies that I've enjoyed I'll rewatch with the audio off, sometimes just in a window on my computer while I'm working on something else. When something catches my eye, I'll analyse it again. Also, I feel just having it in my field of vision will help some of the images "stick", I might not be able to recall it exactly, but the overall impression will still be available.

CraigL
 
ChimpPhobiaFilms said:
The movie that we're not allowed to talk about, The Shining, Life of Pi, and Gravity are good ones to start with. If you cannot find anything online, I will go in-depth on symbolism in those films, besides The Movie That Shall Not Be Named.
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What movie we're not supposed to talk about? Dafuq did I miss?
 
Ok, thanks guys!

But the things is "analyzing" the film while I'm watching it kind of detaches me from the movie. So is it just something that I have to do twice? Once to enjoy, twice (or more) to fully understand?

And yeah, Chimp. Gravity is a great example. I saw that this weekend. There was one scene in particular which stood out to me *SPOILER* sort of...

SPOILER

Ryan (Sandra Bullock) had escaped the flying debris and after scurrying into the space shuttle, fell asleep, gently spinning in micro-gravity. She basically looked like a fetus in the womb and I thought that was amazing how they shot that. But I just kept asking myself "What does it mean!!!?" haha I know I'm probably just over thinking it!
 
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CraigL said:
Watch it with the audio turned off.
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Then turn the TV off and just listen.

ChimpPhobiaFilms said:
When you watch a film, really get into it. Don't talk to other people, don't be eating popcorn. Just sit there in the dark, and watch. Connect the things you see on screen with past experiences in your life, or events in history. Think of the character's backstory, and how that backstory may relate to the journey the character is currently on. When you get... done watching a film on DVD, think about it. Just sit, and think about it.
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Actually, pull out a pad a take notes.
 
I have another from Gravity. When she's talking to the chinese man on the radio who doesn't understand her, she's talking about never learning how to pray… the tear leaving her eye that they rack focus on is her prayer drifting out into the cosmos… they took the abstract emotional moment and found a way to express it physically. When you're digging through a film or a script, figure out what the emotional notes are of that moment… then try to determine how those are being "shown, not told" in the context of the film. Is it body positioning showing one character's aloofness to the other? Is it the nearness of the two characters' outlines to the center of the frame showing them growing closer together over time? Is it the color red as a portent to bad things about to happen?

Pick a film apart, shot by shot and break it down to figure out what is happening not just an a frame, but in each sequence as well.
 
I often find myself getting caught up in the story as well, even when I tell myself I'll make a real effort to concentrate on one specific aspect. I think the key is just to rewatch films, again and again and again, and really think about what the filmmakers are trying to achieve with each shot, and what works and what doesn't. Reading about films is a great way to go deeper as well, as someone may mention something you had missed and really add to the film the next time you watch it.
I remember reading that Truffaut would sometimes sneak in and watch the same film 3 or 4 times in a day, so there's always that option I guess.
 
All of the above I think are wonderful ideas.

But I also think that multiple people can interpret the same movie different ways, based on cultural, personal experiences, etc. And to quote an old saying "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

A writer/director who I studied with several years ago liked to illustrate this point with a story from a low budget movie that he worked on. A character in the movie wore a plain white t-shirt in multiple scenes, but a blue one in the scene that they shot last. At festival screenings, people always wanted to figure out the meaning of that shirt. The reality was that they ran out of white shirts, hadn't realized it, weren't near a store, so they used what was on hand.
 
Back in film school, we had one class per week for an entire year where we would watch a film and then spend half an hour or so analysing it as a class.

First semester was classic cinema, and the evolution of cinema, second semester was contemporary cinema.

I think this helped a lot, personally, with my ability to deconstruct films. I tend to deconstruct what I can from a film after I've watched it, rather than sit and watch it specifically for one thing or another, though seeing a film a few times certainly helps you to pick up on things you didn't before, and also help you analyse as you're no longer pre-occupied by being swept up in the story.

I'll also add that analysing this stuff is great, and it helps when you come to put things in your own movies.

However, one thing I noticed when we were doing this at school, and also even now when I talk about films with some people - you can quite easily look way too far into a film. You can draw all sorts of conclusions about all sorts of things that happen in a film. You can say that one thing meant this and another meant that and this is why the filmmakers did this. Sometimes you're right, and sometimes you're close to right.
But sometimes, you're looking way too far into it.
 
jax_rox said:
However, one thing I noticed when we were doing this at school, and also even now when I talk about films with some people - you can quite easily look way too far into a film. You can draw all sorts of conclusions about all sorts of things that happen in a film. You can say that one thing meant this and another meant that and this is why the filmmakers did this. Sometimes you're right, and sometimes you're close to right.
But sometimes, you're looking way too far into it.
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This!!! Especially with Lynch movies
 
A LOT of helpful information here. I'll definitely check those links out. One of the reasons why I brought this whole topic up is because we just watched In Cold Blood in class and we had a discussion on the themes and I couldn't clearly state how I felt about the movie, or put it into words. But I'm working on that! haha

I'm taking a cinema studies class next quarter, so hopefully that'll clear some things up as well (heck maybe psychology alone will help).
 
CraigL said:
Watch it with the audio turned off. Good audio is almost invariably what sucks you in. Having it off allows you to focus on the visuals; framing, lighting, composition, etc.
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Public audiences don't pay to watch a film, they pay to be entertained by being sucked into a story. What you appear to be saying, although I don't think you meant it that way, is to turn off and thereby ignore that element of filmmaking most responsible for sucking you in, so you are able to concentrate on the cinematography. If this is what you meant, it's shockingly bad advice for a filmmaker!!!

To be honest, I don't believe it is good sound by itself which sucks you in: Turn the picture off and just listen to the film and chances are that you won't be sucked in. What sucks you in is how the sound and visuals work together to create a combined effect and indeed it could easily be argued that this is what differentiates a good film from a poor one. The best films tend not to just be written, shot and edited and then have the sound bolted on at the end in post-production, they are generally written, shot and edited with the combined effect of visuals and sound in mind throughout. This is why in commercial films the Sound Designer is usually hired during development/pre-production rather than waiting until post-production. This also has implications for the cinematography and the cinematographer, who should also be thinking about the film rather than just the visual images.

Dety said:
Usually when I watch a film I get so wrapped up within what's going on, I don't pay attention to the cinematography. I lose myself. And this shouldn't be a bad thing, right?
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On the contrary, it's a good thing. It's what the filmmakers have spent all their time and money trying to achieve and how well they achieve it pretty much defines whether the film is good, bad or mediocre! Instead of trying to concentrate on the cinematography, why don't you try and figure out what the filmmakers have done which has caused you to be sucked in? Invariably the answer is going to be more than just the cinematography!

It can be difficult to analyse a very good film, I've been doing this for many years and still I often sit down to analyse a scene and then suddenly realise I've been sucked in and am watching/experiencing the film instead of analysing it. It often takes me 5 or 10 times longer to analyse a great film than it does to analyse a mediocre or poor one!! The only real advice I can give at this stage is to make sure you've got good quality batteries in your remote and that the remote itself has a well built and durable rewind button! :)

G
 
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AudioPostExpert said:
On the contrary, it's a good thing. It's what the filmmakers have spent all their time and money trying to achieve and how well they achieve it pretty much defines whether the film is good, bad or mediocre!
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I totally agree with this. A good film will suck me in and not let go. An even better film will still have my brain going long after it finishes. The deeper it pulls me in, the less chance that I'll even consider analysing it while watching.

If the movie warrants a closer inspection (ie if I didn't 100% 'get it' on first viewing), then I will pull it apart more on subsequent re-runs, where doing so won't ruin the initial magic for me, and anyone else unfortunate enough to be in the room!

Poorer, more formulaic films I will happily analyse on the first viewing, as I can very rarely immerse myself in them.
 
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