Film Form

It's a question we often ask when we see a film or piece of art that utterly confounds us: "what in the world is this about?" As in life, we seek meaning out of the art that we consume. Film is a particularly tricky medium to tackle when it comes to deciphering meaning, as well as imbuing it in our own work. There are so many elements to consider. There is the content of the film from the characters and settings to the subject matter. We must also consider the narrative elements, not to mention the stylistic approach of the filmmaker and the emotional tone. It's a complex and daunting task to say the least. One of the beautiful things about a great film is that it's worth watching over and over again. I often find that each time I see new things in it and find additional meaning that I might not have gotten in previous viewings.

There are few writers today who have so thoroughly investigated the topic of meaning in film as David Bordwell. Our latest reading on the subject gave us a lot of ammunition in the war for understanding the things we are watching. While it's not necessarily important that we use every bit of criteria in the reading to determine what films are about, it's a good blueprint to begin with. From referential meaning, to the explicit and implicit meaning and the larger context of symptomatic meaning, there are many ways to frame the topic. How does a film move us? Does it fill you with sadness, anger, fear, joy or some combination of emotions? How is it crafted? Is it filled with effects, or very simply put together? These are the kinds of questions we have to ask ourselves as we consider what a film is about. As makers, we also have to consider these issues as we do our own work and what kind of reaction we want from the audience that watches our films.

After reading this, I found myself going back to films like The Wizard of Oz to look more closely at how these techniques are used. It's an interesting film when you look beyond the surface, and a useful one for considering how symbols and motifs play a part in storytelling. The filmmakers draw from such a rich palette, from the characters, locations, music, use of color and effects. While the message of the film is fairly clear, the methods for communicating those themes offer us a great deal to sink our teeth into as an audience. It's been imitated and alluded to again and again, but rarely matched in its mystique. There is a power to the film, even decades later, that speaks to new audiences and old ones. We can only hope that our work will endure as this piece has.