Form and Style in Film

Extract

[...] The form is all about the story, plot, and narrative of the film. It provides an overarching shape for the entire film and can be used to change how a film is structured overall. I will explain each part of the film form now: I. Story The story of the film is a series of events told in chronological order. That's all there is to it. Events told from beginning to end, no jumping around time, no cutting out events in the middle and putting it at the end. [...]

[...] Now let's look at Run Lola Run. This film also repeats itself multiple times, but not nearly as often as Edge of Tomorrow. Run Lola Run only repeats itself three times, and each time we learn different information about the characters. The story is incredibly simple: Manni, Lola's boyfriend, loses a bag full of money because Lola couldn't pick him up, and then she has to help him get it back within 20 minutes, otherwise, he'll rob a convenience store. [...]

[...] We see the main character in Buffalo Bill's door, and the FBI storming the wrong house. This means that the audience feels somewhat cheated, and affects their reading of the scene, making them feel like they were presented with the wrong information to strengthen the shock when it finally shows us that the main character is at the criminal's house. Another set of techniques that filmmakers use for film style are subjective and objective filming and editing techniques. Subjective techniques are ones that get the audience into the mindset of the character, and allow us to emotionally connect with them and invest in their story. [...]

[...] If the story is the events told in chronological order, then the plot is how those events are shown to the audience and in what order. III. Narrative A narrative is a series of events linked together using cause and effect. It shows us what happens and how it affects the story as it unfolds. For example, we see a small child getting an injection, and then see them crying, we know that the cause was getting the shot and the effect was them crying because of it. [...]

[...] One scene that represents this well is the opening scene, where we see a crowd of people all pushed together covered in red paint. There is a large amount of symbolism in the film for blood, especially linking it with the colour red, and this is a prime example. From this, we can learn that the main character has been through a traumatic event involving blood and, more likely, death. This brings the audience directly into Eva's mindset, and her dealing with what her son has done all the way through the movie. [...]