Visual Storytelling and the Grammar of Filmmaking, Part I |

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Visual Storytelling and the Grammar of Filmmaking, Part I

C O N T E N T S

C U R R I C U L U M

The Film Shot 0 2+03 • The Film Shot and Camera Angles 0 4+0 5+06 • Film Editing 0 7+0 8+0 9

Film and Continuity Editing 1 0+11 • Film and Montage Editing 1 2+13 • Editing Techniques 1 4

Additional Activities 15 • Activity Answer Key 1 6

This teaching guide has three curriculum objectives:

• To help students and teachers using films and videos in the

context of the following secondary school curriculum – English
Language Arts, Film and Media Studies, Social Studies, and
Visual Arts

• To assist educators who are planning to teach film studies for

the first time

• To suggest ways in which traditional literary concepts may be

taught using a medium other than printed text

S TAR WA R S AND THE STRUCTURE OF THIS FILM GUIDE

This guide has been developed around one of the most popular
and successful movies in the history of cinema: George Lucas’
1977 science fiction epic, Star Wars. Virtually any film can be
used to look at the role of shots and editing in movies. What’s
important is to break down how the visual language of filmmak-
ing is used by looking closely at different kinds of shots and
examining how shots are linked together in certain kinds of edit-
ing patterns. Another way of saying this is that rather than sim-
ply watching a film, to really understand how a film works, it’s
important to deconstruct how the filmmaker has used individual
elements to tell his or her story.

Since its original release in 1977, Star Wars has become one of
the most recognizable stories in the history of film. It has also
been instrumental in popularizing a whole new kind of
Hollywood film: the blockbuster. Blockbusters are big budget
movies dominated by special computer effects, action-based
storylines, and popular Hollywood stars. Although Star Wars is
now considered one of the early blockbusters, it didn’t start out
that way. In fact, many Hollywood producers expected the film
to fail miserably when it was released. As we know of course, it
didn’t. Instead, George Lucas’ comic book melodrama went on
to draw generations of moviegoers into a universe that existed
“a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.”

That Star Wars and the three follow-up films (The Empire Strikes
Back [Irvin Kershner, 1980], Return of the Jedi [Richard

Marquand, 1983], and The Phantom Menace [George Lucas,
1999]) in the series have been able to do this is no small feat.
The Rebel forces and the Empire are neither part of our world
nor our time. But if we think about it for a moment, in another
way, they are.

The Rebel forces and the Empire are part of our world because
we learn about their story with the aid of various kinds of shots
and editing patterns that we’ve seen in any number of movies.
Because these shots and edits are so familiar to audiences they
work to turn this far-off tale into an adventure we identify with
and understand.

As the film begins, audiences enter into the world of Luke, Han
Solo, Princess Leia, and Darth Vader. On one level, what allows
us to do this is the skilful manipulation of cinema’s visual lan-
guage. The most basic and essential element of this visual lan-
guage is the film shot, the starting point from which all movies
begin.

Note: Some films noted in this guide may not be appropriate for all
students. Please use your discretion when selecting films for your
classroom. Classroom activities are provided after each section
along with an answer key at the end of the guide. Answers are not
provided for all activities as some questions depend on teachers to
choose films they are already working with in their classes.

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| Visual Storytelling and the Grammar of Filmmaking, Part I

TH E FILM SHOT

Although there are many different kinds of shots in movies, it is possible to narrow down the list
to six different categories:

The Extreme Long Shot
The Long Shot
The Full Shot
The Medium Shot
The Close-Up Shot
The Extreme Close-Up Shot

As a rule, different shots are determined by the position of the human figure in the image. For
instance:

An Extreme Long Shot is generally taken from a great distance away from human subjects. Quite
often these are landscape shots or shots that give a view of a whole world – a city, a town, or
even a galaxy – where the story is set. Not surprisingly, we generally see these kinds of shots in
epic movies that focus attention on setting – for instance Westerns (like John Ford’s The
Searchers, 1996), Science Fiction movies (like Star Wars), or epic love stories (like Anthony
Minghella’s The English Patient, 1996). When people are included in extreme long shots, they
often look like specs on the screen.

A Long Shot is roughly the same distance as that which separates an audience from a theatre
stage. It includes the full human figure and often provides a clear view of the environment or set-
ting in which we find a character.

Both extreme long shots and long shots can also act as establishing shots and re-establishing
shots, which are the opening and closing shots in a scene. An establishing shot helps to tell the
audience where a scene is taking place. Re-establishing shots help to distance the audience from
a scene that is about to end, much in the same way chapter conclusions help to break up story
flow in a novel. In all cases, long shots help to provide a sense of location and setting for a story.

A Full Shot is a variation on a long shot. It includes the full human figure, with the feet at the bot-
tom of the frame and the head at the top of the frame. Slapstick comedians like Charlie Chaplin
used to favour this kind of shot because it allowed him to exploit the art of the pantomime while
at the same time capturing some of his most dramatic facial expressions.

A Medium Shot shows the human body from the ankles or knees up and is generally used to
show interaction between characters, including dialogue. Medium shots are also used to show
movement, for instance when two characters are having a conversation while walking down a
corridor.

A Close-Up focuses in on the human face and is generally shot from the mid-torso up. It is used
to create intimacy or to show emotional responses from characters. A close-up can also be used
to focus on an object as a way of highlighting the importance of that object in the story.

An Extreme Close-Up is a variation on the close-up. It is often used to highlight a symbolically
important object or a particular body part such as an eye, a hand, or a mouth.

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Watch the opening scene in Star Wars, from the shot where we see Princess Leia’s ship being
chased by the Imperial battle cruiser to the moment when the Empire boards the Rebel ship.
From this clip choose an example of each of the following shots:

A long shot
A medium shot
A close-up shot
An extreme close-up shot

Draw a picture of each shot in as much detail as you wish. Below each drawing, explain the purpose of
the shot by describing what it tells us about the storyline and the relationship between the Empire and
the forces of the Rebellion.

activity

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Visual Storytelling and the Grammar of Filmmaking, Part I |

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