{"id":60,"date":"2025-08-15T12:45:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T12:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/reynardthefox\/?page_id=60"},"modified":"2025-11-14T17:37:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T17:37:11","slug":"some-hints-and-tips-from-film-studies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/reynardthefox\/some-hints-and-tips-from-film-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"Some hints and tips from Film Studies"},"content":{"rendered":"

It may help to look at some terms from Film Studies, and the techniques which they describe, to help with the creation of ‘visuals’.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Some Film Terms with Explanations:<\/strong><\/p>\n

BACK LIGHTING \u2013 <\/strong>the scene is lit from behind the actors, causing a silhouette, and sometimes a \u2018halo\u2019 around the figure\/s. This tends to isolate characters and make them more important in the scene. There may be a supernatural implication to this.<\/p>\n

(below: in this shot from Kingdom of Heaven<\/em>, we see the awesome greatness of medieval Jerusalem and share the wonder of the two characters.\u00a0 In an iconic scene, Fuqua’s Arthur<\/em> appears backlit on the horizon as legendary hero, to save the Britons from the Saxons.)<\/p>\n

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BACK PROJECTION \u2013 <\/strong>images are projected behind the actors, so they appear to be somewhere other than on a sound stage or film set, eg street scenes. Digitally this can be changed, or a character \u2018moved\u2019 into a different setting (perhaps as a consequence of a choice or an accident \u2013 ie treading on something, gaining control of an object, going through a portal\u2026).\u00a0 CGI has made this much easier in post-production.<\/p>\n

(below:\u00a0 Ridley Scott’s technique involves taking existing infrastructure eg the walls and gates of Jerusalem, the Colosseum in Gladiator… and adding ‘medieval’ features in CGI.\u00a0 In that way, the corporeality of the existing material anchors the CGI in the ‘real world’.)<\/p>\n

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The technique is used as narrative by the Scotts in their TV series Pillars of the Earth.\u00a0 To show the gradual building of Kingsbridge cathedral, the existing Salisbury cathedral is broken down, basic elements retained and gradually rebuilt, until the final scene fades into a drone shot of the cathedral at the time of filming, linking the twelfth century with the twentieth.\u00a0 As has been said already, ‘when is now?’<\/p>\n

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BRIDGING SHOT \u2013 <\/strong>the same scene changes to show the passing of time.\u00a0 With a SOUND BRIDGE<\/strong>, the same sound continues into the next shot, linking the two. Seasons are a good example of this eg the same tree with green and brown leaves and no leaves.<\/p>\n

(below:\u00a0 In Excalibur, John Boorman reproduces a version of J Arthur Rackham’s death of Arthur and Mordred in three dimensions, with the addition of a red disc for the sun, setting in blood.\u00a0 The same disc is seen in the final scenes, as the Lady of the Lake’s arm retrieves the sword to take it away from the ‘world of men’.\u00a0 The red sun acts as a visual bridging device between the two scenes, sharing their ‘tragic sunset’ meaning.)<\/p>\n

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CHIAROSCURO<\/strong> \u2013 the lighting shows heavy contrast between light and shade. This is mostly used in monochrome (and why shouldn\u2019t a gameworld, or part of it, be mono) to highlight the \u2018black-and-whiteness\u2019 of the whole.\u00a0 It generally produces \u2018difference\u2019.<\/p>\n

(below:\u00a0 Ingmar Bergman highlights the unreality and the beauty of the Virgin and Child in a Seventh Seal<\/em> dream sequence by bathing them in light: dream sequences are usually shaded and shot in soft focus.\u00a0 In color, Leslie Megahey also uses deep contrast in a dream-like sequence, using spotlighting to create a more threatening ‘horror’ effect – in The Hour of the Pig.\u00a0 <\/em>In Lancelot du Lac<\/em>, Robert Bresson, who worked in mono during his early career, uses a similar technique to show the isolation and deep despair of King Arthur.)<\/p>\n

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CLOSE-UP<\/strong> An image in which the subject fills most of the frame and little of the surroundings is shown. Typically, a CU will be of a person\u2019s face\/expression. A head\/shoulders shot is a MED(IUM) CU<\/strong>.\u00a0 Often used for conversation, or to highlight a character\u2019s feelings, responses or \u2018inner life\u2019.\u00a0 It focuses the viewer\u2019s attention solely on that person.<\/p>\n

CUT<\/strong> The most common transition between shots, made by splicing\/joining the end of one shot to the beginning of the following one. A sense of the dramatic is conveyed if a number of brief shots are cut together in a whole series, as FAST CUTTING<\/strong>. \u00a0Battle scenes usually intercut fast shots like this with slower-moving concentration on small sections of the battlefield with one or two characters in more intimate focus.\u00a0 Sam Peckinpah uses fast and slow in his action scenes (eg The Wild Bunch<\/em>) to great effect. It highlights incidents of violence that he wants to stress.<\/p>\n

(A JUMP CUT <\/strong>moves quickly from one shot to another, in such a way that you notice it, and a MATCH CUT<\/strong> moves from one shot to a very similar one; the most famous being the cut from space station to floating bone in Kubrick\u2019s 2001)<\/em>.\u00a0 These, of course, create opposite effects.<\/p>\n

CA<\/strong> = CUTAWAY<\/strong>. A shot which briefly interrupts the visual presentation of a subject to show something else – useful for making a quick, telling association.\u00a0 This technique was used at the very beginning of film-making by Georges Meli\u00e8zes, who demonstrated that different associations could be used to create narratives or feelings in the mind of the viewer.\u00a0 He made the same objects cut to different sets of ‘things’ or facial expressions in order to create a variety of narratives around the same image.<\/p>\n

CROSS-CUTTING<\/strong> (or SHOT\/REVERSE-SHOT<\/strong>). Alternating shots that follow the exchanges in a dialogue, switching back and forth between two speakers.\u00a0 These are often at eye level, and create the impression of close connection, even if the two actors are being separately filmed at different times.<\/p>\n

DEEP FOCUS<\/strong>.\u00a0 The lens is deployed so that items at the back of the frame are in focus, as well as at the front.\u00a0 This enables characters or objects at the back of a scene to be \u2018brought forward\u2019, or to have more importance than if they were blurred.<\/p>\n

(below: a crowd scene from Hour of the Pig<\/em>… the actors, including the main characters, are shown in focus in the crowd, but Megahey also wants us to focus on the actors on stage, and the ‘medieval’ setting behind.\u00a0 He uses deep focus in court and gallows scenes, too.\u00a0 Eric Rohmer’s Perceval le Gallois<\/em> is filmed almost entirely in deep focus in order to preserve the ‘medieval-ness’ of the staging.)<\/p>\n

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DIAGETIC SOUND <\/strong>comes from within the frame; it is a consequence of the action you see (ie the sound of a hammer, and someone hammering).\u00a0 If it comes from OUTSIDE the frame, either as a sound effect or musical score, it is NON-DIAGETIC.<\/p>\n

DISSOLVE<\/strong> Or, more accurately: LAP<\/strong> (= \u2018Overlap”) DISSOLVE<\/strong>. A transition between shots in which one shot begins to fade out as the next shot fades in, overlapping the first shot before replacing it. Typically used to give a change of scene-setting.<\/p>\n

DUTCH ANGLE<\/strong> Camera angle which \u2018skews\u2019 the image from the vertical\/horizontal of the picture frame. Doors may appear slanted, etc., producing a deliberately disorientating effect.\u00a0 This can be used to give impressions of mental disturbance, or indeed any disturbance.<\/p>\n

ESTABLISHING SHOT<\/strong>.\u00a0 The opening shot, which sets the scene for the rest of the film.\u00a0 The establishing shot is extremely important; it can establish the mood of the whole work, give basic information about setting and characters and introduce a world and its inhabitants.\u00a0 It\u2019s really worth giving a lot of thought to this part.\u00a0 Very often in films the scene begins with a wide panorama, then homes in on part of it, often involving the main character\/s, to show their \u2018place\u2019 in this world.<\/p>\n

FADE Fade In – Fade Out:<\/strong> the effect of changing the image gradually from black to full visuals, or the reverse (typically, in old films, at the end).\u00a0 Usually creates the feeling of a beginning and an end, or a change.<\/p>\n

FRAME \u2013 OPEN<\/strong>.\u00a0 The subjects move freely in and out of the frame, which does not set a border to the action.\u00a0 This gives the impression of a wider world outside the shot.<\/p>\n

FRAME \u2013 CLOSED.<\/strong> The subjects are contained within the frame, which does set a border to the action.\u00a0 This concentrates the viewer\u2019s gaze on the characters and\/or objects within the shot.<\/p>\n

FX = (Sound) Effects: <\/strong>sounds in the film other than music or dialogue.\u00a0 Best kept for really significant events.<\/p>\n

HAND-HELD<\/strong> \u2013 the camera is not stabilised, and so gives a jerky effect.\u00a0 This can be replicated digitally \u2013 it gives an air of \u2018authenticity\u2019 or \u2018truth\u2019.<\/p>\n

HA = High Angle<\/strong>: a shot giving a view of the subject from above.\u00a0 This diminishes the subject.<\/p>\n

LA = Low Angle<\/strong>: a shot giving a view of the subject as seen from below eye-level.\u00a0 This exaggerates the subject and makes them appear more important. It can make small things\/characters look big (as in Mel Gibson films)!<\/p>\n

MISE-EN-SC\u00c8NE<\/strong> \u2013 that which is contained within the frame, and how the director moves it around.\u00a0 This is really important\u2026 what\u2019s in the frame is all you have to work with, although you can give the impression of more outside it by using an \u2018open\u2019 frame. \u00a0When writing or creating, you need to have an idea of what\u2019s outside the frame.\u00a0 Does this image make the viewer\/reader\/player interested to see more?\u00a0 What\u2019s in focus and what isn\u2019t?\u00a0 How does the light affect the scene?\u00a0 What will capture the viewer\/player\u2019s attention and stimulate their imagination and interest?\u00a0 If in color, remember that warm colours (reds, yellows) step out of the image, whilst cool colors (blue, grey, green) recede.\u00a0 Cool colors give the impression of more space, whilst warm colors reduce it. What stands out and what doesn\u2019t?<\/p>\n

(below: the hot colors of fire contrast with the blues of a night sky and the darkness of the abbey buildings in Name of the Rose<\/em>. It renders them more powerful and dangerous, as they ‘jump out’ at the viewer.)<\/p>\n

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MIX <\/strong>A combination on the sound track, for a particular effect, of music, dialogue and\/or FX. Copyright is often a problem here.<\/p>\n

MONTAGE<\/strong> \u2013 editing, but stresses the \u2018building up\u2019 rather than the \u2018cutting up\u2019 of the film.\u00a0 ACCELERATED MONTAGE is a sequence of edits which become shorter and shorter, useful for the passing of time on journeys, charging into battle, arrivals, etc.<\/p>\n

OVER THE SHOULDER<\/strong> \u2013 the back of the subject is seen in the front of the shot.\u00a0 Accentuates the \u2018point of view\u2019 of the subject.\u00a0 Used in FPS (first person shooter) games a lot.<\/p>\n

PAN \u2018Panning\u2019<\/strong> is the effect achieved when the (stationary) camera pivots horizontally to take in a panoramic image.\u00a0 This expands the \u2018world\u2019 that the viewer\/player sees.\u00a0 It can be used to surprise \u2013 for example\u2026 who\u2019s behind you?\u00a0 Anthony Mann used this a lot, for example in the barn scene in El Cid.<\/em><\/p>\n

POINT OF VIEW<\/strong> \u2013 we see the shot as through the eyes of a character, as in \u2018over the shoulder\u2019 shots.<\/p>\n

PULL BACK<\/strong> \u2013 the camera pulls away from the subject. Sets them in a landscape or scene, can be used to inform or surprise.\u00a0 It make the character become smaller and less important.<\/p>\n

REACTION SHOT<\/strong> \u2013 shows characters\u2019 reaction to what\u2019s going on or being said, rather than the speaker or the action itself. Can indicate a response about to happen \u2013 or not\u2026<\/p>\n

REVERSE ANGLE<\/strong> \u2013 switching to the other side in a conversation or action \u2013 see SHOT REVERSE SHOT<\/strong><\/p>\n

SEQUENCE<\/strong> A consecutive series of related scenes, acting as a major story-telling unit.<\/p>\n

(below:\u00a0 Andrei and Theophanes the philosopher – who isn’t really there, because he died a long time before – debate… the story of their differences of opinion don’t need words in Tarkovsky’s narrative frames.\u00a0 From Andrei Rublev<\/em>; in this film about Russia’s famous icon painter, almost every scene is its own little icon.)<\/p>\n

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SHOT<\/strong> \u2013 an unbroken, uncut piece of film, no edits.\u00a0 Long ones can be useful to prolong excitement or to give time for the viewer\/player to think about what they will do next, or to consider outcomes.<\/p>\n

SOFT FOCUS<\/strong> \u2013using a filter which makes the outlines go fuzzy.\u00a0 Used for dream sequences, to introduce \u2018romance\u2019, flashbacks, thought processes.\u00a0 Or movement to past time.<\/p>\n

TRACKING<\/strong> – Filming while the (track-mounted) camera is moving. The view stays with the characters as they travel along.\u00a0 Increases connection between viewer\/player and subject, and increases excitement. Can create a sense of anticipation if not all is revealed at once, eg Leni Riefenstahl following Hitler\u2019s plane in Triumph of the Will<\/em>.\u00a0 (Love or hate it, she knows how to use her \u2018effects\u2019 to the best advantage, and works her way through a wide variety of those listed here).<\/p>\n

WIDE ANGLE<\/strong> \u2013 a broad-angle lens, which brings a wide panorama into shot, without panning. A very broad angle lens, which distorts the picture by \u2018bending\u2019 the subject, is called a FISH EYE<\/strong>, eg Alan Rickman looking into the camera in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves<\/em>.<\/p>\n

WIPE<\/strong> – A transition between shots, usually between scenes, in which it appears that a shot is pushed off the screen by the next shot: usually, a vertical SHARP or BLURRED line moves across the screen, literally \u2018wiping\u2019 out the previous shot and replacing it with the next one.\u00a0 Not generally used digitally, but it could be.\u00a0 Highlights the artificial nature of the process.<\/p>\n

ZOOM <\/strong>Use of a zoom lense to cause the image of the subject either to increase in size as the area being filmed seems to decrease (ZI = Zoom In), or to decrease in size as the filmed area fills the screen (ZO = Zoom Out).\u00a0 Zooming enables the view to \u2018home in\u2019 on characters or objects within the scene.\u00a0 It demonstrates the nature of their involvement in whatever is happening around them eg a battle, a sea voyage, a flight.\u00a0 Zoom lenses also have the capacity to bring objects in a row closer together, so that the gap between them is reduced or negated altogether.<\/p>\n

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To these effects we should now add HYPERTEXT<\/strong>.\u00a0 This enables the viewer\/player to \u2018fall through\u2019 the surface scene or text by selecting something on screen, to find another layer below it.<\/p>\n

Form, structure and therefore cinematography are very important in the presentation of fantasy, including medievalist fantasy.\u00a0 Here are some screen shots to (hopefully) give an idea of this:<\/p>\n

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(High and low angle:\u00a0 low angle makes the subject look larger than life, good for heroic speeches as here in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves<\/em> – the Kevin Costner scene reworks a similar scene from the earlier Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn;<\/p>\n

In The Name of the Rose<\/em>, young monk Adso pleads with the Virgin Mary to save a condemned ‘heretic’ girl… he looks very small, and his facial expression of pleading and helplessness is spotlit… the Virgin stands powerfully above him, filling the frame on the left.\u00a0 It shows her power [and maybe her stony implacability] and his humanity and weakness).<\/p>\n

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(In a further development, the panoramic high angle shows a landscape or crowd from a position of power… in this case the powerful individual – the king of Castile in El Cid<\/em> – and a general crowd scene of Danaerys Targaryan’s wedding in Game of Thrones<\/em>.\u00a0 The latter is a familar way of setting a scene, usually followed by the cameral ‘homing in’ on a particular part of the scene in question, an event or major characters. The audience feels ‘in control’ of the storyworld, an illusion which can then be complicated or shattered in some way.\u00a0 Opening, or establishing shots are usually panoramic high-angle shots; the camera then homes in, or cuts, to a related scene or a part of the scene.\u00a0 The same method is often used for battle scenes.\u00a0 It isn’t a new idea in itself – Homer uses it throughout The Iliad<\/em>!)<\/p>\n

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(The high and low angle shot can be used in connection with shot-reverse-shot to convey points of view and emotions, as it’s used here by Robert Bresson in the final scenes of his Passion de Jeanne d’Arc<\/em>.\u00a0 The director shows us how the young victim sees the young friars on the ground, and how they see her, looking up at her tied to the stake where she is about to be burned to death… as the camera switches from one to the other).<\/p>\n

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(Another instance of this from Game of Thrones<\/em>: Jon Snow’s facial expression is highlighted as he looks pathetically and helplessly up at Catelyn Stark, his adopted ‘mother’, and she looks down on\u00a0 him with hatred and disdain.\u00a0 The camera angles give her the position of power, and the eye level shot places the viewer down on the ground with Jon, allying us with him).<\/p>\n

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(Classic shot-reverse-shot allied with over-the-shoulder positioning, so we take up the viewpoint of each character as they listen to what the other has to say.\u00a0 The shadowy atmosphere conveys intrigue, conspiracy and threat, highlighted by the low spotlighting of the characters’ faces, and the actors’ direct gazes… Robert and the sheriff threaten one another in John Irvin’s Robin Hood<\/em>).<\/p>\n

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(More uses of atmospheric ‘soft focus’ and natural or low light: John Irvin uses this to create a view of an ‘olde English’ forest, whilst Disney uses it in a cartoon to create an intimate love scene for Robin and Marion from Disney’s Robin Hood.\u00a0 <\/em>Both scenes evoke a dream-like quality, whilst the blue-tinged background makes them recede from the viewer’s own position.\u00a0 We are invited to be in the scene but we cannot be, and so nostalgia and ‘romance’ are created.)<\/p>\n

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(Showing both sides of a conversation at the same time, in close-up, is a quick way of revealing relationships between characters – Ned and Benjen are close; they trust one another and listen attentively, whilst Cersei Lannister’s face tells us exactly what she thinks of Catelyn, the Starks and being in their home – from Game of Thrones<\/em>. And of course, she knows precisely where her husband is, ‘looking up’ the dead love of his life.)<\/p>\n

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(Back views as the camera ‘tracks’ an actor through a scene: hand-held cameras follow Orlando Bloom into Jerusalem in Kingdom of Heaven<\/em> at head height, giving the viewer an idea of hustle and bustle, whilst a similar camera follows Sean Connery from above, into the labyrinth of the monastic library where he is in danger, in Name of the Rose<\/em>, highlighting suspense.)<\/p>\n

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(The camera acts as a person, revealing a character and almost [but not quite] breaking the ‘fourth wall’:\u00a0 it creeps towards Arya Stark, whose pained face, awkward hold on her embroidery frame and hunched physical stance shows her discomfort at her situation.\u00a0 As it approaches her from behind, she looks up, the surprise on her face made more apparent by carefully-placed lighting.)<\/p>\n

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(Actors in a row stride toward the a camera held directly in front of them… an image of resolution, defiance and brotherhood in A Knight’s Tale<\/em>… this iconic form of shot is derived from Sam Peckinpah’s western The Wild Bunch.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

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(Group shots – Anthony Mann has the camera move from a high-angle panorama where it ‘flies’ along at roof height, from where it is then lowered to face the Castilian royal family head on.\u00a0 The genealogical tree painted on the wall behind them is a master stroke by this wonderful director of epic – they are rooted in their family history, and entrapped by it.\u00a0 The film that follows [El Cid<\/em>] will have ‘family’ as its major theme.\u00a0 In Game of Thrones<\/em> we meet the Starks in a line, filmed from a slightly lowered angle… they fit into their landscape and are also closely bound… lacking a rich historical background, the camera and the actors have to do the ‘heavy lifting’.\u00a0 It doesn’t work so well…the characters are less closely bound by their lineage; their ties are more personal and the family won’t hold so closely together).<\/p>\n

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(Images of entrapment and control associated with the oppression of women: Mann places Jimene and Urraca behind slatted windows, whilst the bars of a cart form the prison for the condemned witch in Ingmar Bergman’s Seventh Seal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Constrained characters often look through windows, with the camera in front or behind).<\/p>\n

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(Other forms of constraint and powerlessness… the doomed love of Rodrigo and Jimene in El Cid<\/em> is captured by their enclosure in a circular ‘amphitheatre’ as if buried underground, with rays of light shining down on their hand-fasting embrace, themselves (like the lovers) constrained – by the perimeter of a circular opening above.\u00a0 They offer love and light, but not freedom.\u00a0 Outside factors will not kill their love, but they will harm and kill their lives.\u00a0 The doomed deserter in Game of Thrones is in the foreground of the shot, whilst Ned Stark stands over him in an iconic Romanesque ‘soldier’ pose, the sword Ice in the foreground representing both death and justice.\u00a0 The force of the gloved hands shows determination and reveals that there is no way out.\u00a0 The viewer, however, identifies with the in-focus head in the foreground, sensing the fragility of both head and life – in the next few shots of the sequence it will be severed. We sense the fear, the violence and the in<\/em>justice of this justice.)<\/p>\n

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(Tiny people in an epic landscape:\u00a0 in epic the landscape is a major character, and shrinking the human form within it demonstrates that.\u00a0 The ice wall in Game of Thrones<\/em> dominates the screen, and therefore the lives of the tiny people coming out of the tunnel.\u00a0 It arouses feelings of cold, fear and isolation of both the group and the individual.\u00a0 Similarly, the arid landscape through which mourners trudge with King Richard’s coffin in Donner’s Robin and Marian<\/em> does something similar, whilst also highlighting the aridity and emptiness of idealism, Crusade and faith.)<\/p>\n

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(Alone-ness…darkness and aridity are frequent backdrops for scenes of loneliness, despair and isolation.\u00a0 In a scene from The Adventures of Robin Hood<\/em>, Marian stands in a dark dungeon-like space, in a white and gold costume which stresses her innocence and her righteousness [a ‘virgin Mary’ icon], whilst the desperate Jimene collapses and weeps in a dark corner of her chamber… lit only by the available light of her candle.\u00a0 The bright hope offered by her cross and empty marriage bed are in the far distance; she has to climb stairs to reach them, and she’s not able to.)<\/p>\n

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(Use of a symbol – in Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven<\/em> the ‘ideal’ of power and glory that the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem represents are symbolised by the great golden cross carried before the king (although the idol has feet of clay, as Baldwin is a leper who hides his face behind a silver mask).\u00a0 Still golden but in retreat, the defeated knights flee Saladin’s army with the cross that now represents the final hope that they cling to.\u00a0 The wooden, tarnished cross is carried off by Saladin’s army, it’s gold plating removed to show its tawdry fragility; an obvious metaphor for the Latin kingdom.\u00a0 In the penultimate scenes of the film, the cross is taken down from the top of the basilica and replaced with an Islamic crescent.\u00a0 Symbolism gives a strong theme and structure to the film as a whole, with these scenes reminding the audience of the film’s ‘spine’.)<\/p>\n

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(Some other uses of ‘cross’ imagery: Bresson links the martyrdom of Jeanne d’Arc to Christ’s crucifixion by the use of ‘hammer and nails’ imagery, as the carpenters build the scaffold on which she will be burned, whilst Mel Gibson’s death of William Wallace leaves almost nothing to the imagination – the link is pretty obvious as well as historically pretty rubbish, but he wants to make sure we don’t miss the point.\u00a0 The power of the imagery is lessened, though, by the obviousness.\u00a0 As the monks celebrate mass in The Name of the Rose<\/em>, the cross which should be the centre of their worship sits pathetically at the end of the shot, subordinated by everything around it, rendered meaningless for these so-called ‘religious’, whilst the cross imagery of kissing the sword hilt – so important to medieval knights and crusaders – is reduced to a perfunctory gesture by Robin and the sheriff in Robin and Marian<\/em>; these two ageing men don’t even know why they’re fighting… they just feel that they should.)<\/p>\n

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(Light is very important in The Name of the Rose<\/em>, which is a very ‘dark’ film aesthetically as well as morally.\u00a0 The light of the intellect and of learning – represented both by the library and the person of William of Baskerville – is set up against the moral darkness of the monks and the Catholic faith as a whole.\u00a0 The scriptorium is filled with light, and the light of a candle helps William to unravel a most important clue to finding a serial killer.\u00a0 In other scenes the fire that burns down the library is comparable to the fire with which the so-called ‘heretics’ will burn – it is also a destructive fire which burns not only knowledge but innocent faith such as that of Adso, the young novice monk.)<\/p>\n

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(and colour…in a film often shot in darkness, blue light and soft focus, the bright red of blood and the bright colours of the abbot’s treasure stores [and his grain hoard] -representative of his immoral, un-Christian greed – take on sharper form and meaning.\u00a0 Here we see the blood of a victim on the autopsy table and the blood pouring from a cauldron to make pudding for the monks’ table … life literally and metaphorically snuffed out and life consumed.)<\/p>\n

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It may help to look at some terms from Film Studies, and the techniques which they describe, to help with the creation of ‘visuals’. Some Film Terms with Explanations: BACK LIGHTING \u2013 the scene is lit from behind the actors, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":438,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-60","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/reynardthefox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/60","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/reynardthefox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/reynardthefox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/reynardthefox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/reynardthefox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/reynardthefox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/60\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":443,"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/reynardthefox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/60\/revisions\/443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/reynardthefox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/reynardthefox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}