Textual Analysis - What is it?

'Textual Analysis' is a methodology in film for studying the content of communication.

1. Camera Shots, Angle, Movement and Composition  

Camera shots:

Establishing shot: helps to establish the scene by showing the audience the location that the actors are in.

Master shot: the main shot of the scene that is returned to often. Directors often film these as wide shots so the audience can get their bearings as to who is in the scene. The director then uses other shot sizes such as close ups or medium shots to cut into the master shot so that the audience can get a closer look at the actors. 

(This is a master shot from a crime scene in Pretty Little Liars) 

Close-up: this frames the actors closely so the audience can clearly see them within the master shot. 

(This is the close up shot of two characters from that same crime scene in Pretty Little Liars)

Mid-shot: is filmed from about the waist upwards of a person/people. It is used so that the viewer can get a clear shot of their facial expressions in unison with their body language. 

Long shot: shows the full body of a person/people and shows their body language, similarly to a mid-shot. 

Wide shot: can be used for an establishing shot, frames most of the action, or a landscape or people in a scene.  

Two-shot: where two people are equally framed. 

Aerial shot: a shot taken from above, could be from on a crane or in a helicopter, used often to film over the tops of tall buildings. 

Point of view shot: looks as if it is the view from a characters eyes, but can also be a view from more than one character, this is a 'shared' point of view shot.

Over the shoulder shot: a shot of someone/something where a person's back of the head and a shoulder is used to show what or who they are looking at.

Angle:

High angle: camera is positioned high so that it is facing down on a person, object or view. It creates the sense of  vulnerability, weakness or inferiority.

Low angle: camera is positioned low so that it is facing up to a person, object or view. It creates the sense of strength, brave, superiority or authority.  

Canted angle: camera films at an angle, this gives a sense that something is not right and that something bad is going to happen either to a person or object, or that a view is dangerous.   

Movement:

Pan: the camera moves both left and right (panoramic).  

Tilt: the camera moves both up and down.

Track and dolly:  a dolly is what the cameraman/woman sits on this to create smooth shots that move in or out from, or on to a subject and enables the camera to pan, tilt or rise up and down. The track acts as a railway track for the dolly to sit on this and move along.

Crane: camera is positioned on top of a crane to film characters from above or to move upwards and away from them.

Stedicam: where a cameraman/woman wears a body armour with the camera attached on the end of their arm. These are used to allow maximum freedom and movement as well as creating shots that are steady and flow nicely. However, it involves a specialist to operate and can be expensive to use compared with a track and dolly. Below is an example of a stedicam shot from the film 'Goodfellas'.

Hand-held: where the cameraman/woman holds the camera for maximum flexibility of the type of shot he wants to use. It is a specialised skill and takes years to train somebody to be a professional at this so that the shot is not 'wobbly'. It is most often used documentaries and news reports. When used in dramas or feature films it creates a feeling of realism or the feeling of being present in the film.

Zoom: magnification that brings the viewer closer into the action.

Reverse zoom: reduces the image size, brings the viewer further from the action and into the bigger picture of the frame. Zoom's are less popular due to the more advanced shots provided by a track and dolly, but they are used for visual effects in music videos, for example.

Composition:

Rule of thirds: when the main subject of a shot is aligned by the use of a grid, the subject is placed on the cross sections of the grid. This creates good framing.

Depth of field: what is in focus in a frame. It is a focus puller's job to alter the camera lens to the correct focal distance so the object or actor is in focus. Shallow depth of field is used so that only important objects or people are in focus as this makes them stand out more prominently against anything happening in the background. Deep depth of field is where everything is in focus, it is generally used in a landscape and as an establishing shot.

Focus pulls: when the camera changes focus during a shot. This is used to change focus from one object/person to another.

2. Editing  

Shot-reverse shot: one character is filmed looking at the other character and the camera cuts back to the other character looking at the first character. 



Transitions, dissolve, fade-in, fade-out, wipe: Editing Techniques - Other Transitions

Jump cut: camera moves from one scene to the next quickly which creates a sense of distortion or speed. 

Cutaway: interruption of a continuously filmed action by filming something else.

Insert: a shot of part of a scene, filmed from a different angle or focal length from the master shot.

Superimposition: putting one shot on top of another so that for a second they blend together.

Long take: camera stays filming for a long time, no editing is involved.

Short take: shot is cut by editing, in an action/adventure film lots of short takes are used to show the action.

Slow motion: a shot that appears to be slower than normal.

Ellipsis: a break in time as it is implied in the film's story, e.g. a film's that story is set over days, weeks, or years.

Expansion of time: when a scene starts off in real time, then gradually or slowly increases in speed.

Post production: the editing done on a film after all filming has been finished.

Visual effects: where imagery is either created or changed to create shots which look realistic, but would be impossible to be filmed in real life, e.g. a shooting.

3. Sound

Dialogue: the speech of characters.

Voiceover: pre-recorded non-diegetic sound which is used commonly in narration, to tell a story but the person speaking is not shown.


4. Mise-en-Scène

Production Design:

Location:  where was the scene filmed?

Studio: a private facility where filming takes place.

Set design: set the mood of the film, can tell what the genre is, e.g. a graveyard creates an eerie effect that could connotate horror.

Costume/make-up: shows the situation/status of characters.

Props, lighting, colour: sets the mood for example with the mood of danger, props such as knives/weapons can be used, lighting such as fire can be used and colour such as darkness can be used.

Facial expressions: movements of muscles in the face which show how a person is feeling, e.g. someone smiling shows happiness.

Body language: movements of muscles throughout the body which show how a person is feeling, e.g. someone trembling shows fear.

These technical/visual codes can help the viewer with these aspects of representation:

             

·            Age

·            Ethnicity

·            Sexuality

·            Class and status – including star status

·            Physical ability/disability

·            Regional identity

·           Gender