Film grammar explained
In film, film grammar is defined as follows:
- A frame is a single still image. It is analogous to a letter.
- A shot is a single continuous recording made by a camera. It is analogous to a word.
- A scene is a series of related shots. It is analogous to a sentence. The study of transitions between scenes is described in film punctuation. Film punctuations can also be intra scene & shot.
- A sequence is a series of scenes which together tell a major part of an entire story, such as that contained in a complete movie. It is analogous to a paragraph.
- A film is a series of sequences or sometimes just a sequence where the film consists of a single sequence.
The term film grammar is best understood as a creative metaphor, since the elements of film grammar described above do not stand in any strict relation of analogy to the components of grammar as understood by philology or modern linguistics.[1]
D. W. Griffith has been called the father of film grammar.[2] Griffith was a key figure in establishing the set of codes that have become the universal backbone of film language. He was particularly influential in popularizing "cross-cutting" - using film editing to alternate between different events occurring at the same time & between different time periods within the timeline of the given film - in order to build suspense or for any other relevant purpose(s). He still used many elements from the "primitive" style of movie-making that predated classical Hollywood's continuity system, such as frontal staging, exaggerated gestures, minimal camera movement, and an absence of point of view shots. Some claim, too, that he "invented" the close-up shot for filming.
Credit for Griffith's cinematic innovations must be shared with his cameraman of many years, Billy Bitzer. In addition, he himself credited the legendary silent star Lillian Gish, who appeared in several of his films, with creating a new style of acting for the cinema.
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Notes and References
- Book: Frank Manchel. Film Study: An Analytical Bibliography. 16 August 2013. January 1990. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. 978-0-8386-3186-7. 96–. Metaphorically, the "grammar" of the film refers to theories that describe visual forms and sound combinations and their functions as they appear and are heard in a significant relationship during the projection of a film. Thus, film grammar ....
- Book: Scott Simmon. The Films of D. W. Griffith. 16 August 2013. 30 July 1993. CUP Archive. 978-0-521-38820-7. 23–. Even more central is the way that the film toys with the possibilities and limitations of modern communication and ... The problem now in looking back at Griffith is not whether he is the first master of film grammar; archival rediscoveries and ....
