Film Language

When making a film there are two different types of narrative that you may want to follow:

Classic narrative text: This is the normal story we might watch the most, it's when the film has beginning, middle and end ; and it goes on that order.

Anti-narrative: This type of narrative also has beginning middle and end but it starts from the middle or the end and we watch how the characters ended on that first situation we see.

There are different structures:

-> Flashbacks, starts in present and then we see the past.

-> Multi-strand: Multiple stories that might not connect between them but they work together for the main narrative of the film.

-> Episodic: isolated stories that run for quite a long time (soap operas).

When watching a film there are lots of ways of showing the audience what you want them to see in order for them to feel more involved in the story. Some of the techniques are:

Matched action: When action is the same in two shots.

Semiology: This is the study of signs and symbols - What is presented?, How is it presented?, and What does it tell?

Sound ellipses: This is when the sound of a scene continues to the next scene to establish a connection between the two.