Media Aesthetics

Physical property of film stock which defines its width; 8mm, 16mm, 35mm; 9.5mm was used primarily in the silent era, as well as several others; thinner film is generally used for amateur work, thicker for theater. 35mm is standard with sound track running down one side and some epics or historical spectacles use 70mm with stereophonic sound on both sides of the film strip. Image quality increases with width

Width:height; common are 4:3 (television), 3:2, 16:9(theater); affects the composition of the frame; horizontal vs a composition more suited for the square-ish 4:3

An element in a film that is repeated in a significant way. May be color, an object, a place, a person, a sound, pattern of lighting or even camera position

Assisted by motifs; process whereby the film cues the spectator to compare two or more distinct elements by highlighting some similarity. provides pleasure much as rhymes contribute to poetry

A film is said to have unity if all the relationships within the film are clear and economically interwoven. Every element present has a specific set of functions, similarities and differences are determinable, the form develops logically and no element is superfluous. No film has perfect unity, measured in degrees.

Chain of events in cause-effect relationship occurring in time and space. causality and time are central components, along with space.

Relationship needed in order to understand the story. a series of random images doesn't have narrative significance without cause and effect. agents of c/e are usually characters, may be initially started by natural event; plot may conceal causes and present only effects or present causes but withhold story effects.

Explicitly presented events and any added non-diegetic material. Everything visibly and audibly present in the film

The set of all events in a narrative, both the ones explicitly presented and those the viewer infers.

The aspect of temporal manipulation that involves the sequence in which the chronological events of the story are arranged in the plot. flashbacks, flashforwards

In a narrative film, the aspect of temporal manipulation that involves the time span presented in the plot and assumed to operate in the story. plot generally selects certain stretches of the entire story duration; either showing a short cohesive time span, or selected scenes from a much longer period. screen time is the running time of the film.

Aspect of temporal manipulation that involves the number of times any story event is shown in the plot. may recontextualize old information

Stability 1; broken down, chaos, resolved with stability 2. can be either restorative, where stability 1 = stability 2 or transformative where S2 is different from S1. Getting from S1 to S2 is the development of the narrative.

In the middle of things; some Openings start in the middle of things, affects stability/break; whereas exposition lays out the important events and character traits

Ending doesn't resolve itself. audience uncertain about final consequences of the story events.