Introduction to Film Studies 3: The Principles of Form
Introduction to Film Studies Lesson 3: The Principles of Form
Part of the Introduction to Film Studies course.
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The Hidden Logic of the Movie
Prerequisite: Lesson 2: Narrative Structure
Introduction: The Closed System
In the previous lesson, we looked at how filmmakers manipulate Time (Narrative). Now, we turn our attention to how they organize Meaning (Form).
When a casual viewer watches a movie, they see a window into another world. They assume that if a character walks down a street, it is simply because they need to get to the other side. They treat the film world as if it were the real world—a place of randomness and accident.
But the Film Student sees something else. They see a Closed System.
A film is not a slice of reality; it is a machine. It is a constructed object where every single element – from the color of a wall to the sound of a closing door – has been chosen by a human intelligence to create a specific effect. In a great film, nothing is accidental. There is no such thing as "randomness." To analyze this machine, we cannot just look at the plot. We must look at the Form – the overall set of relationships among the film's parts. We interpret this form using five governing principles: Function, Similarity, Difference, Development, and Unity.
1. Function and Motivation
The first question you must ask of any scene, prop, or character is: What is this doing here?
In Film Studies, we call this Function. Every element in a movie must have a job. It must perform a task, either to advance the narrative (Narrative Function) or to create a specific mood (Stylistic Function). If an element has a function, it must also have a Motivation – a logical reason for being there within the story world.
Consider the dog, Toto, in The Wizard of Oz (1939). A casual viewer might think the dog is just there because "girls like dogs." But a formal analysis reveals that Toto is a structural necessity.
- Toto bites Miss Gulch, which motivates her to take him away.
- This motivates Dorothy to run away from home.
- This motivates her getting caught in the tornado.
- Without the dog, Dorothy stays home. There is no movie.
Therefore, Toto is not a decoration; he is a load-bearing beam of the plot. This principle is famously summarized by the playwright Anton Chekhov, who argued: "If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off." If an element does not have a function, it is "dead weight," and a good editor will cut it.
2. Similarity and Repetition (The Motif)
The human brain is wired to recognize patterns. Filmmakers use this to create meaning through Repetition. We call any significant repeated element a Motif.
A motif can be an object (the sled in Citizen Kane), a color (the use of green in Vertigo), a sound (the heavy breathing of Darth Vader), or even a line of dialogue ("I have a bad feeling about this"). When a film asks us to compare two distinct scenes by making them look or sound the same, we call this Parallelism.
For example, in The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola uses parallelism to define Michael Corleone’s moral transformation. In the beginning of the film, a door is closed on his wife Kay, shutting her out of the family business. At the very end of the film, the exact same framing occurs: the door closes on Kay again. The repetition of the image tells us that history has repeated itself, but the context has changed. Michael has gone from a reluctant outsider to a ruthless insider. The form creates the meaning.
3. Difference and Variation
If a film only used repetition, it would be monotonous. Form requires Contrast (Difference) to spark conflict and interest.
We analyze form by looking for Binary Oppositions—elements that are defined by their opposites.
- Visual Contrast: The Wizard of Oz is structured around the massive clash between Sepia (Kansas/Reality) and Technicolor (Oz/Fantasy). The meaning of the film lies in the friction between these two palettes.
- Character Contrast: In The Dark Knight, Batman represents Order, Shadows, and Stoicism. He is formally opposed to The Joker, who represents Chaos, Bright Colors, and Manic Laughter. You cannot understand one character without the other; they are two sides of the same formal coin.
4. Development
A film is a journey from Point A to Point B. Form is not static; it moves. We analyze how the motifs and characters Develop over the runtime.
To do this, we often break a film down into Segmentation—dividing the movie into "Acts" or "Chapters" to track the changes.
Let’s trace the development of the "Smell" motif in Parasite (2019).
- Beginning: The rich father mentions Mr. Kim smells like "old radishes." It plays as a minor annoyance or a joke.
- Middle: The father recoils from the smell during a tense moment. It develops into a symbol of class disgust and separation.
- End: The father pinches his nose at the smell of a dying man. This gesture triggers Mr. Kim’s murderous rage. The motif has developed from a joke into a motive for murder. It has an arc, just like a character does.
5. Unity and Disunity
Finally, we assess the total system. Does it hold together?
Unity is the degree to which all the relationships are clear and interwoven. In a film with high unity (like Back to the Future), every single "Chekhov's Gun" is fired. Every line of dialogue pays off. The logic is tight, satisfying, and closed.
However, some films embrace Disunity. They intentionally leave loose ends, contradictions, or gaps. Films like Pulp Fiction or the works of David Lynch often refuse to answer the question. They leave the gun on the wall to frustrate the viewer's desire for order, suggesting that the real world is messy and does not fit into a neat narrative box.
The Philosophical Horizon: Teleology
Why does this matter to the philosopher? Because analyzing Film Form is an exercise in Teleology.
Teleology (from the Greek telos, meaning "end" or "purpose") is the study of purposiveness in nature. Aristotle argued that to understand an acorn, you must understand its telos: to become an oak tree. He believed the universe was designed with purpose.
When we watch a film, we are entering a universe where Teleology is objectively real. In the real world, random things happen—you trip, it rains, you lose your keys. In a movie, nothing is random. If it rains, the director made it rain to create a mood. If a character trips, it is to delay them.
The Director is the "Intelligent Designer" of the film universe. By studying Form, we are attempting to reverse-engineer the mind of the creator. We are asking: What was the purpose of this choice? When we criticize a film for having "plot holes," we are essentially complaining that its Intelligent Designer failed to create a coherent universe.
The Seminar Room
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Today's Prompt: The Motif Hunter Choose a film you know well.
- Identify one Motif: Is it a repeated object, a line of dialogue ("I'll be back"), or a visual composition?
- Trace its Development: Does the meaning of the motif change from the first time you see it to the last?
- The Analysis: How does this repetition help tell the story without words?
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