Film Art: An Introduction

Bordwell and Thompson’s teachings on ‘the concept of form in film’ are hugely relevant to our studios objective: exploration/deconstruction of narrative/non-narrative form in online video practice. Although Bordwell and Thompson refer specifically to film form, though their ideas cover narrative/non-narrative form across many artforms, and thus can easily be applied to online video practises. Artistic form relates to the network of elements that constitute a work: visuals, sound, cause and effect et. al. This system generally relates to the processes of human perception. A significant factor that inspires a work’s form is the way an audience may navigate the work. For instance, a succession of events may encourage a particular expectation in the audience for the events to follow. How this expectation is created and whether the expectation is gratified assists to define a work’s form. Furthermore, in relation to artistic form, the implementation or resistance of conventions structures the form. Most importantly, the form provides context for emotion and meaning. In relation to our course, it is interesting to consider the audience’s role in actively perceiving, though passively informing, form, because this relationship may have even more weight in online video practises due to the evolving role of the consumer.