The cinema as a graphic art : on a theory of representation in the cinema (1959)

THE COMPOSITIONAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE SHOT in isolated cases will a shot happen to provide a complete representation of the object, and in the majority of cases we get an extremely one-sided fixation which is by no means characteristic of the object as a whole. In addition, owing to the influence of a number of factors which we shall consider later, the object as shown on the screen in the conditioned time and space of the shot is perceived very differently from its immediate perception in reality. Supposing the camera-man contented himself with a mere recording of the episode, without attempting to organise it in the space and time of the shot. Then, in addition to the expressive aspects characterising the moment of action, namely, those dealing with the blow Brutus strikes with the dagger, the shot will contain a number of fortuitous elements unrelated and unessential to the task that was set. When thrown on to the screen these elements will also engage the spectator's attention, and may distract him from the main action. In consequence his attention will not be entirely concentrated on the essential element, and so the shot will not entirely fulfil, and may even modify, the function it was allotted in the scenario. Thus we are confronted with the necessity so to organise the expressive elements in the space and time of the shot that the idea at the basis of the directorial treatment will be clearly manifested, and this will only be achieved if fortuitous, unessential elements are suppressed. What methods do we employ to organise the object in the space and time of the shot ? Here we need to consider the definition of the conception composition of the shot, which includes all the elements in the expressive construction of cinematic representation. In its general form the task of composition is to organise the object in the space and time of the shot with a view to obtaining the most expressive possible exposition of the content and significance of the given art-image.1 The resources of composition are used to manifest both the object of the representation and those associations and agencies by means of which we gain a general understanding of the idea and significance of the art-image. In our example of Caesar's murder, which we temporarily considered within the limits of a single director's shot, the main composition motif was the expressive manifestation of Brutus' action. In practice, on receiving the director's treatment of the staging of the murder, we have to transfer the most highly expressive projection of its elements to the plane of the shot's spatial and temporal extension. Having decided upon the form of composition, we proceed to realise it in a shot. So far we have considered the simplest solution to the scenario task, one which gives it a one-sided illustrative representation. We have, as the result, an informative exposition of the subject in a single shot, obtained by means of a single set-up of the camera. The absence of dynamism in the resultant record indicates from this viewpoint a similarity in principle between the single cinema shot and a static photograph. In order to get over the abstract quality of a one-sided, informative exposition of the subject, and to raise it to the heights of emotional impression, we can introduce a number of new representational features which are not to be found in our original simplified treatment. We can differentiate the content to be expressed, and break up the shot treatment into several expressive elements, to be transmitted by means of several different set-ups. We give the following simple analysis as an example. 1 The problems of the aesthetics of the compositional structure cannot, of course, be isolated from the content significance, except for convenience in discussion. — N. 21