Nonverbal aspects of Film Communication

Yet, the mise-en-scFne of a film cannot be divorced from what is going on in the dialogue and indeed is essential to conveying narrative and emotional content. "It is fashionable to say that the camera is impersonal," says Ralph Block, "but those who use the camera know this is untrue." Block continues:

The camera is on the one hand as intimate as the imagination of those who direct it; on the other hand it has a peculiar selective power of its own. . . . Far from being impersonal, the camera may be said to have pronounced prejudices of rhythm (Block, 1966, p. 156).

Decisive and revolutionary as the advent of talkies was, it did not mitigate

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of character. The "beauty-and-goodness stereotype" is one aspect of this. Research has demonstrated a connection between physical attractiveness, or PA, and the moral content of characters in film. An examination of 100 popular films made between 1940 and 1989 reveals a kind of Dorian Gray model of the visual narrative. Especially for central characters, "Hollywood filmmakers have been portraying physically attractive individuals more favorably than their less attractive film counterparts in terms of their moral goodness, romantic activity, and life outcomes" (Smith, McIntosh, & Bazzini, 1999, p. 75). A similar point is more indirectly made in an account of the "bashful hero" stereotype of Hollywood films, whose moral persona was conveyed first of all visually, by images in which "American adult males were encouraged to find a portrait of themselves" (Merritt, 1975, p. 129). What was "officially most appealing" about that character, embodied in such figures as Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda, and James Stewart, had to do with visual presentation: "his guileless, straightforward manner." Above all, the bashful hero is likeable, a pleasure to watch and hear talk. Physically, he is tall, lean, and gawky. When he walks, he lopes; . . . when
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Some common words found in the essay are:
James Stewart, Norma Desmond's, Richard-Lady Anne, Blonde Venus, Globe Theatre, Ralph Block, , Mars Attacks, McIntosh Bazzini, Michael Caine, motion picture, blonde venus, naaman 2002, bashful hero, motion picture united, picture united, naaman 2002 133, visual film, beauty-and-goodness stereotype, block 1966, richard iii, von sternberg, motion picture england,
Approximate Word count = 1959
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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