The Language of Film

Body Language

The conscious and unconscious movements and postures by which attitudes and feelings
are communicated.’

People use this in films and plays as well as real life to express our emotions.
This helps people understand what's happening and how the actors or people feel like without telling you.

Costumes

A set of clothes in a style typical of a particular country or historical period and/or

dress (someone) in a particular set of clothes.  

Costumes are something people wear in films to describe the characters.
They could be wearing cowboy hats or dresses with crowns. Costumes help show the characters
personality and what timeline it is in.

Hairstyles

a particular way in which a person's hair is cut or arranged.

Haircuts show a lot about a person's personality. In films, they use this to describe the role of the
character. You can tell by people haircuts if they are shy, popular, trendy, gothic, badass, geeky,
stylish, etc.

Make-Up

Cosmetics such as lipstick or powder applied to the face used to enhance or alter the appearance.

Of course in Movies/films, they use makeup on their actors. Actors wear makeup so that their facial
features and expressions will be more readable to more audience members. Makeup also prevents the
actor’s skin from reflecting back the set lighting.

Colour

Colour is the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result
of the way it reflects or emits light.

Colour simplifies complex stories, colour makes the audience feel/understand the scene or
emotions better, colour shows a character’s journey, colour communicates a film’s ideas.

Lighting

Equipment in a room, building, or street for producing light.

Light is used to eliminate or soften shadows caused by the main source of illumination. It sets the mood
and reflects the genre of a film, it allows viewers to have an understanding of how to feel emotionally.

Props

An object used on stage or on screen by actors during a performance or screen production. A prop is
considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct from the actors, scenery,
costumes, and electrical equipment.

Props are an extension of the character’s personality and the prop will give the audience subconscious
cues as to how to feel about the character or situation. In some film,s props could be used in more
‘symbolic’ ways or as clues to an underlying mystery.

Settings

A setting is anywhere a scene takes place & it could be anywhere from a desert, to space to even
virtual reality.

Filmmakers have used settings to enhance the impact of their films in multiple ways, so much so that
entire genres have come to be associated with certain settings. Westerns are the biggest example
of this. Set, almost always, in either the harsh, dry & lawless outbacks or in the cold, snowy, frontiers
of USA, the settings immediately contextualize the story.

Dialogue

A conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or film.

Dialogue is important because when you have dialogue it shows the character’s personality, emotions,
and actions. But the main idea of using dialogue is to show reality such as a conversation between characters.

Sound Effects

A sound other than speech or music made artificially for use in a play, film, or other broadcast production.

“Sound” refers to everything we hear in a movie such as words, sound effects, and music.
The sound is used in a film to heighten a mood, provide us with information about the location of a
the scene, advance the plot and tell us about the characters in the story.

Music

“Sound” refers to everything we hear in a movie such as words, sound effects, and music. Sound is
used in a film to heighten a mood, provide us with information about the location of a scene, advance
the plot, and tell us about the characters in the story.

Silence

Complete absence of sound.

Silence has a profound role in developing the emotional tone of a film, and is a great tool for
capturing the sincerity behind the performances seen on screen while simultaneously captivating the
audience as their minds race to fill in the blanks of what it is they aren’t actually hearing.

Symbols

A mark or character used as a conventional representation of an object, function, or process, e.g.
the letter or letters standing for a chemical element or a character in musical notation.

Special FX

Special FX is an illusion created for films and television by props, camerawork, computer graphics, etc.

These days Special FX is the most advanced technology used in movies to give the scene a more

realistic look. Special effects involve the integration of love-action footage and generated imagery
to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, expensive, impractical, or
simply impossible to capture on film.