Chapter 08
Style and Film Form
1. What are salient stylistic techniques?
2. What can limit the stylistic choices of a filmmaker?
3. Our Hospitality creates its gags by
4. In Shadow of a Doubt, which of the following is done by the development and stylistic presentation of the story?
5. In the dinner scene in Shadow of a Doubt in which Uncle Charlie praises small-town living, what purpose does the
dialogue serve?
6. The nature of the lighting, setting, and music give the opening scene of Citizen Kane a feel most associated with
7. The ending of Citizen Kane
8. A salient characteristic of Citizen Kane‘s style is the use of
9. In 1941 the most startling transitional device used in films was
10. Which of the following does NOT belong to this list of films and their salient techniques?
11. In Citizen Kane, Welles makes the narrator, Thompson, almost unidentifiable through the use of low-key lighting and
staging choices.
12. Parallelism, an important feature in many great films, is surprisingly absent from Citizen Kane.
13. Welles makes the important newsreel sequence distinctive by using a number of techniques that do not appear anywhere
else in Citizen Kane.
14. If a character speaks, the viewer expects to hear diegetic sound that is faithful to the source.
15. The 180-degree editing of The Maltese Falcon is typical of traditional form and of no interest, and thus would not be
considered a salient technique used by the filmmaker.
16. A filmmaker’s creative choices can be constrained by technology, stylistic norms, or taste.
17. Welles uses the shock cut to convey the passage of time during the “breakfast table” sequence between Kane and his first
wife.
18. Tati’s stylistic choices in Mon Oncle produce a thematic and narrative contrast of charming neighbors to modern homes
that runs throughout the film.
19. If a character begins to leave the frame in a scene, the viewer expects the camera to remain stationary.
20. Independent films have less opportunity to make extreme stylistic choices.
21. In Citizen Kane, each narrator’s version is presented as objective and omniscient narration.
22. What are some of the things that should be looked for when determining the organizational structure of a film?
23. When analyzing a film, what qualifies as a salient technique? Give some examples from Film Art or from a film watched
24. What does it mean for style to function perceptually? What are some aspects of this quality? Give an example from
25. What is the relation (if any), both visually and graphically, of the beginning and ending of Citizen Kane?
26. How does Welles use mise-en-scene in Citizen Kane to set up the contrast between the early, idealistic part of Kane’s life
and his later withdrawal from public life?
27. In Citizen Kane, what functions does the newsreel sequence serve and what techniques does Welles use to set it apart?