An Introduction to Film

what we see within a rectangular border, generally

wider than it is high. Because it shapes the image in

a configuration that does not allow for peripheral

vision and thus does not conform to our visual

perception, we understand framing as one of the

many conventions through which cinema gives form

to what we see on the screen. Film theorist Leo

Braudy, one of many writers to study the relation-

ship between cinematic arrangement and viewer

perception, distinguishes between open and closed

films (or forms) as two ways of designing and repre-

senting the visible world through framing it, as well

as two ways of perceiving and interpreting it.

Each of these cinematic worlds—open and

closed—is created through a system of framing

that should remain fairly consistent throughout the

film so as not to confuse the viewer. The open

frameis designed to depict a world where charac-

ters move freely within an open, recognizable

environment, and the closed frameis designed

to imply that other forces (such as fate; social, edu-

cational, or economic background; or a repressive

government) have robbed characters of their abil-

ity to move and act freely. The open frame is gener-

ally employed in realistic (verisimilar) films, the

closed frame in antirealistic films. In the realistic,

or verisimilar, film, the frame is a “window” on the

world—one that provides many views. Because

the “reality” being depicted changes continuously,

the movie’s framing changes with it. In the antireal-

istic film, the frame is similar to the frame of a

painting or photograph, enclosing or limiting the

world by closing it down and providing only one

view. Because only that one view exists, everything

within the frame has its particular place. As with

all such distinctions in film analysis, these differ-

ences between open and closed frames aren’t

absolute; they are a matter of degree and emphasis

(as shown in Table 5.1).

Who or what decides whether a movie is “open”

or “closed”? Sometimes it’s the director; at other

times, it’s the narrative; in most movies, it’s both.

Directors choose the open frame to enable their

characters to act freely, to come and go within the

film’s world. John Ford’s My Darling Clementine

(1946) is not only shot with an open frame, but con-

cludes in open-ended ambiguity. In one sense, its

characters (Wyatt Earp and company) face an exis-

tentialist dilemma: whether to live as uncivilized,

lawless barbarians or to become lawful members of

a civilized community. The town of Tombstone, set

among the vast expanses of Monument Valley, can

go one way or the other, depending upon the

actions of individuals who live there. Ford seems to

favor community, family, and organized religion; his

1

2

3

On-screen and offscreen space in Chinatown

[1] Because of the smoke from his cigarette (screen left),

we know that J. J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is in the space

depicted here, and not being able to see him accentuates

the suspense in this climactic scene from Roman Polanski’s

Chinatown(1974). [2] Noah Cross (John Huston) enters,

looking for Gittes, and sees him offscreen left. [3] Gittes

enters the frame and begins their conversation.

COMPOSITION 205