Abstract
What is involved in film style — or, to put it another way, what constitutes the aesthetics of the cinematic medium? What are the elements that comprise the stylistic ensemble of any given film, or of film as a medium in general? The basic inventory of stylistic elements in cinema can be uncontroversially listed: properties of the image (mise en scène, here including the pictorial elements of camera framing and production design); properties of the soundtrack; acting performance; and editing. More difficult is the task of deciding on the aesthetic economy of these elements in relation to each other, and to their narrative and thematic contexts; as well as in relation to their intended or actual effect on the cinema spectator. Aesthetic economy, a concept overlooked in much film studies, is the central subject of this chapter.
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© 2014 Adrian Martin
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Martin, A. (2014). Aesthetic Economies: The Expressive and the Excessive. In: Mise en Scène and Film Style. Palgrave Close Readings in Film and Television. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137269959_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137269959_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-44417-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-26995-9
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