In What is Film Studies? I introduced the distinction between content and form - the way in which the content of a film is conveyed. The film-maker has both narrative and stylistic formal elements at his command, and it is the the overall pattern of these elements that make up the film’s formal system. This post focuses on the elements of film style – mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, and sound – providing a few examples of how Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941) utilises these elements in and, in doing so, draws on other prominent film styles. Continue reading →