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Hollywood Camera Movements and the Films of Howard Hawks: A Functional Semiotic Approach

2003; Routledge; Volume: 1; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/1740030032000137540

1740-7923

Brian O’Leary,

Image Retrieval and Classification Techniques

This paper advances the efficacy of a visual semiotics based on the functional linguistics of M. A. K. Halliday. As such, it is an extension of previous work begun by the late Michel Colin and by Theo van Leeuwen. In particular, camera movements can be conceived as equivalent to linguistic operations used to construct an ongoing discourse. For instance, panning to the right is equivalent to right branching while zooming out corresponds to center embedding. A key prediction of Colin's was that in areas influenced strongly by Western languages, panning to the right will dominate over panning to the left. The paper uses a statistical approach to determine the camera movements typical of classical Hollywood cinema. Colin's predictions are found to be correct. Having established a baseline of camera movement patterns, it is then possible to compare the work of an individual filmmaker, in this case Howard Hawks, to this norm. A statistical difference can be shown to exist, thus lending credence to the designation of Hawks as an auteur. Certain other implications of Hawks's themes and style can be profitably discussed through the application of functional semiotic concepts.