The “Significant Shot” and Its Functions in the Popular Variant of Puzzle Films
Natasza Korczarowska
natasza.korczarowska@uni.lodz.plUniversity of Lodz (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3130-128X
Abstract
The article focuses on the “significant shot” in the popular (as opposed to heavy weight) variant of puzzle films. The shot is identified as significant if it performs a prominent role in the structure of a film text. To capture its significance (in the aspect of meaning-making), the author focuses on its two fundamental functions: recognition (leading to “re-telling” and re-contextualisation of the story) and suspension (opening the text to ambivalent and contradicting interpretations). The text has been inspired by Kristin Thompson’s writings on the dominant defined as an element that unifies all aspects of a work. According to Thompson, surprise governs form – from the overall shape of the plot to the level of the individual sentence. The article argues that “surprise” is the dominant in puzzle films and “the individual sentence” – on the metaphorical level – may be perceived as the equivalent of the film shot. Selected films are positioned in the theoretical frameworks of cognitivism (Thompson, Bordwell) and narratology (McHale).
Keywords:
significant shot, puzzle films, narratology, cognitivismReferences
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Authors
Natasza Korczarowskanatasza.korczarowska@uni.lodz.pl
University of Lodz Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3130-128X
Professor at the Department of Film and Audiovisual Media, Institute of Contemporary Culture, University of Lodz. She specializes in the history of Polish film, contemporary European cinema and the problems of historiophoty. She published the books: Ojczyzny prywatne [Private Homelands] (2007) and Inne spojrzenie [Another Way] (2013) – the latter devoted to the images of history in Polish feature film after 1965. Since 2008 she has cooperated with the Polish Film Institute and the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute on the educational project Academy of Polish Film.
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