ABSTRACT
The story of film from black and white silents to current widescreen colour extravaganzas is outlined. The chapter explains that film arose out of the world of Vaudeville and Music Hall, where the skills of communicating without words first got established, rather than the world of words and theatre. Screen composition and the effect of reversing a picture is explained, using examples from the world of art, as well as the value of having the three elements of background, mid-ground and foreground in the shots chosen by the director.
