ABSTRACT
FILM LANGUAGE As children, we learn to speak because language is a tool to accomplish things. My elder daughter’s first sentence was, “Meat, I like it.” Effective, if a little shaky in syntax. All languages operate under conventions, and screen language began developing in the 1890s when camera operators and actors competed to get elementary stories before paying audiences. Soon movies became big business, and the actors and camera operators were joined by directors and editors. A production line had evolved needing greater division of labor.
