ABSTRACT
Film is structured like a language. Composed of fundamental units, called shots, films rely upon edits to join shots together into larger strings called sequences, just as words become sentences. Many films depend for their intelligibility upon rules or cinematic conventions, a form of film grammar that has evolved over time. Like language, film opens to different uses or forms. Some films are like stories, others more like novels or serials. Some films seem poetic; others, striving perhaps toward profundity, seem simply nonsensical. Setting needn't be constructed, although it often is. If settings often blend found and constructed elements, properties help to amplify a mood, give further definition to a setting, or call attention to detail within the larger scene. In early prints of the film, Griffith tinted the wrench to stand out against the dusky night, so that spectators would experience Sweet's captivity as suspense, in fear that her ruse might be exposed.
