Camila

Describes the setting of a scene in a play or a film. It refers to everything placed on the stage or in front of the camera—including people. In other words, mise en scène is a catch-all for everything that contributes to the visual presentation and overall “look” of a production. When translated from French, it means “placing on stage.”

Props

Prop

Blindfolds

Explanation

When Camila first meets Ladislao she is blindfolded. When she takes off the blindfold she sees him for the first time (she had confessed to him in a previous scene but had not seen him). At the end of the movie, Camila and Ladislao are blindfolded and executed. The taking off of the blindfold in the scene where they meet marks the beginning of their relationship outside of their roles as priest and layperson, as before then they had only spoken at the Church with Ladislao in the confessional. After this scene, their love is developed and represented through their loving gazes at each other. At the end, their captors blindfold them, which stops their ability to share these looks as they are killed and their relationship ends.

Film Still

Costume

Explanation

Camila is set during the time of Juan Manuel de Rosas and los Federales’ authoritarian Regime. An important symbol of this regime was the red in its uniforms and the red strip called divisa punzó. In the film all of the characters in Buenos Aires’ costumes include the red stripe. It shows the influence and omnipresence of los Federales, and the strong loyalty to them in the city. Even the Jesuit priests wear the stripe. In fact, when Father Ladislao first appears, he is not wearing it and another priest gives him one and tells him to wear it. The priests wearing the divisa punzó also portray religion as another arm of the authoritarian government instead of a merely moral institution. In fact, it is a priest, Father Gannon, who reports Father Ladislao when he and Camila elope.

Another element of costume in the film is the change in what the characters wear in Buenos Aires versus when they elope to Goya. In the city, Camila wears elaborate dresses common in the upper class. This is highlighted when she tries to donate clothes and Father Ladislao comments on the absurdity of giving her elaborate dresses to the poor of Buenos Aires. In Goya, Camila and Ladislao wear simpler clothing to represent the lack of class significance in the rural provinces

Film Still

Figure Behavior

Example

The gaze

Explanation

Camila and Ladislao’s love is shown throughout the film through their eye contact and longing gazes. Whenever Ladislao is at the Church leading prayer or providing the Eucharist his eyes often fall on Camila and hers on his. These gazes are all they can share in public due to the forbiddenness and secrecy of their relationship. Before Camila confesses her love to Ladislao at the confessional, the only sign that they are falling for each other are these long periods of eye contact. This detail conveys the surveillance of society and religion that stifles their ability to express love for each other except in privacy and once they escape the city.

Film Still

This is the art of photography and visual storytelling in a motion picture or television show. Cinematography comprises all on-screen visual elements, including lighting, framing, composition, camera motion, camera angles, film selection, lens choices, depth of field, zoom, focus, color, exposure, and filtration. Cinematography sets and supports the overall look and mood of a film’s visual narrative. Each visual element that appears on screen, a.k.a. the mise-en-scène of a film, can serve and enhance the story—so it is the cinematographer’s responsibility to ensure that every element is cohesive and support the story. Filmmakers often choose to spend the majority of their budget on high-quality cinematography to guarantee that the film will look incredible on the big screen.

Editing is the process of putting a film together–the selection and arrangement of shots and scenes. Editing can condense space and time, emphasize separate elements and bring them together, and organize material in such a way that patterns of meaning become apparent. In addition, editing can determine how a film is perceived: for instance, quick, rapid cuts can create a feeling of tension, while a long take can create a more dramatic effect. The first photoplays generally had no cutting, owing to the fact that they were single-reel films; once filming began, you could not stop until the film ran out. (https://filmglossary.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/term/editing/)

Sound is an integral part in a film. It refers to everything that the audience hears including sound effects, words and music. Sound is used in films for various purposes, including: providing the information to the viewer about the location of the scene, heightening the mood, telling the audience about the characters and advancing the plot. Every person who watches a film realizes that the choice of voices, soundtrack and music present in a film affect the way that the viewer perceives a particular film. As a result, the sound is an important and integral element of the film, one that determines the way that the viewer experiences and understands a film as a visual experience.

Narrative analysis is an examination of the story elements, including narrative structure, character, and plot. A narrative can be considered to be the chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring in time and space. In order to analyze the narrative of a film, we need to first make the distinction between the plot of the film and the story of the film. This is sometimes referred to as the discourse and story of a film. Narrative may also be called the story thought story mainly refers to the events that describe the narrative.

Film genres are various forms or identifiable types, categories, classifications or groups of films. (Genre comes from the French word meaning "kind," "category," or "type"). These provide a convenient way for scriptwriters and film-makers to produce, cast and structure their narratives within a manageable, well-defined framework. Genres also offer the studios an easily 'marketable' product, and give audiences satisfying, expected and predictable choices. Genres refers to recurring, repeating and similar, familiar or instantly-recognizable patterns, styles, themes, syntax, templates, paradigms, motifs, rules or generic conventions.