Can we Read Cinema?
Can we read cinema? Is it just watching images on screen? Is it only about visuals???? In this blog, I want to share my thoughts on this. You may not know, I am currently working as an assistant professor. For my first-semester students, I teach a paper titled READING CINEMA. I am quite new to this paper, but what I truly enjoy is my love for cinema. In my recent class, I asked my students a simple question: Why is the paper titled ‘Reading Cinema’ and not ‘Watching Cinema’? Their eyes sparkled with curiosity. When we say “reading” cinema, we are not just talking about watching the story unfold on screen. Reading involves the story unfolding on screen. Reading involves interpretation - just like how we read between the lines in a poem or notice subtle emotions in a novel, films too are full of layers. A close-up shot may reveal a character’s inner struggle. The background music might tell us something that words don’t. The lighting, costume, silence, and even pauses - ever...