What is Cinematic Language and How Do You Use It?

Cinematic Language: Understanding its Meaning

Cinematic language. You will have most likely heard this phrase being used in film circles, about a screenplay or in reference to a film or TV episode. But what is cinematic language?

Cinematic language is the methods and conventions of cinema that are used to communicate with the audience. This is often also referred to as visual storytelling, although this is only one part of cinematic language. Emotions and ideas are expressed in cinema visually through all types of techniques such as lighting, performance, mise-en-scéne, cinematography, editing and more. 

When understanding cinematic language, it is useful to consider the conventions of literature that are used to convey meaning and communicate with the reader. For example, literature often uses literary techniques such as symbolism or narration to portray meaning and communicate plot, characterisation or themes. The same is done in screenwriting, but with cinematic techniques.

A montage can represent a cunning plan coming together or a singular experience had over different time periods. Lighting and colour can be used to indicate the mood of a scene. Pacing and dialogue can convey atmosphere. Clothes can convey character and themes. This is cinematic language.

How to Recognise Cinematic Language

A good tip when trying to recognise cinematic language is to tune into how you feel when you’re watching a particular scene. Typically, screenwriters intend to present meaning to the audience subtly and subconsciously. If a man in the shadows approaching a character from behind makes you feel suspicious, that is more than likely what the film is trying to communicate!

You’re seeing it all in your mind’s eye, you’re inferring it. And this is the fourth aspect of cinema that’s so special. That inference. The image in the mind’s eye… For me it’s where the obsession began. It’s what keeps me going, it never fails to excite me. Because you take one shot, you put it together with another shot, and you experience a third image in your mind’s eye that doesn’t really exist in those two other images… And that has been called, appropriately, I believe, film language.

Martin Scorsese

Cinematic language in film can come in many different forms. Take the following examples: 

• Camera framing: a camera angle and framing can tell us how to feel about a character. For example, if the camera is looking at a character from a low angle, it shows the character is important or powerful. If the camera is looking from a high angle, it can show the character is small and weak.
• Lighting and colour: a dark and dull setting can tell us that we should feel tense or scared. Or a light and colourful setting can tell us to feel happy and warm.
• Performance: an actor’s performance is the key to understanding their emotions throughout a film. They can communicate this in a number of ways through facial expressions, body language, pace and tone. The writer might typically convey this intention through stage direction or a parenthetical.