Chapter 3: Film-making

Answer. There are various instances in the story that depict Bergman’s bravery as a filmmaker. The prominent one is connected with a wall hanging. He could imagine the wall hanging and represent it vividly, bringing the whole scene alive through his narrations. He could also imagine the church bells ringing and visualize the pigeons flying, transforming his readers into a completely different world. Through his imagination, it was a completely dramatic scene created by Bergman. Another example is when he left all the work just to watch the cranes fly at Dalarna. All these incidents highlight Bergman’s sensitivity to sensory impressions that made him a great filmmaker.

Answer. Filmmaking is an art that includes many procedures before achieving the final product. So, the first step in making a film is to determine the theme. Then, with a strong concept, the shape of the story can be formed accordingly. The next step is the storyline. The components of montage, rhythm and the relation between two pictures are integral parts of the storyline. With proper execution of the story, using these three crucial aspects results in the liveliness of the story. And finally, the last important step is shooting the film, where proper coordination among different departments can make the movie a huge success. So, the steps of filmmaking decide upon a theme, creating a consistent storyline and coordination among all the departments while shooting results in a good movie.

Answer. Typically, filmmaking is a process of executing a sequence of actions, which involves a series of pictures to convey the story to the masses. Firstly, the masses must try to identify with the theme of the movie. If the theme is entirely dissimilar, they will not understand the film’s message, and the film will be a colossal failure. For a film to be successful, the story must be obvious to capture the audience’s attention, which is a huge risk in filmmaking. Thus, the filmmaker should be wise in selecting a storyline matching the current demand of the public. Otherwise, it would be difficult for the filmmaker to impress the viewers and make the film successful.

Answer. Bergman believes that the contemporary film industry thinks in the creation of unique work. The current generation of filmmakers believes in secluding oneself and creating works in solitude. According to Bergman, borrowing ideas from other works is considered equal to using plagiarised content, which is entirely wrong. However, they fail to understand that filmmaking is a continuous process, one that involves constant inspiration and learning from each other. Thus, Bergman believes that learning from one another is the ultimate source of knowledge in the film industry.

Answer. According to Bergman, one cannot put a novel into a film entirely. It becomes a complete injustice to the book because it triggers the intellectual faculty, whereas the movie triggers emotions directly.

However, according to Umberto Eco, the film takes over the popularity of a novel. It is only when the movie is made out of a book that it reaches the epitome of its popularity. So, the film indirectly helps the novel. Thus, Bergman believes that the individual effect of each of these two art forms on the audience is different from each other.