The Dramatic Art of the Film Author:Casty, Alan A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. The techniques and forms of the film are particularly appropriate to the way people are today, to the way they look at life, and to what they see, hear, feel, and know when they look at themselves and at life around them. The structures of cinematic form are thus partic... more »ularly appropriate to the structures of feeling in their lives. The major importance of the film suggests its connection to the visual arts, particularly painting. The composition of the materials of the image itself produces beauty and contributes to the meaning in both arts. While the image for its own sake is important in both arts, in the film it has the additional function of being the vehicle for character and story, the dramatic content of the work. It is this function that is of the most immediate importance to the viewer.« less