Abstract

This paper shows how the method of cohesion analysis in film provides a strong foundation for constructing coherent filmic narrative across different spatial and temporal settings. Until now the unit of a fine-grained systematic analysis of film viewers' narrative comprehension has been anchored in the shot. This paper provides a semiotic descriptive tool of filmic cohesion for analyzing elements within and across shots, i.e., how viewers comprehend the presenting and tracking of dominant narrative elements such as characters, objects, and settings as a film unfolds. In addition, this paper also reviews the Neo-Formalist exploration of cinematic cohesion and then demonstrates how the semiotics-oriented method suggested here can support more systematically and even strengthen the Neo-Formalist account. Most importantly, this article will explicitly show the potential of this tool for providing empirical accounts of filmic narrative construction by analyzing scene transitions in Wong Kar Wai's film 2046 (2004).