Frampton's formula seems to be overly simplistic. A film about what is shown the most does not [necessarily] reflect thematic material, symbolism, many cinematic techniques. A formal experiment on 'zooming' effect, for example, could be mistaken for being about flowers. Again - in Jean Renoir's 'Le Crime de M. Lange', much of the ideology was behind visual imagery, but not directly. Cyclical structure was pronounced by the shape of the courtyard, the movement of the camera, etc. The dualism between capitalist society and communist/socialist society is stressed between the co-operative employee union and the over-greedy publicist. None of this would be engaged if it was only a film on 'what was seen the most'.
There are too many distractions, anyway, not to more deeply analyze a film's thematic and structural elements. Love's Refrain, for me, was about the metallic rattle from the front of the room (much like John Cage's 4:33, during our viewing)...
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