Film Unit 3
film noir
"black film" -emerged in hollywood films of the 40s, shot using stylized black and white cinematography in nighttime urban settings and featuring morally ambiguous protagonists, corrupt institutions, dangerous women, and convoluted plots
The 3 basic features of a classical hollywood narrative
-1. The narratives focus on one or two central characters -2. These characters move a linear plot forward -3. the action develops according to a realistic cause-and-effect logic
three fundamental elements of a western
-1. characters, almost always male, whose physical and mental toughness separate them from the crowds of modern civilization -2. narratives that follow some version of a quest into the natural world -3. a stylistic emphasis on open, natural spaces and settings
Mulvey's final summary highlights three different "looks" associated with cinema
-1. that of the camera as it records the pro-filmic event -2. that of the audience as it watches the final product -3. that of the characters at each other within the screen illusion
What's the first cartoon with sound printed on the film?
-Steamboat Willie -1928 -Disney and Iwerks
comedy
-celebrates the harmony and resiliency of social life, typically with a narrative that ends happily and an emphasis on episodes or "gags" over plot continuity
How did films in the post-WWII era, especially international films, use narrative structures?
-challenged the formulaic Hollywood storytelling style of the time -international filmmakers like Bergman and Fellini used narrative structures that questioned pre-WW2 values: featured characters without direction; surreal events
cinema verite
-cinema truth -a style of documentary first practiced in France that used unobtrusive, lightweight cameras and sound equipment to capture real-life situations
What kind of filming does "Paris is Burning" use?
-cinema verite -uses lightweight unobtrusive cameras to capture real life situations
What are the six major movie genres?
-comedies, westerns, melodramas, musicals, horror films, and crime films
3 ways in which a documentarian shapes the subject
-cumulative, contrastive, developmental
What happens at the end of each act of film?
-end of first act: the goal is defined, the protagonist is off on their quest -end of second act: reversal of fortunes, all hope is lost
developmental documentary
-follows a non-narrative structure but still follows a change or progression
genre
-is a category or classification of movies that share similar subject matter, settings, iconography, and narrative and stylistic patterns -a set of formulas and conventions repeated and developed throughout film history
What is the most weighty criticism of the bechdel test?
-its limitation in terms of intersectionality
Blaxploitations
-low budget films made in the early 70s targeting urban AA audiences and featuring streetwise AA protagonists
cumulative documentary
-presents a catalog of images or sounds throughout the film
Spine of any story
-protagonist -pursuing goals -confronted by obstacles
In "Yes, 9 to 5 really is a feminist movie", What three actions in the film lead to the transformation of "the drab, testosterone-fuelled offices of Consolidated Companies into a veritable utopia of gender equality" in the author's opinion?
-rehiring of unfairly fired female employees -on site daycare -equal pay for women
archetypes
-spiritual, psychological, or cultural models expressing certain virtues, values, or timeless realities
The Exorcist: subgenre and director
-supernatural horror film -William Friedkin
story
-the subject matter or raw material of a narrative
What are the criteria for the Bechdel test?
-there are at least two female characters -who drive the plot forward -who have names -who talk to each other -talk about something other than a man
Four principle frameworks to a documentary
-to explore the world and its peoples -to interrogate or analyze an event or problem -to persuade the audience -to reflect the presence of the filmmaker
How are women usually depicted in film noir
-women pained as "mysteries" -either guilty or in need of a savior
Which series set the standard to the anime aesthetic?
Astro Boy
Who is responsible for the development of the highly exaggerated poses and faces that became a hallmark of The Looney Tunes?
Chuck Jones at Warner Brother's
claymation
Clay characters or moquettes moved in small increments between still photographs
9 to 5
Colin Higgins
Howl's Moving Castle
Diana Wynne Jones, 1986
What is cel animation?
Each image is drawn individually and displayed sequentially
What was the first appealing character and use of keyframes?
Gertie the dinosaur
diegesis
In a narrative film, the world of the film's story. The diegesis includes events that are presumed to have occurred and actions and spaces not shown onscreen.
Which of the actress's production company helped generate the project , "Is 9 to 5 really a feminist movie"?
Jane Fonda
Paris is Burning
Jennie Livingston, 1990
Boyz n the Hood
John Singleton
Little Miss Sunshine
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Who theorized "the male gaze" and the objectification of the female form in film?
Laura Mulvey
first person narration
Narration in which the point of view is that of the main character.
Which character from 9 to 5 previously trained Franklin and is repeatedly overlooked for a promotion?
Violet
formalism
a critical approach to cinema that emphasizes conventional properties of the text or medium over content or context
auteur theory
a critical method by which a film is viewed as the product of its "auteur" or director and is judged by the quality of its expression of the director's personality or world view; usually used to relate a film to others by the same director.
keyframe
in animation, refers to the beginning or end point for the transition of an object.
medium specificity
a film's properties that are unique to the medium
Main difference between Warner Brother's Merrie Melodies and Disney's content
a more satirical view of american society with an emphasis on slapstick comedy
restricted narration
a narrative in which our knowledge is limited to that of a particular character
documentary
a nonfiction film that present real objects, people, and events
stop-motion photography
a process that records inanimate objects or actual human figures in different positions in separate frames and then synthesizes them on film to create the illusion of motion and action
supernatural horror films
a spiritual evil erupts in the human realm to avenge a wrong or for no explainable reason
reception theory
a theoretical approach to the ways different kinds of audiences regard different kinds of films -race and representation
rotoscoping
an animation technique in which live action video is traced to create animation that mimics the live action.
appeal
animators should strive to create images that will be interesting and compelling to audiences.
Jidai-geki films
are a period films or costume dramas set before 1868 when feudal japan entered the modern Meiji period
westerns
are a staple of hollywood, although their popularity has waxed and waned in different historical eras -these films are set in the American West and typically feature rugged, independent male characters on a quest or dramatize frontier life.
hybrid genres
are mixed forms created through the interaction of different genres to produce fusions, such as musical horror films like "the rocky horror picture show
gangster films
are set in the world of organized crime and its violent criminals
subgenres
are specific versions of a genre denoted by an adjective
apparatus theory
argues that the mechanics upon which film is based were developed according to certain ideologies; filmmakers are primarily from hollywood, so most movies support western ideas
poststructuralism
challenged the fixed definitions of structuralism. Emphasizes the place of subjectivity, the unreliability of language, and the construction of social power
melodramas
combinations of the intensities of music and the interaction of human conflicts. -characters who are defined by their situation or basic traits rather than their deeds and who struggle, often desperately, to express their feelings or emotions
epic western
concentrates on action and movement and develops a heroic character whose quests and battles serve to define the nation and its origins
Postmodernism
incorporates many other styles through fragments or references in a practice called pastiche.
Heimat films
depict a world of traditional folk values in which love and family triumph over virtually any social evil, communities gather around maypoles, and townspeople sing traditional German folk songs
slasher films
depict serial killers
scenics
early nonfiction films that offered exotic or remarkable images of nature or foreign lands
political westerns
evolved out of the existential western, foregrounding ideology and politics and questioning the individual independence and use of violence featured in epic westerns
social melodramas
extend the crises of the family to include larger historical, community, and economic issues
physical horror films
films in which the psychology of the characters takes second place to the depiction of graphic violence
mockumentaries
films that use a documentary style and structure to present and stage fictional subjects -take a humorous approach to the question of truth and fact
detective films
focus on a protagonist who represents the law or an ambiguous version of it, such as a private investigator
physical melodramas
focus on the material conditions that control the protagonist's desires and emotions.
family melodramas
focus on the psychological and gendered forces restricting individuals within the family.
horror films
have crossed cultures and appeared in various forms throughout film history -characters with physical psychological or spiritual deformities -narratives built on suspense, surprise, and shock -visual compositions that move between the dread of not seeing and the horror of seeing
timing
helps create the illusion that an action is abiding by the laws of physics.
romantic comedies
humor takes second place to the happy ending, typically focusing on the emotional attraction of a couple in lighthearted way
iconography
images or image patterns with specific connotations or meanings
xerography
in animation, a process where the animator's drawings are printed directly onto the cell.
What other films are mentioned in the article as films that "say one thing and mean another" in "Is 9 to 5 really a feminist movie"?
jurassic park
psychological horror film
locate the dangers that threaten normal life in the minds of bizarre and deranged individuals
voyuerism
looking without being seen
structuralism
looks for common structures in filmic narratives rather than originality
slapstick comedies
marked by their physical humor and stunts, comprised some of the first narrative films
third person narration
narrator is outside of the story - an observer of others
Actualities
nonfiction films introduced in the 1890s depicting real people and events through continuous footage -workers leaving the lumiere factory
propaganda films
political documentaries that visibly support and intend to sway viewers toward a particular social or political issue or group
contrastive documentary
presents a series of images but with opposing points of views -skylines from different cities
historical paradigms
presumes that a genre evolved to a point of perfection at some point in history and that one or more films at that point describe the generic ideal
Which theory does Laura Mulvey propose is appropriated in film "as a political weapon, demonstrating the way the unconscious of patriarchal society has structured film form?"
psychoanalytic theory
musicals
range from traditional opera to vaudeville and musical theater in which songs either supported or punctuated the story
structural paradigms
relies less on historical precedent than on a formal or structural ideal that may or may not be actually seen, in a complete or pure form, in any specific film
realism
the connection or quality of resemblance to the natural world
What did the realist critic Andre Bazin propose in the '50s about how the film image should be evaluated?
the film image should be evaluated "not according to what it adds to reality but what it reveals of it" -created auteur theory
plot
the narrative ordering of the events of the story as they appear in the actual work
omniscient narration
the narrator knows all of the actions, feelings, and motivations of all of the characters.
existential westerns
the traditional western hero is troubled by his changing social status and his self-doubts, often as the frontier becomes more populated and civilized
screwball comedies
transformed the humor of the physical into fast-talking verbal gymnastics and unpredictable action, arguably displacing sexual energy with barbed verbal exchanges between men and women
crime films
typically feature criminals and individuals dedicated to crime detection and plots that involve criminal acts
animated musicals
use cartoon figures and stories to present songs and music
anticipation
used to let the audience know that a major action is about to take place.
integrated musicals
when musicals began to integrate musical numbers into the film's narrative
theatrical musicals
which situate the musical convention onstage or backstage