Kramer explains how different critics and historians have used the term “New Hollywood” to describe both the 1967-1975 period and the 1975-present period. Setting the terminology aside, explain what he means by the contrast between “artistically and politically progressive liberal cycles” of the earlier period and the “regressiveness of the blockbusters” of the later period. What are the assumptions behind the terms progressive and regressive? Do you agree with these assumptions?
He says that the “artistically and politically progressive liberal cycles” happened during the earlier years when film makers where breaking the molds of old Hollywood and experimenting with techniques and styles. A time when the big studio conglomerates didnt have full day in majar artistic features of the film. Progressive - because they were moving forward, away from classical hollywood and studio domination.
The "regressive" stage came later with films like star wars that used huge budgets, and lots of special effects. Regressive - because it regressed back into the big blockbuster, studio controlled type films of the classical period.
Why is “allusionism” significant for both modernism and post-modernism? If modernist filmmakers alluded to film history, what do post-modernist filmmakers allude to?
Allusions are like using shorthand, a shorter way of conveying lots of information. By using an allusion youre triggering the audience's memories and emotions of whatever the allusion is based on. It is useful in modernism and post-modernism, because they hold so much information. modernist might use the allusion of a hot rod to bring up emotion in the audience from their encounters with previous films with hot rods. then the post-modernist may include a hot-rod in the film to bring up the modernist feelings, but then alter them.
Name three ways in which the publishers of the book and the producers of the film worked together to promote Jaws. How did they know that their logo for Jaws was successful? [Include names/companies in your answer.]
Batnam and the producers, Zanuck, went on book tours to promote the paperback book. They had media coverage of the movie production interviews with stars, director. They arranged had the paperback book serve as a tester for the graphic. they knew it was a hit when the preview was a hit and the name "jaws" was never published on the sign... just the graphic.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Plot Segmentation
Plot Segmentation The best method for understanding a film’s narrative
system is to create a plot segmentation, a scene-by-scene outline of the
entire film. Each scene should be described briefly in a separate line, and
the entire segmentation should not exceed more than a page or two. One of the
first things a plot segmentation shows is the function and boundaries of
the scene. Aristotle held that a scene consists of a unified time, space, and
action. When a film significantly shifts in time, space, or action, we recognize
that a new scene has begun. The plot segmentation helps reveal a film’s overall
structure (e.g., three or four acts, perhaps following a thematic pattern)
and its smallest details (e.g., a motif of transitions between scenes).
Here’s an excerpt from a plot segmentation of John Ford’s Stagecoach
(1939):
{Title, cast names, and principal production credits}
I. MORNING OF THE FIRST DAY IN TONTO IN THE 1870S
A. The U.S. Calvary office receives telegraph warning that Apache
warriors, under the command of Geronimo, are cutting telegraph
wires, a sign that they’re preparing to attack the white settlers.
B. Six passengers, the driver, and the sheriff board the stagecoach,
which is accompanied by a cavalry escort.
II. FIRST STAGE OF THE JOURNEY TO LORDSBURG
A. Conversations establish the passengers’ basic antipathy toward one
another.
B. A rifle shot announces the appearance of the Ringo Kid; he surrenders
his rifle, and the sheriff arrests him as an escaped convict.
C. Ringo enters the coach.
D. The journey resumes without interruption.
The usefulness of this plot segmentation is twofold: First, it helps you to see
the film’s structure, reminding you of the scene sequence so that you don’t
need to keep viewing the film to determine the order of events. Second, laying
the plot out in this way might help you see patterns in the film that could
be useful to your paper.
system is to create a plot segmentation, a scene-by-scene outline of the
entire film. Each scene should be described briefly in a separate line, and
the entire segmentation should not exceed more than a page or two. One of the
first things a plot segmentation shows is the function and boundaries of
the scene. Aristotle held that a scene consists of a unified time, space, and
action. When a film significantly shifts in time, space, or action, we recognize
that a new scene has begun. The plot segmentation helps reveal a film’s overall
structure (e.g., three or four acts, perhaps following a thematic pattern)
and its smallest details (e.g., a motif of transitions between scenes).
Here’s an excerpt from a plot segmentation of John Ford’s Stagecoach
(1939):
{Title, cast names, and principal production credits}
I. MORNING OF THE FIRST DAY IN TONTO IN THE 1870S
A. The U.S. Calvary office receives telegraph warning that Apache
warriors, under the command of Geronimo, are cutting telegraph
wires, a sign that they’re preparing to attack the white settlers.
B. Six passengers, the driver, and the sheriff board the stagecoach,
which is accompanied by a cavalry escort.
II. FIRST STAGE OF THE JOURNEY TO LORDSBURG
A. Conversations establish the passengers’ basic antipathy toward one
another.
B. A rifle shot announces the appearance of the Ringo Kid; he surrenders
his rifle, and the sheriff arrests him as an escaped convict.
C. Ringo enters the coach.
D. The journey resumes without interruption.
The usefulness of this plot segmentation is twofold: First, it helps you to see
the film’s structure, reminding you of the scene sequence so that you don’t
need to keep viewing the film to determine the order of events. Second, laying
the plot out in this way might help you see patterns in the film that could
be useful to your paper.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Week 5
How were young filmmakers in the late 1960s and early 1970s different from previous generations of filmmakers in terms of the following: how they broke into commercial film making, how their films were financed, and who was in charge of the studios?
Because of the success of Bonnie and clyde and the Graduate, which were directed by young directors, studios began seeking younger directors, producers and other talent to appeal to a younger generation. Most studios were had been bought by conglomerates and would only put out little money for these films.
Give two specific examples of how Part II disappoints the viewer (according to Berliner) and how these disappointments “work” for the film.
the "inevitable disappointment with movie sequels" that the audience has prior to and while viewing the film is due to the nastolgia for the old plot and if that thought is upset the film succeeds.
The films length and confusion led people to link it with the first and say that it was just a continuation of the first film.
Because of the success of Bonnie and clyde and the Graduate, which were directed by young directors, studios began seeking younger directors, producers and other talent to appeal to a younger generation. Most studios were had been bought by conglomerates and would only put out little money for these films.
Give two specific examples of how Part II disappoints the viewer (according to Berliner) and how these disappointments “work” for the film.
the "inevitable disappointment with movie sequels" that the audience has prior to and while viewing the film is due to the nastolgia for the old plot and if that thought is upset the film succeeds.
The films length and confusion led people to link it with the first and say that it was just a continuation of the first film.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Week Four
What does Kramer argue was characteristic of the bulk of Hollywood-centred film criticism in the 1960s?
The criticism was against the directors who had started thier careers in the studio era and were stuck in styles and techniques and had still been getting a significant amount of attention. more than new directors who had more to offer.
What was Kael’s critique of art cinema and the New American Cinema, and why was Bonnie and Clyde “the most excitingly American American movie” at the time?
the film was a "cultural event" that not only the minority could identify with bu t the american apopulation. much more than films had been doing recently. in the past they had but it had gone extinct. The movie was then viewed as the strugle between young and old, hip and square, new genereation and older genertaion. Midus.
Krael, Sheed and Wolf against Crowther and Cook. Crowther and Cook were the old timers who didnt find the violence nice.
What is meant by “modernist” in the passage: “Critics engaged with a self-declared ‘New American Cinema’ exemplified by the work of writers and directors such as Jonas Mekas, Kenneth Anger, and John Cassavetes, certain aspects of which constituted, according to David Bordwell, a conscious ‘modernist’ break with Hollywood classicism”? [The answer is not in the passage; I’m asking you to look up “modernism” and “modernist” if you are not familiar with the term as you should be doing for any unfamiliar terms.]
When the artists in film caught up with the artists in other mediums.
The criticism was against the directors who had started thier careers in the studio era and were stuck in styles and techniques and had still been getting a significant amount of attention. more than new directors who had more to offer.
What was Kael’s critique of art cinema and the New American Cinema, and why was Bonnie and Clyde “the most excitingly American American movie” at the time?
the film was a "cultural event" that not only the minority could identify with bu t the american apopulation. much more than films had been doing recently. in the past they had but it had gone extinct. The movie was then viewed as the strugle between young and old, hip and square, new genereation and older genertaion. Midus.
Krael, Sheed and Wolf against Crowther and Cook. Crowther and Cook were the old timers who didnt find the violence nice.
What is meant by “modernist” in the passage: “Critics engaged with a self-declared ‘New American Cinema’ exemplified by the work of writers and directors such as Jonas Mekas, Kenneth Anger, and John Cassavetes, certain aspects of which constituted, according to David Bordwell, a conscious ‘modernist’ break with Hollywood classicism”? [The answer is not in the passage; I’m asking you to look up “modernism” and “modernist” if you are not familiar with the term as you should be doing for any unfamiliar terms.]
When the artists in film caught up with the artists in other mediums.
Monday, September 1, 2008
WEEK 3
Why was the Charles Theater important for the development of “underground film” in New York City?
What a community theater. Having local films play, hanging local art in the lobby along with local musicians performing, the Charles seemed the place to be to not only see a couple underground or experimental films but also to be part of the scene. The Charles not only gave the underground films hype, but also showed the audience that they too could make films that would play in theaters.
Which underground films encountered legal problems in 1964, and why?
Scorpio Rising for nudity
The Connection for language
Flaming Creatures
How does Mussman compare and contrast Warhol’s work in The Chelsea Girls with the work of the following directors?
Chelsea Girls is compared to the "explosiveness" Bunuel's film because of the content of Warhol's film
He compares the audience that Warhol is making films for and the audience that Hitchcock makes films for; saying that Hitchcock is manipulating his audience to a calculated end that he has in store for them. Warhol's films are open-ended and the audience is able to form responses more freely.
What a community theater. Having local films play, hanging local art in the lobby along with local musicians performing, the Charles seemed the place to be to not only see a couple underground or experimental films but also to be part of the scene. The Charles not only gave the underground films hype, but also showed the audience that they too could make films that would play in theaters.
Which underground films encountered legal problems in 1964, and why?
Scorpio Rising for nudity
The Connection for language
Flaming Creatures
How does Mussman compare and contrast Warhol’s work in The Chelsea Girls with the work of the following directors?
Chelsea Girls is compared to the "explosiveness" Bunuel's film because of the content of Warhol's film
He compares the audience that Warhol is making films for and the audience that Hitchcock makes films for; saying that Hitchcock is manipulating his audience to a calculated end that he has in store for them. Warhol's films are open-ended and the audience is able to form responses more freely.
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