cinema

and
society

http://rgucinemasociety.blogspot.com/
What will you study?
Week 1 - Introduction to module

Week 2- Early Cinema - Lumiere Brothers, Eisenstien,

Vertov

Week 3 - Auteur theory, Bazin and the Nouvelle Vague

Week 4 - Counter Cinema - Third Cinema, Dogme 95

Week 5 - Intertextuality and the postmodern film

Week 6 Wartime propaganda and film – national

identity, nostalgia

Week 7 - The sociology of the cinema – attendance/the

event of cinema going; audiences and film fandom

Week 8- Film Noir

Week 9 - The Ideology of film

Week 10 - Censorship and classification Copyright

Week 11 - Herge and the adaption of the graphic novel

Week 12 - Film in the future - Collaborative filmmaking,

film as an evolving text
How will you be assessed?
Assessment
Students are required to start a blog relating to themes and topics arising in this module. Students should use the blog as both a
forum to comment on arising themes and also as a study aid collating relevant films and texts that can be found online. All posts
should contain references which should be hyper-linked directly to the texts online where possible.

The following posts will form the coursework.

Post One - Compile a set of 5 film clips (these can be embedded from you tube, googlevideo, vimeo or any other online video
platform) which illustrate some of the defining moments of cinema pre 1930's accompanied by a 100 word commentary on each clip.

Post Two - What makes an Auteur - What makes a filmmaker an Auteur? Compile a set of at least 3 films which demonstrate the
auteur qualities of a director of your choice accompanied by a 500 word commentary.

Post Three - Select two or more films of your choice and discuss the manner in which they either conform or subvert hollywood /
mainstream filmmaking standards and techniques in 500 words.

To be completed by the end of week 4 1PM 25/2/11

Post Four - With reference to at least two films discuss the manner in which ideologies are expressed explicitly and implicitly in 500
words.

Post Five - Write a 750 word review of a film released within the past year, you may also want to include clips, trailers and stills.

To be completed by the end of week 9 1PM 1/4/11

Post Six - Write a 1500 word critical essay on a topic of your choosing which relates to any of the themes arising on the course.
Before writing the essay you should discuss your chosen topic with your lecturer, this can be done in the tutorials in week 8 + 9

To be completed by the end of week 12 1PM 28/4/11

Film theory and
analysis
Formalist Film Theory -Arnheim
Focuses on technical aspects of film
Realist Film Theory - Bazin
Focuses on how film can reproduce reality
Psychoanalytical Film Theory
Focuses on how viewer identifies with the film
Structuralist Film Theory - Metz
How codes and conventions convey meaning
Feminist Film Theory - Mulvey
Focuses on how woman are portrayed in film
Film theory and
analysis
What do we focus on when we attempt to interpret
meaning from a film?

Components of film
Narrative Form
Mise en Scene
Cinematography
Editing
Sound
Narrative Form
Tzvetan Todorov saw conventional narrative structure as composed
of five stages:
Stage 1 - A state of equilibrium is defined.

Stage 2 - Disruption to the equilibrium by some action or crisis.

Stage3 - The Character(s) recognition that there has been a

disruption, setting goals to resolve problem.

Stage4 - The Character(s) attempt to repair the disruption, obstacles

need to be overcome to restore order.

Stage5 - Reinstatement to the equilibrium. Situation is resolved, a

conclusion is announced.
Three / Four Act Structure
Three Act - Aristotle
•Act 1- Exposition leads to turning point
•Act 2- Complications lead to climax
•Act 3- Denouement - Action leads to resolution
Four Part Structure - proposed by Kristen Thompson
1.Exposition leads to turning point.
2.Complicating action leads to major turning point
3.Development: Struggle towards goal leads to climax
4.Epilogue
Mise en scene
The staging of a scene through the
arrangement of everything that the audience
sees.

Includes
Setting - What does it tell us, era, lifestyle etc
Human Figure - Does the actor bring certain qualities, look, reputation style
Lighting - Used to draw attention, set mood, as metaphor
Composition - What is framed and how, balanced, symmetrical etc
Cinematography
“a creative and interpretive process that culminates in
the authorship of an original work of art rather than the
simple recording of a physical event. Cinematography is
not a subcategory of photography. Rather, photography
is but one craft that the cinematographer uses in
addition to other physical, organizational, managerial,
interpretive and image-manipulating techniques to effect
one coherent process.”
John Hora, The American Cinematographer Manual, 9th Edition
Includes-

Camera work - Angles, Distance Movement

Lenses, Focus and Filters
Editing - Continuity Editing
The Hollywood standard in editing which most viewers are
familiar with is known as Continuity Editing. Continuity
editing uses a range of techniques to make the edits as
invisible as possible, presenting one seamless film rather
than thousands of fragmented cuts.

Continuity Editing relies on two main strategies

Systematic order for sequencing shots - establishing shot,

shot reverse shot
Consistency of direction on screen - 180 degree rule, eye line
match etc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xauSCz1mEk
Editing - Soviet Montage
Eisenstein aimed to guide viewer, believing montage could be used as a
way to strengthen the feelings and ideas conveyed by the film rather than to
advance the plot.

Eisenstein described 5 methods of montage.

1. Metric - Cuts are determined by specific duration of time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOQH_OG1tJA
2. Rhythmic - Cuts determined by time and visual content
3. Tonal - The use of the emotional meaning of content
4. Associational - A combination of the above for a more complex and often
abstract effect
5. Intellectual - The use of combined images to create meaning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?

Vertov used montage to create the feeling of a story line that is left to the
interpretation of the spectator. With the authority of the filmmaker removed
the audience must participate in production of meaning rather than simply
spectate
Film theory and
analysis
How do audience exceptions affect their experiences
of film?

How much of a films meaning is based on cultural,

historical or intertextual references, does this
enhance our enjoyment or create barriers for
viewers?
History of Cinema
Some key movements

Hollywood cinema
Soviet Cinema
Experimental and avant-garde cinema
Realism - Italian Neo-Realism to Dogme95
Film Noir
French New Wave
Documentary
Genre films

Some Key Filmmakers We’ll look at

Eisenstein, Vertov, Hitchcock, Bergman, Von Trier, Godard, Riefenstahl, Marker

Film and ideology

How are ideologies explicitly or implicitly promoted

through film?

Who or what is included or excluded

Stereotypes
Racial Ideology
Sexuality
Portrayal of gender
Marxist Film Theory
The Cinema Industry
What factors effect the production of films both in
terms of how they are produced and what can be
produced?

Finance - Independent cinema, public funding, private

investments

Globalisation - Changing markets, cultures and Audiences

Legislation - Classification, Censorship and Copyright

Changing Audiences - Who watches film, where and how?

The Internet, mobile, tv etc

Technology - Changes how things can be said and who can

say them