Classical cinema is defined by what we all know and love about the contemporary films produced by Hollywood today. It is conversant with audiences because they are able to identify and expect its traits. The narrative form influences every part of filmic representation; its linear nature must propel its action through “psychologically defined, goal orientated characters” that undergo a “chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring in time and space.” (Bordwell, 2008)
The foundation of the system of creating these classical structures relies on a passive audience who can be easily manipulated into the narrative, through the identification of its main characters, and their perils, which they are ultimately familiar with, and are
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Buñuel diverted from this typical ‘pleasurable’ progression of classical cinema throughout his entire career. The Spanish director “was a singular figure in world cinema, and a consecrated auteur from the start.”(Russell, 2005) His narrative experimentation was consistently ahead of its time with his films resonating with audiences due to their provocative nature and rebellion against the stylistic and narrative conventions of classical cinema, which were cemented into the normality of society. Born into the foundation of cinema itself; “his work moves from surrealist experimentation in the 1920s, through commercial comedies and melodrama in the 1950s, to postmodernist cine d’art in the 1960s and ’70s.” (Russell, …show more content…
It was described as "the most famous short film ever made" by critic Roger Ebert. (Ebert, 2000) The films purpose was not merely to explore the visions of two artistic individuals, but moreover, it was a comment based on social and historical context, which it aimed to sabotage through mockery and subversion. Buñuel himself stated that “our only rule was very simple: no idea or image that might lend itself to a rational explanation of any kind would be accepted.” (Buñuel,
Les 400 Coups by François Truffaut displays personal cinema by sharing his own thoughts through the eyes of Antoine. As stated in the lecture video, cinema was a way for Truffaut to escape from his unhappy home life. His unfortunate home life is shown through the perspective of Antoine to display how Truffaut may have felt when he was a child. François Truffaut makes the audience feel sympathy and a sense of understanding for Antoine's predicament through the use of realistic and noteworthy sets.
“The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can convey emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.” The written word and the moving image have always had their entwining roots deeply entrenched in similar narrative codes, both functioning at the level of implication, connotation and referentiality. But ever since the advent of cinema, they have been pitted against each other over formal and cultural peculiarities – hence engaging in a relationship deemed “overtly compatible, secretly hostile” (Bluestone 2).
Going to the universities’ library earlier this month to rent three films, - 500 days of Summer, Annie Hall and High Fidelity- was the first step to my critical writing and analysing process. I spent some time at home, to watch these three completely different movies. Although there is one theme that captures the common motif in these three movies, the theme Romance. The standard model suggests that a film wherein the plot revolves around the love feelings and love between two protagonists can be defined as a romance film. It is a well-known fact that love makes people do strange things, Shakespeare himself even said: “Love makes blind”.
Regardless, the most common cause of people’s adoration to films is that they link the presented events to a specific time in their lives. Most films, especially the classics, are being constantly watched or remade to remind people of their childhood or “the good old days” that they do not want to forget. To illustrate, many people still watch the animated Cinderella movie to re-live their
the cinemetogaphy displayed throughout the whole film gives the movie a different feel to it then any other drama or so called sports film ever made. This is easily one of the most powerful films that was ever made, “Raging Bull” is a cinematic masterpiece and will go down as one of the best films of all time thanks to its constant fluid theme of violent and anger and most important it cinematography which made the movie so noir . “Raging Bull” has changed the way american films and film writers are
George Melies said in the film “Hugo” that, “I would recognize the sound of a movie projector anywhere.”(Hugo). People watch films nearly all the time nowadays, but only few still remember the history of cinema. How it began, or how it created those effects of enchanted stories. Based on a novel released on 2007, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the film “Hugo” contains historical interpretation on the nearly forgotten art in times of economic hardship and damage of war to people. Using the enchanted fantasy style, Martin Scorsese brought back the history of the film to the young people in the presents that need to remember how all dreams of film started.
Over the fifteen weeks of the first semester of film school, we were taught many interesting types and styles of early world cinema which were extremely informative and influenced the filmmaking style of the whole class and made us better filmmakers instantly. One such ‘ism’ which inspired me the most was German Expressionism which is a unique characteristic of Weimar Cinema. In this essay I am going to talk about the history of this ‘ism’, its impact on cinema, some significant works and how it inspired me and influenced my filmmaking style. German Expressionism is one of the earliest artistic genres to influence filmmaking, and one that ostensibly prepared for some other cutting edge artistic styles and techniques. It is an artistic genre
In “Aesthetic of Astonishment” essay, Gunning argues how people first saw cinema, and how they are amazed with the moving picture for the first time, and were not only amazed by the technological aspect, but also the experience of how the introduction of movies have changed the way people perceive the reality in a completely different way. Gunning states that “The astonishment derives from a magical metamorphosis rather than a seamless reproduction of reality”(118). He uses the myth of how the sacred audience run out the theater in terror when they first saw the Lumiere Brother Arrival of the train. However, Gunning does not really care how hysterical their reaction is, even saying that he have doubts on what actually happened that day, as for him it the significance lied on the incidence--that is, the triggering of the audience’s reaction and its subsequence results, and not the actual reactions and their extent. It is this incident, due to the confusion of the audience’s cognition caused by new technology, that serves as a significant milestone in film history which triggered in the industry and the fascination with film, which to this day allows cinema to manipulate and
Cinema in its essence is the reproduction of reality. According to Andrè Bazin, man has been using art in order to preserve himself from “spiritual death”. Film and photography are the only two examples of visual arts that allow us to achieve a further level of realism.
Baz Luhrmann is widely acknowledged for his Red Curtain Trilogy which are films aimed at heightening an artificial nature and for engaging the audience. Through an examination of the films Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby, the evolution and adaptation of his techniques become evident. Luhrmann’s belief in a ‘theatrical cinema’ can be observed to varying degrees through the three films and his choice to employ cinematic techniques such as self-reflexivity, pastiche and hyperbolic hyperbole. The cinematic technique of self-reflexivity allows a film to draw attention to itself as ‘not about naturalism’ and asks the audience to suspend their disbelief and believe in the fictional construct of the film.
Two films, although created years apart yet have a lot in common, including their content of it’s narrative techniques. Both films, even though black and white with strokes of genius of cinema offer a vast stretch for study. I will be looking at Sir Orson Welles “Citizen Kane” (1941) and Akira Kurosawa’s “Rashomon” (1950). We see in Citizen Kane he values for the American life. The three abstract themes that constantly follow through Citizen Kane are Wealth, Power and Love.
Baz Luhrmann is known world wide for his eccentric and flamboyant film-making style. Luhrmann’s signature bright colours, fast-paced camera-cuts and zooms, and bold costumes are all key characteristics of his films and assist Luhrmann in putting forward the themes and motifs he regards as essential in each of his works. However, Luhrmann still receives much criticism for not staying true to the original source material of the stories he introduces to the big screen. One fails to realize the fact that, “Luhrmann’s films are not so much adaptations as re-imaginings” (Vogue Magazine) and through analysis of his various techniques, as well as his overall cinematic language in his films, “Strictly Ballroom” (1992), “Romeo + Juliet” (1996) and “The Great Gatsby”, one can see this clearly, through Luhrmann’s evolution as a director. Luhrmann makes his films his own from the start, the opening scenes of all three of these films implement post-modern techniques which instantly informs the audience that they are entering into Luhrmann’s
Ancient Greek and Roman films have innate properties that accommodate the genre to prosperously generate success at the box office – grand battles, charismatic leaders, eccentric sexuality, and divine figures ensure that the general public will purchase admission to observe both the narrative and spectacle. Among these Ancient Greek and Roman films are the cleverly written comedies and the powerful/dramatic tragedies (both based upon the work of accomplished ancient playwrights) that opt out of the spectacle entirely to focus instead on the narration and characters. This shift in the focus of the films from balanced story and spectacle to complex narration results in this subgenre of ancient films to consistently fail in capturing modern cinematic
By the late 1980s the art film landscape has radically changed. The art-house cinema circuit was shrinking. Many of the smaller theatres had obsolete technological system, out of date architectural space – simply became moribund. Apart from these obvious pragmatic factors, what once was a banner and main differentiation of the art house venues namely the films on the screen, was getting blurred. What exemplifies this shift is the growing importance of the independent American cinema as after the success of Sex, Lies and Videotapes at Cannes in 1989 and the emergence of so named “smart” American film in the 1990s accumulated around Sundance festival.
SOUND IN THE SILENCE! Chaplin’s “Modern Times” Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, better known as Charlie Chaplin was an English actor, director, scriptwriter, producer, composer and the great silent star, in the sound era. The speciality about Chaplin’s films is that whenever we watch it - no matter after how long you saw it the last time - it seems both endearingly familiar and inexhaustibly fresh, with a feeling of wanting to watch it again.