FIST 331 Study Guide - Winter 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Sergei Eisenstein, Ontology, Film Theory
FIST 331
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Film Theory/What is it?
Thinking about cinema beyond its content. •
ex. It’s objectivity subjectivity, reality, - takes a step back from just the content and the big questions from •
the things we think we know.
“ A film is difficult to explain because it is easy to understand.” - Christian Metz •
We believe what we know and think that we really know it, but we rather don’t. ◦
Why do we need film theory?
metaphysics of cinema - film theory gives us this. •
The first principles, big questions. the WHAT IS. ◦
Not how we process and make meaning, rather these questions that already exist out there. ◦
how to discuss representation beyond its content? •
We like to talk about what we see and what it means. - how we generally talk in the way we know ◦
We take representation for granted and we are comfortable with what we see, we analyze what is ◦
given
Theory is How cinema trains us to to see, how the cinematic model is created to be seen ◦
The questions that we dont ask so that we can easily delve ourselves into the cinema that we watch ◦
Addresses an academic community ◦
as a scholar, you need a methodology to frame your work. •
why is the cinema engaging? Why do we return? •
a reflection on the medium itself: what is specific to the film and the theorists who engage with it? •
(Medium Specificity)
Do films have a natural vocation for realism, or for artifice and stylization? Should technique call •
attention to itself or be self-effacing?Is there an ideal styles? What is the relation between technique and
social responsibility...?
Why Film Theory?
film theory is rarely pure; it is usually laced with an admixture of literary criticism, social commentary, •
and philosophical speculation.
Film theory it continues today, not just what is cinema but also about more recent works to our time. •
“Film theory, to put it paradoxically, can generate procedure failures and calamitous successes •
Theories dont usually fall into disuse. They do not die, they transform themselves leaving traces and •
reminisces.
Ontological: question of being (the world the camera and film are a part of)
- issue of the apparatus
Epistemological/ideological: how to we come to know what a film is about?
Aesthetic: distinctions in between films
How do we come to know things and then we add Moore of our own meanings
Example: Andre Bazin
Ontologically (what should film be?) •
Cinema isn’t just a representation or reflection of reality, its part of reality ◦
Epistemologically (how will the viewer react/what will he or she learn? •
viewers will have a different experience for the objective world and their subjective experience of it ◦
if they are shown films with this argument in mind.
Aesthetically •
What should the film look and act like? Long-take, mobile camera, and deep focus cinema should ◦
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reproduce objective reality.
How to represent reality?
General structure of classical film theory
what is the determinant or crucial feature of film? (Ontology) •
What makes a film a film, how does it teach us to speak its language, and how in speaking and ‣
sounds does it answers our questions.
What is the value or role of cinema? (Epistemology) •
What are the processes of articulation in film in relation to the precious two questions? (Aesthetics) •
How can film combine the images, sounds, ex. ◦
Film Theory - theory can be a frame through which to view a film or a body of films.
a theory can be the central object of inquiry in an essay, film ( or a body of films) can be used to explore/•
illuminate it.
film helps us understand the theory •
How do I get good at it?
film theory of difficult, but its supposed to be •
Feel free to use secondary sources, look it up •
Try pictorial or -graphics methods of thinking •
Read theory •
investigate the citation, read the footages and end sources that are cited beyond the original text. •
Early Film Theory
film as a universal language= democratic •
pre-occupied with many of the same questions that film theory still addresses today •
Many scholars still study and questions all ◦
Hugo Munster’s The Photoplay: A psychological Study 1916- film is an art of subjectivity whose distance •
from physical reality makes it worthwhile
Film is not bound to the laws of space, time, and causality - can interact with the spectator’s ◦
conciousness more actively
Keeps us more alert and aware of the jumps that happen ◦
Bela Balaz language - like nature of film - film spectators needed to learn the grammar of film •
Film theories dont die, comes back because of trends... never really go away •
Attractions- Tom Gunning
early film theory was not so much about the material, just the idea on whether you were looking at •
anything at all.
Realism, formalism, things between
Realism ( kracauer)- film literally photographs reality/reproduces the physical world •
Formalism (Eisenstein)- film is art and not a representation of reality - it creates its own world •
Neorealism (Bazin) - asks the actor to be and no just act. Narrative respects actual qualities and duration •
of the event
Realist/Anti-Realist (Perkins) - film is capable of reproduction as well as creation; film has a unique •
blend of photographic realism and dramatic illusion
Anti-Mimesis (Arnheim) - Art must manipulate reality •
Avant-Garde (Brakhage, Derek) - creative altering of photographic reality - distorts expected •
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
It"s objectivity subjectivity, reality, - takes a step back from just the content and the big questions from the things we think we know. A film is difficult to explain because it is easy to understand. - christian metz. We believe what we know and think that we really know it, but we rather don"t. Why do we need film theory? metaphysics of cinema - film theory gives us this. The first principles, big questions. the what is. We like to talk about what we see and what it means. How we generally talk in the way we know. We take representation for granted and we are comfortable with what we see, we analyze what is given. Theory is how cinema trains us to to see, how the cinematic model is created to be seen. The questions that we dont ask so that we can easily delve ourselves into the cinema that we watch.
