History of Film Theory Engl 332 Film Other
- Slides: 8
History of Film Theory Engl 332: Film & Other Forms of Rep Langah
Puzzling issues of film theory & criticism Is the film world realistic or artificial? Is its world best expressed in: silence or sound? through stories that may be derived from other arts (drama, folk tradition, literature)? through stories that can be told only through the genre of film?
What is unique about film as compared to other arts? a. b. c. Its formal qualities (techniques of film making, genre etc) Its need for capital investment Its relation to mass audience
History of film theory Phase I 1916 – mid 1930 s Formalist Phase or classical phase: Silent period Theorists like Hugo Munsterberg, Rudolf Arnheim, Sergei Einstein argued that film is an art, not just a direct recording of nature. Seigfried Kracauer & Andre Bazin: Film is not in contrast to nature but an art of nature.
History of film theory: Phase II 1960 s- 1970 s The classical phase was challenged by writers who were responding to historical conditions (Vietnam war & riots in France and America) and knowledge as defined by literature and social sciences. They challenge the ways in which classical phase responds to art, nature, society, reality, class, gender, language.
History of film theory: Phase III 1970 s: Inspired from Linguistics, drawing upon the works of Chomsky & Saussure started questioning the systems of meaning that allow communication of all kind to exist (for a discussion on the link between film and linguistics, read this article: http: //home. hum. uva. nl/oz/elsaesser/essay. Film%20 and%20 Linguistics. pdf) Lacan, Derrida, Strauss, Foucault, Freud’s theories were applied on film analysis
History of film theory: Phase IV Eclectic (varied, diverse) Period (mid 1980 s) History, psychology, linguistics applied to understand films These approaches draw on feminism, cognitive psychology etc They assert the shaping activity of the audience on film meaning (not just passive audience postulated in earlier approaches) but audiences' response towards the film). Resistance of the performer to the meaning imposed by film narrative (how well is the actor justifying the character) How an independent film maker makes a personal statement despite the totalitarian necessities of the medium The financial, political and artistic decisions that constitute film production Challenges of digitization and new forms of media.
Sources Course Pack: Film Language: ‘Preface’
