CinemaChapter 9

Conventions of Film

Sound- sound was added in 1927, music is used to create mood

Camera-point of view, camera angles add to experience

Color-1936 technicolor, black and white are often enhanced by the play of light and dark

Time-flexible, use of close ups, dissolves and freeze-frames/speed ups enhance understanding

Challenging Conventions

Use of special effects Audience doesn’t mind if it is unreal CGI, 3D, all part of the experience

Major Film Genres

SLAPSTICK

Rapid and violent farce where there is a lot of violence, dehumanized

Charlie Chaplin

FARCE

Marx Brothers On the wrong side of

rules or regulations, manage to never be caught

Rules they break are unfair, or only aristocrats care about

Genres Continued…

FILM NOIR

Gangsters, private detectives, gritty underworld, play by own rules

Dark, somber tone

ROMANTIC COMEDY

Attractive couples, circumstances beyond their control pull them apart.

Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back

CLASSIC ROMANTIC COMEDY

It Happened One Night

Roman Holiday Love is greater than

money Depression-Era

escapism

MODERN ROMANTIC COMEDY

Annie Hall When Harry Met Sally The American

President As Good As It Gets Up In the Air

SCREEN MUSICAL

Couple were kept apart until the final embrace

Dancing at any moment (illogical) Singing In the Rain Dirty Dancing Chicago

THE WESTERN

Uniquely American

Good vs. Evil

When a hero is needed, a hero will be there

Social Issues

Film is a powerful social criticism Mr. Deeds goes to town-hero distributes

$20 million inheritance and must defend his sanity because of it

It’s a Wonderful Life-people’s worth is measured by the amount of good they do

Grapes of Wrath-struggle for justice must transcend his own family and self-interest

Documentaries

Nonfiction, factual films Some have been criticized for

possibly doctoring the truth to further their agenda Frederick Wiseman-Welfare, Racetrack,

The Store Michael Moore-Bowling for Columbine,

Waiting for Superman, Fahrenheit 9/11

The Suffering Artist

Films depict the lives of geniuses, leave the audience with memories of the art as well as temper tantrums and mental illnesses.

The Agony and the EcstasyAmadeusLust for LifeLa Vie en Rose

Citizen Kane

Classic, theme-can money buy happiness? Traces the life of a rags to riches millionaire, reporter tries to solve the mystery of his last word, “Rosebud”. It was his childhood sled.

Casablanca

Classic, story of one man’s moral dilemma and conflicting moral values. Film noir hero, conceals his broken heart under a tough exterior. Lost love and her husband walk into his bar. He helps them escape Nazis even though she would be willing to stay with him instead.

The Film Auteur

Applied to the most significant directors Special style and themes so evident

their work is instantly recognizable Ingmar Bergman-The Seventh Seal Federico Fellini-La Strada, 8 ½ Alfred Hitchcock-The Birds, Psycho Akira Kurosawa-Rashomon, The Seventh

Samurai Stanley Kubrick-Dr. Strangelove Francis Ford Coppola- Godfather

Critical Viewing –use to determine the merit of a film

Use of a unique style to Cinema Characters with complex inner lives Relevance to the times Integrity Gravity of Theme No violations of probability Realistic depiction of gender