Chapter 12: Models of Film TheoryChapter 12: Models of Film Theory
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Basic Models of Film TheoryBasic Models of Film Theory
RealistRealist AuteuristAuteurist PsychoanalyticPsychoanalytic IdeologicalIdeological FeministFeminist Cognitive Cognitive
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Realist TheoryRealist Theory
Looks for correspondences between film Looks for correspondences between film images and the realities before the cameraimages and the realities before the camera
Restrictions on stylistic manipulationRestrictions on stylistic manipulation Andre BazinAndre Bazin
Ethical formulationEthical formulation Deep-focus cinematographyDeep-focus cinematography The long takeThe long take
Jean Renoir, Orson WellesJean Renoir, Orson Welles
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Bazin’s approachBazin’s approach StrengthStrength
Stress on ethical contract between filmmaker and Stress on ethical contract between filmmaker and viewerviewer
WeaknessWeakness Typifies few filmsTypifies few films Deep focus, long takes, and montage may co-exist Deep focus, long takes, and montage may co-exist
in a given filmin a given film
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Other Realist ModelsOther Realist Models
Documentary RealismDocumentary Realism Italian neo-realismItalian neo-realism Perceptual realismPerceptual realism
Basis for realism at perceptual levelBasis for realism at perceptual level Three-dimensional visual/acoustic informationThree-dimensional visual/acoustic information
Cinema conveys same information as found in Cinema conveys same information as found in everyday lifeeveryday life
Constrained by cinema’s transformative elementsConstrained by cinema’s transformative elements
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Auteurist TheoryAuteurist Theory
The film director as author and artistThe film director as author and artist A recognizable stylistic signatureA recognizable stylistic signature Consistencies of theme and visual designConsistencies of theme and visual design
Alfred HitchcockAlfred Hitchcock
Strength:Strength: Helps legitimize the medium as an artHelps legitimize the medium as an art
Weakness:Weakness: Attributional errorsAttributional errors Filmmaking is collaborativeFilmmaking is collaborative
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Psychoanalytic ModelsPsychoanalytic Models
Derived from the writings of Freud and Derived from the writings of Freud and Jacques LacanJacques Lacan
Cinema activates unconscious, non-rational Cinema activates unconscious, non-rational pleasures and anxietiespleasures and anxieties VoyeurismVoyeurism
Fetish and taboo imageryFetish and taboo imagery
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StrengthStrength Emphasis on the emotional power of cinemaEmphasis on the emotional power of cinema Emphasis on its ability to arouse desire and Emphasis on its ability to arouse desire and
pleasurepleasure WeaknessWeakness
Based on ambiguous clinical dataBased on ambiguous clinical data Tendency to over-extend its claimsTendency to over-extend its claims
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Ideological ModelsIdeological Models
Ideology – set of beliefs about society and the Ideology – set of beliefs about society and the worldworld
Emphasizes how film portrays society and Emphasizes how film portrays society and expresses ideologiesexpresses ideologies
Levels of ideological expressionLevels of ideological expression First orderFirst order
Rambo: First Blood Part IIRambo: First Blood Part II
Second orderSecond order Back to the FutureBack to the Future
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Ideological point of view:Ideological point of view: Support for established social valuesSupport for established social values Critique of established valuesCritique of established values ConglomerationConglomeration
Mixed set of appeals and outlooksMixed set of appeals and outlooks Enhances marketing to large, heterogeneous Enhances marketing to large, heterogeneous
audiencesaudiences
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StrengthStrength Emphasizes relationship of film and societyEmphasizes relationship of film and society Exposes distorted portraits of social issuesExposes distorted portraits of social issues
WeaknessWeakness Tends to over-extend its claimsTends to over-extend its claims Reduces films to ideological symptomsReduces films to ideological symptoms
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Feminist ModelsFeminist Models
Depiction of gender in filmDepiction of gender in film Connects this to social ideologies and practicesConnects this to social ideologies and practices Images of women (and men) in films made by Images of women (and men) in films made by
menmen Alternative forms of feminist filmmakingAlternative forms of feminist filmmaking
May blend psychoanalytic and ideological May blend psychoanalytic and ideological elementselements
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StrengthStrength Emphasis on the ways gender influences the Emphasis on the ways gender influences the
production of imagesproduction of images WeaknessWeakness
Gender is one of many filters on human Gender is one of many filters on human experienceexperience
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Cognitive ModelsCognitive Models
Viewer perception of visual and auditory Viewer perception of visual and auditory informationinformation Perceptual processingPerceptual processing
How viewers organize these perceptions and How viewers organize these perceptions and derive meaning from themderive meaning from them Interpretive processingInterpretive processing
Schemas (frameworks of interpretation)Schemas (frameworks of interpretation)
Bases for a viewer’s understanding of cinemaBases for a viewer’s understanding of cinema Perceptual correspondencesPerceptual correspondences Social correspondencesSocial correspondences
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StrengthsStrengths The theory is research-based, supported by empirical The theory is research-based, supported by empirical
datadata By accounting for the intelligibility of cinema, the By accounting for the intelligibility of cinema, the
theory also accounts, in part, for the medium’s theory also accounts, in part, for the medium’s popularitypopularity
WeaknessWeakness Relative lack of attention to emotionRelative lack of attention to emotion Lack of attention to cinema’s transformative functionsLack of attention to cinema’s transformative functions
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