Paul Grainge, Mark Jancovich, and Sharon Monteith
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748619061
- eISBN:
- 9780748670888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748619061.003.0004
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter shows that classical norms were not fixed rules or structures, but set particular boundaries within which innovation could take place. In essence, classical film style rejected formal ...
More
This chapter shows that classical norms were not fixed rules or structures, but set particular boundaries within which innovation could take place. In essence, classical film style rejected formal techniques that were purposely disruptive or jarring to the audience. While it is sometimes implied that classical norms emerged simultaneously with the studio system, it is important to note that the aesthetic principles of classical Hollywood cinema preceded the studio system. The development of film style in this sense (classical norms) did not emerge in the very same historical instant as the mode of production that gave it institutional shape (the studio system). Instead, the relation between the two would develop a gradual symbiosis, such that classical norms would become synonymous with the studio system as it emerged more fully after the First World War. The chapter also includes the study, ‘Mass-produced Photoplays: Economic and Signifying Practices in the First Years of Hollywood’ by Janet Staiger, which examines how production practices in the early 1910s influenced the way that films were developed and made.Less
This chapter shows that classical norms were not fixed rules or structures, but set particular boundaries within which innovation could take place. In essence, classical film style rejected formal techniques that were purposely disruptive or jarring to the audience. While it is sometimes implied that classical norms emerged simultaneously with the studio system, it is important to note that the aesthetic principles of classical Hollywood cinema preceded the studio system. The development of film style in this sense (classical norms) did not emerge in the very same historical instant as the mode of production that gave it institutional shape (the studio system). Instead, the relation between the two would develop a gradual symbiosis, such that classical norms would become synonymous with the studio system as it emerged more fully after the First World War. The chapter also includes the study, ‘Mass-produced Photoplays: Economic and Signifying Practices in the First Years of Hollywood’ by Janet Staiger, which examines how production practices in the early 1910s influenced the way that films were developed and made.
Noël Carroll
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300091953
- eISBN:
- 9780300133073
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300091953.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This collection of essays discusses topics in philosophy, film theory, and film criticism. Drawing on concepts from cognitive psychology and analytic philosophy, the author examines a wide range of ...
More
This collection of essays discusses topics in philosophy, film theory, and film criticism. Drawing on concepts from cognitive psychology and analytic philosophy, the author examines a wide range of topics. These include film attention, the emotional address of the moving image, film and racism, the nature and epistemology of documentary film, the moral status of television, the concept of film style, the foundations of film evaluation, the film theory of Siegfried Kracauer, the ideology of the professional western, and films by Sergei Eisenstein and Yvonne Rainer. The author also assesses the state of contemporary film theory and speculates on its prospects.Less
This collection of essays discusses topics in philosophy, film theory, and film criticism. Drawing on concepts from cognitive psychology and analytic philosophy, the author examines a wide range of topics. These include film attention, the emotional address of the moving image, film and racism, the nature and epistemology of documentary film, the moral status of television, the concept of film style, the foundations of film evaluation, the film theory of Siegfried Kracauer, the ideology of the professional western, and films by Sergei Eisenstein and Yvonne Rainer. The author also assesses the state of contemporary film theory and speculates on its prospects.
Yannis Tzioumakis
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748633685
- eISBN:
- 9780748671236
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748633685.003.0005
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The chapter examines the distinct aesthetic effects conveyed by the filmmaker’s stylistic and narrative choices in The Spanish Prisoner. Specifically, it argues that Mamet’s unusual aesthetic view ...
More
The chapter examines the distinct aesthetic effects conveyed by the filmmaker’s stylistic and narrative choices in The Spanish Prisoner. Specifically, it argues that Mamet’s unusual aesthetic view relies on a use of film style that sits uneasily with the notion of classicism in American cinema. This is because, although narrative construction follows, for the most part, the basic principles of classical narrative (causal coherence, continuity and character motivation), it often departs from those principles and follows a logic of its own. These departures are mainly manifest in several clear breaks from the rules of social and/or cultural verisimilitude which immediately provide the story with a high degree of implausibility compared to a classical narrative. Equally, the film style employed to support such a narrative generally adheres to the rules of continuity and transparency, though, on several occasions, it also breaks those rules and consequently evokes a strong sense of constructedness and/or artificiality. In this respect, although film style is at the service of the narrative, it also comments on the narrative and breaks the spectator’s engagement with the story in ways that a classical style would never do.Less
The chapter examines the distinct aesthetic effects conveyed by the filmmaker’s stylistic and narrative choices in The Spanish Prisoner. Specifically, it argues that Mamet’s unusual aesthetic view relies on a use of film style that sits uneasily with the notion of classicism in American cinema. This is because, although narrative construction follows, for the most part, the basic principles of classical narrative (causal coherence, continuity and character motivation), it often departs from those principles and follows a logic of its own. These departures are mainly manifest in several clear breaks from the rules of social and/or cultural verisimilitude which immediately provide the story with a high degree of implausibility compared to a classical narrative. Equally, the film style employed to support such a narrative generally adheres to the rules of continuity and transparency, though, on several occasions, it also breaks those rules and consequently evokes a strong sense of constructedness and/or artificiality. In this respect, although film style is at the service of the narrative, it also comments on the narrative and breaks the spectator’s engagement with the story in ways that a classical style would never do.
Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824831820
- eISBN:
- 9780824868772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824831820.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter examines the relationship between modern mass culture and nationalism through an analysis of the cinema’s reflexivity toward the moviegoing experience itself. In this context, the ...
More
This chapter examines the relationship between modern mass culture and nationalism through an analysis of the cinema’s reflexivity toward the moviegoing experience itself. In this context, the chapter considers Shochiku Kamata Film Studios’ “Kamata style,” the foundation for the classical Japanese cinema, as the performative expression of Japanese modernity. The Kamata-style films presented a national identity by adapting the forms of ordinary domestic life and conciliated the audience with nationalism and militarism, especially in the 1930s. The chapter also discusses the interconnection between film style and cultural formations in Japanese society by focusing on the films of the director Shimazu Yasujiro, including My Neighbor, Miss Yae (Tonari no Yae-chan, 1934). Furthermore, it explores Shochiku’s use of high culture in the form of junbungaku (high literature) in an attempt to traverse the modernist boundaries between high and low culture. Finally, it details the compulsive desire of Japanese filmmakers to elevate their own social status, as manifested in the bifurcated view of interwar film critics toward the “West.”Less
This chapter examines the relationship between modern mass culture and nationalism through an analysis of the cinema’s reflexivity toward the moviegoing experience itself. In this context, the chapter considers Shochiku Kamata Film Studios’ “Kamata style,” the foundation for the classical Japanese cinema, as the performative expression of Japanese modernity. The Kamata-style films presented a national identity by adapting the forms of ordinary domestic life and conciliated the audience with nationalism and militarism, especially in the 1930s. The chapter also discusses the interconnection between film style and cultural formations in Japanese society by focusing on the films of the director Shimazu Yasujiro, including My Neighbor, Miss Yae (Tonari no Yae-chan, 1934). Furthermore, it explores Shochiku’s use of high culture in the form of junbungaku (high literature) in an attempt to traverse the modernist boundaries between high and low culture. Finally, it details the compulsive desire of Japanese filmmakers to elevate their own social status, as manifested in the bifurcated view of interwar film critics toward the “West.”
Ben McCann
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780719091148
- eISBN:
- 9781526124111
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719091148.003.0005
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter will analyse Duvivier’s career in Hollywood. He was first invited to Hollywood by MGM in 1938 to direct The Great Waltz, and then moved to America shortly after the German occupation of ...
More
This chapter will analyse Duvivier’s career in Hollywood. He was first invited to Hollywood by MGM in 1938 to direct The Great Waltz, and then moved to America shortly after the German occupation of France in 1940. He directed four films there during this period, including Lydia (1941) and The Impostor (1944), a loose remake of La Bandera (1935). The chapter explores the various techniques and themes that Duvivier developed during this period, and looks at the critical reception of his films in both French and American trade journals.
The chapter also poses the question of whether a distinctively French cinematic sensibility can be recalibrated within the confines of the Classic Hollywood Cinema (CHC) tradition. Duvivier adapted to a different set of professional and commercial imperatives that enabled him to transcend infrastructural barriers and impose a distinctly French style on the American film industry.Less
This chapter will analyse Duvivier’s career in Hollywood. He was first invited to Hollywood by MGM in 1938 to direct The Great Waltz, and then moved to America shortly after the German occupation of France in 1940. He directed four films there during this period, including Lydia (1941) and The Impostor (1944), a loose remake of La Bandera (1935). The chapter explores the various techniques and themes that Duvivier developed during this period, and looks at the critical reception of his films in both French and American trade journals.
The chapter also poses the question of whether a distinctively French cinematic sensibility can be recalibrated within the confines of the Classic Hollywood Cinema (CHC) tradition. Duvivier adapted to a different set of professional and commercial imperatives that enabled him to transcend infrastructural barriers and impose a distinctly French style on the American film industry.
Veronica Pravadelli
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252038778
- eISBN:
- 9780252096730
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252038778.003.0003
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter argues that in the mid-1930s, American cinema perfected a classical form that dominated till the end of the decade. This form arose out of a new convergence between lifestyle and film ...
More
This chapter argues that in the mid-1930s, American cinema perfected a classical form that dominated till the end of the decade. This form arose out of a new convergence between lifestyle and film style: in ideological terms, the period supported normative and traditional images of femininity and masculinity, and its film style privileged unified narratives based on action, dialogue, and continuity editing. The return to traditional values is manifested by a renewed interest in masculinity: in contrast to the earlier period, which is dominated by female stars, the most popular figured in the second half of the 1930s are male stars, along with child and teenage actors. This trend influences the most important genres of the period: screwball comedy, adventure, and biopic.Less
This chapter argues that in the mid-1930s, American cinema perfected a classical form that dominated till the end of the decade. This form arose out of a new convergence between lifestyle and film style: in ideological terms, the period supported normative and traditional images of femininity and masculinity, and its film style privileged unified narratives based on action, dialogue, and continuity editing. The return to traditional values is manifested by a renewed interest in masculinity: in contrast to the earlier period, which is dominated by female stars, the most popular figured in the second half of the 1930s are male stars, along with child and teenage actors. This trend influences the most important genres of the period: screwball comedy, adventure, and biopic.
James Naremore
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780520285521
- eISBN:
- 9780520960954
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520285521.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
In this, the first book devoted to one of the world’s most admired independent filmmakers, James Naremore offers a close critical study of all of Charles Burnett’s important works for movies and ...
More
In this, the first book devoted to one of the world’s most admired independent filmmakers, James Naremore offers a close critical study of all of Charles Burnett’s important works for movies and television—among them Killer of Sheep, My Brother’s Wedding, To Sleep with Anger, The Glass Shield, Nightjohn, The Wedding, Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property, and Warming by the Devil’s Fire. Naremore shows that Burnett’s important career has developed against the odds and that his artistry, social criticism, humor, and commitment to “symbolic knowledge” have given his films enduring value.Less
In this, the first book devoted to one of the world’s most admired independent filmmakers, James Naremore offers a close critical study of all of Charles Burnett’s important works for movies and television—among them Killer of Sheep, My Brother’s Wedding, To Sleep with Anger, The Glass Shield, Nightjohn, The Wedding, Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property, and Warming by the Devil’s Fire. Naremore shows that Burnett’s important career has developed against the odds and that his artistry, social criticism, humor, and commitment to “symbolic knowledge” have given his films enduring value.
Giorgio Biancorosso
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199827336
- eISBN:
- 9780199369560
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199827336.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, Popular, History, Western
This chapter examines the use of popular songs in Wong Kar Wai’s films as ways of picturing oneself in sound, a key component in a vernacular “aesthetics of the self.” The appearance of songs marks ...
More
This chapter examines the use of popular songs in Wong Kar Wai’s films as ways of picturing oneself in sound, a key component in a vernacular “aesthetics of the self.” The appearance of songs marks moments of spontaneous ‘image-making’ on the part of the characters (whether they are reminiscing or fantasizing about themselves). The resulting self-portraits are shot through with a constellation of images drawn from a variegated multi-media universe of which the music serves as both shorthand and ambassador. While acting as vehicles for the expression of personal fantasies, song sequences exhibit stylistic traits that have come to define Wong’s directorial style - hence their paradoxical role in both diffusing and fostering the director’s identity as auteur. A final comparison with Tarantino shows how Wong’s cinema brings fresh challenges to the traditional notion of appropriation in the arts.Less
This chapter examines the use of popular songs in Wong Kar Wai’s films as ways of picturing oneself in sound, a key component in a vernacular “aesthetics of the self.” The appearance of songs marks moments of spontaneous ‘image-making’ on the part of the characters (whether they are reminiscing or fantasizing about themselves). The resulting self-portraits are shot through with a constellation of images drawn from a variegated multi-media universe of which the music serves as both shorthand and ambassador. While acting as vehicles for the expression of personal fantasies, song sequences exhibit stylistic traits that have come to define Wong’s directorial style - hence their paradoxical role in both diffusing and fostering the director’s identity as auteur. A final comparison with Tarantino shows how Wong’s cinema brings fresh challenges to the traditional notion of appropriation in the arts.
Alain Kerzoncuf, Charles Barr, and Philip French
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780813160825
- eISBN:
- 9780813160870
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813160825.003.0006
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The authors start by noting the continued intense and wide-ranging interest in Hitchcock and his films. They argue that the sheer range of his work over half a century—covering silent and sound, ...
More
The authors start by noting the continued intense and wide-ranging interest in Hitchcock and his films. They argue that the sheer range of his work over half a century—covering silent and sound, Europe and Hollywood, popular and experimental, and a variety of styles—renders him perhaps the closest we have to a universal representative of the medium of cinema. His status as a central figure is illustrated by the importance that his films have held for the film archive movement as it developed from the mid-1930s onward, notably in the United States and France, as well as in his native Britain. This work of preservation has kept the bulk of his films in regular circulation, and it assists the kind of exploration of less familiar elements that the book itself goes on to undertake.Less
The authors start by noting the continued intense and wide-ranging interest in Hitchcock and his films. They argue that the sheer range of his work over half a century—covering silent and sound, Europe and Hollywood, popular and experimental, and a variety of styles—renders him perhaps the closest we have to a universal representative of the medium of cinema. His status as a central figure is illustrated by the importance that his films have held for the film archive movement as it developed from the mid-1930s onward, notably in the United States and France, as well as in his native Britain. This work of preservation has kept the bulk of his films in regular circulation, and it assists the kind of exploration of less familiar elements that the book itself goes on to undertake.
