1. Finish Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958) & brief discussion2. Formalism, Autuer theory, Realism and Genre3. Activity & Analysis

What’s up today in History of Film?

Friday, April 21, 17

Project Proposal Review Due March 10th - Week after next!Let’s Review.

But first...

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And an important omission from last week - Alma RevilleAlma Lucy Reville, Lady Hitchcock (14 August 1899 – 6 July 1982), was an English-American screenwriter and editor. They met in 1920 when Hitchcock was a set artist, though they never really spoke to each other. It was only after the director for Always Tell Your Wife (1923) fell ill and Hitchcock was named director to complete the film that he and Reville began to collaborate. She co-wrote and inspired many of Hitchcock’s films.

Friday, April 21, 17

And now... Vertigo (1958)Technical Considerations:1. Film Noir in Technicolor - Colour movieformat, to become predominant in Hollywood Films from 2. First use of a Zoom Dolly in a film, this can be seen in many scenes, breakthrougheffect at the time - This film’s famous camera technique (which essentially involves zooming forward while pulling the camera backward); Not Hitchcock rather, it was an uncredited second unit cameraman, Irwin Roberts. 3. Hitchcock was considered a Auteur Director -the director, who oversees all audio and visual elementsof the motion picture defines its story.

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Called “Classical” because of its Aristotelian narrative style that is derived from live theatre and is by far the most popular story organization.Classical cinema avoids the extremes of realism and formalism in favour of a style of presentation that has a surface believability.Often handsomely mounted, story oriented, high premium placed on the the entertainment value of the story which conforms to popular genre.Characters often played by “stars” and roles are often tailored to their personal charms. Audience is encouraged to identify with their goals/values.

So how do we classify Vertigo... Well it a “Classical Film”

But, also...

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Formalism, at its most general, considers the elements (separately or together) of film production (camera shots, lighting, sound, etc), and the effects, emotional and intellectual, of that synthesis and of the individual elements.Formalist directors are concerned with expressing their own unabashedly subjective experience of reality — stylistically flamboyant. Some formalist perspectives include:EXPRESSIONIST: because of concern with spiritual and psychological truths, conveyed by distorting the surface of the material world. German Expressionism - Fritz Lang, A.W. MurauIDEALIST: Formalist cinema excels in dealing with ideas — political religious, philosophical, socio-economic. Soviet Montage - Sergi EsenstienAUTEUR - Emphasis on technique and expression personal decisions, thoughts, and style manifest themselves in the material. Auteur Theory (François Truffau) focusses on the director as author - Hitchcock!

Formalist -

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But Hitchcock wasn’t...

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Realism - Realist filmmakers attempt to reproduce the surface of reality with a minimum of distortion.We rarely notice the “style” in a realistic movie — concerned with what is being shown rather than how it is being manipulated.Realists try to preserve the illusion that their film worlds are objective mirrors of the actual world.The camera is used as a “recording mechanism” to reproduce the surface of tangible objects with as little commentary as possible.It is a style that excels in making us feel the humanity of others as beauty of film is sacrificed to capture the authentic texture of reality. Tends toward documentary but not always can be “real life fiction” and representational of life.

Bazin sketches a brief history of art, in which he identifies cinema as the fulfillment of the human craving for realistic representation. Cinema's mission was thus to fulfill this goal. For Bazin, realism was a style whose chief elements were the long take, deep focus, limited editing and, when possible, the use of non-professional, or at least relatively unknown actors.

Realist...

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Note of 2 very important names mentioned in passing

François Truffau (Director, writer)& André Bazin (Critic, film theorist) - French New wave (late 1950s to late 1960s) and contributors to famous film magazine - Cahiers du cinéma

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Many films can be represented somewhere on the spectrum of Realism, Classicalism, and Formalism. Different genres can focus on these specifically or have elements of each.

ActionAdventureComedyCrime/GanstaDramaEpic/HistoricalHorrorMusical/DanceSiFiWarWestern

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REALISM CLASSICISM FORMALISM

Film Styles - The origins of contemporary film styles and

genre

Documentary - “Real” F I C T I O N Experimental

Styles

Types/modes

Lumier BrothersWomen Leaving the Factory

Neo Realist Movies - Italian movementVittorio De Sica(Bicycle Thief)

George Lucas, StevenSpielberg

Hitchcock, Kubrick,

Sergi Esienstien, Lev Kuleshov

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Classical Style, Formalism, Auteur theory, Realism and Genre

Classical Film - Most Hollywood fiction film tend to conform the classical paradigm. Classical cinema can be viewed as an intermediate style that avoids the extreme of realism and formalism but can incorporate elements of both. The Hollywood Genre - Categories of style, form or subject matter in film. ie. Western, horror, drama, comedy, Film Noir, etc.. Formalism: Formalism is primarily concerned with technique & style and how it communicates ideas. This is usually broken into 2 perspective - a) Ideological (Socio-Political) and b) Auteur Elements (below)

Auteur theory - Director as central creator of narrative and emotion (formalist approach looks at technical elements)

Realism - less obvious because realists try to preserve the illusion that their film world is unmanipulated, an objective mirror of the actual world (ie. Cinema Verite, Neo-Realism) - Note: How does CGI fit into this?

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Enter Italian Neo-Realism

Italian neorealism (Italian: Neorealismo), also known as the Golden Age of Italian Cinema, is a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class, filmed on location, frequently using non-professional actors. Italian neorealism films mostly contend with the difficult economic and moral conditions of post-World War II Italy, representing changes in the Italian psyche and conditions of everyday life, including poverty, oppression, injustice, and desperation.

Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, Cesare Zavattini, Luchino Visconti, Giuseppe De Santis, Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Federico Fellini

Example: The Bicycle Thief - 1948Vittorio De Sica - Final Scene

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So What does it all mean?

All films and genres can be rated somewhere on the scale of Realist, Classical or Formalist and can even combine attributes of all three when analyzed.

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Group activity

Youtube clip hunt!!! - Choose a short clip based on a specific style and then present it based on its Formalist, Classical or Realist elements. Also identify it by its genre.

Friday, April 21, 17

Next Week!!!Project Proposal Review - Due March 10th - Week after next!

- Setting up groups for pocket film

- Sound to be discuss but screening canceled.

Have a great week!Friday, April 21, 17