general style of a film and how its shown

Realism/Formalism

objective style of film rendering 1:1 like reality.

no guarantee of truth 

many psychological layers

often critical of status quo

demystifies reality- breaks it down

what is being said is more important than form

likes to do with average people in everyday situations 

naturalism

romantic idealist realism

social realism

french poetic realism

photojournalism

italian neo-realism

english-proletarian realism

psychological-sociological realism

documentary realism

dogme 95

strives to recreate reality as the director sees it

manipulate all film characteristics to recreate reality

overpowering reality by controlling it

always has an element of self-reflexivity

formal properties change meanings and representations

emphasis of art on visionary ability

trick films

german expressionism and film noir

soviet expressive realism

expressive stylization

high tech style

avant garde film

animation

development

pre-production/preparation

principle photography

post-production

rating, marketing, and distrubution

script development

project must be immediately accessible and easily understood

must readily translate into visual terms

must intersect with other discourses

concept-> synopsis->treatment->script

producer makes script into movie

line producer-cost to make

unit production manager-hire crew

location scout-where to shoot

tech scout-production people and techs needed

casting director-casting

director-brought on by producer

DOP-director of photography

production designer

above the line costs-big name talent

below the line costs-crew

negative costs-total cost of film

shooting time-number of days to collect footage

shooting ratio-amount of film exposed divided by anticipated length of the film

dailies

editing, sound mixing, score

special effects-CGI

film market/trade show-rough preview to raise money to complete or distribute movie

publicity-free advertising such as talk shows and stories in the press

advertising-announcements that have been paid for including previews, billboards, and posters

merchandising-ancillary products associated eith the movie

audience research-concept studies and sneak previews- release patterns

distinct types of film organized due to common characteristics such as:

thematic elements- content

form- how the film is put together

genre myth

tragedy

comedy 

melodrama

boundaries are soft-many hybrids

no one genre is more important than any other

story of man breaking limits

freedom-true to oneself

not a viable contemporary form:

1) not a heroic age- man is passive

2) theological genre- significant universe

most movies are secular- non religious

3) arouses fear and thought- today is a spectacle

man as fallible or limited

1)stylized character to see the pint and laugh at it

2) make a point about current society- most intellectual of all genres

3) dialogue based

most movies are melodramas

typical lives, actions, characters, plots

deal with psychic space

1)family, male, female- geared to emotion

2) good and evil universe acknowledged by audience

1895-1928 silent period: codification

1929-1945 classical: crystallization

1946-1962 post-classical: breaking up

1963-1976 modernist: explosion

1977-present post-modern: revision

financial

aesthetics

global sensibility

1)genres based on financial success- one leads to another

2)selling point created by genre- different but also the same

3) quality leads to formulation

4)insurance to audience of what they are getting

5) cost can be minimized-reuse sets 

1)quality depends on repetition

2)working in formula- audience brings in baggage of genre, do not need to be explicit

3)audience prefers closure

1)element of comfort-familiarity

2)can "sugar coat" the pill

raise social issues and still have a audience

3)cultural myth

elements have lasted due to popular response

4)ritual

many people involved- unites them

reminds people of important values of the past

5)formative influence

bound be certain conventions-judge a film by what it means to do-genre as a dynamic system

post war years of transition in America

creator and consumer sophistication

technological developments

easing of censorship

breakup of the studio system and the mode of independent production

auteur-genre dialectic

topical accomodation

departure or modernization

hybrid

genre as vehicle

parody

nostalgia

remythologization

demythologization

impact of european film

end of censorship

conglomerate takeover of studios

director as auteur

self conscious questioning of moral values

story/myth-person questioning a more complex society

morality is not traditional-operates situationally and not naturally

world is absurd and meaningless-chance is important

difficult to communicate emotions

playing with narrative/pov

self reflexivity-consciousness is turned back upon itself, film in process of making itself calling attention to film medium

open textures- filmic,non filmic, and extra filmic intertextuality

1) emphasized difference between pop culture and intellectual culture, subordinating content to the way that it is told

2) vehicle for deep issues

3) genre is myth about culture- can be art or pretentious

emphasis on business and technology-much more genre driven than modernist movies- sells more, manipulating and elevating virtual reality like real

youth culture-teens are the main target audience as they are the largest movie viewing audience

disregard for reality

collapse of high and low culture into pop culture

pastiche

nostalgia for the past-representation

mode of schizophrenic experience-fragmented reality

love of cult heterogeneity-being different for the sake of being different

hip attitude-pop culture references within film 

film medium is influenced by other mediums

cinematic or extra cinematic

1)aesthetics-literary design, periodization, star system, studio style, narrative of period

2)business practices-studio system

3)film technology-color, widescreen, special effects

4)censorship-production code & MPAA

5)production history

6)critical and popular discourse-critical reactions can affect your reception

historical events-wars, cultural events

economic situation-business linked to film, connected to national business practices-black and white movies

other forms of leisure activity-film as competition of leisure activities, radio-tv-novels influence how films are told

social issues-ethic and values of time, institutions and their effects 

ideology-based on beliefs of the world-political, ethnic, religious, cultural, country, feminist

period received or analyzed-public brings ideology to film, understanding POV of era

gender, class, ethnicity, etc.- postmodern culture sensitive to this but not morality

film influential to world culture

film must be responsible-called on to answer by creator and viewer

representation of censorship

simple or complex

viewers judge films

judging films to get more out of it formally and informally

reflecting on movies deepen us

better audiences create better movies

describe sensations of film experience

difference between personal taste and critical judgment

review

criticism

high end newspapers

weekly/monthly magazines

film journals

academic-auteur,genre,cultural materialist,psychoanalytic,semiotic,structuralist,

star,feminist,queer,historiography,neoformalist,

political interest

complexity

coherance

intensity of effect

originality or audacity

personality

knowledge of film

knowledge of other topics

knowledge of life

stay close to text

nobody sees and hears it like you-stick to your instincts