The Cinematic 60s and 70s Gary Handman

1.Discuss how to identify and locate notable films of the 1960s and 70s (both fiction and non-fiction) 2.Point out some unique aspects of film as a research topic 3.Discuss how to find historical and current film reviews 1975

Cinema of the Sixties and Seventies A period of radical change: Decline of the studio system/on-going merger and acquisition Decline of single-screen theaters and rise of the multiplex Changing audience demographics (the Baby Boom goes to the Movies!) Rise of independents / The “Film School Generation” Collapse of the Hollywood Production Code (The Hays Code): New sexual and political openness New, previously forbidden topics Period of visual and narrative experimentation in both fictional and non-fictional (documentary) films Fertile period for non-mainstream films—for e.g. avant-garde films, radical political films, feminist films, etc. 1971

Cinema of the Sixties and Seventies: Sources International Feature Films and TV Mainstream Hollywood American Independents (e.g. Roger Corman, Dennis Hopper, John Cassavetes) Weird and off-the-beaten track…cult films and others TV of various genres Documentary Films Cinéma Vérité/Direct Cinema D.A Pennebaker Robert Drew Ricky Leacock Al and David Maysles Feminist docs Radical docs (e.g. Newsreel) Primary Source Media Newsreels and broadcast news Performance works Interviews Avant-Garde/ Experimental Films Andy Warhol, Bruce Conner, Stan Brakhage, Craig Baldwin, Joans Mekas & others

Pop and fan Current Scholarly/In-depth Writing About Film… Industry Historical

Reviews: Assessment of aesthetic and content merits of a film  Found in popular periodicals, film periodicals, and (less often) in more scholarly journals  In pop periodicals: Current and Historical (older)  Usually cover current releases, more pop theatrical releases  Tend to be relatively short and relatively superficial (with some exceptions and depending on the publication and who’s doing the writing)  Interesting sources of info about audience reception and “current think” Reviews? Critical Writing? What’s the diff? 1972/74

Reviews? Critical Writing? What’s the Diff? Critical analysis:  Discuss films in:  broader historical, cultural, political, artistic context and/or  Focus on a specific aspect of a film, film genre, or filmmaker  Found in books and scholarly or film-related journals  Tend to be longer, more substantive than reviews (with some exceptions and depending on the publication and who’s doing the writing)  Often include notes, bibliographies, other scholarly apparatus  Often takes awhile for scholars to get around to writing about films and filmmakers 1968

Gary’s Desert Island Index/Article Database List No Now Playing

GH Desert Island List: Film reviews No Now Playing Readers Guide Retrospective International Index to the Performing Arts JSTOR New York Times (ProQuest) Periodicals Archive Online

Where to Find These Databases No Now Playing

FilmBibMenu.html a growing listing of bibliographies on various film topics and individual films compiled by MRC (includes bibs for genres, filmmakers, national cinemas, and individual film). Use these sources for identifying the defining films of the 60s and 70s Also Check out:

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