Discuss the relation between scholarship, criticism and production in filmmaking and discuss its impact on film style.

Definitions

Film criticism Anybody who actively seeks to understand a film he/she sees. A Critic already knows the formal patterns of a film – Repetitions, variations, narrative. Film reviews - usually based on their genres, plot, narration and style - Adheres to a focus. involved in viewing and writing about films critically

Criticism in filmmaking The practice of analyzing, classifying, interpreting, or evaluating literary or other artistic works. What really makes a critic a critic? Can we criticize if we do not know the subject? Aren’t we all critics? Two kinds of critics : Criticism in the affective meaning : subjective. Criticism of the techniques, of the know- how : objective.

Film Scholarship Studies Film in general on a broader scale Critical of not just individual films but a whole body of work. Involved in viewing and writing about films critically; usually a thesis with a common theme. Has in depth knowledge of the film industry.

Scholarship in filmmaking Knowledge in technique fields : Special effects Editing … Knowledge in cultural fields : Art Literature Cinema …

Film Production Entire process of making a film Including pre and post production but usually means the ‘shooting’ phase Director is responsible for it Includes coordination of sets, costumes, production designs, graphic artists, etc.

Between scholarship and criticism In affective criticism, scholarship does not help. Scholarship helps in criticism of the of the know- how. Evolution : Cultures change in the time, new fashions appear…  Affective criticism changes  Criticism does not like the same films than before. In scholarship, new techniques appear.  Critics ask for more and more special effects, for bigger and bigger productions…

Between scholarship and production It exists between direct relations and scholarship and production : Production needs scholarship to make films. Scholarship needs production since if there were not production, there would not be any scholarship in filmmaking. Their evolution is also linked : Nowadays, production looks for more and more technical skills. So that, scholarship needs to adapt to new techniques.

Between criticism and production Nowadays, production does not take risks anymore. Sympathize with the audience’s situation if appropriate

Film style Patterned and significant use of techniques :Mise en scene :Cinematography :Editing :Sound “It’s what you call style in retrospect only. At the time of Making the movie, it’s just about making individual choices.”-Ethan Coen, producer, writer.

Formalism and the Soviet Montage Formalism – That film should be a translation of observed characteristics into the forms of the medium. – Against Realism – Concerned with with methods of restructuring reality into aesthetically appealing designs using :-mise en scène; or aurally, in stylized dialogue, symbolic sound effects, and musical motifs. Lev Kuleshov – Montage :Shots, rather than just 'edited' together, are constructed. – a number of short shots woven together – Communicate information in a short period

Soviet Montage Sergei Eisenstein – Dialectical Montage – Films: Battleship Potemkin, Strike, October, – Ex. In Battleship of potemkin, a sailor smashes a plate and it occurs over ten cuts. Intellectual Montage Study of existing methods of film making and introducing new ones- Adding to the text of film making Eisenstein’s written theories - work of Dziga Vertov and Lev Kuleshov - early predecessors of Eisenstein’s montage theories and practices Influence:DW griffith’s Intolerance

French New Wave A group of men from who wrote for the Paris film Journal, Cahiers Du cinema. Film critics and filmmakers Andre Bazin, Francois Truffaut, Eric Rohmer, Jean Luc Goddard, Claude Charbrol, Jacques Rivette. – Critical of popular French films; decided to make their own. – Came up with ‘Auteur theory’ – To be Auteurs themselves

Production and Style Shooting on Location Using inexpensive light weight portable cameras film stock requiring less light cheap portable sound equipment

Style More panning and tracking shots Favoured Mise en scene and Long takes freeze- frames, jump-cuts, expansive camera movements i.e in Breathless, Jules et Jim Causal connections become quite loose Ends ambiguously richly complex characterizations emotional realism – Examining of the face; breathless, 400blows (Antoine’s stricken face at the end), etc. – “often emphasized the complexity of the a character’s inner reactions”- Ian Morrison

French New Wave Directors Claude Chabrol (Less Bonnes Femmes); Jean Luc Godard (Breathless; My Life to Live); Alain Resnais (Hiroshima Mon Amour; Last Year at Marienbad); Jacques Rivette (Paris Belongs to Us); Francois Truffaut (The 400 Blows; Jules and Jim; Shoot the Piano Player).

Scholarship Andre Bazin on the Soviet Montage ‘it did not give us the event; it alluded to it.' Eisenstein's system of Dialectical Montage not the realistic meaning of a particular shot, but rhythmic relationship and juxtaposition of the shots Bazin: reality of event is important, montage is expressionism and probably tricks.

Impact on style Jump cuts from Soviet Montage to Jump cuts in French New wave Magnify time and Space French New wave films made frequent references to Hollywood ‘Auteurs’ like Alfred Hitchcock, Orson welles, etc.

conclusion Films at every stage of reinvention from German expressionism, Soviet montage to Structuralism to post modernism - all products of film criticism and film scholarship. - Impact greatly the production and style of films. Essays, books, movies, interviews -texts film makers refer to when making movies.