Media can be very selective when it comes to showing content to its viewers. Popular media outlets are not controlled by the people watching them but larger corporations which send extremely generous donations and sponsorships. While others settle for the typical agenda driven headlines some individuals take initiative to find the stories that really matter and provide a difference prospective on current events. The chapter written by Dr. Steve Presence called Reel News in the Digital Age: Framing Britain’s radical video activists brings to light the process and progression of video-activism and its correlation with technological advancements. In my opinion, this chapter was written very well with regards to the presence of factual writing …show more content…
Moreover, the purpose of this chapter is to talk about the Dr. Presence (2016) “contemporary oppositional British film culture” (p. 103) has Dr. Presence stated; realizing that the other side of the film culture in Britain is being ignored by the mainstream. He goes on by saying that it is important to recover the history of the “underground” film scene to understand the nature of contemporary film and what direction it will take in the future. There is confidence in Dr. Presence’s work because of his work relating to film, politics and avant-garde. Along with a current project he is working on which is a book version of his thesis, The Political Avant-garde: Oppositional Documentary in Britain since 1990 which touches on similar topics such as this chapter, he was been an active member in the film studies and radical film festival settings. Dr. Presence’s professional title is a Research Associate at CMIR, teaching interested minds in undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Dr. Presence has also worked with other industry professionals in his field on research …show more content…
Even though platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo gave almost anyone access to share amateur videos and the opportunity to increased the reach and exposure of contemporary films in Britain, the mainstream films and videos remain superior online. Even illegal offline platforms such as The Pirate Bay and Kickass Torrents were dominated by Hollywood and largely funded feature-films. This meant that smaller individuals and companies did not have an equal chance of getting the same exposure compared to popular films. Another problem video-activism faced was finding and allocated resources and funding to create films. Usually this meant compromising the standard of living for those creating the videos because they were typically bootstrap funded films. Many organizations with this similar problem had to come up with financial strategies whether it be through commercial/advertising commissions or applying for funding. One example as to why Reel News was unique was because of its unique strategies of funding through donations and subscriptions, this allowed Reel News to produce premium content and have full control of what would be shown and no external influences would have a say. With regards to the history of activism, in the 1990s
In the piece “Cinema/Ideology/Criticism,” Jean Luc-Comolli and Jean Narboni define the critic's job as the discernment of “which films, books and magazines allow the ideology a free, unhampered passage, transmit it with crystal clarity, serve as its chosen language” and which films “attempt to make it turn back and reflect itself, intercept it, make it visible by revealing its mechanisms, by blocking them” (753). Through their examination, seven film categories are outlined. Clue falls into the “E” category, which is defined as “films which seem at first sight to belong firmly within the ideology and to be completely under its sway, but which turn out to be so only in an ambiguous manner” (75...
Nichols, John. ""Counbtering Censorship: Edgar Dale and the Film appreciation movement (critical essay)."." Cinema Jouranl. Fall 2006.
Small, Pauline. (2005) New Cinemas: journal of Contemporary Film Volume 3, Queen Mary, University of London
Mathijs, Ernest, and Jamie Sexton. Cult Cinema: An Introduction. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. Print.
Gallagher, T. 2002. Senses of Cinema – Max Ophuls: A New Art – But Who Notices?. [online] Available at: http://sensesofcinema.com/2002/feature-articles/ophuls/ [Accessed: 8 Apr 2014].
Since the creation of films, their main goal was to appeal to mass audiences. However, once, the viewer looks past the appearance of films, the viewer realizes that the all-important purpose of films is to serve as a bridge connecting countries, cultures, and languages. This is because if you compare any two films that are from a foreign country or spoken in another language, there is the possibility of a connection between the two because of the fact that they have a universally understanding or interpretation. This is true for the French New Wave films; Contempt and Breathless directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and contemporary Indian films; Earth and Water directed by Deepa Mehta. All four films portray an individual’s role in society using sound and editing.
" Cinema and the Nation. Ed. Mette Hjort and Scott Mackenzie. New York City, NY: Routledge, 2000. 260-277.
The use of media and popular culture is a sociological phenomenon wherein the structural changes to society, which accompany the emergence of new forms of communication and accessing information, can be examined. There are many differing views regarding whether media and popular culture are necessary to the functioning of a democratic and egalitarian society or whether they actually further social inequality and inhibit political discussion or involvement. Although both interpretations are arguably valid, it can be seen that it is not popular culture and the media in and of themselves but rather how they are consumed by the public that determine how these mediums influence individuals and by extension the wider society.
This essay will look at how Pink Floyd The Wall can be perceived as a postmodern film and will attempt to further analyze certain characteristics and influences of a postmodern culture through illustrated examples within the film. By considering the significance of postmodernism within the television industry, music and arts, Pink Floyd The Wall will be effectively deconstructed to exemplify what a postmodern film consists of. Furthermore, the theory of celebrity culture and its noticeable elements in Pink Floyd The Wall, will be knowingly applied an briefly discussed to reveal an intriguing yet indispensable relationship between Pink, the main character, and its faithful audience.
The postmodern cinema emerged in the 80s and 90s as a powerfully creative force in Hollywood film-making, helping to form the historic convergence of technology, media culture and consumerism. Departing from the modernist cultural tradition grounded in the faith in historical progress, the norms of industrial society and the Enlightenment, the postmodern film is defined by its disjointed narratives, images of chaos, random violence, a dark view of the human state, death of the hero and the emphasis on technique over content. The postmodernist film accomplishes that by acquiring forms and styles from the traditional methods and mixing them together or decorating them. Thus, the postmodern film challenges the “modern” and the modernist cinema along with its inclinations. It also attempts to transform the mainstream conventions of characterization, narrative and suppresses the audience suspension of disbelief. The postmodern cinema often rejects modernist conventions by manipulating and maneuvering with conventions such as space, time and story-telling. Furthermore, it rejects the traditional “grand-narratives” and totalizing forms such as war, history, love and utopian visions of reality. Instead, it is heavily aimed to create constructed fictions and subjective idealisms.
· James Curran & Michael Gurevitch: (2000): Arnold Publishers “Mass Media And Society: Third Edition”
During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that, examining post classical at which time the relationship between them will become evident. It is my intention to reference films from both movements and also published texts relative to the subject matter. In order to illustrate the structures involved I will be writing about the subjects of genre and genre transformation, the representation of gender, postmodernism and the relationship between style, form and content.
O’Shaughnessy, M., Stadler, J. (2009)Media and Society: An introduction. Dominant Ideology and Hegemony. London: Oxford.
Urbanists have long had the view that physical dynamics and look of a place play a vital role in the formation of public culture. Urban leaders and visionary minds have seen a city’s streets, parks, squares and other spaces in the urban environment as symbols of collective wealth, possibility, expressions of achievement and inspiration. “When public spaces are successful they will increase opportunities to participate in communal activity. This fellowship in the open nurtures the growth of public life, which is stunted by the social isolation of ghettos and suburbs. In the parks, plazas, markets, waterfronts, and natural areas of our cities, people from different cultural groups can come together in a supportive context of mutual enjoyment. As these experiences are repeated, public spaces become vessels to carry positive communal meanings” (Carr, Francis, Rivlin and Stone, 1993, p. 344). Film has the ability to inspire us, it allows us to inhabit new identities and to enjoy the world and different types of cultures in different perspectives. The universal ability of films excites and inspires all different types of audiences, it also makes the audience think, laugh, cry and show compassion and proves to be a very successful art form. This very popular and significant medium is becoming more accessible through the realms of cinema, and is becoming a necessity to a greater deal of towns and city’s. This however comes at a cost, in the last two decades dramatic changes have taken place in cinema landscape, which has seen the rise in multiplex cinemas and seen a dramatic decline in low key town center and traditional cinemas. In this essay I will be investigating the changes the Electric cinema in Portobello road London has gone throu...
The aim of this research is to explore cinema audience's, festival goers' and workers in cinema views and experiences of film festivals, trying to understand what values they give to them and trying to figure out if they believe that in difficult times, such as the one we are living through, a film exhibition is still necessary.