A philosopher by the name of Neil Carroll believes that, “the power of movies, their capacity to evoke unrivaled widespread and intense response-is, first and foremost, at least a result of their deployment of pictorial representation, variable framing and the erotetic narrative” (Carroll 94).
Carroll believes movies are more powerful than any form of art. They are more powerful because they are pictorial representation. Pictorial representation is a lot easy to understand and it is immediate. The language behind pictorial representation are more accessible, meaning a person having nothing to do with you, if you show that person a painting of Willem de Kooning’s Woman, I that person will pretty much agree to the same thing as you do. For instance, like the Painting Woman, I is not your typical painting of a woman. The woman portrayed in the painting looks a lot more masculine, than feminine. She is looking at you with an angry expression. Therefore, there is no need for a person to be able to communicate with each other in order to understand and appreciate a painting.
Carroll believes that movies are more powerful than theater, even though they are both pictorial representation, he claims. The reason behind this, is because in Carroll’s essay he talks about, how movies are more easily accessible than theater as well as maintaining the audience focused. In theater, there are many variables that affect the level of focus of the audience. Such variables are: the positioning of important characters and objects, the movement of characters, the makeup, color contrast (light and dark) fields, the sound, the dialogue or conversation, the spotlight, the details of stage, and so on. Whereas in movies, Carroll talks about the concept of ...
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...int, is the associative theory. This theory holds that a particular music can associate to a particular emotion or mood. Davies give out an example, stating that certain instrumental music can associate to one’s significant but personal event. There are more general association, such trumpets and drums are associated with excitement and celebration. There are some hymns that we associate to weddings and so on. Nonetheless, composers rely on generally shared association to widely recognize the expressiveness in their music. Davies reject this theory by first and foremost stating that It is very unlikely though that music’s expressiveness always associate in this way. Trumpets and drums not always associate to excitement; it can be associated to many other things. The association are more likely to tie the music to an era or movement rather than a precise emotion.
In his essay, “It’s Just a Movie: A Teaching Essay for Introductory Media Classes”, Greg M. Smith argues that analyzing a film does not ruin, but enhances a movie-viewing experience; he supports his argument with supporting evidence. He addresses the careful planning required for movies. Messages are not meant to be telegrams. Audiences read into movies to understand basic plotlines. Viewers should examine works rather than society’s explanations. Each piece contributes to Smith’s argument, movies are worth scrutinizing.
Neill, Alex. “Empathy and (Film) Fiction.” Philosophy of film and motion pictures : an anthology. Ed. Noel Carrol and Jinhee Choi. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. 247-259. Print.
BIBLIOGRAPHY An Introduction to Film Studies Jill Nelmes (ed.) Routledge 1996 Anatomy of Film Bernard H. Dick St. Martins Press 1998 Key Concepts in Cinema Studies Susan Hayward Routledge 1996 Teach Yourself Film Studies Warren Buckland Hodder & Stoughton 1998 Interpreting the Moving Image Noel Carroll Cambridge University Press 1998 The Cinema Book Pam Cook (ed.) BFI 1985 FILMOGRAPHY All That Heaven Allows Dir. Douglas Sirk Universal 1955 Being There Dir. Hal Ashby 1979
Lehman, Peter and Luhr, William. Thinking About Movies: Watching, Questioning, Enjoying. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 2003.
In the textbook ‘American Film: A History’, Jon Lewis discusses the components which he believes are markers of “the end of cinema as we know it”. By Cinema, Jon Lewis is meaning the all-encompassing thing that is film-making and film-viewing, as well as the marketing, and business side of Hollywood itself. The changes that resulted from the conglomerate business model, the marketing system of the industry and the advance in technology are the major argument points discussed by Lewis, however I think that technology itself is truly the overarching cause of the changes that’ve been seen.
Classic narrative cinema is what Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson (The classic Hollywood Cinema, Columbia University press 1985) 1, calls “an excessively obvious cinema”1 in which cinematic style serves to explain and not to obscure the narrative. In this way it is made up of motivated events that lead the spectator to its inevitable conclusion. It causes the spectator to have an emotional investment in this conclusion coming to pass which in turn makes the predictable the most desirable outcome. The films are structured to create an atmosphere of verisimilitude, which is to give a perception of reality. On closer inspection it they are often far from realistic in a social sense but possibly portray a realism desired by the patriarchal and family value orientated society of the time. I feel that it is often the black and white representation of good and evil that creates such an atmosphere of predic...
One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak
" Cinema and the Nation. Ed. Mette Hjort and Scott Mackenzie. New York City, NY: Routledge, 2000. 260-277.
Boggs, J. M., Petrie, D. W. (2004). The Art of Watching Films (6 ͭ ͪ ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. Print
In recent times, such stereotyped categorizations of films are becoming inapplicable. ‘Blockbusters’ with celebrity-studded casts may have plots in which characters explore the depths of the human psyche, or avant-garde film techniques. Titles like ‘American Beauty’ (1999), ‘Fight Club’ (1999) and ‘Kill Bill 2’ (2004) come readily into mind. Hollywood perhaps could be gradually losing its stigma as a money-hungry machine churning out predictable, unintelligent flicks for mass consumption. While whether this image of Hollywood is justified remains open to debate, earlier films in the 60’s and 70’s like ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ (1967) and ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976) already revealed signs of depth and avant-garde film techniques. These films were successful as not only did they appeal to the mass audience, but they managed to communicate alternate messages to select groups who understood subtleties within them.
Barsam, R. M., Monahan, D., & Gocsik, K. M. (2012). Looking at movies: an introduction to film (4th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co..
Film and literature are two media forms that are so closely related, that we often forget there is a distinction between them. We often just view the movie as an extension of the book because most movies are based on novels or short stories. Because we are accustomed to this sequence of production, first the novel, then the motion picture, we often find ourselves making value judgments about a movie, based upon our feelings on the novel. It is this overlapping of the creative processes that prevents us from seeing movies as distinct and separate art forms from the novels they are based on.
Nevertheless, the question at hand is whether theatre will have a role in the society of the future, where cinema, digital television, and computers will continue to expand and grow. The answer to this question is yes. Heading into the 21st century, theatre will only be a fraction in a solid media industry. However, despite all the excitement technology brings with it, they will never replace theatre because it has something that can not be recreated or offered anywhere else. The cinema and its larger than life world appeals as an affordable alternative. Digital television provides digital interaction between the viewer and the producer. Theatre on the other hand, and its contents may take on a larger dimension, but we receive it directly in flesh and blood – one to one. The magical atmosphere between an actor and spectator who are constantly aware of each other and the theatre’s level of engagement is fundamentally more human and far more intimate.
Movies take us inside the skin of people quite different from ourselves and to places different from our routine surroundings. As humans, we always seek enlargement of our being and wanted to be more than ourselves. Each one of us, by nature, sees the world with a perspective and selectivity different from others. But, we want to see the world through other’s eyes; imagine with other’s imaginations; feel with other’s hearts, at a same time as with our own. Movies offer us a window onto the wider world, broadening our perspective and opening our eyes to new wonders.