RRP - Chapter 8 PDF

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RRP for chapter 8 of Film art 12th edition for FVP/CFV 123...

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Summary Of Chapter 8 Bordwell and Thompson begins Chapter 8 by discussing how artistic decisions can dictate a film’s distinctive style. They start by referencing works discussed earlier in the textbook, Buster Keaton’s Hospitality, Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, and Jean Renoir’s Grand Illusion, to name a few examples. In the beginning of the discussing, they write how they use style to talk about certain films, while critics use style to talk about a filmmaker’s choices in several films. The authors bring up another of Keaton’s works, Our Hospitality, and how Keaton long shots centered around his use of mise-en-scene, and how Keaton repeats this in other works. They write how this could be a deliberate choice that directors actively choose, or how it could be a subconscious choice they are making. Further on, in the section Style and the Filmmaker, they expand upon the limit filmmakers have and how that can influence their stylistic choices. Filmmakers that work independently of studio constraints have more ‘freedom’ to make daring choices about their form and style. They also discuss how making these choices isn’t a simple done and done effort, how often making one choice will lead to further choices and constraints. Most directors believe that a particular stylistic option suits the stories they’re telling. For example: Antonioni’s complex staging techniques in L’Avventura “are appropriate to characters whose feelings shift unpredictably from moment to moment (4.125, 4.126).” They write how “Some directors prefer straightforward, efficient technique, while others, like Alfred Hitchcock (p. 64) and James Cameron (pp. 179–180) enjoy setting themselves problems.” Bordwell and Thompson write that, films setting up narrative or thematic contrasts may use several techniques, such as showing a small family sitting at a too large table depicts that

members are missing or dead. They also discuss how the audience has their own style expectations, for examples “If we see two characters in a long shot, we expect a cut-in to a closer view.” Three Statements 1) One thing that caught my attention was how the authors described how the director’s job is direct our attention. Because of this, style will function perceptually. The directors try to get us to notice things, by emphasizing one thing over another, for examples. 2) Another thing from the reading that caught my attention was how the authors described the beginning of Citizen Kane. They say how the majority of directors would have done a shot/reverse shot style, cutting from character to character to see what’s being said and the reactions. They described how Welles keeps all the actors on the screen in one shot how “The boy, who is the subject of the discussion, remains framed in the distant window through the whole scene, unaware of what the adults are doing.” 3) The finale part from chapter 8 that caught my attention was their section on Omniscience. They continue the discussion on Citizen Kane, by writing about one of the characters, Thompson. They write how “Thompson’s investigation links the various tales, so we learn substantially what he learns.” However, Welles doesn’t want Thompson to be the main character, and uses specific style choices here. He chooses to use “low-key selective lighting and patterns of staging and framing…” to make keep the audience focused on Kane. Discussion Question How have Filmmakers styles impacted your favorite films? What have they done they draw your attention, keep you in suspense, etc.?...