Formal Analysis includes the breaking down of a film in order to determine how they contribute to the film overall. In order to do this correctly, one has to have a thorough understanding of film terminology.
The next type of film writing is film history. It includes how history influences the production of a film, a film impacts historical events, and the production of a film creates its own history. The example used in the article is war films. The inspiration to create a war film may have come from the experience of actual events of war. There is a cause-and-effect factor at work, as well, because as the idea for a war film becomes a film it has an impact on the audience that can influence a society's stae of mind regarding war. The article also discusses how films have their own place on a timeline. A film can be considered a Hollywood classic based on when it was created, such as Sunset Boulevard, because the certain traits it possesses, from the glamorous female lead to the simple fact that it is in black and white, are what make it capable of obtaining such a label.
Another way a film can be analyzed in terms of how it has its own history is what happens along the way in the production of the film. What if they cast someone else to play Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver? The "You talkin' to me" scene, along with others, probably wouldn't have the same effect because great films have their own "trademarks" that could only originate there depending on the choices of everyone in the production of the film. The last way in which the article discussed how film's have their own history is with the release of films. Some films are meant only for young audiences (I can't imagine some poor old lady having to sit through Twilight). Similarly, there is a cultural barrier in the film world that allows films to be released only in certain areas, such as with the exmaple in the article in which The King and I was banned in Thailand for its disrespect toward the royal family of Thailand.
Ideological papers are about how a film has a set of beliefs, whether political to the point of propoganda or moral to the point of familial values. One example would be with Leni Riefenstahl who was a German director and personal favorite of Hitler whose films had a strong portrayal of the Nazi ideology.
In terms of morals, according to the article, Mary Poppins shows a strong sense of the importance of a father's relationship with his children that even the best nanny in the world could not be a substitute for. Films can have an underlying message that an ideological paper is meant to decode and take apart based on how it is represented in the film.
The next section is cultural studies and national cinema. Films can reflect a certain culture, which is why some people become hesitant about watching foreign films. For example, a US film starring a not-so sensible female may be considered shameful somewhere like Saudi Arabia where society is very conservative and many women are Muslim with almost every inch of themselves covered. The culture in which a film was made can even be reflected in shot composition. For example, a Russian film may not have a single close-up, therefore allowing it to fit into a national category of Russian films. Cultural studies can tell one about a nation or patterns in the cinema of that nation or culture.
The auteur is the person whose ideas about a film and whose style ultimately influence the final product because of their authority over the decisions made to make that film. Oftentimes a film can be associated with this single person because of their influence on the film depsite the contributions of everyone else involved (e.g. Psycho= Hitchcock, Star Wars=Lucas, Pulp Fiction=Tarantino).
Auteur criticism serves to identify the auteur's themes and trends with their body of work, as well as the decisions made in the process of creaitng the film. For example, Scorsese tends to embody themes associated with the anti-hero and oftentimes one of the decisions he makes in his films is having deNiro as one of the main characters. It is important to note that in a successful auteur criticism, one must bring in other types of film writing such as film history and formal analysis.
Annotating a film sequence is a good way to take notes before writing a film paper. It includes a shot-by-shot list of the sequence in order to distinguish patterns in cinematography and editing techniques or the lack thereof. Its benefits are that it gives you a comprehensible layout of an important scene in order to determine how the director put the film together and how these intentions reflect the audience the way they do.
By "Think Beyond the Frame" Gocsik means to imply that one should always consider the force of external factors on a film. This could mean the auteur's influence and how this shows a pattern in terms of style, what the circumstances were at the time the film was made (e.g. ideology, financial limitations, etc.), how critics and academics viewed the film, what place the film has in its genre, and what simply the presence of the film or who is in it tells one about a certain culture (e.g. stardom's place in the US).
Ideological papers are about how a film has a set of beliefs, whether political to the point of propoganda or moral to the point of familial values. One example would be with Leni Riefenstahl who was a German director and personal favorite of Hitler whose films had a strong portrayal of the Nazi ideology.
In terms of morals, according to the article, Mary Poppins shows a strong sense of the importance of a father's relationship with his children that even the best nanny in the world could not be a substitute for. Films can have an underlying message that an ideological paper is meant to decode and take apart based on how it is represented in the film.The next section is cultural studies and national cinema. Films can reflect a certain culture, which is why some people become hesitant about watching foreign films. For example, a US film starring a not-so sensible female may be considered shameful somewhere like Saudi Arabia where society is very conservative and many women are Muslim with almost every inch of themselves covered. The culture in which a film was made can even be reflected in shot composition. For example, a Russian film may not have a single close-up, therefore allowing it to fit into a national category of Russian films. Cultural studies can tell one about a nation or patterns in the cinema of that nation or culture.
The auteur is the person whose ideas about a film and whose style ultimately influence the final product because of their authority over the decisions made to make that film. Oftentimes a film can be associated with this single person because of their influence on the film depsite the contributions of everyone else involved (e.g. Psycho= Hitchcock, Star Wars=Lucas, Pulp Fiction=Tarantino).
Auteur criticism serves to identify the auteur's themes and trends with their body of work, as well as the decisions made in the process of creaitng the film. For example, Scorsese tends to embody themes associated with the anti-hero and oftentimes one of the decisions he makes in his films is having deNiro as one of the main characters. It is important to note that in a successful auteur criticism, one must bring in other types of film writing such as film history and formal analysis.Annotating a film sequence is a good way to take notes before writing a film paper. It includes a shot-by-shot list of the sequence in order to distinguish patterns in cinematography and editing techniques or the lack thereof. Its benefits are that it gives you a comprehensible layout of an important scene in order to determine how the director put the film together and how these intentions reflect the audience the way they do.
By "Think Beyond the Frame" Gocsik means to imply that one should always consider the force of external factors on a film. This could mean the auteur's influence and how this shows a pattern in terms of style, what the circumstances were at the time the film was made (e.g. ideology, financial limitations, etc.), how critics and academics viewed the film, what place the film has in its genre, and what simply the presence of the film or who is in it tells one about a certain culture (e.g. stardom's place in the US).
Nice detail and photos!
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