yoavs blog

Historically, the time in which a film underwent production tends to have a heavy influence on its elements and message. The era that the film was shot in naturally reflects the full production phase, whether it was the film’s image, sound or narrative. Casablanca is a strong example of a classical Hollywood production shaped by the year it was produced in. Published in 1942, Michael Curtiz’s masterpiece (as acknowledged by a range of critics) featured film protagonist Rick featured the redemption of Rick – performed by Humphrey Bogart – and his journey from emotionless barman to fulfilled rebel. A contrasting example can (but is not limited to) be Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, a gem within the New Hollywood Genre; this is another solid portrayal of how the time in which production takes place is reflected in the film. In the 1940s, the film industry was making its first steps towards the controlled monopoly it finds itself in today. This was due to the rise and evolut...

Spectator vs. audience A film study distinguishes between the response of social groups, collectives of people – an audience – and the response of the individual – a spectator. -        Spectatorship is concerned primarily with the way the individual is positioned between projector and screen in a darkened space -        The Audience ceases to exist for the individual spectator for the duration of the film -        Although the spectator is singular, a figure alone before the screen, spectatorship tries to generalise about how all spectators behave. Factors that affect enjoyment: -        Mental/Physical state -        Ideology/ Culture -        Who they’re watching it with. -        Quality and standard of cinema Preferred, Nego...

Opening scene  : - 1998 - Digital equipment became more prominent - Dina Washington, Sarah Vaughn, and Tony Bennet - Imperceptible cut, in the beginning, to kickstart a narrative from the first extract. No diegetic sound in eternal, floating images display. The Guardian interview A 43-year-old Londoner, Kapadia is the man behind Amy, a documentary that chronicles Winehouse’s tragic decline from bright-eyed prodigy to doomed tabloid obsession. Assembled from 100 interviews and incorporating 20 months of editing in a process that took three years in total, the film presents what feels like a true version of events. It is also incredibly moving. The film claims, like the song, that Amy didn’t go to rehab only on the say-so of her father. Mitch says he only thought Amy shouldn’t go to rehab “at that time”. He claims that those three words were edited from his interview. Constructed almost entirely from archive footage, the story was told without any guiding voiceover, a...

The documentary modes According to Bill Nichols, the documentary can be subdivided into six sub-genres or modes. These are as follows : -                 Poetic            Poetic mode shares a common terrain with the modernist avant-garde. This mode sacrifices the conventions of continuity editing and sense of a specific location in time and place. These films are allusive and often surprise and challenge the students in what they think documentaries are. They use 'associative' editing to create a mood or tone without making an explicit argument about a subject. -        Expository       Speak directly to the viewer with voice-over. These films use explicitly rhetorical techniques to explore points of actuality. They use-over and have a straightforward to tell structure (with graphics/interviews/footage) where the viewer is guided through the materi...

The production phase of ‘Apocalypse Now’ transversed a charismatic and cinematically mature Frank Ford Coppola through a crazed, arguably chaotic and out of control process. The film was the fourth amendment to Coppola’s reel, and thus he was able to bring his art-house vision to life with the help of his good relationship with trusting bankers and businessmen, that provided large budgets, allowing his experimental masterpiece to be developed. -        Vast budgets -        Often involved with businessmen -        Connections bankers -        Very experimental up to a point where it ‘should’ fail commercially -        Straddled commercial vs. artistry & experimentation – specifically for AN -        Chaotic shooting behind the process of Apocalypse now -     ...