EN2203 Notes Compiled

EN NOTES Summarised

Textbook: Bordwell and Thompson- Film Art, an Introduction 10th edition

Week 1: Plot and Narrative

READING & UNDERSTANDING FILM NARRATIVE

NARRATIVE: chain of events in a cause & effect relationship occurring in time & space

·       Explicit or implicit exposition, show vs tell  (star wars vs fifth element)

·       Cause and effect can be motivated by differing forces ie CAUSAL AGENTS: something that sets off a chain of causes and effects/ sets it in motion.

·       Plot is a series of events deliberately arranged for dramatic, thematic and emotional significance. Story is chronology

NARRATIVES involve CAUSAL AGENTS

CAUSAL AGENTS include:

·       CHARACTERS

o   Remember, characters are FICTIONAL CONSTRUCTS!! Created to serve the narrative. Character does not have the range of potential reactions a real person has?? “the narrative comes first” but why?

o   Characters consist of collections of character traits

o   Characters have traits needed for them to function in the narrative

·       Other causal agents may be NATURAL OR SUPERNATURAL FORCES

o   “Fate”

o   Weather

o   The Gods

CAUSE & EFFECT

o     Causes are often planted early in the film to explain later effects

how can a narrative be manipulated to give u a diff experience in the narrative/effects: straightforward or?

withholding cause/effect to manipulate suspense and surprise. How and why is the story represented?

DEVELOPMENT OF THE NARRATIVE

o     Films often begin in medias res, with something alr have happened/ in the middle of the action. Used as a hook usually to incite curiosity in audience)

o     The beginning/ opening sequence will typically present an exposition (or lack thereof to incite curiosity)

o     The body will develop goal- oritented patterns

o     Closure

·       Closed: resolved

·       Open: questions lingering

Key narrative patterns include:

-          change in knowledge (slowly revealing knowledge)

-          attaining specific goals (temporal/spatial element)

NARRATION

This refers to the process of the plot giving us story information

Narrative: the plot vs

Narration: process of plot giving us story info eg. Varies with timeline arrangement, perspective?

David Bordwell

—  Film has narration but no narrator.

—  Information is seldom filtered through a particular source that is human.

—  Film presents the illusion of objective reality. We don’t usually realise that there is a narrator. (film as a cinematic experience can be very effective in hiding the narrator) eg. Forgetting a narrator in the beginning. Eg. Flipping perspective

—  Film suggests a perceiver but no sender of the message.

CASE STUDY

*****CLASSICAL HOLLYWOOD CINEMA (CHC)

·      What are the narrative conventions of the Classical Hollywood narrative?

Casual agents are indiv. Characters

Goals based on personal desire

Opposition to goals lead to conflict

Characters change because of conflicts

Strong degree of closure

Characters

Desire

Opposition

Change

Closure

Week 2: Mise – En – Scene

THE SHOT

·       A single, constant take made by a motion picture camera uninterrupted by editing.

·       Can also refer to a single film frame.

MISE-EN-SCENE

What is mise-en-scène?

·       The arrangement of these elements within the frame

There are 4 aspects of Mise-en-scene:

1.    SETTING

Refers to the place in which the film is shot

o   LOCATION SHOOTING (realism, accessibility. Not allowed to mess with the reality on screen)  eg. Breathless by jean-luc godard- French new wave. Realism. Naturalised, familiar.

o   STUDIO SHOOTING
( can create/manipulate environment) eg. Wizard of Oz. so OBVIOUSLY stylized. Musicals thrive on a lack of realism, fantasy.

o   PROPS: Any part of the setting that becomes/plays an active part of the story. Contributes to the narrative. Lord of the Rings.

            2.    COSTUME

o   Includes MAKE-UP

o   Can be REALISTIC or STYLISED

o   FUNCTIONS

§  Used to draw attention to a character

§  Can serve as props

o   COLOR can be used both to draw attention to characters & to create motifs


o   Eg. Now voyager 1942. Gone with the wind 1939. Meet me in St Louis 1944. Dick Tracy 1990 primary colours in comic books

o   3.   LIGHTING !!!!

·       Serves 3 functions:

o   Provides illumination

o   Helps visually define objects & people

o   Directs our attention 


·       Lighting has 4 aspects:

i. QUALITY

♣   “HARD” LIGHTING (more intense) contrast between light and dark is extreme. Hard lines, Sunset Boulevard 1950. Who’s afraid of virginia woolf? Obvious Shadows.

♣   “SOFT” LIGHTING (less intense) To Catch a thief 1955. Funny Face. Highlight natural beauty

ii. DIRECTION

♣   Refers to the path of light from its source to the object being lit. Eg. Sidelighting in Drive 2011. Backlighting in An American in Paris: romance?? Warm yellow light-not sterile. Backlighting (suspense) in Blade Runner 1982. Hides identity of figure/ intentions. Underlighting: anxiety, uncertainty




iii. SOURCE

♣   KEY LIGHT  (Brightest)

♣   FILL LIGHT (Balance out key light to prevent harsh lighting, dimension)

♣   BACK LIGHT (3D eg. “halo” in hair)

♣   HOLLYWOOD “3-POINT” LIGHTING SYSTEM

iv. COLOR

♣   Bright light is more blue

♣   Soft light is more orange

♣   Can use colored filters eg.
Blade Runner 2049 Poster/ opening cold shot. Blue is reason, tech, cold. Vs Later orange hue scene in the abandoned building. Mess/clutter. Sepia

4.  FIGURE BEHAVIOR

·       The expression & movement of any of the various figures in a film, whether human, animal or object

·       REALISM & FIGURE BEHAVIOR

♣            Remember, a narrative film is a construct

♣            Characters are also constructs

♣            The film and its characters ARE NOT REAL and so cannot be evaluated the way we evaluate actual people or the reality we live in.

Week 3: Cinematography

·       CINEMATOGRAPHY: art & process of using a camera to record visual images for the cinema

Key aspects of CINEMATOGRAPHY

·       Film stock

·       Camera distances

·       Camera angles

FILM STOCK

o     Refers to the unexposed and unprocessed motion-picture film.

o     The choice of film stock will influence the film’s finished “look”.

o     Film stock can be classified in terms of:

          §   Width, also known as the film gauge. 16mm/8mm film (cheap) vs 70mm film (expensive, more space to capture detail. Finer grain/HD image) usually not used unless director is established bs MONETARY risk. 35Mm is most commonly used.

          §   Speed : amount of time it takes for the image to develop on the film.

          §   Color / Black and White

FILM GAUGE

o     Refers to the width of the film

o     Different widths are available ranging from 8mm to 70 mm

o     The wider the film gauge, the sharper the projected image

FILM SPEED

o     Measures the film stock’s sensitivity to light.

o     Film speed affects the graininess of the film image. Grainy vs HD

·       SLOW FILM STOCK

o   needs more light.

o   used under carefully controlled filming conditions. 

o   gives a fine grain image.

·       FAST FILM STOCK eg. to evoke an earlier time

o             Needs less light.

o             Used when lighting options are limited.

o             Images tend to be grainy.

o   COLOR FILM STOCK

o   Technicolor 3 layers of film. Each layer will only absorb 1 colour from Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. RICH SATURATION of colour. 3 reelsof film for every shot. Reserved for either EPIC films and great established filmmakers

o   Saturated Color

o   Desaturated Color
-to remind us of the past. Pleasantville

visual representation of nostalgia. Remembering the past as something better than what it was.

CAMERA DISTANCES

o     The Long Shot: connotation? foreground/isolate. The human figure diminished, vulnerable, isolated perhaps? Loneliness. 2 People in gone with the wind: us against the world

o     The Medium Shot: information shots, dialogue and interaction, rs.

o     The Close-up Shot: highlight a reaction, reveal emotional state. Intimacy

o     Deep Focus: showcase visually the connections between characters  and maybe power dynamic?

“the longer the shot, the longer (time duration) the shot bc more info to process”

CAMERA ANGLES – determine the rs to what is on screen.

o     The Eye-Level Angle Shot- identify w them

o     The Low-Angle Shot – u feel threatened??

o     The High-Angle Shot - diminished characters. Whatever they are looking at is more threatening? God’s eye view

Week 4: Editing

The coordination of 1 shot & the next shot (conjunction/juxtaposition)

https://filmanalysis.coursepress.yale.edu/editing/

Types of EDITS

FADES: In vs Out

LAP DISSOLVE/DISSOLVE

§A transition between 2 shots during which shot B gradually appears as shot A gradually disappears; can be for traversing time (for titanic)

WIPE

§A transition between shots in which a line passes across the screen, eliminating shot A & replacing it with shot B

CUT

§An INSTANTANEOUS change from shot A to shot B — immediate shift, suggests a short time change while dissolve suggests a passage of time has passed

§The most common method of editing

§There is often no noticeable lapse of time between the 2 shots

DIMENSIONS of FILM EDITING

4 types of relations:

1.     1. GRAPHIC RELATIONS

·       Editing on the basis of pictorial qualities

·       If shots are linked by noticeable similarities, we refer to this similarity as a GRAPHIC MATCH or a MATCH CUT

o   Remember: shots may be matched graphically, or may clash graphically

·       Match & clash can happen in a shot

2. RHYTHMIC RELATIONS

·       Relative screen duration of the shots

·       Usually involves more than 2 shots

·       May become successively shorter or longer, alternate between long & short, etc. — ie each shot get shorter suggests an increase tempo/pace of the movie

·       Usually not emphasized in the CHC; because they want us to focus on plot and editing is considered as disruptive.

3. SPATIAL

·       ESTABLISHING SHOT

o   Often at the beginning of a scene — To situate the viewer

o   Relatively distant framing

o   Then the space is broken down with closer shots

o   Space may be constructed from separate shots of different spaces


·       KULESHOV EFFECT

o   Series of shots that in the absence of an establishing shot creates a spatial whole by joining disjointed spatial fragments

·       CROSSCUTTING

o   Refers to editing that alternates shots of 2 or more lines of action going on in different spaces

o   Actions are usually simultaneous

o   most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time, and usually in the same place

o   They are usually related narratively

·       AMBIGUOUS SPACE

o   Editing may create completely ambiguous space in which we may become disoriented — usually used in horror movie ie making sure that to withheld the information of where the victim is in relation to the ghost

o   Rare, especially in Hollywood films


4. TEMPORAL

·       Refers to the control of the time of the action denoted in a film

o   ORDER

o   DURATION

o   FREQUENCY

CONTINUITY EDITING

o     System of editing that has dominated Hollywood cinema since around 1910

o     Also known as “INVISIBLE EDITING”

FUNCTION OF CONTINUITY EDITING

o     Designed to emphasize the story

o     Ensures NARRATIVE CONTINUITY

o     Presents a continuous, undisrupted story

o     Establishes smooth flow from shot to shot

CONTINUITY EDITING

o     GRAPHICS

·       Kept similar from shot to shot to avoid disruption

·       Lighting, figure placement, etc. kept similar shot to shot

o     RHYTHMIC RELATIONS usually not emphasized

·       The length of a take is dependant on camera distance

·       Long shots usually on screen longer than closer shots

o     SPATIAL & TEMPORAL RELATIONS

·       Coherence is maintained via a range of editing techniques:


·       THE 180º RULE

o     Refers to an imaginary line on one side of the axis of action (e.g., between two principal actors in a scene) which the camera must not cross.

o     Functions of the 180o rule:

·       Ensures some common space from shot to shot

·       Ensures constant screen direction

·       Clearly delineates space:

·       We always know where the characters are in relation to 1 another

·       We always know where we are in relation to the characters

o     Ways to cross the 180o line:

·       The camera may track across it

·       Characters may move to change the line

·       Camera may cut to a position ON the line before cutting to the other side

o   SHOT/REVERSE SHOT

1.     Cutting from 1 end of the line to the other, back & forth

2.     Kubrick used this in bathroom scene of The Shining to disorientate viewwer

3.     Used especially in conversations

4.     Often keeps the shoulder of 1 character in the shot of the other

o   EYELINE MATCH

1.     Creates the impression of spatial continuity

2.     Shot A shows a person looking off screen, shot B shows us what is being looked at

3.     In neither shot are both looker & object shown

o   MATCH ON ACTION

1.     Shot A shows the beginning of a movement

2.     Shot B shows the continuation of that same action, with at least a 30o shift in the camera position

3.     Involvement with the narrative prevents us from being distracted by the cut — ie like opening the door. You don’t see the person walking to the door, you only see the person reacting to the knock and immediately cut to opening the door. We naturally fill in the gaps.

o   MONTAGE SEQUENCE

1.     A segment of a film that compresses a passage of time into brief symbolic or typical images

ALTERNATIVES TO CONTINUITY EDITING — most common outside mainstream commercial hollywood

Reasons to use alternative editing

              Strictly Artistic Reasons

o   E.g. Avant-Garde filmmaking    

Cultural/Artistic

o   E.g. Japanese cinema


              Examples of discontinuity editing

o   Jump cuts

o   Less than 30°degree change in camera position between cuts

o   Omission of a small number of frames


o   The Nondiegetic Insert

o   Insertion of a shot outside the space of the narrative

Week 5: Sound

What does sound do? How does it contribute to your experience?

Engage another sense mode

Affects how we interpret a film (provide interpretation, expectation of characters and scenario, eg. A night at the opera 1935: Mrs Claypool is uppity accent, shrill, clipped providing the impression that someone is proper. Formal English used in comparison to Mr Driftwood. Imperatives used lead us to believe she is demanding. Mr Driftwood is slimy and insincere? Contrast between his joking and her seriousness.)

Direct our attention eg. Mrs Claypool’s loud shouting shifting the focus to her

Cue our expectations eg. hearing cat meows then expecting to fade in to cats

Evoke ambiguity eg. making use of expectations to confuse us with ambiguity. Blow-Up 1966: use sound to introduce/heighten ambiguity. Ambient noise of wind, footsteps vs actual tennis ball being whacked whilst camera is on his face. Is the sound just in his head? Is the murder all in his head? We don’t know if the sound is diegetic/non diegetic or all in his head.

Give new significance to silence e.g. Ran 1985: First part of the sequence is aurally dense. Second part, sound is stripped and replaced with contemplative music. Focus on visuals rather than dialogue

Film Sound (types)

Synchronized sound (sound comes out when character speaks etc)

Post-synchronized sound (still synchronized sound, but added after the filming)

Direct sound (sound taken during filming, reduced ability to manipulate it) eg. Close-up 1990. Emphasize realism eg in documentary-esque films.

Acoustic Properties of Sound: youtube search shephard tone, Hans Zimmer The Mole video

Loudness or volume ambient sound is usually softer than main dialogue. Foregrounds what is impt as well as establishes space and time

Pitch : can create visceral reaction from a purely sonic perspective

o     Low

o     Midrange

o     High

Timbre: what allows u to define one sound from another

Forms of Sound in Film

Dialogue:

2.     o     Speech

3.     o     Voice-over narration
: diegetic (someone in the world of the film eg Last Year at Marienbard) vs non-diegetic. Manipulates time in a way bc you lose sense of what is past vs present

Music

o     Sets the scene

o     Adds emotional meaning

o     Creates continuity : changing scenes connected by music/sound

o     Emphasizing climaxes
 eg. speed bus chase scene

Sound effects enhance our sense of realism, even in fantasy worlds such as dragons flying etc. Eg do the right thing 1989. Slang in the dialogue creating inclusion vs exclusion. Create a 3D world on film. Immersed into the space

Dimensions of Film Sound

Rhythm: fast or slow. So what? Defined as a sound’s speed and regularity. Rhythm of OST ( including sound, speech, music and effects) can interact with the rhythm within the mise-en-scene or editing. Esp in musicals Eg. Meet me in St. Louis 1944

Fidelity: congruence between the sound and what we see on screen

Space

o   On-screen/Off-screen

o   diegetic/ non-diegetic

o   Internal subjective sound (what a character is hearing) /External objective sound (actuality)  eg Blackmail

Time: relationship between sound to screen event. Dissonance in terms of temporal quality of sound

Sound Devices for Continuity

Sound bridge: a sound that bridges 2 diff scenes (same sound across 2 scenes OR scene 2 plays the sound before it visually appears eg. matrix )

Dialogue hook: end of a dialogue which hooks into a next scene which points u to the direction of where the next scene is going

END

EN 2203 Introduction to Film Studies

A/P Valerie WEE

FILM & AUTHORSHIP

THE AUTEUR APPROACH

·       AUTEUR = “Author”

·       Originated in France in the 1950s

·       Seeks to identify the person most responsible for the creation of a film

ALEXANDER ASTRUC

·       Film critic

·       Wrote 1948 article on the "CAMERA-STYLO," or "camera-pen"

·       Recognized the artistic and creative contributions of filmmakers


·        

CAHIERS DU CINEMA

·       Journal of film criticism

·       1954: FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT wrote “A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema”

·       Argued that the director of a film should take complete control of the filmmaking process

The AUTEUR Theory

·       NOT a film theory!

·       A critical approach

·       Characteristics:

o     Film = a medium of personal expression

o     An auteur’s oeuvre is more important than individual films

Adopting the AUTEUR Approach

·       Acquaint yourself with the filmmaker & his/her work

·       Pay attention to consistency of themes & style

·       THEMES

o     Does the director make different films that seem to deal with similar themes?

o     Does s/he have interesting things to say about these themes?

o     Does the director make films in a particular genre?

·       STYLE

oo  Does the director use style in consistent & interesting ways?

o     Do you notice similar uses of settings, actors, cinematography, sound, etc., from film to film?

ALFRED HITCHCOCK (1899 – 1980)

The HITCHCOCK TOUCH

•    Films explore the intersection of

·       SEX: both idealized & twisted

·       SUSPENSE

·       HUMOUR

·       EVIL

The HITCHCOCK STYLE

•          

The HITCHCOCK NARRATIVE

•    WHAT IS HITCHCOCK’s VIEW OF EVIL?

 END

The Birds, Alfred Hitchcock and Authorship

Screening: Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)

o   Consider Vertigo in relation to the signature style and themes associated with Hitchcock’s films. 

o   How does the film fit within Hitchcock’s larger body of work?

o   What Hitchcockian characteristics can you identify in Vertigo?

o   Can you identify specific scenes in Vertigo that clearly bear Hitchcock’s personal “signature”?

o   You’ve already watched several Hitchcock films in this module. Do you think they conform to the strict characteristics associated with the auteur theory?

o   Can you identify sequences from other Hitchcock films that showcase his signature style?

FILM GENRES & GENRE STUDIES

GENRE

·       Definition: The various types of films that audiences & filmmakers recognize by their familiar narrative conventions

·       Ability of audience and filmmaker to recognize the familiar/recurring/instantly recognisable stylistic patterns

·       CONVENTIONS refer to the “rules” or common traits sanctioned by tradition

GENRE & THE HOLLYWOOD STUDIO SYSTEM

Genres are tied to industrial financial issues eg. Hollywood Studio System

·       ‘Studio Era’ characterized by:

- Vertical Integration (owned studio backlots, costume departments, Stars under contract, Owned Movie theatres) Economies of Scale.

- studio owns production, construction, exhibition

- Each studio made 50-60 films a year. Genres bc similar hit films were easier to make money

·       Factors leading to emergence of film genres:

o   MATERIAL ECONOMY ( make money with the same script tweaked a bit)

o   NARRATIVE ECONOMY  (???)

GENRE CONVENTIONS: ‘Rules’ or common traits sanctioned by tradition

GENRE

·       FIELD OF REFERENCE

o   Setting

o   Characters

o   Story

o   Iconography

§  Motif (a decorative image or design, especially a repeated one forming a pattern)

§  Generic Icon (certain props/actors which are clearly linked/associated with certain genres)

§  Dialogue

§  Actors

CLASSIFICATION OF GENRES

·       DETERMINATE SPACE :

- takes place in specific locations

- conflict involves control of that space

- uphold the values of SOCIAL ORDER

·       INDETERMINATE SPACE:

- Do not occur in particular locales/settings

- conflict involves a ‘doubled’ hero

- uphold the values of SOCIAL INTEGRATION

HOW DO FILM GENRES EVOLVE?

Four stages:

                       1.    EXPERIMENTAL STAGE

                       2.    CLASSICAL STAGE

                       3.    REFINEMENT STAGE

                       4.    BAROQUE STAGE

WHY STUDY FILMS IN TERMS OF THEIR GENRE?

·       Evaluation

·       As a means of studying the film industry

·       As a means of examining society

END

EN 2203 Introduction to Film Studies

A/P Valerie WEE

Lecture 10: The Spectacle & the Spectator

SPECTACLE

Definition:

o     Something remarkable or impressive that can be seen or viewed. (Spectated)

o     A public performance or display, especially one on a large or lavish scale

What is the role of the Spectacle in Society?

GUY DEBORD: THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE (1967)

o     Images & spectacles have primacy in society. They are easily readable by humans

o     Spectacles embody contemporary society’s basic values, and display its dominant hopes and fears and values.

o     Spectacles are integrally connected to separation and passivity. The largeness and lavishness can only be appreciated through distance. Sitting and watching + Distance imposes passivity upon the audience.

Around the time Guy was writing this article, there were many BIG/ Large scale films coming out

EG: Scene from Cleopatra (studio almost went bankrupt from the production bc of cost) where she enters Rome

FILM & SPECTACLE

o     Epic spectacle was a dominant genre of Hollywood film. Movies STUN the senses

o     Contemporary film has incorporated the mechanics of spectacle into its form, style and special effects. eg. low angle shots for scale, high angle shots for the cast of THOUSANDS, long shot to highlight the distance mentioned by Guy

EG. Battle scene in Transformers ( Similar style of Epics)

When you’re watching a spectacle, it’s almost as if your brain stops, bc it’s just trying to find out what’s happening on screen – Passivity.  Usually, the plot also just stops. Tends to parallyze things as opposed to furthering the plot/action

FILM & THE SPECTACLE

Spectatorship Theory: What is the relationship between cinematic spectator and the cinematic spectacle? How are spectacles able to hook audiences in for so long? EG. Endgame, 3 Hours

Note: ‘Cinematic Spectator” is a THEORETICAL CONSTRUCT, not an actual person. We aren’t talking about reality but rather an idealised concept in specific conditions.

FILM & THE SPECTATOR

Assumptions:

o     Spectatorship is concerned with how the individual is positioned between the projector and screen in a darkened space. Speaking only about the CINEMATIC spectator. We are describing the ideal conditions where the spectator can experience the movie fully. Positioning of the projector behind the audience provides the audience with the idea that what you’re seeing on screen is coming from your head/an individual experience, almost as if, if I were not here, the Movie would not exist. It is a very seductive mechanism.

o     The audience ceases to exist for the individual spectator for the duration of the film. You become an isolated spectator. There is an indivdual communion between you and the film.

o     Although the spectator is singular, spectatorship studies tries to generalize about how ALL spectators behave. i.e. the focus is on the idea of an ‘ideal’ spectator. Spectator =/= Audience =/= Viewer. The implication is that whatever you’re saying about the spectator is applicable across everyone.

Real people are not ideal because they bring their own psychological narratives eg. class, race, gender etc. The cinematic spectator is empty of all these things.

FAQs:

- Are you a spectator AFTER the film has ended? No! THEORETICAL assumption is that you’re individual, but after a film, all your personal narratives come back.

- Can your personal reaction to a cinematic sequence be evidence of the ideal spectator’s reponse? No! Your response is still shaped by who you are + your experiences. Your response could match the spectator’s response tho.

- Sometimes, the spectator’s experience CAN coincide with the director’s intention, but sometimes, the film exists in itself to be taken in by the spectator.

- Your personal reaction is not representative of the ideal spectator.

- criticisms of spectator theory in that the ‘ideal’ spectator is not reeeally able to make an analysis because a lot of analysis relies on ‘gendered’/ Context specific POV eg. Red means Anger/danger

-Spectatorship theory is a subset of apparatus theory: how cinematic machines position the viewer in a specific viewing position

- Analysis: Examine cinematic language (eg. long shot) based on how the apparatus is used, to produce an effect on the ideal spectator who will respond in a certain way. It’s ok to not be the ideal spectator that the film wants you to be, since spectator ‘standards’ change over time.

QN: films like Nosferatu??

THE SPECTATOR & THE LOOK

o     Early films did not direct the audience’s look. They didn’t think about the audience/about the fact that the audience’s view can be directed. EG. Tom Tom the Piper’s Son (1905) – you dont know wtf is going on audience be like smlj what is happening [singular long shot with cluttered action] frustrates the viewer

o     The look of the spectator needed to be constructed via the development of specific filmic techniques (linked to the apparatus):

·       Eyeline Match/POV shots

·       Shot-Reverse-Shot

·       Close-up shots

·       Framing

o     SUTURE (stitching a wound) : a kind of technique used to ‘stitch’ the viewer INTO THE NARRATIVE of the film. EG. POV shot. The cut to the thing the person is looking at, sutures you to the character who is looking at the thing. It makes the viewer feel as if they are part of the film.

LAURA MULVEY: “VISUAL PLEASURE AND NARRATIVE CINEMA” (1975)

o     Feminist film theorist.

o     Argues that mainstream Hollywood cinema both reflects and reveals the psychological obsessions of the society that produces it.

o     PSYCHOANALYSIS

o     Sigmund Freud: (infantile) scopophilia - the pleasure involved in looking at other people’s bodies as (particularly, erotic) objects.

EG. Psycho: norman staring through a hole in the wall. BUT WE BECOME NORMAN BATES: people on screen cannot look back at you, we are sitting in the dark and staring at others, all powerful. The action on screen is there for YOUR pleasure.

Crucial question of spectator theoriests:Why do we keep going to the movies(Aside from technological advances eg. CGI) ? 1 possibility is Visual Pleasure. Some movies even encourage you to enjoy the eroticism of the figures on film

Is this the same thing as Voyeurism? Does it apply to Violence as well?

o     Lacan & The Mirror Phase:

o     He claims: A child is born without any sense of self. Babies are self-centered, not socialised, have no concept of rules or a world outside their direct experience

o     Then, the child sees its image in a mirror and for the first time recognizes itself as a separate entity, complete in itself, separate from everything outside of itself. The child becomes a SUBJECT: a being entirely in itself + SUBJECT TO THE RULES OF SOCIETY WHICH GOVERN OUR BEHAVIOUR. A baby is not a subject bc it cannot be held responsible for its actions.

·       That moment of recognition is also a moment of MISrecognition because the baby sees itself as ‘Perfect’

·       Communion of an image that is idealised (Perfection) motivates you (for the rest of your life) to eternally pursue that moment of seeing yourself as perfect even tho it never existed. Sth you never actually had.

o     BUT, it is only an image and NOT REAL, so the image can never be attained in reality.

Psychoanalytic Film Theory:

- Borrows Laca’s concept of the ‘mirror’

- Argues that the cinema screen is an approximation of Lacan’s ‘mirror’ - allows the spectator a momentary reality where they can see idealised versions of people. Remember: THE LOOK + SUTURE. Assumption: people go to the movies to watch a fantasy version of themselves go through life eg. the archetype of a Hero on screen. We get to experience that state of idealised joy again for a while. BUT when the movie ends, you come down from your ‘high’.

- Spectator identifies with the (idealised) screen image

- BUT, just as the ‘mirror’s

o     MULVEY & VISUAL PLEASURE

o     There are two contradictory aspects to visual pleasure:

♣     the scopophilic aspect which derives pleasure from looking at another person,

♣     the narcissistic identification with the image in the screen. ( identifying with the Hero who is better than anyone on screen)

- can you argue ‘better’ is subjective therefore Villains also can ?

What is visual pleasure and how does the apparatus/cinematic style create this ‘gendered’ image ?

o     “Woman as Image, Man as Bearer of the Look” (Context of the 40s AND 50s)

♣     The pleasure of looking shows the very imbalance of the patriarchal system. The apparatus is manipulated to show an imbalance such that:

•     The male gaze is active and the female gaze is passive.

•     The male, as the bearer of the look, is the subject (does things).

•     The female, as image, is the object (get things done to them).

EG. Rear Window scene introduction of Lisa scene: Women are almost always constructed to BE LOOKED AT.

♣     Traditionally, the displaying of women in the world of cinema has functioned at two levels:

•     as erotic object for male characters in the screen story, and

•     as an erotic object for the spectator in the auditorium.

EG. Blonde Venus 1932 woman disrobing from her gorilla suit. Camera follows the female. We are seeing what the men are seeing therefore since the women are the focus, the men are still in power

o     MULVEY’S ARGUMENT

♣     The spectator's gaze is gendered male in two senses: 

•     from without, in its direction at women as objects of erotic desire, and (the females are seen as the subject)

•     from within, in its identification with the male protagonist (we share the gaze and are aligned with the Men as subject)

Cinematic apparatus does not take into account your race/gender etc.

constructs an ideal representation whereby you must be male, white, heterosexual

♣     BUT! The image of the woman invariably connotes the threat of male castration.When we look at the woman as an object, the male’s status as spectator is all-powerful. We posses the ‘phallus’ - that which imparts power (in psychoanalytic terms) . We could LOSE that power if we see that women do not have it.

♣     There are two avenues of escape for the spectatorial male unconscious:

1.      the complete disavowal of castration through fetishization or ( say that there is no possibility of castration by turning her into a fetish object. You forget that you’re looking at a human woman bc she just SEEMS like an IMAGE)

2.      the demystification of the woman through devaluation or punishment. ( because she makes you fearful of losing your power, you punish her to gain a second level of power)

Fetishistic scopophilia Spectacle Interruption Disavowal Von Sternberg

Voyeurism – Punishment?? Narrative Action Reenactment Hitchcock