From Realism to Transformations

Jaws was such a popular film because of it`s realism. Before Jaws, Hollywood films were not shot on the ocean. Steven Spielberg really wanted to portray realism in this movie. This continued through the Twentieth Century Fox period which defined a new Hollywood. During this time, there were many blockbusters especially the ever so popular titanic. The titanic also had a sense of realism as the shooting took place at the reconstruction of a ship built in a 40 acre studio that included a 50 foot lifting platform for the sinking sequences of the film. 

During this period of time, not only were movie sets changing and evolving but so were the ways of movie presentation- with the development of home video.  After the coming of cable TV, and home video sets, most people watched films on a television set.  Years later, the internet has changed the way people view films and television as it can easily be streamed to our portable devices.  According to the text, the most important transformation in movie watching was the innovation of the video cassette recorder (VCR), which then transformed into DVD players, and now we have DVR players. 

                                   This section was a  blast to the past, really. There were thousands and thousands of places that would rent or sell home videos (blockbuster being one of the largest) which then became DVD rentals which then ended up going out of business and then there was RedBox, Netflix, Hulu, and a million other streaming outlets. We have lived to see so many transformations in film and video. 

Applying Film History

As this course is beginning to come to a close, I wanted to reflect on film history and how it can be applied to our lives. This class was so much more than watching some of our favorite films. We appreciate cultural history because we can look at how far we have come as a culture. As a communication studies student focusing in on media studies, broadcasting, and some film I have learned to appreciate all of the developments in the film industry that have gotten the film industry where it is today and have inspired today's directors to create such great films. 

This course has covered such a wide variety of topics in such a short amount of time- from the silent cinema to the development of audio, and color films, to the the television era, satellite television, and the video to digital era. This course was so interesting because as I am learning how to produce short films or and videography segments and short stories I can't help but appreciate all of the resources and options we have today to make our stories more creative. 

What has everyone else taken away from this course? 

Special Effects

This week in the discussion boards it was talked about special effects and weather they have a positive or negative impact in certain films.  Personally, I think special effects can make or break a film but there was discussion this week on how special effects can sometimes take away from a really well written film or simply make a really not so good film a decent film because of its special effects.

I wanted to use Avatar as an example as it was one of this weeks movie screenings with amazing detail and special effects. James Cameron's Avatar costing a total of $300 million extends the possibilities of what movies can do according to Rolling Stone Magazine 's Peter Travers. I found Avatar's storyline hard to follow, and the plot was dragged on.  I was distracted by the movies picture details and special effects. Don't get me wrong; Avatar was an amazing picture just not for me.


Do you think the special effects in Avatar took away from the story trying to be told? I think that the picture alone is what attracted such an audience.

Six Approaches to Writing About Film

One of my weaknesses as a writer is finding a focus. My first draft is usually all over the place.  I thought this chapter was particularly interesting and helpful because we are going to be doing a book review on a film next week and will need to be familiar with different approaches to writing about film. This chapter indicated the advantages as well as disadvantages of looking at a movie as part as a national cinema, it also described the difference between the auteurist  approach and a generic approach to a movie. Lastly, it gave some tips on the ways an ideological approach can be used in writing about film. 

Historical Approach

One of the most widely used methods in film criticism is the historical approach, which I think I would be most likely to use when writing about film.  One of the reasons I think that the historical approach is so popular is because it is easy to organize. Films can be related back to their place in a historical context. Historical film writers utilize techniques such as compare and contrast, make connections between conditions of productions, and make connections between U.S. films and the film trends during those years. 

Ideology

It is also an option to write about ideologies in films. The text uses an example of The Godfather II. A writer sensitive to the ideological values in The Godfather II may see this as a film concerned with the business of capitalism, and critisize the movie based on those ideologies. 

Chatham!

This has nothing to do with film history, but my Chatham episode is finally up on Cable! If you live on the Cape, you can catch it on Channel 99! Here it is. Harwich, Dennis, Yarmouth, & Barnstable coming soon. 

Chatham!

Foreign Films During the Golden Age

The time period we're studying this week was considered the "golden age" of art cinema.  Foreign filmmakers were forced to adapt in the television age and had to battle against Hollywood. European filmmakers began to seek alternatives and gave up on trying to beat Hollywood during this time.

European art films developed a unique sense of style. This style was purposely not easy to follow which was designed to be part of the pleasure. I appreciate the efforts by European filmmakers to do this because it was something that Hollywood would have never attempted so it was different and unique.  These films presented stories centered around psychological problems of alienation and the difficulty of communication.

Another strategy that European filmmakers used to break off from Hollywood is de-dramatizing. This was a storytelling strategy that focused on presenting both climatic and trivial moments to put an emphasis on the flexibility of film techniques instead of the norms of classical Hollywood films.

Lastly, the characters in European films were different than those portrayed in the normal Hollywood film. From studying storytelling plots for a while now I have absorbed the importance of a good story plot. In simple terms, the main character of the story is "supposed to" change, or find some resolution to a problem by the time the story is over.  Viewers of European films were encouraged to focus on the characters changing mental state throughout the film.  This happened through flashbacks, dream sequences and flash forwards to tell the viewer what the character was thinking. I personally think these characteristics  can make for a great film as they often keep the viewers in suspense.

JAWS

With all of the recent shark sightings so close to home...well for me anyway I live 10 minutes from Sagamore I thought it would be fun to blog about this weeks screening Jaws today!  Jaws is a classic. And personally, I like to view it right  around the time of  Discovery Channel`s Shark Week.  One thing I really like about Jaws is that it keeps the viewer wondering and in suspense.  After continuing to do some research on the movie; you may not have known the following from just watching the film;

• Jaws had a huge influence on the film industry. It wasn’t just the first ‘event’ movie, it also welcomed in a new era of mass movie marketing and merchandising. 
• Jaws was the first film to break $100 million at US box office.

Another element of Jaws that I think made it such a successful and well liked film was because it appeals to peoples fears.  People are terrified of Shark attacks so they were able to relate to the movie. The movie was also one of the firsts to portray such realism. Previously to Jaws, movies weren`t shot on the Ocean, which made all the difference in a more successful morning.