1 The Art of Watching Films
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The Uniqueness of Film
 Industry/commercial vs. art (aesthetics)
 Continuous interplay of sight, sound, and motion.
 Unlimited in choice of subject and approach – moods (lyric
to epic), perspectives (objective to subjective) etc.
The Challenges of Film Analysis
 Moves continuously
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Staying objective / critical while emotionally immersed
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Chapter 1
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The Value of Film Analysis
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Either / or positions
Accept all art intuitively / subjectively
 Objective analysis destroys the beauty of art
 This view, however, ignores a middle ground
 We can combine our intellectual/ analytical with our
emotional interpretations
 Intuitive grasps for meaning are vague without an
analytical boast to conscious understanding
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Becoming a Receptive Viewer – consider
obstacles to objectivity
Personal biases – dismissing certain types of
films, not going beyond the norm, or just
wanting to be entertained.
Avoid film “blindness” - do not reject the
whole film based on one element (too much
violence, a certain actor, etc.)
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The Film-Viewing Environment – proper = the
theater, which has a primal impact that home
does not
Shape of the composition – widescreen
(rectangular) or letter box (Black bands)
Panning and Scanning – transfers films shot in
widescreen to fit television screen
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Preparing to See a Film – how much should
you know?
Reviews – analysis and judgment
Publicity – talk shows, trailers, etc.
Word of mouth – friends etc.
Web sites – Internet Movie Database & Rotten
Tomatoes
Deepening Our Responses to Films – get rid of
preconceptions and gather facts.
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Film and Art
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Painting and photography = interplay of light
and shadow
Poetry = communicate through imagery,
metaphor, and shadow
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Film Analysis
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Break down the movie to discover the nature,
proportion, function, and interrelationship of
its important parts
Find movie’s meaning and value
Captures film experience
Sharpens critical judgment
Opens channels of awareness and depth of
understanding
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Questions for
Analyzing Your Responses to a Film
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Do you have any strong prejudices against this
particular type of film? If so, how did these
prejudices affect your responses to the film?
Does this film have any special qualities that
set it apart from other films of the same type?
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Questions for
Analyzing Your Responses to a Film
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How much do your personal subjective
responses to the following aspects of the film
affect your judgment: actors, treatment of
sexual material, and scenes involving
violence? Can you justify the sex and violence
in the film aesthetically, or are these scenes
included strictly to increase box-office appeal?
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Questions for
Analyzing Your Responses to a Film
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What were your expectations before seeing the
film? How did these expectations influence
your reaction to the film?
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Questions for
Analyzing Your Responses to a Film
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Was your mood, mental attitude, or physical
condition while seeing the movie less than
ideal? If so, how was your reaction to the film
affected?
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