FILM STUDIES

 SILENT CINEMA - Man with a movie camera (Vertov 1929)  - A Propos de Nice (Vigo 1930)  Our study will take us to a study of: Early days of Silent Cinema and its distinctiveness  Modernism in the context of filmmaking  Soviet montage filmmaking and constructivism  Starting points: By the mid 1920's Silent Cinema was mature, established and creative as a visual medium  It was never entirely silent - although there is no recorded sound, most films were accompanied by soundtracks which matched the visuals and enabled spectator interaction  Some filmmakers even feared that the coming of sound would drag the narrative - driven features of cinema down  The lack of recorded dialogue can be seen as a strength, not a weakness  The argument is that the lack of recorded dialogue draws the spectator into a much more active engagement with the film Even when we ave inter-titles, these rarely do more than provide a summary indication of what is being ...

How style and technical features come together to create mood and atmosphere  Essentially visual elements which sustain mood, "tone", atmosphere Individual films sustain their own distinctive aesthetic through: colour, cinematography, mise-en-scene and also performance  AESTHETIC:  - Film aesthetics connect to the genre and / or narrative as well as the film's wider production context - for example an indie film creates a particular aesthetic which connects to the low budget values, storylines, values  - Sometimes sound is effectively interconnected with visual elements  - Whilst aesthetics are applicable to a wide range of film forms, styles and movements it is also the case that distinctive aesthetics emerge in global filmmaking as an aspect of cultural or local detail  AESTHETICS IN IDA - How does the director create a distinctive aesthetic in Ida? - Is this effective? - What meanings emerge? How does aesthetic support the representations, ideas and them...

  WIDER CONTEXTS (IDA) production contexts:  - First film by the director made in Polish - Funded by Polish institute  - Uses personnel from Polish Film Industry (employment) - Filmed on location in Poland Social cultural historical political: HISTORICAL + POLITICAL - German occupation, Holocaust, Stalinism  Set Poland 1962 - After Second World War - communist rule  - Many Polish Jews died - Holocaust victims  - After 1945 Poland a mostly homogenous nation - After Stalin's death in 1953 - some relaxation of political pressure from Soviet Union Early 1960's economic problems  SOCIAL CULTURAL  - Domination of Communist rule - closed society and political system impacts on social and cultural life  - Early mass scene in 1960's Poland - Anna - a novice (Poland is predominantly Catholic by faith) - Her aunt Wanda - a woman who is in a high position in the legal profession - a state prosecutor under Stalinism  - This is unusual or unconvention...