Theories can make you better understand a Movie !

Sep 9, 2023 9:54 AM
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According to The Routledge Encyclopedia of Film Theory:

A set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of cinema studies that question the essentialism of cinema and provides conceptual frameworks for understanding film's relationship to reality, the other arts, individual viewers, and society at large.

It takes an academic approach to explain  the essence of cinema and how it holds a mirror up to its audience and the world at large. It's Actually different from  from  criticism involving evaluation of a movie  effectiveness and  history, which explores the development and evolution of cinema over time .To sum up,we can say it's like deeply observing the movie and place it in a common category in which many other movies fall in and here we can call it as a grouping,Actually the game theory behind is analyzing the movie ,it's common aspects,how it represents the Culture,Themes , People/Characters it Involves and what's the message it wants to convey Us .

It's all about covering aspects of the movie for a better exposure of it to get knowledge about it or to debate whatever.The more  better you get at reading films, more meaning you can put into your work. You can’t create a unique film or television show without a basic understanding of what came before you.So,it's essential to have basic knowledge of theories to Get and absorb a better knowledge about movies ,to debate about your aspects and also In order to create a television show,or a movie ,which is extreme form,you need to be a good movies theory Analyist.

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But be careful as you shouldn't mix up Film Theory with Film Criticism or Film History. All three are very different studies and even more different ways to approach film and filmmaking.

How to read a Movie :

The first thing you should do while analyzing a movie is paying Attention to ,while The best film analysis may require you to be pretty liberal with the  pause  and play buttons at precise usage.Looking for choices made by the director, cinematographer  and editor can give you a clue about emotional response and messaging of every scene at depth..!

Types Of Movies :

Although there are many ,we restrict The major ones To Three :

  • Realism 
  • Formalism
  • Classical

Realism:

It explains the real prospective of movies like sometimes Showing Good and bad sides while protrraying real life experiences ,some Top class examples under this example are as under:

  • Fish Tank
  • The Bicycle Thief
  • The Deer Hunter
  • Kids
  • Florida Project
  • Fruitvale Station

Characteristics:

  • Nonprofessional actors
  • No special effects
  • On location sets and props
  • Minimal editing
  • Natural lighting
  • Documentary style

Classical:

This falls between the two extremes of Realism and Formalism. It emphasizes authentic moments between real people with the manipulation of its creative production elements.

Examples:

  •  The Godfather
  • Citizen Kane
  •  Trainwreck 
  • Spotlight

Characteristics:

  • Professional actors
  • Minimal or no special effects
  • On location or in studio
  • Editing used for time Lapse
  • Lighting and sound used to create a mood

Formalism:

It Focuses on the Director bringing the audience an altered reality that they’ve created. It’s pretty much every Guillermo Del Toro movie ,like every Superhero,every star and most  modern movies.

Characteristics:

  • Professional actors
  • Relies heavily on special effects
  • Editing speeds up or slows down time
  • Lighting and sound create exaggerations
  • Breaks the illusion of reality

A Brief History:

Actually Motion pictures Popped up  as a new form of mass entertainment in beginning of the 20th century.Critics and theorists were quick to analyze the new medium and  compared  it to theater.They focused on the work of influential early directors like Dziga Vertov, Sergei Eisenstein and Germaine Dulac.After World War II, French philosopher Andre Bazin began writing about film. He believed a film should be a director vision and that it is up to the viewer to interpret the content or ideas that influenced the French New Wave. Film theory in this era brought new focus on realism, auteur theory, and avant garde filmmaking.The Psychoanalysis  and sexuality began to dominate the modern conversation in the 1960s and 70s and film theorists became increasingly interested in reading films through the lenses of these disciplines. In the decades since, film theory has developed as an academic discipline with some Examples of this like cinema studies becoming more common in universities.

Types:

Theories can have many types although we remain restricted To 5 Major Types:

1.Feminist

This theory is to  study  representations of women in cinema. A foundational work in this  theory is  by Laura Mulvey  1975 essay which is  Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, in which she coined the term Male gaze. This  may investigate how filmmakers objectify and sexualize female characters without regard for their subjectivity.

2.Marxist

It  studies the representation of power structures and class struggle in film.it  may focus on protagonists fighting for the needs of a group against the powers of capital.

3.Psychoanalytic

It emphasizes the study of the human psyche while analyzing the effect of things like narcissism, sexual desire  or unconscious thoughts on a character movement through a narrative.

4.Queer

It Emphasizes  subject matter and subtexts in film thus exploring how sexual orientation and gender identy manifest in cinema.

5.Auteur

It assumes that the director is the primary artistic visionary of a film and  functions under the belief that the best films are made by filmmakers with a unique, personal vision who write and direct their own films.

Being a movies lover,I think we should have some basic understanding of Movies theory which enables us to better appreciate the films we watch and explore the relationships between a movie and its audience, other media, and society as well.Although,You don’t need to have a film studies major to enjoy film theory,as Anyone can gain a basic understanding of film theory and can better enjoy movies.

It's Actually The study of a movie and Major Elements inside it.Its a common observation that many Aspects of the movie combine to give an image which we can virtually create in a mind listening its name.Its different from a movie review as we see Review covers all aspects of the movie while Theory is something put all aspects together and make a visual image that defines it better and for making a more specific debate as we understand better a movie through it.

By: Doctor strange 

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