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Casper David Friedrich

(1774-1840)

Wanderer above the sea fog (c. 1818)

oil on canvas,

84.8 x 74.8 cm,

Kunsthalle, Hamburg

Activity

How is the man in this painting portrayed?

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Name five famous artists and five famous film directors.

Artists: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, etc.

Film Directors: Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarantino, Stanley Kubrick, etc.

In your view, what qualities should an artist possess?

creativity, imagination, their interpretation or visualization of the world, uniqueness, agenda, skills, inspirations and influences on them, open-minded, organization, freedom, passionate, etc.

In your view, what qualities should a film director possess?

creativity, imagination, their interpretation or visualization of the world, uniqueness, agenda, skills, inspirations and influences on them, open-minded, organization, freedom, passionate, etc.

Are they the same or different?

Where do we get these from?

Scroll down to see the rest of the table:

29/9/2016

What is an auteur:

The principal creator of a film:

  • The principal source of meaning in a film

  • A filmmaker who demonstrates technical excellence

  • A filmmaker who makes films of artistic merit as opposed to those of commercial value

  • A filmmaker who makes films with an individual value

  • A filmmaker who makes films with similar themes

"Debate on whether the highlighted statement above is the more accurate and precise definition of an Auteur."

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Re-occurring themes and Pre-occupations:

  • Family ties and responsibilities

  • American Suburban dreams/Superficial normality

  • Experimental approach

  • Twisted Fairy-tales

  • Landscape as character

  • Preoccupation and fantasy/mythical settings

  • 'Artificial' look to Mise-En-Scene

  • Consistent collaboration with John Williams as the composer

  • Dreamlike (nightmarish) imagery

  • Testing and questioning of masculinity

  • Violent mafia criminals

  • Distinctive use of camera techniques such as jump cuts

  • The rituals of the Catholic Church such as confessions

  • Redemption through violence

  • Sweeping aerial shots

  • Preoccupations with 'lost' childhood

  • Distinctive use of camera techniques such as jump cuts

  • Lone male surviving in challenging circumstances

  • Isolation/alliteration of 'abnormal' characters

30/9/2016

Name some directors:

  1. Steven Spielberg

  2. Peter Jackson

  3. Tim Burton

  4. Alfred Hitchcock

  5. Quentin Tarantino

  6. Stanley Kubrick

  7. James Cameron

  8. Kathryn Bigelow

  9. Ang Lee

  10. Alejandro G. Inarritu

  11. Tom Hooper

  12. Jon Favreau

  13. Kenneth Branagh

  14. Joss Whedon

  15. James Gunn

  16. Anthony and Joe Russo

Classwork

Independent Study - Script

25 % of final grade

A script dealing with an aspect of Film History or Film Theory

15 pages for HL, 12 pages for SL.

Must cover 4 films for HL, 2 for SL.

Films must be drawn from at least who cultures which are not the student's own.

Must include a rationale and an annotated bibliography.

Audience is students aged 14-18.

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The aim of the independent study is to encourage students to engage in some depth with a cinematic tradition that is unfamiliar to their own culture.

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The prime voice of the documentary must clearly be that of the student, who will also act as the narrator, onscreen host and/or voice-over. Students must ensure that any comments or ideas they attribute to celebrities or others, such as experts, are fully supported by detailed references in the annotated list of sources.

 

Students must make reference to a minimum of 2 films at SL  & a minimum of 4 films at HL in their independent study. The chosen films must originate from more than one country. At SL the study is not necessarily comparative, but at HL some comparisons should be drawn between the films chosen.

Brainstorm of Film Theory and Film History ideas for Script:​

Film Theory:

​Already studied:

  • Auteur Theory - confirmed choice

  • Todorov's Narrative Theory - maybe

  • Moral Panic Theory - maybe, but more to do with television news though - caused by negative news stories.

  • Uses and Gratifications Theory

Other Theories of Interest:

  • Apparatus Theory

  • Feminist Film Theory

  • Formalist Film Theory

  • Genre Studies - Thinking of this one

  • Marxist Film Theory

  • Philosophy of film language analysis

  • Psychoanalytic Film Theory

  • Screen Theory

  • Structuralist Film Theory 

Film History:

  • Italian Neo-Realism

  • Post-WWII

  • French New Wave

  • Spanish Second/Third Wave Cinema

  • Hollywood - confirmed choice

  • Bollywood

  • Cinema in Japan - confirmed choice

  • German Expressionism

  • Cinema in Hong Kong and China - too bad I can't do this since the rules state that I can't choose a film history from my own culture! - secondary choice

  • Cinema in Indonesia- secondary choice

Films to study and look at:

Cinema in Japan​​ - Akira Kurosawa

  • Seven Samurai - confirmed choice

  • Yojimbo - confirmed choice

  • Rashomon - confirmed choice

  • Sanjuro

Cinema in Japan​​ - Other

  • Godzilla films

  • Zatoichi film series

  • Any Japanese Anime Film

Initial Ideas for my Independent Study:

Interests based on actual films:

I have an interest in a lot of different kinds of films such as superhero, crime, sci-fi, adventure, fantasy, animation and so on!

Action films - confirmed choice - One of my most favorite genres of film:

  • Action films can link to genres like the ones above, as well as a few others such as thriller, espionage, mystery and so on!

  • The films that I am into the most (regarding action and in film in general) is the MARVEL films, not only because I am such a big MARVEL comic-book fan, but also for me personally, the MARVEL films helped to redefine and popularize the action, superhero genre in particular.

Sci-Fi films - Another one of my most favorite genres of film:

  • Sci-Fi films to me represent entirely different worlds and suggest to the audience that there are a lot more places in space that we have yet to have explored or discovered.  They show how broad and extensive our ideas of what films we want to create can be.

  • The films that I am into the most (regarding sci-fi) are the Star Wars films.

Adventure films:

  • I like films where there is a sense of adventure and mystery to it, where it creates suspense and tension in the audience.

  • The films that I am into the most (regarding adventure) are the Indiana Jones films.

Fantasy/Animated films:

  • One of the most important factors in forming my childhood and the genre of films that is responsible for my love for film today.

  • Again, shows how broad and extensive our ideas of what films we want to create can be, and they also how anything can become possible.

  • It's family-oriented and enjoyed by all audiences of all ages.

  • The films that I am into the most (regarding fantasy/animation) are basically any of the Disny and Pixar films

Interests based on film history:

  • In the context of my own culture, even though I probably can't do this film history for my IS, I like to watch Stephen Chow, Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan films, as they also include action sequences but also include a lot of comedy which is another genre I love to watch, especially with family.

  • Cinema in Japan is one of the oldest film industries in the world, I have recently picked interest in this type of film history because this particular film history has kick-started the era of action films, and has even inspired others to create modern action films today.

  • Hollywood, obviously.

Topic or Title Ideas:

  1. Are film auteurs really creating or making their own films, or are they just all inspired and influenced, in this case copying what other film auteurs have done in the past?  In the case of the films that I will be studying, are they all inspired or influenced by each other, from oldest film to newest film?

  2. Do our perceptions and influences of action films or the type of action present in my films depend on the side genre that adds to them, such as sci-fi, espionage and adventure and so on?

  3. How have action films developed over the years through different cinematic techniques?

  4. How has Kurosawa's action sequences both influenced and developed contemporary action cinema? - first attempt

  5. Creating dramatic effect and emotional intensity through different cinematic techniques in Kurosawa's action films and how it has influenced action cinema and how it has developed in the action films we see today. - the one on the google spreadsheet currently.

  6. The effect of showing the consequence of the protagonist's actions between the protagonist and the antagonist in action films? / Representation of the relationship(s) between the protagonist and antagonist(s) in action films

  7. The effect and development of using slow-motion in action films.

  8. Representation of the villains in action films and how this convention has changed throughout the years.

  9. Since technology rises everyday, have special effects enhanced or worsened action films and how does that compare to action films from the mid 20th century?

  10. Representations of chase scenes/sequences in action films.

  11. Conveying dramatic effect or emotional intensity in action films through the use of cinematic techniques.

Cinema in Hong Kong and China - Stephen Chow, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan​

  • Enter the Dragon

  • The Way of the Dragon - secondary choice

  • Fist of Fury

  • The Big Boss

  • The Game of Death

  • Kung Fu Hustle

  • Shaolin Football

  • God of Cookery

  • King of Comedy

  • Fight back to School

  • God of Gamblers

Other

  • The Killer

  • Hard-boiled

Hollywood

  • MARVEL films - confirmed choice - Captain America: Civil War

  • Any Disney or Pixar Film

  • Harry Potter

  • Star Wars - considering

  • Indiana Jones - considering

  • Since Star Wars and Indiana Jones are both from George Lucas, I can't really decide

  • DC films

  • James Bond - considering

  • A.I Artificial Intelligence

  • Avatar

  • Jaws

  • Jurassic Park

  • King Kong

  • Life of Pi

  • Mad Max - considering

  • Mission Impossible - considering

  • Pirates of the Caribbean

  • The Chronicles of Narnia

  • The Matrix - confirmed choice

  • The Terminator

  • Alien, Predator, Alien vs. Predator

  • 300

  • The Raid (Original Indonesian Title)/Raid Redemption (USA Title) - secondary choice

  • District 13

Interests based on the production of film, or any specific aspects of the films, particularly editing:

  • The use of transitions - does it create effect, meaning or mood, or is it just for visual pleasures? - most films usually use just jump cuts, but particularly Star Wars uses a whole bunch of wipe transitions, but what are they used for and what effect do they produce, if any?

  • The difference or the usage between good green screen and bad green screen. - some films use green screen very well and make sure that the film doesn't fully show that it has been green-screened.  However, there are also some films, like (I don't even want to mention this film), The Last Airbender, who use green screen terribly and horribly.

  • The use of colour grading and adjusting the brightness, contrast and exposure in films - what effects and meanings and compositions are created?

Research:

Bibliography:​

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_Kurosawa

  2. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000041/

  3. https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2010/mar/23/akira-kurosawa-100-google-doodle-anniversary

  4. http://www.kurosawamovies.com/main.htm

  5. http://www.biography.com/people/akira-kurosawa-9370236

  6. https://www.criterion.com/explore/3-akira-kurosawa

  7. https://global.britannica.com/biography/Kurosawa-Akira

  8. http://www.slideshare.net/simsimma/conventions-of-action-films

  9. http://sensesofcinema.com/2002/great-directors/kurosawa/

  10. https://indiefilmhustle.com/akira-kurosawa-composing-movement/

  11. http://nofilmschool.com/2014/04/how-to-edit-like-kurosawa-analysis-of-seven-samurai

  12. http://a-bittersweet-life.tumblr.com/post/82302023101/akira-kurosawa-and-the-art-of-editing

  13. http://www.registerednursern.com/editing-techniques-in-seven-samurai-by-akira-kurosawa/

  14. http://filmmakeriq.com/2014/04/an-analysis-of-akira-kurosawas-final-battle-scene-in-seven-samurai/

  15. http://www.infoplease.com/cig/movies-flicks-film/master-art-akira-kurosawa.html

  16. http://wherewasitnow.blogspot.hk/2007/08/analysis-of-akira-kurosawa-seven.html

  17. http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/filmmaking-tips/using-slow-motion-in-action-movies.html#b

  18. http://www.slashfilm.com/slow-motion-in-movies/

  19. https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/how-to-use-slow-motion-in-film-to-create-iconic-moments/

  20. http://filmstudies.info/terminology/manuscripts/slow-motion.html

  21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film_techniques

  22. https://www.slideshare.net/crosswaysfederation/codes-and-conventions-of-documentary

  23. https://www.slideshare.net/LVHS/codes-and-conventions-of-documentaries-28738886

  24. https://www.slideshare.net/mich_angel/conventions-of-documentaries

  25. https://www.slideshare.net/conmann2997/action-adventure-codes-and-conventions

  26. http://eastasianfilm.blogspot.hk/2010/09/seven-samurai.html

  27. http://www.tohokingdom.com/articles/2015-09-10_akira_kurosawa_career.html

  28. http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2009/12/08/kurosawas-early-spring/

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