Annotated Bibliography/Research Question

Annotated Bibliography

Anderson, John. "Dylan Movie to Open Like a Rolling Premiere." The New York Times. 21 Aug 2007. 29 Oct 2008 <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/movies/21dyla.html/partner/rssnyt/?scp=9&sq=%22I'm%20Not%20There%22&st=cse>.
-Explains the efforts of the Weinstein company in regards to distribution of the film.

Hernandez, Eugene. "HanWay + Celluloid Dreams=Dreamachine; New Combined Company Launching in Cannes." IndieWIRE. 03 Apr 2007. 29 Oct 2008 .

-Discusses the sales/production/financing firm that produced I’m Not There.

Lyall, Sarah. "In Stetson or Wig, He's Hard to Pin Down." The New York Times. 04 Nov 2007. 29 Oct 2008 .

-Heath Ledger is interviewed and explains (what he speculates is) the meaning of I'm Not There.

Sullivan, Robert. "This is Not a Bob Dylan Movie". The New York Times. 07 Oct 2007. 

29 Oct 2008. 

-Illustrates Tod Haynes’s desire to make a film that shows what Dylan himself is all about and how he functions as a sort of metamorphic character.

Wisniewski, Chris. "An American Tale: Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There". IndieWIRE. 19 Nov 2007. 29 Oct 2008 .
-Review discussing the success that the film had in the execution of a fractured narrative

Research Question:

I would like to examine the methods used to market and distribute I'm Not There. As I understand it, the Weinstein Company faced a challenge of marketing an experimental art film filled with famous faces, and they chose to open on fewer screens in the hopes that critical acclaim would save the film.

Week Eleven Q&A

Reading Response Week Eleven: Due October 28 @ Noon

Answer at least one of the questions from TWHTI 104-114. Answer at least four of the remaining questions.


The Way Hollywood Tells It, 104-114
[Assigned in Week 10, but answer this week]

Summarize the answers Bordwell gives to the question, “Why do filmmakers bother with classical construction if ardent viewers consider it dispensable, even distracting?”

1. Classical plot construction seems unimportant to viewers, but it allows them to concentrate on other things.

2. Big-budget films layer their appeals; kids and intelligent adults.

3. There is no better way to satisfy a broad range of tastes than classical construction: a combination of star power, physical action and other appeals.

4. Spectacle is expensive; there is no better way to fill out the space between whammos than with Hollywood default (characters we care about).

5. Films aren't just made for audiences; they are made for other filmakers as well. Prowess in craft leads to prestige, professional satisfaction and better jobs.


The Way Hollywood Tells It, 51-72

What does Bordwell mean by “genre ecology,” and how does he characterize the current range of genres in Hollywood. 

By genre ecology Bordwell means the rise and fall in popularity and success of genres such as melodrama, action, science fiction and crime. Bordwell characterizes the current range of genres as the result of 'younger' directors (film school generations and back-lot rebels). This younger generation gravitated towards the genres that had not been prominent during the studio era.

What does Bordwell mean by “worldmaking,” and how does it affect the narrative design of individual films?

Worldmaking is explained as a rich, rully furnished ambience for the action of a film. It affects the narritive design because (such as in 2001: A Space Odessey) each element of set design and props is carefully researched. Kubrick carefully though about what astronaut meals would look like and how the technical elements would function.

What specific reasons does Bordwell propose for the rise and fall of contemporary genres?

One specific reason was the push towards multidemnsional story; this worked best in genres such as fantasy (ancillary material in Lord of the Rings) and science fiction (the multiple plot points spread between sections of The Matrix). 

What do Bordwell and Thompson mean by the claim that some films are “maximally classical”? What films do they have in mind?

The claim that some films are maximally classical refers to films that are 'more classical than they need to be.' The films they have in mind are Groundhog Day, Back to the Future, Hannah and Her Sisters and Die Hard.

Week Ten Q&A

#1: What are the five conditions that gave rise to the New Hollywood (here defined as post-1975)?

1. A  new generation of directors

2. New marketing strategies

3. New media ownership and management in the film industry

4. New technologies of sound and image reproduction

5. New delivery systems

#3: Elsaesser argues that unlike in Europe, where ruptures in realism were found in art-cinema, in Hollywood ruptures in realism were found in “minor genres and debased modes.” What genre in particular is he talking about? In what ways do you find ruptures in realism in this genre?

The genre in particular Elsaesser is referring to is horror. Horror films disrupt the cause and effect patterns of shot/reverse shot, continuity and reverse field editing to create a sense of mystery and to mislead the viewer by withholding information or keeping the monster offscreen.

#4: How is the sound/image relationship in horror films fundamentally different than other classical genres?

In classical cinema, the sound and image synchronization replicates the question and answer pattern of linear narrative (viewer ids sound by picturing source), while in horror the presence of sound is emphasized so that the absence of source becomes localized by the mind more vividly (consider the monster scores from Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street).

#10: What is so important about the un-matched shot of Dracula looking up (without a matching point-of-view shot; we don’t see what he sees) in the opening sequence of the film? (p. 201) To what degree is this a break from classicism, and why?

The unmatched shot of Dracula looking up is important because the corresponding point-of-view shot is not seen until the end of the film, Dracula's gaze is not returned (by the painted image of his reunion with Elzbieta) until the events of the narrative have come to pass. The point of view shot functions not as a reocurring theme or as resolution but as a relay of gazes taking place across the narrative. In classicism the matching of gazes would be part of repetition and resolution (in Citizen Kane, for example, rosebud serves this purpose) but in post-classicism it serves  as 'an elaborate relay of gazes' drawing the viewer's attention to the film as a medium rather than the film as a narrative.

#12: What is the key technical device (hint: in cinematography) that leads to the “decomposition” of the image as representation and the screen as a bounded frame in Bram Stoker’s Dracula? How is the use of this device a break from classical cinema, and why?

The key technical device that allows decompostion  of the image is superimposition. In classical cinema is is used to indicate a shift in time or space or internal monolouge. In Dracula, the superimposition does not function as a boundary marker.

Product Placement in Back to the Future

Klaw Kan (Dog food) (opening credits)

Nike (Marty's footwear)

Krylon (Multiple boxes in Doc Brown's lab)

Huey Lewis & The News/The Power of Love

Burger King (1985 Hill Valley)

Toys R Us (1985 Hill Valley)

Texco (appears in 1985 and 1955)

Jeep (Marty hitches a ride next to the logo)

Mountain Dew (driver of Jeep wears logo t-shirt and hat)

Toyota

Yamaha Drums (band audition)

Gibson Guitars (band audition)

Honda

Zales Diamonds (advertisement on bench)

Toyota 4x4 Jeep "That's hot" (Marty's dream car)

Miller Lite (Advertisement)

Diet Pepsi (McFly dinner table)

LIFE (game of) (next to television in McFly house

Bud Lite (McFly dinner table)

Diet Pepsi Free (Marty's bedroom)

Ross Stores (Twin Pines Mall)

JC Penny (most closeups in the Twin Pines scene)

Delorean 

GMC (General Motors?) (multiple vehicles)

JVC Cameras (used to record Doc Brown's time experiment)

Goodyear Tires (close up, on the Delorean)

Miller High Life (side of delivery truck)

Cattle Queens of Montana (playing in 1955 theatre) (1954, RKO pictures)

Sherwin Williams paint (logo painted on a brick wall)

TAB soda (Malt shop)

Pepsi Free (regular) (Malt shop)

Mounds candy bar (Malt shop)

Toblerone candy bar (Malt shop)

Calvin Klein (referred to in dialogue, Marty's underwear)

Milk-bone dog treats (in Doc Brown's garage)

Science Fiction Theatre (George mentions it as his favorite television program) (1955-1957, owned by United Artists Television in the 80's for syndication)

Fantastic Story Magazine (1950-1955) (George McFly's bedroom)

Van Halen (Marty impersonating an alien)

Pepsi-Cola (in the 1950's, displayed on crates, posters, as soda machines, and drunk by Marty)

Allstate Insurance(1955 billboard

Schwinn bike shop (1955 storefront)

California Raisins (Advertisement on bench)

Bank of America (1985 storefront)

Footlocker (Lone Pine Mall)

Panasonic (clock in Marty's bedroom)

BMW (McFly family car)

Adidas (Biff's track suit)

Week Nine Q&A

An action figure produced upon the cinematic release of The Thing. Couldn't you just picture some eager child opening his Christmas presents that year, to find....this?

Bordwell, p 19-50

How do films with multiple protagonists work within the model? 

In films with multiple protagonists, eventually the fate of one or two characters is likely to dominate. These ultimate protagonists get more screen time, and often the climax will depend on a decision or action they must take (such as Macready's decision to torch the camp in The Thing). With multiple protagonists, the four part structure will be built around their goals.

List and briefly describe the narrational tactics discussed in the section “Tightening the Plot” (starting on p. 43).

-Two plotlines (one involving heterosexual romance).
-Dangling cause; unresolved issues in a scene which are picked up later
-Dialouge hook; line at the end of the scene that relates to the action we see next
-Ticking clock/appointments/deadlines; upcoming date or deal will reassemble the characters, motivates a future scene, and builds suspense
-Appointments; used as forshadowing, a 'plant' that will be picked up later in the narrative.
-Repeated object or line of dialouge.

What does Bordwell mean by his claim that Hollywood narratives have “passages of overtness balanced with less self-conscious ones” (p. 50)?

Bordwell means that Hollywood narratives used the narrative tricks mentioned the passage, such as narration and providing additional text information,with the intention of providing as clear a plot as possible. Other narrative tactics such as ticking clock/appointments/deadlines were used less self-conscously and served as a sort of insular shorthand to get the characters to move forward within the narrative.

American Cinema and the Entertainment Economy

Which genres flourished and which genres declined during the 1980s and 1990s?

Due to the increased power of the 12-29 age bracket at the theater (they made up 75% of the moviegoing public), the studios began catering to their preferences. Fantasy and science fiction, as well horror and low-brow comedy were the popular genres, as well as films featuring 'awesome special effects,' 'edgy violence or profanity', and throwaway references to other movies.

Week Eight Q&A

David Bordwell, The Way Hollywood Tells It

How does Bordwell refute the theory that ideas such as reflexivity and pastische in film  are a modern phenomenon? 

He provides examples of studio films that were self-reflexive at the alleged 'end' of the studio era; such as Singing in the Rain and Citizen Kane.

Name some sources of the 'classical cinematic expression' that came from outside the media of film.

Popular literature and drama: Psychological casualty, planting/payoff, rising action

Theater, painting, graphic arts: spatial vantage points, pictoral comparison

What is does Bordwell state is his ultimate goal for the book?

To emphasize the craft of storytelling by studying finished films and use them to understand the underlying plots and visual styles.