Favorite movie theorist
Who is your favorite movie theorist and your favorite work of his. Im talking people like andré bazin or koulechov or eisenstein and others.
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Straub-Huillet (Writings)
Ruiz (the site with his translated diaries) Godard (various videos) Everyone in the russian school |
Re: Favorite movie theorist
what is a movie theorist?
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My own work:
www.thecinematicm.wordpress.com I was initially inspired by the Soviet Schools, but then diverged when I thought of cinema as an algebraic equation. Out of that I started working on creating various projects: creating a cinematic notation, pushing montage to extremes (montage within montage within montage, etc.), borrowing concepts from other disciplines, (language, philosophy, math and science, etc.) and finding not "narrative" equivalents but "aesthetical" ones more based within the mise-en-scene/edit and their counter-balancing dynamics. I was also a huge fan of concepts of infinity. Again, not narratively speaking of course, that to me was a bit too... "done." But more in line with infinity in audio-visual mise-en-scene and edit itself... ... The only reason why I didn't keep it up as I did years ago was I suffered madness and I was in and out of mental hospitals... really took a toll on me... but the work is still there, fresh, and interesting if you wish to check it out... I hope to get back to where I left off years ago. I wanted to make film more of a science than anything else. I wasn't satisfied with people blindly claiming: "This aesthetic works because..." without a ********* proof of it. What I loved about the Soviets was the Kuleshov Workshops, they really tried to "prove" aesthetically what was working and what wasn't... and I think it lead to better cinema and certainly greater progress in understanding this language called "cinema." I really want to get into a space where I'm doing this again and can go into film educationally. I want to be a "film scientist/artist." Not some sleazy-ass film maker going into the "game" of it all to make a buck. My only interest is to expand the language, and provide proof via experimentation and a scientific method. That would make me very happy... |
Originally Posted by resopamenic (Post 2123493)
what is a movie theorist?
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Originally Posted by Olivier Parent (Post 2123527)
It is someone who share his thoughts on movies.
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Re: Favorite movie theorist
Not me. I have theories about physics and cosmology. I go to movies for enjoyment. I'm sure that directors, writers and producers have something that might count as a theory, but to me, it's a style. Theory is as irrelevant to movies as recipes on how to make tasty cabbage.
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Re: Favorite movie theorist
Can anyone recommend any books? I have one somewhere around here. If I find it, I'll post it.. (and maybe one day, I'll actually read it!)
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Originally Posted by skizzerflake (Post 2123886)
Not me. I have theories about physics and cosmology. I go to movies for enjoyment. I'm sure that directors, writers and producers have something that might count as a theory, but to me, it's a style. Theory is as irrelevant to movies as recipes on how to make tasty cabbage.
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Originally Posted by WorkersPeasants (Post 2124267)
I think you're confused about the meaning of "theory" in this context
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Originally Posted by skizzerflake (Post 2124276)
I don't think I am. I know what a theory is and a movie style isn't one of them.
On the other hand, style is an inherent facet in a few major theories of cinema. |
Originally Posted by WorkersPeasants (Post 2124289)
Film theory =/= an individual interpretation of what a certain movie means/says
On the other hand, style is an inherent facet in a few major theories of cinema. Movie theories seem like something made up for a university course that needs to justify its funding. |
Originally Posted by skizzerflake (Post 2124325)
Who needs a theory of what a movie is about? If a theory IS needed, then the movie didn't communicate very well.
Movie theories seem like something made up for a university course that needs to justify its funding.
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Re: Favorite movie theorist
Yeah, "film theory" here means thinking about how and why cinema as a whole works as an art form. Just because it's been overtaken by people to refer to singular interpretations of different films doesn't change that.
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Originally Posted by Iroquois (Post 2124330)
Yeah, "film theory" here means thinking about how and why cinema as a whole works as an art form. Just because it's been overtaken by people to refer to singular interpretations of different films doesn't change that.
If I go to a movie and I need a long explanation about why it's a good movie or how I should analyze it, then, that would imply that it does NOT communicate its story clearly. I try to view all movies knowing as little as I can, aside from a couple sentences summarizing the plot so I can pick one from another, specifically because I don't want to go in, knowing what it's about or how a critic thinks I should see it. A one minute trailer is my favorite intro. If I come out thinking that I need to read up on this to see what somebody else thinks it means, and if they have a starkly different view from me, then I probably won't think that it's a favorite. |
Originally Posted by skizzerflake (Post 2124408)
That's a theory is less about somebody expounding on something and much more about a body of knowledge that is all but absolutely proven, like the Cell Theory or the Theory of Relativity.
If I go to a movie and I need a long explanation about why it's a good movie or how I should analyze it, then, that would imply that it does NOT communicate its story clearly. I try to view all movies knowing as little as I can, aside from a couple sentences summarizing the plot so I can pick one from another, specifically because I don't want to go in, knowing what it's about or how a critic thinks I should see it. A one minute trailer is my favorite intro. If I come out thinking that I need to read up on this to see what somebody else thinks it means, and if they have a starkly different view from me, then I probably won't think that it's a favorite.
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Originally Posted by WorkersPeasants (Post 2124415)
This is what film theory, literary theory, and art theory all are....
Amazingly, you are still stuck on the idea that theory focuses on individual films, or that its the product of criticism. At this point i just hope you're trolling. I'd be curious to hear what you would think of as elements of a theory of movies. |
Originally Posted by skizzerflake (Post 2124448)
Not really. I'm thinking about how a theory is an embracing concept that should apply to an individual film, which would follow the rules or principles of the theory, kind of like how the freezing temperature of water changes with atmospheric pressure. If it doesn't have some application that goes from the general to the individual, then it's not much of a theory.
I'd be curious to hear what you would think of as elements of a theory of movies. Serious question: are you a child? |
Eh... maybe this will help bridge the gap:
Music theory is the historical context and mathematical structure of music. This includes measurable chord structures (one, three, five, seventh, ninth, and all the variations between), the division of time and rhythm (whole notes, half, quarter, eight, triplets, etc.), structured chord progressions (some styles of music fall into more genre-specific chord progressions like rock and roll or blues vs. classical), dynamics, instrumentation, composition, and on and on the academic world goes graphing out rules and observed practices to make sense of what works, what doesn't and why. Then there's the individual criticism on specific works that can (or cannot) use those theories as measurements of success, or at least of evaluation. Sure. It's academic. But, like Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada said of Andrea Sach's indifference to the two shades of blue when selecting a belt for a fashion shoot: This “stuff”? Oh, okay. I see. You think this has nothing to do with you.My guess is, the topic here is similar to music theory in some of that. |
Re: Favorite movie theorist
I'm a fan of Andre Bazin too, I don't necessarily agree with everything that he says but it's always fascinating and he has great in-depth knowledge of the history of cinema. I would say I've moved more away from realism towards an interest in formalism.
Jean-Luc Godard I find fascinating too and love listening too, reading, watching his work which you could make an argument for all being relating to film theory. Anything from the old Cahiers du Cinema I normally find to be of some value, Truffaut's conversations with Hitchcock are great. Beyond that I don't have too much to add, I find most modern critics are uninteresting bar a handful. I like Jonathan Rosenbaum and Michael J. Anderson who although not necessarily theorists themselves, have a rich knowledge of history and relate their own analysis to film history and theory. |
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