In my Authorship and Narrative reading log this week, the main article was the development of genres.
Now, I know a lot of people, my mother included, who don't like the word 'genre'. I can understand that view; it has the appearance of constricting art and defining rules and boundaries, etc. However, I see this as a good thing. I think that genre conventions are a good thing for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they allow the audience to 'pre-watch' a film, for instance. Not in terms of predictability of plot, but expectance of what is to come. For example, wouldn't you be dissapointed if you went to see a serious courtroom drama, but instead recieved a Singing Western?
Secondly, genre conventions can help film-makers. They can guide the film-maker in terms of what should or shouldn't be in his or her film. Because genre conventions have created audience expectations, the film-maker must now be cautious of what is and isn't in the film. These conventions allow for...not simplicity...I don't know the word. You all see what I mean.
Additionally, genre conventions are a defence of criticism. I know of one person who criticised "West Side Story" (Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise; 1961) [U.S.A.] for being an unrealistic portrayal of gangs in New York during the early 1960s. While this point has merit, the film is certainly not a perfect picture of what happened during that time, the representation of gangs in the film is true and accurate according to genre conventions. In the genre, The Sharks and The Jets are the toughest guys on the block...and they sing and dance to prove it. They are acting according the conventions of the genre.
Brilliant film, by the way.
I've started writing my essay on "Breakfast At Tiffany's" (Blake Edwards, 1961) [U.S.A.]. Here's the question I'm answering:
Question 1 of 4:
1. Examine in detail the narrative construction and style of a scene in any one of the films screened in weeks 1 -5 of the course.
Your answer should consider such things as the ways this scene constructs and defines character, and relates to the overall narrative structure of the film. You should also consider how and whether the scene creates (or doesn't) a 'continuous' flow of action, constructs narrative time and space, relies on causality, and deploys classical style (including the 'system' we call continuity editing). You may also like to consider the significance of questions of genre and authorship to your chosen scene. You may focus on only a couple of these aspects in relation to the scene you have chosen but please specify clearly the approach you are taking - and the scene you have chosen - at the start of your essay. Read the section below titled "Specific Mandatory Requirements for all Essays" very carefully before commencing your essay.
Wish me luck! I'm doing the second scene of "Breakfast At Tiffany's", in which George wakes up Holly at her apartment and helps her get ready to go to Sing-Sing. I'll probably end up posting my essay when it's all finished.
I enjoy Audrey Hepburn.
Now, I know a lot of people, my mother included, who don't like the word 'genre'. I can understand that view; it has the appearance of constricting art and defining rules and boundaries, etc. However, I see this as a good thing. I think that genre conventions are a good thing for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they allow the audience to 'pre-watch' a film, for instance. Not in terms of predictability of plot, but expectance of what is to come. For example, wouldn't you be dissapointed if you went to see a serious courtroom drama, but instead recieved a Singing Western?
Secondly, genre conventions can help film-makers. They can guide the film-maker in terms of what should or shouldn't be in his or her film. Because genre conventions have created audience expectations, the film-maker must now be cautious of what is and isn't in the film. These conventions allow for...not simplicity...I don't know the word. You all see what I mean.
Additionally, genre conventions are a defence of criticism. I know of one person who criticised "West Side Story" (Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise; 1961) [U.S.A.] for being an unrealistic portrayal of gangs in New York during the early 1960s. While this point has merit, the film is certainly not a perfect picture of what happened during that time, the representation of gangs in the film is true and accurate according to genre conventions. In the genre, The Sharks and The Jets are the toughest guys on the block...and they sing and dance to prove it. They are acting according the conventions of the genre.
Brilliant film, by the way.
I've started writing my essay on "Breakfast At Tiffany's" (Blake Edwards, 1961) [U.S.A.]. Here's the question I'm answering:
Question 1 of 4:
1. Examine in detail the narrative construction and style of a scene in any one of the films screened in weeks 1 -5 of the course.
Your answer should consider such things as the ways this scene constructs and defines character, and relates to the overall narrative structure of the film. You should also consider how and whether the scene creates (or doesn't) a 'continuous' flow of action, constructs narrative time and space, relies on causality, and deploys classical style (including the 'system' we call continuity editing). You may also like to consider the significance of questions of genre and authorship to your chosen scene. You may focus on only a couple of these aspects in relation to the scene you have chosen but please specify clearly the approach you are taking - and the scene you have chosen - at the start of your essay. Read the section below titled "Specific Mandatory Requirements for all Essays" very carefully before commencing your essay.
Wish me luck! I'm doing the second scene of "Breakfast At Tiffany's", in which George wakes up Holly at her apartment and helps her get ready to go to Sing-Sing. I'll probably end up posting my essay when it's all finished.
I enjoy Audrey Hepburn.
posted by CelestialScribe | 8:12 PM
2 Comments:
I'm doing a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism). So my major is journalism, but I guess my 'minor' would be Cinema Studies. And the subject for Cinema this semester is called Authorship and Narrative in the Cinema. We study two directors and how they use the same style and artistic touches in all of thier films. Also, how narrative structure and genre come into play :)
hey did you end up posting this essay, really interested in reading what you have to say, im a big fan of breakfast at tiffanys. Im planing to start studying again next year something along the lines of cinema, how do you like it?
cheers
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