Expanded Cinema

The bottom line: filmmaking is expensive, and therefore, a film must be efficient in its conveyance of story. Classical Hollywood cinema depends on the idea that cinema is deliberate, pointed, driven quickly through a linear narrative by carefully orchestrated action and plot devices. Transitions are smooth and fast paced, dialogue is pithy and heavily directed, not one second wasted on narrative “blank space”. But what happens to this model when the story a film strives to tell is a story not…

As far as a Hollywood movie goes, everyone wants the perfect Hollywood ending. To be able to have the perfect Hollywood ending, Hollywood first has to make the perfect character. The perfect character consists of someone who is all around good. They have good intentions, a wholesome background, and despite every awful situation they are put in they come out of it a better person. So what better way to portray the perfect character than by making them great with kids? That was, after all, the…

Introduction Mass media has been successful in presenting quality and block buster films that Filipinos have been patronizing over the past years since the inception of the Golden Age of Philippine Cinema in the 1950’s. Cinema has been part of Filipinos’ lives. Watching movies for Filipinos is one of the ways to relieve and amuse themselves and to escape from their despairs for a short time. In our society, mass media has a great influence. It plays a vital role in forming and reflecting public…

On September 29, 2000, A. O. Scott, a journalist for The New York Times, wrote a film review of the movie, “Remember the Titans”. His article, “How the Goal Line Came to Replace the Color Line,” presents a short but detailed analysis of the sport centered movie. “How the Goal Line Came to Replace the Color Line” is an article that is meant for everyone, regardless of race. In fact, Scott implores that viewers of all races will be infused with pride after viewing “Remember the Titans” because it…

From his first film to last, Soderbergh has made a name for himself in his careers. His outside the box cinematics are what set him apart from other mainstream directors. Soderbergh started out as an indie film maker and has gone one to make blockbusters with top A-list actors and actresses. Taking a closer look at three of his films, Sex, Lies and Videotape, Out of Sight and The Good German, has Soderbergh moved away from being an idea filmmaker. Indie films, short for Independent films are…

The studio system was essential in the success of early American Cinema. It ensured that total control of the movies belonged to the biggest studios in Hollywood that made them (Classic Hollywood Central Editors, 2011). The ‘Big Five’ created the studio system to ensure they made the most profit. The ‘Big Five’ consisted of 20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Paramount, Warner Bros., and RKO Radio. There were three smaller studios close behind: Universal, Columbia, and United Artists…

The studio system is known today as a time when Hollywood produced their films at their own studios. During this time film companies held the market for all films, held workers into contracts and monopolized the industry. During this time period eight studios; Columbia, MGM, Paramount, RKO, 20th Century Fox, United Artists, Universal and Warner Bros. produced 75 percent of the films made in the United States. Seven of the eight studios released an average of 45 films per year. The time in…

The impact that the world had on the film industry pushed them toward changing the Code to a Rating system. This was the idea that there would be no approval or disapproval of the content, instead, they would give caution to parents about the movie (MPAA 52). This gave the industry a chance to break out of that constant conformity and make whatever movie they could come up with. The caution didn’t come in just a caption about the movie - it came in a certain rating system that the National…

In the film Chan is Missing, director Wayne Wang creates a detective story in which he allows the audience to be engaged with the characters in the film in order to find Chan. Upon the adventure of finding Chan, the audience comes to realize that Chan is this complex, changing, and elusive figure that Wang has presented. Presenting Chan through multiple perspectives, Wang undercuts the homogenized Asian America stereotypes and shows how they have no solitary identity. In essence, with the…

1997 was a milestone in Kon's career for two reasons: The release of this particular movie in cinemas and the initiation of his collaboration with Madhouse Inc, who sheltered his genius until his last birth. Prefect Blue was initially meant for a live action TV series; however, after the Kobe earthquake in 1995, the production studio suffered extensive damages resulting in a reduction of the budget, up to a point that solely allowed the shooting of an OVA. Nevertheless, while the shootings were…