Expanded Cinema

Martial art films today are popular, especially in the US. Audiences love the action, and skill, and the grace that all come with the genre. Martial art films seem like just another movie genre for some people. However, martial art films holds an interesting history, going all the way back to China. One can argue that the genre of martial arts films made martial arts and the appreciation of Asian culture more apparent in U.S society. American filmmakers usually casted Asian crew members because…

In these movies, Lee connects with the viewer by portraying himself as a common man facing a struggle, usually the oppression of a freedom that Bruce’s character embodies. Granted average viewers have never faced a mob boss, the premise of an ordinary minority man challenging the tyrannical power of foreigners made for a popular action plot. Lee would then use his martial arts skills, wits, and training in weapons, most popularly the nunchakus, to completely devastate the opposition. His role in…

Jackie Chan is a martial art film actor. Before he was born, his parents, Charles and Lee-lee Chan, travelled to Hong Kong, where they found a job to work for a French ambassador. His father became the ambassador’s cook and handyman (4). Jackie Chan, born in April 7, 1954, lived in Hong Kong with his father and mother. He was named Chan Kong-sang which meant “Born in Hong Kong” and was nicknamed Pao-pao, which meant cannonball, since his parents had never seen such a big baby (3-5). As…

I.Topic For my project, I will be examining the cultural issue, the depiction of women in an action film where they represent feminism. In film, there is not enough representation of female characters that are capable of being independent and strong all while not being sexualized. Most female character who are given the traits strong and independent often times are hyper sexualized because they are women which means there objects in male’s view. However, female characters are need of makeovers…

Australian director George Miller’s 2015 blockbuster, ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, is an action filled, post-apocalyptic film. The Mad Max universe is a set in a stark, desert landscape filmed in Namibia, with an oil and water crisis, which forces humanity to revert back to a state of war and isolation. One of the main characters, Max is captured by the “war boys” who live in the Citadel run by tyrannical Immortan Joe, and eventually finds Furiosa and her rig. In the ‘Furiosa’ scene, he attempts to…

Once in some days, unknown as past, present, nor future, a Moonflower Ivy grew to the sky. In the dark air, winged creatures with blood red skin and some creatures that were bare, with nothing but black feathers flew about. The red beings flew in one direction and the black beings in the other. The Gods above cried with grey tears that turned the blue moon to stone. During the lunar cycle on only one night, the two races battled fiercely with great force. The red, bat-like creatures followed one…

It doesn’t give you what to desire — it tells you what to desire” (Slavoj Zizek). How is the cinema the ultimate pervert art? Cinema is shared. Cinema is not “owned” by a person alone, but enjoyed by everyone. Everyone has been introduced to a form of cinema, even though they may not have seen it in that manner. From people in remote villages across the globe partaking in dramas that portray their cultures, to staged sets. From pre-world war II societies to the post war societies. From…

First Cinemas As we discussed in Lesson One, during the Evolution of Theatres section, there weren’t any dedicated cinemas at first. Screenings of films were shown in theatres or music halls, but as the popularity of film grew, it was recognized that dedicated cinemas were a necessity. Once such location that was only used for one showing was the Berlin Wintergarten Theatre. In 1895, Max and Emil Skladanowsky screened a film during the month of November. True dedicated cinemas arrived on the…

Xeen cinema lenses: 3 now, 3 more to come Three new cinema lenses, 24, 50 and 85, all at T1.5 are the offer of a new name in the market: Xeen. Another way to say Samyang or Rokinon. Introduced in 2015, the new Xeen lenses for video and cinema are, as the information available suggests, “a masterpiece of design” only possible with the feedback from professional directors of photography. Samyang states they represent, also, the culmination of the company’s expertise in optical engineering. Xeen,…

American film genres discussed above, this study believes that presentations of black sex and gender roles in American cinema will respond to the following research questions: RQ1: Technology both changed and grew within the fifty-year period encompassed by this study. What are the effect of technological advances on presentations of black sex and gender roles in American cinema? RQ2: According to author Susan Jeffords, the Reagan administration was highly influential in many of the changes,…