History of Film Critical Analysis – Flashcards
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Melies
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(French) A Trip to the Moon; trick films, special effects, stop-motion, cinematic transitions, multiple exposures, cinema can create its own reality
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D.W. Griffith
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An innovative American filmmaker of the early twentieth century. He is famous for his epic silent films, such as The Birth of a Nation, which required huge casts and enormous sets. Full featured films. (United Artist)
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Mary Pickford
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"America's Sweetheart" , most popular star of the generation, one of the most influential figures in Hollywood at Paramount. In 1916, she was the first star to become a millionaire. (United Artist) Married to Douglas Fairbanks
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Charlie Chaplin
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A founder of United Artists. Actor who commonly used elaborate physical gags. Film director as well. Slapstick comedy.
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F. W. Murnau
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-german expressionist filmmaker, made Nosferatu and The Last Laugh -, advanced editing techniques; moving camera between shots -Expressionist movement in the German cinema in the 1920's
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Robert Wiene
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Important film director of the German silent cinema. Referenced for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
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Eisenstein
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(Russian) Soviet Montage director who believed in jarring edits; created "Eistein's Montage of Attraction"; directed "Battleship Potempkin", "October", "Ivan the Terrible"
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Truffaut
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One of the founders of the French New Wave. He later devised the auteur theory, which stated that the director was the "author" of his work; that great directors such as Renoir or Hitchcock have distinct styles and themes that permeate all of their films. He also wrote a book on Hitchcock. He directed The 400 Blows.
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Godard
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(French) New Wave director. Breathless. Interrogation of cinema itself, produced films quickly and cheaply, attacked capitalism.
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Bazin
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(French) Co-Founder of the magazine Cashiers du Cinema and was a critic.
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Fellini
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An Italian director/writer known for his distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque films and he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century. He became involved with Italian Neorealism after meeting Rossellini. 8 1/2.
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Polanski
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(Polish) Film Director, writer, and actor. International film maker. Repulsion, Rosemary baby, Chinatown and several other films.
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Makhmalbaf
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Iranian film director. Kandahar.
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Gus Van Sant
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Independent film maker. Good Will Hunting, Elephant and Milk are just a few movies.
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Todd Haynes
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Independent film maker. Poison, superstar, I'm not there, and etc.
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MPPC
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Motion Pictures Patents Company was formed by Thomas Edison, it was sought to control all aspects of motion picture production, distribution, and exhibition.
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Persistence of Vision
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The way our eyes retain images for a split second longer than they actually appear, making a series of quick flashes appear as one continuous picture. 1/25th of a second on the retina.
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Series Photography
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The use of a series of still photographs to record the phases of an action although the actions within the images do not move.
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Kinetograph
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an innovative motion picture camera with rapid intermittent, or stop-and-go, film movement, to photograph movies for in-house experiments and, eventually, commercial Kinetoscope presentations Invented by Dickson and his team at the Edison lab
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Kinetoscope
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Housed in "parlors," pre-projection. Developed by Thomas Edison, the first continuous-film motion picture viewing machine to gain public acceptance. An individual peered through an eyepiece at a continuous 50-foot loop of 35mm positive film, which established the 35mm format as the motion picture standard.
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cinematographie
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A quality prized by the French Impressionist avat-garde movement in the 20's which a film strives to render internal states of mind.
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Expressionism
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An art movement early in the 20th century. Started in Germany to present subjective perspective for emotional effect to provoke moods and ideas.
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feature film
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a film made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie.
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MPPDA
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Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America - an organization designed to help the industry regulate its own content. Eight major were the members.
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Studio system
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A model of industrial organization in the film industry from about 1915 to 1946, characterized by the development of major and minor studios that produced, distributed, and exhibited films, and held film actors, directors, art directors, and other technical crew under contract.
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United Artists
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Founded by Chaplain, Douglas Fairbanks, DW Griffith & Mary Pickford.
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Production Code
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The Code was drawn up in 1930 and approved by the Hays Office. A moralistic list of what could and could not be shown or endorsed in a Hollywood film. A producer's self-censorship guide, considered preferable to censorship by groups outside the film industry.
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Sync Sound
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recorded simultaneously with taking the image, so sound and picture correspond to each other with frame accuracy
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jump cut
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An elliptical cut that appears to be an interruption of a single shot. Either the figures seem to change instantly against a constant background, or the background changes instantly while the figures remain constant.
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auteur theory
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A way of looking at films as the personal expression of their directors. "Director as author."
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La camera stylo
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Camera as Pen
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Realism
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an artistic movement in 19th century France
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formalism
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Strict adherence to prescribed or traditional forms. Use materials and models from the older arts. Russian formalism - scenes were highly edited and conspicuous shot justapositions were featured.
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MPAA
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Motion Picture Association of America. The lobbying arm of Hollywood. Administers the rating system and negotiates trade agreement for international usage.
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Rating System
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Put in place by the MPAA in 1966; films are classified in terms of the age group for which they are deemed appropriate.
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Paramount Decree
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Supreme court decision in 1948 that stated that vertical integration of the movie studios was a violation of the Sherman anti-Trust Act and that studios had to sell off their theaters and had to give up the right of distribution.
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HUAC
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House Un-American Activities Committee - An investigating committee which investigated what it considered un-American propaganda, and searched out communism (adding them to the blacklist).
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film movement
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films that are produced during particular time period and or nation that share significant traits of style or form
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National Cinema
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an ambiguous term used in film theory and by film critics to describe the films associated with a specific country. Associations can be made through financing, language, nationalities/dress of characters, setting, music, and cultural elements. Some scholars emphasize the structure of the film industry and the roles played by "...market forces, government support, and cultural transfers..."
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Bollywood
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Indian version of Hollywood (film industry), centered in Mumbai (formerly Bombay).
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16/24 fps
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16 frames fer second (frame rate) is most commonly used in the early silent films and upto 24 fps.
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Montage theory
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An editing style associated with soviet film makers of the silent era in which short shots were cut together to achieve new meanings.
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closeup
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The camera observes an actor's face or other object at close range.
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Block Booking
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an early tactic of movie studios to control exhibition involving pressuring theater operators to accept marginal films with no stars in order to get access to films with the most popular starts
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black list
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a list of about 500 actors, writers, producers, and directors who were not allowed to work on hollywood films because of their alleged communist connections
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cahiers du cinema
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"cinema notebooks". A vastly influential journal which gathered about it a group of young critics-Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Rivette, and Eric Rohmer- who were to become the major directors of the New Wave.
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German Espressionism
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Used symbolism, mise en scene and deeper meaning.
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Soviet Montage
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An alternative to continuity editing, this style of editing was developed in silent Soviet cinema, based on the theory that editing should exploit the difference between shots to generate intellectual and emotional responses in the audience.
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Italian Neorealism
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(1944-1952) a style of film characterized by stories set amongst the poor and working class, filmed on location, frequently using nonprofessional actors. Italian neorealist films mostly contend with the difficult economical and moral conditions of post-World War II Italy, reflecting the changes in the Italian psyche and the conditions of everyday life: poverty and desperation.
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French New Wave
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The New Wave (French: La Nouvelle Vague) was a blanket term coined by critics for a group of French filmmakers of the late 1950s and 1960s, influenced by Italian Neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema. Although never a formally organized movement, the New Wave filmmakers were linked by their self-conscious rejection of classical cinematic form and their spirit of youthful iconoclasm and is an example of European art cinema. Many also engaged in their work with the social and political upheavals of the era, making their radical experiments with editing, visual style, and narrative part of a general break with the conservative paradigm.
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film
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v. to record something so it can be seen again; to make a motion picture or movie; n. a thin piece of material for making pictures with a camera; a movie
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