A short essay for my Film Theory and Criticism Class The 1956 French short film classic “The Red Balloon” (Le ballon rouge) features a tender drama with a fine touch of flight of fancy. Its subdued setting features a lot of grays, suggesting the depressing quality of the film’s mood and tone, which is then contrasted with the blazing red balloon in mid air. This post-war motion-picture classic written and directed by Albert Lamorisse features a seemingly cynical world that turns magical
Author: Rianne Hill I. Soriano
Rianne Hill Soriano is a freelance production artist working as a director, writer, educator, and consultant in film and commercial productions.
Our Rom-com Short Film ‘Pag-ibig sa Panahon ng Coronavirus’ (Love in the Time of the Coronavirus)
romantic comedy, 11 mins., 2020 IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11997792 During the first month of the coronavirus outbreak when people around the campus start the semester wearing face masks, a paranoid guy who takes extra care of himself with frequent handwashing tries to rekindle an old flame upon meeting his teen crush who is currently recovering from flu. A long-take film for a grad school directing class, shot using an iPhone with FiLMiCPRO app. Actors: Fred Layno and Kathleen MackDirector: Rianne Hill SorianoScriptwriter: John Clifford
(Reflection Paper) Story + Vision → Storytelling
Reflection Paper on "Gasman" and "The Rats" from "Wild Tales" for My Advanced Directing Class In a film, every story and vision should lead to a suitable storytelling. A material given to a filmmaker evolves based on the specific vision developed alongside it, which means a single material distributed for production to different directors and production teams would always end up as different films. This magic in the collaborative process of filmmaking allows the exploration of various themes, styles, and depictions,
(Response Paper) David Bordwell: The Blurred Line Separating Art Cinema with Classical Hollywood Cinema
In response to: The David Bordwell essay “The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice” from the journal “Film Criticism” A response paper for my Advanced Film Theory and Criticism class In the essay “The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice,” American film theorist and film historian David Bordwell primarily discussed how art cinema can be considered as a distinct mode of film practice by comparing it to classical narrative cinema (which can be traced to studio feature filmmaking in Hollywood since
(Response Paper) Elizabeth Spelman: Centuries of a Woman’s Body as a Gift and as a Curse
In response to: The Elizabeth Spelman essay “Woman as Body: Ancient Contemporary Views” from the journal “Feminist Studies” A response paper for my Advanced Film Theory and Criticism class I find philosopher Elizabeth Spelman’s “Woman as Body: Ancient Contemporary Views” as an eye-opening essay. It helped me better understand the oppression of women through the centuries, while making me realize the importance of really knowing iconic figures in history more than the popular accounts about them. This becomes of extreme importance in the case of
(Response Paper) Cinema and Ideology with Jean-Luc Comolli and Jean Narboni
In response to: The Jean-Luc Comolli and Jean Narboni essay “Cinema/Ideology/Criticism” from the journal “Screen” A response paper for my Advanced Film Theory and Criticism class This essay entitled “Cinema/Ideology/Criticism” by French writers Jean-Luc Comolli and Jean Narboni started with an introduction of the pioneering French film magazine Cahiers du Cinema, offering a general overview of its objectives, goals, and ideology. It also presented the perennial question “What is film?” and “What is cinema?” – questions that continue to linger around many
(Response Paper) The Mythology of Roland Barthes: Studying the Semiological Nature of Myth
In response to: The section “Myth Today” from the book “Mythologies" by Roland Barthes A response paper for my Advanced Film Theory and Criticism class In reading French literary theorist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician Roland Barthes’ “Myth Today” from his book “Mythologies,” I found myself more open to the nature of cinema as a theoretical discussion. In presenting the groundwork for semiology and its relationship to myth, I got to the starting point of examining current forms of existence and revealing the ideological
(Response Paper) Film Semiotics in the Earlier Lens of Christian Metz
In response to: The chapter “Some Points in the Semiotics of the Cinema” from the book “Film Language: A Semiotics of the Cinema” by Christian Metz A response paper for my Advanced Film Theory and Criticism class Being not very much used to the way it approached its scientific methodology, particularly his semiotic approach to film studies, I found the chapter “Some Points in the Semiotics of the Cinema” from French film theorist Christian Metz’s seminal work “Film Language: A Semiotics of the
(Response Paper) Francois Truffaut’s Impassioned Take on the Auteur
In response to: The François Truffaut essay “A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema” from the article originally printed in the French film magazine "Cahiers du Cinéma" A response paper for my Advanced Film Theory and Criticism class French filmmaker and film critic Francois Truffaut’s essay “A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema” presented such strong, impassioned convictions on what he thought and felt about cinema during his time. He capitalized on his emotions while still offering certain moments of objectivity through film examples that,
(Response Paper) The Evolution of Cinema and the Film Language with Alexandre Astruc
In response to: The Alexandre Astruc essay “The Birth of a New Avant-garde: La Caméra-Stylo” from the article originally printed in “L'Écran française” as "Du Stylo à la caméra et de la caméra au stylo" A response paper for my Advanced Film Theory and Criticism class This 1948 essay by French film critic and film director Alexandre Astruc entitled “The Birth of a New Avant-garde: La Caméra-Stylo” reminded me of the wonders in the evolution of art and technology. It is natural to see