Video Essay Transcript for My Students For this film theory and criticism course, some of you may not find this very appealing, especially if you are more of a production person and not someone who would prefer spending more time in reading books about film theories and criticism and engage in intellectual discourse relating films watched with assigned readings. But think of this way, being filmmakers, knowing film’s roots, how it develops and how it manages to survive and thrive through
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(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) Ideology, Reality, and the Apparatus Film Theory with Jean-Louis Baudry
In response to: The Jean-Louis Baudry essay “The Apparatus: Metapsychological Approaches to the Impression of Reality in Cinema” from the Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen book “Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings” A response paper for my Advanced Film Theory and Criticism class In this essay “The Apparatus: Metapsychological Approaches to the Impression of Reality in Cinema,” French psychoanalytic film theorist Jean-Louis Baudry asserted that cinema is, by nature, ideological. This is because films are created to represent reality and the mechanics
(Response Paper) Understanding Andrew Sarris’ Premises of the Auteur Theory
In response to: The Andrew Sarris essay “Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962” from the book “Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings” by Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen A response paper for my Advanced Film Theory and Criticism class American film critic Andrew Sarris’ “Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962” expressed the concerns about the auteur theory, particularly outside the insights coming from the French thinkers and the film magazine Cahiers du Cinema. Unlike Francois Truffaut in his essay “A Certain Tendency
(Response Paper) The Essence of Realism Through the Photographic Image with Andre Bazin
In response to: “The Ontology of the Photographic Image” from the book “What is Cinema?” by Andre Bazin A response paper for my Advanced Film Theory and Criticism class Reading “The Ontology of the Photographic Image” from the book “What is Cinema?” by realist film theorist Andre Bazin reminded me how a film makes a character immortal, and to a large degree, makes an actor immortal as well. One’s physicality, which eventually gets lost in time with aging, will always remain as is,
(Response Paper) Besides Perfection: The Nooks and Cranny of Film Reviewing with Anthony Lane
In response to: The introduction of the book “Nobody’s Perfect: Writings from the New Yorker” by Anthony Lane A response paper for my Advanced Film Theory and Criticism class The introduction part of Anthony Lane’s book “Nobody’s Perfect: Writings from the New Yorker” was a nurturing read, while reminding me of how movies for spectacle’s sake work like junk food – indulging instead of nourishing. At the same time, in the ages of video games and social media, movies work like many
(Response Paper) Discourse in Art: Beyond Interpretation, Form, and Content
In response to: “Against Interpretation,” an essay by Susan Sontag A response paper for my Advanced Film Theory and Criticism class The way writer Susan Sontag used the word “interpretation” in this reading prompted me to dig deeper into the application of the word in film criticism and art as a whole. I would say I don’t agree with her when she said that art, especially at this time and age, should not be interpreted. She specifically raised how "commentary about art"