1. Describe Auteur Theory and name a director who is considered an auteur.

  • “Auteur Theory” is the intended choices that the director makes, which reflect his/her creative vision.
  • People thought that film should be analyzed like literature. It should be taken more seriously.
  • Andrew Sarris developed the Auteur Theory. Talking about filmmakers as authors.
  • Camera sylo is a term used to allude to this idea of the director as an author.
  • Hitchcock, Woody Allen, Coen brothers…

2. What is the difference between epic and novelic?

  • Epic is where everyone knows the story. I.e: a war story, where the story lives vicariously through the characters. The goal is to pass on the knowledge/tradition/legend and engage the audience in a wide scope of the entire story. The audience already knows the end.
  • Romances are usually always epics? Boy meets girls, fall in love…
  • Novelic is a new story, which hasn’t been told yet. Telling a new story.

3. List at least five symbols in the film “The Return” and their meanings.

  • Eagles: Birds are a concrete image of hope; the dead bird can foreshadow the ending. It can represent what will happen if they stay on the island for too long.
  • Fish: The whole concept of fishing is a stereotypical activity that is seen as father and son bonding. The father didn’t care much for fishing, but taught the kids how to become more independent (finding a restaurant, paying the bill, getting the car our of mud…). The fish can also be a symbol of the two children. The two kids are trapped and don’t know what will happen like the fish.
  • Worms
  • Watch: Time and punishment seem to be important in this movie. The watch evokes some kind of punishment/consequence if what the father requires is not completed. It’s as though time represents adulthood, structure, orders… The lack of awareness of time brings about innocence and youth.
  • Jump: The jump can be interpreted as the right of passage. The transition between child to adult.
  • Island
  • Water (rain, body of water)
  • Fire, Wind, Water and Earth.
  • Numbers: 3 and 12.
  • Shoes
  • Journey: The journey is what transforms the kids into the mature stage of life. This journey ended their innocence and threw them in the reality of life, just like the opening scene, when the kid jumps in the water. That effect parallels the transitional period. Another point about this journey is that they made it halfway with their father, and now that he’s dead, they must do the other half without his help. In order to survive and get out of this island, they have to do what their father told them.

4. What is iconic, indexical and symbolic in terms of semiotic analysis?

  • Iconic: 1 to 1. “Pertaining to, or consisting of, images, pictures, or representations of any kind” and “a sign which resembles the signified (portrait, photo, diagram, map)” Also used metaphorically as a quality of high representativity.
  • Indexical: pointing to. “A sign, which is inherently connected in some way (existentially or causally) to the signified (e.g. smoke signifies fire; and all the little symbols you see on web pages — mailboxes, envelopes, arrows).”
  • Symbolic: arbitrary. 1&2 become symbolic. “A sign which does not resemble the signified but which is purely conventional (the word stop, a red traffic light, or a national flag)”

5. Characterize cinema pur.

  • Little post production;
  • Independent,
  • No C.G,
  • Real locations,
  • No professional or A list actors… (Finding actors on the street belongs to the neo-realist or French wave).
  • Avant-guarde film movement
  • Dogma95?
  • Term coined by Henri Chomette.
  • Focuses on filming pure elements such as motion, visual composition and rhythm.
  • Key filmmakers are: Rene Clair, Fernand Leger, Hans Richter, Viking Eggeling…
  • Films include: Ballet Mecanique, Symphony Diagonale…
  • More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_pur

6. How can the use of music help in a film?

  • American Model: Cover a lot of territory in a short amount of time. Use music and shots to compress time and tell a story. I.e.: Rocky
  • Having a video and audio track can evoke certain reactions/emotions from the viewer. Track A- video + track B- audio = viewer’s anticipation based on the two devices. Vertical montage (similar to the Kuleshov effect).
  • It fills in the gaps where the director choses not to reveal too much.
  • In melodrama: use of music and emotionalism to sell the story

7. What is eros and thanatos?

  • Eros: Desire/drive for life
  • Thanatos: Death

8. What is “Auterism”?

9. *How is a film genre different from auterism?

  • During Hollywood’s golden era, certain production companies would specialize in specific genres.
  • Directors and producers would also develop their own style.
  • Following certain genres limits the authorial vision because of genre constraints.

10. What makes the film “The Return” such a unique movie (think symbols)?

11. What does “camera stylo” mean and how does it apply to auteur theory?

  • Camera stylo refers to the idea of auteurism (director as an author).
  • Camera is a camera and stylo refers to pen (in french) similar to an author writing a book.
  • Alexandre Astruc published an article called “Naissance d’une nouvelle avant-garde”, in the magazine L’Écran français, march 30th 1948 with this term.

12. Generally, how do American remakes differ from their source material?

  • More special effects/C.G/Animation…
  • Story tends to be more explicit/clear. More obvious for the audience
  • Think of Let the Right One in vs. Let Me In.

13. What is semiotics and how can it be used for film analysis?

  • Semiotic: study of symbols and signs. “The (1) sign is composed of a (2) signifier — the material form of the sign — and (3) the signified — the concept it represents.” (Fernand de Saussure)
  • Semiotic is when signs are analyzed, and interpretations can be made from certain symbols (Biemann).
  • Semiotics studies in film usually structures a concept or theme that the director is trying to evoke.
  • Semiotic is used in film analysis because it provides different techniques, conventions, devices, which are used to understand the main message.
  • Like literature and metaphors.
  • Mise-en-scene, pacing, rhythm, shots, camera angle, color, sound, symbolisms… (kcvi.limestone) are all important factors to examine when analyzing a film from an academic point of view.

14. Who is Francois Truffault? How did he contribute to the film industry?

  • 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984
  • Film director, screenwriter, producer, actor and film critic.
  • Contributed to the French New Wave
  • Les 400 coups: defined film of the New Wave genre.

15. What is a situational genre?

  • Western (1903) – Situational genre (Cowboys, Indians, Geographical location, big issue with heroism, pre vs. post westerns is very different.

16. What is unique in Won Kar-Wei’s “In the Mood for Love”

  • Uses genre and auteur theories.

17. How does Formalism play off of Realism in a film?

  • Realism: Creating a depiction of life as it is, rather than distorting it.
  • Lumiere brothers “Exiting the Factory” is a film of people leaving a warehouse. This was the beginning of realism in film
  • George Meliese (came after Lumiere) and saw the potential of film with editing with gave the idea of formalism
  • Formalism: “is a theory of film study that is focused on the formal, or technical, elements of a film: i.e., the lighting, scoring, sound and set design, use of color, shot composition, and editing. It is a major theory of film study today.” (wikipedia)
  • Mussolini’s totalitarian regime. He could control everything that people were saying with the use of media. He saw cinema as an ideal medium for the people.

18. How does symbolism affect the viewer in Zvyagintsev’s “The Return”?

  • Check question #3

19. In semiotics, what is the difference between an iconic, an indexical and a symbolic symbol?

  • Check question #4

20. What is the difference between a musical, a melodrama and a romance?

  • Musical – Self-referential.
  • vs. Melodrama – Use of music and emotionalism to sell the story.
  • Romance *can’t have an epic romance. Plot/story-driven. Boy meets girl.
  • Epic vs. novelic: epic is where everyone knows the story. Like a war story, live vicariously through the characters. Novelic is a new story, which hasn’t been told yet.

21. What religious symbols are represented in “The Return”?

  • Check question #3

22. In what way was “The Return” a ‘Coming of Age” genre film?

  • Quest film: journey, discovery, and boy going through right of passage, coming of age… the German Bildungsromans.
  • Two boys embark on this journey with their father and come back as having changed (psychologically). In a way, they are more mature and their innocence is not as it was at the beginning of this movie.