MDA1700 - Weeks 7-12 - Realism and Formalism

After looking at the Hollywood Continuity System, we moved on to the study of different types of Realisms and Formalism.

Initially, I found the idea of Formalism, especially the implementation of editing, particularly interesting. I had never heard of the term 'Formalism' before, and initially found the different ideas associated with the movement, and the different theorists and theories (such as Andre Bazin's work in 'The Evolution of the Language of Cinema' quite difficult to grasp, however, once I got more comfortable with the new terms and ideas I feel I became a lot more comfortable with the content.

I found Eisenstein's work on Montage, and the different types of montage and their uses very interesting as well, such as the dialectical montage (for example) in Battleship Potemkin, in the steps scene, and the idea that two unrelated images can generate a previously unthought of meaning.

This was similar to the idea of the 'Kuleshov Effect' which I found particularly interesting, in which a person was shown three images of, for example, a man, a bowl of soup, and then the man, again. despite no indication of this in the shots, audiences inferred that the man was hungry, due to the association of the images. I found this particularly interesting, as though I had never thought of it as a point before, this influence held by editing (even of 3 simple images) holds a key importance in how films are interpreted by audiences.

The movement I found the most interesting out of the ones we looked at, was French Poetic Realism. After watchign Jean Renoir's 'Une Partie De Campagne', I really enjoyed the use of stylistic elements and general feel of the film.

I had always presumed Realism to mean a film which was presented as 'realistic' (such as the typical British 'Kitchen Sink' dramas, or the more modern films featuring handheld camera to present a 'realistic' feel), yet when I watched my first poetic realist film, I found that it had a particularly poignant feel to it.

The use of camera movement, music and setting, while not particularly unrealistic, didn't have the grittiness I would associate with what I would think of any form of 'realism', and which can be found in, for example, Italian Neo-Realism (i.e. The Bicycle Thieves). The film itself had an almost fairytale elements to it, which I found particuly captivating, and I also enjoy how, upon further research and finding out more about Jean Renoir, he had been influenced by his Father's work, and used imagery and motifs associated with the French Impressionism Art Movement.