A2 MEDIA STUDIES: "LET THE RIGHT ONE IN"

Trailer for the forthcoming remake "Let Me In".

FILM STUDIES: BOOK OF THE MONTH

"The Whole Equation" by David Thomson is an ambitious book. It seeks to chart the history of cinema and Hollywood in terms of themes and personalities - it is quite eccentric, quite brilliant and wonderfully flawed. However, the chapters on the birth of cinema: Edison versus the Lumieres and the impact of sound and colour are excellent. Furthermore, Thompson's comments on the "dreaming" element of cinema, whether it is necessary to view film as "art" are thought-provoking as is his discussion on its future. A very good read indeed.

YEAR 10 MEDIA STUDIES

The lesson tomorrow (16.04.07) will focus on genre in relation to institutions, texts and audiences. In advance you must consider the following:

1. How can texts be identified as being part of a genre, what elements help to identify it in this way: thematic, iconographic, representational?

2. Why do institutions produce films at certain moments in time and what do those texts say about the culture they are produced in and its values?

3. How do audiences relate to those genres now in comparison to the ways in which previous audiences have responded in the past?

The theorists we will be studying are Andre Bazin, Robert Warshow and Lawrence Alloway.

THE GREAT DIRECTORS: JOHN FORD

It is no exaggeration to say that John Ford is one of the greatest filmakers in the relatively short history of this artform. A tangible influence on many directors, in a career that spanned both the silent film era and the "talkies", Ford made 140 films.

A chronicler of American history and the ordinary American, Ford is one of the great storytellers. His images remain imprinted in the mind long after the film has ended. Whether it be the panoramas of monument valley or John Wayne's isolation and loneliness at the threshold of the family home at the end of "The Searchers", Ford'svision remains unsurpassed by any American Director.

Read more about this truly great filmaker at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ford

Watch the trailer for "The Searchers".

YEAR 10T ENGLISH MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH

Sequence from the film.





The original film trailer.

YEAR 10 T: "THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH"

You have been studying this film as part of your research on the conventions of a gothic horror story.

Read a review of this film at:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058333/

Find out more about the late, great, Vincent Price at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Price

GREAT DIRECTORS: HOWARD HAWKS

Hawks is the "Director's Director", being known for his versatility, filming comedies, dramas, gangster films, sci-fi, pulp noir, and Westerns with equal ease and skill. Hawks' own functional definition of what constitutes a "good movie" is revealing of his no-nonsense style: "Three great scenes, no bad ones."

Find out more about this remarkable director and his films at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Hawks

The Great Directors: Preston Sturges

A truly great and prolific film-maker, Preston Sturges is the perfect example of a director who could work within the Hollywood Studio System and yet make his own mark on the films he created. Indeed, while within the system his talent thrived, yet when he left to make independent films, his work and reputation fell into decline.

Find out more about this remarkable director at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Sturges

History of Hollywood and Media

For a detailed look at the film industry, the role of media and its future, Monaco's book is excellent. Although extremely technical in some parts, chapter 6 "Media in the Middle of Things" is well worth reading as it sweeps effortlessly from print via the digital revolution to cyberspace and virtual reality.