Exam 2 Study Guide

Question 1

A Post-American New Wave era of highly entertaining films in which franchising and merchandising were very popular. The term refers to the fact that the audience would line up around the block to see the film.

Answer 1

The Blockbuster Era

Question 2

When a film becomes successful it is made into a series of several films in succession.

Answer 2

Franchising

Question 3

products and commodities based on a movie’s theme, character, location, etc

Answer 3

Merchandising

Question 4

What are some merchandising examples in Disney?

Answer 4

Steamboat Willie, Mickey Mouse (1928-1930s)

Question 5

Three popular films from the Blockbuster Era

Answer 5

Star Wars, Jaws, Rocky

Question 6

Canadian filmmaker known for his expansive vision and innovative special-effects films, most notably Titanic (1997), for which he won an Academy Award for best director, and the Avatar series (2009-present).

Answer 6

James Cameron

Question 7

James Cameron worked on this film as a special effects director, the film turned out to be a flop and inspired Cameron to make his own films.

Answer 7

Piranha II: The Spawning

Question 8

1984 Sc-fi-action film co-written and directed by James Cameron; Produced and co-written by Gale Anne Hurd, heavily inspired by an episode from Harlan Ellison’s TV series The Outer Limits.

Answer 8

The Terminator

Question 9

Who stars in The Terminator?

Answer 9

Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger

Question 10

What are the main themes in The Terminator?

Answer 10

“humans vs. machines,” war/destruction; Growth of Artificial Intelligence, fate/destiny

Question 11

List some films that influenced The Terminator

Answer 11

2001: A Space Odyssey, Taxi Driver, Halloween, Blade Runner and Mad Max

Question 12

What two films failed at the box office leading to studios turning towards the “blockbuster” era?

Answer 12

Heaven’s Gate (1980) and One From the Heart (1981)

Question 13

Do the Right Thing was a breakout film for which independent filmmaker?

Answer 13

Spike Lee

Question 14

Boyz in the Hood was a breakout film for which independent filmmaker?

Answer 14

John Singleton

Question 15

This film was written and directed by Steven Soderbergh, won the Palme d’Or; Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, and led the American Indie boom of the 1990s

Answer 15

Sex, Lies and Videotape

Question 16

List three notable filmmakers of the American Indie Movement

Answer 16

Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and Cheryl Dunye

Question 17

A director, writer, producer, editor, and actress known for integrating documentary and fiction.

Answer 17

Cheryl Dunye

Question 18

This film was the first feature film to be directed by a queer black woman

Answer 18

The Watermelon Woman (1996)

Question 19

These filmmakers are known for their distinctive stylistic trademarks including genre hybridity.

Answer 19

Joel and Ethan Cohen

Question 20

This film was written and directed by the Coen Bros. and contains elements such as distinctive homages to genre movies, plot twists, dark humor, and miss-en-scene.

Answer 20

Blood Simple (1984)

Question 21

This actor starred in Blood Simple and went on to feature in many of the Coen brothers’ films, including Fargo (1996)

Answer 21

Frances McDormand

Question 22

A Black comedy-crime film written, produced, and directed by the Coen Bros., based on a true story, with inspiration from classic Hollywood Film noir (Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch, and real-life crimes), and received seven Oscar nominations and won two.

Answer 22

Fargo (1996)

Question 23

What are some notable films of this era?

Answer 23

The Blair Witch Project, Daughters of the Dust, Clerks, Office Space, Bottle Rocket, The Virgin Suicides, and My Own Private Idaho

Question 24

This filmmaker emerged during the La Movida Madrileña, a countercultural movement that took place in Madrid during the Spanish transition after Francisco Franco in 1975

Answer 24

Pedro Almodovar

Question 25

Which filmmakers influenced Pedro Almodovar’s works?

Answer 25

Douglas Sirk, Alfred Hitchcock, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Andy Warhol, and Pablo Picasso

Question 26

This film became a massive financial and awards success worldwide, with references to All About Eve. It featured bold colors, and a melodramatic, and inventive camera visual style.

Answer 26

All About My Mother

Question 27

An aesthetic style and sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its bad taste and ironic value.

Answer 27

Camp Aesthetic

Question 28

A film genre that encompasses films where the content and style – often artistic or experimental – adhere with as little compromise as possible to the filmmakers’ personal artistic
vision.

Answer 28

Art House/National Cinema

Question 29

Generally have fairly universal ideas and themes, they’re not usually
culturally specific

Answer 29

Hollywood Cinema

Question 30

French Filmmaker, photographer and artist raised in colonial French Africa, where her father was a civil servant, living in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, French Somaliland, and Senegal.

Answer 30

Claire Denis

Question 31

A semi-autobiographical meditation about a French woman reflecting on her childhood in Cameroon and her relationship with her family’s African servant.

Answer 31

Chocolat (1988)

Question 32

Favoring visual and sound elements over dialogue, blurring the border between dreams and reality, featuring immigrants, exiles, alienated individuals, and sexual transgressives.

Answer 32

Themes of Claire Denis

Question 33

French film directed and co-written by Claire Denis, cinematography by Agnès Godard.The story follows an ex-Foreign Legion officer who recalls his once-glorious life of leading troops in Djibouti.

Answer 33

Beau Travail (1999)

Question 34

What are some themes of Beau Travail?

Answer 34

Foreignness, non belonging, masculinity, gender roles, group dynamics.