quiz 1 Flashcards
what do POV shots allow?
create suspense or to enhance a sense of identification between the audience and an onscreen character.
what is a POV shot?
when the camera becomes a character or thing in the film, showing us the action from that perspective.
how have POV shots historically been problem solvers?
1) Steven Spielberg Jaws. they had a mechanical shark during filming named bruce. they couldn’t get bruce to work properly. Steven decided to show the shark attack from the shark’s perspective which created lots of suspense and made jaws memorable
2) Planet of the apes: they wanted to show a space ship crashing onto the planet but they feared it would be too costly. instead, they decided to shoot from the perspective of the space ship itself.
who was Laura mulvey?
a British academic who wrote a 1975 article, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” in which she argued that films were constructed around the male gaze. She convincingly argued that women were often passive characters in film while men held much of the power.
what was the name of the article that Laura Mulvey wrote?
“visual pleasure and narrative cinema”
which film maker did Laura Melvey critique in her article?
Hitchcock for his portrayal of women in his film. many argued that he was just showing the dangers of the male gaze.
why was silence of the lambs winning best picture such a shock?
because it is a horror film and horror films often dont get respected
who is Jonathan Demme
creator of silence of the lambs
true or false, Jodie foster won a best actress Oscar for the silence of the lambs
true
how did Jonathan demme acknowledge Laura Mulvey’s criticism in the silence of the lambs?
by making Jodie foster a feminist heroine that kills a misogynist that has committed horrible crimes, against women. also, the scene where he can see her (infrared glasses) but she cant is a direct play on the ideas of mulvey (and its a POV shot!)
who’s an author who changed ideas around POV shots and identification
carol clover
what did carol clover do to change the idea around POV shots? what was her theory?
she wrote a book called “Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film”, in 1992. her theory was that POV shots don’t always make us identify with the perspective of the characters portrayed by the shot.
example: when we see a POV shot from the perspective of killer Michael Myers in Halloween, for example, we are supposed to be scared for the victim, not identifying with the killer.
which popular filmmakers starting out with making short films?
Spielberg, Scorsese, Jane Campion and Denys Arcand.
why are we specially noteworthy history of short films in Canada?
Because we have the national film board, which produces many short films
why was the national film board founded?
to fund films that would have artistic and educational benefits, but not necessarily commercial ones.
