Studying Film S t u d y i n g t h e M e d i a S e r i e s G e n e r a l E d i t o r : T i m O ' S u l l i v a n This page intentionally left blank Studying Film Nathan Abrams (Wentworth College) Ian Bell (West Herts College) Jan Udris (Middlesex University and Birkbeck College) A member of the Hodder Headline Group LONDON Co-published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press Inc., New York First published in Great Britain in 2001 by Arnold, a member of the Hodder Headline Group, 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH http://www.arnoldpublishers.com Co-published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press Inc., 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY10016 © 2001 Nathan Abrams, Ian Bell and Jan Udris All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without either prior permission in writing from the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying. In the United Kingdom such licences are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency: 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1POLP. The advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of going to press, but neither the authors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 0340 76133 4 (hb) ISBN 0340 76134 2 (pb) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Production Editor: James Rabson Production Controller: Bryan Eccleshall Cover Design: Terry Griffiths Typeset in 9.25/14pt News Gothic by J&L Composition Ltd, Filey, North Yorkshire Printed and bound in Malta by Gutenberg Press Ltd What do you think about this book? Or any other Arnold title? Please send your comments to [email protected] Contents Preface vii Acknowledgements viii Illustrations and Tables ix Introduction 1 1 Cinema as Institution 5 1 Hollywood Cinema 7 2 Production, Distribution and Exhibition 27 3 Cinema, Audiences and Society 46 4 Cinema, the Media and Globalization 62 2 Film as Text 73 5 Film Technology 75 6 The Language of Film 92 7 Early Cinema and Film Form 117 8 Mainstream and Alternative Film Form 132 3 Critical Approaches to Film 153 9 Authorship 155 10 Genre 174 11 Stars 191 12 Meaning and Spectatorship 206 4 Film Movements and National Cinema 231 13 British Cinema 233 14 World Cinema and National Film Movements 253 15 Alternative Cinema and Other Film Styles 276 Further Resources 293 Glossary 297 Index 309 This page intentionally left blank Preface The field of Film Studies is already large but is still growing in popularity. An increasing number of schools, colleges and universities are also adopting film as an area of study. Numerous courses are devoted to the study of aspects of film and film history and many disciplines are also actively integrating the use of film, among them Media Studies, English, Historical Studies, American Studies and Cultural Studies, to name just a few. But do we need yet another book on Film Studies? While there are any number of academic texts covering many different areas of Film Studies, there are relatively few textbooks which explain basic concepts in a lucid manner suitable for students at the very beginning of their studies. For example, at the time of writing only a single textbook is available for British A level students. Studying Film provides an alternative core text for the new AS/A-Level specification in Film Studies. The text is also designed to provide a useful tool for undergraduate students both in Film Studies and cognate degree courses. It will also assist teachers of Film Studies and those with a general interest in film alike, providing additional information outside the syllabus's scope for those wishing to learn more. Acknowledgements We would like to thank the many people who in various ways have helped in the development and completion of this book. They include family and friends, colleagues and students, readers, Tim O'Sullivan, Lesley Riddle, Emma Heyworth-Dunn and the team at Arnold. Their contributions range from patience and understanding to help and advice. We would also like to thank Kobal and the BFI for permission to reproduce photographs. Illustrations and Tables 1.1 RKO: disbanded in 1957 1.2 Casablanca: the star system at work 1.3 The Ten Commandments: an early blockbuster 1.4 Jaws: consolidated the blockbuster mentality 1.5 Apocalypse Now: Coppola directs Brando 1.6 Do the Right Thing: independent or major studio project? 2.1 Bond films have typically relied on product placement to recoup production costs 2.2 Director and camera operator at work on /Apocalypse Now 2.3 Monty Python, swearing and certification 2.4 Free publicity is essential to film promotion 3.1 The BBFC age certificates 4.1 Columbia: an old company in a modern world 4.2 Sony: a vertically integrated multinational conglomerate with media cross-over for synergy 5.1 Early Technicolor was a major attraction 5.2 Metropolis: futuristic technology 5.3 2001: a celebration of space technology 6.1 A typical lighting set up 6.2 Mlse en scene and shot composition in Some Like it Hot 6.3 The five main shot sizes 6.4 Psycho: the unbalanced Norman Bates 6.5 Citizen Kane and deep focus: Kane's parents decide his future as he plays in the background 6.6 The 180 degree rule 6.7 The 30 degree rule 7.1 The first camera and projection system: the c/nematographe 7.2 Company logos: American Mutoscope and Biograph, Vitagraph, and the Edison Company 7.3 The Biograph Girl, Florence Lawrence 7.4 Journey to the Moon (1902): an early fantasy film with extensive use of tableau shots 7.5 Grandma's Reading Glass (1900): an early example of an extreme close up shot 7.6 The Great Train Robbery (1903): an unusual shot which has no relation to the narrative but serves to remind the audience of the presence of the camera 7.7 The Tramp (1915): effective use of characterization and empathy 8.1 Quentin Tarantino makes play with narrative in Pulp Fiction 8.2 An everyday traffic jam in Godard's Weekend 9.1 Godard's innovation, Sven Nykvists's photography: A bout de souffle 9.2 Editing problems: Jagger and Fox in Performance 9.3 Are we all voyeurs? Rear Window 9.4 Quentin Tarantino or 'Quentin Tarantino'? 10.1 Unforgiven: western location, props and costume 10.2 Double Indemnity: low key lighting X I l l u s t r a t i o n s a n d T a b l e s and a femme fatale with murder in mind 10.3 Alien: gender role reversal 11.1 Marilyn Monroe. During the studio era stars were seen as little more than commodities; economic capital to be exploited 11.2 Mary Pickford: early star power 11.3 Sylvester Stallone: embodiment of 1980s Reaganism 11.4 Kate Winslet: in some ways a star, in others not? 12.1 Peeping Tom: too challenging for its time 12.2 L'Age d'or: sexual dynamite in code 12.3 Plato's cave 12.4 Dirty Harry Callaghan: whose identification? 12.5 Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: who is she performing for? 12.6 Scream: Casey answers the phone 13.1 The Channel Four logo 13.2 In Which We Serve: class unity during wartime 13.3 Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and the angry young man: 'What I'm out for is a good time. All the rest is propaganda.' 13.4 Chariots of Fire: celebrating the 1980s British film renaissance? 13.5 Trainspotting: the advance of British cinema... 13.6 Brief Encounter: social class and sexual restraint 14.1 The Cabinet of Dr Caligari: expressing insanity 14.2 Battleship Potemkin: 2 shots indicating Eisenstein's graphic conflict 14.3 Bicycle Thieves: a hard life without a bike 14.4 Jean-Paul Belmondo in A bout de souffle 14.5 Japan enters the world stage with The Seven Samurai 14.6 Chungking Express: Hong Kong streetlife 14.7 A child dies in Rather Panchali: the neorealist influence on Indian cinema 14.8 T/7ai: exploring customs through storytelling 15.1 Un chien andalou: the shock of Surrealism 15.2 Henry has a problem in Eraserhead 15.3 Man with a Movie Camera: early documentary experiments 15.4 Maya Deven's Meshes of the Afternoon: American avant garde cinema 15.5 A question of murder: three women against a man in A Question of Silence 15.6 Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls: no narrative, no direction 15.7 The Dogme 95 Manifesto Tables 2.1 Major UK exhibitors 2.2 Cinema screens in the UK, 1950-99 3.1 UK cinema admissions, 1933-98 3.2 Who goes to the cinema? UK cinema screens and admissions, 1960-98 3.3 Frequency of UK cinema-going 1998 8.1 Story and plot information 12.1 Roland Barthes' narrative codes 14.1 Criteria for defining national cinema Introduction Why study film? Shouldn't films be enjoyed rather than studied? Doesn't studying films destroy their entertainment value? Arguably film was the major art form and entertainment of the twentieth century and shows no sign of giving up this status as we enter the twentyfirst.