SIGNIS ASIA CINEMA DESK CINELITERACY TRAINING OF TRAINERS (TOT) UNDERSTANDING FILM APPRECIATION Resource Handbook Prof. Jenith Sekar Prof. Vikas Singh Fr. Benedidct Rajkumar sdb Dr. Magimai Pragasam SIGNIS ASIA CINEMA DESK CINELITERACY TRAINING OF TRAINERS (TOT) UNDERSTANDING FILM APPRECIATION Resource Handbook Contributors: Prof. Jenith Sekar Prof. Vikas Singh Fr. Benedidct Rajkumar sdb Dr. Magimai Pragasam Edited by Dr. Magimai Pragasam Coordinators of the Programme Mac Machado, Chair, SIGNIS Asia Cinema Desk Dr. Magimai Pragasam (Team Leader and Coordinator) Fr. Joseph Vu Huu Hien (Coordinator) Ms. Mary Hwang (Coordinator) Dear SACD Cineliteracy TOT Participants, Welcome to the Training of Trainers Workshop on Cineliteracy! SIGNIS ASIA Cinema Desk (ACD) is extremely delighted to offer you this program. We are sure that this Workshop will become one of your most exciting experiences in deepening your understanding and expanding your world of cinema. You will explore the world of cinema, especially cineliteracy with your distinguished resource persons and your fellow participants. This program is composed of two phases: Phase I for learning and Phase II for doing and experiencing. You will learn to enjoy cinema, appreciate it, and analyze it critically. Our resource team will help you to acquire the basic tools and mindset to explore the cinema world. You are sure to become an efficient film teacher in the process. You will be motivated to spread Cineliteracy in your dioceses, parishes, and educational institutions. We had a Cineliteracy Workshop Online for Cinema lovers who are interested in film reviews and international film festivals. We successfully completed two programs and we are looking forward to the third one. May our Lord and Mother Mary be with us to pass on the spirit of OCIC/ SIGNIS to younger generations to make use of the medium of cinema for personal growth and the growth of humanity. Good Luck, and may God bless you! T. Mac Machida Chair, SIGNIS Asia Cinema Desk Dear SACD Cineliteracy TOT Participants, Greetings! We are happy to present this handbook on Cineliteracy to you, a helpful tool for you in many ways. This handbook will certainly be useful when you plan and carry out cineliteracy programmes at the local level in parishes, schools, and other educational institutions for young people. Our objective is to make young people enjoy cinema, analyse and evaluate films critically and at the same time make use of all the useful insights from Cinema for personal growth and for the community. We look forward to your support for the success of this programme. I thank Mac Machado, the Chair of the SA Cinema Desk for his continuous encouragement towards planning this programme. I would like to thank my fellow Coordinators Fr. Joseph Vu Huu Hien and Mary Hwang for their unceasing support and cooperation towards executing this programme. Sincere thanks to my fellow contributors Prof. Jenith Sekar, Prof. Vikas Singh, and Fr. Benedict Rajkumar sdb for providing valuable materials on cineliteracy and also for having accepted to be part of the resource team. We wish you enjoyable reading! Dr. Magimai Pragasam Team Leader, SA Cineliteracy TOT Programme, Vice President, SIGNIS Asia. Resource Persons Prof. Jenith Sekar holds a Master’s degree in Audio Visual Communications (MA AVC) from the Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism. He is UGC-NET qualified and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. from GD Goenka University, Delhi NCR. Besides his Master’s Degree in Audio Visual Communications, he also holds an MA in Christian Studies from Madras University, a Diploma in Video Production, and has produced many short films and documentaries. Currently, he is the Production Head and Assistant Professor in the Department of Visual Communications and Electronic Media in NISCORT Media College. He teaches Cinema, Documentary Studies, Social Media and Media Law, and Ethics. His technical and software skills include handling Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro CC, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Animate, Adobe Audition, Final Cut Pro, Garage Band, Logic Pro, and Cubase. Fr. Benedict Rajakumar sdb is the Assistant Director of Alaihal Media, the Regional Media Centre of Trichy Salesian Province. He is in charge of the Audio-Visual Productions of the Centre. He is also the Animator of the Film Appreciation and Media Animation courses. He completed a bachelor’s degree in Tamil Literature, and a Master’s degree in Film Direction at LV Prasad Film Institute, Chennai, India. Prof. Vikas Singh is a film academician, research scholar, and filmmaker. He has done an M.A. in Cinema, M.Phil. in Films, and now completing his Ph.D. in Films. He has been associated with well-renowned production houses like Yash Raj Films (Mumbai) and others by assisting the direction and production team. He served as Dean at the School of Cinema, AAFT, FilmCity, Noida. He is now teaching films at the University of Delhi and ZIMA (Zee Institute of Media Arts). Recently, he has been skilled with Scene Production and Method Acting from The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, New York, USA. Dr. Magimai Pragasam is a Film Maker, Researcher, and Media Trainer. He completed his Film studies at Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai, Social Communication from the University of Lyon, France, and Communication studies at the University of Leeds, UK. He did his MA in Mass Communication and Sociology from Indian Universities. He completed his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Madras University. He has scripted and directed many short films. He conducts media courses in India and Asian countries. He is one of the Core team members of the Cinema desk, Vice-President of SIGNIS Asia, and the Chair of the SA Media Education desk. Content Message from the Chair of SA Cinema Desk Introduction from the Team Leader Profile of Resource Persons Film Appreciation, An overview 1 Importance of Film Appreciation 4 Aspects of film appreciation 8 Theoretic Appreciation 10 Thematic Appreciation 16 Technical Appreciation 24 Theatrical Appreciation 42 Aesthetic Appreciation 46 Ethnographic Appreciation 53 Knowing and Appreciating the Crew 58 Ethics in Film Appreciation 65 Film Appreciation Format 70 References 71 The Evolution of Cinema 75 Critical Analysis of Films 88 The portrayal of Women in films 93 The portrayal of Children in films 95 An Introduction to World Cinema 97 Importance of Film Festivals 106 24 Crafts of Movie Making 112 Facilitating Skills for Cineliteracy Sessions 125 A Model Session 128 Film Evaluation Questionnaire 131 Film Language 132 Few Important Terms in Cinema 137 Film Appreciation - An Overview Prof. Jenith Sekar Cinema is considered to be one of the huge industries in the world. The growth of multiplexes and online marketing strategies have improved the movie-going experience for world audiences. Both in the rural and urban areas, viewers go crazy when their favorite stars’ films are released. In India, heroes are deified and temples are constructed for actors and actresses. We hear stories of fans committing suicide when the films flop or their favorite actors die. Children and adults admire the style and dressing sense of their heroes and heroines and always tend to imitate their mannerisms. In some of the states in India, as cine actors and actresses are always in limelight, they could easily enter politics and lord over the people. Corporate associates and business firms make use of topmost film celebrities to endorse their products through advertisements and increase sales. Political leaders utilize these celebrities to campaign for their parties during elections. When the film industry is business-oriented, films are considered commodities and the viewers as consumers. In the world of business, the prime motive behind marketers is to sell the product in any situation. Even before buying any product, we have a tendency to check the price, quality, quantity, company’s authenticity, seller’s credibility, expiry date, the primary ingredients Film Appreciation 1 Jenith Sekar etc. But in the case of films, we blindly believe and consume films without questions and take the actors’ words as sacred as the words of gods and goddesses. We can easily arrive at a syllogism saying the Indian film industry is actors and commerce-centered. Vulgarities, obscene visuals, hate politics, male chauvinistic principles, double meaning wits, visuals of drinking and smoking habits, concepts of religious intolerance, superstitious ideas, cooked-up figures, and distorted facts constitute most of the Indian cinema today. As a consequence, few kids, young and even elders try to exercise the screen principles in their daily life and thus get into trouble. Some people would say that when money is involved we cannot talk or think about values, principles, and ethics in cinema. A common person goes with his family to watch a film in a multiplex theatre by spending an average of 250 rupees (Appx USD 4/-) per head excluding transport, parking, and snacks expenses. It’s too much for a middle-class family to afford. In spite of facing the economic risks and knowing the investment of at least three hours of time, people do watch movies and ‘consume’ them the way they are presented. Today people think that the investment of time and money on film has to be beneficial and sustainable. They too feel that when cinema as a business model directly targets society especially children and youth at large, the film should not be received as it is, but rather it has to be closely analyzed and critically appreciated. Film Appreciation 2 Jenith Sekar Social media journalists and YouTubers continuously post their views on the recently released films and try to appreciate them. Thousands of people respond to those feeds and do develop a habit of watching those films after listening to the reviews. Since a few of the reviews are from visual media illiterates and paid social media channels, we are not able to rely completely on their reviews and views.