Blog Assignment #4: Like a Shooting Script, but for an Essay
1) Main Argument: Although both are heavily respected and have their merits, I believe that formalism has a more appropriate place in film analysis and theory because elements of a film a heavily interconnected and continuity is extremely important in understanding its contribution to cinema. This is especially true in the film Psycho.
Background:
Claim: The Ideological film approach relies on analysis of a shot in context of the subsequent one to bring out its true meaning. In comparison, the Formalist approach looks at the context of scenes in relation to the entire film to bring out meaning.
Support: "The Dramaturgy of Film Form" by Sergei Eisenstein and Film as Film by V.F. Perkins
Which one?
The Formalist Approach
An entire film is something to be celebrated. Each individual scene makes (or at least should make) a contribution to the overall effect of the piece. Films that mold to Ideological Film theory do not evoke a lasting connection with the audience like those that are adept in the Formalist approach.
Support: Shower scene in Psycho, Film as Film, and "Psycho" by Robin Wood
Film Analysis:
I feel that this shower scene in Psycho has a lasting effect on the film throughout, not just on the shots that occur before and after. Ideological film theory does have value in this montage, but more important is how it affects the overall body of the work.
Support: Analysis from the scene.
Kiran, this looks good. My only concern is that the shower scene was analyzed in-depth by Perkins and Mulvey (which we will read next week). I am certain that you can add new insights to this scene, but I just want to make sure that this essay is mainly YOUR arguments and claims and not just a synthesis of what others have said.
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