Famst 192ft Final Exam 2025

Eisenstein - --Cells can divide themselves because there is something within it that lets it divide -Similarly, conflict creates potential for change and development -It is not just a building block, but conflict creates potential for more development/depth "the shot is by no means an element of montage. the shot is a montage cell" -Organic form: literal reproduction, not art, just literal copy -Rational form: reproduction in a miniature version, but ratios remain the same -Composing based on either the exact ratios of the model is according to rational form, composing to copy is organic form, the dialectic comes from the irregularities between shapes and size - neither natural or organic, rather the conflict between the two "the logic of organic form vs. the logic of rational form yields, in collision, the Dialectic of Art-form" Bazin - --New meaning of presence, just being present is not enough because of cinema and photography -Presence was assumed bc actor was always present in flesh and blood -Presence in theater different from presence in cinema/photography "common sense-perhaps the best philosophical guide in this case-has clearly understood this and has invented an expression for the presence of the actor, by adding to the placards announcing his appearance the phrase 'flesh and blood'. this means that for the man in the street the word 'presence', today, can be ambiguous, and thus an apparent redundancy is not out of place in this age of cinema" -What is important is that neorealism comes from human conscience to show the immediate reality of the Italian people. -Self-effacement, they are not trying to dictate how you should see the film -Not trying to impose meaning through documentation / presentation -Characters not shown as good or evil, they are in grey zones, showing reality as it is -Reality has ability to show itself if we allow it "is not neorealism primarily a kind of humanism only secondarily a style of filmmaking? then as to the style itself, is it not primarily a form of self-effacement before reality?" Benjamin - --All spaces that seem to be static, frantic movement of modernity is scary at the time -We are scared of modernity because of its frantic movement -Cinema shows us the ways of modernity by introducing movement to the image -Because there is movement, we can now see modernity more clearly bc we can see it in the image -Movement added to the image by cinema means we can navigate modernity without feeling trapped, that's why cinema is characteristic art of modernity "our bars and city streets, our offices and furnished rooms, our railroad stations and our factories seemed to close relentlessly around us. then came film and exploded this FAMST FAMST prison-world with the dynamite of split second, so that now we can set off calmly on journeys of adventure among its far-flung debris" -Aura: physical distance from the painting -Psychological distance from reality -Artistic expression of reality, not mechanical reproduction, so needs psychological distance from reality -Physical distance no longer limits, photography and cinema can be reproduced and better redistributed, so not dependent on this distance -Psychological distance is important because we see the images as realities themselves, not representations -Photograph on screen is reality itself, not reproduction - Closest to reality you can get "we can readily grasp the social basis of aura's present decay. it rests on two circumstances, both linked to the increasing emergence of the masses and the growing intensity of their movements. Namely: the desire of present-day masses to 'get closer' to things, and their equally passionate concern for overcoming each thing's uniqueness" Kracauer - --More inconspicuous surface-level expression: Popular culture is an unconscious expression of its time -Epoch's judgement about itself: The elite culture thinks they can judge the time they are living in, but People are products of their own time, not outside the time and systems they are living in, so cannot be conscious outside of that time -So, popular culture is most visible thing and unconscious expression of the time we are living in rather than elite culture "the position that an epoch occupies in the historical process can be determined more strikingly from an analysis of its more inconspicuous surface-level expressions than from the epoch's judgement about itself" -Only doing particular part within the whole, not part of the process, only the part they are acting as, not conscious among the whole process "the more the coherence of the figure is relinquished in favor of mere linearity, the more distant it becomes from the immanent consciousness of those constituting it" Metz - -Semiotics - the study of sounds Signifier "sound-image"The word "tree" Signified "concept"Idea of a tree Difference between the two is arbitrary, agreed by convention Imaginary, Symbolic, RealThree levels of psychoanalysisImaginary: identify w yourself through image of yourselfEgo = II am me because of meSymbolic: identify yourself through othersI am me, because I am not youIdentifying self with negative difference to others What are Metz's fundamental contributions?Frame the cinematic image according to the semiotic vocabularyFormulate the question of identification as fundamental to cinematic imageDefine the spectator's relation to the cinematic image in terms of psychological processesLay the ground for feminist theory to launch its critique Unique thing about Metz use of psychological processDifference, all other theorists try to discuss film as psychological process/object, but Metz says spectator's relationship to film is the psychological process FAMST FAMST How does Metz use semiotic terms to define cinematic image?Metz calls the cinematic image as the "Imaginary Signifier". He argues that the image signifies a reality that is not there, but the image is taken to be the reality itself because of imaginary forceHowever, cinema evokes a perception of reality, a reality that is absent in itself, but is present through images. This play of presence/absence is key to the unique nature of the signifier What are the levels of identification involved?Metz argues that the spectator's identification with the character's is secondary, but there is a more fundamental identification involvedFollowing Lacan's formulation of mirror stage, Metz suggests that the screen functions like a mirror, but it doesn't reflect him. Rather, it reflects everything but him. It is important to note that the spectator has already been through mirror stag Mulvey - -Using freudian analysis, tries to see how psychoanalysis frames certain figures In psychoanalysis all terms are symbols, not literal description, symbolic idea ex: phalis is symbol of male power Ex: kings sword is phalis bc symbol of male power, not because it's a penis symbol of psychoanalysis Mirror imageEntering mirror state/phase, I recognize I have a name and exist in physical form, but freudian analysis is based on male child mirror state, already given genderHappens when male child is with the mother - boy sees in mirror it has something mother doesn't have: phalis, has male powerMale child sees father has phalis, when child enters symbolic follows the law of the father bc has phalis and therefore powerWhen it came from mother, it derived energy from the mother, mother is the domain of the plentyWhen mirror phase comes, child no longer recognizes the plenty but rather the lack (lack of phalis), so mother is associated with domain of the lackWoman is considered in binary world: either mother and domain of plenty, or father takes over then woman symbolizes the lackHowever, child still recognizes it came from the mother and that phalis is given by woman because kid came out of woman, but still she has no phalis or power - paradox. Child sees woman can take away power it gave to the child ScopophiliaPleasure coming from looking - Freud defines as intrinsically human phenomenaWe turn every object of looking into an object of desireDesire is the want to be recognized by others, not just human to human relationship