I think you answer part of your question by identifying the elements of long takes, wide shots and minimal editing (can also be termed "unobtrusive"). In short, Hollywood cinema is primarily concerned with manipulating the viewer to view scenes in a very particular manner. Editing and close-ups manipulate the pace, focus and reactions of the viewer (the classic example is Hitchcock's Psycho shower scene which utilizes this Hollywood technique to its maximum potential). By keeping editing to a minumum, and the shots wide (and maximizing depth-of-field) the viewer is given greater freedom to watch scenes unfold in "real time" and from a more localized perspective. This is more pseudo-realism (as I prefer to call it) because there is still an artistic choice being made in the framing and editing, but it does create a more documentary feel (contrast the shower scene in Psycho with the shooting of Sport in Taxi Driver -- one long take in wide-shot -- and you still have a dramatic s!
cene but a greater sense of realism). Of course "realism" is never "real" and the cinema equivalent is always evolving. Lately the use of excessive hand-held is more often associated with "realism" than the more static shots that appear in neorealistic films.
Also note that the "neorealistic" movement is not just about the technical, but the content (much like "film noir" is not just about a certain visual style). More specifically, a focus on lower-class life in Italy (after WWII -- the start of neorealistic movement -- the lower-class comprised the bulk of the population).
There much more that can be said of the topic, but you can start by looking for the definition of "neorealism" in your dictionary. From there is all kinds of literature on the subject. The most notable being Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present by Peter Bondanella.
darryl
.
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Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2000 14:27:17 -0600
Reply-To: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
From: Jeremy Butler <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Asleep at the Switch (was: Mary, FYI PC,
Win2K & Ofc 2K Best Price/Availability)
Mime-Version: 1.0
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Sorry, folks. The Screen-L moderator was briefly asleep at the switch and
let the following through.
But then, perhaps Mary Ann is writing a brief exegesis on the carnivalesque
in Webcam imagery . . .
>From: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Mary, FYI PC, Win2K & Ofc 2K Best Price/Availability
>Comments: To: [log in to unmask]
>
>Hi Everyone,
>
>My name is Mary Ann and I'm learning how to use my new live CAM. I do
>need some help though; I'm not sure what to do in front of the
>camera. I'd like someone to tell me what to do and help me learn all the
>ins and outs of a live CAM.
>
>How about coming to my site and seeing me? I'd really like to learn all
>there is to know about a live CAM. If you have any suggestions, please
>e-mail me or visit me.
>
>Hope To See Ya,
>
>
>--
>Mary Ann
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Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2000 19:33:05 -0500
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
Sender: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
From: Peter Warren <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Cinema-verite
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Gregory: For starters, I suggest you find yourself a book on cinema verite.
Simply put, CV involves long, unedited shots, some improvisation among the
actors, and a type of pseudo-documentary approach. Try to find the films
of John Cassavetes (e.g: FACES, 1968: Husbands, 1970). Also Italian
neo-realist cinema of the forties, such as ROME, OPEN CITY and THE BICYCLE
THIEF, is a type of cinema verite, often with non-professional actors. The
TV shows such as Jerry Springer tend to use long camera shots, amateur
performers who have no doubt been rehearsed, but likely with some
improvisation to hold the attention of the viewers. Incidentally, aren't
university students expected to be able to spell any more? Though these may
be typos, see infomation (information), greatfully (gratefully), and
recieved (received) in your email.
Peter Warren----------.
> From: Gregory Webster <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Cinema-verite
> Date: Thursday, March 02, 2000 11:07 AM
>
> Dear all:
>
> I am a student at middlesex university, and, my latest
> project is a presentation on cinema-verite-but
> relating it to TV shows such as Jerry Springer, and
> docusoaps etc any infomation will be greatfully
> recieved
>
> Gregory Webster
> ____________________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Get your free @yahoo.co.uk address at http://mail.yahoo.co.uk
> or your free @yahoo.ie address at http://mail.yahoo.ie
>
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Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 11:59:09 -0500
Reply-To: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
From: Sharon Zuber <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Masyles' Capote short
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I am trying to find a copy of Albert and David Maysles' A Visit with Truman
Capote: documentary short, B&W, English, 29 minutes.
I found it listed on IMDb but searches on reel.com, alianceatlantis,
facets, and amazon have been fruitless.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Sharon Zuber
*****************************************************
Sharon L. Zuber, Writing Program Director
English Department, P.O. Box 8795
College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
Phone: 757-221-3939; Fax: 757-221-1844
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
*******************************************************
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=========================================================================
Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 19:08:08 +1100
Reply-To: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
From: Effie Rassos <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Cinema-verite
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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Gregory,
I would also suggest looking at Jean Rouch/Edgar Morin's _CHRONIQUE D'UN
ETE_ ('Chronicle of a Summer': France, 1961) as an example that illuminates
the blurring of the boundaries around and between reality and fiction,
actor and character (along with the Cassavetes films). Morin's interviews
with Marilou are particularly interesting. Also the Jean-Louis Comolli
essay 'Le detour par le direct' in _Realism and the Cinema_ (ed.
Christopher Williams) might likewise help you think about performance and
its virtuality, where by the performance of/by the subject problematises
the boundary between the conscious act of performing and the performance
generated by the documentary.
Effie Rassos
At 07:33 PM 3/3/00 -0500, you wrote:
>Gregory: For starters, I suggest you find yourself a book on cinema verite.
>Simply put, CV involves long, unedited shots, some improvisation among the
>actors, and a type of pseudo-documentary approach. Try to find the films
>of John Cassavetes (e.g: FACES, 1968: Husbands, 1970). Also Italian
>neo-realist cinema of the forties, such as ROME, OPEN CITY and THE BICYCLE
>THIEF, is a type of cinema verite, often with non-professional actors. The
>TV shows such as Jerry Springer tend to use long camera shots, amateur
>performers who have no doubt been rehearsed, but likely with some
>improvisation to hold the attention of the viewers. Incidentally, aren't
>university students expected to be able to spell any more? Though these may
>be typos, see infomation (information), greatfully (gratefully), and
>recieved (received) in your email.
>Peter Warren----------.
>
>> From: Gregory Webster <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Cinema-verite
>> Date: Thursday, March 02, 2000 11:07 AM
>>
>> Dear all:
>>
>> I am a student at middlesex university, and, my latest
>> project is a presentation on cinema-verite-but
>> relating it to TV shows such as Jerry Springer, and
>> docusoaps etc any infomation will be greatfully
>> recieved
>>
>> Gregory Webster
>> ____________________________________________________________
>> Do You Yahoo!?
>> Get your free @yahoo.co.uk address at http://mail.yahoo.co.uk
>> or your free @yahoo.ie address at http://mail.yahoo.ie
>>
>> ----
>> To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF
>Screen-L
>> in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]
>
>----
>Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
>University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu
>
>
----
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=========================================================================
Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 15:53:22 -0600
Reply-To: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
From: Eugene Walz <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Cinema-verite
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
There is a new video available from the National Film Board of Canada
called _Cinema Verite: Defining the Moment_ (103 mins) by Peter Wintonick
(whose film _Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media_ is fairly
well-known). Just go to the NFB's website <www.nfb.ca> for further info,
including details on ordering.
Gene Walz
Film Studies
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg
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Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 03:34:10 EST
Reply-To: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Political Film Review #67
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POLITICAL FILM REVIEW
NEWSLETTER #67 OF THE POLITICAL FILM SOCIETY, INC.
P.O. Box 461267
Hollywood, CA 90046
[log in to unmask]
http://PFS.cjb.net
March 5, 2000
FOUR FILMS WIN AWARDS
The Board of Directors of the Political Film Society met at 8481 Allenwood
Road, Los Angeles, on March 4 at 7:00 p.m. and counted ballots to determine
which films of 1999 were voted the best political films by members of the
Society. The winners are as follows:
DEMOCRACY The Insider
EXPOSÉ Boys Don’t Cry
HUMAN RIGHTS The Green Mile
PEACE Three Kings
THE TERRORIST IS NOMINATED FOR AN AWARD ON PEACE FOR THE YEAR 2000
What motivates a terrorist and what can get a terrorist to give up terrorism?
This question is posed in the Indian film The Terrorist, directed by Santosh
Sivan, which reached Los Angeles in February 2000, although the Indian
release date was 1998. The identities of the enemy and the terrorist group
are not specified in the film, but we soon surmise (with dialog in the Tamil
language) that the terrorists are Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka, and the
enemy is the Sri Lankan government. The heroine of the film is
nineteen-year-old Malli (played by Ayesha Dharkar), whose brother was
presumably killed unjustly by the Sri Lankan army. Uneducated, Malli is
easily recruited by the terrorists, who provide room and board, brainwash her
with stories about the glory of martyrs to the cause, train her to fight with
modern weapons, and give her assignments to kill the enemy on various
occasions. When the film begins, a traitor to the cause is being tortured,
and masked Malli pulls the trigger to execute him. Next, she is assigned to
assassinate an important political leader. When Malli reaches her
destination, she is trained to follow a script in which she will put a
garland on the leader, bow down for a blessing, and then push a button that
will set off explosives on a hidden belt. Malli, of course, will also die in
the explosion, and her assassination and martyrdom are expected to advance
the cause for which she has dedicated her life. Pretending to be an
agricultural student, Malli is housed with a family that is unaware of her
mission. Yet her experience with the family opens her eyes to other scenarios
for her life. Vesu, the elderly head of the family, philosophizes that people
fall into two categories—optimistic seeds that grow and flourish, and
pessimistic seeds eaten by birds. Since Malli is pregnant (from her dead
boyfriend), townspeople encourage her to enjoy motherhood. Vesu’s mother, in
a coma for seven years, fascinates Malli, since she sees the comatose state
as a paradigm for her own life. But as Malli is about to enact the scripted
assassination, the mother comes partly out of the coma to grasp her hand
tightly, as if to say that she should not act foolishly. Then, when the time
comes to push the button, Malli demurs. For the first time in her life, she
decides to make her own decision and opts for a much happier life than
following orders and ending up on a funeral pyre at an early age. According
to the director, curiosity about the "suicide bomber" who assassinated former
Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi inspired the story, which could apply to
almost any terrorist conspiracy. Sadly, the film reveals that poor girls in
India and Sri Lanka are in effect sold by their families to terrorist
training camps because they cannot afford to pay for their education or even
their marriage. Not revealed in the film is the reality that when the girl
dies, her family will doubtless receive monetary compensation from the
terrorists, so she is actually helping her family by offering the ultimate
sacrifice. For the revealing portrayal of the causes and possible cures for
terrorism, The Terrorist has been nominated for an award as the best film of
2000 on peace. MH
Members of the Political Film Society are invited to patronize the upcoming
War Horn Film/Video Festival, which is designed to meet the needs of the
ever-growing number of student filmmakers of color by promoting the
unification of this community and providing a forum for the exchange of ideas
that may change the face of Hollywood and independent cinema. The website for
the festival is located at www.geocities.com/warhornfestival.
----
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=========================================================================
Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 22:14:16 +0000
Reply-To: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
From: Charlie Harris <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Latest news on Internet Search FAQ
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The Internet Search FAQ for this month is now out in the following newsgroups:
misc.writing, alt.movies.independent, alt.union.natl-writers,
misc.writing.screenplays, alt.answers, misc.answers and news.answers
Last-modified: 05 Mar 2000.
Expires: Sun, 02 Apr 2000 00:00:00 GMT
Latest update to the Internet Search FAQ
(c) Charles Harris 2000
This FAQ is available on the web at <www.purefiction.com/pages/res1.htm>
1. We're delighted to receive a Britannica Internet Guide Award "as one of
the best on the Internet for quality, accuracy of content, presentation and
usability." Those nice Encyclopedia people (who run an exceedingly good
Internet Guide at <http://www.britannica.com/>) go on to say that the
Internet Search FAQ is a site that "Britannica editors have rated one of
the most valuable and reliable, in the company of an elite group of Web
sites." Excuse my blushes, but (clears throat) let's get on with some real
work...
2. A new development coming over the Internet horizon is the weblog, or
Blog to its friends. Blogs vary enormously, but essentially they are a
blend of on-line newsletter and discussion group - sites where individuals
and/or subscribers can post news stories, links, discussion points or the
detailed minutiae of their life. Some are riveting, some are less so, and
the range of interests is idiosyncratic. The form is still in its infancy
as far as providing useful research material is concerned, but the infant
shows promise.
To poke around among the bloggers try looking at the Blogs listed at:
EATONWEB BLOG PORTAL <http://www.eatonweb.com/portal/>
BLOGGER <http://www.blogger.com>
GROKSOUP <http://www.groksoup.com>
Look for the option to list by categories, or search on a particular search
term. In addition, should you feel the urge to set up your own Blog, the
last two sites listed above will help you do it for free.
* USEFUL NEW AND UPDATED URLS *
- NETRIBUTION - Everything you wanted to know about the film industry, from
statistics and services to festivals and even films:
<http://www.netribution.co.uk/>
- SCOUR - search for downloadable music and clips: <http://www.scour.net/>
- SEARCH IQ - loads of links to search engines, guides, etc with reviews.
Confusingly laid out but worth persevering with if you have patience:
<www.searchiq.com>
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Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2000 11:46:40 GMT
Reply-To: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
From: Deniz Gokturk <[log in to unmask]>
Organization: SML, University of Southampton
Subject: "Writing Diasporas" 20-23 September 2000
Announcement and Call for Papers for an international,
multidisciplinary conference:
WRITING DIASPORAS :
Axial Writers, Plural Literacies, Transnational Imagination
University of Wales Swansea
September 20-23, 2000
... on the role of travelling and translating writers, filmmakers, artists and
intellectuals in the cultural politics of diasporas and nations.
Main sponsors: the "Transnational Communities Research
Programme" (Economic and Social Research Council UK),
with "Re-inventing Britain" (The British Council & Arts Council
of England).
Details at: http://www.swan.ac.uk/conferences/transcomm
CALL FOR PAPERS in six strands (deadline: 06.06.00):
"Axial Writers" - Convenor: John McLeod
<[log in to unmask]>
"Online Diasporas" - Convenor: Marie Gillespie
<[log in to unmask]>
"Marketing Ethnicity" - Convenor: Sujala Singh
<[log in to unmask]>
"Transnational Cinema" - Convenor: Deniz Gokturk
<[log in to unmask]>
"Performance, Poetry and Song" - Convenor: John Goodby
<[log in to unmask]>
"Plural Literacies and Policy" - Convenor: Tom Cheesman
<[log in to unmask]>
PLENARY PANELS including:
*Multilingual Community Publishing in the UK
*The Politics of Literary Translation
*Re-inventing Wales? Nation, Migration, Imagination
PLUS workshops for practitioners in cultural policy and
in multilingual community writing and translation,
exhibitions, readings by local and visiting writers,
literally diverse literary/social events...
General enquiries: <[log in to unmask]> or
Fax UK+1792 295710
*************************
Dr Deniz Gokturk
University of Southampton
School of Modern Languages
Southampton SO17 1BJ
Great Britain
Tel: +44 1703 / 593407
Fax: + 44 1703 / 593288
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
*************************
'Axial Writing' Research Project
on diaspora literary/media cultures
(Transnational Communities Programme,
ESRC/Oxford University)
see: http://www.transcomm.ox.ac.uk
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Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 06:03:36 GMT
Reply-To: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
From: sanghyun sung <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: help...
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Hi all,
I am an international student in Brooklyn college, NYC,and my major is
TV&RADIO.
I want to have a career in this field after I graduate. Since I have a
langugue problem, I would like to know what I can/study/learn do in order to
become a successful camera man in the tv industry.
I will take any advise.
Thank you all.
______________________________________________________
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