Boggs, Chapters 14-16

The Art of Watching Films
By: Joseph M. Boggs and Dennis W. Petrie
Chapters 14-16


Film noir- A style or genre of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace. The term was originally applied (by a group of French critics) to American thriller or detective films made in the period 1944–54 and to the work of directors such as Orson Welles, Fritz Lang, and Billy Wilder.


Continuity in the sequel: the most winning sequels require that the entire team (actors, director, writer, editor, producers, etc) stay intact throughout the creation of additional films


Voice dubbing is a really interesting phenomenon, which (in my opinion) completely ruins the integrity of the film. It's remarkable to see the trends of countries in their tendencies to dub or not to dub. Portugal even banned it for a while. 


Differences in film style: Italian films usually have 15 seconds per running shot while American films have about 5 seconds. Remarkably different style. 


Russia attempted to use The Grapes of Wrath as a propaganda tool against the U.S. in the 1940s. Russian officials viewed the film as an example of the exploitation of migrant workers by the capitalistic ranch owners. The officials hoped that showing the film would exemplify the evils of capitalism. The idea backfired and more peasants were just jealous of the fact that the workers had a truck and the freedom to travel across the county. (479)


Color in silent films: The battle flag on Potemkin is seen as white on the modern version of the film, but on the original version it was colored red, focusing the attention of the audience on the symbol of the entire revolution. Spielberg borrowed this idea with the infamous red jacket in Schindler's List. 


Cinema verite- a movie that shows ordinary people in actual activities without being controlled by a director.

The Motion Picture Production Code was the set of industry moral censorship guidelines that governed the production of the vast majority of films released by major studios from 1930 to 1968 (abandoned in favor of the MPAA film rating system). The Production Code spelled out what was acceptable and what was unacceptable content for motion pictures produced for a public audience in the United States. For example, crime could not triumph.