However, not only violence made those films so popular. The truth is that these film-makers showed virtually anything that had not yet been shown. Such approach lead to showing nudity, sex, drug use, but also many acts of sexual violence or gore that terrified the audience. Because of this diversity of themes, exploitation cinema is not connected exclusively to any particular genre. This term is more related to certain aesthetics and conventions, such as the use of taboos, the grittiness of the image, but also distance to one's work and its audience. Many of the ideas of exploitation film-makers were simply absurd, something that they realized very well. Their aim was to keep the audience on the edge of their seats by making them actually doubt what they were seeing. Lloyd Kaufman, one of the most influential exploitation directors and the co-founder of Troma Entertainment, said that even though his films are violent, scary or centred around nudity or monsters, they are still enjoyable, because they do not take themselves too seriously. “That’s the key. They’re a lot of fun. A movie like Die Hard, with Bruce Willis, or Under Siege — these are pretty entertaining movies, but they take their violence pretty seriously. Our movies are good natured, tongue-in-cheek, and fun, and I think that is where our success has come.”3 Coming from the maker of Surf Nazis Must Die or Redneck Zombies, these words seem to summarise the exploitation cinema the best.
However, there is another side to exploitation films. Not every person wants to risk and create something new and original. Being innovative means that the audience may not enjoy what one is giving them – either because they do not understand the point or it is simply too unpopular of a t...
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...ual works that also tend to focus around a certain narrative, which in case of video games might be more interactive. The similarities are so great that there are even video games that use an actual footage of actors instead of computer generated characters. Of course, there are also many differences, the main one being the interactivity. In case of video games, the audience is subjected to an illusion that the player can decide what will happen in the story. On the other hand, there have also been some experimental films, during which the audience in the cinema was asked what should happen next and decided upon it by pressing a button. This all makes the border between the film and the video game flexible and unfixed, thus it should be no surprise that many of the practices (both business and artistic) of the film industry were adapted in the world of video games.
With the loss of its centralized structure, the film industry produced filmmakers with radical new ideas. The unique nature of these films was a product of the loss of unified identity.
In this paper I will offer a structural analysis of the films of Simpson and Bruckheimer. In addition to their spectacle and typically well-crafted action sequences, Simpson/Bruckheimer pictures seem to possess an unconscious understanding of the zeitgeist and other cultural trends. It is this almost innate ability to select scripts that tap into some traditional American values (patriotism, individualism, and the obsession with the “new”) that helps to make their movies blockbusters.
Since the late 1890’s films have been constantly changing the history of pop culture and the way people view war, politics, and the world as a whole. As the timeline of the history of film progressed, there were many different phases: gothic noir, slapstick comedy, tragedy vs. love, romance, and many more. Towards the more recent times, the central ideas of films started drifting to the greatness of the directors. Directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and many more were noted as outstanding directors of action and cinematography. In this paper I will speak about Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, and the ever so infamous Baz Luhrmann. These directors have changed the way filmmaking has been and will be looked at from this point on.
In a society where watching horror movies is considered a social norm, it is less than surprising that the horror industry makes approximately 500 million dollars with the haunted attractions and 400 million dollars at the box office each year, according to Sonya Chudgar’s article “Blood Money: How the Horror Industry Makes a Killing.” Stephen King, a best-selling writer, screenwriter, columnist, producer and director, who is also well-known as a writer of horror fiction, describes the role that horror movies play in the world. He refers to this role as a “dirty job” (King), and suggests that the job is favorable in that horror movies expose us to malevolence and immorality or tense situations in order to suppress our primal instincts of demanding
In Hollywood today, most films can be categorized according to the genre system. There are action films, horror flicks, Westerns, comedies and the likes. On a broader scope, films are often separated into two categories: Hollywood films, and independent or foreign ‘art house’ films. Yet, this outlook, albeit superficial, was how many viewed films. Celebrity-packed blockbusters filled with action and drama, with the use of seamless top-of-the-line digital editing and special effects were considered ‘Hollywood films’. Films where unconventional themes like existentialism or paranoia, often with excessive violence or sex or a combination of both, with obvious attempts to displace its audiences from the film were often attributed with the generic label of ‘foreign’ or ‘art house’ cinema.
Defining a film genre is in some ways difficult and simplistic. Every genre has stated what would define its boundaries. The difficult part is finding one that is solidified by the movies in the genre. The stated definition that this paper will digest and regurgitate is that a Western is a film which is set in the American frontier west. The typical time setting is somewhere in the mid to late 19th century and early 20th century(Dirks, 1). They glorify the past-fading values and aspirations of the mythical by-gone age of the American West(Dirks, 1). Over time, however, Westerns have been redefined, re-invented and expanded, dismissed, re-discovered, and spoofed. This actually makes the definition more lucid, making other films flexible enough to fit quite nicely into the genre.
Film scholar and gender theorist Linda Williams begins her article “Film Bodies: Genre, Gender and Excess,” with an anecdote about a dispute between herself and her son, regarding what is considered “gross,” (727) in films. It is this anecdote that invites her readers to understand the motivations and implications of films that fall under the category of “body” genre, namely, horror films, melodramas, (henceforth referred to as “weepies”) and pornography. Williams explains that, in regards to excess, the constant attempts at “determining where to draw the line,” (727) has inspired her and other theorists alike to question the inspirations, motivations, and implications of these “body genre” films. After her own research and consideration, Williams explains that she believes there is “value in thinking about the form, function, and system of seemingly gratuitous excesses in these three genres,” (728) and she will attempt to prove that these films are excessive on purpose, in order to inspire a collective physical effect on the audience that cannot be experienced when watching other genres.
Before the civil rights movement could begin, a few courageous individuals had to guide the way. Dr. Vernon Johns was one of those individuals. Dr. Vernon Johns was a pastor and civil rights activist in the 1920s. Johns became the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama in the late 1940s. During his time as a pastor, Johns preached many sermons on how African American people were being treated not only in the community but in society. Johns on multiple occasions upset his community through his ideas on social change. Through a sociologist perspective, many sociological concepts were displayed in The Vernon Johns Story. Some of those concepts included: ascribed status, conflict theory, deviant behavior, alienation, and
made in. Some incorporate them into the plot, some use them as allegories, and some satirize them.” Without an influence or connection to relate with the audience, the film would have no dimension. When seeing a movie, viewers are always going to search for an underlying meaning or message that could connect to their lives today. Although most
In the adult film business everyone thinks that its just people having sexual intercourse with each other , or having oral sex. The amount of work that goes into one production is more than it seems. First the...
Video games have come a long way. They have evolved from the simple game of Pong into a complex, multi-platform, multi-genre, multi-billion dollar industry.
Gallagher, T. 2002. Senses of Cinema – Max Ophuls: A New Art – But Who Notices?. [online] Available at: http://sensesofcinema.com/2002/feature-articles/ophuls/ [Accessed: 8 Apr 2014].
The film industry has always been somewhat of a dichotomy. Grounded firmly in both the worlds of art and business the balance of artistic expression and commercialization has been an issue throughout the history of filmmaking. The distinction of these two differing goals and the fact that neither has truly won out over the other in the span of the industry's existence, demonstrates a lot of information about the nature of capitalism.
...n able to reach otherwise. With unlimited possibilities and the creative minds in the world, the film industry is likely to consider seeing drastic changes. Like the world has in the past, peoples’ likes and dislikes will change with the ever-changing technological world. What we enjoy as a society in 2005 is likely to be considered as bland as we consider the black and white silent films, in the years to come.
In Lev Manovich’s What is Digital Cinema, he states that “traditional film technology is universally being replaced by digital technology.” (Manovich, 178) This is indeed true. Digital technology is changing video games as well. Both films and video games depend on each other. Film studios and video game developers remediate each other’s product to maximize profits. Filmmakers, cinematographers, directors, actors and composers often work on video games. The two industries use the same technology. Both medias tell interrelated stories in both narrative worlds, which Jenkins calls it, transmedia storytelling. Transmedia storytelling is an approach that reconfigures the entire media experience. Video games that are based on films allow the players to interact with the characters that are seen in the film by manipulating the console’s controller.