Aesthetics – An overall style. A film will create a certain aesthetic from the mise en scene and cinematography.

Aesthetic Terms 1 – realism

Verisimilitude – the appearance of being true or real.

• In This Is England, the housing and location can be verisimilitude for the audience as it might be similar to the audiences life.
  

Social realism – films aims to show the effects of environment factors on the development of character.

• In This Is England, the social realism conforms to the British contemporary social realism genre, with representation of real life, with its difficulties.

magic realism – portrays fantastical events in otherwise realistic tone

• In Harry Potter the writers sets the characters in a fantastical world of mystery

Hyperreality – an inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality

• The Matrix, uses hyperrealism for example the film sucks us into the matrix or the virtual world

Aesthetics Terms 2 – Visual style

Iconography – the patterns of signs we associate with a particular genre.

• In the Bond movies, the car chase scene is normally associated with the genre of the movie.

Intertextual Referencing – two works of art overlaps. The movie overlaps with another work of art.

• In Shrek 1, Shrek is a Ogre who is assumed to be the bad guy and prince charming usually assumed to be the hero and the good guy.

Visual/sound motifs – sound motif is a recurring element that is associated with a particular character, theme, or idea.

• In Jaws, when the shark is near a theme of 2 notes of music to symbolise the shark being close.

Colour Grading – the process of manipulating and enhancing colour to achieve a desire look and mood.

• In Harry Potter and the order of Phoenix, the colour grading ends in a dark blue and murkier colour to reflect the ominous and bleak prospect of Voldemort’s reign.

Auteur Trademarks – a reference ( e.g. to an object, a character, or a happening) that is recurrent in the authors work.

• For example Steven Spielberg’s trademark would be his use of lighting, camera angles and movement.

Aesthetics Terms 3 – Tone

Pathos – referred to as an emotional appeal

• In UP, Carl griefs over his wife to increase the emotional response.

Bathos – the effect of turning a serious moment in a movie, into something completely trivial and unimportant.

• In War of The World, A Batho happens when the machine gives an ending far different to audience expectations.

Suspense – the audience’s excited anticipation about the plot or conflict.

• In Jaws suspense is used when the shark is near creating excited anticipation.

Comedy – light-hearted dramas, crafted to amuse and to entertain the audience.

• In Pitch Perfect, the genre is a comedy movie aimed to make the audience laugh, for example one of the character being called “fat Amy” as she doesn’t want to be called fat behind her back.

Dramatic Irony – The significance of a characters words or action is clear to other audience but unknown to the character.

• In Romeo and Juliet. Romeo enter the tomb thinking Juliet is dead and drinks the poison to be with Juliet in death, however wakes just after he dies.

Distancing Effect – artists never act as if there were a fourth wall besides the three surrounding them

• For example, In Ferris Bueller’s day, Ferris gives direct mode of address to the camera breaking the fourth wall.

Postmodern Humour – subvert highly regarded expectation

• In Scream, post modern is used when they ignore the formats it continually references by always being a step ahead or a step behind

The Miller and The Sweep

What makes a film good?

I believe that the question of ‘what makes a film good’ can have many answers to it; the plot, the cultural impact, the score etc. However, to me, there is not one thing that makes a film good alone. The right combination of a good plot, paired with good acting, suitable music and direction can be what does this; these aspects being the macro elements to films.

The micro elements on the other hand, are incredibly important in making a film great, despite not being obvious at first glance. For example; the way a scene is set up – the mise en scene – can impact the way the viewer depicts a film. It can be a great tool in adding plot devices or even foreshadowing that the viewer may not pick up on the first time watching. Furthermore, editing can also help with doing this. While it may not be obvious at first glance, colour grading can impact the way you are supposed to feel about characters, as well as set the general mood for the film. Schindler’s list is a good example of this; it’s an all black and white film despite being filmed in 1993, the only colour ever shown being the girl walking in the streets.

I also think that having the right score for a film is incredibly important. Similar to colour grading, music helps to impact the way the viewer is supposed to feel about a character, along with also making certain scenes feel so much more important and interesting. Music is extremely impactful in films even when they aren’t musicals, for example; The Pirates of the Caribbean. Hans Zimmer, a very famous composer in the film industry, wrote the score for Pirates of the Caribbean. I feel that the music in that film is just so captivating and that half of the movie just wouldn’t feel half as impactful if there was no music all together. As well as this, the music in Pirates of the Caribbean is so iconic and instantly recognisable because it was very influential. Another example is Coraline. The iconic ‘French’ sounding song in Coraline is actually gibberish made to sound like French, which I think just adds to the unsettling nature of the film.

Overall, I think it’s very difficult to pick out one aspect of a film that makes it good, as there are many things to think about when it comes to films.

If you to were ask the question what makes a film “good” to a group of people, you would most probably get a handful of different answers, as there are many ways to critique and view films. For example, one way someone may critique a film is through a realist approach. A realist would favour a film such as ‘Blair Witch Project’, with its shaky camera, “homemade” shots and characters which feel more like real people and not actors. Another way of viewing a film would be through the lens of mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene critiques would focus more on the environment and the features that contribute to the scene, such as the lightning and sets, and would therefore favour a film such as ‘Blade runner’ and the futuristic, urban environment that Ridley Scott creates with her picturesque shots. Alternatively, critiques may choose to criticize a film with the ‘auteur’(author) mindset, coming from the French film studies journal ‘Cahiers du cinema’ in 1951, which is where the critique will analyse a handful of the director’s films and try to pick out any stylistic repetitions that the director may display in their films, such as favouring a certain type of score in their films. A critique may also take a formalist approach when viewing a film. A formalist critique will look at how the composition of shots comes together, and how they juxtapose and compliment one another. They would enjoy a film such as ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, with its sequences of incoherent and surreal imagery-apes and embryos, during its ending. A popular way of critiquing forms of art, not just film, would be with a feminist viewpoint. In a film, a feminist critic would look at the amount of screen time that the female actors have been given, the way in which the women in the film are presented and common stereotypes depicted in the film, which means they would favour a film such as 2023’s ‘Barbie’, with its deep, underlying message that women can be whatever they want to be, independent from their relationship with a man. Finally, in my personal opinion I think that the view and way of critiquing a film which I most agree with is that of mise-en-scene, as I think that the features of a film that do make special and “good” are the atmosphere and the environment that the director creates within the world of the film.

James Monaco’s term The Spectrum of Arts refers to the different types of art, each with its own way of expressing ideas and emotions, while being interconnected. It highlights how various art forms communicate in unique ways. 

Examples include: 

• Visual Arts: Painting and sculpture. 

• Performing Arts: Theatre, dance, and music. 

• Literary Arts: Poetry and fiction. 

• Cinematic Arts: Film, blending visual and performing arts. 

All of these examples shoes expression is different ways. It refers to the wide range of art forms, each with its own unique way of expressing ideas and emotions in peoples experiences. These art forms may influence each other but still have their own unique style. The term shows how different types of art are connected, while each one of the forms offer a different way of expressing creativity. Music can also be considered as an art form as there are so many different styles and when listening to a good piece of music, is opinions based but when you find the right piece of music it can change your whole mood. Overall, what Monaco means by the Spectrum of Arts is the whole group and chain of different art forms. 

-Winter Cotillard 

Battleship of Potemkin 

• Historically significant film  

• Date – December 21^st, 1925 

• Director – Sergei Eisenstein  

• Genre – war/historical drama  

A bug’s life 

• Mainstream film  

• Date – November 14^th, 1998  

• Director – John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton  

• Genre – animation  

The shape of water 

• Art film  

• Date – December 1^st, 2017 

• Director – Guillermo del Toro  

• Genre – romance/fantasy  

The seven samurai  

• Historically significant film  

• Date – April 26^th, 1954  

• Director – Akira Kurosawa  

• Genre – action  

The breakfast club  

• Mainstream film  

• Date – February 15^th, 1985 

• Director – John Hughes  

• Genre – teen drama  

The wizard of Oz  

• Mainstream film  

• Date – august 25^th 1839  

• Director – Victor Fleming  

• Genre – musical/fantasy  

The magnificent seven 

• Mainstream film  

• Date – October 23^rd, 1960  

• Director – John Sturges  

• Genre – Western action  

Love Simon  

• Mainstream film  

• Date – March 16^th, 2018  

• Director – Greg Berlanti  

• Genre – teenage melodrama  

Fitzcarraldo  

• Mainstream film  

• Date – October 10^th, 1982  

• Director – Werner Herzog  

• Genre – music/action drama  

Alphaville  

• Historically significant film  

• Date – May 5^th, 1965 

• Director – Jean-Luc Godard  

• Genre – synth pop  

I think that some of the films from the table such as ‘The breakfast club’ and ‘A bug’s life’ (films I categorized as mainstream) have many different features to them which make them be considered ‘mainstream’ such as being easy to watch and follow along, suitable for a wide age range and also being loved by the audience as they are entertaining and sometimes even relatable.   

James Monaco’s use of the term ‘The Spectrum of Art’ refers to the fact that art comes in various forms, categorised by their different styles and ideas. The ancients recognised seven; history, poetry, comedy, tragedy, music, dance and astronomy. However, by the thirteenth century, the meaning of ‘art’ began to change and adapt a more practical connotation. The literary arts had somewhat merged into a mix of literature and philosophy. The meaning of art changed within different centuries, it being synonymous with ‘skill’ in the sixteenth century, activities that weren’t previously included such as painting and sculpture, began to be considered ‘fine arts’.

The nineteenth century saw the development of science, and now, what had been previously known as ‘natural philosophy’ was now considered ‘natural science’, and the art of alchemy became the science of chemistry.

Monaco defines his ‘spectrum of art’ in three different categories: “The performance arts, which happen in real time.”, “The representational arts, which depend on the established codes and conventions of language (both pictorial and literary) to convey information about the subject to the observer.”, “The recording arts, which provide a more direct path between subject and observer: media not without their own codes but quantitatively more direct than the media of the representational arts.”

To summarize “The spectrum of the Arts” it’s the idea that art forms each have their own characteristics, however the forms of art can work together.  

Monaco outlines the different Artistic expressions that are used, visual arts, performing arts, literary arts and finally film including all these forms. Visual arts, he explains that these capture a single moment and are unchangeable. Performing Arts, these are pieces of art that tell a story and are often presented live. Literary arts, this includes poetry, novels and essays this tells emotion through storytelling. Film acts as all of them, including aspects from all forms of art.  

He speaks about how Technolgy advancing, changes the idea of art, film can be watched in any space any time, unlike before when everything was live and more of a novelty outing to view one of these arts. Personally, i feel that the invention of technology pulls away from the power of plays and visual art.  

He also speaks about how film is used to express people’s emotional and political views. Art can express people’s perception, showing people different ideas. Flim can these so well with using all of the art forms, including sound, light and writing. Cinema is also able to manipulate elements that other art forms can’t, making it possibly the most captivating form.  

Over generations, the meaning of the word “art” has changed and its history; this tells us a lot about what life was like during the times before us. In ancient times they recognized art as activities, there were seven forms. These were history, poetry, comedy, tragedy, music, dance and astronomy. Despite them all being very different they all are vastly helpful in describing life and the universe. Later in the thirteenth century the definition of art had changed, while still involving the seven forms, history, poetry, tragedy and comedy had merged and now focused on literature and philosophy and then re-ordered into grammar rhetoric and logic. Dance was replaced by geometry and the forms became more practical. In the sixteenth century the word art included a wide range of skills as you can master both an art and skill. But by the seventeenth century the different meanings of art began to reduce again as geometry and mathematics were becoming more separate and the “fine arts” were becoming more and more recognized. Throughout the nineteenth century, with the increase in scientific knowledge, art and science continued to separate, and art was becoming a similar definition to how we see it today additionally with the dada movement in the 1920s making art more basic. 

“What does Monaco mean by the term “The Spectrum of the Arts” 

The spectrum of the arts, i feel, is defined as the ways that art can differ and can change. Art is like a liquid, it’s definition is fluid and will change from person to person. because of that over all accepted definition has changed throughout the years, according to Monaco. the spectrum of the arts can also refer to the multiple different ways you can  experience a piece of art. as discussed in class, such differences come up when looking at films. The way reading a novel will change the experience, to the way seeing something performed will change it. some examples of this i could reference are the way that reading a novel is completely personalized to you, the way you envision the characters and the way that they speak and deliver lines is completely union to how you read. Whereas when you watch a film, the casting and their line deliveries are already done for you. Similar could be said about the experience of watching a performance rather than a film. other than the obvious lack of physical depth that a performance has to a film, when you watch a film, you know that you’re getting the best version of it. Whereas, when you are watching a live performance, things can go wrong, like people forgetting lines or props, but that aspect of it being live also gives it a much more human feel and a sense of adrenaline for the people acting in it.