What Monaco means by the term ‘The Spectrum of the Arts’ is the simplified form of observable arts in today’s society, which are, in Monaco’s words from his book ‘How to read a film’, page 27: 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 and the recording arts, which provide a more direct path between subject and observer: media not without their own codes but qualitatively more direct than the media of the representational arts. An example of a type of performance art would be a play, as it is something that you experience in real time from a fixed position. However, the way one person experiences a play may be completely different from the way another experiences a play, whereas in film, which is a type of recording art, the director will use certain techniques and shots to curate the way the viewer experiences the film. Basically, the director will try to get the consumer to consume it in a way they desire. Finally, representational arts, such as landscapes, seascapes, portraits, figures and still life’s, are this type of art as they all depict a recognized and actual thing. However, the fact that they are still means they are very open to interpretation, as the artist is not there to change the art or tell someone what their intentions were with this art and how they should consume it.

What does Monaco mean by the “Spectrum Of Arts”?

In How To Read A Film, Monaco presents a spectrum of arts, each point on the spectrum related to how distant from reality the art feels to the observer.

The first point Monaco presents on the spectrum is performance arts, art which happens in real time. This ranges from being told a story to theatre, and in all instances the observer is aware of the artists, the performers.

The next point on the spectrum is the representational arts. The representational arts is defined by Monaco as art which uses language or images to convey meaning to the observer. This is further up the spectrum from the performing arts, as while the presence of an artist is still present due to the knowledge that the art was written or drawn or sculpted by an artist, the artist themselves is not present.

The final point on the spectrum, so far, is the recording arts. The recording arts are, plainly, recordings of our world, either through picture or video and film. The recording arts are at the top of the spectrum as the presence of the artist can be hard to see. Viewing the recording arts is viewing our world as it is, just on a screen or in a frame.

Art Film:	Mainstream Film:	Historically Significant:
Alphaville-1965 Genre; Pop	A Bug’s Life-1998 Genre; Animation	The Wizard of Oz- 1939 Genre; Musical
Fitzcarraldo-1982 Genre; Music	The Shape of Water-2017 Genre; Romance	The Seven Samuri-1954 Genre; Action
	Love Simon-2018 Genre; Romance	The Breakfast Club-1985 Genre; Comedy-drama
	The Magnificent Seven-1960 Genre; Western	Battleship Potemkin-1925 Genre; War

Year 12 film studies, Kendal. Film categories

Battleship Potemkin 

Director; Sergei Eisenstein  

Genre; historically significant  

Date; December 21, 1925 

A bug’s life 

Director; John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton.  

Genre; mainstream  

Date; 1998 

The shape of water 

Director; Guillermo del toro 

Genre; art film  

Date; December 1, 2017 

Seven samurai 

Director; Akira Kurosawa 

Genre; historically significant  

Date; April 26, 1954 

The breakfast club 

Director; john Hughes  

Genre; mainstream 

Date; February 15, 1985 

The wizard of oz  

Director; victor Fleming 

Genre; historically significant   

Date; august 25, 1939 

The magnificent 7  

Director; john Sturges  

Genre; historically significant  

Date; October 23, 1960 

Love, Simon  

Director; Greg Berlanti  

Genre; mainstream 

Date; March 16, 2018 

Fitzcarraldo 

Director; Werner Herzog 

Genre; art film  

Date; October 10, 1982 

Alphaville 

Director; jean-Luc Goddard 

Genre; historically significant  

Date; November 1, 1965 

Art Film	Mainstream Film	Historically Significant Film
The Shape of Water – A lonely woman comes across an amphibian creature in a research lab from 2017. Directed by Guillermo Del Toro. Romantic Fantasy.	The Breakfast Club – Extremely popular film from 1985. Directed by John Hughes. Comedy and Drama.	Wizard of Oz – came out in the 1930s and has had a significant impact on films. Directed by Victor Fleming. Musical.
Fitzcarraldo – Film from 1982 about an Irishman that has dreams of opening an opera house. Directed by Werner Herzog. Musical and Action.	A Bug’s Life – Very popular film from 1998 about an army of ants. Directed by John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton. Animation and action.	Battleship Potemkin – 1925 Soviet silent film which commemorates the Revolution of 1905. Directed by Sergei Eisenstein. War and Silent film.
Alphaville – About an American secret agent that is sent to a futuristic city on another planet. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Noir and science-fiction.	The Magnificent Seven – 1960 Western about a gunslinger and a group save a Mexican village from bandits. Directed by John Sturges. Western and action.	The Seven Samurai – Japanese film about a veteran samurai protecting a village from 1954. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. War and action.
	Love Simon – 2018 film about a man keeping his sexuality secret but is being blackmailed. Directed by Greg Berlanti. Romance and comedy.

Historically significant films are very valued within society because they are talked about so many years later and have been watched by multiple generations. For example, the Wizard of Oz is a treasured musical that is still being adapted and watched by many people.

Mainstream: 

-Bugs life, 1998 – John Lasseter + Andrew Stanton – animated (Pixar children’s film) 

-Love Simon, 2018 – Greg Berlanti – romcom  

-The breakfast club, 1985 – John Hughes – teen comedy  

– The magnificent seven, 1960 – Paul Wendkos – western 

Historically significant: 

-Wizard of Oz, 1939 – Victor Fleming – fantasy musical (revolutionized the use of color in films) 

-Battleship Potemkin, 1925 – Sergei Eisenstein – war  

-Alphaville, 1965 – Jean-Luc Godard – noir  

Art film: 

-The Shape of Water, 2017 – Guillermo Del Toro – romantic horror fantasy (Guillermo del Toro is a very arty director) 

-The seven Samurai, 1954 – Akira Kurosawa – action  

-Fitzcarraldo, 1982 – Werner Herzog – Musical, Drama  

A Bug’s Life – I chose to put this in mainstream because it is a movie that is produced by Pixar, which is a mainstream company. Being a mainstream company means that all their movies will have a large audience as a given. As well as that, children’s movies are usually mainstream because children are a large demographic in the film industry. 

Wizard of Oz – I chose to put The Wizard of Oz in historically accurate because it was one of the movies to revolutionize the use of colour in movies. This movie would have been a lot of people’s introductions to the use of colour in film, which would make it very significant.

The Shape of Water – I chose to put this in Art film because i have seen a few Guillermo films and I think he has a very artsy style and by the few screen caps I’ve seen, I think this movie is following that pattern. The movie’s topic is also one that sounds like an art film, being about a more confusing relationship between the human and the amphibian creature.  

The Breakfast Club- I put this film into historically significant even though it is vastly different from the other ones in this category because I think it was a film that was one of a kind for the time (1985). The film greatly boosted the popularity of comedic, teen-centered films.  And although the film isn’t necessarily an extremely deep film, it still followed mature themes and is still taught in schools today; it is very inspirational. The movie also won an Excellence Award in 2005. 

The Bugs Life- I put this film in mainstream because it was produced by Pixar Animation Studios which is one of the biggest animation studios in the world, and it most likely expected to garner a lot of attention straight away. Additionally, it is a film made for families and this genre of movie usually can’t explore deep and important themes and they strive to keep everything light-hearted and comedic. It is also not the best animation film put out there.  

Art films	Mainstream films	Historically significant film
Shape of water-2017 Director- Guillermo del toro  Fantasy  Highly detailed scenes, with strong costume and design.	The breakfast Club-1985 Director- John Hughes  Comedy Was popular when it was released, made by universal pictures.	The wizard of oz -1939 Director-Victor Fleming  Musical  Deeper meaning, new use of film equipment.
Fitzcarraldo-1982 Director-Werner Herzog Adventure  Not very well known, has a deeper meaning behind it.	A bug’s life-1998 Director- john Lasseter, Andrew Stanton Animation   It was released by Disney, played in cinemas.	Battleship Potemkin-1925 Director- Sergei Eisenstein War It is about the revolution, therefore historic.
Alphaville-1965 Director-Jean-Luc Godard  Sci-fi No props, but strange architectural designs.	Love Simon-2018 Romance  Director-Greg Berlanti  It was shown in cinemas, marketed as a mainstream film
	The magnificent seven-1960 Director-John Sturges Western

ART FILM	MAINSTREAM	HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT
A bug’s life- released November 14, 1998, adventure, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton. This is a fully animated movie which means that the imagery can be created however, and it has no limits, the movie is also extremely colorful. Although the movie is mainstream it feels more like an art film due to its animations.	The wizard of Oz- august 25 1939, fantasy musical, Victor Fleming. I chose this because the wizard of Oz is known by a lot of people and is easily recognizable by its name, therefore this is mainstream.	battleship Potemkin- released December 21, 1925, Sergei Eisenstein, war/thriller. I chose this because it was released almost 100 years ago, and it is based on a key part of history.
The shape of water- released December 1st, 2017, fantasy / romance, Guillermo del Toro. I chose this specific category because of the intense visuals to create the people and the colorful imagery. This movie also has no historical significance and is not based on any real-life event.	Ther breakfast club – released February 15, 1985, comedy, John Hughes. I chose this because the movie does not hold any historical significance, and it is also not an art film because the visuals are too simple. The movie is also recognizable by just its name which makes it mainstream.	Seven samurai- released April 26, 1954, Akira Kurosawa. Adventure. I chose this because it was released a long time ago which makes it historical, it is also significant because it is based on a significant part of history.
Fitzcarraldo- October 10, 1982, Werner Herzog, adventure. This film is an art film because it is not a mainstream movie and it also has no historical significance; however, the movie’s visuals are powerful and creative for it being released in the 1980’s.	Love, Simon – March 16, 2018, Greg Berlanti, romance/ comedy. Although this movie can become historically significant in the future due to its plot about LGBTQ+, the movie is recent and other movies about the same message have been released since. The movie is also basic in terms of visual which means it can’t be an art film.	The magnificent seven, September 23, 2016, Antoine Fuqua, western action. I chose this because it is based on the same historical event as the seven samurai even though it was released recently it still has historical significance.
		Alphaville- May 5, 1965, Jean-Luc Godard, sci-fi. I chose this because it was released a long time ago, even though it is not based on a true part of history, it is not artistic enough to be considered an art film and it’s not mainstream.

Battleship Potemkin (1925):  Silent Epic, Historical film, was made to commemorate the Russian Revolution of 1905.

A Bugs Life (1998):  Animation, Mainstream film, made by Disney, was Pixar’s follow up to Toy Story.

The Shape Of Water (2017):  Romantic Fantasy, Mainstream film, directed by Guillermo Del Toro, who’s made quite a few blockbuster films, such as Pacific Rim: Uprising.

The Seven Samurai (1954):  Samurai Action, Art/Historically Significant Film, could be considered art as Japanese action films are quite niche, but this film influenced many westerns, such as The Magnificent Seven.

The Breakfast Club (1985):  Indie Teen Comedy Drama, Mainstream film, most of the cast became quite famous after its release and they were later labelled ‘The Brat Pack’.

The Wizard of Oz (1939):  American Musical Fantasy, Mainstream/Historically Significant Film, was and is extremely popular and influenced many musicals that followed it.

The Magnificent Seven (1960,2016): American Western, Mainstream Film, Is John Sturges’ mainstream interpretation of Kurosawa’s ‘Seven Samurai’.

Love Simon (2018):  Romantic Comedy, Mainstream film, talks about closeted gay men in society.

Fitzcarraldo (1982): West German epic adventure-drama, Art Film, the film had a troubled production, as the film’s original star got sick and the replacement was threatened with death by a tribe whose land they were filming on.

Alphaville (1965): Science Fiction Neo-Noir, Art Film, was part of the French new wave movement and doesn’t use any futuristic props or sets as it was all shot in real life Paris.

Most of the films that I have categorised as art films are due to them being in a niche genre or appealing to a niche audience, such as ‘Seven Samurai’. Furthermore, they may contain unconventional or highly symbolic content, which is a key characteristic of art films. For example, the character ‘Alpha 60’ in ‘Alphaville’ shows the deterioration of logical thinking in society due to technology, which is actually quite relevant into today’s soceity.