TV Theory: Reading List

How to Read a Film

by James Monaco 

Review:

This book mainly focuses on film as an art, technology, and language, as well as looking back at its history and the theories surrounding the medium. What I found most interesting is that film as an art was compared to the other arts such as theatre, the novel, and even music which helped me to see the differences and similarities between them, some of which I had never noticed before. I also enjoyed the part on technology as it showed the structure of older cameras such as the reflex camera, but also mentioned newer technology that has developed. Within technology, lighting was also detailed showing only two point lighting with a key light and fill light, giving a different perspective on three-point lighting (which I first learned about in Film Art: An Introduction). However, what was most useful was the perspective the author took on film critics nowadays as only analysing film in relation to how the audience respond, providing ratings rather than an analysis, compared to how they used to analyse the film in relation to the artwork with the artist. Personally, I think this would be more useful to read in reviews, as it could help provide reasons to why a critic thinks a filmmaker has decided to use a certain technique in their film or make links between a filmmaker's many pieces of work, which would create more intellectual reviews, rather than ones based on reactions. Also, the timeline at the back of the book which details important historical developments in film helped with my historic TV show presentation on Space:1999 as I was able to define why I thought the program was historic as, according to this book's definition, it was made before the digital revolution began, which drastically changed the way films and TV were made and distributed. 

Film Art: An Introduction

by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson 

Review:

Since this was the first book I ever read about film, I found that the broken down paragraphs, which included definitions also broken down in the glossary, made it easier to understand and meant I could take notes helping me to write the essential details about mise-en-scene and cinematography into a blog post I was able to refer back to. The pictures relating these elements to how they had been used practically on screen was also useful as I could compare these to films I had seen. Therefore, when I watch films now I am able to spot the different aspects of mise-en-scene and cinematography that are used, meaning I can better understand the subtext the film is trying to convey, not just the obvious story that is contained within the plot. For example, when re-watching Jurassic Park, I noticed several clues, such as a robot taking a dinosaur egg away from one of the scientists, and also the visitors not being able to get out of the parks automatic, electronically controlled gates, that suggested a subtext that warns about the advances of, and increasing dependency on, technology that was occurring when the film was released.

The Television Genre Book

edited by Glen Creeber

Review:

Before reading this book I had not considered all of the genres covered as being genres in their own right. For example, children's TV is said to be a genre that is different from other genres because instead of being designed around certain codes and conventions, it is also centred on a specific audience which create boundaries it cannot cross. I found this is similar to teen drama, which is tailored to address issues affecting teenagers during the time period the programme is created in. Hybrid genres were also interesting to read about as the book gave examples of how different codes and conventions are mixed in programmes such as Life On Mars, as the accident that causes the protagonist to travel back in time is typical of tele-fantasy, but the format of detectives solving a crime each episode is usually seen in police series or crime dramas. It also made me think about the show Lost which I had never realised before mixes so many genres that it cannot be defined as being part of one. However, what I found most interesting was that it made me look at shows I watch differently, such as the analysis about Glee. Although it is a show that is very firmly in the musical genre, it also covers issues involving teenagers which are sometimes quite serious, whilst still portraying a kind of utopia showing that community solves problems and a world where it is acceptable to break into song and dance typical of this genre. What was most useful was the stages it detailed about how genres can evolve through experimentation, before reaching the classic stage which establishes the codes and conventions of the genre. Then it goes through refinement, before reaching the baroque stage, where self-reflexivity and parodies of that genre's codes and conventions are common. 

Has Modernism Failed?

by Suzi Gablik 

Review:

The original edition of this book concluded after eight chapters that modernism had failed due to the way that the world had become a consumerist society, concerned with agents and managers running the 'art world' while art had begun to have no guidance as society's moral values were no longer clear, meaning artists were so free that anything was art. I agreed with this first conclusion as I could see how still now, twenty years later, there is a lot of skepticism surrounding art and what it is defined as. However, what has changed since the first edition published in 1984, to this revised edition published in 2004, is that artists are now also using art to diminish the gap between aesthetics and ethics. I think that this is important as what I didn't agree with is how the book details individualism. Here, it is said that individualism and self discovery by an artist usually always leads to alienation from society, which in some cases is true, but I think not in all. Some artists, such as graffiti artists from different parts of New York which are covered in the seventh chapter, Graffiti in Well-Lighted Rooms, each discover their own style individually, but then share these styles with others, meaning each region, such as the Bronx and Manhattan, develops its own style, which can then further overlap into one another. I also didn't agree with how the book states globalisation as a bad thing, as I agree it is bad if it is only the globalisation of American culture, but it is essential cultures are shared so that people build a better understanding of society worldwide. Overall, this book made me think about the concept of modernism and not only the effect it is having in the 'art world' but on society in general, although I found some parts complicated and hard to understand. Personally, I agree with the view that art should have a meaning and a purpose above just being sold, but still be aesthetically pleasing, and require an artist to have skill to create it.