Twitter

Saturday 25 July 2009

Robert De Niro in performance by Quinton Tarantino Parts 1 - 3

In "Cinefile", a program made in 1994 for Channel 4, Quinton Tarantino profiles Robert De Niro's performances and star persona in "Meanstreets" and "The Godfather Part II". It's an important resource for anyone working on De Niro for a small scale research project.



In Part 2 Tarantino focuses on De Niro in "Taxi Driver", "The Deer Hunter" and "Raging Bull".



In Part 3 Tarantino analyses De Niro's performance in "Once Upon A Time In America" and discusses what a film co-starring De Niro and Al Pacino would be like. A year later, in 1995, they co-starred in the cop and gangster film , "Heat"

Wednesday 15 July 2009

Film Genres - detailed examples

This slide presentation has several examples for each film genre and sub genres.

Film Classification in the UK

This is helpful also for understanding the history of censorship in film in the UK. Film and video classification in the UK
View more presentations from Jim Barratt.

Tuesday 14 July 2009

Movie Diva - an interesting cross between academic and popular film reviews

This is a great site for reading reviews on older films. Movie Diva's breadth of academic research informs each review and makes what might have been complex accessible and easy to understand.

http://www.moviediva.com/MD_root/webpages/MDIndex.htm

Friday 3 July 2009

FM3: Harrison Ford and Wife Force 1!

FM3 Small Scale Research Project ideas
Harrison Ford
As amusing as this selection of clips may be they are still useful for examining star/performance issues on Harrison Ford - the repetition associated with his screen persona in similar film genres and and the meanings that he brings to the roles. Just as John Wayne used to furrow his forehead before expressing his anger in his films, there is also the trade-mark look of angry surprise on Harrison's face across a range of films. It is shots like these that audiences "expect" and "want" , whether they are always conscious of them or not, because they often derive pleasure from them. And, yes, Ford seems to be forever saving his wife! (Not withstanding Indiana Jones films in which he saves women who, had he married, could have been his wife).

An important aspect of Harrison Ford's persona and one worth exploring, is Ford's representation of masculinity - in this instance, the protective husband. Some modern US critics and writers bemoan younger American heroes who lack the assured masculinity that the now ageing Ford and Clint Eastwood, exude with ease.

For performance consider Harrison Ford's
  • Voice, intonation, accent, pitch
  • Facial gestures and movement
  • body movement and the idiosyncrasies he displays as a performer
  • use of space and his phsyical presence and room he takes up in frames
  • how all of the above represent his masculinity and the persona he projects on screen.

Any aspect of the above can create meaning from performance as they can show his character's feelings about other characters. These elements can affect how audiences react to Ford at various points in a film's narrative.