HNC Creative Media Production (Moving Image): Video Essay

Wednesday, 20 September 2017

Video Editing Structure: Guidance

Introduction:

Outline the principles and context of your 'new wave' study
What did they oppose/achieve? - techniques/social/break from tradition

Brief summary of the period

Historical context
What you will be focussing upon - era/directors/films?

Examples

Films/Directors/Actor
Techniques - more detail
Issues - more detail

Impact

On audience?
On industry?
On other 'new waves' ?

Conclusions

Summary
Implications and legacy

What Makes a Video Essay Great? from Fandor Keyframe on Vimeo.

Monday, 18 September 2017

Italian Neorealism

Before the indies and even before the French New Wave, Italian neo-realism staked out new cinematic territory. One of those blanket terms that mean all things to all people, neo-realism has few absolutes, though there are elements that set the Italian version distinctly apart. Screenwriter and poet Cesare Zavattini wrote an actual manifesto to guide these films, but their creation was just as much a result of timing, chance and fluke.

Unquestionably, their greatest single influence was the anti-Fascism that marked World War II's immediate postwar period. Key elements are an emphasis on real lives (close to but not quite documentary style), an entirely or largely non-professional cast, and a focus on collectivity rather than the individual. Solidarity is important, along with an implicit criticism of the status quo. Plot and story come about organically from these episodes and often turn on quite tiny moments. Cinematically, neo-realism pushed filmmakers out of the studio and on to the streets, the camera freed-up and more vernacular, the emphasis away from fantasy and towards reality. Despite the rather short run - 1943 to 1952 - the heavyweight films of the period and the principles that guided them put Italian cinema on the map at the time and continue to shape contemporary global filmmaking.

From: GreenCine