From: Jonathan Walley (email suppressed)
Date: Wed Mar 31 2010 - 08:51:27 PDT
Gene,
I'm sure there are several sites that do something like this, but I
know of one specifically: David Bordwell's website on cinema (http://www.davidbordwell.com/
). A lot of Frameworkers probably already know of this site, though
Bordwell doesn't talk very much about experimental film. David's blog,
especially, provides numerous stills, and sometimes clips, to
illustrate the points he's making - often about film style.
As for the teaching arena, I think most professors probably make their
own DVDs at this point. When I lecture, I have a DVD with numerous
clips burned onto it, plus powerpoint slides that provide stills from
said clips. My students often ask me where I "get" these materials, as
if there's a clearing house for film professor visual aids somewhere
out there.
Though I teach "media" (personally I think of myself as a "film
scholar" rather than a "media scholar"), I try not to allow my classes
to get too bogged down in it. But being able to show/pause/repeat
clips and show extracted stills from them (often with annotations in
text) in class is incredibly helpful, especially when my emphasis is
on formal structure and visual style - which it usually is.
I've seen DVDs about various aspects of filmmaking advertised in film/
video studies journals, and sometimes I get offers for these from the
manufacturers. For instance: http://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Edge-Magic-Movie-Editing/dp/B0009PVZEG/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1270050381&sr=1-5
I'm not sure if these are what you have in mind, nor can I speak to
how good any of these are (the one I link to above looks pretty light
to me). DVD commentary and special features are always a mixed
bag...hit and miss. Sometimes it's just the director ruminating about
the film, sometimes there are very helpful and in-depth special
features. I'd love to know of a resource for information about the
quality of DVD extras.
Hope some of this is useful. Best,
Jonathan
Jonathan Walley
Asst. Professor of Cinema
Denison University
email suppressed
p.s. while looking up the above-cited amazon link, I was AMAZED to
find this. Production teachers beware!
On Mar 31, 2010, at 11:23 AM, Gene Youngblood wrote:
> Frameworkers,
> Is anyone aware of a film criticism (or film analysis) website where
> text is augmented with links to clips that illustrate the text. You
> are reading an online analysis of Potemkin. Click on the word
> "montage" and it shows you the sequence that is being analyzed. You
> can repeat the clip, slow it down, freeze it, zoom in on a detail.
>
> Alternatively, are there DVDs that do this, either interactively or
> as a fixed mode of analysis and explication? The professor is
> lecturing in a classroom, or the critic is featured in a
> documentary, and their voices carry over clips of what they're
> talking about, with the same possibilites of repeat, slow, freeze
> and detail.
>
> It would be nice, for example, if Criterion's Brakhage releases
> featured someone like Fred Camper analyzing Stan's complex
> phrasings, rhymes, etc. in this manner.
>
> Gene Youngblood
> 28 Sunrise Road
> Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507 USA
> vox/fax: +1.505.424.8708
> email suppressed
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>
__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.