Bordwell Reading

In my experience as a moviegoer, the viewers can sometimes find it difficult to define the characters, specifically when the characters are not people. For example, in the film Dare Devil, Hell's Kitchen, a Manhattan neighborhood is the movie's setting. The protagonist was raised there and as an effect of the neighborhood's gritty and foul traits, he becomes the anti hero set out to serve justice. Throughout the film the Kitchen portrays a dark and malevolent personality that is often the source of the other character's conflicts.

In many ways Hell's Kitchen is a character, but not in the traditional sense. Bordwell's definition of a character being the agent of cause and effect is a compelling way to include non humans like Dare Devil's Hells Kitchen. Furthermore, despite the Kitchen's lack of bodily representation, this issue is not far from Bordwell's example of Obi-Wan in The Empire Strikes Back. Bordwell shows that a character can exist without a body. As long as the "character in question" has traits such as personality and intention then it is a character.

Bordwell

There was a lot of information in this chapter so it took some time to make sure I fully understood what was being said before moving on. I learned A LOT in this chapter. Some of the ideas and 'rules' mentioned I had heard about, or had my own idea of what it was, but much of it was new to me. Some of it I discovered I knew but had never known there was a specific name for it.

I liked how, after explaining a subject, it further explains it by giving an example from a movie. This really helped me understand more what the author was trying to say.

One good example is when he is explaining the difference between a story and the plot by using detective films. As the audience, we all know the story: a man is murdered and the detective must figure out the who, what, where, and why. However, the plot is much more in-depth. The plot is not just the basic summary of what is happening in the movie, it is the order events that lead up to the climax. I had always figured a plot and story to be the same thing. I had no idea that the plot was actually an order of events while the story describes said sequence of events.

This reading was very helpful to me in understanding the mechanics that go in to making a film. I will certainly use this as reference for the duration of the course and in the future.

Video Art Course Blog.

Hello and welcome to the Video Art course blog for Fall 2011. This site will serve as a forum to respond to readings and extend the conversations we will have in class. There will be readings assigned almost every week and you will be expected to post a substantive response before the following Monday. You should include some text that you write expressing your thoughts on the text, and you can also embed links, pictures, and videos to help illustrate your points. If you're not sure how to do this, you can find easy instructions here: How to embed images on Blogger.

Please make your response a new post rather than a comment to this or or other posts. You will be able to do this after you have accepted my invitation to join the course blog. Looking forward to your responses and our discussions!

Mike