Week 11

Bordwell, TWHTI
“Why do filmmakers bother with classical construction if ardent viewers consider it dispensable, even distracting?”

Actually the plot can sink to a level of minimal awareness and leads them to concentrate on other things. The audience isn’t homogeneous. The best way to reach a wide audience is thru an interesting story, which blends stars and physical action. Also, films are made for personal satisfaction and other filmmakers. Making smart pictures pays off in better jobs and the next film. One thing that Bordwell might not have mentioned is the fact that the crew on a set needs to have faith in the director’s vision. Not many top-flight crew people want to work on a set that doesn’t tell a good story.


What does Bordwell mean when he says, “Ironically, the genre considered most
Scattershot turns out to have the most widely recognized formulas of organization.”?

He refers to the action film which is far from being a noisy free for all but instead is as formally strict as a minuet. According to Martell’s manual many principals of unity have been laid out with great precision. Such as the villain having a master plan, which is well motivated or the hero being reactive in the first half and then takes charge in the second half of the film.

What does Bordwell mean by “genre ecology,” and how does he characterize the current range of genres in Hollywood.

I think he’s talking about the filmic environment of Hollywood and the relationship of directors to their audience that exist in that space and time for a particular film genre. Their attitudes and taste for one genre might have been /pushed developed due to the fact that there was very little left for them to explore/add so they went for the sparsely populated niches that have been ignored.

What does Bordwell mean by “worldmaking,” and how does it affect the narrative design of individual films?

Films can offer a rich fully furnished ambience for the action. The filmmaker creates the film world that is the backdrop and interactional space that the characters live in. 2001: A Space Odyssey was one such film where the trappings are as overwhelming as is the Star Gate optics. This is a world that is layered with props/textures no had ever seen before and is completely the filmmaker’s invention for this particular film. This enviroment was an element/character that enabled the audience to suspend their disbelief and enjoy the movie even more.

What specific reasons does Bordwell propose for the rise/fall of contemporary genres?

One reason is that it’s hard to improve on the past/present masters of any given genre. Sometimes a genre went thru a debunking, where as it was demeaned and parodied which took off its shine/credibility. A genre such as the Western was exposed as racist, like in the “Little Big Man.” Another big reason is that young directors just can’t find anything new to add to a genre that would be original so they look for unused genres, which are out of general use.