First class
I had my first proper Film Studies class today - the perfect day to develop a sore throat, which will no doubt have turned into a raging cold by tomorrow.Anyway, it was all pretty interesting. A lot of it centred around paperwork, admittedly, but we got an introductory lecture on the concept of textualism (roughly speaking, approaching film as a text in the same way that a novel is considered a text, covering the various elements and discussing how they interrelate). Much of it sounded vaguely familiar, which suggests that either I've read enough film theory out of my own volition to have some preliminary grounding in the subject already, or else I already did this back in my first year at university, when, for a brief time, I was a Film & Television Studies student.
We also watched a screening - or rather a VHS tape - of On the Town, an all singin', all dancin' musical featuring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra running around New York dressed in sailor suits. This sort of film is pretty much diametrically opposed to the sort of thing I go in for, but it was reasonably entertaining. At the same time week, we get to watch the Bollywood film Devdas. In the meantime, my first Animation class is on Monday.
3 Comments:
When watching On The Town, I find it helps, if entering into a state of musicalitis, to remind oneself of The Fast Show sketch whereupon, obviously, the first thing the sailors would do "on the town" is find a "big fat whore".
By Anonymous, at 09:31
One thing I did find interesting about the film is that the trio of sailors are defined not by their own characteristics but by those of the women they hook up with. The three heroes are all essentially the same person, with the same personalities and goals, and this is exemplified by the fact that they are all dressed exactly the same throughout.
By Whiggles, at 21:38
If I remember correctly, Sinatra's character is supposed to be a bit more pretentious/uptight than the others, but it's been many years...
By Anonymous, at 13:39
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