The Filmcake

I finished reading Film Art, 7th ed. last week. It was a delicious aperitif. It didn’t quite satisfy my hunger so much as prepare me for further voracious eating.

I’m not sure how the book is read in the context of an introductory film course. I’m not sure which, if any, parts are skipped over. Nor do I know what sort of clips or screenings would be shown in conjunction with the reading. Basically, I just decided to read the book cover to cover (aside from the Sample Analyses). After reading through the third chapter, I decided to watch Citizen Kane again. This way, I could follow along with Film Art’s discussion on Narrative Form. And, then as I read through Chapters 4 & 5 on the types of films, I was able to find many of the referenced short films online (e.g. The River, Ballet Mecanique, etc.). I’m certain that this endeavor–teaching myself about film–would be much more difficult if it weren’t for YouTube, Internet Archive, and Google.

I watched North by Northwest again and read the Sample Analysis that is included in Chapter 11. Over the next few days, I plan on doing the same–watching the film and reading the included analysis–with The Thin Blue Line and His Girl Friday.

I’m not sure where to go from here. Some of the topics brought up in the book that interested me most were lighting techniques and editing. I hadn’t before appreciated the craft that went into both of these elements. I’m also very curious about film history, especially the French New Wave.  And just more generally, I want to learn more about film theory. There’s plenty of places to go from here.

I have a couple of books on Kubrick and several on Hitchcock, as well as a decent collection of their films, so I might set off on looking at the work of one of these great directors. Still, I’d like to partake of some more general film knowledge before getting into a particular director. We’ll see…

I finally received my used copy of Film Art from Powell’s. It’s a little dog-eared but I’m not complaining (it was under $25 including shipping). Since it’s an introductory textbook, I figure I’ll just read it from beginning to end and then figure out where to go next. Each chapter ends with a section that suggests where to go for further reading. So, this ought to give me a good idea of where to carry on from here.

Into the fourth chapter, one thing is for certain–I need to watch Citizen Kane again. But, No Country for Old Men just came out on DVD and I want to watch that again, too. And, I’ve got to watch The Assassination of JJ by the CRF so I can exchange it at BB for something else so I can finally cancel my BB Online membership and move over to Netflix. And, as I read through Film Art and browse film blogs and film magazines, my List of Movies to Watch grows ever bigger. So much to see…not enough time.