Reading Response 1

Yuri Lotman - Semiotics of Cinema

We learned quite a bit about semiotics in MTD1, especially in the context of image analysis, and I feel strongly that the theories of semiotics can, in fact, be adapted to cinema. I was very interested in the whole bit about how certain audience members come in with different levels of preparation. Yuri's example dealing with a child being able to enjoy a movie made for an older audience because it still has elements to be understood by the child was pretty spot on in my opinion. It would make no sense to deny the fact that people know different things about different stuff and would obviously understand parts of a film in different contexts. For example, last week I watched a Japanese film. In this film there were two girls called Nana, which is also one of the Japanese words for the number 7. One of the Nana's calls the other Hachi, which is the Japanese word for the number 8. I was able to realize, that if I had not studied any Japanese, that small element of the film would have completely passed over me. I would have still enjoyed the movie (actually it wasn't that great), but I would not have noticed some of the things I noticed without knowing a bit about the language and culture. So this is not a case of film snobbery or pretentiousness, but the definite fact that people know different things. What I'm trying to say is that I agree with Lotman's theories, and I found these theories quite interesting and appealing.

Sergei Eisenstein - Film Form: Essays in Film Theory

I couldn't quite grasp what Eisenstein was trying to explain with his collision theory of montage. I mean, even he couldn't explain how the concept arises out of a collision. His theory makes some sense, but in my opinion is does not completely explain montage. I feel as if the fusion of the two ideologies would be a more precise theory. Obviously a collision of independent shots will produce dramatic response, but placing shots in montage one after another seems sometimes necessary. Eisenstein's later idea that montage dealt with the fusion of ideas with focus on overtones in shots, made a lot more sense. I feel like the use of collision seemed too chaotic, that things just exploded and fell into place, but the fusion of ideas is more the feeling that I feel I get out of a good cinematic experience. Rambling....

(Charles Cole)