Johnston's Reel Spirituality: The Power Of Film

Hollywood is a very powerful modern day institution, where a star's image can characterize, shape and circulate societal myths and ideologies. The construction of a star's image as a commodity of their societal myths and ideologies has the extraordinary power to exert messages so that even the smallest details become significant yet not overtly obvious. How a star's image is produced and then consumed can justify a society's relationship with that image and therefore aid in explaining the social construction of what society deems as their 'reality'. A star's image is created through a range of representations churned out by Hollywood. Capitalism from the commercialization of these images has made Hollywood the dominant force it is

Today, Film and Television are among the most internationally supported commodities. Financially, their contributions are enormous: both industries are responsible for the circulation of billions of dollars each year. Since their respective explosions into the new media markets during the mid-twentieth century, film and television have produced consistently growing numbers of viewers and critics alike. Sparking debate over the nature of their viewing, film and television are now being questioned in social, political, and moral arenas for their potential impact on an audience. Critics claim that watching films or television is a passive activity in which the viewer becomes subconsciously

To support this idea, Bordwell illustrates how art cinema motivates its narratives differently, through two principles: realism and authorial expressivity. Firstly he proposes the notion that art films reflect realism in their characters, space, and time. Psychologically complex characters are present in real worlds dealing with true-to-life situations. Art cinema is concerned with the characters ‘reaction’ to these situations, rather than their ‘action’. Thus it bares an element of psychological subjectivity as the characters survey the world they are in, which aids the realisation of the distress of

Movies have the ability to transport people to different times and places and distract them from ordinary everyday reality. They allow for a range of emotions to be experienced. At their core, movies examine the human condition. There are plenty of deeper truths woven into screenplays and plenty of lessons to be learned, even when an individual is solely seeking entertainment.

Although the best reasons for “going to the movies” are to be entertained and eat popcorn, understanding a film is actually quite complex. Movies are not only a reflection of life, they also have the capability of shaping our norms, values, attitudes, and perception of life. Through the media of film, one can find stories of practically anything imaginable and some things unimaginable. Movie-makers use their art to entertain, to promote political agendas, to educate, and to present life as it is, was, or could be. They can present truth, truth as they interpret it, or simply ignore truth altogether. A movie can be a work of fiction, non-fiction, or anything in-between. A film is an artist’s interpretation. What one takes away from a film depends upon how one interprets what has been seen and heard. Understanding film is indeed difficult.

Aside from being a source of entertainment and pleasure, films have also taken on a new role, that is, to make visible and critique the different ideologies that are present in society. The word ideology is defined as “a relatively coherent system of values, beliefs, or ideas shared by some social group and often taken for granted as natural or inherently true.” (Bordwell and Thompson, p.503). Ideologies help us to better understand films and their influence on society. They also reveal much about the society from which they originated. In this essay, I will explore the different ideological messages conveyed in films with reference to All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955).

Now that we have applied Joseph Campbell’s model to the Lion King, we have an answer to our research question: “Does the Lion King’s use of the Hero’s Journey push an agenda towards adults of previous life experiences that are noteworthy, while still maintaining young children as the target audience”? Yes, although it is a children’s movie, it does push an agenda towards adults. We have covered a couple out of several lessons the directors fixed to the audience. We can now draw three important implications of this analysis. The Lion King campaigns for an environmental improvement before it is too late, a spiritual calling to build upon a relationship with the religion each one of us practices and a cinematic implication of CGI.

Some of the most common themes in contemporary biographical films revolve around social life as well as the accompanying problems that living in today's society entails. By making connections to individual personal lives, these films help most people make sense of the world in which they live. In this regard, this paper focuses on the film, The Pursuit of Happyness outlining various cultural issues as well as problems faced by the starring; Will Smith playing Chris Gardner in the movie. Moreover, the paper discusses how such factual films reflect and create popular ideas about social problems.

Ever since I was a young kid I have always been interested in movies. My grandma, who was full of the wise the life experience left, always knew about my interest in movies. She feed my vain for the art. Even though her religion, she professed Adventist of seven-day religion, didn't let her go to the cinema, she always found the way to took me to the cinema. She and I enjoyed watch movies. We used to sit in the darkness room, with our faces illuminated from the reflection of the light which rebooted from the screen, both absorbs in the plot of the movie which made us laughed or cried. After the movie, while we went back to her home, she started to talk about the movie. She had a particular point of view where the main story

    Film and literature are two media forms that are so closely related, that we often forget there is a distinction between them. We often just view the movie as an extension of the book because most movies are based on novels or short stories. Because we are accustomed to this sequence of production, first the novel, then the motion picture, we often find ourselves making value judgments about a movie, based upon our feelings on the novel. It is this overlapping of the creative processes that prevents us from seeing movies as distinct and separate art forms from the novels they are based on.

What is all about life if an individual can’t be able to enjoy, relate well and have fun within his or her social boundaries? The social aspect is what makes a person to expound on the other aspects of life such as the economy, technology, and politics with minimal barriers. Movies connect the living generation with real-life situations, giving ideas on how to embrace it and live well when subjected to such circumstances.

Steven Spielberg is one of the most successful directors in history, his movies have changed the way to make movies and also have given people the type of movies they want to see. Spielberg has touched the life of many people through his movies, it is probably the outcome of being passionate about his work and loving what he does (“Steven Spielberg as a Role Model”, 2007). His movies are full of human relationships and connections between people, and that is probably what it has influenced nowadays’ cinema (Stephens, 2010). People want to feel emotions and see themselves reflected on the screen, people having troubles and getting over them, people connecting with other people and having emotions like real human beings. Steven has focused a

In service of this argument, the essay unfolds in three parts. The first section sketches an appropriate framework for understanding how cinema marshals and moves viewers by engaging them in a fully embodied experience.4 The second section offers a brief overview of the film's plot before turning to an analysis of its triptych narrative and affective development. The third and final section considers the methodological, critical, and theoretical implications suggested by the preceding analysis.

The larger majority of the Introduction to Cinema 2366 course was viewing films. Subsequently, the films we viewed in the class have affected me in four “gifts of the humanities.” As a student, my interests have developed around the social issues of classism and racism in America. Therefore, the course has given me food for thought via films which tackle social issues causing me to rethink the ways I understand these issues as well as understand film rhetoric to gain a deeper knowledge of how society understood these problems. Cinema also allows viewers to gain a sense of the past, this is especially true of the course since the films we’ve watched were opened 1959 or before. In this way, I have been able to understand historical events (such as the dust bowl, the great depression, and the red scare) through characters who are relatable, causing me to understand that though time and geography may differ between me and these characters, there exist timeless truths of humanity. The course has also allowed me to extend myself intellectually. Before enrolling in this course, I had little knowledge about cinema and its place in our society. The course has provided me with a new-found appreciation for the art of film which is an important subject in academia rather than “just an elective.” Lastly, I have realized the idea of “the infinite person,” via this film course. Through the films viewed in class, I have found myself relating to characters I regularly would not have. For

The BBFC has commissioned me to undertake research as part of a project to ascertain to what degree films can be regarded as powerful within contemporary society. In this assignment, I will comprehensively explain the relationship between audiences and films with well explained examples. I refer to the different sectors relating to the topic that include the following: