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 Hollywood and Broadway: a story of synergy
The two major American entertainment industries, Hollywood and Broadway,
have always entertained close relationships, taking advantage of their
respective products to obtain maximum financial returns. So films have
often been adapted into musical comedies, and theatre shows into films.
In recent decades, these cultural products have become part of a complex
multimedia panorama, where the transfer no longer takes place only from
screen to stage and vice versa, but through several different media:
musical films and shows become the basis for DVDs/Blu-Rays, music CDs,
concerts, videogames, theme parks such as Disneyland and for all the
forms of merchandising (from clothing to toys to food and drinks ...).
And new Broadway adaptations inspire new films, in a constant
hybridization process that feeds the global entertainment market. cinemafocus.eu playlists Unforgettable endings from cinema history  Some film endings have remained impressed in the viewers’ memory well beyond the time of the vision. They can be "happy" endings (in the classical Hollywood tradition), but also sad or dramatic endings - in all cases, the emotions that accompany them have the power to generate indelible memories. How can we forget the final lines of "Some like it hot" ("I'm a man!" "Well, nobody’s perfect!") or the fairytale end of "Pretty Woman"? But also the “freeze frames” showing Antoine, the young protagonist of "The 400 shots", or the couple who runs away from bourgeois conventions at the end of "The graduate"? And the apocalyptic nightmare of Hitchcock's "The birds", or the heart-rending endings of "Bicycle thieves" or "Thelma & Louise" ... This playlist offers a collection of mythical endings from the course of cinema history. The "patriarchal system" in the movies: crises and ambiguities
With this final Dossier in the project "Cinema and sexual and gender
identities", we explore the complex system of beliefs, values and
attitudes, known as
patriarchy
or patriarchal
system,
which underlies many acts of discrimination and violence still widely
carried out on women (but also on men). Cinema has always represented
the many faces of patriarchy: from the man’s power to his victims, from
the condemnation of women to the crises of the system itself, testified
both by the weaknesses of male figures and by female resilience and
reactions, as well as by the increasing number of women directors, who
engage in exposing the injustice of the system but also in imagining a
more balanced future of relationships between the sexes.
Cinema and Artificial Intelligence  geralt at pixabay.com
The long strike of Hollywood screenwriters and actors in 2023 had among
its main motivations the fears that the use of Artificial Intelligence
(AI) could harm these professional figures, who could be replaced by
computer programs capable of (re)writing screenplays and to (re)use
human images in new films, without the physical presence of the
performers. AI has already entered the film industry on a massive scale,
in all phases of film making. But in what specific ways can it truly
replace man, and what are the advantages, but also the ethical, but also
economic and socio-cultural, risks that this entails for the future of
cinema? This Dossier examines many examples of current use of AI to
discuss the critical questions that it has already widely raised. Musical gems from the soundtrack of memorable films  Most films feature a musical soundtrack, but in some cases music is not just a simple background to the story, suggesting its tone and genre, but becomes so integrated within the narrative that it becomes part of the story itself, as well as an unforgettable, even iconic, element of the viewing experience. Some of these “musical gems” were written by well-known soundtrack composers (like Nino Rota and Bernard Herrmann, Fellini’s and Hitchcock’s favourite composers, respectively), but others were taken from the work of classical authors like Rossini and Wagner. The film director’s masterful touch then made these pieces of music an integral part of their work, making such diverse films as The Graduate, The Godfather or Apocalypse now a truly multi-media experience. Creativity on the web: recut fan-made trailers The exorcist - turned into a comedy/family film"!
Film trailers have become increasingly mobile and interactive: they can
now be watched online, can be downloaded and even re-edited and re-mixed
to produce new ones. Fans display an amazing knowledge of film
conventions and an equally surprising competence in using appropriate
software – so that the new, “fake” or “recut” trailers are often very
effective and entertaining. Such “recut” trailers are usually parodies
of the original ones: they turn horror films into comedies, romantic
comedies into thrillers, thus shifting and changing film genres. The
Internet becomes the place where to watch and share, but also comment on
and criticize, these new digital products – another evidence of
flourishing creativity in web communities. Film trailers: how cinema seduces audiences
Trailers, those short videos that promote a new film, are omnipresent in
our multimedia society: in cinemas, of course, but also on television,
on trains, on the Internet… They are therefore a phenomenon worth
exploring, as a promotional vehicle, in its stylistic and communicative
aspects, and in the interaction with the film and the spectator.
Trailers are still a crucial tool for creating expectations, which are
the key to desire and to seduction – expectations that may (or may not)
be satisfied) only by seeing the relevant film. Cinema and thinking styles: how movies can reveal aspects of personality  Each of us has its own personal profile of thinking styles, i.e.
different ways of processing information in our minds: for example, some
are more analytical, reflective, systematic, while others are
more global, impulsive, intuitive. Our preferences in
cinema-going can help us discover what our favorite styles are, thus
unveiling some hidden aspects of our personality … "Did they really live happily ever after?" Film endings and viewers' reactions The ending of a film always represents a privileged moment, in which the meaning of the film itself and the emotions it conveys are concentrated in the minds and hearts of the audience. The classic Hollywood "happy ending" is not an absolute category: classic, as well as modern and contemporary, cinema offers a variety of endings, where "happiness" often implies a very wide variety of meanings and emotions. Even more intriguing is the distinction between "closed" endings, in which the story narrated by the film finds a complete resolution, and "open" endings, in which the events and characters remain "unresolved": of maximum importance becomes the role of spectators, who can perceive this type of ending in different ways depending on their sensitivity and attitudes. Contemporary cinema tends to "dialogue" with the audience and to involve them in "open", complex and stratified experiences. Transgender identities on screen Only in recent decades have transgender people - i.e. those who experience an incongruity between their biological sex and their gender identity - found realistic, honest and respectful representation on the screen. For much of the history of cinema, the more superficial image of the "transvestite" prevailed, especially in comedies and, to some extent, in horror films. Only recently has space been given to the psychological, social and cultural problems that the condition of "transgender" often implies, with all-round portraits of personalities, in films that often give voice to the experiences that accompany the often painful and demanding journey of those who intend to change their sexual identity and, together, their place in the world. François Truffaut: love for cinema, the cinema of love "Three films a day, three books a week and records of great music would be enough to make me happy to the day I die." François Truffaut Part 1: A general introduction Part 2: Filming childhood and adolescence Part 3: he Antoine Doinel "cycle" Part 4: Sentimental triangles, love obsessions Movies about the movies: insiders' looks
Since its birth, there have been movies set in the world of cinema, portraying, e.g. a film being made, or an audience watching it, or the society revolving around the film industry, from producers to directors, from scriptwriters to actors and actresses. And yet Hollywood "movies about the movies" are inherently paradoxical in this respect. If they allow you to peep at their secrets, they only do so up to a certain point, because Hollywood, as a myth, cannot risk losing its somewhat magical, even mysterous appeal. This project, after a General introduction, includes more specific explorations of the topic of "movies about movies":
*
A
general introduction Cinema and sexual and gender identities 
This new project
explores how cinema has dealt with the question of sexual and gender
identities. Since this question is often fraught with widely different
interpretations and ideological biases, this
Introduction makes it clear
that our basic assumption is that complex phenomena like sex and gender
need to be considered through a trans-disciplinary approach, i.e. with a
wide range of methodological tools (biological, sociological,
anthropological, psychological and cultural). Starting with the basic
distinction between sex and
gender, we then make the case
for the existence of different
sexual and gender identities and start to discuss how cinema both
reflects and helps to define such identities.
Some facts and figures "Daddy goes to work, mummy stays at home": Gender stereotypes in the movies Homosexuality in fim history This
Dossier is an in-depth exploration of how homosexuality has been
represented in the history of cinema. Homosexuals have always had some
form of "visibility", but for a long time only as comic or tragic masks,
perpetuating a system of attitudes based on heterosexual norms and
homophobia. Only since the 1990s has cinema started to provide more
realistic, honest and respectful representations of homosexual figures
who could finally aspire to be, on equal terms with heterosexuals,
well-rounded characters, not simply conditioned by their sexual
orientation.
The evolution of female and male gender roles through cinema's history
Since the early days of cinema, gender roles
have been portrayed in films according to the prevailing traditional and
patriarchal stereotypes that have for a long time assigned more or less
fixed social and psychological attributes to women and men. However,
cinema's history has also inevitably reflected major political, economic
and sociocultural changes, which have affected the roles of women and
men within their societies and their cultures. This series of Dossiers
explores how female and male gender roles have evolved and how films
continue to reflect, but also consolidate or challenge, the
representations of women and men on the screen.
Part 1: From the 1930s to the 1950s
 The cinemafocus.eu cinephile's crosswords at 3 levels of difficulty On the threshold of a film: opening sequences
*
The
prologue of a film in its opening sequences Film genres: origin, functions, evolution
This Interactive workshop aims at
exploring the origin of genres, their functions in cinema and their
evolution, with particular emphasis on the latest developments. We first
ask why we need genres at all and examine the variety of classification
criteria that can be used. Then we focus on the specific features of
genre films, analysing their conventions and their narrative structures.
We then explore how different agents (from producers to audiences, from
critics to film scholars) have used and still use genres, and highlight
their economic, sociocultural and communicative functions. Finally, by
taking a historical perspective, we explore how genres have evolved in
the course of time and how modern cinema extensively use genre mixing
and hybridization, thus pointing to the future of this important but
complex category of film analysis.
"Impossible" puzzle films: filmmakers' narrative strategies and viewers' coping strategies Puzzle films are examples of complex storytelling, which has become one of the important new ways in which cinema has evolved, particularly since the 1990s, providing audiences with plots that are increasingly difficult to understand. This Dossier deals with two distinct but related issues. The first part will focus on narrative strategies, i.e. it will try to describe what "impossible complexity" means and how movies manage to achieve it. The second part will consider viewers' strategies, i.e. what viewers do to cope with the task of finding meaning and unravelling the "puzzles" that confront them. Cinema: past, present and future of a communicative medium
Cinema has constantly evolved to meet the challenges of economic and technological developments and has so far managed to survive and thrive even in the face of dramatic changes, which seemed to endanger both its financial status and its social and cultural functions. The Covid pandemic has simply highlighted the serious challenges that cinema is forced to face in the 21st century. What is its present state-of-the art? How will new production, distribution and reception trends impact on viewing habits? What changes have taken place in film language use? And what new opportunities are opened up by digital technologies and the Internet? Slideshows Visual tricks at St.Pancras Lights and shadows at Sénanque
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Topics Genres Film genres Film genres: origin, functions, evolution Film noir Horror movies Musical Femmes fatales: dark ladies at the movies American teen pics: movies for teenagers, movies about teenagers Classical Hollywood melodrama The persistence of melodrama: from Sirk to Fassbinder to Haynes "Puzzle" films and complex storytelling: a challenge to the audience "Impossible" puzzle films: filmmakers' narrative strategies and viewers' coping strategies Film trailers: how cinema seduces audiences Creativity on the web: recut fan-made trailers Hollywood and Broadway: a story of synergy Cinema and sexual and gender identities * Introduction: some basic issues * Gender inequality: some facts and figures * Gender stereotypes in the movies * The evolution of female and male gender roles through cinema's history * Homosexuality in film history * Transgender identities on screen * The "patriarchal system" in the movies: crises and ambiguities Movies about the movies: insiders' looks at the world of cinema * A general introduction * Movie gods and goddesses: the rise and fall of stars * On the set: watching films being made * The "Hollywood system": behind the scenes of the "dream factory" * "Films within films": viewers watching viewers * Directors on and off the set * Producers and screenwriters: the "hidden figures" of filmmaking * "Meta-cinema": when movies reflect on themselves Film narration Film narration Point of view Narrators Classical Hollywood: the cinema of continuity Cinema: past, present and future of a communicative medium Film endings and viewers' reactions On the threshold of a film: opening sequences * A general introduction * The prologue of a film * Establishing the place and time * Introducing a film's characters * Conveying a film's main theme * Suggesting the tone and genre of a film * Long takes and camera movements * Graphics and design * Musical overtures * "Meta" sequences: self-reflecting films Directors Hitchcock: the primacy of visual over verbal Billy Wilder: a director between two cultures Pedro Almodovar: a question of identities Stanley Kubrick: visualizing the plight of human existence Visual gems from Orson Welles's masterpieces Pier Paolo Pasolini's feature films François Truffaut: love for cinema, the cinema of love Psychology of cinema Expectations, attitudes and strategies: a bridge between screen and audience Characters' psychology and viewers' causal attributions Emotions at the movies: between moods and cues Emotions and film genres: from attitudes to expectations Film music Part 1: The interaction between image and sound Part 2 : The functions of music Cinema and multiple intelligences Cinema and thinking styles School at the movies School at the movies: teaching and educational relationships Images of teachers in Hollywood cinema Playlists The many faces of seduction Farewell, farewell ... The end of a story Dark ladies and femmes fatales in the movies A "classy" cinema: Teachers and students in the movie Musical overtures in the movies: Music for our eyes Musical gems from the soundtrack of memorable films Unforgettable endings from cinema history Homage to a city New York Paris London Cannes Cinéma Multimedia slideshows Games for film buffs |
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