Observations on film art and Film Art

February 9, 2007 10:07 AM

Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell's blog Observations on film art and Film Art is never less than engaging. These are the writers I turned to during the writing of my dissertation through their many books, particularly Film Art and it's exactly that kind of academic yet accessible style that can be found here, in their discussions of the vagueries of shot length and scene blocking methods as well as comment on other recent film related subjects.
posted by feelinglistless (10 comments total)

Oh no! The classic Hollywood style!!
posted by j-urb at 10:10 AM on February 9, 2007

Hey, look! A blog!
posted by squirrel at 10:27 AM on February 9, 2007

I thought it was cool. Bookmarked.
posted by serazin at 10:34 AM on February 9, 2007

Is there a film school in the world that doesn't use Bordwell and Thompson in at least one class? I had to read them in my bachelor's and master's programs, and that's 20 years long gone by.

It's neat that they have a blog to appeal to the modern sensibility that shuns things like textbooks in favor of online info, but is it really any different?
posted by briank at 10:48 AM on February 9, 2007

Is there a film school in the world that doesn't use Bordwell and Thompson in at least one class?

Basic text on the Film Studies class I did back in 1982.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:04 AM on February 9, 2007

Damn, I was going to post on this. Anyhow, some interesting topics from the blog include students who complain about subtitles, sensationalism in indie cinema (which they call Indie Guignol), the effect of Turner Classic Movies on film culture, an artistic appreciation of Walt Disney (including why Sergei Eisenstein was a fan), the best in new Danish films, and why animated films are better than most mainstream films.
posted by jonp72 at 12:02 PM on February 9, 2007

Haha. I just started reading their book for my class on Visual Expression in the 20th Century. Good stuff!
posted by klangklangston at 1:49 PM on February 9, 2007

He's married to Thompson? Awww!

He's like the Leonard Maltin of Film Academy, always there to keep things on an even keel, generally approving, helpful. I'm not at all surprised there's a blog, but it's a great bookmark!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 2:50 PM on February 9, 2007

Briank -- perhaps it isn't but I'd say they're the nuts and bolts people and the blog hightlights the new thinking on material. Lately there was an astounding post about a new style of shot which is becoming prevalent which is bound to become important in the next couple of years.

jonp72: there was bloke in my film class who said, and I think he thought we were all going to agree, that he much preferred dubbed films because they allowed him to play more attention to the mis-en-scene. Hmm... no ....
posted by feelinglistless at 3:39 PM on February 9, 2007

Great post!
posted by painquale at 3:52 PM on February 9, 2007