Shaelene G. Moler
Professor Simpson
ENGL-342: History and Theory of Documentary Film
9 September 2020
Film as a Discipline
In The Means of Correct Training, which primarily focuses on the act of discipline as a general form, we can see some correlations between film ideology and form, and how discipline is achieved according to this chapter. As we know from the Cinema/ Ideology/ Criticism reading, film ideology can be known as a reproduction of reality. In relation to The Means of Correct Training essay, we observe that our realities is often a product of how we are trained in our society through organized institutions whether that be schools, hospitals, or businesses.
Investigating further, there are a few statements in Cinema/ Ideology/ Criticism, that can be directly applied to film. One of these quotes being “in the perfect camp, all power would be exercised solely through exact observation; each gaze would form a part of the overall functioning of power” (Foucault 189). To me, this quote encompasses what the goal of every shot in film should be: to be organized in such a way that the observation the audience makes is exact and properly understood. This metaphor can be furthered by how the article describes the construction of a perfect camp which is “the old simple schema of confinement and enclosure- thick walls, a heat gate that prevents entering or leaving- began to be replaced by the calculation of openings, of filled and empty spaces, passages and transparencies” (Foucault 190). In many ways, this line is reminiscent of framing a shot: where the scenarist may consider how to guide a viewer’s attention by choosing what is in focus, and how much or how little is in frame.
That being said, when we consider the depiction of our realities in film, or more particularly the ideologies in film, we often have to consider the composition of the film itself, and how much or how little this composition chooses to show. Film can be, and often is, a political form, as it represents the interest of the general public as described by Comolli and Narboni in Cinema/ Ideology/ Criticism.
I think your paper touches on some very important points within Foucault's paper. I personally relate the idea of our realities is being "a product of how we are trained in our society through organized institutions whether that be schools, hospitals, or businesses" to the personality theory within psychology of environmentalism. It states that one's environment, including their culture and patterns of reward and punishment within their environment determine their personality. I wonder if these patterns of reward and punishment could be seen as the film makers "training" and the film would take on a certain "personality" to reflect that.
ReplyDeleteYou both make some really interesting points, Kali and Shaelene. It makes a lot of sense that the societal expectations that Camolli and Narboni outlined or the hegemony that some films try to go against (that isn't the exact term they used, but I can't quite remember it at the moment) is shaped by the control exerted by society through norms, observation, and punishment as Fouccault explained.
ReplyDeleteExcellent bridge between Foucault and the Italians, Shaelene. The practice of discipline, in which a particular structure makes meaning for an observing and participating community (in school, hospital, or camp, etc.) allows us to think not only about the politics of space but the politics of the camera itself as creating a world through form and content. Continuity editing here might be considered comparable to the expectations of a commercial main street, or a classroom where the desks are all aligned facing an instructor. In such spaces, normalcy and thus, ideology, is here already present. For Foucault, space is not neutral at all. And for Comili and Narboni, film is not concrete reality. The reality we can access however is the reality of the way ideology is at work upon us, both in urban space and cinematic space. This connection between film practice and urban practice is an important one to us and we will continue to see the way these two overlap in the readings and film moving forward. Keep this critique of space and reality at work in your analyses.
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