Key Ideas Paper 1

Question 1

Vertigo and B+C
Auteur Vs. Production contexts - What’s more important??

Answer 1

Prod. Contexts take primacy.

Hitchcock’s role in shaping the stylistic conventions of the studio system - I.e. he is the best of the system - means he is in his element within these strictures.

Penn’s work by contrast is a reaction to the decline of the Studio System, it is defined by new found freedom to depict violence and erotica so it does exactly that; it is a landmark because it’s a rejection of the classical style, and thus is a product of industrial contexts.

Both films are the result of their production contexts - only the prod. con. specific to Vertigo give credence to the auteur.

Question 2

Moonlight and Carol -
Spectatorship

Answer 2

It is Film’s ability to function simulatenously as ideological critique and as art that makes it compelling.

mainstream success of Moonlight points to multiple entrypoints to text

artistic choices prioritize emotional experience over didactic messaging

Question 3

Moonlight -
Coming of age

Answer 3

Triptych structure - depicts Chiron’s development as fragmentary - adaptation for survival in a hostile world

The KEY scenes involve brief respite from heteronormative pressures

suggests possibility of reclaiming true self

this is a universal experience - the friction between socialisation and authentic self (applies to Carol also)