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Film theories 101

Writer's picture: Qasim khan Productions Qasim khan Productions

Updated: Aug 18, 2020



Films are not just a piece of entertainment; they are made of historically studies patterns proven to work for audience. Most people hardly notice how the film is made but when they do the main thing, they focus on is the direction, maybe even some editing cuts. But as the maker of film you are equipped with wider set of knowledge, even if your audience do not notice it, it has an effect on them that keeps them hooked to your product.

One such a thing is film theory, something that is historically studied and based on the ever-evolving cinema, let’s talk about some of the most interesting theories that will leave you mind blown!


The Male Gaze Theory

The Male Gaze theory, This theory was introduced by Laura Mulvey.

To put this in simple terms this theory represents the idea of women being sexualised in the media to fit the desire of a heterosexual male. In media woman are presented as objects, an eye candy to satisfy the male viewership. In contrast to the male actor, a female actor is shown wearing more proactive clothes, exposing their body to satisfy scopophilia.



What is scopophilia?


It is the sexual pleasure involved in looking.


You can say that in a film the feelings, thoughts and women’s own sexual drives are less important than her being “framed” by male desire. For example, imagine. Actor in film has to solve a import problem, within the movie the villain will use a ‘sexy” looking female will be used to distract the male from achieving his goal.



From the feminist perspective, this theory can be viewed in three ways:

  • How men look at women

  • How women look at themselves

  • How women look at other women.

This does not only provoke desire in men, but can also lead to insecurity in woman. Interesting fact is, over the time this theory has been challenged by “female gaze” which is how male are sexualized for woman, like being shirtless and having well build body.


Next up Levi Strauss - Binary opposites


Levi Strauss - Binary opposites


This is perhaps the most popular and used film theory of all time, there are so many films based on this theory. You can say, it’s the bases for a good film. This theory was introduced to us by Levi Strauss in 1990a, according to Levi narratives in media forms such as books and film contain opposing main characters and these binary opposites help to thicken the plot and further the narrative; and introduce contrast.

We have seen example of binary in cinema again and again but it is not only limited to good Vs Evil, binary can also been seen in forms of the following;

  • Masculinity Vs Femininity

  • Active Vs Passive

  • Normal Vs deformed



One thing that really helps form binary opposites is that one side is naturally favoured more than the other. For example, good is favoured over evil, up is favoured more, than down and cooked is favoured more than raw(“The Raw and the Cooked” by Claude Levi-Strauss).


However, as the cinema has devolved over time so have these theories, now a days directors challenge this theory. One great example of this is the film “joker” now supposedly he is the “bad guy” who kills people because of his own problem, but joker happens to be Windley loved and has a huge fan base.


Auteur theory


Today’s final theory the Auteur theory, this is probably something you are unaware of. For most people a film is the story told to them by the writers but according to this theory that was introduced by Andre bazin, the film is actually the vision of the directory. We see what the director wants to show us.


Why?

The auteur theory, holds that the director, who oversees all audio and visual elements of the motion picture, is more to be considered the “author” of the movie than is the writer of the screenplay.

So really what we see is what is shown to us by the director, In other words, such fundamental visual elements as camera placement, blocking, lighting, and scene length, rather than plot line, convey the message of the film. Not only this but the

most cinematically successful films will bear the unmistakable personal stamp of the director. There are many directors today that are famous because of their personal style in films , actors will beg to work with them because of their personal style.



This blog ends here, but film theories don't! there are countless theories that have be established over time and if you are looking to understand cinema instead of just entermatimed join our classes to learn it all! Contact us on 852 9380 7734 to know more!

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