Studying Film
Malka Sedano
Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to cinema as an art form and a medium. It is sometimes subsumed within media studies and is often compared to television studies.[1]
Film studies is less concerned with advancing proficiency in film production than it is with exploring the narrative, artistic, cultural, economic, and political implications of the cinema.[1] In searching for these social-ideological values, film studies takes a series of critical approaches for the analysis of production, theoretical framework, context, and creation.[2] Also, in studying film, possible careers include critic or production. Overall the study of film continues to grow, as does the industry on which it focuses.
Film studies as an academic discipline emerged in the 20th century, decades after the invention of motion pictures. Rather than focusing on the technical aspects of film production, film studies are concentrated on film theory, which approaches film critically as an art, and the writing of film historiography. Because film became an invention and industry only in the late 19th century, a generation of film producers and directors existed significantly before the academic analysis that followed in later generations.
Early film schools focused on the production and subjective critique of film rather than on the critical approaches, history and theory used to study academically. The concept of film studies arose as a means of analyzing the formal aspects of film as the films were created. Established in 1919, the Moscow Film School was the first school in the world to focus on film. In the United States, the USC School of Cinematic Arts, established in 1929, was the first cinematic-based school, which was created in agreement with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It was also the first to offer an academic major in film in 1932, but the program lacked many of the distinctions associated with contemporary film study. Universities began to implement cinema-related curricula without separation of the abstract and practical approaches.
The German Deutsche Filmakademie Babelsberg was founded during the era of the Third Reich in 1938. Its lecturers included Willi Forst and Heinrich George. Students were required to create films in order to complete their studies at the academy.
A movement away from Hollywood productions in the 1950s turned cinema into a more artistic independent endeavor. It was the creation of the auteur theory, which examines film as the director's vision and art, that broadened the scope of academic film studies to a worldwide presence in the 1960s. In 1965, film critic Robin Wood, in his writings on Alfred Hitchcock, declared that Hitchcock's films contained the same complexities of Shakespeare's plays.[3] Similarly, French director Jean Luc Godard, a contributor to the influential magazine Cahiers du Cinma, wrote: "Jerry Lewis [...] is the only one in Hollywood doing something different, the only one who isn't falling in with the established categories, the norms, the principles. [...] Lewis is the only one today who's making courageous films."[4]
A catalyst in the success and stature of academic film studies has been large donations to universities by successful commercial filmmakers. For example, director George Lucas donated $175 million to the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 2006.[5]
Today, film studies are taught worldwide and has grown to encompass numerous methods for teaching history, culture and society. Many liberal arts colleges and universities, as well as American high schools, contain courses specifically focused on the analysis of film.[6] Modern-day film studies increasingly reflect popular culture and art, and a wide variety of curricula have emerged for analysis of critical approaches used in film.[7] Students are typically expected to form the ability to detect conceptual shifts in film, a vocabulary for the analysis of film form and style, a sense of ideological dimensions of film and an awareness of extra textual domains and possible direction of film in the future.[8] Universities often allow students to participate in film research and attend seminars of specialized topics to enhance their critical abilities.[9]
A total of 144 tertiary institutions in the United States offer a major program in film studies.[6] This number continues to grow each year with new interest in film studies. Institutions offering film degrees as part of their arts or communications curricula differ from institutions with dedicated film programs.
The success of the American film industry has contributed to the popularity of academic film studies in the U.S., and film-related degrees often enable graduates to pursue careers in the production of film, especially directing and producing films.[13] Courses often combine alternate media, such as television or new media, in combination with film studies.[14]
Film-studies programs at all levels[15] are offered worldwide, primarily in the countries in the Global North. In many cases, film studies can be found in departments of media studies or communication studies.[16] Film archives and museums such as the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam[17] also conduct scholarly projects alongside educational and outreach programs.
Film festivals play an important role in the study of film and may include discourses on topics such as film style, aesthetics, representation, production, distribution, social impact, history, archival and curation. Major festivals such as the Cannes Film Festival[18] offer extensive programs with talks and panel discussions. They also inform film historiography,[19] most actively through retrospectives and historical sections such as Cannes Classics.
I often get mail from students who are hoping to study film in Japan (I have an old, somewhat out-of-date post about studying Japanese film in North America). There are a variety of opportunities, but they can be divided according to whether you want to do film studies or filmmaking.
One of the sad facts about Japanese film culture is that Japan does not value that culture much. There is little government support for film culture and education (except when it can immediately turn a profit or build some box as a payoff to construction industry friends), and universities have long ignored film studies as a discipline. The ignorance the average Japanese has of his or her own film culture can be appalling at times. But there have been a few universities that have valiantly pursued film studies and sport excellent scholars. Some have very good libraries (which you can learn more about in our Research Guide to Japanese Film Studies). I definitely recommend that anyone seriously studying Japanese film spend at least a year in Japan partially associated with a university. It is a great way to meet scholars and students, attend some special classes, and gain access to university collections. The value of doing a degree in Japan, however, is debatable. It could possibly help your resume to add a masters from a Japanese institution to a PhD from a North American university, but frankly PhDs in film studies from Japanese universities have a very hard time finding a job in Japan, let alone elsewhere. The job situation may be different outside North America or the English-speaking world, so you should get a lot of advice from knowledgeable academic advisors before taking the plunge. The sad fact, however, is that Japanese institutions as a whole are not highly regarded world-wide. This is unfortunate because there are a number of Japanese scholars who are doing some of the best work on film in the world; ignoring that is often just part of Eurocentrism. Yet the current institutional fact is North American institutions are just better funded and managed. It is still advisable to attend a PhD in North American program like the one at Yale, and spend a year or two in Japan as part of the program.
Waseda University: The most solid of the programs. The Engeki Eizo course features Takeda Kiyoshi, Komatsu Hiroshi, and Fujii Jinshi. Other great people interested in film, such as Hase Masato and Toeda Hirokazu, can be found elsewhere on campus. Of course the Engeki Hakubutsukan is heaven on earth for the film researcher.
First, I should note that studying filmmaking in Japan is rather unrealistic. Some people have the illusion that they can somehow get into Japanese film culture or the Japanese film industry by studying filmmaking in Japan, or start making their own ninja movies if they come here. But the fact is that most filmmaking programs in Japan are undergraduate, and thus you have to be committed to studying for four years in courses all held in Japanese - if you can get through exam hell first. There is only one real grad program and it is very hard to get into. Also, I should note that going to a film school in Japan will not guarantee you entry into the Japanese film industry. Television studios are now the major producers of film in Japan and they get their talent from the four-year colleges, and not necessarily film departments. Connections (kone) are still one of the best ways to get into filmmaking in Japan, and non-Japanese don't have them. (Some write to me asking for help getting internships on the set, but I'm afraid those are hard for even me to get.)
Then there are a number of private film academies, three of which are worth noting. Don't expect scholarships from these institutions. The first and the last are just continuing education institutions and thus wholly depend on tuition and probably can't help you get a visa:
Three years ago, I began my university journey. I studied the theory, history and politics of cinema and theater. I studied, in depth, every aspect of film-making and plays from different historic periods, each presented in multiple ways.
The history behind artistic creations is just as important as the creation itself. Once you begin to study the history and politics behind films and plays during the time of their making, you start to make connections. How does the history of our world impact this story? How are these characters affected by these events? You can begin to understand the importance of certain cultural and historical events, and how they changed our world. It opens your eyes to how events have changed people, changed our perspectives, and how life is shaped by such occurrences. Furthermore, you will begin to see the ways in which our life is influenced by art: whether it be stock characters, social activities or even fashion.
c80f0f1006