Mi-do on subway train
Posted on by Ian

Week 16, February 17th and 21st

Supervisor Meeting 17/02/2020

Attending: Ian Hunt , Bruce Bennett

Feedback on my essay notes –  Films in Flashback.

  • Wrong to state that the films have nothing in common, when they have so much in common.
  • Auteur directors’ films make good case studies and what is interesting about these films is that they are good examples of film form and playing with film form. You should use them to make your argument.
  • Not narrated entirely in Flashback – Yes, I corrected this statement on my blog page.
  • Flashback devices – must be much more detailed, you could easily make a 10,000-word chapter using these film examples. Lots of ways a flashback can be motivated – obvious is a problematic term. Explain in detail these devices.
  • Look in detail at the Limey as the flashbacks are not always memory related?
  • The question is what is a flashback showing us?
  • American film is realist, doesn’t risk itself with a narrative from a single character’s point of view. God like perspective, but in a flashback, we are brought into a single character’s point of view.
  • Flashbacks can be confusing, clarifying and disruptive, look in detail at this aspect, shot by shot, consider audio, visuals.
  • In the Limey the flashbacks try to emulate memory – faded, out of focus.

Actions

  1. Ongoing project – Write a chapter about the use of flashbacks in film. Use the same films and look in detail at some of the key sequences maybe the first 3 minutes or in detail of any flashback sequence. 10K+
  2. Ongoing project – Research and write a chapter about film as a memory piece.
  3. For the next supervisor meetings writing piece, write a detailed piece about one of these films in preference The Notebook or The Limey rather than then The Grand Budapest Hotel.
  4. OK to use flashbacks in my film practice (as I had originally planned). What about experimental use of flashbacks – investigate and experiment their uses in documentary.
  5. Check out the book from the library ‘The Classical Hollywood Cinema – done, read chapter 4.
  6. Watch Rashomon – it’s a good example of what we see in flashbacks cannot be real.
  7. I suggested watch Meet Joe Black (1999) as an example of causality.
  8. Watch Casablanca for examples of a classic films use of flashbacks.
  9. Writing Style – find a style that I like for example. Richard Dyer check out his books. He moves from close analysis of film, film theory and film history, simple writing style that is clear to read. But pick a style that engages me.
  10. I suggested going on the academic writing course if it is PhD level.

Flashbacks in film

Oldboy (2003) Movie PosterStarted writing an example chapter for my thesis on Flashbacks in films. I decided to use the South Korean Film Oldboy (2003) as one of the films to analyse along with a greater, more in depth analysis of The Limey (1999) and possibly The Notebook (2004). There are several other possibilities to consider primarily those films created by Auteur Directors, Independent films rather than mainstream Hollywood studio films.