An archive of transcripts of James Somerton's videos. If you'd like to help, feel free to submit an issue with any found sources, or PR for code changes.
Where in the video was it used?
"Film theory" discusses the essence of cinema and provides conceptual frameworks for understanding a film's relationship to reality, other arts, individual viewers, and society as a whole. This term is not to be confused with "film analysis", a way of analyzing film which may draw upon ideas from film theory.
Where in the video was it used?
Film analysis is the process in
which a film is analyzed in terms
of Mise-en-scène,
Montage,
Cinematography,
Sound,
and editing.
Where in the video was it used?
As the new popular form of the 20th century, film immediately invited theoretical attempts to define its nature and function,
Where in the video was it used?
mostly as a result of film's own inferiority complex as the youngest of the arts. The impetus for much of early film theory was to gain a degree of legitimacy.
What source did you find?
video source: opening montage of "Composition in Storytelling" by The Cinema Cartography
https://youtu.be/CvLQJReDhic?si=6OekGgRiw3gETFAA
movie clips used, acc to that video's subtitles:
American Beauty (1999)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
The Tree of Life (2011)
Ida (2013)
Gravity (2013)
Only God Forgives (2013)
Antichrist (2009)
Fargo (1996)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
12 Years a Slave (2013)
Where in the video was it used?
3:01–3:23
What source did you find?
video source: starting at 0:42 in "Composition in Storytelling" by The Cinema Cartography
https://youtu.be/CvLQJReDhic?si=6OekGgRiw3gETFAA
shots from Raging Bull (1980)
Where in the video was it used?
Early theorists emphasized how film differed from reality and how it might be considered a valid art form.
In the years after World War II, the French film critic and theorist Andre Bezine reacted against this approach to the cinema, arguing that film's essence lay in its ability to mechanically reproduce reality, not in its differences from reality.
In the 1960s and 70s, film theory took up residence in academia, importing concepts from established disciplines like
[On screen next to James, he reads it out]:
Psychoanalysis Gender Studies Anthropology Literary Theory Semiotics [and] Linguistics
During the 1990s, the digital revolution and image technologies had an impact on film theory in various ways. There has been a refocus onto celluloid film's ability to capture an indexical image of a moment in time by theorists, like Maran Don, Philip Rosen, and Laura Mulvy.
Where in the video was it used?
The Structuralist film theory emphasizes how films convey meaning through the use of codes and conventions, not dissimilar to the way languages are used to construct meaning in communication. An example of this is understanding how the simple combination of shots can create an additional idea. The blank expression on a person's face, an appetizing meal, and then back to the person's face. While nothing in this sequence literally expresses hunger or desire, the juxtaposition of the images convey that meaning to the audience.
Where in the video was it used?
Marxist film theory is one of the oldest forms of film theory. Sergey Eisenstein and many other Soviet filmmakers in the 1920s expressed ideas of Marxism through through film. In fact, the Hegelian Dialectic was considered best displayed in film editing through the development of the montage, a Russian invention. The biggest reason Russian filmmakers began doing this was because they had a serious problem with how Hollywood was making movies. Eisenstein's solution was to shun narrative structure by eliminating the individual protagonist in favor of telling stories where the action is moved by a group, and the story is told through a clash of one image against the next, whether in composition, motion, or idea.
Where in the video was it used?
Formalist film theory is a theory of film study that is focused on the formal or technical elements of a film, i.e the lighting, scoring, sound, set design, use of color, sha-composition, and editing. It's a major theory of film study today. Formalism at its most general considers the synthesis or lack of synthesis of the multiple elements of film production, and the effects, emotional and intellectual, of that synthesis, and of the individual elements.
For example, let's take the single element of editing: A formalist might study how standard Hollywood continuity editing editing creates a more comforting effect, and non-continuity or jump cut editing might become more disconcerting or volatile.
Where in the video was it used?
Feminist film theory is the theoretical film criticism derived from feminist politics and feminist theory. Feminists have many approaches to cinema analysis regarding the film elements analyzed and their theoretical underpinnings. The development of Feminist film theory was influenced by Second Wave Feminism and the development of Women's Studies within academia. Feminist scholars began applying the new theories arising from these movements to analyzing film. Initial attempts in the United States in the early 1970s were generally based on Sociological Theory and focused on the function of women characters in particular film narratives or genres, And of stereotypes as a reflection of a society's view of women.
What source did you find?
class materials by Prof. Stephen DaVega
copied from Wikipedia "Auteur"
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Auteur&oldid=321430274Where in the video was it used?
Auteur theory in film holds that a director's film reflects that director's personal creative vision, as if he were the primary auteur, the French word for "author". In some cases, film producers are considered to have a similar auteur role for films that they have produced,
Anything else?
there's other b-roll montages he uses, seemingly taken from other video essays or documentaries, but I haven't found the sources. Early silent films from 1:23–2:00
zooming into two photos of François Truffaut, 3:45–3:52
Sergei Eisenstein clips, 4:51–5:29
Which video did you find this in?
Codebreakers
What source did you find? class materials by Prof. Stephen DaVega https://soma.sbcc.edu/users/davega/xNON_ACTIVE_CLASSES/FILMST_101/04_FILM_THEORIES/FilmTheories.pdf copied from Wikipedia "Film theory" https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Film_theory&oldid=312921719
Where in the video was it used? "Film theory" discusses the essence of cinema and provides conceptual frameworks for understanding a film's relationship to reality, other arts, individual viewers, and society as a whole. This term is not to be confused with "film analysis", a way of analyzing film which may draw upon ideas from film theory.
What source did you find? class materials by Prof. Stephen DaVega copied from Wikipedia "Film analysis" https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Film_analysis&oldid=321217860
Where in the video was it used? Film analysis is the process in which a film is analyzed in terms of Mise-en-scène, Montage, Cinematography, Sound, and editing.
What source did you find? class materials by Prof. Stephen DaVega copied from Wikipedia "Film theory" https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Film_theory&oldid=312921719
Where in the video was it used? As the new popular form of the 20th century, film immediately invited theoretical attempts to define its nature and function,
What source did you find? class materials by Prof. Stephen DaVega copied from Wikipedia "Film theory" https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Film_theory&oldid=312921719 copied from How to Read a Film by James Monaco, p. 297 https://www.google.com/books/edition/How_to_Read_a_Film/ub74_dtjxKoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA297&printsec=frontcover
Where in the video was it used? mostly as a result of film's own inferiority complex as the youngest of the arts. The impetus for much of early film theory was to gain a degree of legitimacy.
What source did you find? video source: opening montage of "Composition in Storytelling" by The Cinema Cartography https://youtu.be/CvLQJReDhic?si=6OekGgRiw3gETFAA movie clips used, acc to that video's subtitles: American Beauty (1999) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) The Tree of Life (2011) Ida (2013) Gravity (2013) Only God Forgives (2013) Antichrist (2009) Fargo (1996) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) 12 Years a Slave (2013)
Where in the video was it used? 3:01–3:23
What source did you find? video source: starting at 0:42 in "Composition in Storytelling" by The Cinema Cartography https://youtu.be/CvLQJReDhic?si=6OekGgRiw3gETFAA shots from Raging Bull (1980)
Where in the video was it used? 3:23–3:32
What source did you find? class materials by Prof. Stephen DaVega copied from Wikipedia "Film theory" https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Film_theory&oldid=312921719
Where in the video was it used? Early theorists emphasized how film differed from reality and how it might be considered a valid art form. In the years after World War II, the French film critic and theorist Andre Bezine reacted against this approach to the cinema, arguing that film's essence lay in its ability to mechanically reproduce reality, not in its differences from reality. In the 1960s and 70s, film theory took up residence in academia, importing concepts from established disciplines like [On screen next to James, he reads it out]: Psychoanalysis Gender Studies Anthropology Literary Theory Semiotics [and] Linguistics During the 1990s, the digital revolution and image technologies had an impact on film theory in various ways. There has been a refocus onto celluloid film's ability to capture an indexical image of a moment in time by theorists, like Maran Don, Philip Rosen, and Laura Mulvy.
What source did you find? class materials by Prof. Stephen DaVega copied from Wikipedia "Structuralist film theory" https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Structuralist_film_theory&oldid=300187768
Where in the video was it used? The Structuralist film theory emphasizes how films convey meaning through the use of codes and conventions, not dissimilar to the way languages are used to construct meaning in communication. An example of this is understanding how the simple combination of shots can create an additional idea. The blank expression on a person's face, an appetizing meal, and then back to the person's face. While nothing in this sequence literally expresses hunger or desire, the juxtaposition of the images convey that meaning to the audience.
What source did you find? class materials by Prof. Stephen DaVega copied from Wikipedia "Marxist film theory" https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marxist_film_theory&oldid=283969058
Where in the video was it used? Marxist film theory is one of the oldest forms of film theory. Sergey Eisenstein and many other Soviet filmmakers in the 1920s expressed ideas of Marxism through through film. In fact, the Hegelian Dialectic was considered best displayed in film editing through the development of the montage, a Russian invention. The biggest reason Russian filmmakers began doing this was because they had a serious problem with how Hollywood was making movies. Eisenstein's solution was to shun narrative structure by eliminating the individual protagonist in favor of telling stories where the action is moved by a group, and the story is told through a clash of one image against the next, whether in composition, motion, or idea.
What source did you find? class materials by Prof. Stephen DaVega copied from Wikipedia "Formalist film theory" https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Formalist_film_theory&oldid=294621368
Where in the video was it used? Formalist film theory is a theory of film study that is focused on the formal or technical elements of a film, i.e the lighting, scoring, sound, set design, use of color, sha-composition, and editing. It's a major theory of film study today. Formalism at its most general considers the synthesis or lack of synthesis of the multiple elements of film production, and the effects, emotional and intellectual, of that synthesis, and of the individual elements. For example, let's take the single element of editing: A formalist might study how standard Hollywood continuity editing editing creates a more comforting effect, and non-continuity or jump cut editing might become more disconcerting or volatile.
What source did you find? class materials by Prof. Stephen DaVega copied from Wikipedia "Feminist film theory" https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Feminist_film_theory&oldid=323173858
Where in the video was it used? Feminist film theory is the theoretical film criticism derived from feminist politics and feminist theory. Feminists have many approaches to cinema analysis regarding the film elements analyzed and their theoretical underpinnings. The development of Feminist film theory was influenced by Second Wave Feminism and the development of Women's Studies within academia. Feminist scholars began applying the new theories arising from these movements to analyzing film. Initial attempts in the United States in the early 1970s were generally based on Sociological Theory and focused on the function of women characters in particular film narratives or genres, And of stereotypes as a reflection of a society's view of women.
What source did you find? class materials by Prof. Stephen DaVega copied from Wikipedia "Auteur" https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Auteur&oldid=321430274 Where in the video was it used? Auteur theory in film holds that a director's film reflects that director's personal creative vision, as if he were the primary auteur, the French word for "author". In some cases, film producers are considered to have a similar auteur role for films that they have produced,
Anything else? there's other b-roll montages he uses, seemingly taken from other video essays or documentaries, but I haven't found the sources. Early silent films from 1:23–2:00 zooming into two photos of François Truffaut, 3:45–3:52 Sergei Eisenstein clips, 4:51–5:29