With reference to the work of Siegfried Kracauer, the author argues that realism as a special movement in the cinema is defensible and that its rejection by critics has been due to their mistaken assumption that realism is based on the doctrines of the "innocent eye" and the "artless style." (Author/SJL)

Seventeen steps are presented for the successful production of training films and video tapes. The steps include concept, script preparation, budget, filming and recording, laboratory processing, editing, titles and narration, sound mix, corrections, manufacture of prints, and distribution. (CT)

The author briefly surveys some of the claims made about the presumed nature of film as language and some of the problems that arise. He considers the views of two influential schools of film criticism: the Russian formalists (Pudovkin and Eisenstein) and the British semiologist (Peter Wollen). (Author/SJL)

Lists and offers brief descriptions of 47 recently released short films, arranged in the following categories: literary adaptations, profiles and personal growth, energy and technology, upbeat and positive, and human concerns. (FL)

Explores silent film actress Norma Talmadge's "star persona" in the 1920s. Focuses on the public discourses that provide the background for Talmadge's departure from the screen. Analyzes why her two "talkies" failed commercially and critically. Concentrates on promotional and publicity materials and on the films themselves. (PA)

Posits that the birth of the road film is linked to interrelated postwar phenomena: the advent of the automobile as an expression of individuality, and the emergence of a large strata of restless youth. Discusses road films from 1950 to the 1990s. Finds that the gradual depoliticization of road film rebellion must itself be understood finally as…

Investigates the rhetorical implications of Sydney Pollack's translation of Isak Dinesen's autobiographical texts. Argues that Pollack's film uses strategies of transference, redefinition, antithesis, and displacement to renarrate Dinesen's writings, resulting in a depoliticized romantic adventure. Finds that these strategies misrepresent Dinesen,…

Postulates that, if genres serve as problem-solving constructs for the cultures they reflect and are fundamentally conservative structures committed to temporary resolutions of the hopeless contradictions that produce their dramas, then Brian DePalma's "Scarface" exemplifies the ways gangster films of the 1980s redefined generic…

Pursues a rhetoric of visual fragments by considering the disjunctive packaging of two particular fictional films: Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 classic "Vertigo" and Christopher Reeve's 1997 adaptation of Alice Elliott Dark's short story, "In the Gloaming." Considers how "Vertigo" offers conflicting stories about the…

Reports results of an experiment in which student subjects read various types of film reviews and then reported interest in attending the film. Finds that higher amounts of information, regardless of evaluation, leads to more interest in the film. (MG)

Discusses how an assessment of "Le Livre de Marie" and "Je Vous Salue, Marie" risks reproducing the feminine/masculine dynamic by posing the films as male and female versions of the Marian myth. Acknowledges that evidence for this dichotomy exists, but both directors succeed in activating the Marian myth in ways that do not…

Argues that James Blue's complex documentaries had a limited effect on television viewers, but the films were a success nonetheless. States that it is vital to think of the complex documentary in terms of process, holding it accountable neither to the demands of the media's market economy nor to the stakes of political infighting. (PA)

Discusses Jim Klein's motivation and inspiration for the making of the film "Letter to the Next Generation." Chronicles the technical work needed to create and finish the film inside of a tight deadline. Describes the film shooting conditions at Kent State and the editing process used to make the final cut of the movie. (PA)

Traces George Maciunas' interest in cinema beginning with his work for "Film Culture" magazine in 1955, his methods of producing/making films, his relationship to the main film avant-garde of the sixties and his ideas of cinema. (RS)

Addresses the career of Ed Pincus, a documentary filmmaker who began making films in the mid-1960s, headed the MIT Film/Video Section in the 1970s, and authored two books on film production. Examines the changes that occurred in the late 1960s in Pincus's documentary theory and practice. (PA)