2 Modes of Film Analysis: Poetics vs Hermeneutics

Film & Media Studies
6 Feb 202319:55
EducationalLearning
32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRThe video contrasts two modes of film analysis: poetics, which examines how films achieve particular effects through their construction, versus hermeneutics, which interprets what films mean. It traces the linguistic roots of these terms, with poetics focused on the making of art and hermeneutics on interpreting texts. Examples are provided of poetic analysis explaining how The Shining builds creepiness versus hermeneutic analysis proposing the sequence symbolizes the monster-feminine. Ultimately most criticism combines both approaches, but recognizing their differences helps us appreciate formal specificity as well as broader social relevance.

Takeaways
  • 😀 Poetics focuses on how an effect is achieved in a work, while hermeneutics focuses on interpreting what a work means
  • 😯 Poetics is modeled on linguistics - it takes meanings as a given and analyzes how they're constructed
  • 📚 Hermeneutics originated in law and religion for interpreting authoritative texts
  • 🔍 The root words illustrate the difference - poesis means 'making', hermenea means 'interpretation'
  • 🎥 David Bordwell's historical poetics analyzes how films are constructed and achieve effects
  • 💡 Susan Sontag advocated a poetics over hermeneutics - describe more, interpret less
  • 🌌 Philosophers like Stanley Cavell use hermeneutics to make surprising claims about film meanings
  • 🚨 'Hermeneutics of suspicion' critiques unexamined assumptions - eg Marxism, psychoanalysis
  • 📺 YouTube analyses use both - Every Frame a Painting is more poetic, others more hermeneutic
  • 🤝 Most analysis combines poetics and hermeneutics to an extent - Victor Perkins balances the two
Q & A

  • What are the two main modes of film analysis discussed in the video?

    -The two main modes of film analysis discussed are poetics and hermeneutics.

  • What does poetics focus on in film analysis?

    -Poetics focuses on how a film is constructed and achieves particular effects. It looks at the formal techniques used to evoke certain responses in viewers.

  • What does hermeneutics focus on in film analysis?

    -Hermeneutics focuses on interpreting what a film means. It involves uncovering and analyzing the deeper meanings or themes within a film.

  • What is the main difference between poetics and hermeneutics?

    -Poetics starts with an asserted meaning/effect and analyzes how it is achieved, while hermeneutics starts with the text itself and asks what it means, seeking to discover new interpretations.

  • Who are some key figures associated with poetics in film analysis?

    -Some key figures associated with poetics are David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, who analyze how films are constructed to achieve particular effects.

  • What are some examples of hermeneutics in film analysis?

    -Examples include psychoanalytic and ideological critiques that seek to uncover hidden meanings, like Siegfried Kracauer linking Weimar films to the rise of Nazism or feminist analyses exposing gender bias.

  • What is the hermeneutics of suspicion?

    -The hermeneutics of suspicion refers to modes of analysis that seek to expose unexamined assumptions or subtexts in a film, such as Marxist, Freudian, feminist or postcolonial readings.

  • Who utilizes poetics versus hermeneutics in YouTube film analysis?

    -Channels like Every Frame a Painting and Thomas Flight lean more toward poetics in analyzing formal techniques, while channels like Broey Deschanel use more hermeneutic approaches focused on thematic interpretations.

  • Is it possible to combine poetics and hermeneutics?

    -Yes, most film analysis combines poetic and hermeneutic elements - looking at formal construction as well as thematic meanings. Victor Perkins exemplified this balanced approach.

  • Why does this distinction between poetics and hermeneutics matter?

    -It helps us recognize two fundamentally different analytical approaches, both of which offer valuable insights into understanding and appreciating films.

Outlines
00:00
🎥 Introducing Poetics vs. Hermeneutics in Film Analysis

The narrator introduces the key concepts of poetics and hermeneutics as two broad categories for understanding film analysis. Using a sequence from The Shining as an example, poetics involves describing how the sequence achieves particular effects while hermeneutics interprets what the sequence means.

05:03
😎 Defining Key Terms and Applications

The narrator defines poetics as starting with meanings/effects and examining how they're achieved, while hermeneutics starts with the text and asks what it means. He traces poetics to linguistics and hermeneutics to law/religion. Examples of poetics scholars are Bordwell & Thompson while hermeneutics is seen in Kracauer and symptomatic analysis.

10:07
🤔 Relating Concepts to YouTube Analysis

The narrator relates poetics and hermeneutics to YouTube film analysis. Channels like Every Frame a Painting emphasize poetics by showing construction of effects while channels like Lindsay Ellis lean more hermeneutic in interpreting meanings.

15:11
✅ Allowing for a Spectrum of Approaches

The narrator notes poetics and hermeneutics are often combined but are fundamentally different modes. Rather than mutually exclusive, it's better to see them as two ends of a spectrum that film analysis can occupy to various degrees.

Mindmap
Keywords
💡Poetics
Poetics refers to the study of how an artwork, like a film sequence, achieves particular effects and meanings. It focuses on how something is constructed or made in order to communicate ideas or evoke emotions. In the video, poetics is contrasted with hermeneutics as an analytical approach. For example, a poetic analysis might examine how the camera movements in The Shining sequence create a creepy feeling.
💡hermeneutics
Hermeneutics refers to the interpretation or analysis of the meaning of a text or artwork. Unlike poetics, hermeneutics focuses on uncovering or discovering new interpretations rather than studying how effects are achieved. The video gives an example analysis of The Shining that uses hermeneutics to make a metaphorical connection between the hallways and an umbilical cord.
💡analysis
Analysis refers to the detailed examination of an artwork like a film to understand how it works and what it means. The video contrasts two main approaches to analysis: poetics, which looks at how films achieve particular effects through construction and technique, and hermeneutics, which aims to interpret meanings.
💡sequence
A sequence refers to a series of consecutive scenes that form a distinct narrative unit within a film. The video analyzes a sequence from The Shining in which Danny rides his tricycle through the hotel hallways as an example to distinguish poetic and hermeneutic approaches to film analysis.
💡construction
Construction refers to the artistic choices and techniques used to put together an artwork like editing, camera movement, sound, etc. in a film sequence. Poetics focuses on describing construction by showing how these choices achieve particular effects while hermeneutics focuses more on interpreting meaning.
💡effect
Effect refers to the emotional, psychological or physical impact an artwork has on its audience. Poetic analysis takes meanings and effects as its starting point and examines how they are achieved through construction while hermeneutics seeks to discover or uncover meanings and effects through interpretation.
💡interpretation
Interpretation in the context of the video refers to the analytical approach of determining what something means or signifies, especially meanings that are not obvious or apparent at first glance. Hermeneutics is centered around interpretation while poetics focuses more on how effects and meanings are constructed and achieved.
💡meaning
Meaning refers to the ideas, themes, or messages that an artwork like a film conveys. Poetics takes meaning as a starting point and looks at how it's achieved while hermeneutics attempts to discover or uncover meaning through analysis and interpretation rather than presuming meanings.
💡discovery
Discovery refers to the revelation or uncovering of non-obvious and surprising meanings, as through hermeneutic analysis. Unlike poetics, hermeneutics does not start with assumed meanings but rather aims to discover meanings through the process of interpretation.
💡description
Description in the context of the video refers to the detailed examination of the formal or stylistic elements of a film or artwork to understand how it achieves particular effects. Poetics relies more heavily on description while hermeneutics focuses more on interpretative analysis.
Highlights

The aim is to talk about two broad categories to help understand film analysis: Poetics and hermeneutics

Poetics involves the description of how the artwork is constructed to have an effect. Hermeneutics involves interpreting what the artwork means.

Poetics starts with an effect and asks how it's achieved. Hermeneutics starts with the text and asks what it means, seeking new interpretations.

Poetics is modeled on linguistics - taking meanings as what has to be accounted for. Hermeneutics comes from law and religion - interpreting texts.

Key figures doing Poetics in film: David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson. Their goal is to show how films are constructed and achieve effects.

Hermeneutics evident in Siegfried Kracauer's analysis linking Weimar films and rise of Third Reich in Germany.

Susan Sontag's "Against Interpretation" argues for Poetics over hermeneutics - describing art to show how it is rather than what it means.

Stanley Cavell's "Pursuits of Happiness" interprets 1930s/40s comedies to extract philosophical lessons - a hermeneutic approach.

Hermeneutics of suspicion (Marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism) seeks to expose unexamined assumptions and deeper sociopolitical meanings.

Poetics evident on YouTube in Every Frame a Painting and Thomas Flight - analyzing construction of shots to achieve effects.

Broey Deschanel YouTube videos skew hermeneutic - analyzing films for sociopolitical meanings.

Poetics and hermeneutics can be combined, but have different goals and evidence. Victor Perkins balanced the two approaches.

Poetics gave attention to film form. Hermeneutics tied form to broader themes and meaning.

See them as on a spectrum - Bordwell's poetics on one end, ideological critiques on the other end.

Both approaches have value - poetics for form, hermeneutics for relating films to society.

Transcripts

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