Jean-Louis Baudry, Apparatus Theory, and Cinematic Continuity
TLDRThis video examines how the cinematic apparatus constructs the illusion of continuity and motion to create the fantasy of an all-knowing, unified subjectivity for the spectator. It analyzes how linear perspective, the stitching together of individual frames, camera movement, continuity editing, and classical narrative work together to absorb the spectator and make them identify with the film, forgetting the material discontinuities and fabrications. Experimental techniques that break cinematic illusion are noted as ways of revealing the apparatus. Overall, the apparatus ideologically reinforces the spectator's sense of self and meaning through fabricated continuity and control.
Takeaways
- 😀 The apparatus refers to how cinema produces the illusion of a coherent, meaningful reality and subjectivity for the viewer
- 😯 Each part of the cinematic apparatus works together to make the viewer feel like a knowing subject with a stable sense of self
- 🎥 The illusion of continuous motion is created by stitching together discrete images - this suppression of difference creates ideological effects
- 🚦 Experimental films can disrupt the apparatus by foregrounding discontinuities in motion, perspective, etc.
- 🎞 Camera movement, editing, and narrative all contribute to making the viewer identify with the film's trajectory and feel in control
- 🎬 Hollywood continuity editing and narrative work to preserve the illusion of wholeness, matching the continuity created through motion
- 😕 Beaudrillard sees the creation of this coherent reality/subjectivity as an illusion or ideological effect rather than a truth
- 🔍 The material and technical apparatus is suppressed to create greater identification for the viewer
- ✂️ Editing is more important for this theory than camera movement despite the focus given to it here
- 👓 Relate discussions of celluloid cinema's apparatus to new apparatuses emerging from digital filmmaking
Q & A
What is the main idea that connects the different sections of Beaudry's essay?
-The main idea is that each part of the cinematic apparatus Beaudry identifies works to make the spectator feel like a subject.
How does Beaudry describe the relationship between difference and continuity in cinema?
-He says that the individual images disappear so that movement and continuity can appear. Movement and continuity are the visible expression of the tiny discontinuities between the images.
What does Beaudry mean when he says 'with continuity restored, both meaning and consciousness are restored'?
-He is trying to relate the idea of difference turning into continuity in cinema to his general argument about how the components of cinema make us feel like a coherent subject beholding a world that makes sense.
How can experimental techniques reveal the apparatus of cinema?
-Films like flicker films, which juxtapose discrete images, and techniques like jump cuts can make the audience aware of the underlying apparatus rather than being immersed in cinematic illusion.
What is the relationship between camera movement and subjectivity according to Beaudry?
-Beaudry argues that camera moves make us feel like powerful, all-knowing subjects, as we are not limited by the constraints of our actual bodies.
How does continuity editing reinforce the impression of a coherent subject?
-By smoothly stitching together space and time, continuity editing gives the illusion of continuous movement and a coherent world.
What does Beaudry say about the role of narrative continuity?
-Classical narrative structure creates an illusion of completeness and meaning that matches the continuity created by cinema's motion and editing.
What does Beaudry's analysis reveal about apparatus theory?
-It shows how apparatus theorists are highly suspicious of mainstream cinema and its ability to construct an ideological illusion of a coherent subject and world.
How might digital cinema extend Beaudry's analysis?
-New algorithms and effects reveal digital artifacts, just as experimental films reveal the film apparatus. So digital can similarly break cinematic illusion.
What is the significance of using Rear Window as an example?
-Rear Window has clear Hollywood narrative structure, so it shows how mainstream cinema creates illusions of coherence critiqued by apparatus theory.
Outlines
😊 How cinema creates the illusion of motion
This paragraph explains how cinema creates the illusion of continuous motion from individual still frames played at 24 frames per second. It relates this to the idea of 'difference' (individual frames) being transformed into 'continuity' (smooth motion). Beaudry argues this makes the viewer feel whole and restores meaning and consciousness, linking to the idea of the subject.
😮 Examples of films that break the illusion of motion
This paragraph gives examples of avant-garde and experimental films that disrupt the continuity of motion, like flicker films, to reveal the underlying apparatus of cinema. It suggests students relate this to digital techniques that reveal elements like motion compression algorithms.
😎 How camera movement and editing reinforce the viewer's subjectivity
This final paragraph explains how techniques like moving cameras, continuity editing, and narrative continuity in classical Hollywood cinema reinforce the viewer's sense of being an all-powerful, freely-moving subject. It uses Rear Window as an example of neatly wrapped-up narrative continuity.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡apparatus
💡continuity
💡subject
💡movement
💡difference
💡ideology
💡identification
💡fantasy
💡experimental
💡digital
Highlights
The study demonstrates a novel method for analyzing neural patterns during memory recall.
Researchers identified distinct hippocampal activation signatures associated with accurate vs false memory.
The findings provide insight into the neurobiological basis of false memories.
Encoding specificity principle suggests memories depend on neural contexts activated during encoding.
Researchers used fMRI to examine hippocampal patterns during accurate and false recall.
Activation patterns differed between accurate and false memory, challenging prevailing theories.
Hippocampal multivoxel pattern analysis enables detecting subtle distinctions in neural traces.
Findings provide new biomarker for differentiating true and false memories.
Has implications for evaluating eyewitness testimony and mitigating false memory effects.
Demonstrates value of pattern analysis for understanding memory and cognition.
Opens possibilities for new research directions in analyzing brain patterns during recall.
Limitations include small sample size and need to replicate in larger cohorts.
Future work should examine neural signatures in other memory systems and contexts.
Research provides framework for differentiating true and false memories based on neural data.
Overall an innovative study advancing capability to decode cognitive states from brain activity patterns.
Transcripts
Browse More Related Video
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)
Thanks for rating: