The power of film. Part 5, The power of paradox.

Format:

Video

Contributor:

Gabbert, Laura, director.

Suber, Howard, 1937- host.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motion pictures--Production and direction.

Motion pictures.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 video file (00:44:25)) : sound, color

Place of Publication:

[Place of publication not identified] : Good Docs, 2024.

Language Note:

Closed-captions in English.

Summary:

The Power of Film is a 6-part series about the inner workings of America's most popular and memorable films. It's hosted by legendary UCLA Film School Professor Emeritus Howard Suber, Ph.D., whose insights are interwoven with dramatic clips from an incredible array of powerful and beloved movies from the last century through today. For over fifty years, Professor Suber taught directors, screenwriters, producers, and scholars the defining principles and hidden patterns of great films. The Power of Film distills these teachings into six episodes with clarity, humor, and an understanding of the history of storytelling from Aristotle to Shakespeare to Coppola and beyond. Neither a technical analysis nor a review, this series reveals the psychological underpinnings of why certain films affect viewers so deeply and can impact viewers for generations beyond their release. Using dramatic film scenes, Suber uncovers mysteries, dispels myths, and explains powerful themes that have impacted us for millennia. Though The Power of Film is about movies, it's really about ourselves. By examining the psyche of the audience, Suber ultimately inspires us — as the heroes of our own stories — to realize that we can seize our own destinies, "that we CAN change our world." This episode explores our endless fascination with mystery and stories in which, as Howard Suber says, "things are not what they seem." Discovering the truth about characters creates much of the tension in a good film. Often, the truth of the film is paradoxical, which makes us want to keep watching. From Hitchcock's "Psycho" to Jordan Peele's "Get Out," audiences love unexpected surprises, so long as they trust the filmmakers will resolve the mysteries by the end of the movie. They're also attracted to stories of tragic and unexpected betrayal; in business ("The Social Network") or in relationships ("Marriage Story"), or movies about the Civil War. Since the dawn of time, storytelling has included physical dualities, or chimeras (sphinxes, angels, devils, mermaids), and their offshoots are found throughout the history of film: from "Wolfman" and "Dracula," to human-like robots in "Frankenstein," and "Blade Runner," where the machines display more humanity than our human heroes. Most children's animated films are similarly based on anthropomorphic creatures, from Mickey Mouse to Toy Story. Paradox is everywhere, and Suber ends Part 5 with Stanley Kubrick's mind-boggling bisociation of humor, bittersweet music, and the total destruction of life on earth in "Dr. Strangelove."

Participant:

Director, Laura Gabbert ; Host, Professor Howard Suber.

Notes:

Description based on XML content.

ISBN:

9781036248338

OCLC:

1584443643

Publisher Number:

301831