A few days ago
natasha m

Help understanding a question from my specimen exam paper?

I am revising for an exam in Film and Television history, and have been given a mock paper to do. One of the questions is confusing me, but only in the way it is worded; which is panicking me for the real thing. Anyway the first block that was studied in this course was the four approaches to film; Aesthetic, social, economic and technological approaches. For each approach we studied a film, Aesthetic=Citizen Kane

Social=Cape Fear (both versions) Economic= Titanic. the essay I chose to do at the time focused on Citizen Kane, and I used examples to show that all of the approaches could be used for that film, not any one approach could have more influence than the other. The problem with the specimen question is with its wording: To what extent are ‘masterpiece’ films like Citizen Kane the result of individual agency?

My problem is with individual agency, does this mean Orson Welles as the Auter, or could it be the idea that this was made by an independent film company Mercury Theatre.

Top 2 Answers
A few days ago
dnldslk

Favorite Answer

True, the expression “individual agency” is odd. But surely what is meant is the highly personal, that is, “Orson Wellesian” nature of the film.

This film, perhaps more than any film in history, bears the stamp of its creator, Welles. As for the Mercury Theater, that too bears his stamp and is probably little more than an alter ego of Welles. If you look at the film’s stylized appearance, and its heavy-handed takeoff of Hearst, it’s all Welles Welles and more Welles.

Compare this to many films today, which before they are produced must be vetted by bureaucrats, accountants. Art and individual viewpoint is trumped by, well, Trump! Ars Gratia Dollaris!

And I do believe the Sundance mentality was created, in part, to deal with the bureacracization of films and create an alternative–to take film back from the number-crunchers and return it to the artists.

The only additional thing I have to say is…rose…bud….

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A few days ago
ruth4526
Individual agency, means the acting or doing of one person.
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