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FILM THEORY AND FILM HISTORY | AUDIOVISUAL ARTS

The Birth of Cinema in the Russian Empire and Film Censorship

UDC 791.43.03

Summary: The second part of the article (for beginning see Issue # 4 (34) 2017) looks into the spiritual (religious) censorship and its relationship with the institute of the household censorship regulating the representation of the sacral in the Russian Empire. The author investigates the ways of controlling the content of the films and their demonstration. An attempt to limit the circulation of the Tzar’s moving image, the withdrawal of the Khodynka footage, on the one hand, and on the other hand, the success of the first Lumière films including the portrayal of Russian Emperor starting the domestic production of Tzarist newsreels led to the emergence of Russain film censorship.

Key words: cinema of the Russian empire, early cinema, censorship, film production, early film producers, coronation of the last Tsar.

Author: Natascha L. Drubek, Doctor of Philology, Associate Professor, Peter Szondi-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin, editor-in-chief, “Apparatus” journal: Film, Media and Digital Culture in Central and Eastern Europe (Germany).

FILM THEORY AND FILM HISTORY | ARCHIVE MATERIAL

On «Pretty Young Lady», Dos Passos and the Textology of «Art»

UDC 791.43.03

Summary: The article based on the deciphering, commenting and contextual analysis of materials from S.M. Eisenstein’s archive in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art restores some episodes from the director’s artistic and personal biography including the real reasons of his reaction to E.Shub’s proposal to produce a film based on Dos Passos’ Manhattan expressed in private letters.

Key words: S.M.Eisenstein, E.I.Shub, John Dos Passos, ‘‘Manhattan’’, textology, T.Dreiser, ‘‘An American Tragedy’’.

Author: Vladimir V. Zabrodin, Russian film scholar and film historian, Senior researcher, Institute of film Art, VGIK.

FILM LANGUAGE AND TIME | IMAGE GENESIS

Trends of the Song Genre Development in the Soviet/Russian Cinema in 1930–1960s years

UDC 791.3

Summary: In Russian film art, the song does not only reflect artistic traits of its time, but social and historic ones as well. This factor is particularly evident in connection with the publication of some previously unavailable materials. The article explains the role of songs in the Soviet cinema of the 1930-1960s and the reasons of changing its artistic peculiarities and semantics. This period of film music provides the basis for the analysis of new audiovisual phenomena in modern Russian cinema.

Key words: song in the film, film music, history of Russian cinema, a musical film, music of the wartime cinema, music in Soviet films of the late 1950–1960s.

Author: Elizaveta N. Parfentyeva, Post-Graduate student, VGIK.

PERFORMANCE | THE ART OF PRESENTATION

Grief as a Cognitive Metaphore in “Manchester by the Sea”

UDC 778.5.778

Summary: The article explores Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea (2016) belonging to the so called ‘grief cinema’ telling about suffering the loss of beloved people. The mechanism of representing the protagonist’s enduring trauma (‘incorporation of loss’ according to Nicholas Abraham and Maria Torok) is investigated at three levels of the film: structural composition, the character’s psychological profile and the musical component as a peculiar narrative sub-text.

Key words: ‘‘Manchester by the Sea’’, Kenneth Lonergan, work of grief, trauma, incorporation, crypt.

Author: Nina А. Tsyrkun, Doctor in Arts, Department of Modern Screen Art, Institute of Film Art, VGIK.

Aesthetics of Interactivity: Between Game and Film. To Watch or to Play?

UDC 778.534

Summary: According to western research, video games are considered a new art form widely sought-after in the 21st century. But speaking about this phenomenon, can we draw a line between entertainment and art? The article looks into the role of the game in contemporary society, points out the prevalent features of ‘personal control’ over a peace of art, estimates the impact of game aesthetics on the modern film language.

Key words: virtual reality, interactivity, game, technologies, screen, visuality.

Author: Vasily N. Novikov, Post-Graduate student, VGIK.

Contribution of Artists Teaching at the Russian Federation S.A.Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography into Formation and Development of the Fine Arts in Mongolia in 20th century.

UDC 7.03

Summary: Russian artistic school played a crucial role in the development of Mongolian 20th century art. The article surveys the methods of the teachers of VGIK’s Department of Production Design that affected the succession of European artistic traditions in Mongolian art. Realistic principles, VGIK’s teaching methods and creative atmosphere have determined the emergence of the European painting manner, new genres, styles and trends characteristic of world art in Mongolia.

Key words: Russian art school, Mongolian art, realistic method, film education, cinema art, film artist, national tradition.

Author: Xenia A. Melekhova, PhD (Arts), Associate Professor, Altai State University (Barnaul).

SCREEN CULTURE | CULTUROLOGY. PHILOSOPHY

Maurice Maeterlinck’s Philosophy of Art

UDC 7.011

Summary: The article researches into the key ideas of M.Maeterlink’s Symbolist philosophy of art — the metaphysic implication of art and its philosophic and aesthetic incarnations: silence, the unseen, fate, doom, the outside and inside, madness, mystical ecstasy; the essence of image, symbol and symbolization in art; the categories of beauty, sublimity, tragedy and comedy; aesthetic ideal; the nature of artistic novelty; the relationship between aesthetics and ethics; the playwright’s creative motto, his mastership; the mission of an artist-theurgis.

Key words: philosophy, metaphysics, theurgy, aesthetics, art, dramatic art, theatre, artistic image, symbol, beauty, sublime, tragical, comic.

Author: Nadezhda B. Mankovskaya, Doctor in Philosophy, Major researcher, Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences.

WORLD CINEMA | ANALYSIS

The Influence of Cultural Traditions on Sound Design Techniques in Japanese Cinema. Sound Effects and Music

UDC 791.43.01

Summary: The article analyses the sound peculiarities of Japanese films produced in the late 1900s and early 2000s. The authors follow the impact of Japanese cultural traditions on the sound design in national films and reveal the influence of Western music which is characteristic of the current trans-culturalism in film art.

Key words: Japanese culture, Japanese cinema, Japanese drama conventions, sound design in film, film music, sound recording in cinema.

Authors: Elena A. Rusinova, PhD (Arts), Associate Professor, Vice Rector for Science, VGIK; Elizaveta M. Habchuk, sound designer, VGIK.

The Transformation of the Jesse James’ Myth in Contemporary American Cinema

UDC 791.43.03

Summary: The problem raised in the article is based on the established opinion that American film history is cyclic. The screen reflects this pattern of two alternative phases: ‘social anxiety’ and ‘social rest’. The author dwells upon the landmark western of the early 2000s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford where the traits of ‘social anxiety’ are represented in a concentrated form giving reasons for the scope and stability of the Jesse James mythology, the cyclic character of this outlaw’s transformation in American film history.

Key words: theory of cycle, “social anxiety”, “social rest”, outlaw, Jesseana, mythologization, social bandit, narrative plot.

Author: Dmitry V. Zakharov, Competitor of PhD in Arts, VGIK.

The Origins of the First Sound Animation: Songs Series by the Fleischer Brothers

UDC 791.2

Summary: The article is devoted to the history of sound in animation and the creation of the first sound films. It analyses the early experiments in sound and image synchronization as exemplified by the work of the Fleischer Brothers who used Lee De Forest’s “Phonofilm” system. The author looks into the structural principles of the singalong shorts revealing their basic types.

Key words: early sound animation, song genre, recording systems, the Fleischer Brothers, Lee de Forest.

Author: Natalia G. Krivulya, Doctor of Art Criticism, MGU (Lomonosov Moscow State University).

TELEVISION | DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT

The Science of the History of Media: Approaches and Concepts

UDC 37.01

Summary: The article examines media studies in a historical perspective, proving the necessity of using an interdisciplinary approach including media evolution, history, anthropology and archeology. There are a lot of versions of media development presented in various formats and contexts — from listing the names of inventors and technological devices to describing economic, cultural and social practices — but each contains presumptions, arguments in favor of the significance of media for people’s communication and the reasons for historical changes. The author also analyses the interpretation of the term ‘media history’ proposed by Lisa Gitelman, one of the most respected experts in this area.

Key words: media, communication media, mass media, media history, media evolution, media archeology.

Author: Gennady P. Bakulev, Professor, Doctor (Philology), Professor, Department of Russian and Foreign Languages, VGIK.

The Media Image as a Motivator for the Humanization of Society

UDC 791.43.04

Summary: Modern media space possesses vast resources for solving the problems of people with limited health capacities. But the issues of this category’s social adaptation are still the most acute. An important role in this sphere is played by the media image affecting social stereotypes and functioning as a motivator for the society’s humanization expanding the interpersonal and mass communication of different social groups.

Key words: media space, media image, social ostracism, communications, new media, autistic disorders, civilizational development.

Author: Olga A. Vazhenina, Post-Graduate student, South Ural State University, Chelyabinsk.

* For further discussions please contact the authors on: editor@vestnik-vgik.com  

© Translated by The Laboratory of the Foreign Cinema, VGIK.