Presentation of the authors

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A brief presentation of the authors and the content of the articles in the issue

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FILM THEORY AND FILM HISTORY | AUDIOVISUAL ARTS

The Evolution of the Concept of the Victory in Russian Documentary Cinema

UDC 791.43.01

Summary: Each generation of the post-war decades sought to rediscover the essence of the “great opposition” of our people to the fascist invaders. National documentary filmmakers have expressed this new concept of our Victory for each generation in films based on the footage from film archives and reminiscences of war veterans. The article offers an overview of representing this topic by domestic documentary filmmaking from the first post-war years to the present.

Key words: newsreel, audiovisual document, historical concept, national documentary filmmaking.

Author: Galina S. Prozhiko, Doctor of Arts, Professor S.A.Gerasimov Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK).

FILM LANGUAGE AND TIME | IMAGE GENESIS

Drama Features оf Documentary: Movie, TV Film, Streaming Platform

UDC 7.097

Summary: The article examines some special aspects of writing and directing a non-fiction film created for different screening purposes: the possibility of using an off-screen narrations, the specifics of working with fact and image, as well as directorial and dramatic tools. It also forecasts the methodological evolution of documentary filmmaking intended for distribution on Internet platforms.

Key words: documentary cinema, film drama, TV movie, Internet platform, cinema language.

Author: Elizaveta S. Trusevich, PhD, Academy of Media Industry; Author and director, Associate Professor of the Institute of Film and Television (GITR).

Screenlife vs. Classic Cinema

UDC 778.5.05.9+778.534

Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many areas of modern life, including visual media. New forms and methods of communication with the audience have come to the forefront. In filmmaking, the Screenlife, which is different from conventional theatrical format, has gained popularity. The article examines the history of desktop films, substantiates the advantage of using software, analyzes Screencast technologies, leading to the formation of a holistic narrative format.

Key words: screen media, Screenlife, desktop movie, Screencast.

Author: Bogdan S. Shimokhin, student, Cinema Studies Department, S.A.Gerasimov Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK).

PERFORMANCE | THE ART OF PRESENTATION

VR-technologies in Animation

UDC 778.5.05:621.391

Summary: The article analyzes experiments in creating VR animated films with immersion into a virtual environment. The article considers artistic techniques, compositional and stylistic solutions used in creating VR animation aimed at producing an aesthetic impression on the viewer. Acquiring a deep sensory experience by the viewer becomes possible due to the discovery of new dimensions of the VR storytelling and new ways of molding virtual worlds through improved computer technologies.

Key words: VR-experience, virtual reality, interactive animation, immersion effect, 360-degree animation, VR Animation Experience.

Author: Nadezda U. Yarovaya, Senior lecturer at the department of Screen Arts at S.A.Gerasimov Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) (Rostov-on-the-Don branch), doctoral candidate in arts, VGIK.

Folklore Traditions of the Sverdlovsk Animation School

UDC 778.534.66

Summary: The article is devoted to the folklore traditions inherent in the animation films made by the directors who worked at the Sverdlovsk Studios in 1960-1980 and had a significant impact on the work of subsequent generations of Ural filmmakers. The technological, genre and artistic discoveries of the Sverdlovsk animation school founders in rendering folklore material on the screen are considered.

Key words: folklore, Ural screen animation, Sverdlovsk school of animation, Sverdlovsk film studio, “Sverdlovsktelefilm”, animation techniques.

Author: Yury V. Tomilov, Senior Lecturer and postgraduate student of the Department of Graphics and Animation, Ural State University of Architecture and Art, Yekaterinburg.

SCREEN CULTURE | CULTUROLOGY. PHILOSOPHY

Media Image of the Screen as Representation of Sociocultural Reality

UDC 791.43

Summary: The article touches upon the issues of common and distinctive features in the plot construction of documentary films and educational TV shows. The author offers his original perspective on the socio-cultural grounds in these forms of audiovisual production and touches upon correlating moments in them. The author also reveals the elements of evidence as a precondition for forming semantic images through the screen in the mind of a media consumer.

Key words: documentary filmmaking, TV series, screen, visual representation, evidence.

Author: Sergey N. Volkov, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor, Department of Translation and Interpretation studies, Penza State Technological University.

WORLD CINEMA | ANALYSIS

“The Devil’s Cinema”: from Jean Epstein’s Theory to Robert Eggers’ Films

UDC 791.43.03

Summary: The article explores the conflict between a human being and landscape in Robert Eggers’ films The Witch (2015) and The Lighthouse (2019) in connection with the representation of vacant spaces in sound cinema. The theoretical foundation for constructing the proof system is the concept of ‘Devil’s Cinema’ developed by French director and scholar Jean Epstein based on a number of ideas revived by Eggers.

Key words: Devil’s Cinema, horror film aesthetics, void, natural landscape, audiovisual image, glance poetry, photogenie.

Author: Alina K. Shevchenko-Rosliakova, Post-Graduate student, Department of Screenwriting and Cinema Studies, St.Petersburg Institute of Cinema and Television.

FILM INDUSTRY | MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AND TACTICS

The Price of Going out to the Movies — the History and the Contemporaneousness

UDC 778.58.003.45

Summary: Over the 18 years of decline in cinema attendance in the USSR (1968-1986), the average price of a movie ticket increased by less than 3 kopecks. (27.09 kopecks against 24.46 kopecks). Major social upheavals and the focus on the market since the late 1980s have given an impetus to the rapid growth of the price policy. The ticket price, which once contributed to the mass character of cinema, has become a factor in the de-massification of the medium in its traditional form.

Key words: cinema, market, spectators, cinema ticket price, price dynamics, the effect of the price for the cinema ticket on cinema attendance, the massness of cinema.

Authors: Mikhail I. Zhabskiy, Doctor at Sociology, Leading Researcher, Research Sector, Academy of Media Industry; Кirill А. Tarasov, Doctor of Culturology, Professor, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

TELEVISION | DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT

Convergent Audience: Research Approaches

UDC 366.17

Summary: The article looks into the problem of studying the audience of the modern media system formed by the convergence / deconvergence processes. The widespread adoption of digital technologies in homes is making significant adjustments to the analysis of media use. The lack of correlation between qualitative and quantitative indicators when assessing the attendance makes it impossible to draw an accurate picture of media contacts and consumption patterns in the new media environment. A number of theoretical concepts for evaluating a converged audience are considered, including the approach of “media repertoires” / “media ensembles”, which provide the analysis of not one specific medium, but the interconnection of the whole media complex and the content popularized by it. The new approach to research does not only challenge traditional business models and media systems, but the existing notions of “the audience” as well.

Key words: audience, convergent audience, media consumption, media research, convergence/deconvergence, “media repertoires”.

Author: Gennady P. Bakulev, Doctor of Philology, Professor, S.A.Gerasimov Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK).

LEGAL ASPECTS | ACADEMIC CITATION

Free Citation: Limits and Opportunities

UDC 347.78+778.58:347

Summary: The article examines cases of legitimate citation of protected (published) works. The author identifies the criteria for the free use of copyright objects for academic and educational purposes based on the current legal norms and judicial practice and substantiates the difference between citation and illustration.

Key words: copyright, legitimate citation, works of science, illustrations, photographs.

Author: Ekaterina A. Zvegintseva, PhD of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Producer Skills, VGIK.

For further discussions please contact the authors on: vestnik-vgik@vgik.info

Translated by The Laboratory of the Foreign Cinema, VGIK.