Film theory explores how we understand and interpret movies. Major schools of thought shape how we analyze films, from the director's vision to the viewer's experience.

These theories range from focusing on the filmmaker's style to examining how our brains process movies. They help us dig deeper into what makes films tick and why they affect us the way they do.

Theoretical Approaches

Auteur Theory and Formalism

• Auteur theory emphasizes the director's creative vision and control over the filmmaking process, viewing the director as the primary author of a film
• Asserts that a director's distinctive style and thematic preoccupations can be traced across their body of work (Alfred Hitchcock, Wes Anderson)
• Formalism focuses on the formal elements of film, such as cinematography, editing, and mise-en-scène, and how they contribute to the overall meaning and aesthetic of a film
• Formalist theorists believe that the artistic value of a film lies in its formal properties rather than its content or social significance (Russian montage theory, German Expressionism)

Realism and Neoformalism

• Realism in film theory emphasizes the importance of depicting the world as it is, without artifice or stylization
• Realist theorists argue that cinema should strive to capture the authentic, unmediated reality of human experience (Italian Neorealism, French New Wave)
• Neoformalism builds upon formalist ideas while acknowledging the importance of historical and cultural contexts in shaping a film's meaning
• Neoformalist analysis examines how formal elements interact with narrative, genre, and ideology to create a unique cinematic experience (David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson)

Cognitive Film Theory

• Cognitive film theory investigates how viewers process, understand, and respond to films on a psychological level
• Explores the mental processes involved in perception, attention, memory, and emotion as they relate to the cinematic experience
• Cognitive theorists study how filmmakers use techniques such as editing, camera movement, and sound design to guide viewer attention and elicit specific emotional responses (eye-tracking studies, cognitive mapping)
• Examines the role of schema, or mental frameworks, in shaping viewer expectations and interpretations of film narratives (genre conventions, character archetypes)

Structural and Post-Structural Theories

Structuralism and Semiotics

• Structuralism in film theory analyzes the underlying structures and patterns that govern the meaning and organization of films
• Structuralist theorists view films as systems of signs and codes that communicate meaning through their internal relations and oppositions (narrative structures, binary oppositions)
• Semiotics, or the study of signs and symbols, is a key component of structuralist film analysis
• Semiotic analysis examines how films convey meaning through the use of visual and auditory signs, such as icons, indexes, and symbols (Christian Metz, Roland Barthes)

Post-Structuralism

• Post-structuralism challenges the idea of fixed, universal structures and emphasizes the instability and multiplicity of meaning in films
• Post-structuralist theorists argue that the meaning of a film is not inherent in its structure but is produced through the interaction of the text, the viewer, and the social context
• Emphasizes the role of language, discourse, and power relations in shaping the interpretation and reception of films (Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida)
• Post-structuralist approaches often involve deconstructing the binary oppositions and hierarchies that underlie film narratives and exposing their ideological assumptions (feminist film theory, postcolonial theory)

Critical and Ideological Perspectives

Marxist Film Theory and Apparatus Theory

• Marxist film theory examines the ways in which films reflect and reproduce the dominant ideologies and power structures of capitalist society
• Marxist theorists analyze how films naturalize and legitimize the values and interests of the ruling class while marginalizing or misrepresenting the experiences of the working class (Hollywood cinema, Soviet montage)
• Apparatus theory, a branch of Marxist film theory, investigates how the technical and institutional apparatus of cinema (camera, projector, screen) shapes the viewer's subjectivity and ideological positioning
• Apparatus theorists argue that the cinematic apparatus creates a sense of realism and identification that interpellates the viewer into a specific subject position (Jean-Louis Baudry, Christian Metz)
• Marxist and apparatus theories often critique the ideological effects of mainstream cinema and advocate for alternative, politically engaged modes of filmmaking (Third Cinema, counter-cinema)