• Home
  • Film Classes
  • Short Films
    • Love is a function of Death
    • usa.DT
    • Banality of Evil
    • 2 Yahoos and a bottle of Rum
    • The Here Between
    • Pale Side of Darkness
    • The Restroom
    • MetA-Romantic
  • Photography
    • 21 Final Candidates for the 7 Wonders of the World >
      • Pyramids of Giza
      • Chichen Itza
      • Machu Picchu
      • Roman Colosseum
      • Neuschwanstein Castle
      • Statue of Liberty
      • Stonehenge
      • Hagia Sophia
      • Acropolis
      • Eiffel Tower
      • Alhambra
      • Christ Redeemer
    • 7 Natural Wonders of the World >
      • Paricutin Volcano
      • Grand Canyon
      • Northern Lights
      • The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
      • Iguazu Falls
    • Natural Wonders of the U.S.A >
      • The Wave
      • The Racetrack
      • Yellowstone
      • Slot Canyons and more
      • Arches National Park
      • Bryce Canyon
      • Carlsbad Caverns
      • Badlands National Park
      • Canyonlands
    • Abandoned Places
    • Nature +
    • Faces
    • Interesting Places in USA
    • Interesting Places in Europe
  • Film Blog
    • Film Theory >
      • Women in Film Noir
      • Why do we have movie theaters?
      • Film Noir-Movement or Genre
      • How to understand box-office figures
    • Classic Films >
      • Touch of Evil
      • Citizen Kane - Overview
      • Citizen Kane - Firing of Leland
      • Citizen Kane - Declaration of Principles
      • I Am Cuba
      • Grand Illusion
      • Numbers and Language in "A Clockwork Orange"
      • JFK
      • Tout va b!en
      • Rear Window
      • "Vertigo" versus "A Man Escaped"
      • Meaning of 2001: A Space Odyssey
      • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
      • Network
      • Casablanca
    • Recent Films >
      • "The Matrix," freedom and Alice in Wonderland
      • Sweet and Lowdown
      • Taxi Driver
      • The Weather Underground
      • Lone Star
      • Cotton Club
      • From "Gimme Shelter" to "Spinal Tap"
      • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
      • Requiem for a Dream
      • The Elephant Man
      • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
      • Natural Born Killers
    • 21 Century >
      • Gravity
      • Blue is the warmest color
      • Spike Lee and the missing link in his "essential films" list
      • Kon-Tiki
      • The Place Beyond the Pines
      • Searching for Sugar Man
      • Killing them Softly
      • Silver Linings Playbook
      • Drive
      • Midnight in Paris
  • Best Films
    • The Best Films Ever Made
    • Best Noir Films
    • Best Neo-Noir Films
    • Best Comedy Films
    • Best Documentary Films
    • Best Western Films
    • Best Animation Films
    • Best Cinematography
    • Best Science-Fiction films
    • Best Screenwriters
    • Amazing Films
    • Best Film Directors
    • Best Experimental Films
    • Film Genres >
      • Gangster Films
      • Western Films
      • Science Fiction (Sci-Fi) Films
      • Woman's Film
      • Comedy Films
      • Nonfiction Films
      • Animated Films
      • Experimental Films
    • The Motion Picture Production Code
    • Film Quotes
  • Orson Welles
    • Rare pictures from "Citizen Kane"
    • Rare pictures from "The Magnificent Ambersons"
    • Rare Orson Welles pictures, awards and drawings
    • Rare pictures from "The Stranger," "Lady from Shanghai," "Hearts of Darkness," "It's all True," "Macbeth," and "Othello"
    • Rare pictures from Orson Welles Magic Show, Radio career and Theater productions
  • Cinema History
  • Contact
ilianFilm
ilianFIlm

Summary of "Blood Assemblages" by Kjetil Rodje

1/12/2022

0 Comments

 
Filmmakers use red liquid to convince audiences that is a real representation of blood. The perception of this red liquid as blood depends on it’s relation to other elements in the story, because not everything that is a red liquid is perceived as blood (85). Rodje explains how the color of real blood varies depending on oxidation, thus people references to the realistic representation of blood is different (85,86). Obviously filmmakers can not cover all the variations of expectations of audience members, but to make the liquid convincing they focus on color and texture in relation to film stock (87).
To Sofer, props, such as blood, are active elements that interact with ether actors and the audience (89). There are several reasons why the sight of blood, or a red liquid that resembles blood, affects humans. There are evolutionary reasons for perceiving blood as dangerous, because when is flowing outside of the body then is out of it’s place (90). And there are social reasons associating blood with rituals (pagan or religious) or menstruation (90). According to Julia Kristeva, the site of menstruation blood, threatens the social male order, because is associated with the female body (92). However, Rodje does not see these explanation fully explaining the cinematic image, because film allows the same image to have different interpretations by various audience members or why different images have different effects on the viewer (93,94). The author, views Melissa Meyer’s views of blood having relational meaning connected with symbols and rituals more plausible (94). However, Rodje does not find Meyer’s view relatable to cinema studies (95). The meaning of images changes with their juxtaposition with other images and as such blood should be examine in it’s relation to what it does (96). Rodje lists several factors that are required of the red liquid to be perceived as blood by the audience – color, texture, relation to the story (96,97). Therefore, the mise-en-scene (sound, special effects, make-up, actors) and the time matters (97). So, blood in cinema is “relational construct” (97) because it perception depends on four factors – 1) the blood itself, 2) mise-en-scene, 3) juxtaposition and 4) biological and social perception of the audience (97). According to Rodje, in order for the red liquid to be perceived as blood, the liquid enters into a “blood assemblage” (97). The blood assemblage is material, because is created new for every single film or situations in the same film (97). Therefore, the blood assemblage is expressive for each instance (97). Further, the blood assemblage depends on the production – if the production schedule runs on time or if the production budget permits (98). Thus, the blood assemblages can not be fully controlled by the filmmakers, which makes them active (99). Further, the success of the blood assemblage is judged by it’s real life counterpart (100). This observation allows Rodje to view the blood assemblages as actors that perform (101) and as such to displace the human actors as main performers in blood scenes (102).
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    People who critique moving pictures fall into 3 general classes:

    1.
    Reviewers - are generally journalists who describe the contents and general tone of a movie, with only incidental emphasis on aesthetic evaluation. 

    2.
    Critics - are also journalists for the most part, but their emphasis is more on evaluation than on mere content description. 

    3.
    Theorists - are usually professional academics, often the authors of books on how movies can be studied on a more philosophical level.

    Author

    I'm a film critic and I like to write about films that are exceptional and stand above the rest. 

    Categories

    All
    2011
    2012
    2013
    2014
    Classic
    Recent
    Theory

    RSS Feed

    "The role of the critic is to help people see what is in the work, what is in it that shouldn't be, what is not in it that could be. He is a good critic if he helps people understand more about the work that they could see for themselves; he is a great critic, if by his understandings and feeling for the work, by his passion, he can excite people so that they want to experience more of the art that is there, waiting to be seized. He is not necessarily bad critic if he makes errors in judgement. He is a bad critic if he does not awaken the curiosity, enlarge the interests and understanding of his audience. The art of the critic is to transmit his knowledge of and enthusiasm for art to others." ( Pauline Kael )
Photography
Film Canon
Contact

All materials Copyright © 2022 ilianFIlm - All rights reserved.
No commercial reproduction, adaptation, distribution or transmission of any part or parts of this website or any
information contained therein by any means whatsoever is permitted without prior written permission.



© 2022 ilianFilm.com All Rights Reserved