Subjective Techniques in Feature Films

Jacek Ostaszewski

kwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Jagiellonian University (Poland)

Abstract

The author starts with the first attempts present in the early cinema to present events from the perspective of film characters, giving the rise to subjective techniques in film. Then he points to literary origins of filtering narrative information through the narrator and focalizator. He briefly outlines Gérard Genette’s ideas on narrative and the development of film studies theories on film subjectivism, in particular significant contributions from David Bordwell, Edward Branigan and Seymour Chatman. After succinct characteristics of subjectivity in classical and modern cinema, the author points out three new ways of making narratives subjective in contemporary cinema. The first is related to the phenomenon of unreliable narrative, the other two (first- and third-person narrative, so called semi-subjective narrative) refer to the aesthetics of computer games.


Keywords:

Gérard Genette, subjectivization, focalization

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Published
2017-06-30

Cited by

Ostaszewski, J. (2017) “Subjective Techniques in Feature Films”, Kwartalnik Filmowy, (97-98), pp. 263–277. doi: 10.36744/kf.2099.

Authors

Jacek Ostaszewski 
kwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Jagiellonian University Poland

Dr hab., profesor Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego; jako teoretyk filmu opublikował monografię Film i poznanie: Wprowadzenie do kog­nitywnej teorii filmu (1999) oraz Rozumienie opowia­dania filmowego (1999). Jest redaktorem antologii Kognitywna teoria filmu (1999), współautorem (z Alicją Helman) podręcznika Historia myśli filmo­wej (2007) oraz współredaktorem (z Alicją Helman) antologii Film: Język - Rzeczywistość - Osoba (1992). Obecnie zajmuje się zagadnieniami narracji filmowej.



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