Best way to read books/watch films ??

[Manulearning]

What would be the best way to read books/ watch films ?

- Watching and studying all the movies of one director/ writer ?
- Going by genre ?
- Watching or reading historically studying them alongside reading the contemporary history/conditions prevalent at that time ?

Thanks

[KurtFF8]

I don't know if there is a "best way" because it really depends on what you're trying to learn.

If you want to study a specific director's films then yes explore their various films. But sometimes you want to explore the content of a specific genre which will of course lead you to various directors and countries and times.

Each has its limitations of course. For example to explore "progressive themes": exploring genres can be beneficial (like looking at Sci Fi) but can also have drawbacks (because we also need to explore the places and methods the works are made, so Soviet Sci Fi will be different from American Sci Fi for various reasons)

[GiantMonkeyMan]

Be open to watching any kind of film. That's all I can say. I studied film at university and when I started I was a pretentious git only enjoying what I considered 'classics'. Now I would like to say that I recognise the value of almost all films I watch whether they be shitty made-for-tv science fiction films with ham acting or some fantastic heart-wrenching drama. I think the most important thing to think about when watching film is to understand who made the film, why they made it and for whom.

Generally, in Hollywood, it's some combination of money, money and for a mass audience but that shouldn't prevent you enjoying the film, per se. In the same way, I can enjoy a mcdonalds burger (well.... maybe if I'm starving) but still understand that the people who own mcdonalds are bourgeois and exploit their labour force the world over. I can enjoy a Hollywood film but recognise that it's almost entirely made in order to garner a profit.

Also the concept of genre is fluid and subjective. A film like Alien, for example, could equally be called horror or science fiction and a film like Shaun of the Dead was once catagorised as a 'RomZomCom' for its ability to 'transcend' genre yet some would also categorise it as a 'British film' as if being made in a different country to the USA somehow precludes it being its own genre. Genre is ultimately an invention. The term 'film noir' was invented by the French to describe some early Hollywood crime films that shared common themes and yet when those films were being made they were never conciously thought of as 'film noir', 'slasher' films were ultimately a marketing tool etc.

[Manulearning]

Be open to watching any kind of film. That's all I can say. I studied film at university and when I started I was a pretentious git only enjoying what I considered 'classics'. Now I would like to say that I recognise the value of almost all films I watch whether they be shitty made-for-tv science fiction films with ham acting or some fantastic heart-wrenching drama. I think the most important thing to think about when watching film is to understand who made the film, why they made it and for whom.

Generally, in Hollywood, it's some combination of money, money and for a mass audience but that shouldn't prevent you enjoying the film, per se. In the same way, I can enjoy a mcdonalds burger (well.... maybe if I'm starving) but still understand that the people who own mcdonalds are bourgeois and exploit their labour force the world over. I can enjoy a Hollywood film but recognise that it's almost entirely made in order to garner a profit.

Also the concept of genre is fluid and subjective. A film like Alien, for example, could equally be called horror or science fiction and a film like Shaun of the Dead was once catagorised as a 'RomZomCom' for its ability to 'transcend' genre yet some would also categorise it as a 'British film' as if being made in a different country to the USA somehow precludes it being its own genre. Genre is ultimately an invention. The term 'film noir' was invented by the French to describe some early Hollywood crime films that shared common themes and yet when those films were being made they were never conciously thought of as 'film noir', 'slasher' films were ultimately a marketing tool etc.
I think the most important thing to think about when watching film is to understand who made the film, why they made it and for whom.

Thanks