How is Film theory viewed in a professional environment?

[Rocco Rocco]

I think the moral of the thread is learn all the artsy stuff you want, draw on it and use it, BUT: keep it to yourself!

[Andrew Rendell]

+1

Some of it can make you better at your job, but most of it only really applies in the workplace if you’re sitting with a particularly artsy director who keeps using words like “diegetic” and “analepsis” – then it’s useful to be familiar with the terminology 😉

[Jon Fidler]

I know its similar territory but what about all these allegorical readings you read on the net e.g how Inception is a metaphor for filmmaking?

Im assuming this is all in the realm of personal interpretation and there is nothing of any real use apart from entertainment in any of that stuff.

[Rocco Rocco]

Sounds like you should study screenwriting.

McKee, Truby, Horton, Field, Campbell etc. – they’re all full of that stuff: metaphor, theme, subtext. There’s no doubt that a good story oozes with thematic undertones; that a good story-teller is confident that his unspoken words are felt. It is possible that Inception is a metaphor for film making and Nolan was fully aware of this the whole time. This kind of thing is very common. More often a story is a metaphor for how and why we undergo change (that’s a Robert McKee quote). What is the resurrection of Jesus if not a metaphor for changing your life? The same goes for the rising of the Phoenix. The snake that sheds is skin. Almost every third act climax in almost any movie is a metaphor for how you want to undergo change in your life.

These things aren’t there by accident. BUT if they’re overdone you end up with a studenty cringe fest of arsty nonsense and no balls. So you gotta find a balance.

Watch Natural Born Killers with Oliver Stone’s commentary and you’ll discover a world of symbolism and metaphor you never knew existed. It’s all very carefully mapped out and thought deeply.

Now, will all of this help you become a better editor? Possibly. But it will definitely help you become a better story teller if you grasp it fully.

[Jon Fidler]

Thanks that was a fantastic explanation, ill go order natural born killers and give it a listen

[Andrew Rendell]

I scared myself yesterday. As the words came out of my mouth I heard myself saying to a Media Studies student “…the defining characteristic of a current affairs documentary is the way that a character is used as a metaphor for a bigger idea…”

aaaaaagh! I’m so sorry…. she only asked whether I thought that “Genre” was dead…

:-0