Comprehensive Notes on "On Photography" and Film Theory

Charles Baudelaire on Photography

Charles Baudelaire, a key figure in modern art criticism, held ambivalent views on modernity. His 1859 commentary on photography, part of his Salon review, highlights his concerns about the creative role of artists in a mechanically advancing era. His disillusionment with middle-class values and egalitarianism deepened over the years, particularly after the failed 1848 revolution and Napoleon III's rise to power. His modernism found support in Edgar Allan Poe's work. Despite his earlier praise for modern life in 1846 and later in "The Painter of Modern Life"(1863), Baudelaire critiqued photography's widespread use and popularity, stating, "It is useless and tedious to represent what exists, because nothing that exists satisfies me… I prefer the monsters of my fantasy to what is positively trivial."

The Idolatrous Mob and Daguerre

Baudelaire argues, during a decline of divine inspiration in the French mind, the public craved an ideal suited to their nature, leading to a belief that art should exactly reproduce nature. This belief was emboldened by photography, which they saw as achieving this exactitude. He mocks the public's fascination with photography, calling them "mad fools." He criticizes the absurd lengths to which people went, such as staging tragic scenes with ill-suited individuals, thus insulting both painting and acting. The accessibility of photography fueled voyeurism and pornography, captivating even high society. Alexandre Dumas and Cazotte are quoted, highlighting the extent of this infatuation.

Photography as a Brutish Conspiracy

Baudelaire views the rise of photography as a refuge for talentless painters and a "brutish conspiracy" that threatens French artistic genius. He believes that photography's material progress harms art, leading to a confusion of functions where neither art nor photography can properly fulfill their roles. He uses the metaphor of poetry and progress as rivals, suggesting only one can prevail. Baudelaire advocates for photography to return to its true role as a servant of science and art, like printing or shorthand, aiding in tasks such as enriching tourist memories, assisting naturalists, and corroborating astronomical hypotheses. Its value lies in factual accuracy, not in capturing the intangible aspects of the human soul. He warns against the public's growing acceptance of material science's results as beautiful, fearing it will diminish their ability to appreciate ethereal aspects of creation.

Salvador Dali on Photography

Dali presents photography as a pure creation of the mind, distinct from painting yet possessing its own unique artistry. He emphasizes the camera's clear objectivity and the subtle physico-chemical harmonies it captures. Dali values the absence of human intervention, believing that the unconscious calculations of the machine lead to a new method of spiritual creation. He advocates trusting in objective transpositions and developing the skill of looking properly. According to Dali, masters like Vermeer knew how to look with photographic inspiration, preserving the object intact; looking is a completely new system of spiritual surveying and of inventing. He highlights photography's practical possibilities, such as capturing the delicacy of lavatories or analyzing electrical equipment. Dali references Man Ray's portrait of Juan Gris with a banjo as an example of a pure result of photographic creation. He notes how photography can merge an orchid with a tiger's mouth or capture a miniature landscape in a cow's eye. Dali concludes that photography is a pure creation of the mind.

Soviet Montage Theory

The montage is a recognizable and powerful film editing technique, seen in various films from the 1980s to critical darlings like "Citizen Kane" and classics like "Battleship Potemkin." Montage involves assembling or editing different shots together. Sergei Eisenstein is considered the key pioneer of Soviet montage theory, with early Hollywood filmmakers like Slavko Vorkapić and Don Siegel also contributing to its development. Eisenstein's methods are significantly featured in "Battleship Potemkin".

Five basic methods of montage:

  • Metric

  • Rhythmic

  • Tonal

  • Overtonal/Associational

  • Intellectual

1. Metric Montage:

This rudimentary method involves editing shots together based on a strict measurement or number of frames, without considering emotional connection. The effect can be chaotic and jarring.

2. Rhythmic Montage:

This method edits shots together according to the context of each shot, defining how viewers consume film content. The "Odessa steps" sequence exemplifies this technique, influencing simple dialogue scenes, fight scenes, and car chases.

3. Tonal Montage:

In tonal montage, editing is based on the emotional meanings or tone of each shot; the tone is created by combining the context images with musical accompaniment

4. Overtonal/Associational Montage:

This approach combines elements of metric, rhythmic, and tonal montage to create a greater effect on how audiences perceive a film's tones or overtones. Uses composition, soundtrack and editing

5. Intellectual Montage:

Intellectual montage method edits shots together to create an intellectual meaning. A reflection of a film's message to convey the character, story, and meaning. Famous example Apocalypse Now
Understanding these montage methods enhances one's ability to cut together a film or scene and to develop cinematic art for exploring motifs and themes.

The Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 (Hays Code)

The Motion Picture Production Code of 1930, also known as the Hays Code, aimed to ensure that motion pictures would positively affect lives and improve mankind. It was formulated and adopted by The Association of Motion Picture Producers, Inc. and The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Inc. in March 1930. The code recognized the influence of motion pictures on society. While primarily for entertainment, films were expected to contribute to moral progress and correct thinking. The code sought a sympathetic understanding from the public and leaders to allow for wholesome entertainment. The code included broad guidelines, including:

  1. No picture should lower moral standards, and sympathy should not be on the side of wrongdoing.

  2. Correct standards of life should be presented, subject to dramatic requirements.

  3. Law should not be ridiculed, nor should sympathy be created for its violation.

The code addressed specific applications:

  • Crimes against the law:

    • Murder: Technique should not inspire imitation, brutal killings should be avoided.

    • Methods of crime: Theft, robbery, and arson should not be detailed.

    • Illegal drug traffic: Never to be presented.

    • Use of liquor: Restricted to plot necessities.

  • Sex:

    • Marriage and the home: The sanctity of marriage should be upheld.

    • Adultery: Should not be explicitly treated or justified.

    • Scenes of passion: Should be essential to the plot and not stimulate baser elements.

    • Seduction or Rape: To only be suggested.

    • Sex perversion: Forbidden.

    • Miscegenation: Forbidden.

    • Sex hygiene and venereal diseases: Not subjects for motion pictures.

    • Child birth: Never to be presented.

    • Children's sex organs: Never to be exposed.

  • Vulgarity: Treatment of low subjects should consider good taste.

  • Obscenity: Forbidden in word, gesture, or suggestion.

  • Profanity: Pointed profanity or vulgar expressions forbidden.

  • Costume:

    • Complete nudity: Never permitted.

    • Undressing scenes: Avoided unless essential.

    • Indecent exposure: Forbidden.

  • Dances: Should not suggest sexual actions.

  • Religion:

    • Ridicule: No film should ridicule any religious faith.

    • Ministers: Should not be used as comic characters or villains.

    • Ceremonies: Must be respectfully handled.

  • Locations: Treatment of bedrooms must be governed by good taste.

  • National Feelings:

    • Flag: Use should be respectful.

    • Other nations: Should be represented fairly.

  • Titles: Salacious or obscene titles should not be used.

  • Repellent Subjects: Treatment within good taste.

  • Reasons supporting the code's preamble included:

    • Entertainment's moral importance: It should improve or rebuild human beings.

    • Art's impact: It should lift men to higher levels and avoid unclean content.

    • Moral obligations: Films should appeal to every class and have special considerations due to mobility and emotional appeal.

  • Reasons underlying the general principles focused on:

    • Avoiding the lowering of moral standards by making evil attractive.

    • Presenting correct standards of life.

    • Avoiding ridicule of law.

Ontology of the Photographic Image by Andre Bazin.

André Bazin explores the essence of cinema, especially photography, diving into its realistic and objective nature, in light of its effect on the purpose art, its psychological and sociological outcomes. He analyzes the practice of embalming the dead in order to trace the origins of paintings and sculptures, saying that the beginning of painting and sculpture has a "mummy complex". In the face of death, preservation of flesh and bone were kept up. Bazin believes that the history of plastic arts is one of realism. André Malraux described cinema as the furthermost evolution to date of plastic realism. He points out that Da Vinci's camera obscura prefigured Niepce's camera, and that art balances between symbols and realism. The need for illusion stems from the sixteenth century, but realism allows great artists to continue to combine the two. According to Bazin, the misunderstanding of realism stems from the conflict between the aesthetic and the psychological; The original sin of the Western Painting era may have been the perspective, that was redeemed by Niepce and Lumiere. Bazin believes photography satisfies our obsession with realism, but the intervention of human hand and subjectivity casts a shadow of doubt over the image. He believes in the importance of achieving a photo by mechanical reproduction because man doesn't play a part in the making of the photo. He believes that every art is based on the presence of man, aside from the objective advantage photography receives from his absence.

Photography's objective nature allows it to be credible, and its ability to transfer reality from the object to its reproduction. Bazin continues to analyze man's desire to recreate his image which is why only a photographic lens can be used to make likenesses. He also dives into the charm of family albums and how they preserve lives in a snapshot, a moment that is free from its destiny. Ultimately, Bazin believes that photography can surpass art through hallucination and realistic means of creation. Bazin concludes, simultaneoulsy, with photography, Western paintings are freed from their obsession with realism, ultimately granting Western painting its aesthetic autonomy.

The Birth of a New Avant-Garde: La Caméra-Stylo by Alexandre Astruc

Astruc notes a transformation in cinema, distinguishing new, prophetic films from conventional ones. He views cinema as a means of expression, comparable to painting and the novel, calling this era the "camera-stylo" (camera-pen) age. This means the cinema will break away from its visual or narrative tyranny to become a language as supple as written language. This art can tackle subjects like philosophy, metaphysics, ideas, and passions. Astruc references Maurice Nadeau's quote about Descartes to justify what someone should do with a 16-mm camera. Due to the development of 16mm, television, and projectors, cinema has become more diverse, as a direct effect of its accessibility. As Sergei Eisenstein said, cinema expresses ideas. Astruc believes that one shouldn't illustrate movies through heavy associations of images. One shouldn't have to imply the passing of time, as they can find another way to suggest it (other than falling leaves).

One of the phenomenal realizations, per Astruc, of the past few years has been the growing dynamic character of the cinematic image. We realize that symbolic association exists within the image in the development of the narrative or dialogue, or with the camera's movements. From this point on, cinema can produce meaningful works equivalent to famous essays or novels. Astruc then criticizes scriptwriters that adapt Balzac or Dostoievsky due to laziness. Orson Welles understood and knew this, per Astruc's claims. This would of course imply that the scriptwriter should be the writer, which means distinction between author and director should dissipate. As long films and soundtracks go through a story, with the effect of philosophizing, then how can anyone distinguish between the man who conceives the film or who creates it? Astruc is not trying to create a specific domain, but to broaden one and make it the most extensive and clearest language. He calls for problems such as translating cinematic terms of verbal tenses and logical relationships.

Theatre and Cinema by André Bazin

The unparalleled pleasure of being in the presence of an actor continues to be the key argument of those who despise filmed theatre. Henri Gouhier writes how in theater, the actor and their actions cannot be separated. Further, the stage welcomes every illusion but the illusion of presence. In light of this, film cannot pretend to have any parallel to theatre. In fact, criticism and controversy of Olivier, Welles, and Cocteau seem to challenge the traditional idea that the actor's physical presence is irreplaceable. Bazin then comments concering "presence" and how that challenges pre-photography. Being in someone's presence is acknowledging their time and space. Bazin recognizes that photography can become its own tracing, an entity that has a kind of identity, and has potential through its mold to make a molding of the object as it exists in time as well. For example, using objective techniques, like that seen in visual and sound reproduction, can create images of strict definition, requiring introductory philosophical inquiries. Since there is not a middle stage between presence and absence, onthological effectiveness of the cinema needs to source the origin of the actor, and must decide rather one can create a mirror image. This, however, Bazin states depends on duration, and the space factor reestablishes the equilibrium of the psychological equation.

Further into the analysis, there are honest appraisals that cause theatre to have a more moral uplifting side compared to moving pictures. One could detect a process of depersonalization of the spectator. Members of a film audience tend to identify with the film's hero psychologically, mass-producing emotions. In the opposite view, the theatre causes an excited emotion. Tarzan's world would only be possible on screen, or else there becomes an excitation that has stood in the way of any collective representation in the psychological sense. As a result, this transfers from an onthological to a psychological level. For the point of conflict becomes that film has means of favoring the passive vs the conscious position of a spectator. Bazin recognizes that it is now much less a question of actor and presence rather than of man or his relation to decor. Sartre claims that in theatre, the drama proceeds from the actor, while drama proceeds from setting to man. Due to this camera's photographic realism, its power can be taken advantage of via telescope or microscope. Bazin points out there can be no theater without architecture, in effect making one part of the contrast found through nature.