Seigfried Kracauer- Theory of Film
Kracauer argued that there are two main properties of films, which are fundamental and technical. Essential features are those involved in the recording and reproduction of the material attribute of a film. Technical properties are those which included the editing aspects of the film. It also entails all those activities which are not captured under photography. The functional attributes add an element of continuity to the motion picture and give life to the film. This essay will show that cinema is an art, and the traditional use of different tendencies increase aesthetic validity.
Cinema is developed with two broad tendencies, namely realism, and formalism. Realism was the most basic form of film production. It involved capturing elements they appear in front of the lenses. People were accustomed to still images, so the thought of moving pictures intrigued them. The style included staging different scenes, which would then be used to communicate different ideas. Formalism then came with a more refined production of a film where photographic means were used to create non-realistic worlds.
Kracauer argues that a film can achieve aesthetic legibility through a combination of both properties in the recording and production of a movie. He further explained that the confusion on art in the cinematic perspective should not be confused with other forms of established painting. The fine arts have been mainly perceived to be only forms of art with other less defined art forms showing little significance. The film has come out to rival the traditional forms of art such as literature and theatre. They offer livid ways of presenting different concerns of the world through creative mediums.