The Legacy of David Bordwell; or, The Memorial Service as Network Narrative | MZS

Martin Scorsese famously said that cinema is a matter of what’s in the frame and what’s out–though, of course, it’s about lots of other things, including lighting, sound, music, performance, and design elements. Bordwell and Thompson’s interest was very much in that spirit. They cared about how stories were told, not just about what messages … Read more

Eye on the Screen: David Bordwell (1947-2024) | MZS

“Preconceived methods, applied simply for demonstrative purposes, often end by reducing the complexity of films,” David and Kristin once wrote. That’s a sentiment I heartily agree with. It bears repeating today, now that so much of “cultural writing” consists of “takes” that discuss works of moving image art as if they were pamphlets or PDFs, and that … Read more