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ELECTRONIC
ASSIGNMENT
COVERSHEET

Student Number 32813747

Surname Thu
Given name Myat Thu
Email myatthu278@gmail.com

Unit Code MCC248

Unit name Screen Text
Enrolment mode Internal / external
Date 4th November 2016
Assessment name Assignment 1 Critical Research Essay
Tutor Tania Lim Patricia

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Essay Question: Discuss the claim that film theory deepens the
viewers’ understanding of cinema. In your answer, choose one film
from the list below to argue your case.

Done by:
Student Name/ ID No:
Myat Thu(32813747)
Unit Code and Name:
MCC248 Screen Text
Class: C
Unit Coordinator: Dr Teresa Rizzo
Local Lecturer: Tania Lim Patricia
Assignment Name/ Title:
Assignment 1/ Critical Research Essay on Film

BACHELOR OF COMMUNICATION

MURDOCH UNIVERSITY

Introduction

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 This film research essay would be mainly emphasizing and
elaborating about the movie, the Interview (1998 Australian
thriller film) which was directed by the writer-director Craig
Monahan and was the first of two films filmed by him. In relation
to the question, realism (Blakeney, 2009) plays an important role
to the audiences because it always involves a creative judgement
about how this perception of the real has been formed and how it
presents to, or is in communication with other representations.
Realism (Wayne, 2007) is always in some sense a modernization, a
break or some adjustment in the “audio-visual” toolkit of an
image. In this case, realism (Bartenberger, 2012) is necessary in
relation to the research because it tries to help shape the
audiences’ perception in a more sophisticated way. It always
stands in some relations (which also involves borrowing and
altering) with other attitudes and specific films, inviting acts
of comparison. This whole film took place in a police
interrogation room, with some short flashback arrangements, and
the casting involves mainly of three key characters— Hugo
Weaving, Tony Martin, and Aaron Jeffery. However, they are
unaware that they themselves are being investigated and are being
videotaped by an internal affairs unit. The Interview was shown
at several 1997-1998 film festivals (London, Montreal,
Melbourne).
'The Interview' is a daunting thriller short story
(Schwartz, 2001) about the way the detectives charged an unlawful
inspection as they tried to find out the truth. It frames in
concentration for the violent person being interviewed and the
determined police officers asking the questions. They controlled
the observers captivated to the twists in plot as one's
viewpoints about the case subjective to change, in this
excellently conceived Australian psychological thriller.
Furthermore, the Interview Movie (1998) goal is to achieve

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absolute truth and reality (Tobias, 2016) for the audiences. The
argument for this research essay is that without having the
factor: gaining absolute truth and reality for the audiences, the
film will not be able to achieve success, instead it might be
facing difficulties and the societies will not be showing an
interest on the film as well as they will not be able to know the
updated information on the film to know it on time. The following
paragraphs would also be illustrating and discussing mainly about
the suitable uses of genre in the above mentioned film (the
Interview 1998) as well as also the uses of suitable theories in
the film such as the movement- image theory and the time- image
theory as well as also the reasons why they are best suitable for
use in this film.

Movement- Image Theory used in the film (the Interview Movie

1998)
The Movement- Image Theory (Totaro, 1999) is represented as
three types mainly: the perception images (that targets on what
is viewed), affection images (that targets on emotions) and
action images (that targets on the time limitation of action)
(Totaro, 1999). These types (Oberly, 2003) are usually the main
characters in a film, who perform and react to their environment.
Movement is centered by connecting the different images and scenes in
such a way that they show how the circumstances affect the characters
and vice versa. In this Interview Movie (1998), it could be
observed that the three types of images are correlated
correspondingly with long-shots, close-ups and medium shots. For
the affection images in the film, it could be seen that when the
two men asked the newspaper from one man, something went wrong.
It also showed the scenes of anger of the two men where they
actually nearly got a big fight with the other man. Another scene
could also be seen that, in the two men, one of his colleague was

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being called to the house roof top and the huge fighting occurs
there. For the perception images in the film, it showed the
audiences about the cassette player(recording tape) and the two
men interviewing Mr Weaving. For the action images, the film
demonstrates the audiences about a group of men holding their
guns climbing the staircase of the house and coming to arrest Mr
Weaving.
The reasons why the movement- image theory used in the film
(the Interview Movie (1998)) was that the visual and physical
continuity settled through the activity and also as well as shot-
to-shot closure. The argument for the movement- image theory is
that it can no longer contribute with an experience of time,
because it is unsure of how one movement follows from the
previous. The article to support why the movement- image theory
was used in this film was, the film mentioned that the
technologies are always changing in our everyday world and also
within the societies. Technology (Tobias, 2016) also developed
culture and as well as the overcoming of the separation of the
person from the modernized world constructed by the technical
manufacturing and the layout (Bauer, 2016).In this interview
Movie (1998) it could be seen that the movement- image theory was
used to encourage the regular combination of one shot to the
other and the description of the movement with action and visual
connection encourages the continuous unfolding of adjoining
spaces.
This technique is mostly a significant form of this film
research because it offers the images to illustrate an energetic
arrangement of movements from one image to another and also
sometimes indicated by breaking down the narratives into the
smaller images and hence showing up a fast progression of the
circumstances. Moreover, the movement- image theory also tells us
more about that the types of the pictures are not illustrated in

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motion rather; the continuity of the movement describes the
figure. Furthermore, this technique can likely change the
patterns such as the situations/ actions, plots and so on.

Time- Image Theory used in the film (the Interview Movie 1998)
The term, “Time- Image” Theory (Deleuze, 1995) refers
specifically to the classification to describe the films which
offer a direct image of time. Moreover, it also means that films
in which the passing of time (Deleuze, 1989) cannot be precisely
measured and in which the pictures of the past- especially in the
form of memories- are not vividly distinguishable from pictures
of the present or those of the future. In the Interview Movie
(1998) the analysis of the time-image theory could be seen when
the man interviewed Mr Weaving, the actual image of Mr Weaving
indiscernibly creates the basic reality of the past and raises
the actual psychological reconstruction (Lisabeth, 2011) of both
the said time and the telling time.
The argument in relation to the film with the theory is that
without getting the images from the present or those of the
future, it can affect the emotions of the audiences. This is
because, emotions and pictures are not just stylistic dimensions
taking out a film's story, characters and content to the front:
they are the most significant dimensions in our communication and
interaction with the world on all levels (Bondebjerg, 2014). The
reasons why the time- image theory used in the film (the
Interview (1998)) was that the time-image theory do not commonly
demonstrate us actions and movements, but different layers of
time, all of which concentrate within single points of present.
These images can then express a present that constantly reaches
for the past and for the future. The article to support this
theory in relation to the question is that, a film may not offer
a very vigorous emotional structure in itself, the viewers will

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use suitable frameworks to understand and also relate to the film
(Bondebjerg, 2014).

Conclusion

All in all, the above mentioned genres in the films were

quite suitable for this research essay as well as the usage of
the theories were also best suitable such as the movement- image
theory and the time-image theory. These theories are very
suitable as they try to engage with the audiences effectively as
well as they also try to share some new and latest information to
keep them alert in order to prepare for the necessary issues.
Furthermore, without these theories, the film as well as the
societies might seem disconnected with each other as well as also
there would be no sharing of information with one another.
Moreover, there would also be no regular updating of information
and other posts between the film and the societies. Also, it
needs to ensure that the relations between the societies and the
films should have a timely updated and factual information to
present it to the societies. With regards in relation to the
question, realism as a film genre (Wayne, 2007) affords a pool of
conventions transcending the individual film, conventions that
provide a kind of playground for the imagination. Moreover, the
language (ideology) of the film speaks through the reality and
the characters are not addressed by the director. The language
(ideology) of the film is a necessary factor in making
communication because without that the communities as well as the
film directors may not be able to know what is happening in which
part of the circumstances as well as they might also lose
connection with the current world. It was also interesting to see
that while many had the impression of film as some kind of
entertainment, there were characters with roles to play in which

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part of the scene and the directors also made the decisions of
what is happening in the film.
The theories, movement- image and time- image theories as
mentioned above tells us that the film theory deepens the
viewers’ understanding of the cinema by the way of the scenes/
images used in the films as well as also the communication
patterns such as ideology (language) (Bordwell, 1986) used in the
films. With regards to the question and the theory, emotion could
be used as a factor for the film theory to deepen the viewers’
understanding of the cinema as different societies have different
feelings and attitudes (Zumalde-Arregi, 2011). Moreover, in other
ways film theory also deepens the viewers’ understanding of the
cinema in a more lively way like in a sense of entertainment, art
and education (Hansen, 2016) as the film is also known as form of
art in preserving culture. The factors mainly: entertainment, art
and education is mostly important for the societies as well as
for the film too in preserving the culture because these factors
can try to keep in touch with the latest and current news as well
as also keeping up-to-date with the latest information to the
societies in order to let them know it on time. These factors are
also useful for the communities as they can also give them
general knowledge and ideas. From the point of view of the
theories in relation to the question, it could be observed that
the theories are in a balanced state which means that In
conclusion, the Interview Movie (1998) is an engaging look into
the tradition of the film and also as well as the film is
entertained throughout the entire world. Moreover, with the
awareness of the existence of the camera and the recording, even
for the normal person, he or she would act variously, changing
the realness of what could have been. Thus, it is possible for
the Interview Movie (1998) to be a narrative which was believed
to be truthfully representing the condition of Australia, or it

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could be a systematic representation of circumstances with the
real life characters.

(Word count: 2577 words)

References Lists

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Principles and Procedures. Chapter 1.’ In Narrative, Apparatus,
Ideology: A Film Theory Reader, 17–34. New York: Columbia
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Buckmaster, Luke. The Interview rewatched – Australia’s twisty
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rewatched-australias-twisty-answer-to-the-usual-suspects
(accessed March 27, 2015).

Blakeney, Katherine. An Analysis of Film Critic Andre Bazin's

Views on Expressionism and Realism in Film. 2009.
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in-film (accessed 2009).

Bauer, Matthias. Béla Balázs: a Gestalt theory of film. 2016.

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