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Comments for Doing Film History https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory A Blog for EAF 1504: An Introduction to Film History Thu, 12 Dec 2019 09:56:06 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.9 Comment on Group 3- Week 12 by Aidan Power https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/2019/12/11/group-3-week-12/#comment-181 Thu, 12 Dec 2019 09:56:06 +0000 http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/?p=2169#comment-181 This is an excellent post: it is clear-eyed, reflective and attuned to the possibilities of what film history(ies) can be. I agree viz gender and the need to kick back against notions of film HIStory being something which has largely been constructed by white men. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on how this hegemony can be tackled and how we might further encourage a plurality of film histories.

I agree with your analysis of how your posts have developed and while this no doubt owes to your getting a clearer handle on film and film history, it is also testament to your diligence as a group. It is encouraging to hear that your meetings have provided opportunities to delve deeper in your studies and I hope this continues even after this module.

I like how you reverse engineer the notion of sound in cinema: to this day it can be a useful technical exercise to temporarily turn the sound off when analysing scenes in order to better attune yourself to other filmic elements at play.

Some final suggestions for improvement (for the summer blog post):

Use captions under your chosen images to explain their relevance to the piece.

Use we instead of I for the 2000 word group blog post (the 500 word personal reflection can use I).

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Comment on Group 4 Post Week 9 by Aidan Power https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/2019/11/21/group-4-post-week-9/#comment-180 Thu, 21 Nov 2019 14:23:33 +0000 http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/?p=2160#comment-180 Imogen, Natasha, Lewy, Dan:

This is a highly detailed and impressive blog post on cinemas during the war, one that is very responsive to the set question. It is historically and contextually sound and makes a number of insightful observations about local history in Devon, beginning with the point that due to the area’s geographic location and rural demographics, the cities of Exeter and Plymouth were especially vulnerable to German air raids and finishing with some detailed research about the Odeon’s Art Deco design.

The piece is well structured and largely well written, with only a few typos and grammatical errors in evidence.

Some images would help to bring the post to life, perhaps some photos of the Odeon for instance, or of war-time Exeter. You could also be more specific in detailing which picture and extract you are looking at and from what publications they stem (it is clear from what you say what you are referring to, but remember to be precise when dealing with sources, if possible give dates). Very solid work!

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Comment on Group 2 Blog Post Week 9 by Aidan Power https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/2019/11/21/group-2-blog-post-week-9/#comment-179 Thu, 21 Nov 2019 12:35:30 +0000 http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/?p=2158#comment-179 Lucy, Susannah, Tom, Adelina:

Overall this is a very solid post that responds well to the task at hand.You demonstrate cognisance of context, of local history and of the key role that cinemas played throughout the war both in Exeter and the UK at large. You also supplement this with additional research: the fact that 103 people died during a cinema screening is especially grim, but provides us with very clear evidence of the perils that war-time cinema-going entailed. Additionally and importantly, the piece is clearly written. A few things: you could be clearer in specifically citing and referring to the source that you use. Additionally, some images would help to enhance your presentation. Finally, while it is good to see that four of you contributed as individuals to the task, there is some repetition from section to section and therefore the piece could cohere better. Good job overall.

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Comment on Group 3 – Week 9 by Aidan Power https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/2019/11/19/group-3-week-9/#comment-178 Thu, 21 Nov 2019 11:07:53 +0000 http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/?p=2146#comment-178 Woody, Megan, Dan, Francesca: this is a very clear, precise and concise blog post that responds well to this week’s task. I like how you clearly identify and quantify your chosen article and your use of images is very solid. You show awareness of context and gesture toward the ways that cinemas during the war provided a number of invaluable social functions. This in turn can make us question the possibilities of cinemas as public spaces in ways that may not otherwise be obvious to us. It would be interesting for instance, to analyse how cinemas function in such ways today (if indeed they do). In answering what the source cannot tell us you impressively provide illustrations of primary sources that could aid and supplement understanding of the article. One issue is that although we do not know if this was a common occurrence or not, we do know that it was common practice for local children from the Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Hospital to attend every Saturday, something that here you do not address. Good work.

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Comment on The Odeon Cinema Exeter – Group 5 by Aidan Power https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/2019/11/20/the-odeon-cinema-exeter-group-5/#comment-177 Thu, 21 Nov 2019 10:55:33 +0000 http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/?p=2151#comment-177 Matei, Maayan and Ellie: this is very impressive work! You make great use of images and write lucidly throughout, with only a few minor errors in evidence. You make good use of your primary source and show keen awareness of context. I particularly enjoyed your engagement with the social function of the cinema: it is amazing to think that The Rolling Stones played there…and Dusty Springfield! One issue is that you could be clearer about what article you are referencing. Mention, if possible, the newspaper and the date of publication, while it would also be useful to include a photo or image of the article (even using your phones would be perfectly fine). Images used are terrific, but would be better still if you included captions underneath to provide a very brief explanation of them. Well done.

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Comment on Group 1 – Week 9 – Exeter’s Odeon in WWII by Aidan Power https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/2019/11/20/group-1-week-9-exeters-odeon-in-wwii/#comment-176 Thu, 21 Nov 2019 10:46:10 +0000 http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/?p=2142#comment-176 This is a terrific post that responds clearly and thoughtfully to the set question. It is good to know that the post was put together by all five of you following a group meeting. The evidence of this is very much on the page: the piece flows very well and is cohesive in its aims and execution. Use of images is very informative and neatly complements your argument, which in turn is well-written and demonstrates engagement with, and contextualisation of, a primary source and also awareness of context. I’m glad that you have begun to incorporate captions underneath your images: improve further, you could include one for every image. I wonder is there data that tells us about contemporary Odeon viewing figures? My suspicion is possibly not, but if there were, it could verify your claim that it is as popular as ever. Well done.

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Comment on Group 3 – Week 8 by Aidan Power https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/2019/11/13/group-3-week-8/#comment-175 Thu, 14 Nov 2019 11:24:46 +0000 http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/?p=2119#comment-175 This is a very clear and considered blog post that features a highly relevant source in Phillip M Taylor’s edited collection Britain and the Cinema in the Second World War. You have reflected well on what the book can tell us (i.e. national identity, the shifting roles of women during the war and how this was reflected onscreen) and I like that you have given specific contextual details about its publication and how it stemmed from a 1985 conference. In turn, you quite rightly highlight that the book looks back retrospectively and would be better understood in conjunction with primary sources. A couple of minor things: a google search could have provided you with an image of the cover which would further enhance your post. As you point out the book in question is an edited collection, so it may be useful to provide the names of the authors of the selected chapters on women and national identity. Good work.

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Comment on Group 5 – Week 8 by Aidan Power https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/2019/11/13/group-5-week-8/#comment-174 Thu, 14 Nov 2019 11:13:59 +0000 http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/?p=2124#comment-174 This post does several things well and others not so well. On the plus side, you have chosen a highly relevant source, reflected on its strengths and weaknesses and provided a link for it. I can understand that it is difficult to gauge much more from the BDCM link alone, but perhaps putting the source into a google search can reveal more (doing so just now provided me with an image of the cover and some information on its contents for example). You have responded to each point raised and so the post is generally well-structured, but far greater care needs to be taken with proof-reading as the piece features multiple typos and grammatical errors. Proof-reading should be a group activity and given that these posts are short, should not take up too much time. Finally, you show awareness of what the source can and just as importantly cannot tell us.

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Comment on British Cinema during WWII – Group 6 by Aidan Power https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/2019/11/13/british-cinema-during-wwii/#comment-173 Thu, 14 Nov 2019 11:03:32 +0000 http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/?p=2127#comment-173 This is a very solid and compelling response to this week’s task. It is well-written, with only a few minor errors in evidence and features an intriguing album image of Fields that speaks to both domestic and American audiences alike (or at least gives the impression of her having the ears of both). Additionally, you have contextualised your answer well and taken time to research Gracie Fields and the role she played during the war. It is indeed difficult to precisely gauge the impact of the press cutting in question without seeing it first hand in the BDCM. Another point of course, is that we don’t know what newspaper it was printed in, a factor which would give us a much clearer insight into both its intended audience and the number of people who may have read it.

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Comment on Group 2 – Ephemera from British Cinema and World War II by Aidan Power https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/2019/11/13/group-2-ephemera-from-british-cinema-and-world-war-ii/#comment-172 Thu, 14 Nov 2019 10:31:05 +0000 http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/doingfilmhistory/?p=2115#comment-172 This is impressive work that analyses Phillip M. Taylor’s book Britain and the Cinema in the Second World War. Firstly, it is well-written, clearly structured and makes impressive use of images and gifs to underscore its aims and provide additional information. You have carried out some very solid background research to support your argument and thus the post is well contextualised. A little more on the book itself would perhaps help you to delve deeper still. Who published it? What might this tell us about its intended audience? It may also be helpful to list a couple of chapter titles to illustrate your aims (even taking a photo or screen grab of the table of contents would suffice). This would better help to anchor your claim that the book does not succeed in providing information on social context. Good work.

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