Bazin's "The Evolution of Film Language"

In order to fully grasp Bazin’s article, "The Evolution of Film Language," I first had to determine the writer’s perceptions of film as a whole. First off, Bazin’s general overview of film, that it is an art rather than a money-making industry, sets the tone for the entirety of the reading. It is easier to understand where Bazin is coming from by first understanding that he truly believes in the art and creativity behind film making, rather than just the aspects of its potential profits. Bazin’s regards towards film as an art can be exemplified in his ideas regarding film from 1920 to 1940. He explains that at this time in history there were two opposing trends- “those filmmakers who put their faith in the image and those who put their faith in reality” (88). Bazin approaches meaning to be determined through the various forms of editing present in the film industry. Moreover, the image does not work at producing meaning, itself, but rather the ways in which it is edited can encourage certain feelings from the viewers. I agree with this idea simply because of my experiences watching movies. I find myself feeling certain ways towards something that I never felt in the past. For example, in scary films, I find myself feeling scared towards items such as dolls merely because of the ways that the dolls are portrayed in the film. With proper dimmed lighting, intense music in the background, and close-up shots of the dolls’ faces, they appear significantly more scary than the dolls that rested on my bed growing up.