Neoformalism

This except from Kristen Thompson’s book was very interesting in explaining the neoformalist approach. This approach, “builds into itself the need to be constantly challenged and thus changed. Each analysis should tell us something not only about the film in question, but about the possibilities of film as an art” (6). I find the idea of modifying constantly to be very useful in analyzing films due to the changes in society and technology. Neoformalist approaches can clearly change with the times and continue to be relevant in analyzing films whereas other approaches may not be as adaptable. This flexibility in the approach allows each viewer of film to interpret it in their own way and each of these differing views are seen as acceptable according to the approach. I like this idea because often when analyzing something according to one approach it is hard to formulate what you want to say because you feel like you need to stick within certain guidelines whereas this method allows for different meanings of different films based on one's own perceptions. Another note Thompson made was that neoformalism does not have a distinction between high art and low art. Often in film and other media forms low art is under appreciated and not focused on but in this approach one can still analytically appreciate low art and learn from it.