Scandinavian Contemporary Drama - Coursework Example

Final Research Project Spring al Affiliation: Contents Contents 3 Historical and Contemporary Drama inScandinavia 3 Cooperation with Nordvision 6 Challenging artistic worlds in Scandinavian art cinema 8 Global view of Scandinavian Media and Film 9 Audience Performance 10 The Scandinavian film audience and emerging film culture 12 Conclusion 13 References 15 Abstract Scandinavian television and film is a cultural brand in the world as it connects with and exports most of the social and cultural values in relation to the progressive and liberal welfare societies. This paper addresses the social, cultural, and institutional film and television background in Scandinavia, global context, as well as the broader European. Scandinavia is popular for the welfare society as part of its cultural policy in support of a profound film and television approach with traditions and institutions created towards securing creative diversity within Scandinavian and global audiences. Historical and Contemporary Drama in Scandinavia There is an extensive empirical evidence supporting drama as a Scandinavian context genre with extreme dominance as well as the value of the genre including the Scandinavian and national cinema cultures in wholesome. It includes the main achievements limiting the success of such films in the genre. The primary drama crossing the Scandinavian borders is the field of focus. In previous documentation, there were dramas in the Norwegian top cinema listings across 2002 to 2006. It includes a drama for young people and children. The remaining films comprised of comedy and animation pictorials (Nestingen & Elkington, 2005). The same is echoed across Sweden having a good number of the films belonging to drama categories while accompanied by one comedy and a thriller. The Swedish films launched in Denmark tend to take drama as a major component even though the ratio minimal and is one of the things under repetition with respect to the Norwegian films. While it belongs to the Norwegian films in Swedish films launched in Norway, the ideology turns blurred because Norwegian films in general viewed in Sweden are not good performers. At the top Norwegian films, there are dramas and dominating the release numbers, and the audiences concerned. The other significant factor in adjusting to Scandinavian film quality is the need for closer analysis for particular film festivals. As seen, the reports on festival systems continue to attract growing importance across the Scandinavian countries. It is currently having stronger international profiles as well as clearly diverse genre profiles. The studies of the respective roles for the foreign exchange festivals and films sale are because of festival performance and participation clearly showing an impact. It reports on the study of the major genres for Scandinavian cinema: comedies, drama, films for children and young (CY-film, such as animation) as well as other filming genres of horror, crime, thriller, adventure, and action (Corbett, 2008). The analysis goes further into public profiling with reference to their respective genres mostly relating to segments of lifestyle and age. This is mostly applicable with TV information for Scandinavian films tabled in Denmark. The films managing transitions from national markets into broader Scandinavian markets embrace most dramas having an exception of the occasional comedy. In some cases, animation films achieve massive successes for Europe and Scandinavia while the films targeting young people and children do not enjoy similar kinds of success other than their respective national markets (Bergfelder, 2005). In fact, it is possible to show that the comparison of success for drama for the national market aims at achieving the Scandinavian business success for the drama and stronger which fares better across most non-national Scandinavian market as compared to the national ones. This illustrates that subsequent forms of films cannot be indulged in exportation, as they do not attain similar forms of success. The information is a highlight of how most of the family comedies have an extreme popularity in the national frontier while not travelling to other parts of Scandinavia to significant levels. These are products of a homemade nature for the traditional and national audiences and they travel through remaking (Bergfelder, 2005). An example of this is the Danish Olsen Banden films. In examining the TV programs and films achieving wide social circulation, past Scandinavia onto Europe (irrespective of having strong quantitative presence) is based on the art cinema oriented dramas. The terms generically used in the films by ‘Bent Hame’r and ‘Lars von Trier’ are integral elements in drama category even though they have a belonging to a tradition of experimental art cinema which has an international status and profile. It is important to see vital parts of aesthetic and cultural diversity in Scandinavian cinema. A crucial conclusion to note in the study of the status of Scandinavian film culture in modern day is the serious problem associated to attracting younger generations as well as the overall modernization of life style segments. This is mostly viewed through the segments of modern individual lifestyles. Young people belonging to modern and individualistic lifestyle narration prefer films of American genre as study show they are doing not have a strong representation in the Scandinavian film culture. The area does not focus on producing many films, which can further compete with other forms of American genre films irrespective of them bearing a generation of directors in the previous decades having moved in similar directions. It also includes the Swedish film culture progressing better in such regard above Norway and Denmark. TV drama contributes the renewal for the features of the genre where different drama series have a basis on crime-thriller formats and concluding on the storytelling strategies linked to American cinema (Nestingen & Elkington, 2005). On the contrary, Scandinavia appears to be losing the struggle of young cinema public as well as the ultimate digital media culture. The profile for genre in the typical film usage as well as that of the public has attributes to the average success of Scandinavian film hence consist of the older and traditional segments as compared to the young and modern segments. The understanding points at having Scandinavian film culture related to film cultures in broader regions for the Western world. This is not only based on cinema. Cinema has an important part got the life and success of a film even though the audience for such films are now found on other platforms including television, DVD on TV, computer and VOD, mobile media and downloads (Hedling, 2010). Cooperation with Nordvision It is easy to point at the fact that the cooperation with Nordvision traces back more than five decades ago while the people’s network across Nordic public service stations appears to be firmly established as compared to the structures in co-production for the entire film culture irrespective of the important responsibilities of TV Fund and Nordic Film. Probably, it is evident that the television sector is in cooperation as the area embraces few actors as compared to the fragmented film cultures. The extensive public service stations appear to establish close collaborative networks and a number of creative formulas combining national and international genre concepts (Redvall, 2010). The successes in the national and international realms underline the perspective even though it becomes apparent that the Scandinavian TV stations also work intensely with relationships between public knowledge, genre, and narrative. It is worth noting that, within the drama collaboration context of Scandinavian TV, the most apparent features are drama and crime series traveling with times. The focus is not on the experimental dramatic productions (Thorne, 2007). The Scandinavian film culture cooperation appears to be way less in development as it lacks similar forms collective goals and directions irrespective of having role plays for the audiences in different social settings. The scope of co-productions within Scandinavia becomes moderately impressive where there are close to 124 films from 2002 to 2006 while most of the Scandinavian co-productions are viewed past national boundaries. Similarly, the elements of films’ co-production are essential in the achievement of significant audiences for non-national Scandinavian markets. Furthermore, there is lack of significant and empirical statistics correlating between aspects of co-distribution and co-production in engaging the partner-countries (Corbett, 2008). Most co-produced films achieve smaller cinema audiences as compared to the Scandinavian films without inked forms of co-production. Co-production is important in the creation of interesting and transnational networks even though it includes decisive factors for the success of films success across the entire Scandinavia. Despite the fact that co-production is impactful on different forms of Scandinavian collaboration it is not clear of the manner of getting the films in the global markets while the essence is that of reaching the transnational public. The information presented is a clear indication of the Scandinavian film culture, which remains focused to aspects of production while getting the films proper funding as well as their instrumental production techniques (Corbett, 2008). However, without sufficient focus to attaining the transnational audiences past the overall national territory, the filming continues to face more hardships. Information as per the Nordic Council reveals that close to 60% for the Nordic citizens has a feeling of specialty while connecting with the entire Nordic region as supported through the union of federal Nordic (Thorne, 2007). This concept is not perceived in Scandinavia film consumption patterns in context. Scandinavia does not seem to be the region with social homogenization while the people view Scandinavian films due to the Scandinavian concerns for most films. The approach seeks to achieve and moderate success levels in other Scandinavian countries often attributing efforts to the cast, or the director, the story and genre. Challenging artistic worlds in Scandinavian art cinema Many European cinema observers point to the artistic aspects of cinema to be sound traditions linking to the non-narrative cinema experimental forms and realist drama. As an artistic trend or genre, this filming rarely attains a larger audience. The ‘Lars von Trier’ narrows down to an example of European exception for the rule. However, the overall notion is that this cinematic form often has wider distribution in the international arena as compared to the national mainstream filming. For the information relating to Scandinavian film as presented, art cinema includes the drama category even within the broad category as well as different groups of experimental directors in art cinema with special positions (Redvall, 2010). Each of them challenges and expands the narrative structure and realism norms of drama genre. The Scandinavian and European art cinema has a connection to the tradition of movements and manifestos from various new waves to Dogma 95 movement from the 1960s while institutionally compelling the clear dependent aspects past public funding and social support while ensuring growth in festivals networks. This includes the international launch of sites for related forms of films. Art cinema flirts with the genres mainstream like in ‘Lars von Trier’ with musical drama of ‘Dancer in the Dark’ even though the genre exposure stands against such rulings. However, the art cinema engages cinematic language to become reflexive works for the artistic strategies in an innovative and complex method. Both ‘Lars von Trier’ and ‘Dogville’ again moved from the mainstream spectacle and realism of cinema while closing in to call theatre. Christoffer Boe, the Danish director, is one experimental director having films like ‘Reconstruction (2003)’ that was a romantic drama running in circles. Another illustration of a director in similar lines is Norwegian Salmer fra kjøkkenet with Bent Hamer developing their own artistic forms for absurd realism, satire and dry black humour, while the Swedish director Roy Andersson represents an existential essay film. Global view of Scandinavian Media and Film The future cinema challenges have a historical containment in ascertaining the degree of the cornerstone for film culture. Here, the extent for the professionals across the entire film business as well as film culture is under scrutiny. Cinemas are place where videos and other forms of films could be seen prior all other places. However, as the information on the film consumption have a presentation on the report shows, there is empirical realism in different aspects. Scandinavians have much treasure for cinema while considering the cinema types for the best places of watching the films even though in reality, the films are watched in other ways among the different platforms available. Film becomes an essential part for the global culture in the digital media while technical films spread beyond the global networks without the control of the national centers either illegally and legally (Allen, 2006). The situation generates more tensions for contemporary film culture within cinema as the primary platform and other platforms. It also develops tensions for those producing and making films while the ones wanting to control the particular films release are in new systems. The previous hold back chain of periods has cinema first followed by television and DVD breaking down across the world as a sustained concern (Thorne, 2007). From the sentiments, the fundamental structural alterations take place within the overall Scandinavian film as well as the media cultures across the 1990s resulting to the increment of globalization for both television and film cultures for Europe. The diversification and fragmentation of television landscapes based on the new commercial channels also has new channels of public service without the European dimension development for film and media policies as increased internationalization for the film distribution and production having fundamental changes in the ancient national film and television spaces (Allen, 2006). In addition, the new digital media and film culture comes in handy in the creation of both new challenges and possibilities for national film cultures. It is imbedded within the alternative view for film as one of the things with a primary link to the national cinema culture. On the other hand, the regional and national variations still maintain their relevance while both national film and European cultural policies in wholesome have much dedication towards supporting cultural diversity as well as the regional developments. Audience Performance In Scandinavia, the national film cultures display plenty of similarities while the long tradition indicates a presence of cooperation. However, there are numerous differences based on their size for the population across the mentioned countries coupled with different historical developments and traditions. Part of the striking aspects of these components perhaps is that Norway remained as a regionalized sector for public cinema up to 2001 where it became a production company under state ownership (Hedling, 2010). With this, the Scandinavian TV and film culture is an integral European region having the strongest levels of public service tradition in television. It also has a cinema culture and policy with a domination of subsidy systems with a cultural orientation with minimal of the various kinds of economic systems with subsidy orientations for their tax incentives, loans among other automatic film market support systems (Bergfelder, 2005). The audience performance ensures commercial success to be a central criterion through which other Europe parts found their filming techniques. In turn, the cultural support domination has engaged a shift towards stronger emphasis for the criteria of market oriented support. Today, regions of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway take a combination of film commissioner schemes coupled with market-oriented schemes. The world challenge is met with similar responses across the Scandinavian countries. It is notable that there is a common increment in co-production where there is a European level as well as the Nordic Film Fund forming important partners in generation of transnational connections in Scandinavia. The other critical factor among the shared structures in the Scandinavian countries has to do with the strong and dominant traditions in public service television having monopolistic status remaining until recently. The public and commercial service for dual system television together with the European tendencies comes into establishment through similar means. The public service approaches and channels have an important component in distinguishing platforms to show Scandinavian films while serving as integral co-producing partners (Allen, 2006). As a result, the development of traditions of Scandinavian TV drama has a spectacular success across the 1960s moving forward while there was modern revival immediately after the 1990 revolution of the industry for both Denmark and Sweden through establishment of aspects of absolute relevance. The TV drama production came in handy in the increase of creative collaboration across TV and film culture. With the global perspective in comparison with the various trends of critical European countries, the aspects of public support coupled with the subsidy systems and culturally oriented policies acquire dominance. The national systems across Scandinavia are the cultural diversity models as they are do not have soft cultural support for art’s sake nor for culture and creativity. They present hard market oriented models because of stimuli towards the extensive film sectors, which creates diversity automatically. The manner through which cultural diversity models are implemented across different Scandinavian countries is variant even though they have a common ground. The main weakness in the models is that the models tend to continue generating weak production structures with fragmented cultures for the unstable companies as well as the structures and motivation for distribution and marketing under severe under meaning (Bergfelder, 2005). From the 1990s, the levels of deregulation within Scandinavian TV systems coupled with the increment in competition for the global and the national markets contribute to emerging aspects for traditionally systems under culture orientation. There are drastic components of increasing the way in which the uncomplicated collaboration of the TV and films continues to develop new initiatives for professionalization of support for production and development, internationalization and distribution of film in the industry. The Scandinavian film audience and emerging film culture After the monopoly break within the culture Scandinavian television across the later years of the 1980s, the levels of competition to achieve audiences turned to be an integrated element in developing television programs. While the idea is that of engaging traditional cultures in public service, the general concept foe the audience was the enlightenment and cultural civilization of citizens having various segments of needs in terms of popular entertainment as well as modern media culture seeking to acquire concern for the audiences (Redvall, 2010). Traditional TV drama had a broad degree of orientation towards national cultural trigger as compared to the entire global media culture. With Swedish and Danish drama television leading, this continues to change drastically from the former years of the 1990s while the modern television production has a basis on the more detailed audiences’ studies and the clear mixtures for global and national formats (Hedling, 2010). The Scandinavian television drama success in the national consideration for all Scandinavia audiences as well as the entire world remains unprecedented. Such tendencies take the observation of Scandinavian film cultures, where the mixed systems for market driven mechanisms of support have a cultural and art foundation in supporting different mechanisms. However, the new generations for the filmmakers with a global orientation make a considerable difference. The research on audiences is through a systematic knowledge for actual and empirical data regarding public taste as well as public behavior translates into the film and television development. This stretches to program with guidance of hopeless wish to be in a position of predicting the content that the audiences seek to have (Nestingen & Elkington, 2005). The focus on past public statistics and cool calculation does not amount to creative drivers of success. Such components are usually the cases with different program developments within the film industry. Respectively, without an awareness of the public, the films are produced without care or concern for arrogant and damaging attitudes. The features of having the film culture is not near systematic interests for audiences while consequently not having concepts and instruments for the discuss it. Conclusion Discussions for the film and audiences need to have a bias on the systematic and empirical information for film consumption. This is basing on the manner in which the films are presented within cinemas and the profiling of the film viewers into diverse forms of films as well as the cultural and social segments for the audiences. Information on this rests on the films showing on television as well as the findings that already point out diversity in the installation. However, the empirical data needs a combination with the fundamental knowledge of genres, aesthetics, narrative structures and the manner in which such features influences the emotional and cognitive reception of the films. The issue is looking on what individuals refer to as data with availability to Scandinavian films and the long way towards achieving the goals. There is a need to have knowledge of the numbers for cinema (both in Scandinavia and past the countries’ borders). This includes the need of getting familiar with these same figures with consideration of the digital and television consumption films. 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N., (2010) “Teaching Screenwriting in a Time of Storytelling Blindness: The Meeting of the Auteur and the Screenwriting Tradition in Danish Filmmaking”, Journal of Screenwriting, 1:1. Thorne, R., (2007) ‘Rethinking Distribution: Developing the Parameters for a Micro-analysis of the Movement of Motion Pictures’, Studies in Australasian Cinema’ volume 1, number 3, pp. 315-331. Read More