Film Style in Indonesian Cinema, 1998-2018
Lighting, Production Design and Camera Movement
by Ari Purnama
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Book Presentation:
Film Style in Indonesian Cinema, 1998-2018 investigates the role of film style during the rebirth of Indonesian cinema following the collapse of General Suharto's New Order regime. Purnama argues that the renewal of Indonesian cinema was influenced by filmmakers who revamped the cinematic images of Indonesian film by foregrounding visual stylisation using cinematography and production design techniques. They transformed the aesthetic of Indonesian film to become stylistically complex with a pronounced degree of visual sophistication, offering local audiences pictorially appealing and engaging cinematic experiences.
Through a close analysis of lighting, production design, and camera movement in contemporary films such as Sang Pencerah, Laskar Pelangi, and The Raid: Redemption, Purnama highlights the significance of film style and the art of film-making to the cinematographers and production designers who revitalised Indonesian cinema in the 21st Century.
About the Author:
Ari Purnama is Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies at the University of Oregon.
Press Reviews:
In this engrossing study of contemporary Indonesian film style, Ari Purnama probes the visual appeal and artistic power of a cinema in resurgence. Distinguished by analytical acuity and theoretical rigor, Purnama’s account reveals how post-Suharto filmmakers have innovated upon past traditions, pushing Indonesian cinema to dazzling new heights of artistry. -- Gary Bettinson, Author of The Sensuous Cinema of Wong Kar-wai and Editor-in-Chief of Asian Cinema.
Film Style in Indonesian Cinema brilliantly extends our understanding of film style. Not only does it synthesize studies of lighting, production design, and camera movement; it goes beyond these studies by analyzing the dynamic cinema of Indonesia: a cinema of intensified darkness, energetic camerawork, and density of detail. -- Patrick Keating, Trinity University
See the publisher website: Edinburgh University Press
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