Film scholar David Bordwell refers to the years 1917-1960 as the class

Film scholar David Bordwell refers to the years 1917-1960 as the classical era of filimnaking in Hollywood. Bordwell defines the era's style as being governed by straightforward narrative considerations, i.e., the need to follow well-defined characters through a chronological sequence of events, or plot. The technical elements of filmmaking—camera movement, lighting, editing, and sound—are all employed to tell a realistic story, one in which the world of the story is self- sufficient and recognizably related to our own. Devices that draw attention to the film as film rather than to the story are avoided.

Within this definition, the musical films of the 1930s are anomalous in that they interrupt narrative to present musical performances only tangentially related to the plot. In one film directed by Busby Berkeley, for example, a scene begins with a shot of an audience watching a singer. The singer's face then fills the screen—a natural enough transition—but this image soon dissolves into a fanciful sequence consisting of various aerial views of city life. Although the sequence illustrates the song being sung, it does not contribute to the story Berkeley tells between musical numbers. In such sequences, filmmaking techniques are used not to advance a narrative but as a respite from narrative; the people we see are not characters in a plot but rather are abstracted figures; editing and camera movement function not to help tell a story but to manipulate images into intricate patterns. Can the musical—in which such differently motivated and constructed sequences abut so closely—fit comfortably within Bordwell's definition of the classical style?

Bordwell's response is that the musical, no less than comedy or melodrama (two other staples of the classical era), evolved from popular live theater. The musical's conventions, Bordwell argues, cue viewers to expect a different structure—alternating narrative scenes and self-contained performances—from that of other genres, a structure that audiences are prepared for and thus accept as "realistic." But raising the issue of genre does not disguise the fact that Bordwell stretches the definition of the term "realism," for there is still the problem exemplified in films such as Berkeley's by the fact that the musical performances are not merely self-contained but self-absorbed—the selfish aesthetic of the interlude isn't intended to advance the plot but instead to draw attention to its own artistic expertise. Even the viewer aware of the film's genre cannot remain entirely unfazed by the break in the film's "reality." Bordwell too quickly dismisses the fact that watching a film is a perceptual act and not an academic exercise in pigeonholing genres. Because knowledge of genre is acquired, it would be worthwhile for scholars like Bordwell to first consider how viewers process cinematic images and eventually come to accept them as conventions before generalizing about the realism of certain film styles.

1. Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage?

(A) Despite some evidence to the contrary, Bordwell's definition of the classical style of filmmaking is borne out by a more careful examination of Hollywood film genres such as the musical.
(B) Contrary to Bordwell's claims, the musicals of the 1930s such as Busby Berkeley's are not realistic because they do not depict events in chronological order.
(C) Because film genres such as the musical evolved from popular theatrical forms, it can be argued that they fit comfortably within Bordwell's definition of the classical style of filmmaking.
(D) The films of Busby Berkeley do not meet the requirements of Bordwell's definition of the classical style of filmmaking and therefore cannot be considered examples of the classical style of filmmaking.
(E) The fact that Bordwell's definition of the classical style of filmmaking is obliged to treat musicals of the 1930s as realistic, despite compelling evidence to the contrary, illustrates the misguided nature of Bordwell's approach.


2. The passage identifies each of the following as a component of Bordwell's definition of the classical style of filmmaking EXCEPT:

(A) avoidance of filmmaking techniques that call attention to the film medium
(B) creation and presentation of clearly defined characters
(C) portrayal of a self-sufficient and relatively realistic world
(D) use of nonnarrative interludes between episodes of plot
(E) depiction of a chronological sequence of events


3. The author uses the term "realistic" throughout the passage to refer to which one of the following qualities of a film?

(A) the quality that allows the narrative structure to convey the story being told in the film
(B) the quality that allows the world of the story told in the film to resemble actual life
(C) the quality that allows the technical elements of filmmaking to contribute to the story being told in the film
(D) the quality that allows audiences to determine easily the genre to which the film belongs
(E) the quality that allows the film to employ a variety of narrative structures to tell a story


4. Which one of the following most accurately describes the organization of the passage?

(A) The author states a scholar's.thesis, counters the thesis with an example, summarizes the scholar's response to the example, points out a problem with the response, and criticizes the focus of the scholar's research.
(B) The author takes issue with a scholar's thesis, provides an example in support of a counterthesis, summarizes the scholar's response to the example, and argues in favor of replacing the scholar's thesis with the counterthesis.
(C) The author states a scholar's thesis, illustrates the thesis with an example, summarizes the scholar's interpretation of the example, points out a problem with the interpretation, and makes a suggestion for modifying the interpretation.
(D) The author takes issue with a scholar's thesis, provides an example illustrating the drawbacks of the thesis, summarizes the scholar's response to the example, points out a problem with the response, and offers a new thesis to replace the scholar's thesis.
(E) The author states a scholar's thesis, presents the results of research supporting the thesis, counters the results with an example, summarizes the scholar's response to the example, acknowledges the legitimacy of the response, but suggests that further research is needed to settle the matter.


5. The author of the passage would most likely agree with which one of the following statements?

(A) Busby Berkeley's films are unique among musicals in that their performance sequences do not contribute to their narratives.
(B) The use of technical elements in films of the classical era was usually very simplistic.
(C) The film genres popular in the classical era were all derived from noncinematic popular entertainment forms.
(D) Audiences learn to accept certain cinematic images as conventions primarily through repeated exposure to such images.
(E) Most musical films of the 1930s concentrated on telling realistic stories.


6. The narrative_ structure of which one of the following hypothetical novels is most closely parallel to that of the musical films of the 1930s, as that genre is described by the author of the passage?

(A) a novel that depicts a series of events, moving from one event to another without providing information necessary for understanding the context or chronology of the events
(B) a novel that follows a number of characters who do not know one another, depicting a single event in each of their lives and concluding with a final event that unites all of the characters
(C) a novel that follows a number of characters who all reside in the same town, depicting a single event in each of their lives that together combine to form a portrait of a typical day in the town
(D) a novel that follows a protagonist through a series of events, pausing throughout to provide information relevant to the events by means of fanciful flashbacks to the protagonist's youth
(E) a novel that follows a protagonist through the events of a single day, pausing throughout for stylistically elaborate sections expressing the protagonist's thoughts and fantasies about life in general


7. Which one of the following, if true, would most call into question the position of Bordwell described in the first two sentences of the last paragraph?

(A) evidence that reviewers of musical films in the 1930s generally praised the films' unrealistic elements
(B) evidence that audiences went to musical films in the 1930s primarily to enjoy the musical performances
(C) evidence that viewers of musical films in the 1930s all experienced these films in the same way, whether or not they had previously been exposed to musicals
(D) evidence that audience members tend to have longer attention spans when watching films with whose genres they are unfamiliar
(E) evidence that the musicals presented in popular live theater before the 1930s are stylistically very similar to the musical films of the 1930s