Reading log #1

How is Wizard of Oz constructed with pattern to create its form? In other words, what process does the artist of this film undergo to generate specific reaction from the audience?

Wizard of Oz is constructed with a constant pattern and juxtaposition. We see in the beginning that Dorothy has been threatened about her dog and ran. Then she met Professor Marvel who encouraged her to go home. As she arrives home, a tornado lifts Dorothy and Toto in her house and sent her off to a mystical land. The same process (the repetition of sequence) shows pattern in which the Wicked witch of the west threatens Dorothy. Then Dorothy is sent on a yellow brick road to see the wizard of Oz. During her journey she misses home and tries to find her way home. These correlating patterns develop the film’s narrative form in a unified sequence and elements.

Has Wizard of Oz fulfilled our formal expectations while we are viewing the text in our context? How does it influence audience’s expectation depending on which context they are on?

What we as audiences experience influence our readings or expectations of the text we see. With our prior experience, we recognise the conventions in a musical genre such as Wizard of Oz. Therefore, we expect this art piece to perform sing-and-dance to narrate or convey meanings. Another example is that our expectation of the acting style is different from the historical audiences’ because of the ideologies in our own current context.
#Introduction to Cinema Studies

Bordwell, D Kristen, T 2010, Film Art: An Introduction, “Significance of Film form”, publish McGraw-Hill, New York, edition 10, pp 51-70.