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case1061572039.pdf (9 MB)
ETD Abstract Container
Abstract Header
Ordinary people: The cinema of John Sayles
Author Info
Ryan, John Edward
Permalink:
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1061572039
Abstract Details
Year and Degree
1994, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, English.
Abstract
John Sayles’s name is synonymous with solid, complex screenwriting, but his talents as a director and a cinematic stylist have been overlooked. Currently, no critical analysis of Sayles’s film work exists. My study is an examination of Sayles’s growth as a filmmaker, and an argument in support of his plain visual style. The first chapter contains a brief history of his career, touching on Sayles’s work in fiction, theater, music videos, and television. Each subsequent chapter discusses in detail Sayles’s films from
Return of the Secaucus Seven
(1980), his first independent feature film, to
Passion Fish
(1992), his most recent independent release. Included in each chapter is background material about production funding, a plot sketch, an analysis of important characters, and a look at Sayles’s use of language, setting, and politics. Each chapter also traces Sayles’s technical development – his camera work, editing, musical arrangements, and mise-en-scene.
Committee
Louis Giannetti (Advisor)
Pages
313 p.
Subject Headings
Cinema
Keywords
Cinema, John Sayles
;
Screenwriter/director
Recommended Citations
Refworks
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Citations
Ryan, J. E. (1994).
Ordinary people: The cinema of John Sayles
[Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1061572039
APA Style (7th edition)
Ryan, John.
Ordinary people: The cinema of John Sayles.
1994. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation.
OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center
, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1061572039.
MLA Style (8th edition)
Ryan, John. "Ordinary people: The cinema of John Sayles." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 1994. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1061572039
Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)
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Document number:
case1061572039
Download Count:
1,635
Copyright Info
© 1994, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.