Cinephilia 2.0: New ways of using the framing. Some theoretical aspects of the “visual collage” in the New Film Criticism

Abstract

Our paper tries to think in a critical way one of the most relevant methodologies in the contemporary film criticism (the Cinephilia 2.0): Framing or the digital evolution of the «visual collage». In order to achieve our goal, we will start thinking briefly the main concepts (New Film Criticism and Framing), focusing especially on the economic and social context of his awakening. After that, we will think about the concrete use of screenshots since different theoretical perspectives. In the first place, we will analyze the evolution of the classical «auteaur» and the (impossible) control over his own images. In the second place, we will analyze the violence applied over two other main concepts of the cinema studies: shot and filmic time. Finally, we will face the importance of this new methodology in the last aesthetical debates. We will look for the connections between two basic philosophical concepts: Heidegger´s unveling and Walter Benjamin’s flashlight. After all, we will reclaim the humblest role for the Film Critic: the Benjamin´s rag picker of the History. Our analysis will include several examples of different members of the «New Film Criticism» and from other authors which are not directly connected with the movement, but who propose «visual collages» in their own blogs or webpages.