Film Style in Indonesian Cinema, 1998-2018: Lighting, Production Design and Camera Movement

Headline: Examines the use of cinematography and mise en scène in contemporary Indonesian cinema

Blurb:

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.

Key Features:

• The first scholarly work that considers Indonesian cinema as an artistic field with significant aesthetic values and artistic accomplishments
• Uses theories of film style never applied to Indonesian films before
• Discusses films from underrepresented groups, including women, LGBTQ and ethnic minority filmmakers
• Discusses Indonesian films that have been traditionally under-discussed in the field, including commercial genre films, exploitation films and short films
• Visually supported with 49 images from Indonesian films
• Incorporates the latest research on cinematography and production design
• Brings closer the critical study of Indonesian film and film practice

Keywords: film style; cinematography; lighting; camera movement; production design; Indonesian cinema

Subject: Film Studies

Ari Purnama is Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies at the University of Oregon.