Photographs in Films Starring Ruan Lingyu: Considering Geometric Regions of the Motion Picture Frame

Yang, Panpan

Abstract

This multimodal essay utilizes the Semantic Annotation Tool (SAT), an open-source drop-in module, to create samples of time-based annotations for still photographs in Chinese films starring Ruan Lingyu. Exemplary films include Love and Duty (Lian’ai yu yiwu; 1931), The Peach Girl (Taohua qixue ji; 1931), and The New Women (Xin nüxing; completed in 1934, released in 1935), all produced by the United China (Lianhua) studio. It shows that the photograph is a motif across the three films, an object that oscillates between the screen world and the social world and a device that makes the viewer pensive. As an experimental attempt, it testifies to the ways in which close film analysis, archival research, and computational methods can be combined.

Citation

Yang, P. (2024). Photographs in Films Starring Ruan Lingyu: Considering Geometric Regions of the Motion Picture Frame. The journal of e-media studies, 7(1), https://doi.org/10.1349/PS1.1938-6060.A.504

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 20, 2021
• Publication Date: Jan 12, 2024
• Deposit Date: Dec 3, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 3, 2024
• Print ISSN: 1938-6060
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 1
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1349/PS1.1938-6060.A.504
• Related Public URLs: https://pub.dartmouth.edu/journal-of-e-media-studies-vol-7-issue-1-early-cinema-compendium/index?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1wXAVZbUe0bWOgO5H5lIo5poum0CwI2Grb514seuhGcuNFvV3b14ZKD_c_aem_xnRcqslKADQB3JfWDOfftQ