THE MEANING IN THE TEXT OF POST-REFORM BANDUNG INDIE FILM: A HERMENEUTICAL ANALYSIS

• Main Author: Belasunda (NIM : 37013004), Riksa
• Format: Dissertations
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/30495
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

In Indonesia, indie film is growing and develops rapidly in the post-reform era. The development is in line with the decrease in the number of movie theatres, production, and the occurrence of uniformity in ideas, concept, messages, and aesthetics of the national filmmakers. These are supported by the availability of convenient and inexpensive digital visual film technology, that enabling more people to access and engage in a film production. The movement of indie film is supported by the indie film communities, that have become the subculture that is identical with a resistance against the habitude, values, and lifestyles of the dominant culture. These embracing creativity and freedom of expression by means of approach and expression style in film media. Indie film communities grow and develop in several cities in Indonesia, including Bandung indie film community. Many of ideas and work of this community are enticing and experimental. Therefore, further efforts are required in order to comprehend, interpret, and appreciate the indie film text. <br /> <br /> This study is aimed to find out more; how to comprehend the construction of indie film text of the Bandung indie film community’s work, how the expression of ideas and messages of resistance in the text construction, and how the interpretation and meaning in the film text of Bandung indie film community’s work. This research is a qualitative research with cultural studies approach by means of Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics research method with a descriptive interpretative technique. The stages of this research are conducted by combining a conventional film analysis with Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutic significance as follows; (a) Observe and study the narrative elements which are in the form of story and plot, staging, dramatic structure, key elements, space and time contexts, and the information contained within the story; (b) Observe and study the film text structure in the forms of shot, scenes, and sequences; (c) Conduct sequences splitting and grouping together with their structure patterns and construct the sequence details according to the film plots sequence, create a plot summary of each story segment; (d) Observe and study the film cinematic elements, i.e. mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, and sound; (e) Reading the style of expression in conveying the message related to the community’s social <br /> <br /> iv <br /> <br /> change representation on the text; (f) Compile the conclusions of research findings; (g) Provide the conclusion. <br /> <br /> The four-staged selection was performed toward the 346 titles obtained from data sources to assign the indie film entitled “Lie &#8800; Pray; Sign’s of The End’ and "Para Lelaki Aneh" as the research object. The selection was based on the deliberation on form and style of expression and the conflict theme complexity which considered dominant in its film text, including; identity, economic, social, cultural, religion, and gender. The stages of research object analysis is furthermore conducted: (a) Read and describe the text to comprehend the text construction; (b) Analyze the text to comprehend the explicit and implicit meaning to reveal the internal inconsistencies or contradictions of the text; (c) Transform the meaning of the text to bring up the construction of a new temporary meaning to derive the thoughts, ideas, and forms of resistance that contained in the text of the film that became the research object. The findings and conclusion are obtained from the result of the analysis are; (a) The construction of the indie film text of Bandung indie film community generally still use the narrative structure pattern of the mainstream films and cinematic elements as the medium of the style of expression; (b) The message of resistance is delivered through the variety of expressions, either through the choice of the aesthetic form or the content of the film. The content of resistance expressed by the indie film creator is largerly conducted by the genre approach of realist, comedy, parody, and surrealist. The satire humor is the one of approaches used by the creators to deliver an unconventional and deconstruction message of resistance. This approach is considered consistent with the characteristics of the Sundanese. The creator[s] perform the resistance in the text on cinematic elements: mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound; (c) The indie films in Bandung are not express resistance confrontationally, it conveyed in the principle of sineger tengah, i.e. taking the middle position as a harmony, the controlled action to remain reasonable and balanced. A form of resistance with self and group awareness approach with the principle of silih asih, silih asah, silih asuh – compassionate, cautionary, nurturing – in order to provide the greatest benefit for many parties. There is still a possibility of the resistance meaning diversity in this principle of harmony for audiences with different socio-cultural backgrounds. <br />