In 1974 AlainResnaispublishedRepérages,abookofphotographs
takenwhilelookingforfilmlocations.Theimagesofstreetsandarchitec-
turaldetailssuggestanupdateofEugèneAtget’smelancholicphoto-
graphsofemptyParis,famouslydescribedasresemblingthescenesof
crimes.But,justasResnais’filmsslipbackandforthacrosstimeand
memory,hisbookcomplicatesthetenseofphotography.Repéragesoffers
photographsthatarebothretrospectiverecordsandprospectiveideas,
madeinanticipationofeventsyettocome.^45
Thefilmicpagetookanexplicitlyanalyticalturnintheearly 1970 s
withthebeginningsofthemoreformalizedandacademicstudyofcinema.
Reviewersandcriticshadtendedtowatchfilmsinmovietheatresalong
witheveryoneelse.Theemergenceoffilmtheorists–andeventheterm
‘filmtheory’–cameaboutwhenitbecamepossibleforspecialiststo
accessfilmsviatable-topSteenbeckviewersinarchivesanduniversities.
Nowmoviescouldbestopped,started,reversed,repeated,playedinslow
motionandreturnedtoatwill.Filmslentthemselvestoextremelyclose
reading,or‘textualanalysis’,focusingonspecificscenesorsequences.
Accesstoopticalprintersenabledtheoriststoillustratetheiranalyses
withsequencesofframegrabs,ratherthanrelyingonmisleadingproduc-
tionstills.Theresultwasasuddenprofusionofcolumnsandgridsof
filmframesinspecialistpublicationssuchasScreen,Camera Obscuraand
Wide Angle.Theculminationofanintensedecadeoftextualanalysis
camewithRaymondBellour’sinfluentialL’Analyse du film( 1979 ),asetof
chapter-lengthstudiesoffilmsequences(threefromHitchcock’sfilms),
eachillustratedwithupwardsof 250 frames.Today,ofcourse,awatered-
downversionoftextualanalysisinformsallmainstreamfilmviewing.
Thepauseandrewindbuttonsalongwithonlineviewinghavemade
analystsofusalltosomeextent.Thescreenhasbecomethesiteofits
ownanalysiswithoutsomuchneedfortheillustratedpage.
NewChallenges