Film and architecture: Discovering the self-reflection of Frank Capra and Frank Lloyd Wright through contextual analysis

Film and architecture were analyzed to evaluate the rhetorical potential these media hold in communicating the self-reflection of their creators. In an attempt to uncover common communication elements which further link the relationship between film and architecture, specific works of director Frank Capra and architect Frank Lloyd Wright were examined. The study utilizes both an historical, case study approach, combined with a contextual analysis of two selected works. Because Zettl's (1990) theory of applied media aesthetics emphasizes the importance of the medium in the communication process, this methodology was applied to Capra's film It's A Wonderful Life and Wright's building the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Conclusions indicate that the selected works were both culminating and transcendent in their manner of exposing the self-reflection of Capra and Wright's belief in the unity of humanity.