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identities. Chapter 2 analyses the production mechanisms and film dissemination channels for these films to be seen both overseas and domestically.
To achieve the goal of this book, various data collection and interpretative methods were employed. Chapter 3 of this book covers the basic observations of these films in general terms. Content analysis with a coding scheme was developed for performing systematic presentations, making quantitative generalisations about visual representation on the basis of reliable classification and observation (Bell, 2001).
However, there are limitations to content analysis. Many broader issues and dynamic relations between sequences of visual images cannot be achieved by this method. Rose (2001) commented, ‘All meanings are relational not only within the image but also in relation to other images and to broader dominant codes, referent systems and mythologies’ (p. 91). Bell (2001) also pointed out that the main limitation of content analysis is the ‘relatively untheorised concepts of messages, texts, or “manifest content” ’ (p. 93) and added, ‘Ideally, however, research adopting this methodology should supplement and extend its findings by means of detailed analysis of typical examples’ (p. 100). Thus, in-depth case studies were necessary in this research for dealing with theorised concepts, interpreting meanings, and discovering dynamics developed in different sequences of the films. Seven case films are examined in this book, with some comparisons made with films sharing similar themes and belonging to a series of topics in different periods of time. Chapters 4 and 5 offer interpretations of diverse films in detail. An archival and historical analysis is incorporated in the case study of chapter 6. An in-depth analysis of archival material, film sequences, and production processes was conducted to investigate the contingency and development of the film production. The final chapter integrates key findings, making points about the meaning of the discourses and national identity issues, and lays out the significance of this study.