Female

Did you like this film? What did you like about it? Discuss and describe your favorite five-minute scene.

[This is one of the only times I will ask your opinion about a film.]

Baby Face

Baby Face is often considered the most "pre code" of the pre code films. Discuss what this means in one paragraph and in your second paragraph discuss how the film's themes are presented cinematically through one cinematic element (choose one). Here is a link to the film: https://vimeo.com/channels/642746/131683919.

Chungking Express

Choose a five-minute scene in Chungking Express and think about the themes that Wong Kar Wai embodies in this work (such as isolation) and analyze the scene through this theme and using 1-2 cinematic elements. Minimum 2 paragraphs.

Cave of the Yellow Dog

In Cave of the Yellow Dog, Byambasuren Davaa uses a very specific type of filmmaking to convey her message. Do you feel the documentary style of the film is useful in conveying the message and the plot? Choose a five-minute scene and analyze through one cinematic element (e.g. editing, cinematography, sound, etc.) to support your choice of whether it is effective or not.

Eat Drink Man Woman

Choose your favorite 5 minute scene and analyze it in 2 paragraphs through 2 elements (such as lighting, composition, editing, sound, etc.).

Cat People

It is my understanding many of you did not like this film. Of course, that does not matter. It is a classic and a film that has been copied (and literally remade) over and over in the past six decades. Take a look at this Ebert essay and choose a scene in the film to analyze through 2 cinematic elements. Be sure to quote from the essay and analyze with implied meaning.

Bride of Frankenstein

Think about the films we have watched over the past two years that come from the horror genre (or its predecessor, German Expressionism) and choose one film to discuss with Bride of Frankenstein. Think about the films' geographical region, time period, unique approach to film style and genre. Discuss how each film was affected by political, economic, social, and cultural conditions at the time. How did these things affect the narrative as well as the cinematic elements?

Ringu

Remember how to look at a film through a feminist lens? Choose a five-minute scene in Ringu and examine the role of women and how they are portrayed in your selected scene and in the film as a whole. How does the director show us? Be sure to discuss this topic CINEMATICALLY. Back up all of your statements with evidence from the film. Your response should be 3 well-developed paragraphs. You must reference one of the big names (from feminist film criticism) such as Tania Modleski, Laura Mulvey, and Molly Haskell. You must state the title of the essay and use at least one quote. I have plenty of books in the library to help you with this.

Let the Right One In

I want you to think about the mise-en-scene in Let the Right One In. Examine all aspects of mise-en-scene: lighting, composition, set, properties, etc. This would include color as well. Discuss the concept of "monster" through the mise-en-scene of the film. This exercise will help prepare you for your Independent Study. Examine CLOSELY and offer me many details and examples. Think about what the director is trying to say IMPLICITLY. Please do this in at least 2 well-developed paragraphs.

Use whatever scenes you can find on YouTube or come into the Library and use my copy.

The Passion of Joan of Arc

Full movie can be found here.

Please choose one essay prompt and write at least 2-3 well-developed paragraphs.

Essay #1 From Roger Ebert's essay on The Passion of Joan of Arc:

"There is not one single establishing shot in all of 'The Passion of Joan of Arc,' which is filmed entirely in closeups and medium shots, creating fearful intimacy between Joan and her tormentors. Nor are there easily read visual links between shots. In his brilliant shot-by-shot analysis of the film, David Bordwell of the University of Wisconsin concludes: 'Of the film's over 1,500 cuts, fewer than 30 carry a figure or object over from one shot to another, and fewer than 15 constitute genuine matches on action.'"

Many avant garde films also do not have matches on action or carryover shots. Compare The Passion of Joan of Arc to one of the avant garde films we watched in regards to editing and mise-en-scene. Use cinematic evidence to back up whatever you state.

Essay #2 From the Ib Monty article I gave you:

"When the film was released, the close-up technique was regarded as shocking. Dreyer defended his method by stating: 'The records give a shattering impression on the ways in which the trial was a conspiracy of the judges against the solitary Jeanne, bravely defending herself against men who displayed a devilish cunning to trap her in their net. This conspiracy could be conveyed on the screen only through the huge close-ups, that exposed, with merciless realism, the callous cynicism of the judges hidden behind hypocritical compassion--and on the other hand there had to be equally huge close-ups of Jeanne, whose pure features would reveal that she alone found strength in her faith in God.' As in all of Dreyer's major films the style grew out of the theme of the film. In La passion de Jeanne d'Arc Dreyer wanted 'to move the audience so that they would themselves feel the suffering that Jeanne endured.' It was by using close-ups that Dreyer could 'lead the audience all the way into the hearts and guts of Jeanne and the judges.'"

Agree or disagree with this quote. Use cinematic evidence to back up whatever you state.

Preparation for Independent Study

Choose any two minutes in the following video and create a 2 column script for those two minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0DotIqOD-E

Avant Garde

Choose 3 of the films we watched in class and answer the following questions. Answer all questions for each film to create at least 3 hearty paragraphs.

Le Retour a la Raison
Entr'acte
Le Ballet Mecanique
Un Chien Andalou
Meshes of the Afternoon (this is the one with the Maya Deren interview)

What do you notice about the film's presentation of cinematic space? What do you see on screen? For example, lots of landscapes or closeups? Moving or statics camera?

How does the director's use of lighting help to create meaning?

Do you identify with the camera's lens? What does the director compel you to see? What is left to your imagination? What does the director leave out altogether? Describe the mise-en-scene and how it helps to create meaning in the film.

What implicit meaning do you find in the film?

If you can't get enough of the avant garde cinema, check out this site: http://www.ubu.com/film/.

If you want to look more into Jonas Mekas, go here: http://jonasmekas.com/diary/

Lighting

Please read this article on lighting. Please experiment with lighting. It will make your projects much more professional looking. Here is the article: http://www.lavideofilmmaker.com/filmmaking/film-lighting-tips.html

Rififi

Examine Rififi through a feminist lens. Use at least one quote from a feminist film theory essay (either the Laura Mulvey essay or Anneke Smelik's essay.) Read the film by FULLY analyzing one five-minute scene. Be sure to discuss the film's meaning as a whole (through the feminist lens) and the scene's relation to that meaning. Why did you choose the scene? I also want you to mention your favorite part of the movie and what cinematic techniques you learned you could use in your own productions. Minimum of 2 paragraphs.

And, check out these cool production design pictures from the movie!

The Public Enemy

Think about the following quote from Warshow's essay and cinematically apply it to The Public Enemy. Use this quote (and the entire article) as a starting point to think about the themes the movie is portraying through cinematic language. Use one scene to back up your points and be sure to present details in your formal analysis.

"...the initial contact between the film and its audience is an agreed conception of human life: that man is a being with the possibilities of success or failure. This principle, too, belongs to the city; one must emerge from the crowd or else one is nothing. On that basis the necessity of the action is established, and it progresses by inalterable paths to the point where the gangster lies dead and the principle has been modified: there is really only one possibility--failure. The final meaning of the city is anonymity and death."

Breathless

Read this article. Choose a scene in Breathless and respond to the following quote. Be sure to write at least 2 paragraphs. Respond to each others' posts for extra credit. Here's the quote:

"This basic sequence of events is the minimal thread of continuity that holds the filmic narrative together. However, causal development and character motivation in the traditional sense are relatively loose. While the film does not reject narrative conventions as a whole, it goes a long way towards weakening the tight-knit structure and explanatory mechanisms affiliated with dominant narrative. The film's visual construction works even more aggressively against conventional film style. It systematically departs from the aesthetic guidelines and rules defined by continuity editing, relying variously on long-take sequences (often shot with hand-held camera) and jump cutting."

The 400 Blows

Pick one of the scenes below and write a 3-paragraph DETAILED analysis. Include at least one quote from a review that you find on the Movie Review Query Engine. Remember also to come up with an overarching theme for your analysis, state why you chose your scene, and the scene's relationship to the film as a whole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP2eWHdZLDE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9I-gsap0po

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERAGjXnXQwk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r00iQjNtC0k

Bicycle Thieves

Please choose at least two features of neorealism that DeSica presents in the film that effectively convey the overall meaning of the film. Choose one five minute scene and analyze the scene through genre theory, using at least one quote from the articles I have given you. Utilize the Chandler article on genre theory that I have given you as well.

Minimum: 2 paragraphs.

Bringing Up Baby

Think about the film's mise-en-scene. Choose one scene in the film and discuss all aspects of the mise-en-scene (costumes, set, lighting, props, framing) and its relation to the scene and the film as a whole. Use at least 2 hearty paragraphs for your discussion. Your discussion should include insights into the intent of the filmmaker as well as copious evidence from within the frame.

And please post your favorite line from the film.

Grand Illusion

Focusing only on the film's mise en scene (lighting, shot composition, set design, costume design), discuss this quote from the Robin Wood essay I gave you:

"How to belong, how to meet"--another way of putting it is to say that Renoir's perennial concern is with the boundaries; that keep people apart and the possibility of transcending them. The four-part structure enables him to develop this theme through a network of shifting, interlocking relationships presented consistently in terms of difference and the overcoming of difference.

Your response should be 2 paragraphs long and should include a correctly cited quote from one of the essays I gave you.

The Hitchhiker

Lighting (or lack thereof) is extremely important in film noir and especially so in Ida Lupino's The Hitchhiker. Please give 3 examples of instances where lighting creates meaning. Be specific in your meaning as well as how Lupino expresses that meaning on the screen. Be sure to describe fully what is inside of the frame.

Here is a link to the film--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIeFKTbg3Aw

It is in the public domain, so it's widely available online.

If you liked The Hitchhiker, you may also like this one...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tap67KjjPu8

Screenplays!

Here are the ideas. Choose one and get to work...

• Two kids want the same soda. One of them gets it. A chase ensues. Who will get the soda?

• Two teenagers run for their lives after egging the wrong car.

• A man dies, only to discover that he has the chance to relive his entire life all over again. What will he choose? 

Be sure to read a few scripts before you start writing. This site offers a lot of scripts, both contemporary and classic...http://www.dailyscript.com/