Rewrites: "W" class -- 2005 Instructions * REWRITES: My Favorite Movie (1st assignment, 200 words) -- must have credits, names, dates, sources, references, biblio. Who is responsible (functions, professions) OPINIONS --who doesn't have them? Arguments! Good or bad -- reasons. * Find your movies at MoviesUnlimited.com * [ advertising space : webmaster ] Search The Internet Movie Database Enter the name of a movie, TV show, or person and then click "Go" to get more information about it/them from imdb.com.   new: 2003 * THR334 Film Analysis Directing 2003 Directors Forum 2004: Sign * guestBook * View webmaster Film-North GeoAlaska: Theatre & Film Classes w/Anatoly DVD: Drama & Art House, Studio Specials & Classics, New & Future Releases, Cult Movies + textbooks Film Directing 101 (use the pages for THR470) * Discussion Questions: What was the theme of this film? What were the film makers trying to tell us? Were they successful? Justify your answer. Did you learn anything from this movie? What was it? Was there something you didn't understand about the movie? What did you like best about the movie? Why? Select an action performed by one of the characters in the film and explain why the character took that action. What motivated him or her? What did this motivation have to do with the theme of the film? Who was your favorite character in the movie? Why? Who was your least favorite character in the movie? Why? Describe the use of color in the film? Did it advance the emotions the film makers were trying to evoke? How would you have used color in the movie? Analyze the use of music in the movie. Did it enhance the story that the film makers were trying to tell? How would you have used music in this movie? Did all of the events portrayed in the film ring true? Describe the scenes that you found especially accurate. Which sequences didn't seem to match reality? Why? What was the structure of the story told by the movie? How did the editing of the film advance the story that the film makers were trying to tell? Explain how? Projects: Students can be asked to write an essay on any of the discussion questions described above. The class can be asked to take positions on and to debate any of the discussion questions. Change the ending of the film. (This can be done by the teacher describing a new ending or permitting the class or different groups of students to choose their own ending.) Break the class into groups to create a story board or a script of an altered version of the film accommodating the new ending, if necessary, changing the order of the scenes. Bibliography: Classroom Cinema, by Richard A. Maynard, 1977, Teachers College Press, New York [ from Teach Page ] Summary "How to Write Film Paper" @ Classes Directory. All papers must be posted @ 200x Forum Film Acting * Go to... Film-North Directors Forum Actor & Camera Film Acting Video Screen Film Books Film Analysis Shoot! my mailing list Theatre UAF my shows Acting in Movies The Art of Film Acting Michael Caine - Acting in Film Your Film Acting Career From stage to screen Acting for Film Questions see FAQ pages. Homework Re-writes. 3 Stages: Outline, 1st draft, final draft. You can do as many re-writes as necessary. Notes Also, see Students page. FINAL PAPER: director/film showcase Use last classes to showcase Kurosawa (Dreams), Bergman, Fellini to show them how to write their final paper (see directors pages for details). 2005: I am thinking about the web-based class projects as the assignments... ...

Film & Movies: Papers

Structure:
Idea
Plot
Character

Texture:
Language
Music
Spectacle (Show)

123 Composition:
Exposition
Climax
Resolution

Genre: Comedy, Tragedy, Drama

Chronotope: Space + Time

[ see old pages: student papers ]

Folks, I understand that the filmic analysis is new to you and you are more comfortable with the dramatic analysis (mostly plot or story), but the focus of this class is to learn how the plot, characters and etc. are expressed on the screen. For example, the plot of the Matrix wouldn't make this movie a success, but HOW it was done!

Your papes must have Bibliography, References, including URLs (Endnotes).

Quotations (including your textbook).

Must use terminology introduced in class.

If I get a note from the UAF Writing Center, you get extra point.

Must give some examples from the films you write about: shots, cuts and so on.

If you need a consultation, make an oppointment with me.

[ more Guidelines later ] Spring 2003 (200 words sample):

The Pianist Review

It is always hard to objectively criticize movies about the Holocaust because they carry so much weight with them. The idea of the Holocaust that people carry in their mind can sometimes outweigh the quality of the movie that they are watching. I would say that overall The Pianist is a good portrayal of the Holocaust and Polanski directed it well. One of the aspects of the film that makes it so realistic is the voyeuristic style of the cinematography. Most of the atrocious acts carried out by the Nazi’s are seen from the POV of Adrien Brody’s character, Wladyslaw Szpilman. There are many scenes that are shot through windows which in many cases severely limits what the viewers can see. There was a particularly effective scene in which Szpilman is hiding out in a bathroom and he can only see outside through a hole in a frosted window. As the camera scans what is occurring outside we can't help wanting to see more but our vision is restricted. When the Nazi soldiers come with their flame throwers to “our window” we can't help but feel dread. Another scene that was well done was when Nazi soldiers come to Szpilman’s neighborhood. This scene is shot looking out a window and is focused through the windows of a building across the street. We see the image of the ideal family sitting down to supper. The Nazi’s come in and disrupt their peaceful supper and force them all to stand up. When the old man in a wheelchair can’t stand up they just wheel him over to the balcony and toss him over. The rest of the family is then herded down to the street to be shot. All this is shot from the POV of the Szpilman family and is quite shocking in its realism. Another aspect of the movie that I found particularly effective was the use of sound. There is a scene when a tank is bombarding the building that Szpilman is hiding in. He is locked in his room with no where to escape to. When the tank shoots a shell in the room Szpilman is in we hear a loud blast and then we are overwhelmed by a high pitched ringing sound. This is mildly uncomfortable as a viewer because it is such an annoying sound, but once again it pulls us into the movie. We feel as if we just got shot at by a tank. I must admit that there was one part of the movie that I thought was stupid and pointless. The scene at the end when the Jews are walking past the German POW’s and taunting them just seems wrong. The whole movie is showing how the Nazi’s are evil oppressors, and the Jews endure the best they can. This final scene turns the tables and shows the Jews as the “oppressors” essentially contradicting the “lesson” that should have been learned. Maybe it’s just me but I felt that this ruined the end of the film. Overall, I would say that it was a good movie.

The Pianist (200 words)

Humans are interesting creatures. We have reached levels that no other mammals have reached because, among other things, of our creativity and inventiveness, and the fact that we have a conscience. During war time these two great human gifts clash mightily with another. World War II is one of the most fascinating and yet most gruesome topics that this earth has ever dealt with. Therefore it is a subject of a great many movies. The Pianist is yet another movie that is based on World War II that has reached the big screen and has been met with critical acclaim. The script of this movie was not spectacular by a long shot, but it was made up for with good directing and great acting. The script was one that everyone has known before; a Jew is the herded up to go to his death but manages to get out because of his fame beforehand, he lingers on the edge death more than once and sees the atrocities of the war and then when he survives gains even more fame and fortune. That being said about the basic plot and storyline, this was a good movie. The director Roman Polanski did a decent job in portraying the rotten conditions in which Jews were kept, and how much contempt the Germans had for them. Also, despite that fact that we have become very much desensitized by violence, there is still something inside that makes you shudder when the lives of 7 men are randomly taken on no more than a whim. In a sense that is worse than the shooting of hostages, or the mass murdering of millions people, merely because it is a conscious decision based on appearance and bias and done with no feeling whatsoever. However, our hero played by Adrian Brody manages to escape all of these misfortunes by hook or by crook. Brody did a fantastic job using facial and body expressions to portray the misery he was going through. This is what made this movie stand out, Polanski's ability to capture Brody's expressions on film and use the shadows to heighten the tension and deepen the mood. He especially did a good job towards the end of the movie when Brody was doing everything he could to survive; the angles that he used showing and using both primary and secondary motion were well done. It is a good thing the second part was put together so well because the first hour of the movie was merely a series of cuts and shocking scenes that were poorly pieced together and just put there so that the story could be told. Overall, I would give this movie 3 ˝ stars or a B- because it was a good 2nd half movie that portrayed human emotion and feeling and the will to survive even if it required acting like an animal, but not higher because of the plot holes and lack of character development for anyone else other than the main character. I would recommend it to someone but not say it was a must see.
Spring 2003 ("short paper")

[ after this Spring 2003 semester is over I will post more, the best papers ]

Plans: 2004 +

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Film/Video Directing online

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Script Evaluation Card:

Begin with a brief verbal description of the object (1-2 paragraphs). Try to give your reader a sense of what it is like to see/hear/experience the "thing" you selected. Use descriptive terms and metaphors, and try to avoid technical jargon understood only by artists or philosophers.
* Present arguments/reasons why it should be considered "art"
* Present arguments/reasons why it should not be considered "art"
* Use ideas you have developed from the class readings and discussions, as well as any additional factors you think are relevant in developing your arguments. Consider the information about the object that you find on the web site for that object, given below (visual, audio, text). Include both stronger arguments and weaker ones - do not limit yourself only to the one reason you think is "best" or "strongest." Please do not do any additional research on the object or on the philosophical issue of what constitutes "art." Be sure to fully discuss both "sides" (both that it should and that it should not be considered "art").

Your essay should adhere to good standards for composition. Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Grading will consider the comprehensiveness of your discussion, the range of reasons discussed, your demonstrated understanding of the material in Unit I, and the variety of properties of the thing in question that you explore.

* Movies, list: recommended and required for THR334

2004 & After read: texts: in focus: reading: links: atomfilms.com * dfilm.com * ifilm.com * mediatrip.com * super8 * classics * independent Chekhov, Ibsen, Shakespeare

I do not know how Tarkovsky appeared on so many my pages, I know -- why...

The montage techniques adapted so widely by the commercial cinema and the coming of the virtual medium environment, ask for another look at the Tarkovsky philosophy of filmmaking. We won't be cut that easy, when the 3D is here...

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PAPER: post on our Group/Class List!

An online course supplement * 2005-2006 Theatre UAF Season: Four Farces + One Funeral & Godot'06
Film-North * Anatoly Antohin * eCitations *
© 2007 by vtheatre.net. Permission to link to this site is granted. Bookmark FILM-NORTH books.google.com + scholar.google.com
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