Thursday, November 29

We read students' predictions of what would happen after the ending of City Lights, and debated the matter. Having done so, we watched the final scene one last time.

Wednesday, November 28

We finished watching City Lights, then watched the final scene a second time, this time with the students taking notes.

HW due Thursday:
Type one or two well-written paragraphs in response to both of the following questions:
(1) What happens in the final scene of City Lights? Describe in detail.
(2) What do you think will happen next?

Tuesday, November 27

We watched the Fleischers' "Snow White" with Betty Boop, then the first 40 minutes of City Lights, written by, directed by, with music composed by, and starring, Charlie Chaplin.

Monday, November 26

Students took the quiz over Complicated Women and the Hays Code. We graded it and briefly discussed the Code, then watched some pre-Code Betty Boop.

Tuesday, November 20

Film: Complicated Women, about women in pre-Code Hollywood films.
Students took notes on the film.

Handouts: The Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 (Hays Code)

Quiz Monday over the film and the handouts. Open notes and open handouts.

Friday, November 16

We watched more scenes from Young Frankenstein with Mel Brooks's commentary.

Thursday, November 15

We rewatched certain scenes of Young Frankenstein, this time with director Mel Brooks's voice-over commentary.

Special Pedagogical Dispensation:
Outside viewing essays submitted Friday will receive 5 points extra credit.
Essays will be accepted at full credit on Tuesday.

Wednesday, November 14

We finished (almost) watching Young Frankenstein.

HW due Friday: Outside Viewing Essay due.

Tuesday, November 13

We watched the first half of Young Frankenstein.

Friday, November 9

We watched excerpts from Bride of Frankenstein.

HW due Friday, Nov. 16: Outside viewing essay.

Thursday, November 8

We finished watching Frankenstein (1931), skipping a few of the duller parts to get through it in time.

HW due Friday: You need to have selected the film you are writing the analytical essay about.

Wednesday, November 7

We watched a little more of Dracula and the beginning of Frankenstein.
Then we hid under our desks until the shaking subsided, after which we fled the building.

Tuesday, November 6

We finished our examination of M and focused on the cinematographer Karl Freund as a bridge between German Expressionism and Hollywood horror films of the 1930's. We watched the intoxication scene from The Last Laugh (Der Letzte Mann), directed by Murnau, and a scene from Dracula (1931).

Monday, November 5

Close analysis of scenes in M as a model for student papers, with reference to the Expressionist tradition, especially monster movies.

Friday, November 2

Mr. Potratz distributed copies of the assignment sheet for an outside viewing essay, requiring students to analyze a single representative scene from a film they have chosen.

We then discussed key images from M.

Thursday, November 1

We revisited and analyzed various scenes from the first half of M.