Monday, February 28
We reviewed both the "Arts and Sciences" assignment due tomorrow (Tuesday) and the extra credit opportunity (see Extra Credit page on the class website).
Students then took notes while we watched the beginning of The Cutting Edge, a documentary film about film editing, preparatory to watching D. W Griffith's racist masterpiece, Birth of a Nation. Students held on to their notes to use in completing the assignment for Tuesday and are to turn the notes in with assignment.
HW due Tuesday:
Assignment describing the functions of various role-players in the making of motion pictures along with names of famous past practicioners.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Friday, February 18
Students were reminded of the Arts & Sciences assignment (associated with the Academy Awards) due Tuesday, March 1, and those interested in an extra credit assignment linked to the awards ceremony itself (Sunday, Feb. 27, 5 pm) were advised to look on the Extra Credit page of the class website (room301.org) in a few days.
To fill the final shortened period before the break we conducted a serious investigation into early sound cartoons, specifically two Mickey Mouse classics drawn by the inestimable Ub Iwerks and an early Betty Boop.
HW due Tuesday, March 1:
Arts & Sciences assignment exploring the various roles in the making of films (see Documents page).
Thursday, February 17:
We concluded our analysis of technique and meaning in Shadow of a Doubt, and discussed the film's rather tacked-on ending and its relation to the film's historical context (WWII).
Students received a sheet of particulars for an assignment requiring them to investigate the actual functions of different role-players in film production, selected from the award categories of the Academy Awards. (The annual presentation ceremony will be televised on Sunday, Feb. 27; students are not required to watch.)
HW due Tuesday, March 1:
Arts & Sciences assignment exploring the various roles in the making of films (see Documents page).
Students were reminded of the Arts & Sciences assignment (associated with the Academy Awards) due Tuesday, March 1, and those interested in an extra credit assignment linked to the awards ceremony itself (Sunday, Feb. 27, 5 pm) were advised to look on the Extra Credit page of the class website (room301.org) in a few days.
To fill the final shortened period before the break we conducted a serious investigation into early sound cartoons, specifically two Mickey Mouse classics drawn by the inestimable Ub Iwerks and an early Betty Boop.
HW due Tuesday, March 1:
Arts & Sciences assignment exploring the various roles in the making of films (see Documents page).
Thursday, February 17:
We concluded our analysis of technique and meaning in Shadow of a Doubt, and discussed the film's rather tacked-on ending and its relation to the film's historical context (WWII).
Students received a sheet of particulars for an assignment requiring them to investigate the actual functions of different role-players in film production, selected from the award categories of the Academy Awards. (The annual presentation ceremony will be televised on Sunday, Feb. 27; students are not required to watch.)
HW due Tuesday, March 1:
Arts & Sciences assignment exploring the various roles in the making of films (see Documents page).
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Wednesday, February 16
We returned to our analysis of motifs in Shadow of a Doubt, examining the use of stairs (and camera angles and movement associated with the power struggle expressed through images of stairs), shadows, and smoke.
Students learned that there will be an assignment, connected with the Academy Awards, issued tomorrow and due after the break.
We returned to our analysis of motifs in Shadow of a Doubt, examining the use of stairs (and camera angles and movement associated with the power struggle expressed through images of stairs), shadows, and smoke.
Students learned that there will be an assignment, connected with the Academy Awards, issued tomorrow and due after the break.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Friday, February 11
We read together the description and analysis of the first scene of Shadow of a Doubt from the "Classical Hollywood Style" packet, then watched the scene again to see whether we agreed with the packet and what we could add. We remarked on matters of lighting (and shadows, without a doubt), point of view (including eyeline matches), and camera angles.
We read together the description and analysis of the first scene of Shadow of a Doubt from the "Classical Hollywood Style" packet, then watched the scene again to see whether we agreed with the packet and what we could add. We remarked on matters of lighting (and shadows, without a doubt), point of view (including eyeline matches), and camera angles.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Thursday, February 10
We watched the last seven minutes of Shadow of a Doubt.
Students then took an "open packet" quiz over "Classical Hollywood Cinema: Style."
Finally, we discussed briefly what the packet has to say about that slipperiest of film terms, mise en scene, and began to review Shadow of a Doubt by looking briefly at the opening credits over elegant ballroom dancers whirling to the Merry Widow Waltz.
We watched the last seven minutes of Shadow of a Doubt.
Students then took an "open packet" quiz over "Classical Hollywood Cinema: Style."
Finally, we discussed briefly what the packet has to say about that slipperiest of film terms, mise en scene, and began to review Shadow of a Doubt by looking briefly at the opening credits over elegant ballroom dancers whirling to the Merry Widow Waltz.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Wednesday, February 9
Mr. P announced that the quiz over "Classical Hollwood Cinema: Style" is postponed until tomorrow (Thursday) after the conclusion of Shadow of a Doubt. We watched more of that film, stopping before the final scene.
HW due Thursday:
Review the packet in preparation for the quiz.
Tuesday, February 8
Students watched the first 50 minutes of Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt.
Mr. P announced that the quiz over "Classical Hollwood Cinema: Style" is postponed until tomorrow (Thursday) after the conclusion of Shadow of a Doubt. We watched more of that film, stopping before the final scene.
HW due Thursday:
Review the packet in preparation for the quiz.
Tuesday, February 8
Students watched the first 50 minutes of Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Monday, February 7
We watched two train robbery movies, The Great Train Robbery from 1903 and The Girl and Her Trust from 1912, and we identified advances in sophistication from the one to the other -- advances in film technique and advances in characterization.
Mr. P announced that he would be gone Tuesday and that in his absence students would watch the beginning of Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, the opening scene of which is discussed in detail in the "Classical Hollwood Cinema: Style" packet.
HW due Wednesday:
Read the packet in preparation for a test over it.
We watched two train robbery movies, The Great Train Robbery from 1903 and The Girl and Her Trust from 1912, and we identified advances in sophistication from the one to the other -- advances in film technique and advances in characterization.
Mr. P announced that he would be gone Tuesday and that in his absence students would watch the beginning of Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, the opening scene of which is discussed in detail in the "Classical Hollwood Cinema: Style" packet.
HW due Wednesday:
Read the packet in preparation for a test over it.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Friday, February 4
Students received a packet on "Classical Hollywood Cinema: Style" covering basic elements of filmcraft. They are to read it by Monday, and will be tested on it on Wednesday.
We watched the immortal proto-Lassie classic Rescued by Rover and examined the sequential and parallel editing in the film. We filled out the period with a few minutes of Alaladin, ou le lampe merveilleuse.
HW due Monday:
Read the packet
HW due Wednesday:
Quiz over the packet
Students received a packet on "Classical Hollywood Cinema: Style" covering basic elements of filmcraft. They are to read it by Monday, and will be tested on it on Wednesday.
We watched the immortal proto-Lassie classic Rescued by Rover and examined the sequential and parallel editing in the film. We filled out the period with a few minutes of Alaladin, ou le lampe merveilleuse.
HW due Monday:
Read the packet
HW due Wednesday:
Quiz over the packet
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Thursday, February 3
Students took a quiz over the beginnings of cinema (based on the packet of short readings), after which we exchanged papers and graded it together in class.
Mr. P them lectured briefly about early film as largely based upon theater of the time and the inevitable slowness of film in finding its own legs and exploiting the new medium to its potential.
We watched a few short nickelodeon films which simply recorded stage performances from the time, including the infamous "May Irwin - John C. Rice Kiss."
Students took a quiz over the beginnings of cinema (based on the packet of short readings), after which we exchanged papers and graded it together in class.
Mr. P them lectured briefly about early film as largely based upon theater of the time and the inevitable slowness of film in finding its own legs and exploiting the new medium to its potential.
We watched a few short nickelodeon films which simply recorded stage performances from the time, including the infamous "May Irwin - John C. Rice Kiss."
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Wednesday, February 2
We watched "Winsor McCay and his Animated Pictures," then discussed the frame-by-frame construction which is shared by animation and all cinema and which enabled special effects trickery to proliferate in cinema's earliest years. We watched two of the 500 magic-show-influenced films which Georges Melies made at the turn of the twentieth century ("The Living Playing Cards" and "The Mermaid"), "That Fatal Sneeze"from the Hepworth firm, and finally "Onesieme the Clockmaker," a French comic tour de force which uses undercranking to speed up the pace of life.
HW due Thursday:
Prepare for a quiz over the packet on early cinema. Don't obsess over minor details, but do read the packet carefully.
We watched "Winsor McCay and his Animated Pictures," then discussed the frame-by-frame construction which is shared by animation and all cinema and which enabled special effects trickery to proliferate in cinema's earliest years. We watched two of the 500 magic-show-influenced films which Georges Melies made at the turn of the twentieth century ("The Living Playing Cards" and "The Mermaid"), "That Fatal Sneeze"from the Hepworth firm, and finally "Onesieme the Clockmaker," a French comic tour de force which uses undercranking to speed up the pace of life.
HW due Thursday:
Prepare for a quiz over the packet on early cinema. Don't obsess over minor details, but do read the packet carefully.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Tuesday, February 1
Students took a fifteen-question "open book" quiz over the course syllabus. We graded it together and reviewed class procedures in the process.
Near the end of the period we watched "Dream of a Rarebit Fiend" (!) an early comic film with sophisticated double exposures and other visual effects used to express the psychology of the drunken man at its center.
HW due Wednesday:
Read the packet on early cinema.
HW due Thursday:
Quiz over the packet.
Students took a fifteen-question "open book" quiz over the course syllabus. We graded it together and reviewed class procedures in the process.
Near the end of the period we watched "Dream of a Rarebit Fiend" (!) an early comic film with sophisticated double exposures and other visual effects used to express the psychology of the drunken man at its center.
HW due Wednesday:
Read the packet on early cinema.
HW due Thursday:
Quiz over the packet.
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