Creed's Long Shot

Pleasantville

Yesterday in class, we watched the 1998 film, Pleasantville. Though not technically a dystopia, the film is more a rejection of a utopia, and in particular, the overly perfect and fake world of 1950's American TV sitcoms.

In simplest terms, a world of predictability and sameness is far from perfect; moreover, it's just not human.

The film's use of color and symbolism is also notable.

Blog Post Assignment

Directions: Select any of the following prompts and compose a thoughtful response. You may also choose to focus on a topic of your own creation. Make sure you have a main idea if you choose this option.

Support your analysis with specific references to the film, and, if possible, analyze the film's many illusions to the Bible, television, and other films.

• Television – What role does television play in society? How can it be harmful? How do we construct our values from TV?  What impact does it have in the film?

• Innocence – Does Pleasantville represent a place of innocence without evil, or is it hell?  Explain.

• Technology – Technology will destroy or save us. Which statement is correct?

• Book Burning – Is there a time when censorship should be allowed? How does this conflict with creativity?

• Individuality – Is it better to be an individual or part of a group? Relate to film.

• High School Sports – Some say sports help people learn teamwork and responsibility. Others say sports enforce conformity and destroy independence. Which is correct?

• Acceptance Of Change – How does Pleasantville depict change over time?  Good, Bad, indifferent? Is change the only permanent thing? Explain.

• Intolerance – Discuss examples of intolerance in American society.  How does Pleasantville relate?

• Utopia/Dystopia – Is it possible for humans to create a utopia? Why or why not? Explain.

• Free Will – What does Pleasantville say about free will?  Do the people have free choices, or are they determined?

• The "Apple"/Knowledge – Sex, information, art, love, loneliness—are these forces liberating or corrosive? Explain.

• Color – What does Pleasantville say about color?  What do the "colored" people represent?

Your analysis must be at least 500 words in length.
Completed responses must be uploaded to Google Classroom by midnight this Friday (12/4).

Read p. 23-24, ya'll. Let's discuss isolationism.

General Thoughts That Will Expand

The Masque of the Red Death: Kubrick-Inspired Short Films

The Crews

The film must contain the following elements:

• Prospero (You may change the name)=Villain
• There must be a party; there must be music
• Color symbolism
• Clocks
• East to West
• Tracking shot(s)
• Close-up(s)

Absolute, Set-in-Stone Due Date: The films will be shown in class on Monday, Nov. 2nd.

In-School Shooting Calendar

As the Executive Producers of the Kubrick/Poe Project Clark, Hearn and Lockwood have decided to open it up the positions of director to the class.  Before the end of your PPT presentations anyone is allowed to pitch to us why you feel you should be a director for this project.  The groups have yet to be determined, it may be you who picks your group.  We will see and move forward from there.  

Cracking The Shining Code

You all will be assigned a chapter of Rob Ager's 21 part analysis of The Shining: 

Rob Ager's The Shining Analysis

Read your assigned section, and note the 10 most interesting facts and concepts.

• Create a 10 slide Google Slides presentation.
• Each slide must contain text and a relevant image or still from the film.
• Do not overload slides with text; rather, use bullet points.
• The last slide should be your explanation of what you feel is Kubrick's directorial style - use visual examples with what you've seen along with your bullet points

Your completed presentation must be shared with me (eclark@gehrhsd.net) by the end of class on Tuesday, September 29th to receive full credit. Be prepared to present on Wednesday, Sept. 30th.

Gothic Fiction, Shakespeare and the Seven Ages of Man (As You Like It), and Poe and Hawthorne: Social Critics

This Week, we will begin watching Kubrick's oft misunderstood, 1980 masterpiece, The Shining. 

Yes, I am excited for Fall and Halloween!

We will also read and discuss the Poe short story, "The Masque of the Red Death."

Poe's iconic and metonymy-laden short story contains almost all of the elements of Gothic fiction. 

We will identify these elements in both The Shining and "The Masque of the Red Death," and we will also consider the social and political functions of Gothic art.

And Shakespeare, because, well, because: http://genius.com/William-shakespeare-the-seven-ages-of-man-all-the-worlds-a-stage-annotated

And Hannibal, because: http://www.ew.com/article/2013/04/04/hannibal-bryan-fuller-the-shining

2001: A Space Odyssey and Interstellar

Tars was definitely influence by Marvin, the Paranoid Android, a character from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Anyways, let's get on task.

Stanley set the standard for exploratory science fiction film-making. And despite his success with his own massively popular Batman trilogy, Christopher Nolan couldn't avoid comparisons to the man he cites as an influence: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/08/christopher-nolan-on-kubrick-as-an-influence.

Here's an article from The Guardian that briefly compares Interstellar to the legacy of 2001:

http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/nov/10/interstellar-2001-a-space-odyssey-christoper-nolan-kubrick


Rowan Righelato, the author of the article, concludes: "Thrilling and sincere, Interstellar remains a comic book to Kubrick’s lyric poem. Yet, for all it’s beauty, it’s myth and music, 2001 is a solitary experience, while Interstellar is a tribute to what holds us together."

Your Task:

In a 500 word response (typed, double-spaced), compare and contrast 2001 and Interstellar.

Things to consider:

• Symbolism (Dr. Mann--get it! Ha!) - Humanity, Technology, Resurrection from death

Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead.

And a bit of rebirth for you.

• The portrayal of time and evolution ("Star Gate" vs. the Tesseract)
• Man and technology - telescreens--emotions in the wake of digital communication

These are merely suggestions. Have fun. Explore your own head space.

Responses are due next Tuesday (9/22).

2001: Defy Holy Wood

Dr. Floyd Heywood

Dr. Heywood is the chairman of the National Committee for Aeronautics.

Floyd Heywood.

Defy Holy Wood?

The Monolith: a metaphor for the film screen?

Is the film a call to arms?

Is Kubrick calling upon the enlightened to rise up and seize power back from the elite?

Something is going on in this film.

Check out the poster:

We must interpret this film beyond its aesthetic beauty.

Brielle is Famous!

http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/05/27/i-just-started-sobbing-2-military-brothers-surprise-sister-school

Film Final 2015

This year, the film final will require all of you to assemble a portfolio and to shoot, edit, and publish a 5-7 minute video essay. The completed portfolio and video essay will count as a major fourth marking period assignment (100 points in total) as well as your grade for the final exam.

Portfolio Requirements:

• 2 thematic analysis essays
• 1 film review
• 2 completed short films (You may submit any short films you participated in creating this year)
• 1 poster for one of the submitted short films (It can be the poster your group created)
• 1 music video
• 1 film production resume

• Each of the aforementioned components are worth 7 points [70 total]
• In lieu of any of the aforementioned requirements, you may opt to show a film (or clips from several films) and teach a lesson on the film or concept. If you plan on doing this, you must submit your idea by this Friday, May 22nd.

Video Essay Requirements:

• If the essay has been, for thousands of years, a means for writers to figure something out on the page, the video essay is that, too, on the screen. These works can be short and song-like--or they can take their time, turning gradually inward. Regardless of runtime, the video essay requires  a story. What are you trying to say? What is it you want to say/share/feel about something in particular? That story may take the form of a narrative, a sequence of events, or it may be a mediation in which "the story" is really the tension generated--by an author working through some mental knot.
• The image does not exist merely to illustrate the text; the text does not merely illustrate the image. Instead, there is a degree of distance between what is said and what is shown and what is heard, and within that distance, the audience is allowed its own ample share of imaginative space.
• Examples: "Notes on Liberty"; "F is for Fake (1973) - How to Structure a Video Essay"
• You may complete your video essay in groups of 3-4; you may also choose to work alone.
• The completed video essay is worth 30 points.

This is a digital assignment. You need to share all of the aforementioned components via Google Drive to Mr. Clark, Mr. Hearn, and Mr. Lockwood by Wednesday, June 3rd.

No Country for Any Men: The Tragic Westerns of the 20th century

The Ringo Kid (1939)

Ethan Edwards (1956)

William Munny (1992)

Walt Kowalski (2008)

No Country For Old Men (2007): Llewelyn, Bell, and Anton

Stagecoach, The Searchers, Unforgiven, Gran Torino, and No Country for Old Men all depict lone, "cowboy" heroes forging ahead in an inhospitable land: the United States, a land undergoing an ever-changing sense of identity. Some of the aforementioned films are literally westerns; some are westerns in only a thematic and symbolic manner.

Before beginning our college level writing task, we will begin by reading and discussing an essay on the last film we watched, No Country For Old Men, a philosophical, neo-western-noir flick. The essay, entitled "No Country for Old Men: The Coens' Tragic Western," approaches the film as both a western and a tragedy. 

We will use this same lens to analyze all of the "westerns" we have watched thus far: they are all tragic; they all convey a sense that this country--this land--is hard on its people.

Your Task: Select 1 character from No Country for Old Men and any 2 characters from the other films listed above. Compose an essay in which you explore the following:

• How does each character and film portray the lone hero/cowboy figure?
• How does each convey a sense of tragedy and the "west?"
• Compare and contrast each character, noting how the characters/films represent a shifting national identity.

Your essay must include multiple specific references to the Richard Gilmore essay, "No Country for Old Men: The Coens' Tragic Western." These references must be cited using MLA formatting.

Your completed essay must be at least 3 pages in length: double-spaced, size 12 Times New Roman.

We will review formatting in class in the weeks to come.

Due Wednesday, May 20th.

Nationalism, the American Western, and a Changing Sense of American Identity

John Ford's 1939 film, Stagecoach, is considered the breakout film of John Wayne. The film also inspired young Orson Welles's cinematic masterpiece, Citizen Kane. According to Welles himself, he watched Stagecoach over 40 times while developing Kane. 

Watch the film in its entirety here:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/249577

Here are some essays on the film and its importance:

• Tim Dirk's Analysis of Stagecoach: http://www.filmsite.org/stagec.html

• "What's the Big Deal?: Stagecoach":http://www.film.com/movies/whats-the-big-deal-stagecoach-1939

• Stagecoach: Taking the Stage: http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1472-stagecoach-taking-the-stage

Relevant quotes from the film regarding American identity (Remember: this film was made in 1939... the country was still reeling from the effects of the Great Depression and WWII was looming.)

Henry Gatewood - a greedy banker

• "What's good for the banks is good for the country."
• "Instead of protecting businessmen, it [the government] pokes its nose into business."
• "What this country needs is a businessman for a president."

Dr. Josiah Boone - a drunk with a good heart

• "We are the victims of a foul disease called social prejudice..."
• "I'm not only a philosopher, sir, I'm a fatalist. Somewhere, sometime, there may be the right bullet or the wrong bottle waiting for Josiah Boone. Why worry when or where?"

Ringo - a wronged kid looking for vengeance 

• "Well, I guess you can't break out of prison and into society in the same week."
• "There are some things that a man just can't run away from."

All of this will culminate in a writing task inspired by an actual college level writing prompt. You will explore how westerns portray the following themes:

• Masculinity (the lone cowboy)
• Nationalism
• Multiculturalism
• Transnationalism

As the week continues, we will watch additional westerns and trace how these themes are portrayed differently.

For now, pick one of the quotes listed above and reflect on its relevancy to America and the American identity.

Your response is due by Thursday, 4/30. Late responses simply won't count.

Art in Every Frame

"Martin Scorsese: The Art of Silence"

"The Spielberg Oner"

"Akira Kurosawa: Composing Movement"

"Edgar Wright: How to Do Visual Comedy"

"Michael Bay: What is Bayhem"

"Drive (2011): The Quadrant System"

"Wolf Children (2012): The Lateral Tracking Shot"

Martin Scorsese Film Review

Martin Scorsese Film Review

Your next writing assignment is a film review. Your writing should be of significantly higher quality than those submitted for Indiana Jones. For this review, you will be writing on any of the Martin Scorsese films we have seen in class. These include:

• The Departed
• The Aviator
• Hugo
• Goodfellas
• Raging Bull

Pick the film that stood out to you the most or the film that you have the most to say about. 

Requirements

• Specific references to the film you are reviewing
• Attention paid to at least one aspect of film making (camera work, writing, sound, editing, etc)
• Specific, cited reference to at least one film review
• MLA formatting
• 2-3 pages; Times New Roman font; size 12; double spaced; hard copy

Due: Thursday, April 23. Points will be deducted for lateness.

Jaws Beach Scene

Video essay on Jaws beach scene

Spielberg Recreations: The Week of 3/30-4/2

Spielberg Recreations

The Groups:

#1 - Brielle, Zoe, Tony, and Adrian - War of the Worlds: Basement Scene

#2 - Logan, Courtney, Lauren, and Tyler S. - Close Encounters: UFO Scene

#3 - Mikaela, Soler, Jill, and Trevor - Saving Private Ryan: Wade’s Death

#4 - Dom, Maddie, Tori, and Jordan - ET: Dinner Scene

#5 - Tyler M., Troy, and Nick - Jaws: Town Meeting

#6 - Paula, Brianna, and Chloe - ET: Dinner Scene

#7 - Matt, Thomas, Tiffany, and Isaiah - Catch Me if You Can: Substitute Teacher

#8 - Gabby, Vince, Ethan, and Ryan - Saving Private Ryan: Wade’s Death

Step 1

Watch your assigned scene with your group. Copy down all of the dialogue. You need to create a transcript. Use IMDB to get the proper names for all of the characters. Then, begin working on the credits. This will require assigning the roles within your group.

What’s Due:

1. A typed transcript of the scene; this will function as your script
2. Credits: you need to identify who will direct, who will star in the film, etc.

Due Monday, March 30th (3/30)

Step 2

Using your transcript, you will need to create a shot list or a storyboard. Do your best to recreate the shots and effects within your means.

What’s Due:

1. A shot list or a storyboard

Due Wednesday, April 1st (4/1)

Step 3

Complete your film.

What’s Due: A completed film burned to a working DVD

Due Friday, April 10th (4/10)

Hey, Click here for a Google Drive Doc for easier reading.

Spielberg Scenes

Listed below are 10 iconic scenes from Spielberg films. Working in groups of three, you will be responsible for recreating the scene you select.

GROUPS

#1 - Brielle, Zoe, Tony, and Adrian - War of the Worlds: Basement Scene

#2 - Logan, Courtney, Lauren, and Tyler S. - Close Encounters: UFO Scene

#3 - Mikaela, Soler, Jill, and Trevor - Saving Private Ryan: Wade’s Death

#4 - Dom, Maddie, Tori, and Jordan - ET: Dinner Scene

#5 - Tyler M., Troy, and Nick - Jaws: Town Meeting

#6 - Paula, Brianna, and Chloe - ET: Dinner Scene

#7 - Matt, Thomas, Tiffany, and Isaiah - Catch Me if You Can: Substitute Teacher

#8 - Gabbie, Vince, Ethan, and Ryan - Saving Private Ryan: Wade’s Death

• All dialogue must be included in your recreation.
• Camera shots and angles must be approximated.
• Do your best to recreate special effects. 
• Wardrobe and production values need not match the clip
• For example, you do not need to find period-correct WWII uniforms. However, be creative! Find an appropriate substitute.

Option #1: Substitute Teacher, Catch Me If You Can (Easy)

Option #2: First UFO Encounter, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Difficult)

Option #3: Dinner Insults, E.T. (Easy)

Option #4: Dinner Insults, Hook (Easy)

Option #5: Town Meeting, Jaws (Easy)

Option #6: Beach Scene, Jaws (Difficult)

Option #7: Dinner Debate, Jurassic Park (Difficult)

Option #8: Explanation of the Ark, Raiders of the Lost Ark (Easy)

Option #9: Wade's Death, Saving Private Ryan (Difficult)

Option #10: Basement Tension, War of the Worlds (Difficult)

Dueling Jaws

Recently we watched two of Spielberg's earlier masterpieces, Duel and Jaws. Duel essentially made Steven Spielberg famous and paved the road for Jaws, which is the unofficial sequel to Duel. Jaws has also been described as "Duel on the water." There are a number of similarities between the films from plot to imagery to the respective monsters and even a sound effect at the end of each film.

Your assignment: In a well crafted paragraph or two, compare Jaws to Duel. This is due by the end of class Monday, 3/23!  In what ways are they the same? Do you think Spielberg's work on Duel better prepared him for an undertaking such as Jaws? If you were not in class for Duel, there is a link to the full film below. Yes, there are commercials.

Jurassic Park/Super 8 Writing Lecture

The Jurassic Park / Super 8 Essays are due on St. Patty's Day: Tuesday, March 17th. 

I'm looking for typed hard copies, people.

The Video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B54yLx0ceah4UHZ0QUNFS0h1ZWs/view?usp=sharing

A Picture of the Board:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B54yLx0ceah4cUpFOHNBWURRLXM/view?usp=sharing

Jurassic Park/Super 8 Comparison/Contrast Essay

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aKLQwMOiLwTe-EtiwwrHH7X3V4vNSKyjmvF6ULfU4es/pub

Steven Spielberg on 60 Minutes

Short Steven Spielberg Interview

Raiders

Trailer for the ultimate fan film

Indiana Jones and the Film Review of Doom: Due 2/24

In class we have been watching the Indiana Jones trilogy as an introduction to a unit on the work of Steven Spielberg. Yes, there are only three Indiana Jones films. These films are widely accepted as some of the greatest adventure films of all time, though some may beg to differ.

I want you to kill all the gophers on the course.

Read the following two film reviews on Raiders of the Lost Ark. The first is a review by embittered film critic Pauline Kael who rips the movie apart. The second link is to an extremely well written review by an amazing human being, Roger Ebert, who loved the film. You may use these two examples, or any other reviews, as a guide on what to include in a typical film review. Remember, yours will be much shorter.

Pauline Kael
Roger Ebert

For your assignment, you are to write a 750 word review of any one of the three Indiana Jones movies. (You also have the option to review the trilogy as a whole if you watched all three...or you can choose to review Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Follow the Crazy Man to the Alien Skull Shrine) Reviews are to be submitted in hard copy (please, no emails) by the start of class Tuesday, 2/24.

What do you mean I can't email it?

The 180 Degree Rule and The PG-13 Rating

This will help you film dialogue sequences in your films:

The PG-13 video:

Week 2/2-2/6

We will be giving you time in class to work on your dystopia projects this week. On Friday (2/6), we will be watching and discussing Casablanca in class. By the end of the week, we need the following from each group:

• A finished version of your script by the start of class Friday (2/6)
• A list of the locations where you will be shooting your film
• 60-90 seconds of edited footage due by end of class Thursday (2/5), uploaded to a computer in the media lab.

Also by Friday (2/6), please read this article from The New York Times on Groundhog Day. In a well written comment, please post a response to the article detailing your own personal religious or philosophical interpretation of the film. 

Pretty in Pink and The Money Pit

"I think this building should be condemned. There's serious metal fatigue in all the load-bearing members, the wiring is substandard, it's completely inadequate for our power needs, and the neighborhood is like a demilitarized zone." 

"Pretty in Pink" and "The Money Pit" were both made in 1986. The 1980's were a time obsessed with money and these films both exemplify this theme. In "Pretty in Pink," Andie is a poor girl who is looked down on by the preppy, rich people at her school, even the guy from "Weekend at Bernie's" who she really thinks she has a chance with. 

In "The Money Pit," Walter and Anna are broke enough that they have to borrow money from a rich child to buy what can only loosely be considered a house. Through trial and tribulation, however, the protagonists all get their way and live happily ever after (for richer or poorer) because these are romantic comedies. 

Music also plays an important role in these movies, reflecting characters' various social classes (i.e. Ducky the punk rocker in "Pretty in Pink" and the Maestro, Anna's rich ex-husband).

Nothing says "Punk" like rainbow socks

Hasn't Tom Hanks suffered enough?!

Your assignment: In a thoughtfully composed response, compare these two films. You can use the theme of money or music, or stick to the plots and the idea of love itself. What do these movies have in common? How do they portray American society in the 1980's?

Also, think about how these two 80's movies resonate with contemporary viewers. Is today's society obsessed with money as it was in the 80's? Do Oakcrest students form cliques with only students in the same socio-economic class?

One paragraph or so will suffice. 

Responses due by the start of class Tuesday, 2/3

Mud and the Beginning of Love and Relationships

This is Jeff Nichols. He is the writer/director of the 2012 film, Mud. He spent over ten years working on the script, peppering it with a mixture of personal experiences, symbolism, and literary allusions.

Jeff's cool, older, punk-rock brother, Ben.

Mud's "reminder."

Young Mark Twain was friends with another young boy named Tom Blankenship. Tom's father was a drunk, and Twain drew from this memory to create Huck Finn's dismal living situation.

At its heart, Mud is an adventure story. My own love for the film stems from its power to make me feel like a young boy again. Ellis, who is the film's actual star, forms the movie emotional core. While he is no doubt hungry for the adventure and imagination that Mud himself provides in droves, he spends the course of the film searching for love: seeking to understand his parents' failing marriage, looking for a girlfriend, and trying to find some example of ideal love.

The pain of one's first heartache is the worst. This film captures that beautifully. 

The pain of all of this is palpable, and like any good Bildungsroman, Mud ends on a bittersweet note: Ellis looses his innocence, but emerges older and wiser.

Your Task

Select three characters from the film, and describe/analyze what Ellis learns regarding love and relationships from them. If possible, describe/analyze if the character represents a mirror image of Ellis (For example: Does Mud represent an older Ellis with his romantic sensibilities?)

Does this man ever wear a shirt?

Ellis' dad

Tom Blankenship

Galen

May Pearl

Juniper

Ellis' mom

• Post your responses in the comment section below. 
• Be thoughtful and make specific references to the film.

Due before class - Monday, 1/26

PARCC Style Writing

Alexander Pope once wrote:

“How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d”

John Milton's devil seems to equate obedience with godliness (Yeah, he resents this!).

Paradise Lost, Book IV:

“From their own mouths; all is not theirs it seems:
One fatal Tree there stands of Knowledge call’d,
Forbidden them to taste: Knowledge forbidd’n?
Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord
Envy them that? can it be sin to know,
Can it be death? and do they only stand
By Ignorance, is that their happy state,
The proof of their obedience and their faith?
O fair foundation laid whereon to build
Their ruin! Hence I will excite their minds
With more desire to know, and to reject
Envious commands, invented with design
To keep them low whom knowledge might exalt…”

Pleasantville, The Truman Show, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind all portray the horrors of actual utopias, predictability, perfection, obedience, and convenient forgetfulness.

Your Task: Write an essay that explores how two of the listed films portray the desirability of imperfection. Or, in other words, explain how the two films you select depict human nature. 

• Incorporate specific references to each film.

• Also, include a relevant quote from the excerpt from Paradise Lost or another work of literature to support your analysis/main idea.

Due Tomorrow (1/21/15)! 

• This will count as an essay grade.
• 4 paragraphs=full credit!
• Essays submitted late will be subject to a significant loss of points.