The Kubrick Paper

Your film analysis papers need to consist of a scholarly analysis of one or more of the major interpretative theories concerning the film, The Shining. Feel free to combine several.

The theories are as follows:

• The Native American Genocide 

• The Holocaust

• Greek Mythology: Theseus, the Minotaur, and the Labyrinth
• Apollo 11
• A Parody of Gothic Horror (The easiest!)
• Fairy Tales
• "The Blood on Which Nations Are Built": A Judgment on Humanity

Outline

I. Intro

   A. Introduction/explanation of your theory

   B. Thesis: a complex sentence indicating specifically what your paper will prove

II. Body 1 

   A. Quote or idea from a source

   B. Analysis of the aforementioned idea supported by specific references to the film

III. Body 2

   A. Quote or idea from a source

   B. Analysis of the aforementioned idea supported by specific references to the film

IV. Body 3

   A. Quote or idea from a source

   B. Analysis of the aforementioned idea supported by specific references to the film

V. Conclusion - Revisit the thesis and the main ideas explored in the paper

VI. Works Cited - Appears on a separate page; does not count towards the overall length

Sources

• You must use information that appears from the excerpt from the book, On Kubrick. We read chapter V: "Horrorshow."
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwK5KTf3lgcAUW8zLTZiZmpRZ1JudmlUOGVVNC1XbEYzaU5R/view?usp=sharing
• I also recommend the following site: http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/
• You must also cite a YouTube analysis video from Rob Ager/Collative Learning or another reputable critic/channel.
• How to cite a YouTube video: here.

Format/Citation

• The paper must be properly MLA formatted. It must contain multiple in-text citations, and the works cited must be properly formatted.
• If there are no in-text citations and no works cited page, the paper is technically plagiarized. Anticipate an automatic failure.

The best source of information regarding MLA formatting is the Online Writing Lab of Purdue University: The OWL.

We are citing a chapter from the book, On Kubrick. The proper MLA works cited entry for the book would appear as follows:

Naremore, James. "Horrorshow." On Kubrick. London: British Film Institute, 2007. Print.

To use information from the book in the essay, you must use an in-text citation. There are two ways to do this correctly.

• Firstly, you may opt to simply mention the title of the book and the author. Then, you simply need to include the page number in parenthesis.

In On Kubrick, the author, James Naremore, postulates that The Shining is a Freudian horror film that portrays Jack Torrance as a terrifying, nightmarish father figure (287).

• Secondly, you may simply include a quote or idea from the excerpt without mentioning the author or the title. In this case, the parenthetical in-text citation must include the author's last name and a page number.

The Shining is a Freudian horror film that portrays Jack Torrance as a terrifying, nightmarish father figure (Naremore 287).

Due Date/Requirements

The paper must be submitted via Google Classroom!

• Size 12, Times New Roman font
• Double-spaced
• No cover page!
• MLA header/page numbers
• 1" margins
• No hanging indents
• Complex thesis statement
• At least 3 in-text citations
• Multiple specific references to the film itself
• 3 scholarly sources all of which must be used in the body of the paper
• 3-5 pages; the works cited page gets its own page; it does not count towards the overall length

Wes Anderson Project

The Wes Anderson Project

As a class, we are going to be responsible for assembling a collection of Wes Anderson-inspired short films, skits, et al.

You can film an existing scene in the style of Anderson, create a trailer for a fictional movie, or experiment with stop-motion animation. Be creative. Be quirky.

The class needs to complete 5 short films, each approximately 3 minutes in length. Work together! There are a good deal of talented people available to help!

The following elements must be present:

1. Tracking shots and pans used for humorous effect
2. Identifiable use of a distinct color palette
3. Mise en Scene: Create at least one carefully constructed and shot setting
4. Wes Anderson-esque music: The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Velvet Underground, etc.
5. Slow motion
6. Narration

*You may use stop-motion animation in lieu of any of the 2 elements listed above.

All of the aforementioned do not need to be repeatedly present; rather, they must appear at least once. For the sake of this project, story-telling can take a backseat to style. 

You will be graded on your comprehension of his style and your creativity.

Have fun!

Due Wednesday May, 11th.

Parodies

Mise En Scene

Slow Motion

Metropolis: The Radiohead Cut

+

Part 1:

http://vimeo.com/13696528

Part 2:

http://vimeo.com/13697227

Part 3:

http://vimeo.com/13734396

Part 4:

http://vimeo.com/13698492

Part 5:

http://vimeo.com/13708773

Part 6:

http://vimeo.com/13739810

Your Assignment:

• Read this article on the film - Metropolis
• Write responses to these questions.
• Upload your responses to the questions to Google Classroom by Thursday, March 4th.

Hamlet Projects

What follows is 5 different versions of Hamlet's 4th soliloquy.

1. Kenneth Branagh's 1996 film version
2. Sir Laurence Olivier's 1948 film version
3. Mel Gibson's 1990 film version
4. Richard Burton's 1964 stage version
5. David Tennant's 2009 film version

In a comment posted to Google Classroom, explain which version you feel is the best cinematic representation of the "To be or not to be" soliloquy. Explain which version you feel is the poorest depiction of the speech. Be specific. 

Post your responses to Google Classroom by Monday, February 8th. 

Starting next week, you will all be responsible for creating a short film in which you create an original depiction of "To be or not to be." Here are the basic guidelines:

• You may work alone or in a group of 2-3 students. 
• You may recruit outside help.
• For example, Paula recruited Sophia last year to portray Hamlet. She is a great thespian.
• You must depict the entirety of the speech.
• You may not omit lines, change the order of the speech, or alter the language in any way.
• You do not have to memorize the speech.

Mr. Lockwood is looking for editing fluency and creativity. He is also looking for process. Plan your film ahead with storyboards and distinct visual planning.  And too setting of the piece, where does it take place?  How are you going to use the camera (angles, shots, lighting) to show his thought process (words and actions)?

Mr. Clark, is looking for dramatic flair and creativity. You must bring the poetic language of Shakespeare to life. The speech must make sense dramatically, following an appropriate emotional cycle, vacillating between determination, fear, hesitation, and resignation.

Due Dates:

Tuesday, February 9th: annotated speech.

• Fully annotate the speech--denote the emotional aspects of the lines, mark pauses, etc.
• This must guide and shape the performance and depiction of the speech.

Thursday, February 11th: storyboards

• Mr. Lockwood must receive a storyboard (visual OR written outline) for your short film. Your ideas, themes, and visual motifs must be explained.

Tuesday, February 16th

Completed films must be uploaded to YouTube by the end of the day on Tuesday, February 16th. You must upload your link to Google Classroom. 

Some ideas to consider:

• Period-correct Shakespeare is boring. Update and modernize the play.
• That being said, Hamlet's attire and appearance must be appropriate. Whether depicted as a 16th century prince or a 20th century college student, Hamlet always wears black.
• Hamlet suffers from a fractured mind. Some productions employ multiple actors on stage simultaneously to depict this. It also lessens the load of memorization.
• Use props and setting in an appropriate manner.  There should be some object/prop that Hamlet uses while he contemplates his situation.

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.