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.