Final Exam Review

We reviewed all the lectures and films we have seen this year.
We also watched Jaws (1975).

Jaws is the final film that I wish you to review for your blog post reviews.

The final will take place of April 24th at 7:00pm in our usual meeting space. Please bring a Pink/Raspberry scantron for the final.

I have made all the lecture notes available below for the week leading up to the Final Exam. Please use these lectures as back-up for your personal notes that you have hopefully been taking this year.

Lecture 1 - The "gaze"

Lecture 2 - The Director

Lecture 3 - The Screenplay

Lecture 4 - The Film Genre

Lecture 5 - The Cinematographer and The Camera

Lecture 6 - The Production Design

Lecture 7 - The Edit and The Editor

Lecture 8 - The Soundscape and The Soundtrack

Lecture 9 - What Does It All Mean?: The Art Film

Lecture 10 - What Does It All Mean?:  The "Good", The "Bad" and Trash Cinema

Final Review

Lecture 7 - The Edit and the Editor

During this lecture we discussed the idea about how a film's editor creates meaning as well as how emotion can be manipulated through techniques such as the Kuleshov Effect. The film screened to go along with this discussion was (500) Days of Summer (2009).

During the discussion I also featured a video of Alfred Hitcock discussing the Kuleshov Effect, re-posted here:

 

Below are links to various articles and post that expand the lecture. Please be sure to overlook and examine all of them as I could choose to pull elements from any article to include in the exam. 

• We talked a lot about editing and how it creates meaning and emotion. This article delves much deeper in how by explaining Why Film Editing Works.
• Listverse proposes their Top 10 Best Film Editing Sequences. 
• A major topic regarded Soviet Montage and how the Kuleshov Effect works. This IO9 expands by asking Can the Kuleshov Effect Really Control Your Perception of Other People's Feeling? 
• On the lighter side, this articles list 8 Magical Movie Montages with videos featuring Rocky, Up, and Rushmore. 
• We discussed the idea of Theatrical Cuts VS Director's Cuts.
• In a follow up are three articles featuring the Director's Guild of America establishing the history of the Directors' Cut, Mental Floss citing examples of 10 Director's Cuts that Changed the Plot of their film, and A.V. Club arguing 13-Plus Movies Weakened by (their) Director's cuts (which brings up the E.T. director's cut we discussed in the lecture).

Lecture 6 - The Production Design

We discussed the importance of production design as well as the role of the Production Designer for film. The film chosen by the class to be screened was Batman Returns (1992).

Below is a second video outlying the making of the film...

 

 ...as well as links to articles I think would be of assistance with the understanding of production design:

We talked about the Elements of Art but this article uses the visual elements to springboard into a discussion of the Elements of Film. 

Meet in the Lobby outlines their 4 Films that Helped Define Production Design. 

The New York Times get Inside the Production Designer of 'The Hobbit' and discover it takes a whole country to make Middle Earth.

Finally, I would not normally post a Tumblr tag but this one dedicated for Production Design is stunning. Take the time and investigate.

The slides for this week lecture can be found here. Enjoy.

Mid-Term Review

We reviewed all the lectures and films we have seen up to this point.
We also watched Harold and Maude (1971).
 

 

Mid-term Review

Lecture 5 - The Cinematographer and the Camera

We discussed the role of the cinematographer and basics of the film camera.  We started the film Children of Men (2006).

Below are several articles I would like you to read in correlation with the lecture.

A more detailed description of How Cinematographers work..
The Black Box Blue blog list their Top 10 Directors of Photography (Cinematographers). 
TvTropes outline a decent description for The Oner while also providing an extensive list.
Shot4shot goes into depth about the Oner and various other tracking shots from Children of Men.
The New York Times outlines the decline of film stock and How Digital is Changing the Nature of Moves.
And finally, a video on the oners/long takes of Children of Men

Lecture 4 - Film Genre

We discussed the role of the film genre with a focus on the horror genre. Going along with this we screened the horror film Session 9 (2001).

Going along with the horror genre I would like you to go out and seek out a horror film to screen independently and be prepared to discuss next class. While watching the film of you choice be sure to look for the elements we discussed that help group genre film such as:

SETTING

THEME / TOPIC

MOOD

FORMAT

On a side note, once you have identify the elements of genre then perhaps it would be benifitial to go ahead a write a review for the film you screened for your blog.

Here is a list of the 100 best horror films that have been deemed significant by Time Out London.

Below are several links the articles I would like you to read in relation to our classroom discussion.

• Filmsite.org is a film website that has a extensive list of the Main Film Genres as well as sub-genres and hybrid genres. Warning: Website has pop-up windows.
• allmovie.com also has a extensive list of Movie Genres and Subgenres with many film examples for each genre.
• Life123.com gives us some examples of Characteristics of the Horror Genre. 
• And finally, another article about Writing a Film Review, including writing about genres.

Lecture 3 - The Screenplay

We discussed the role of the screenplay, including theme, and screened The Princess Bride (1987).

 

Below are several links the articles I would like you to read in relation to our classroom discussion.

The 10 Central Themes in Film (PLEASE READ)

Examples of Plot, Theme, Narrative Arch, and Narrative Patterns

Take the time and familiar yourself with the Hero's Journey

7 Tips for Writing a Film Review

A example of how to Structure a Film Review * 

Another example of a Structure of a Film Review*

*These are here only to help you work on how you structure your reviews, there are NOT meant to be taken as the only acceptable way  to structure a film review.

 

 

Lecture 2 - The Director

We discussed the role of directors and screened Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964).

Below are several links the articles I would like you to read in relation to our classroom discussion. One of these articles is the article on how to set up a Blog on Blogger.

Tutorial: How to Create a Free Blog on Blogger.com

The Other Side of Madness -  Stanley Kubrick which covers his meticulous nature and the Duvall affair.

Critic's Blog Top 10: Visionary Film Directors

A short article discussing "The Actor's Director"

Once you have set up your Blog I would like to post a link to you Blog in the comment section of this post (see my post as example). Please make your post while still logged in to Gmail.

I also ask that you write a brief review on any film that you desire, but I would like you to keep this review as private (only seen by you). I would like you to take a dry run on writing without any regards to style or content.

JUST HAVE FUN WITH IT.

Next week we will get more into structure and style of review writing.

Lecture 1 - "The Gaze"

1/16/13 - "The Gaze"

We discussed the concept of the "Gaze" and its use in film by screening Rear Window (1954).

Below are links the three articles I would like you to read in relation to our classroom discussion.

• Alfred Hitchcock and Mulvey: the "Gaze" in Rear Window 
•  10 Memorable Instances of Characters Breaking the Fourth Wall
• Tips on Film Viewing

You will be expected to know the general knowledge of these articles as they may reflect questions on future exams.

Syllabus for Art of the Cinema Spring 2013

Attached is the syllabus for Art of the Cinema Spring 2013.

You will be expected to read and know this syllabus.

Syllabus Art of the Cinema Spring 2013