Mizoguchi screenings: don't miss!

I strongly recommend the free Mizoguchi film series at the Union this week and weekend. See details night by night here.

If you're curious about or already a fan of Japanese cinema and haven't seen work by this director, don't miss the rare opportunity to see restored prints of these great films:

Seven Masterpieces by Kenji Mizoguchi
Seven beautifully restored 35mm film prints by Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi, unequaled in their pictorial and narrative richness and emotional force.

All films are FREE and open to the public. Films are in Japanese with English subtitles.
Thursday - Tuesday, December 6-11, 2007

Thursday, 7pm : Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (Zangiku monogatari), one screening only!
Friday, 7pm: Sansho the Bailiff (Sansho Dayu)
Friday, 9:30pm: Sisters of Gion (Gion no shimai) one screening only!
Saturday,5 pm: Street of Shame (Akasen Chitai) one screening only!
Saturday, 7pm: Ugetsu (Ugetsu Monogatari)
Saturday, 9pm: Life of Oharu (Saikaku Ichidai Onna)
Sunday, 5pm: Utamaro and his Five Women (Utamaro O Meguru Gonin no Onna) one screening only!
Sunday, 7pm: Life of Oharu (Saikaku Ichidai Onna)
Monday, 7pm: Sansho the Bailiff (Sansho Dayu)
Tuesday, 7pm: Ugetsu (Ugetsu Monogatari)

Final visual essays due Dec. 13

Final visual essays are due by 12 noon Thursday, Dec. 13!

The assignment, which is similar to essays 1 and 2 but requires substantial revision and must be longer and include more images than previous essays, is available now for download at our D2L site. Read carefully and take note of additional requirements.


Post your final essay on your own blog by the deadline, complete with images. Also submit your blog's URL via the comments field of this post (even if you've done that before, for previous essays).

Happy revising!

Extra credit opportunity this Friday

Don't miss the live musical performance of "Radio Nurse" by Jonathon Rosen and Tom Recchion this Friday at 2pm in Kenilworth Square East. For more info, see this announcement or check out these links on Tom Recchion and Jonathon Rosen.

Arrive early to be sure you'll get in: access to the fourth floor is restricted and the elevator/entrance won't be kept open to the public past 2pm. Seating will be limited.

Extra credit is available: 2 points will be added to your final grade in Film 320 if you submit a one-page response that substantially and thoughtfully relates the performance to an idea encountered in this course. (This would be due by the end of the last class meeting.)

Group presentations Nov. 29 and Dec. 6

Each group will collaborate on a close analysis of one scene or segment of Mulholland Drive. Collaboration will continue over two weeks, after which each group will present its conclusions (using still and/or moving images and, if you choose, sound clips, performance, staging, or other elements). Each group must have one unified thesis and an approach that draws on methods encountered in or inspired by the course readings. Each group member must present a substantial and relevant portion of the collaborative analysis. Each group’s presentation should be between 20 minutes (minimum) and 35 minutes (maximum) to allow time for all groups in a class period.

Requirements of the presentation:

• A clearly stated thesis (about how the segment you studied relates to and reveals something about the film as a whole)
• An approach to the chosen segment that shows some engagement with methods or theories encountered in the course.
• At least one clip from the film, which you analyze in a way that supports your thesis
• Each group member must post at least one (1) comment to your group’s area on the blog (see below). Note: if instead you're going to conduct e-mail discussions amongst yourselves, cc: me on at least one message apiece, so I can see that each person is making a contribution to the discussion.
• A relatively detailed outline, including the thesis statement at the top, e-mailed to me by one group member by 8pm the night before the group’s presentation date

Below this post, I will create one post for each group. In that post, you’ll find links to the scenes your group is studying, so you can look at these off campus. (They're quicktime .mov files, so you'll need a media player compatible with .mov files.) Use the comments field of your group’s post to conduct your discussions (or do this via e-mail and keep me in the loop).

Groups and presentation dates:
Group 1 presents on Nov. 29: Josh M., Todd, Reid
Group 2 presents on Dec. 6: Christina, Josh K., Lauren
Group 3 presents on Nov. 29: Zach, Cameron
Group 4 presents on Dec. 6: Tim and Daniel
Group 5 presents on Nov. 29: Sebastian and Marie

Good luck and have fun!

Unrelated note on visual essays: I'll sending e-mailed comments on your second visual essay soon. Your final visual essays, which aren't related to the group presentations discussed above, are due to be posted on your personal blogs by noon, Thursday, Dec. 13.

Group 1 discussion area

Group 1 (Josh M., Todd, Reid), use the comments field to discuss and plan your presentation (or do this via e-mail, as you said you preferred to do, just let me know that each person's making a contribution).

This link takes you to the Club Silencio scene.

You'll give your presentation in class Nov. 29.

Group 2 discussion area

Group 2 (Christina, Josh K., and Lauren), use the comments field to discuss and plan your presentation. This link will take you to the diner scene.

You'll give your presentation in class Dec. 6.

Group 3 discussion area

Group 3 (Zach and Cameron), use the comments field to discuss and plan your presentation. These links take you to a couple of (literally) pivotal scenes in Mulholland Drive:

Cowboy appears and tells Diane to wake up
Dondé estas? (the blue box)
Diane/Betty/Rita/Camilla superimposed

You'll give your presentation in class Nov. 29.

Group 4 discussion area

Group 4 (Tim and Daniel), use the comments field to discuss and plan your presentation.

You'll give your presentation in class Dec. 6.

Group 5 discussion area

Group 5 (Marie and Sebastian), use the comments field to discuss and plan your presentation. This link takes you to the ending scene of Mulholland Drive.

You'll give your presentation in class Nov. 29.

Pre-porfolio workshop this Friday

From Film Dept. Chair Rob Yeo:

There will be a workshop on Friday at 10 am, in room B-61, to go over the procedures [for portfolio review] and to address questions. This will be specifically for students applying for the December review, but other students are also welcome.

If they cannot attend the workshop, students may pick up portfolio review applications on the table outside of B-65 or in the B-70 Main Office.

Reading responses due 11/14

This week's readings:

• Massumi, “Strange Horizon” (coursepack)
  
• Check out reader John Cunningham's very short theory of the box, in response to last week's Salon.com essay. His ideas connect in some ways with Massumi's.

Post your responses in the comments field by 8pm Wednesday night, Nov. 14.

1) Sum up one key idea from the selection by Massumi. How might Massumi's ideas relate to Mulholland Drive, even though he's not talking about film specifically?

2) In preparation for group work on the film that will begin this week, post one (1) paragraph that includes all three of these:

• one preliminary “research question” concerning the film—something that intrigues you enough to think about it for a while. This must be in the form of a question.
  
• a possible method you'd use to approach that question. This method should reflect what you've learned thus far from the theories and methods we've encountered in the course.
• one scene from the film you’d focus on, in order to investigate that question.

Note: all students should read all other students’ posts before arriving at class Thursday.

Visual essay #2 due by midnight Sunday, Nov. 11

Note the new and improved, extended deadline: essays must be posted by midnight Sunday, Nov. 11 (that's 12 a.m. Monday, technically speaking).

The assignment for short visual essay #2 is the same as for the previous visual essay, but this time you choose either Rebel without a Cause or Imitation of Life to discuss. Your essay should appear on the blog you personally created for use with this course. You MUST provide me with your BLOG ADDRESS by midnight Sunday as well, here in the comments field.

In the spirit of collaboration that's so important to this course, post your blog's address in the comments field of this post. I'd like everyone to see others' work, get ideas about how to integrate images into an argument, see how other people might be working differently with the same scenes they are, leave considerate, constructive feedback, etc., much as you would in a production course. (If there are any privacy concerns around this, let me know: send me an email. I must have your URL by no later than the essay's deadline.) You'll get feedback from me privately and separately.

The assignment is still available at the D2L site in the "contents" area. As before, be sure to have a clear thesis statement, include images in a purposeful way, and demonstrate that you're engaging with the models of close analysis encountered thus far in the course.

Reading responses due 11/7

This week's readings:

Wyman, Garrone, and Klein, “Everything You Wanted to Know about Mulholland Drive” (I encourage you to read the readers' responses to this essay: click the "Whaddya mean, 'we don't know about the box'" link)
Falsetto, “There is No Band at Club Silencio”

Post your responses in the comments field by 8pm Wednesday night, Nov. 7. (Note the corrected date.)

1) Describe the methods and goals of each essay. (If needed, revisit the tip on determining method, from the first posted reading questions.)

2) There are numerous connections between these two essays and the approaches we've encountered thus far. Find and discuss a conceptual connection between ONE idea you find in these readings and ONE idea or method from Perez (the essay on allegiance/alliance), Bordwell, Keathley, Stern, Doane, Mulvey, Affron, or Dyer.

3) Every reading provides a critical tool we’ll try out on the film under discussion. So, suggest one scene from Mulholland Drive for us to look at in class. What "research question" would you like to ask about that scene? Explain how and why one approach or idea from either one of these essays might be helpful or interesting to use when analyzing the scene. Be very specific.

Note: if either essay should become unavailable online, go to D2L and download the text-only versions in the "contents:readings" section.

Reading questions due Wed. 10/31 by 8pm

This week's readings:

Affron, “Performing Performing: Irony and Affect” (coursepack)
Dyer, “Stars as Signs” (coursepack)
Wikipedia entry on Lana Turner
Optional: Gaby Wood, “In Lana Turner’s Bedroom”

Post your responses in the comments field by 8pm Wednesday night, Oct. 31.

1) Sum up one key idea from Affron’s essay.

2) Dyer is a long essay, and you are responsible for the whole thing. However, we’ll focus the reading responses on the 10 ways character is constructed in the cinema (pp. 120-132). Give an example of how the character of Lora Meredith is constructed in five (5) of the ways Dyer identifies on p. 121.

Everybody must include an example of how mise-en-scène helps to construct her character, but the other four areas are your choice (from Dyer’s list). So, for example, you might tell us how and what we learn about Lora Meredith’s character based on: audience foreknowledge (of Lana Turner), her name (what does the name “Lora Meredith” tell us about her character?), gestures she makes (Mulvey discusses one of these from the opening scene; find another example), actions she takes in the film, and mise-en-scène (i.e., what do the visual details of a certain setting—say, her apartment, some part of her home, the stage, or her dressing room—tell us about her character?) Be very specific: e.g., don’t just tell us “Lora wants attention” as an “action” she takes; instead, give us a specific action and how it constructs an aspect of her character.
3) Every reading provides a critical tool we’ll try out on the film under discussion. So, suggest one scene from IMITATION OF LIFE for us to look at in class. What "research question" would you like to ask about that scene? Explain how and why Dyer’s or Affron’s approach or ideas might be helpful or interesting to use when analyzing the scene. Be very specific.

Imitation of Life: accept no imitations

This is spelled out in the syllabus, but just in case, I'll repeat it here. There are two versions of Imitation of Life, so be sure to see the correct version by Thursday for class discussion.

1959 (d. Douglas Sirk in color)--this is the one we'll be discussing

1934 (d. John Stahl in black & white)--feel free to see this too, but we'll focus on the other

Room change

Film 320 will meet for the remainder of the semester in Mitchell B65, in the southeast corner of the building. (If you enter at the staircase that faces the Union, you'd make a right and go toward the end of the hallway.)

Reading responses due 10/24

This week's readings:

• Fred Camper, “The Epistemologist of Despair” (coursepack)
• Laura Mulvey, “Repetition and Return: Textual Analysis and Douglas Sirk in the Twenty-first Century” (coursepack)
• "Irony" (entry in UChicago's critical theory glossary)

Post your responses in the comments field by 8pm Wednesday night, Oct. 24.

1) Sum up one key idea (each) from Camper and Mulvey's essays.

2) Give one specific example of an ironic image (from a film assigned thus far in class) and explain why it's ironic, based on the critical theory glossary you read.

3) Every reading provides a critical tool we’ll try out on the film under discussion. So, suggest one scene from IMITATION OF LIFE for us to look at in class. What "research question" would you like to ask about that scene? Explain how and why Camper's or Mulvey's approach or ideas might be helpful or interesting to use when analyzing the scene. Be very specific.


See the bottom of the first posted reading questions for "tips" on figuring out the answer to question 2, on method.

Reading questions due Wed. 10/17 by 8pm

Man Ray, Observatory Time--the Lovers

This week's readings:

1) Keathley, “The Cinephiliac Moment and the Panoramic Gaze” (coursepack)
2) Re-read Keathley's bit on Judy's Lips in "Five Cinephiliac Anecdotes" (earlier in coursepack)

3) Martin's "Delirious Enchantment" (available as a .pdf in the "Contents" area of D2L) is optional reading for this week. We'll refer to it in class, but Keathley's essay is more important for our purposes, as a model of critical method.

Post your responses in the comments field by 8pm Wednesday night, Oct. 17. Don't forget to pose a "research question" about a specific scene for discussion in class.

1) Sum up one (1) key idea of Keathley's essay ("The Cinephiliac Moment").

2) What "counts" as a "cinephiliac moment," and what doesn't? Why and how can a cinephiliac moment be used for serious film analysis?

3) Suggest one scene from Rebel without a Cause for us to look at in class. [NOTE: some of you have been suggesting scenes without doing this next part, but that's not sufficient.] What "research question" would you like to ask about that scene? Explain how and why this author's approach might be helpful or interesting to use when analyzing the scene. Be very specific.

First visual essay due 10/11

Good luck! The assignment (and tips for practicing close analysis) appear now on the D2L site in the "contents" area. Read the assignment carefully. Be sure to have a clear thesis statement, include images in a purposeful way, and demonstrate that you're engaging with the models of close analysis encountered thus far in the course.

Your essay should appear on the blog you personally created for use with this course; you MUST provide your BLOG ADDRESS by the beginning of class 10/11.

In the spirit of collaboration that's so important to this course, post your blog's address in the comments field of this post. I'd like everyone to see others' work, get ideas about how to integrate images into an argument, see how other people might be working differently with the same scenes they are, leave considerate, constructive feedback, etc., much as you would in a production course. (If there are any privacy concerns around this, let me know: send me an email). You'll get feedback from me privately and separately.

Side note: I will be giving midterm feedback on your reading responses very soon.

Reading responses due Wed. 10/10 by 8pm

This week's readings:

Wood, "Finding the Father in Rebel without a Cause" (click the title to view the essay)
Doane, "The Voice in the Cinema" (in coursepack)

Post your responses in the comments field by 8pm Wednesday night, Oct. 10. Don't forget to suggest a scene for viewing in class.

1) Sum up one key idea of each of the readings.

It's pretty obvious that both authors are using psychoanalysis, but they do it in different ways and to different purposes. Wood pyschoanalyzes the characters and their relationships. Doane applies psychoanalysis to understand the viewer/film relationship in the cinematic experience. So, let's focus question 2 more narrowly on Doane:

2) What does she mean by "phantasmatic body," and how does sound/image continuity relate to that?

3) Suggest one scene from Rebel without a Cause for us to look at in class. What "research question" would you like to ask about that scene? Explain how and why these authors' approaches or ideas might be helpful or interesting to use when analyzing the scene. Be very specific.

See the bottom of the first posted reading questions for "tips" on figuring out the answer to question 2, on method.

Reading questions due Wed. 10/3 by 8pm

Reading responses due Wed. 10/3 by 8pm

This week's readings, from the course reader:

Stern, "A Glitter of Putrescence"

Post your responses in the comments field by 8pm Wednesday night, Oct. 3. Don't forget to suggest a scene for viewing in class.

1) Sum up one key idea of Stern's chapter.

2) Describe Stern's method of analysis. (See below for details)

3) Every reading provides a critical tool we’ll try out on the film under discussion. So, suggest one scene from TAXI DRIVER for us to look at in class. What "research question" would you like to ask about that scene? Explain how and why Stern's approach or ideas might be helpful or interesting to use when analyzing the scene. Be very specific.

See the bottom of the first posted reading questions for "tips" on figuring out the answer to question 2, on method.

Essay's missing page

There appears to be a missing page from Cynthia Fuchs's article in your coursepacket. I'll try to get a .pdf from Clark Graphics Wednesday morning for posting here and at D2L. If it's not here by 2pm go ahead and do your best to answer without that page. Sorry for this!

Reading responses due 9/26

Reading responses due Wed. 9/26 by 8pm

This week's readings, from the course reader:

Perez, “Toward a Rhetoric of Film: Identification and the Spectator” (7pp)
Fuchs, “’I Got Some Bad Ideas in My Head’” (15pp)
Johnson, review of Douglas Gordon’s “Through a Looking Glass” (1p)

Post your responses in the comments field by 8pm Wednesday night, Sept. 12. Don't forget to suggest a scene for viewing in class.

1) Sum up one key idea of Perez's and Fuchs's essays (not Johnson's).

2) Describe Perez's and Fuchs's method of analysis. (See below for details)

3) Every reading provides a critical tool we’ll try out on the film under discussion. So, suggest one scene from TAXI DRIVER for us to look at in class. What "research question" would you like to ask about that scene? Explain how and why ONE (1) of these readings might be helpful or interesting to use when analyzing the scene. Be very specific.

See the bottom of the first posted reading questions for "tips" on figuring out the answer to question 2, on method.

Taxi Driver: Dangerous Intersections

I'm not sure what to make of these coincidences, but just as we're discussing The Searchers and Taxi Driver, two things happen:

1) Jodie Foster's The Brave One (a vengeance-themed film centered on an interracial relationship) appears in theaters . . .

("You talkin' to me?" Why, yes, I think she is.)

2) and two taxi cabs mysteriously burst into flames in New York City

Re: The Brave One, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists asks "Are Women Taking Vengeance on Celluloid?" (provocative ambiguity in that sentence structure!) and points out that several of the recent female-avenger films were developed, if not directed, by women.

Useful links

For a tutorial on creating your own blog and posting to our blog, click Blogger's start page.

You'll need to be able to make screen captures from dvd's for your short visual essays and your final project. (Sound clips aren't required but can also be used if you're focusing on sound.) For technical advice re: making screen captures or sound clips, see the department's film forum, created for Film 116 but open for use by students in all film courses. Scroll down to "Film 114 Discussions" to find some posts about VLC player (for the PC) and Snap 'N Drag (for the Mac), the software recommended for screen captures. WireTap Pro is excellent for making sound clips.

VLC Player's page, for downloading that software.
Snap 'n Drag's page, for downloading that software.
Wire Tap Pro's page, for downloading that software (for sound clips)

For info about campus computer labs (locations, software, etc.), click here.

Reading response due 9/19

Reading questions due Wed. 9/19 by 8pm

This week's readings, from the course reader:

Bordwell, “Principles of Narration” (14pp)
Keathley, “Five Cinephiliac Anecdotes” (24pp)

Post your responses in the comments field by 8pm Wednesday night, Sept. 12. Don't forget to suggest a scene for viewing in class.

1) Sum up one key idea of EACH reading.

2) Describe EACH author’s method of analysis. (See below for details)

3) Every reading provides a critical tool we’ll try out on the film under discussion. So, suggest one scene from THE SEARCHERS for us to look at in class. Explain how and why ONE (1) of these readings might be helpful or interesting to use when analyzing that scene. What questions do you think it might help answer, or what discoveries did it help you make as you watched and read? Be very specific.

Question 2, on method, will take some thought. Consider the following:

* What aspects of the film experience is this author interested in, and why? Some examples might include: style (if so, what aspects of it?), the filmmaker’s personal biography or politics, the film’s social or historical context, intertextuality (a film’s connection with other films and images), character psychology, casting and the star system, viewers’ identification with characters, viewers’ physical experiences or psychological processes, viewers’ social background and/or identity, viewing context (films in theaters vs. dvds at home), and others.

* What kind of examples does this author use to support his or her argument? What counts as “evidence” for this author?

* What schools of thought or scholarly practice inform this author’s approach? (e.g., literary studies? psychology? filmmaking experience? history? autobiography? art history? Surrealist distraction?) The answer may not always be stated in the reading itself; in those cases, ask yourself, what other kind of writing does this sound like? What other types of writers might be interested in the same issues or examples this person uses? This also may require a quick “Google” search, to find out what this writer’s background is.

Welcome to Film 320-07

Howdy, Stranger. C'mon in.

This is the Film 320 blog, where you'll post (in the comments field) your responses to the weekly readings and screenings. You'll also use this to discuss group work later in the semester.

For the syllabus, see the D2L site.

For technical advice re: making screen captures or sound clips, see the department's film forum, created for Film 116 but open for use by students in all film courses. Scroll down to "Film 114 Discussions" to find some posts about VLC player (for the PC) and Snap 'N Drag (for the Mac), the software recommended for screen captures. WireTap Pro is excellent for making sound clips.

For a tutorial on creating and posting to a blog using Blogger, click Blogger's start page.

Reading questions due Wed. 9/12 by 8pm

This week's readings, from the course reader:

• Perez, “In the Study of Film, Theory Must Work Hand in Hand With Criticism” (2pp)
• Bordwell, “The Viewer’s Activity” (17pp)

Post your responses in this post's comments field (below) by 8pm Wednesday night, Sept. 12. Don't forget to suggest a scene for viewing in class.

1) Sum up one key idea of each reading.
2) Describe each author’s method of analysis. (See below for details)
3) Every reading provides a critical tool we’ll try out on the film under discussion. So, suggest one scene from this week’s film for us to look at as a group. Explain how and why ONE (1) of these readings might be helpful or interesting to use when analyzing that scene. What questions do you think it might help answer, or what discoveries did it help you make as you watched and read? Note: you may choose a scene discussed by the author, if you can also explain what’s especially interesting about the author’s approach to that scene.

Question 2, on method, will take some thought. Consider the following as you develop your answer, but you do not need to address every one of these questions in your response.

• What aspects of the film experience is this author interested in, and why? Some examples might include: style (if so, what aspects of it?), the filmmaker’s personal biography or politics, the film’s social or historical context, intertextuality (a film’s connection with other films and images), character psychology, casting and the star system, viewers’ identification with characters, viewers’ physical experiences or psychological processes, viewers’ social background and/or identity, viewing context (films in theaters vs. dvds at home), and others.
• What kind of examples does this author use to support his or her argument? What counts as “evidence” for this author?
• What schools of thought or scholarly practice inform this author’s approach? (e.g., literary studies? psychology? filmmaking experience? history? autobiography? art history? Surrealist distraction?) The answer may not always be stated in the reading itself; in those cases, ask yourself, what other kind of writing does this sound like? What other types of writers might be interested in the same issues or examples this person uses? This also may require a quick “Google” search, to find out what this writer’s background is.