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.