PAPERS
There are 2 papers for the course which are due the 5th and 10th week of the term. In the paper, you should select a “theme” in American culture and a film which exemplifies the theme. You should indicate in the paper why you feel this is a theme or pattern in the culture and then discuss how the film looks at the theme. You MUST include in the paper the techniques used by the film maker in making their position clear, or emphasizing certain aspects of the theme. For example, since most “themes or motifs” in the culture have many positions possible, you need to discuss the film makers position.
For example: people in this country may or may not be religious, but religion is on a kind of collision course often with science. In the film “Inherit the Wind” the battle between the two is overt and the film makers have a specific position that they take on the issue. You would need to discuss how that position is made clear through methods of filming. This will become clearer as the course progresses.
Second Paper
Take two films from the same period which have opposing points of view (e.g. The Thing and The Day the Earth Stood Still in which the aliens are “bad” in one and “good” in the other). Discuss the dichotomy or continuum which is involved. You MUST also discuss the filmic ways in which the director’s handle the subject matter
The paper is due the 10th week of class – Nov. 21st.
What is meant by “filmic”?
Filmic refers to the language of film, as opposed to the text. This includes among other things, narrative form, lighting, photographic techniques, editing, framing, music, and so on.
Movie makers make choices constantly, and in good films choices are important to furthering the meaning of the film. Silent films are far more filmic in that the story has to be told “in pictures” rather than in words. Even “Title cards” are a poor substitute for dialog, so the films exposition must proceed photographically.
If you watch a silent film, the subtitles are often extraneous and unnecessary. A good film today is likely to be at least partially understood even with the sound turned off.
What is meant by “narrative”?
Consider the “path of the story. Does the story have a beginning and an end and all the events between them are in chronological order or not? Does the story use flashbacks? Does it link stories from different times?
What is meant by lighting?
How are light and shadow used? How does the cinematographer separate aspects of the background – by color (as is often the case in color films), or by shadow (which is also the case in black and white films).
What is meant by photographic techniques?
The cinematographer must decide where to place the camera, how the material is framed, what kind of “depth of field” is needed (how far into the distance will be in focus); whether the camera is to move or not, and if so how. Whether there will be zooms or dolly shots. Each of these decisions must be made for reasons that enhance the meaning of the film.
What is meant by framing?
Framing refers to how the subjects are grouped within “the frame” that is the image which appears on the screen. What appears in the frame, how it is arranged (composition)
What is meant by lighting?
Lighting refers to the use of illumination in the film. Lighting causes both light and shadow an can be soft or harsh. Different kinds of lighting produce different moods and emotions in scenes. Some of these may be seen in many films, while others may be created by associations in the film that the film maker has specifically chosen for some purpose.
What is meant by editing?
Editing is a complex procedure having to do with the arrangement of sequences in the film. Each shot is like a word, and editing strings the words together into sentences. Editing involves cutting between shots and timing. There are many rules for editing which may or may not be observed. In some instances this leads to bad film making in others good film making. Basically when breaking the rule adds meaning it is seen as positive. This is true of most artistic rules.
What is meant by three layers of culture and how is this relevant to the films?
Anthropologists often talk about three aspects or layers of culture – actual, stated and idealized – that is what people do, what they say they do, and what they say they ought to do. Many stories are about conflicts between these “layers”.
What are Patterns and Rules.
Some schools of aesthetics argue that there are patterns which are noticed when they are broken, and hence they call attention to the work at that point. The patters may be cultural and generally known, of they may be made by the artist and hence have to be derived by the audience.
What are parallels?
Parallels occur when two or more things are matched in some way. The same gesture made by several characters may link them in some way. The “ape’s” hand reaching out to the monolith in 2001 is paralleled by the astronaut’s hand when he reaches out to the monolith near the end of the film. These similar parallel gestures link the characters. Similar clothing, similar dialog, similar placement in shots are some ways to link characters.
Papers MUST arrive on time.
HOW TO WRITE A PAPER
You must have something you want to say. You have to start with the idea. Often this is the hardest part. It is both creative and academic.
It may occur when you are looking at a film and suddenly realize what the film maker is saying in a kind of subliminal way. That is the idea then – how this film maker used film techniques to deliver the message.
The papers are not “research” papers in which you go out and examine lots of books and come to some conclusion or some problem. They are also not “opinion” papers. Do NOT write “I think that…” You need to write why you think that – that is how did the film maker manipulate you into the position you are taking: e.g. “The film has a strong feeling of entrapment caused by the director’s use of shadow, frames within frames, people photographed with shadows or lines across them, and low angle shots in which the ceiling appears behind the characters making them appear “boxed in”, “enclosed” or “entrapped”.