Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Film Project: Day 8

Just to be clear on expectations:
1. Your film project should be nearing completion. So far you've had about 640 minutes of class time for a 3-10 minute film project. Editing and filming take time, but we should be nearing an end of these projects if you've been on task in the lab.
2. Films should be completed by end of day Monday, June 2.
3. Along with your completed film, you should also turn in your film script. The film script should be relatively similar to your film (i.e., it should be a script for the film you made--with understandable differences due to editing, acting, cinematography or directing choices, etc.)
4. Both the script and the film project will be given a grade for this marking period.
5. Your film should include title credits and end credits.
6. There is a short reflective response that also should be turned in with your film. We will cover this portion of the project Monday.
7. When you are done with your film projects, please upload them to youtube (make sure you allow me to see your film--do not select private only or I will not be able to watch your film or show it to the class!) Once the films are graded, you are welcome to remove the film from youtube.
8. Student films of 10 minutes or less in length can be submitted to Nazareth's Rochester Teen Film Festival. Entering your film(s) will gain you extra credit. Winning the contest will grant you even more extra credit!
Check the rubric for grading criteria!

Sometime during class today, please make sure you have completed our previous assignment:
Please select an American New Wave or Contemporary director (see list in post below). Research and take notes in your journal about your chosen director. After researching, please watch some clips from any films by your chosen director(s). Be prepared to create a Prezi on your director for your final major assignment.

HOMEWORK: Please read the chapter on the MPAA and the American New Wave movement. Turn in a paragraph response how the MPAA's loosening of restrictions affected the film industry. You may wish to connect what you know about the Hays Code and the HUAC censorship to the MPAA.

Monday, May 26, 2014

Film Project: Day 7

Today, please continue to work on your film projects. At some point in class, please complete the following as well:

American New Wave & Contemporary Directors Project:

Please select one of the following directors. Research and take notes in your journal about the director. You can learn a lot about the director from imdb.com. After researching a bit, please watch some clips from any films by your chosen director(s) (search on youtube.com for example).

American New Wave Directors:
  • Woody Allen
  • Robert Altman
  • Hal Ashby
  • Peter Bogdanovich
  • John Cassavetes
  • Francis Ford Coppola
  • Brian De Palma
  • William Friedkin
  • Dennis Hopper
  • George Lucas
  • Mike Nichols
  • Bob Rafelson
  • Martin Scorsese
  • Steven Spielberg
Contemporary Film Directors:
  • Pedro Amoldovar
  • Kathryn Bigelow
  • Danny Boyle
  • Mel Brooks
  • Charles Burnett
  • Tim Burton
  • Joel & Ethan Coen
  • James Cameron
  • Jane Campion
  • Sofia Coppola
  • David Cronenberg
  • Cameron Crowe
  • Julie Dash
  • Guillermo Del Toro
  • Claire Denis
  • Clint Eastwood
  • David Fincher
  • Jean Luc Godard
  • Terry Gilliam
  • Mary Harron
  • Werner Herzog
  • Peter Jackson
  • Spike Lee
  • Kasi Lemmons
  • David Lynch
  • Terrence Malick
  • Hayao Miyazaki 
  • Errol Morris
  • Christopher Nolan
  • Gordon Parks
  • Tyler Perry
  • Sidney Poitier
  • Gina Prince-Bythewood
  • John Sayles
  • Ridley Scott
  • Jim Sheridan
  • John Singleton
  • Steven Soderbergh
  • Quentin Tarantino
  • Julie Taymor
  • Paul Thomas Anderson
  • Melvin Van Peebles
  • Gus Van Sant
  • Keenan Ivory Wayans

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Film Project: Day 6

Please work on your film projects during lab today.

HOMEWORK: Aim to finish your film by end of next week!

Sunday, May 18, 2014

1960's Films; Film Project: Day 5

Please split your time to uploading and working on your film projects, while also taking notes on 1960's film trends. Along with the 1950's trends, you should take notes and be prepared to explain some of the characteristics of these decades.

1960's Film Trends:
With the change in restrictions based on the rating system from the MPAA, content in films gets grittier, more violent, more sexual, and more...well...Hollywood. View a few clips of famous films and film categories developed in the 1960's. You may watch any 1960 film for extra credit, just like you might have done for the 1930's, 1940's, and 1950's.

1960's Epic/Costume Drama Films:
Spartacus (1960) Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Charleton Heston, Peter Ustinov
El Cid (1961) Charleton Heston
Cleopatra (1963) Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton
Becket (1964) Richard Burton & Peter O'Toole
The Sound of Music (1965) Julie Andrews & Christopher Plumber
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
The Lion in Winter (1968) Peter O'Toole & Katherine Hepburn

Angry Young Man Films:
Look Back in Anger (1959)
The Loneliness of the Longdistance Runner (1962)
The Caretaker (1963)
The Leather Boys (1963)
If (1968)
Easy Rider (1969)

Beatles' Films
A Hard Day's Night (1964)
Help! (1965)
The Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
Yellow Submarine (1968)

Famous/Influential Directors:

Stanley Kubrick: Lolita (1962), Dr. Strangelove (1964)
John Ford: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
George Pal: The Time Machine (1960), Jason & the Argonauts (1963), One Million Years BC (1966)
John Frankenheimer: The Young Savages (1961), The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Arthur Penn: The Miracle Worker (1962), Bonny & Clyde (1967), Alice's Restaurant (1969)
Alfred Hitchcock: Psycho (1960), The Birds (1963), Marnie (1964), Torn Curtain (1966)
James Bond Films: Dr. No (1962), Goldfinger (1964)

African American Films:
Sidney Poitier: A Raisin in the Sun (1961), Lilies of the Field (1963), To Sir With Love (1967), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

Now, continue working on your film projects! Film projects are due at the end of the month. Make a plan to shoot, upload files, edit and complete your film!

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Film Project: Day #4; 1950's Films

1. Work on your film project with your group.
  • Producers: get with your director and discuss time and schedule for the film project. The film project is due at the end of the month. Set up a schedule that works within this boundary. Realize that editing takes time. Producers! It is your job to see that the project is completed by the deadline.
  • Directors: work with your actors, editor, technicians, cinematographer, etc. Find out people's schedules. When can you shoot the scenes you need to? Make a schedule and hand this to your crew. You may use class time to plan, shoot, edit, or trouble-shoot with your crew.
  • Actors: get a copy of the script you are working on and read it. Prepare your scenes by reading and reading and reading the script. Memorize, if possible. Work with your director on scheduling scenes you are in, run lines with other actors, ask questions of the director for anything unclear in the script or with your character. Help out the crew or the director where needed.
  • Writers: You are the first step in the process, but you may not need to be completed before you hand your script to your director or producer. If you haven't completed your short script (remember a short script is like a short story--start close to the climax of the "film"!) After writing, be available to the director to change anything needing changing in the script. Yes, you may want your site locations to blow-up at the end of the film, but is this possible? (the answer is no, by the way.) As the writer, help out your editor and director by preparing a cast and crew list. You may also easily double as an actor, cinematographer, producer, director, crew, or editor. Complete jobs where needed.
  • Cinematographer: Your job is to plan HOW the script is shot. Will you use a long shot or close up? Will you use high-key lighting or low-key? Will you shoot a scene with an oblique angle or a high angle or low angle? Go through the script and make some decisions. Create storyboards to help you visualize a scene. Take into account the writer's wishes, but feel free to change anything that will make your film project more visually interesting.
  • Editor: Start working on the credits. You will need both opening and closing credits. You can do this even if you haven't started shooting your film yet. Use iMovie to create opening and closing credits. You can also help out by finding sound cues or stock footage. Prepare all sound cues as needed. If an actor has a VO (voice over) sequence, use class time to record the voice over (even if you haven't finished shooting the scene it is attached to). Once you have film shot, you may begin editing. I suggest the editor is NOT the director, although this may be unavoidable.
  • Crew: Help out. If something needs to be completed, help your team get the film done on time. Like actors, be available to fill in and help where needed at any time. If the editor needs help, help. If the writer needs help, help. If the director needs help, help. You get the idea.
DO NOT WASTE CLASS TIME!

Check here for some advice about making a film. Locate your job and learn a little more advice about doing it well!:

Director: How to Direct
Director/Producer: How to Schedule a Film
Director/Producer: How to Plan a Movie (pre-production)
Director/Cinematographer: How to Shoot a Short Film
Cinematographer: Shooting Tips
Cinematographer: Tips for Cinematography
Cinematographer: Tips for Angles & Locations
Editors & Cinematographer: Continuity Editing
Writers: Story Telling Tips
Actors: Acting in Film with Michael Caine

1950's Film Trends
After World War II, America saw a post-war boom. The generation of "baby boomers" (probably your grandparents) were born!

The 50's saw a lot of new things that we take for granted today: leisure time activities, middle class values, the rise of modern jazz, fast food restaurants, the grip of television, drive-in movie theaters sprang up all over the place, and Hollywood began targeting movies to the large teen population. This is the decade of the 1950's: the ever present threat of a cold war, the malaise of conformity, new technology making life more "convenient" and "easy", the growth and rise of minority voices, the Civil Rights Movement, and the strict expectation of gender roles. Men were men, women were ladies, teenagers were rebels, and Blacks began to stand up and fight for freedoms long overdue. Welcome to the 1950's!

Please take a look at some of the following clips/trailers for 1950's films:
Marilyn Monroe:

Monday, May 12, 2014

Film Project: Class #3

IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY!

Today please complete the following during class:

1. Work on your film project with your group.
  • Producers: get with your director and discuss time and schedule for the film project. The film project is due at the end of the month. Set up a schedule that works within this boundary. Realize that editing takes time. Producers! It is your job to see that the project is completed by the deadline.
  • Directors: work with your actors, editor, technicians, cinematographer, etc. Find out people's schedules. When can you shoot the scenes you need to? Make a schedule and hand this to your crew. You may use class time to plan, shoot, edit, or trouble-shoot with your crew.
  • Actors: get a copy of the script you are working on and read it. Prepare your scenes by reading and reading and reading the script. Memorize, if possible. Work with your director on scheduling scenes you are in, run lines with other actors, ask questions of the director for anything unclear in the script or with your character. Help out the crew or the director where needed.
  • Writers: You are the first step in the process, but you may not need to be completed before you hand your script to your director or producer. If you haven't completed your short script (remember a short script is like a short story--start close to the climax of the "film"!) After writing, be available to the director to change anything needing changing in the script. Yes, you may want your site locations to blow-up at the end of the film, but is this possible? (the answer is no, by the way.) As the writer, help out your editor and director by preparing a cast and crew list. You may also easily double as an actor, cinematographer, producer, director, crew, or editor. Complete jobs where needed.
  • Cinematographer: Your job is to plan HOW the script is shot. Will you use a long shot or close up? Will you use high-key lighting or low-key? Will you shoot a scene with an oblique angle or a high angle or low angle? Go through the script and make some decisions. Create storyboards to help you visualize a scene. Take into account the writer's wishes, but feel free to change anything that will make your film project more visually interesting.
  • Editor: Start working on the credits. You will need both opening and closing credits. You can do this even if you haven't started shooting your film yet. Use iMovie to create opening and closing credits. You can also help out by finding sound cues or stock footage. Prepare all sound cues as needed. If an actor has a VO (voice over) sequence, use class time to record the voice over (even if you haven't finished shooting the scene it is attached to). Once you have film shot, you may begin editing. I suggest the editor is NOT the director, although this may be unavoidable.
  • Crew: Help out. If something needs to be completed, help your team get the film done on time. Like actors, be available to fill in and help where needed at any time. If the editor needs help, help. If the writer needs help, help. If the director needs help, help. You get the idea.
DO NOT WASTE CLASS TIME!

Check here for some advice about making a film. Locate your job and learn a little more advice about doing it well!:

Director: How to Direct
Director/Producer: How to Schedule a Film
Director/Producer: How to Plan a Movie (pre-production)
Director/Cinematographer: How to Shoot a Short Film
Cinematographer: Shooting Tips
Cinematographer: Tips for Cinematography
Cinematographer: Tips for Angles & Locations
Editors & Cinematographer: Continuity Editing
Writers: Story Telling Tips
Actors: Acting in Film with Michael Caine

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Film Project: Day 2

This morning several classmates are taking the AP English Language exam. If you are not, please work on the following tasks:

A. Make sure your group has written a 1-page treatment. Help your writers out by lending a hand. By the end of class today you should have this done and turned in.

B. The producer should select the following roles for a film crew:
  • a director
  • an assistant director (to take over if the director is absent)
  • a cinematographer or director of photography
  • a primary or head writer
  • writing assistant(s)
The producer, director, and cinematographer should help the writer write the shooting script for the treatment. The script should be between 5-10 pages at most. Remember that you will need to constrain or limit your idea to a SHORT FILM. This is not the epic, high budget film you might have written for your previous screen play project.

In summary:
Before the end of class today, please complete the following

  • Your 1-page treatment should be completed and turned in for participation credit. Share the 1-page treatment with the other group members.
  • Producer should choose a director
  • Producer should choose a cinematographer (director of photography)
  • The writer(s) should flesh out the treatment to create a 5-10 page shooting script. This is ongoing. You do not need to finish this bullet point by the end of today's class, but if you have time, progress toward its completion.
HOMEWORK: See above.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

William Castle; Final Short Film Project

The Wonderful World of William Castle

Competing with a growing television audience, filmmakers in the 1950's had to entice viewers into seeing their films. Trailers were the ticket! The worse the film, the greater need for an effective trailer. Of the best promoters of his directing and producing work, William Castle looms over all others.

"William Schloss was born in New York City. Schloss means "castle" in German, and William Castle probably chose to translate his surname into English to avoid the discrimination often encountered by Jewish entertainers of his time. He spent most of his teenage years working on Broadway in a number of jobs. He left for Hollywood at the age of 23, going on to direct his first film when he was 29. He also worked an as assistant to Orson Welles, doing much of the location work for Welles' noir film, The Lady from Shanghai."

Castle was famous for directing low budget B-films with many overly promoted gimmicks. Five of these were scripted by adventure novelist Robb White.

After a long career, William Castle died of a heart attack in Los Angeles in 1977.

His films include:

Macabre (1958): A certificate for a $1,000 life insurance policy from Lloyd's of London was given to each customer in case he/she should die of fright during the film. Showings also had fake nurses stationed in the lobbies and hearses parked outside the theater.

Utube clip: Macabre:

House on Haunted Hill (1959): Filmed in "Emergo". An inflatable glow in the dark skeleton attached to a wire floated over the audience during the final moments of some showings of the film to parallel the action on the screen when a skeleton arose from a vat of acid and pursued the villainous wife of Vincent Price. The gimmick did not always instill fright; sometimes the skeleton became a target for some audience members who hurled candy boxes, soda cups or any other objects at hand at the skeleton.

The Tingler (1959): Filmed in "Percepto". Some seats in theatres showing the Tingler were equipped with larger versions of the hand-held joy buzzers attached to the underside of the seats. When the Tingler in the film attacked the audience the buzzers were activated as a voice encouraged the real audience to "Scream - scream for your lives."

13 Ghosts (1960): Filmed in "Illusion-O". A hand held ghost viewer/remover with strips of red and blue cellophane was given out to use during certain segments of the film. By looking through either the red or blue cellophane the audience was able to either see or remove the ghosts if they were too frightening. 13 Ghosts.

Homicidal (1961): This film contained a "Fright break" with a 45 second timer overlaid over the film's climax as the heroine approached a house harboring a sadistic killer. A voiceover advised the audience of the time remaining in which they could leave the theatre and receive a full refund if they were too frightened to see the remainder of the film. About 1% demanded refunds, but were subjected to demasculation and called "cowards". Homicidal clip.

Mr. Sardonicus (1961): The audiences were allowed to vote in a "punishment poll" during the climax of the film - Castle appears on screen to explain to the audience their options. Each member of the audience was given a card with a glow in the dark thumb they could hold either up or down to decide if Mr. Sardonicus would be cured or die during the end of the film. Supposedly, no audience ever offered mercy so the alternate ending was never screened.

Zotz!
 (1962): Each patron was given a "Magic" (gold colored plastic) coin which looked nice, but did absolutely nothing.

Strait-Jacket (1964): Castle had cardboard axes made and handed out to patrons. This film, by the way, starred Oscar winner (not for this film) Joan Crawford - Mommy Dearest herself.

I Saw What You Did (1965): Seat belts were installed to keep patrons from being jolted from their chairs in fright.

Other film trailers from William Castle:

The Old Dark House (designed by Charles Addams: the illustrator/writer who created "The Addams Family")
The Night Walker
Let's Kill Uncle
Thirteen Frightened Girls

William Castle acted as producer to Roman Polanski's direction of: Rosemary's Baby The film remains one of the most artistic Castle productions ever made.

Today (1st period), after viewing and learning about William Castle, please join a film group of 1-6 people. Once you have a group, please complete the following tasks today in the lab.

A. Choose a member of your group to be a producer. You may select a second person to be the assistant producer. The producer(s) will select and assign roles to the rest of the film crew. It is ultimately the producer's job to make sure the film is completed on time and is made by the deadline. No deadline has been chosen just yet, but it will be your final film for the year.

B. The producer should hear the group pitch ideas. Go around your group and TAKING TURNS, throw out ideas for a film that you could shoot for your final project. Try ideas in different genres and styles. The producer should just LISTEN and record ideas that he/she likes best. Keep pitching ideas until there are no more ideas from the group. The producer should choose the best idea from the list. The producer has final say on what ideas get turned into a script for the movie.

C. The producer should assign 1-3 writers to work on a 1-page treatment. WRITERS should write the treatment and be prepared to share it with the group by next class.

D. The producer should select the following roles for a film crew:

  • a director
  • an assistant director (to take over if the director is absent)
  • a cinematographer or director of photography
  • a primary or head writer
  • writing assistant(s)

The producer, director, and cinematographer should help the writer write the shooting script for the treatment. The script should be between 5-10 pages at most. Remember that you will need to constrain or limit your idea to a SHORT FILM. This is not the epic, high budget film you might have written for your previous screen play project.

In summary:
Before the end of class today, please complete the following
--Choose a producer (or producers)
--Choose a writer and/or an assistant to create a 1-page treatment

If you have time, complete the following as well:
--Producer should choose a director
--Producer should choose a cinematographer (director of photography)

HOMEWORK: Complete the 1-page treatment for next class. 

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Script Project Due; Samuel Z. Arkoff & The Cold War Sci Fi Genre

This morning, please complete your film scripts. These scripts are due by the end of the class. They are major assignments for this marking period. Please complete them and turn them in today.

If you finish early, please read the handout on Samuel Z. Arkoff and American International Pictures. The material below will help you understand this period of history as we move into the strange 1950's. Please take notes of key ideas and information.

From IMDB.com:

"By the early 1950's, Samuel Z. Arkoff was a brash lawyer scratching out a living by representing his in-laws and the Hollywood fringe, which included many of now-infamous director/angora-clad transvestite Edward D. Wood Jr.'s social circle. Arkoff was physically imposing and capable of scaring anyone who opposed him. One of his clients was Alex Gordon, a screenwriter who had submitted an unsolicited script to Realart Pictures, an outfit that was profitably re-releasing 20-year old movies, often under new titles conjured up by it's owner, Jack Broder.

One such film, Man Made Monster (1941), had just been re-issued as The Atomic Monster, coincidentally the same title of Gordon's screenplay. Zarkoff, smelling blood in the water, paid Mr. Broder a visit and incredibly, obtained a $500 settlement. Broder's sales manager, James H. Nicholson was dumbfounded by Zarkoff's ability to extract a dime out of his tightfisted boss and proposed a partnership. American Releasing Corporation was founded in 1954 and their first release was a low-budget feature by 29-year old producer Roger Corman. Made for less than $50,000, it netted $850,000 and Corman was brought into the fold as a silent partner.

By 1955 the company was renamed American International Pictures, or simply AIP within the industry. Initially focusing on westerns on the premise that locations came cheap, and although profitable, Arkoff was unhappy with the returns and solicited theater owners for advice on what types of films filled seats. By the mid-1950's, thanks to television, the audience numbers had dwindled considerably with the key demographic now teenagers and young adults, who craved horror movies and drive-ins. AIP jumped into the horror genre with both feet and made a fortune. Under the aegis of Nicholson and Arkoff, the company survived in a constricting industry by catering to the whims of the teenage trade and adapting to trends.

AIP's long (350-plus) roster of kitsch classics, running the gamut from horror to rock'n'roll, from juvenile delinquency to Italian musclemen, and from Edgar Allan Poe to Annette Funicello, have formed their own unique niche in film history. His company became infamous for clever advertising schemes that were often more entertaining than AIP's movies.  Arkoff never tolerated egos and his films were more often than not, profitable, thanks to tight budgets and a sharp understanding of the target market. After Nicholson's 1972 resignation, Arkoff assumed full control of the company and remained in charge until the 1979 merger with Filmways prompted his own departure. He then became the head of Arkoff International Pictures."
Science Fiction (or sci-fi)

The Cold War and the fear of nuclear annihilation by the communists is reflected in the many b-films made in the 1950's. Here's a sampling. Enjoy!

Them (1954)
Forbidden Planet (1956) (starring Leslie Neilson, this is based on Shakespeare's The Tempest)
The Blob (1958) (starring Steve McQueen)
Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)
Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) Ed Wood’s terrible film masterpiece!
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
Attack of the Giant Gila Monster (1959)
Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)  


Ed Wood (Jr.) (10 October 1924 – 10 December 1978) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, actor, author, and editor, who often performed many of these functions simultaneously. In the 1950s, Wood made a run of cheap and poorly produced genre films, now humorously celebrated for their technical errors, unsophisticated special effects, large amounts of ill-fitting stock footage, idiosyncratic dialogue, eccentric casts and outlandish plot elements, although his flair for showmanship gave his projects at least a modicum of critical success.

Wood's popularity waned soon after his biggest 'name' star, Béla Lugosi, died. He was able to salvage a saleable feature from Lugosi's last moments on film, but his career declined thereafter. Toward the end of his life, Wood made pornographic movies and wrote pulp crime, horror, and sex novels. His posthumous fame began two years after his death, when he was awarded a Golden Turkey Award as Worst Director of All Time. The lack of conventional film making ability in his work has earned Wood and his films a considerable cult following.
Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926), sometimes nicknamed "King of the Bs" for his  output of B-movies, is a prolific American producer and director of low-budget movies, some of which have an established critical reputation: many of his films derived from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe.

Corman has apprenticed many now-famous directors, stressing the importance of budgeting and resourcefulness; Corman once joked he could make a film about the fall of the Roman Empire with two extras and a sagebush.

It Conquered the World (1956)
The Little Shop of Horrors
 (1960)
The Raven (1963)

HOMEWORK: Please read/take notes on the information posted here. Read the article on Samuel Z. Arkoff and in 1 paragraph, please explain how this producer and his company AIP helped influence film.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

The Maltese Falcon (conclusion)

We will watch the rest of this film. When you are done, please go to the lab and work on your film scripts.

Film scripts are due Monday.

HOMEWORK: Complete your film script. Additionally, please turn in your outline "essay" for The Maltese Falcon.

The Murky Middle (Even More Advice)

Aristotle wrote that stories should have a beginning, middle, and end. Middles can be difficult. You might have a smashing opening to a stor...