Documentary Project/Unit Test Review

Today please continue to work on your documentary projects. These projects are due (completed) April 27. A unit test on 1940's film will be held on Friday, April 16.

See below (and the links) for information. You should be familiar with all the topics posted.

Playwrights' Festival
The following writers will have their work produced for the playwrights' festival (April 28 at 7:00 in the Black Box theatre):

Kadisha: Tut's End
Molly: To Wait or Not to Wait
Meredith: One Way Ticket
Jahmal: Idea

Please plan on supporting your classmates by coming to the performance.

Unit Test - 1940's Film & Film Occupations Review

You should be familiar with the following information:

Color in Film (technicolor)
Film Noir
Orson Welles & Citizen Kane
Hollywood during WWII (see Filmsite.org)
1940's actors: Orson Welles, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Clark Gable, Bette Davis, Spencer Tracy, Abbott & Costello, Gene Autry, Joseph Cotten, Laurence Olivier, Katherine Hepburn, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., James (Jimmy) Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor, and Ingrid Bergman.
1940's directors: John Huston, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra, Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges, John Ford,
1940's producer: David O. Selznick, Walt Disney, Val Lewton
1940's films: Maltese Falcon, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, The Third Man, The Magnificent Ambersons, Walt Disney films, Horror Films, Film Noir, etc.
HUAC and its effect on film

1940's Film Clips

As you continue to edit and work on your documentary projects, please watch the following clips and take notes about content, directors/actors and genre of film. There will be a test Friday dealing with a variety of film items from the 1940's and Job Occupations.

Film Noir
Casablanca (1942)
Gaslight (1944) starring Angela Lansbery, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten
Double Indemnity (1944) Barbara Stanwyck, Fred McMurray, Edward G. Robinson
Mildred Pierce (1945) starring Joan Crawford
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) Lana Turner
The Big Sleep (1946) Humphrey Bogart
The Third Man (1949) Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten

Alfred Hitchcock:
Foreign Correspondent (1940)
Rebecca (1940) Laurence Olivier
Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Joseph Cotten
Life Boat (1944) Talula Bankhead
Notorious (1946) Cary Grant & Ingrid Bergman

Walt Disney:
Fantasia (1940)
Pinocchio (1940)
Dumbo (1941)

The Thief of Bagdad (1940) with Sabu and Conrad Veidt
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) Orson Welles
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) Gary Cooper & Ingrid Bergman
The Story of G.I. Joe (1945) Burgess Meredith

Abbot & Costello:
Buck Privates (1941)
Abbot & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

Elizabeth Taylor (child star) and animal star films:
Lassie Come Home (1943)
National Velvet (1944)

Frank Capra:
Arsenic & Old Lace (1944) Cary Grant
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) James Stewart
Miracle on 34th street (1947) Natalie Wood & Maureen O'Hara

Horror:
Cat People (1942)
I Walked With a Zombie (1943)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1942) Boris Karloff & Lon Chaney Jr.
House of Dracula (1945)
House of Frankenstein (1944) Boris Karloff & Lon Chaney Jr.
The Mummy's Tomb (1942) Lon Chaney Jr.
The Uninvited (1944) Ray Miland

Please begin reading Citizen Kane. You will be tested on this script as well.

Maltese Falcon/Documentary Project

The Maltese Falcon paper (see below) is due today (Thursday, April 8). Please make sure you either print this or send it to the DROPBOX with your name and the heading "Maltese Falcon" on the file.

Please complete the paper, then work on your documentaries.

Maltese Falcon Critical Paper & Documentary Projects

Please work on the Maltese Falcon critical paper (see below for instructions) (due April 8) and the documentary project (due April 27, although most of your film should be completed and "in the can" by next week.)

Today, please turn in your Citizen Kane packet question/observation card.

Playwrights' Festival Project

The Playwrights' Festival Readings will occur on Wednesday, April 28 at 7:00 in the Black Box Theatre. Auditions will be held Thursday, April 8 after school.

Interested students should submit a play that the author would like to see as a staged reading (any length, including 10 minute or shorter and/or full or one act plays).

Please drop the script into the DROPBOX no later than Wednesday, April 7, with your name and PLAYWRIGHT'S FESTIVAL indicated in the file name. Plays should be proofread, properly formatted, and include a title page and short cast list to be considered.

Maltese Falcon - Critical Paper

After viewing the Maltese Falcon, please write a 2-3 page critical review paper. The paper will be due April 8.

A critical review goes a little further than a film review or critique that a journalist might write for a newspaper or magazine. Being more scholarly, this is the kind of paper that you might write taking a college course in film. Its focus is not only to answer who, what, when, but also HOW and WHY. (who is in or involved in the film, what elements make up the film; what is my reaction to the film, when was it made or premiered, but HOW is the film relevant to society, to human culture, WHY should we watch it, HOW did it affect films after it, HOW are film elements used skillfully (or not) in the film, and WHY should we view the film?

Your critical review paper should include the following (follow these steps to ensure you have all the components you will need to effectively evaluate and analyze the film):

1. An introduction that discusses the history and significance of film noir. Ask yourself, "what is film noir and why is it an important genre?" ending with the thesis of examining the elements of The Maltese Falcon. It should be clear that you know the background and something about the genre you are writing about.

2. You should briefly summarize the plot and identify the characters (and often their actors playing the parts). In essence, you should summarize the movie's plot, setting, characters) before you begin to examine it.

3. Your body of your paper should examine the technical and historical elements of the film before you throw in your opinion. It should be clear that you know the details about the film (including actors, directors, producers, and other film jobs and who was responsible, how the film did historically at the box office, etc.)

4. Your body of your paper should judge and evaluate the skill of these people in doing their jobs and give reasons or support your opinions. (Again, you can examine actors, the director, the writer, the producer, the costumer, etc. Usually you stick to major parts and positions over say, the key grip's job.)

5. Your body should connect major themes or the impact of the film to ones own life or to the HUMAN CONDITION. Are these themes best served in the genre, and by the film?

6. Finally, you should summarize by answering why is this film relevant? Why should someone watch this film? How did this film affect the industry after it was made? Did it influence other contemporary directors, or create new styles of artistic expression? Etc.

Proofread your work before you turn it in.

I'd suggest after watching the film today, you may wish to quickly jot down or summarize the film, and get your reaction to the film on paper so you don't forget what you think over the short holiday. Don't worry too much about the research element of the film. You can work on this Tuesday in the lab.

After squaring away the details of your paper, continue to work on your documentary.

HOMEWORK: Please read the article on Orson Welles and Citizen Kane. To hand in, please put two comments or observations or questions from your reading on a small index card or slip of paper to hand in.