Documentary Film Rubric

There is a film contest that your documentary films could be entered into: The Rochester Teen Film Festival (deadline for 10 minute or fewer minute films of any style) is June 11. Presentation and screening is in August.

Rubric for your Documentaries:

A/A+: Video theme is compelling, significant, and well supported by effective camera work and transitions. The subject and portrayal/coverage of the subject raises and evokes questions, while attempting to move deeper into the subject. Video includes effective music/sound track, credits, title, and cinematography. Project was obviously a group effort. Film turned in on time and in correct format.

B/B+: Video is important and supported by camera work; transitions are appropriate and useful. The subject may raise or evoke questions, but film may have some gaps or weaknesses. Video includes music/sound track, credits, title and cinematography, but may have some mistakes or weaknesses. Project was probably a group effort. Film turned in on time.

C/C+: Video approaches film subject, but without much inspiration or effective analysis. Subject may have some gaps that would be improved with reediting or more effort, but overall the film project was completed. Video may be missing any of the following: music/sound, credits, title. Camera work may have some problems or weaknesses that affect the success of the film. Film turned in late.

D: Film was a C/C+ level, but turned in rather late or the project was attempted, but not completed.

F: Film incomplete or not turned in.

Citizen Kane (again) & The Emergence of TV

Please continue to watch and take notes on Citizen Kane. Please read the handout on The Emergence of Television for Friday and respond in a paragraph any observations or reflections, questions, or what have you to turn in.

London, Paris, Barcelona Trip 2011

Students interested in joining the SOTA school trip to London, Paris and Barcelona!

There is an informational meeting Thursday May 6 at 6:00 in room 238.

Citizen Kane/ AP Prep

Tomorrow, during 1st period, all students taking AP exams in the upcoming weeks will be attending an assembly in the Ensemble Theatre.

Those staying behind, please watch the following clips:

Rosebud (Simpsons)

Citizen Kane (Kids in the Hall)

Afterward, please complete any missing work for this marking period. During period 2 we will resume watching Citizen Kane.

Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced:
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail:
And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:
And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war!

The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!

A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight 'twould win me
That with music loud and long
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed
And drunk the milk of Paradise.

Citizen Kane

As we view Citizen Kane, there are a series of important elements that can enrich our understanding of this film.

Orson Welles as Auteur:
Welles directed, wrote (partial), and starred in this film (even though it was thought he wasn't old enough to portray Kane). While Welles had direct control over the film and its look, there were other people who contributed artistically. Some of the invention and creativity of film making includes:

Camera Work:
The Deep Focus shot!
Low angle shots revealing ceilings!
Moving shots used as wipes!
Overlapping dialogue! (not original to Welles, but a trend in Screwball Comedies)
Long uninterrupted shots!
Expressionist lighting and photography!

Narrative/Special techniques:
Multiple perspective!
Flashbacks!
Aging!

motifs and themes:
The American Dream: For all of Kane's "success", he is not happy. He dies lonely, with only his "possessions" around him. Is all our striving to succeed in America an illusion?

Perspective:
The differing perspectives on Kane's life, especially in the absence of Kane's own point of view, force us to question what was truly important in Kane's life (and by extension what constitutes a life in general.) Judging by Kane's last muttered word: Rosebud, the most important pieces of his life were not the things that made him newsworthy, such as his newspaper successes and political ambitions, nor his friendships and associations. As Thompson interviews different people about Kane, we are given different perspectives on the man (some are unreliable). Odd, though, that we do not see Kane from Kane's POV.

Motifs:
Isolation
Materialism/Capitalism
Old Age

Symbols:
The Snowglobe
Sleds
Statues

WRITING ACTIVITY: Please write a 2-3 page, double-spaced essay on any one of the following:

1. Examine the aesthetics of Citizen Kane. How is, for example, mise-en-scene and the mise-en-shot used, how is the camera used, dialogue, etc. to create a formalistic or realistic film? Can a film be both realistic and formalistic? How does editing and montage work in the film to symbolize or bring focus to important elements in the film? Remember to examine motifs and recurring objects and what their significance is for the film.

2. Examine the film's narration and narrative structure. Examine Welles' artistic choice to tell the story this way. How does the film benefit (or suffer) from this choice? Also, examine how Kane's "fictional" story reveals the psychological state of the film's auteur. How is this also a film about Welles? Who's story is this? Explain.

Due: Friday, May 7 (this assignment will be for the 6th marking period.)

Note: The handout given to you on Citizen Kane will be helpful to you as will the script. Please read and refer to these articles.

Here is some information about who is responsible for this film. You may find it useful for your journal paper.

Director: Orson Welles
Writers: Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles (screenplay)
Cinematography by Gregg Toland

Orson Welles ... Charles Foster Kane
Joseph Cotten ... Jedediah Leland
Dorothy Comingore ... Susan Alexander Kane
Agnes Moorehead ... Mary Kane
Ruth Warrick ... Emily Monroe Norton Kane
Ray Collins ... James W. Gettys
Erskine Sanford ... Herbert Carter
Everett Sloane ... Mr. Bernstein
William Alland ... Jerry Thompson
Paul Stewart ... Raymond
George Coulouris ... Walter Parks Thatcher
Fortunio Bonanova ... Signor Matiste
Gus Schilling ... The Headwaiter
Philip Van Zandt ... Mr. Rawlston
Georgia Backus ... Bertha Anderson
Harry Shannon ... Kane's Father

Produced by Orson Welles and George Schaefer .... executive producer
Original Music by Bernard Herrmann
Film Editing by Robert Wise
Casting by Rufus Le Maire & Robert Palmer
Art Direction by Van Nest Polglase
Set Decoration by Darrell Silvera
Costume Design by Edward Stevenson
Makeup by Maurice Seiderman

You may wish to check the TRIVIA section on IMDB.com for Citizen Kane. There are quite a few interesting tidbits of trivia for trivia fans.

Reminder: Please submit your documentary projects (with a title in the film) to the workshop folder. You must CONVERT and save your film to a MP4 format.

Special Guest Filmmaker/Director

We have an opportunity to meet former SOTA student and guest filmmaker
Rob Walsh (SOTA 2005) who will screen his film Whisperwalk. Rob graduated from York University in Toronto 2009 and was the cinematographer for the film, it recently screened in the Rochester International Film Festival at the Dryden Theatre; the director Elli Weisbaum will accompany him.

So today, please attend the guest artist visit. When we return to the lab, please prepare and finalize your documentary films. These projects are due.

For Thursday, please have read Citizen Kane for homework.

Just a reminder that the Penfield Poetry Contest deadline is this week, and please support the creative writing department by attending the Playwrights' Festival Readings and Choose Your Own Improv play event, April 28 @ 7:00 in the Ensemble Theatre. Tickets are free for you enrolled in the class, but $4 for parents/other students/dates, etc. Tickets are available at the door.