Film Exam

Please spend the first 15 minutes of today's class preparing for your test. At 7:45 we will move to the second floor to take the exam.

When you have completed the exam, please go to the library to do any of the following tasks:

A. Work with your "film company". Decide who will do what job in your company for your silent film project. Once you have a writer, that person should begin writing the treatment or outline narrative for the film.

• Silent films do not require a lengthy script. Instead, like the narrative outline project (from George Melies' chapter) you are outlining the scenes you will include in your film to tell the story. Use the storyboards to help you plan your script.

B. Research and work on your Metropolis film analysis.

• The film (the full film; Youtube also has various specific scene clips if you look...)
• The Metropolis Case (history/context)
• Metropolis Case, Part 2 (sets/special effects)
• Metropolis Case, Part 3 (music, etc.)
• How Metropolis Changed the Way We See the Future
• The Making of Metropolis (with English subtitles)

C. Read the article on Sound in Movies. This is homework.

HOMEWORK: Please read the article handout on "Sound in Film" and take notes on key ideas in the text. Answer: What were the positive and negative outcomes of sound films on the movie industry?

Metropolis: Day 2

Please watch and take notes as you notice key aspects of the film Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang. Your film analysis (an essay examining a particular thesis or claim) can focus on one of the following film theories:

• Historical approach: research the film's history specifically. Find out who made the film, why they made the film, how they made the film, what reaction viewers had to the film, what happened to the film, and other historical aspects of what shaped the film or how the film shaped other films that came after it...[for examples of this sort of essay, refer to the handouts we have been reading for this class.]
• National cinema: research the political and aesthetic climate of German cinema at the time of the film as a way to understand and draw meaning from the film. This might include how our culture today might interpret the film in contrast to when it was first made or viewed.
• Auteur theory: research the director (or the writer or an actor) of the film. Examine where the film falls in the historical context of the artist's body of work. How did the film affect or shape the artist's career? Look for commonalities or underlying themes or approaches to dominant works in the artist's canon of work in an attempt to illuminate the artistry and effect of the film.
• Formalist theory: Research and examine the stylistic and formal elements of the film. You might focus on the editing or lighting or acting or cinematography or special techniques found in the film. 
• Ideological film theory: I suggest viewing the film through the Marxist critical lens or Feminist critical lens--i.e., economic class structures or gender roles. All ideological film theories try to examine how the film upholds or breaks new ground regarding its focus--in other words examining the cultural meaning and representation of aspects of the film.

You will need to create your own thesis. "My paper topic will examine....in order to explain..." for example.

Your paper should be at least 750-1,000 words in length (3-5 pages double spaced) and include a works cited page in MLA format. Please note: This paper will mostly be written outside of class and will be due at the end of next week. See previous posts and handouts for help.





HOMEWORK: Please study for your major unit exam Wednesday. See posts below for help.

Student Film Projects; Introduction to the Silent Film Project; Metropolis: Day 1

Lab:

During the lab time today (period 1), please complete the following tasks:

A. Student Films (please view and take notes on these student film documentaries...good job, guys!)

• Alexis: Billy Bitzer
• Jocelyn: Anita Loos & Frances Marion 
• Karina: Lois Weber
• Deja: Gloria Swanson
• Tamaron: Cecil B. DeMille 
• Liana: Janet Gaynor & Charles Farrell 
• Isabella John Barrymore    
• Kyra: Thomas Ince 
• Alexander: Buster Keaton 
• Carina

B. Our next film project will be a group project/short silent film (between 2-10 minutes). Details will be discussed soon. Film groups can be up to 5 classmates (and may utilize friends, family members, etc. from outside of our class as well). Begin by organizing your film company. NOTE: you can work alone, as well, if you would like. Be your own auteur.

• Once you have decided on a group (or if you are working solo), chat together about the kind of film you would like to make. Will you make a slapstick comedy, a sci-fi featurette, a romance, an avant-garde expressionist film, a minority film, a western, a documentary, a war film, a "blockbuster" style epic, a horror film, or a drama? 
• Choose a style of film you would like to work with: realistic, classical, or formalistic
• Once you know what genre & style you are likely to choose, start tossing out ideas. Keep track of your ideas. Right now, just be creative. Later you can limit your vision as to what is possible for this project. 
• Eventually, you will need to come up with a variety of pitches and treatments for your film. Will it work as a 2-10 minute silent film? What directors have we studied, or styles of film would you like to incorporate into your film? Do you want to make sure the film has an expressionistic style, or include an Eisenstein-esque montage? Do you want transitions like wipes and irises? Do you want to use stop motion or rear-projection? Do you want close-ups and extreme long shots to establish setting, etc.? Your producer, writer, cinematographer, editor and director should have final say in what gets made.
• Choose jobs for your film company. Here are a few important ones to consider (more details about film jobs will be forthcoming...): Director, Screenwriter, Editor, Cinematographer (director of photography), Actor(s), Producer, Grip, Sound Designer, Costume Designer, Special Effects Designer, etc. NOTE: for the first 2 weeks of this project, your producer can fire any member of your group for not participating, helping out your company, or being difficult to work with. Peers fired will have to make their own films or join other film companies. After 2-weeks, the company is stuck with the difficult peer. No complaining!

C. Study for your upcoming exam (Friday). See post below for review details.

D. Prepare to watch Metropolis by reading the short article and viewing the material found here.

Fritz Lang born in Vienna, Germany, 1890 -- the son of an architect, he dropped out of college to fight in the Great War (WWI)

After the war, Lang met producer Erich Pommer who worked for the movie company Declar--
Later Declar becomes UFA (the largest film company in Europe)

1919 - Lang directs his first film “Halbblut” (the Half-Caste)
1920 - Meets writer Thea von Harbou, marries her in 1922

Thea von Harbou wrote all of Lang’s films (including Metropolis) until 1933 when they divorced.

1925-1926 - Lang makes the film Metropolis which is drastically cut and distributed over the world Lang forms his own production company; Thea is his main writer; Metropolis becomes one of the most influential science fiction films of all time.
1931 - Lang directs M (with actor Peter Lorre)
1932 - The Testimony of Dr. Mabuse (banned because it criticized the Nazi party)
1933 - Lang immigrated to the U.S.
1934 - Lang is offered a contract by David Selznick, a producer at MGM. He goes on to make several films (mixing styles), ends up going blind and dying in 1975.

MAJOR FILMS: Halbblut (Half Caste) (1919) Dr. Mabuse (1922) (serial) Die Nibelungen (Siegfried; Kriemhild's Revenge) (1924). Metropolis (1926) Spies (1928), Woman in the Moon (1929),  M (1931) The Last Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1932) Fury (1936) You Only Live Once
(1937) Western Union (1941) Man Hunt (1941) The Ministry of Fear (1944) Cloak and Dagger (1946) Secret Beyond the Door (1948) The Big Heat (1953) Moonfleet (1955) While the City Sleeps (1956). Die Tausend Augend des Dr. Mabuse ("The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse") 1960

As we watch Metropolis, please complete the film analysis notes--You will be asked to write an essay about this film after your unit exam.

HOMEWORK: None. Study for your exam Friday.

Film Exam Review: Origin of Film through Silent Film Era

Your unit test will cover the following material.

You should be familiar with the term, device, person, or concept, and be able to explain why this thing was important or significant or how it influenced or helped contribute to early film history.

All material mentioned was either referenced and discussed below in the blog (check and review blog entries), the handouts from Turning Points in Film,  additional printed sources (handouts), films we watched in class, or from Tim Dirks website (Film History). Please refer to your notes and study. This test covers a lot, please study. Please. No. Really. Study. Review your notes. And study those notes--that's why you took them!

• Styles of film: realism, classicism, formalism
• Early film invention: Magic Lantern, Daguerreotype, Celluloid, Kinetoscope, Mutoscope, Praxinoscope, Thaumatrope, etc. You should be familiar with these devices and how they utilize persistence of vision, or how they influenced early film making. 
• Edweard Muybridge, photography, & the Zoopraxinoscope
• The Lumiere Brothers & their films (The Sprinkler Sprinkled, Arrival of a Train, etc.)
• Pathe Frere Manufacturing Company (Charles Pathe)
• Pathe Films:  Onesime the Clock Maker; Slippery Jim; Aladin; The Policeman's Little Run
• Thomas Edison and the Edison Manufacturing Company: various films (Sandow the Strongman, Serpentine Dances, Frankenstein, The Wizard of Oz (1910), Uncle Josh films, Life of an American Fireman, etc.
• The Black Maria
• Augustin Le Prince & the "Roundhay Garden Scene"
• W.K.L. Dickson & his works
• Hepworth Manufacturing Company (Cecil B. Hepworth)
• Hepworth's films: Rescued by Rover ; How It Feels to be Run Over; Explosion of a Motor Car; That Fatal Sneeze; Alice in Wonderland
• George Melies & A Trip to the Moon
• Persistence of Vision
• Etinnene-Jules Marey
• George Eastman
• Ferdinand Zecca
• Edwin S. Porter & his films: The Great Train Robbery ; Dream of a Rarebit Fiend Life of an American Fireman
• Actualities
• D.W. Griffith and his contribution to film (also his Intolerance, Way Down East, and Birth of a Nation, etc.)
• Billy Bitzer & contributions to cinematography/photography
• Lillian Gish
• Thomas Harper Ince
• Early film comedy and comedians (particularly Mack Sennett, Mabel Normand, Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon, Billy Bevan, Fatty Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, etc.)
• Slapstick comedy & comedic technique
• Charlie Chaplin (various films; we watched clips; the Circus in class, but others were mentioned: view films like The Rink, or The Idle Class)
• Buster Keaton (we watched One Week in class; but view other examples of the great "stone-face")
• Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle & his scandal (Hays Code chapter)
• Hollywood (the origin and development of)
• Eisenstein & Montage & Battleship Potemkin (Odessa Step sequence)
• Nanook of the North & Robert Flaherty
• Types of Shots (close up, medium shot, full shot, deep focus shot, long shot, extreme close up and long shots, panning, dolly/tracking shot, etc.) and how and why they are used
• Types of Angles (high, low, bird's eye, oblique, etc.) and how and why they are used
• Advice about Camera shots and editing
• Lighting: high key, low key, and chiaroscuro
• Sound: Diegetic & non-diegetic
• Early independent film studios/the Hollywood Studio System
• Early major film studios (1920-1930)
• Goldwyn, Fox, & Warner Bros. (studios)
• Blockbooking
• Sid Grauman
• MPPC, MPPDA & AMPAS
• The Academy Awards
• The Hays Code
• German Expressionism & its influence
• F. W. Murnau & Nosferatu; Sunrise
• Robert Weine & The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
• Carl Laemmle
• Birt Acres
• R.W. Paul
• Alice Guy-Blache
• Mack Sennett
• Douglas Fairbanks
• Rudolph Valentino
• Mary Pickford
• Lilian & Dorothy Gish, & Mae Marsh
• Clara Bow
• Janet Gaynor & Charles Farrell
• Cecil B. DeMille
• Oscar Micheaux
• Minorities in film 
• Conrad Viedt
• Lon Chaney, Man of a Thousand Faces
• Lois Weber
• Frances Marion & Anita Loos
• John Barrymore
• Gloria Swanson
• Nickelodeons & early Movie Palaces
• Kinemacolor & early "special effects" such as tinting or painting celluloid
• Steven Spielberg; Jaws (1975)
• George Lucas & Star Wars (1977)
• Characteristics of Blockbusters
• CGI (computer generated imaging) & its contribution to contemporary film
• Fritz Lang & Metropolis (1927)
• Film vocabulary: 
• Auteur, Story, Plot, Order, Narration, Narrative Form, Narratology
• Diegesis, Scene, Sequence, Frequency, Ellipsis, Motif
• Space, Viewing Time, Duration

HOMEWORK: Please study for your exam, please study for your exam, please study for your exam.

Silent Film Comedy; Projects Due!

LAB: Please complete and prepare your documentary projects & turn in your film journal papers today. 

Documentary film projects should be saved as MP4 films. If you don't know how to do this, please ask. After saving work as MP4 files, please upload your film to Youtube.com (make it public--at least during this unit), and send me the URL link in the COMMENT section below.

If you finish before 2nd period, please view the following clips:

 Various famous Hollywood actors:

• Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in the Thief of Baghdad (1924), The Mark of Zorro (1920); the full version of The Thief of Baghdad can be found here. It's really a good film, all told. Douglas Fairbanks was known for doing his own stunts. Along with Chaplin and Pickford, he helped establish United Artists. Full film: The Black Pirate (1926); The Mark of Zorro (1920); The 3 Musketeers (1921); Robin Hood (1922)
• Rudolph Valentino's The Son of the Sheik (1926) & the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), Blood and Sand (1924); Full films can be found here: The Sheik (1921);  Blood and Sand (1924); The Eagle (1925); Cobra (1925), Camille (1921)
• Mary Pickford (1917) The Poor Little Rich Girl; Full films: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917); Poor Little Rich Girl; Pollyanna (1919); Daddy Long Legs (1919)
• America's Lovebirds or America's Sweethearts: Janet Gaynor & Charles Farrell; 7th Heaven (full film 1927); Lucky Star (full film 1929); Sunnyside Up (full film 1929, a talkie!)
• Clara Bow in It (1927); It (full film); Get Your Man (full film 1927) 
• Conrad Viedt (mentioned below in German Expressionism): Different From Others (film no longer available on Youtube); The Man Who Laughs (full film 1928)
• The Man of a Thousand Faces, Lon Chaney, The Phantom of the Opera (complete silent film, 1925), The Unmasking Scene from Phantom (clip), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (full film 1923); Shadows (full film 1922); The Shock (full film 1923); Oliver Twist (full film 1922)
• And a few others: The King of Kings (full film 1927, Cecil B. DeMille)
• Gloria Swanson in: Male & Female (full film 1919, Cecil B. DeMille)

Slapstick & Silent Film Comedy

The name "slapstick" comes from the bataccio — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in commedia dell'arte. Actors using the slapstick may hit each another repeatedly with great audible effect while causing very little actual physical damage. The term "slapstick" became synonymous with the style of silent film comedy most frequently found in the comedic silent films of Mack Sennett, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Hal Roach, and other comedic directors.

Later, the animated films from Warner Brothers Studio and Walt Disney will utilize many of the common gags found in comedic silent films. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tom & Jerry, and Donald Duck are just a few examples.

Slapstick is characterized by broad humor, absurd situations, comedic or farcical action such as chase scenes, and, of course, physical violence. Watch various clips below and note the actor/director where appropriate. Take notes on the film styles and view the films for ideas for your own stories, plays, and films.

Mack Sennett: comedian Billy Bevan (scene from Wandering Willies - 1926) and another clip with Vernon Dent & Billy Bevan
Mack Sennett: Black Oxfords (1924) with Vernon Dent & Sid Smith
Mack Sennett: comedian Harry Langdon (scene from Fiddlesticks - 1927)
Mack Sennett: comedian Harry Langdon (scene from Smile Please - 1924) & another scene (the skunk) from the same film.
Mabel Normand: The Extra Girl (clip, 1923)
Fatty & Mabel Adrift (1915) Mabel Normand & Fatty Arbuckle
Fatty Arbuckle: Coney Island (1917)
Fatty Arbuckle & Buster Keaton: The Butcher Boy (1917), The Cook (1918) The Garage (1920)
Buster Keaton: known as the great "stone face" because of his deadpan expression. Here are some stunts from The General 

Buster Keaton: One Week (1920); Sherlock Jr. (1924), The Paleface (1922) 

Harold Lloyd: from The Freshman (1925)
Harold Lloyd: from Safety Last (the clock scene) (1923)
Charley Chase: Accidental Accidents (Hal Roach directing)
Ben Turpin: Seein' Things (1928), part one; Seein' Things (part two)  

Charlie Chaplin & Silent Film Comedy

Period 1: Lab

Please work on your documentary film project, your film journal paper #1 (both due next class), or view clips/take notes on various topics already covered.

Peruse the handout on silent film comedy techniques/characteristics.

Comedy:

Much of comedy (reasons why we laugh) have to do with these things:

• Incongruity or Non sequitur. Humans are rational (supposedly) and laugh at anything that breaks a pattern or does not logically follow. Anything we are not expecting as a logical sequence creates incongruity, and so we laugh.
• Farce or physical humor (often pratfalls, slapstick, hurting people, etc.) What doesn't kill us makes us laugh. This is only funny if the victim is not really hurt (consider cartoons!) If the character/victim is killed and we laugh, we fall into black or dark humor (and bad taste!)
• Superiority vs. inferiority (we laugh at those weaker or in a worse situation than us). Usually an underdog or weaker protagonist gets to overcome a stronger opponent. This usually makes us feel better, and in a comedy plot, makes us feel stronger over our own oppression as viewers.
• Mistaken identity. Ever since farce and satirical plays from the Greeks and Roman theater, mistaken identity has been a constant element in farce.
• Absurdity (if it doesn't make sense, we laugh). Similar to incongruity, absurdity is, well, absurd.
• Surprise. Humans will usually laugh is you can surprise them (and they are okay). The adrenaline rush is often accompanied by laughter.

Some literary devices often used in literature, film, or T.V.:

·        Hyperbole. Exaggeration—when it comes to comedy, hyperbole is king.

·        The rule of 3: the set up is like this: two common or related items followed by a third that breaks the pattern or doesn’t fit.

·        Understatement/overstatement: presenting something as being less important or less significant than it really is. Overstatement is the opposite—making mountains out of molehills, as the saying goes.

·        Wit: clever word play.

·        Mismatched pairs: tall & short, fat & thin, foolish & wise, pessimist & optimist, smart & stupid, etc.

·        Puns: a joke based on an alternative meaning of a word.

·        Innuendo: a comment or remark that is referring to a situation (often sexual) that is disparaging or suggestive.

Period 2: Classroom

Charlie Chaplin, an Overview

"All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman, and a pretty girl." -Sir Charles Chaplin

Sir Charles Chaplin (1889-1977)

• Born in 1889 in London, UK to theatrical parents
• Chaplin’s childhood was one of extreme poverty and hardship
• Abandoned by an alcoholic father and left with a mentally unstable mother who was unable to support him, he struggled through life in the poor house and on the streets
• He learnt much of his timing and technique in the employment of impresario Fred Karno (1866-1941) whose troupe he left during an American tour in 1913
• Offered a contract by Keystone Films
• After 1914, he convinced Keystone producer Mack Sennett to allow him to direct his own films - often wrote, directed, acted and composed his own musical scores for his films
• In many silent shorts, he established the grammar and ground rules of screen comedy using his physical dexterity and pantomime skills to create expertly choreographed, visually humorous entertainment that mixed irreverence, romance, and pathos (feeling)
• Co-founder of United Artists in 1919
• Married Oona O’Neill (daughter of playwright Eugene O’Neill)
• His left-wing sympathies caused him to emigrate to Switzerland during the 1950’s, McCarthy period
• He published his autobiography in 1964 and was knighted in 1975
• Chaplin died on Christmas day, 1977
• A writer Performer, director, composer and icon, he was a vital figure in the development of the screen comedy Films (incomplete list): Making a Living (1913) Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914) The Champion (1915) The Tramp (1915) The Pawnshop (1916) The Rink (1916) A Dog’s Life (1918) The Kid (1921) The Gold Rush (1925) City Lights (1931) Modern Times (1936) The Great Dictator (1940) Limelight (1952) A King in New York (1957) A Countess from Hong Kong (1967)

Take a look at some of Chaplin's films:

The Kid (1921, clip)
The Lion's Cage clip from the Circus (1928)
The Gold Rush (1925) Table ballet sequence from The Gold Rush and another scene; (sound and words added later by Chaplin)
The boxing scene from City Lights (1931); Documentary on City Lights & Charlie Chaplin
Modern Times (1936) trailer
The Great Dictator (1940), clip
Limelight (1952, documentary)

Charlie Chaplin Extra Credit

The Rink (1916, short film)
Police (1916, short film)
The Adventure (1917, short film)
A Dog's Life (1918, short film)
The Idle Class (1921, short film)

Watch any Chaplin short film and examine the use of comedy in the film. Post your comment/answer in the comment section of this post for extra credit. Due by end of marking period.

HOMEWORK: Complete your documentary film projects (due next class), and your film journal paper #1 (also due next class). 

Expressionism; Montage: Weine, Eisenstein, Murnau

Please turn in your homework on German Expressionism.

We will take a few minutes this morning to complete our discussion regarding "Minorities in Film"--then move back to the 3rd floor lab for the rest of period 1.

Period 1: Lab

Please work on the following assignments while in the lab (some reading, some writing, some project work, etc.)

• Work on your documentary project (due Friday, March 10)
• Write your first journal paper (due Friday, March 10)
• Read the 3 articles (packet #1) on Robert Weine's "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari", Sergei Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin", and F. W. Murnau's "Sunrise"--we will cover these fellows during our second class period screenings.
• Begin homework. 

Period 2: Classroom/Screening

Expressionism

“Why should an artist duplicate the real world when it already exists for everyone to see?”

• Begins in Europe around 1906 in painting and theatre
• Style is unrealistic, stylized
• Attention often given to angles
• Distorted perspectives
• Narrow, tall streets and buildings (set pieces)
• Lighting is “dramatic”; Use of shadows
• Actors are grotesque, exaggerated make-up
• Dark, nightmarish tones & moods
• Attempt to show the interior lives of characters through exteriors
• Expressionism influences Futurism (and Modernism)
• Expressionism influences Film Noir in the 1930’s (more on that later...)

Robert Weine's bio

• Cabinet of Dr. Caligari – Robert Weine (director) 1919
• Hands of Orlac (1924, fan review)

F.W. Murnau's bio

• F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922)
• F. W. Murnau's Sunrise (trailer, 1927)

The following movies, along with Dr. Caligari, are influential in creating the "horror" genre in film. Why, do you think, is expressionism a good stylistic choice for horror films?

• Paul Wegener's Der Golem (1920)
• Carl Laemmle's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
• Carl Laemmle's Phantom of the Opera (1925)
• Harry Hoyt's The Lost World (really sci-fi/romance/adventure...) (1925)
• Paul Leni's' The Cat and the Canary (1927)

Sergei Eisenstein:

The most influential film maker of early Russian film was Sergei Eisenstein.

Eisenstein is remembered in film for his contribution of the montage.

The montage changed the way filmmakers approached film narrative. It allows a filmmaker to tell a story through a sequence of shots that manipulate time. The jumble of images and cuts of a montage affect the psychological impact and effect of the film's content.

The montage technique is still used in editing today. In a script it is indicated by a series of descriptive lines, each spaced apart to indicate a series of shots, rather than description that would indicate one shot or scene. Click here for an example.

Here's a few clips from some of his films:

• Battleship Potemkin (Odessa Step Sequence) (1925)
• Oktober
• Alexander Nevsky (1928) (battle on the ice sequence) - Music by Sergei Prokofiev. We can see how the invention of sound in the next few years will revolutionize film. The exciting tone of the music, nicely reflects the glory, fear, and trepidation of the characters in this scene.

HOMEWORK: There is no class on Monday. For Wednesday of next week, please complete the following tasks for next week:

• 1. Read and answer the questions in the packet concerning "The Hays Code & Sergei Eisenstein." 
• 2. Make sure you have read the handout article on Robert Weine, F.W. Murnau, Sergei Eisenstein and viewed their film clips from the post above. They will be on the unit test. 
• 3. Draw near a close for your documentary project. This is due Friday, March 10. 
• 4. Complete your film journal paper #1, also due March 10. 
• 5. Review any film clips/topics from the beginning of this course until now. Click on the links and read or watch the various film samples or topics you may have missed. 
• View any of the linked films in the EXTRA CREDIT film post below this one.