Unit Test; Modern Times (conclusion)

Period 1:

We will be taking our unit test on the origin of film through the silent period.

If you finish early, please work on your film journal paper or project, or homework. See below.

Period 2:

We will screen the rest of the film Modern Times by Charlie Chaplin.

Film Paper/Analysis Advice

Some reminders when you are writing your film papers or any formal essay/analysis for any English, Creative Writing, or Humanities courses:

• Italicize titles of major or full length works
• Quote titles of shorter pieces (poems under 1000 lines, short stories under 50 pages, short films under an hour, television show episodes, essays, articles in newspapers or magazines, 10-minute or one act plays, etc.)
• Introductions should generally start with a hook, followed by a lead-in, followed by your thesis. 
• Your thesis should be concise, well written, and usually contain an arguable position.
• Periods go at the ends of sentences. Sentences should not contain so much information as to make them confusing. Separate ideas into clear and concise statements. 
• Use transitions between ideas or paragraphs.
• Use the vocabulary I am teaching you regarding film (narratology, for example)

Hollywood & Beyond; Last Glimpses of the Silent Film Era; Modern Times: Part 1

We've barely scratched the surface of the first 30 or so years of film history. What's been left out, sadly, are many of the important men and women who made film one of our greatest pastimes and entertainment industries. Use the lab time today to get to know some of these famous names.

Various famous Hollywood (and some German) actors/directors:

• 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); 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 in German Expressionism post): Different From Others (film no longer available on Youtube); The Man Who Laughs (full film 1928)
• Erich von Stroheim: Greed (1924); Last scene from Greed (clip)
• The Man of a Thousand Faces, Lon Chaney, The Phantom of the Opera (complete silent film, 1925), The Unmasking Scene from Phantom (clip), Color sequence from The Phantom of the Opera; 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)
• Fritz Lang: Metropolis (1927); Woman in the Moon (1929);  Destiny (1921); Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922); The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) M (1931, with Peter Lorre)

Then watch: Breaking the Silence (crash course #10)

See the test review post below to study for your exam next class. 

Period 2: (8:00)

Resisting Sound on Film: Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times (1936) - the last silent film (for the period). That is until Call of Cthulhu (2005) and The Artist (2011)--will be the last silent film I will force upon you this year.

This film marks the last appearance by Chaplin's tramp character. Chaplin wrote, directed, starred, composed and produced this film 9 years after the first talking film (film synched with sound technology--see crash course #10 above). It is a film satirizing and protesting the progress of technology on the modern man. Perhaps Chaplin was alone in his viewpoint, as talking films overtook the outdated silent films of that long ago golden age of early film era.

The film is set in the 1930's, during the Great Depression. The film's main themes echo the frustration and extreme poverty and loss of the people at the time. Unemployment was at its highest in American history, poverty and hunger were known to many. As you watch, look for this fond farewell to better times as the Industrial Age dehumanizes and alienates the working class.

HOMEWORK: Study for your exam. There is no class on Friday, due to the early dismissal. Only periods 5-9 will be held. Your journal paper deadline has been extended.

Your originally scheduled Journal Paper #2 (due April 2) will be due April 10th. Students may instead opt for a 10-minute short film script project or a silent film short.

• option A: You may write a short film. Use proper film format to write or adapt a short story. Due April 10. See Amazon Storywriter (and the handouts for formatting)
• option B: You may write the scenario and create a short silent film. Film, edit, and prepare your film (this option's deadline is the end of the marking period (April 12), as opposed to April 10).

Plan to go see the 10-minute Play Festival (extra credit) this Thursday or Friday (7:00, Ensemble Theater).

Film Exam: Origin Through Silent Film Period

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), 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 & the photographic gun
• 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 techniques
• Charlie Chaplin (various films; we watched clips; The Idle Class in class, but others were mentioned)
• Buster Keaton (we watched One Week & The General 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)
• United Artists
• Eisenstein & Montage & Battleship Potemkin (Odessa Step sequence)
• The 5 types of montage & how it works
• Dziga Vertov: "Man With a Movie Camera"
• 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 & the Chinese Theater
• MPPC, MPPDA & AMPAS
• The Academy Awards
• The Hays Code
• German Expressionism & its influence (expressionism)
• 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
• Elements of narrative film (narratology)
• Film vocabulary: 
• Auteur, Story, Plot, Order, Narration, Narrative Form, Narratology
• Diegesis, Scene, Frequency, Motif
• Space, Viewing Time, Duration

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

The General (Screening); Day 2

Today, we will screen the rest of Buster Keaton's slapstick masterpiece The General.

Please complete the handout/notes for the film. These will be collected at the end of class today.

NOTE: We will not have our class Friday, March 23 as this is a 1/2 day with only periods 5-9. Classes end at 11:00.

A little change in due dates/scheduling. Our midterm/end of marking period exam on the origin of film through the silent era will take place when we return from Spring Break (March 30-April 8). Details about what will be covered on the test will be posted next class.

Your originally scheduled Journal Paper #2 (due April 2) will be due April 10th instead. Students may also opt for a 10-minute short film script project or a silent film short instead.

• option A: You may write a short film. Use proper film format to write or adapt a short story. Due April 10.
• option B: You may write the scenario and create a short silent film. Film, edit, and prepare your film (this option's deadline is the end of the marking period (April 12), as opposed to April 10).

Plan to go see the 10-minute Play Festival (extra credit) this Thursday or Friday (7:00, Ensemble Theater).

HOMEWORK: None. See journal paper projects & alternatives above. You may start working on these.

Slapstick & Silent Film Comedy; Buster Keaton

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) 

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)   

Buster Keaton: known as the great "stone face" because of his deadpan expression. Along with Charlie Chaplin, he is one of the most beloved and skilled silent film comedians of his day. Let's read about the film "Steamboat Bill"--although we will screen "One Week" (1920) and "The General (1927)." Look for examples of silent film comedy techniques and narrative in The General (1927).

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

 HOMEWORK: None.

Montage (day 2); Charlie Chaplin & Silent Film Comedy (day 1)

LAB:

If you did not take the film test last class, you will do that now during period 1. Please note the missed homework/classwork!

If you took the test last class: please make sure you have viewed the following videos:

• Soviet Montage: Crash Course #8
• Hollywood in the Silent Era: Crash Course #9

The material and information in these short films should be somewhat familiar in the chapter readings we have been assigned for previous homework. Add to your notes & understanding by taking notes on the following (also click the links for videos to further explain and learn the content!)

Montage: the juxtaposition of images in film to create an emotional impact on the viewer.

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. There are 5 types of montage:

Metric

Rhythmic 

Tonal

Over-tonal

Intellectual/Ideological

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 and click at this link for an explanation of how this works. You can also take a look at this short lecture on The History of Cutting that further explains how the Russian montage works if you are planning on studying film in college or as a career path--or if you are just interested in the art of editing/photography.

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 Idle Class (1921, short film)
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)
Modern Times (1936) trailer
The Great Dictator (1940), clip
Limelight (1952)

Charlie Chaplin Extra Credit (see posts below for details on how to get extra credit for watching these films...)

The Rink (1916, short film)
The Circus (1928)
City Lights (1931)

HOMEWORK: Read the article on "The Hays Code." Choose at least one of the following films and identify examples of early film comedy (see list of comedy techniques above): Fatty Arbuckle & The Keystone Kops in "Fatty Joins the Force"(1913); Fatty Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin & Mabel Normand in "A Film Johnnie (1914); Fatty Arbuckle & Buster Keaton in Coney Island (1914); Fatty Arbuckle & Buster Keaton in "Backstage"(1919)