Final Film Project: Day 1

For your final film project, you have an option.

A. Collaboratively, work on an original film, using a film script (most likely one that you have already written), and create an original short film. All members of the team should work together in a significant manner to see the completion of the film project. (i.e., each member of the team should have a well-defined role to complete in the making of the film...)

• One person should be the director (the most inspired or most organized at task management)
• One person should be the cinematographer (the best photographer & eye for visual design)
• One person should be the editor (the most computer savvy)
• One or more persons should work on the script as the screenwriter(s) (this part should be done by now if you use your recently written script project!)
• One or more persons should be actors (the most theatrical--you can also hire parents, siblings, friends, and theater majors or other people from other grades to help you!)
• One or more persons should help as grips, gaffers, best boys, costume designers, sound designers (music), casting directors, producers, and assistants to the other jobs--particularly if someone is absent, etc.

Film projects will be completed mostly on your own time (lab time is limited...) but will be due June 7 (by end of day so we can screen the films on our last day of the course (June 11). The shooting script for your project should be turned in with your film project.

B. Choose a director from the American New Wave, research, watch 3 films from this director and in a short documentary that includes at least 3 clips from the films you watched directed by the auteur, explain the director's influence on the film industry. I.E., use the information you research to create a short film documentary (of 3-10 minutes in length) about the director & his/her impact on film. You will need to narrate (voice over) your "script"--scripts should be turned in with the film.

• Woody Allen
• Robert Altman
• Hal Ashby
• Peter Bogdanovich
• John Cassavetes
• Francis Ford Coppola
• Brian De Palma
• William Friedkin
• Dennis Hopper
• Stanley Kubrick
• George Lucas
• Mike Nichols
• Bob Rafelson
• Martin Scorsese
• Steven Spielberg
• Billy Wilder* (not part of the American New Wave)

C. or select a director from the list below and do the same task as B. above:

Contemporary Film Directors:

• Pedro Amoldovar
• Wes Anderson
• Darren Aronofsky
• Kathryn Bigelow
• Danny Boyle
• Mel Brooks
• Charles Burnett
• Tim Burton
• Joel & Ethan Coen
• James Cameron
• Jane Campion
• Lisa Cholodenko
• Ryan Coogler
• Sofia Coppola
• David Cronenberg
• Cameron Crowe
• Alfonso Cuaron
• Julie Dash
• Guillermo Del Toro
• Claire Denis
• Ava Duverney
• Clint Eastwood
• David Fincher
• Jean Luc Godard
• Terry Gilliam
• Catherine Hardwicke
• Mary Harron
• Werner Herzog
• Ron Howard
• Alejandro Gonzalez Inarratu
• Peter Jackson
• Patty Jenkins
• Karyn Kusama
• Mimi Leder
• Ang Lee
• Spike Lee
• Kasi Lemmons
• Richard Linklater
• David Lynch
• Terrence Malick
• Penny Marshall
• Steve McQueen (not the actor)
• Nancy Meyers
• Bennett Miller
• Hayao Miyazaki 
• Errol Morris
• Mira Nair
• Christopher Nolan
• Gordon Parks
• Tyler Perry
• Sidney Poitier
• Roman Polanski
• Gina Prince-Bythewood
• Dee Rees
• John Sayles
• Ridley Scott
• Jim Sheridan
• John Singleton
• Steven Soderbergh
• Kristen Stewart
• Quentin Tarantino
• Julie Taymor
• Paul Thomas Anderson
• Melvin Van Peebles
• Gus Van Sant
• Lars Von Trier
• Keenan Ivory Wayans
• Forest Whitaker

More details to follow.

Script Project Draft Due!; Maltese Falcon - Day 2

Period 1 (lab - Until 8:00)

Please use your lab time to complete and turn in your film scripts. If the printer is down, please share your google doc with me instead--I'll print them. Otherwise, please print. Before you do, however, check your format and proofread your work!

Films to mention in the 1940's from the best films of all time:

• Casablanca (1942)
• Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
• A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
• It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
• Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
• The Third Man (1949)

[You may watch any of these films as extra credit for this marking period...; alas, because of copyright issues, you will probably have to find copies of these films from a public library...they exist...or from a streaming service like Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu.] For any extra credit film, please review the film (300-500 words in length approximately). 

Period 1/2: (8:00)

We will continue our viewing of The Maltese Falcon.

HOMEWORK: None. 

The Maltese Falcon: Day 1

Lab: (until 8:00)

Please continue writing your play scripts this morning. Scripts are due Tuesday at the end of our lab time.

Period 2:

The Maltese Falcon, directed and written for the screen by John Huston; cinematographer: Arthur Edeson. Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett (see handout and links for more details!)

• Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade
• Mary Astor as Brigid O'Shaughnessy
• Gladys George as Iva Archer
• Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo
• Barton MacLane as Lt. of Detectives Dundy
• Lee Patrick as Effie Perrine
• Sydney Greenstreet as Kasper Gutman
• Ward Bond as Detective Tom Polhaus
• Jerome Cowan as Miles Archer
• Elisha Cook, Jr. as Wilmer Cook

As you watch the film, identify the tropes of film noir and pay attention to lighting. You can read the full script here at this link if interested.

HOMEWORK: None. If you did not get much of your script written, please catch up.

Script Project: Day 3; The Maltese Falcon; Film Noir & Lighting

Lab:

Please continue writing your play scripts this morning. 

Period 2:

Film Noir:

Discuss what you learned about film noir from your homework. This morning, think/pair/share for 2-3 minutes on the topic. What did we find?

Here are a few things to watch for as we screen The Maltese Falcon:

1. A protagonist that is cynical or detached
2. A femme fatale who leads the protagonist astray
3. A mystery, crime, or use of suspense
4. A naive scapegoat to take the rap of some "crime"
5. Goons (hired criminals who give the protagonist a hard time)
6. Razor sharp dialogue
7. Reference and description of low key lighting

Lighting, Mise en Scene, & Film Techniques: 

3-point Lighting: key light, fill light, & backlight.

• Key light: light aimed at the subject of a shot. The brightest light used, usually.

1. High Key: lots of warm light. Bright. Often used in comedies, musicals, etc.
2. Low Key: lots of shadows. Often used in horror, mystery, or suspense genres, etc.

Both high and low key lighting can be used to create conflict or dualism: light/darkness in a scene is often used metaphorically/symbolically. Our eye will always look for light first so we can focus the attention of a viewer. 

• Fill light: softer light, usually aimed to contrast key light. Helps cut out shadows.
• Backlight: light aimed from behind the subject. Enhances the depth of a shot. Often causes a "glow" around an object or subject.

Lighting can also light a subject from above (top lighting) or below (under lighting). We use the terms harsh or hot lighting to describe light that is very bright, and soft lighting when it is not that intense. Both can be used in a shot to create contrast.

Chiaroscuro lighting refers to the contrast between high and low key lighting used to create an emotional effect in a photograph or painting.

• Lighting Techniques (for student filmmakers)
• How to shoot a Noir film (documentary; how-to)
• Mise en Scene (documentary; how-to)
• Let's learn a bit about cinematography. (Crash Course Film Production #11)

Let's put all this together as we view the film The Maltese Falcon (1941). 

The Maltese Falcon, directed and written for the screen by John Huston; cinematographer: Arthur Edeson.
Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett (see handout and links for more details!)

• Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade
• Mary Astor as Brigid O'Shaughnessy
• Gladys George as Iva Archer
• Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo
• Barton MacLane as Lt. of Detectives Dundy
• Lee Patrick as Effie Perrine
• Sydney Greenstreet as Kasper Gutman
• Ward Bond as Detective Tom Polhaus
• Jerome Cowan as Miles Archer
• Elisha Cook, Jr. as Wilmer Cook

As you watch the film, identify the tropes of film noir and pay attention to lighting. You can read the full script here at this link if interested.

HOMEWORK: None. If you did not get much of your script written, please catch up.

General Commentary About Critique Papers

• Watch careless mistakes. Proofread your work. Read your work out loud to catch missing words, or minor grammar errors. This can improve your grade. Use Grammarly or some other online grammar checker. 
• Proper nouns are capitalized. Skull Island is a proper noun, because it is a named, specific place. Other rules for proper nouns can be found here. 
• Learn comma usage. There is usually a comma before the conjunction "but". See other rules at this link.
• Analysis and critique requires a writer to go a little more in-depth from what is obvious to what a viewer may miss. As such, the best papers were able to analyze and critique the film based on the critical lens. In most cases this was "feminism" or "gender" issues. Typical questions you might have asked and examined in King Kong might have been:

1. How is the relationship between men and women portrayed? Since there's only one female character, how are the men's relationships different with Ann?
2. What are the power relationships between men and women (or characters assuming male/female roles)?
3. How are male and female roles defined? Why is Ann a weak character? Why is Jack Driscoll the only male who can save Ann? Denham doesn't save Ann--his concern is getting famous from his pictures--what gives?
4. What constitutes masculinity and femininity? King Kong is the quintessential masculine figure, but so, too, is Jack Driscoll. You could have discussed how the two characters compare. 
5. How do characters embody these gender traits? Use examples from the film to examine the issue and prove your point.
6. Do characters take on traits from opposite genders? How so? How does this change others’ reactions to them? When is Ann "masculine"? When is the captain or Denham more "passive"? When is Kong "passive"? 
7. What does the work reveal about the operations (economically, politically, socially, or psychologically) of patriarchy? What is the men's solution to every problem? Hint: NRA.
8. What does the work imply about the possibilities of sisterhood as a mode of resisting patriarchy? Since Ann is the only female in the film, except at the very beginning when we see women in a bread line for a homeless shelter--focus on that scene. How do the women treat each other? 
9. What does the work say about women's creativity? How or why might Ann be able to survive in the wild? How is she "creative"? She's an "actress"--how does "acting" help her survive?
10. What does the history of the work's reception by the public and by the critics tell us about the operation of patriarchy? This requires research into the articles and links I gave you. How was the film received by the public? How is it received today?
11. What role does the work play in terms of women's literary history and literary tradition? King Kong is not the only "dinosaur" story--consider what films or books came before this film. In particular, the silent film "The Lost World" would have been helpful to know about.

Finally, you MUST provide evidence for your statements or claims. Draw upon scenes from the film to back up what you state as true, but also try a little research to find out what life and attitudes were really like about females. We aren't getting the full reality of things or how people thought simply by watching a mass media film. There is, however, a male bias in Hollywood that has existed for a long, long time. Any contemporary connections you can think of?

Film Script Project: Day 2; Gone With the Wind & the Golden Age of Hollywood

Lab:

Please work on your film script projects. Aim to complete your short film script this week. See previous posts or handouts for details about script format.

In case you missed it, the 1930's is considered the Golden Age of Film. Please review and take notes on these following film clips when you get a chance. You should note who is starring in which roles and how certain actors and directors helped shape the genres we now recognize in film today. You will be tested on the material found here, so please watch attentively and make some observations about films in the 1930's.

As for camera work, there are few tricks being used with cameras. Angles are mostly eye-level, with medium, long, and close up shots being used with transitions such as the wipe, the iris, fade to black to indicate scene changes. There is still rear projection, tracking shots, dolly shots, and elaborate sets (particularly for war and epic films), but overall, the feel of 1930's film is like watching a play. With the invention of sound, movies rely on written dialogue to move the plot and develop character (as opposed to using solely a visual medium popularized in silent films). Famous directors and writers such as Frank Capra, Walt Disney, and writer George S. Kaufman to name only a few make their appearance in this era. Since sound is a new invention, the use of music is an important element. See what other details you can observe as you watch the clips:

Hell's Angels (1930) clip with Jean Harlow
Anna Christie (1930) With Greta Garbo
Tarzan, The Ape Man (1932) Johnny Weissmuller
Morocco (1930) with Marlene Dietrich
Grand Hotel (1932) with Joan Crawford & John Barrymore
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) Clark Gable & Charles Laughton
Captain Blood (1935) with Errol Flynn & Basil Rathbone (documentary clip)

Universal Horror Films:
Dracula (1931) Bela Lugosi (Tod Browning's version)
Dracula (clip 2)
Frankenstein (1931) with Boris Karloff
Frankenstein (2nd clip)
The Bride of Frankenstein (1932) with Boris Karloff
Bride of Frankenstein (2nd clip)
Freaks (1932) Tod Browning director
The White Zombie (1932) Bela Lugosi
The Mummy (1932) Boris Karloff
The Invisible Man (1933) with Claude Rains

Screwball Comedies:
The Thin Man (1934) with Myrna Loy & William Powell
A Night At the Opera (Marx Brothers, cabin scene) (1935)
Bringing Up Baby (1938) with Katharine Hepburn & Cary Grant

Frank Capra films:
It Happened One Night (1934) Claudette Colbert & Clark Gable
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) Gary Cooper
Lost Horizon (1937) and clips from the film...
You Can't Take it With You (1938) with a very young Jimmy Stewart
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) with Jimmy Stewart
It's a Wonderful Life (1946 clips)

Gangster Films:
The Public Enemy (1931) (full film, extra credit option)
Scarface (1932)

Westerns:
Cimarron (1930)
Stagecoach (1939) John Wayne (John Ford directing)

War Films:
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Musicals:
The Gay Divorcee (1934) Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire
Top Hat (1935) Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire
Swing Time (1936) Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire (again)
42 Street (1933)

Animation:
Popeye the Sailor (1933) with Betty Boop (and Popeye, of course)

Blockbuster Technicolor films:
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) with Errol Flynn

Period 2:

Let's read a bit and then watch a bit of Gone With The Wind (1939)

HOMEWORK: Please read the article about Film Noir (see handout from last class), and read the script sample from The Maltese Falcon. 

Looney Tunes; The Wizard of Oz; Victor Fleming, & Gone With the Wind

Before we get back to Oz, (and before I get too far ahead of myself) let's learn a little about The Golden Age of Hollywood (crash course #11).

Merian Cooper, a producer for RKO and the director of King Kong (1933), said he "never wanted to make a black and white picture again" after seeing one of Disney's Silly Symphonies. Warner Brothers Studios soon followed suit to create their Looney Tunes. You'll recognize some of the characters:

• Jungle Jitters (1938) Let's examine this short through a racial criticism lens... (also All This And Rabbit Stew (1941) and Coal Black and the Sebbin Dwarfs (1943, clip)--and just so you note that depiction matters, here's a clip of Disney's Peter Pan (1953)

We might consider what makes parody or comedy cruel. But animation and comedy, often intended for children, sometimes tends to promulgate (spread) racist depictions of marginalized groups. Other times, they are just meant to entertain and do so with little problem.

• A Day At the Zoo (1939, dir. Tex Avery)
• Bugs Bunny: The Wacky Wabbit (1941, dir. Bob Clampett)
• Hollywood Steps Out (1941)
• The Dover Boys (1942)
• There are many, many beloved Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies short animated films with characters such as Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepe Le Pew, Sylvester & Tweety, etc.

1939 was a good year for color film (and Victor Fleming). MGM's musical-fantasy The Wizard of Oz, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Judy Garland was nominated for 6 Academy Awards but lost Best Picture to the epic 4-hour long historical romance-drama Gone With the Wind (also directed by Victor Fleming) and starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. So, either way, Victor Fleming...winner.

HOMEWORK: Please read the short chapter about Film Noir & the script sample from The Maltese Falcon for next class. We will be working on our script projects Monday during the lab and then discussing film noir.