Homework Week Seven

Any contemporary war film (made in the last 20 years)

Some Suggestions:

The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow

Three Kings – David O Russell

Empire of the Sun – Steven Spielberg

Inglorious Bastards – Quentin Tarantino

Ride with the Devil  - Ang Lee

The Sun – Aleksandr Sokurov

Black Book – Paul Verhoeven

Courage Under Fire -- Edward Swick

This is your last analysis before your Final Project. Be sure to be thorough and check for spelling/grammar. Complete and template and point out examples of the following: P.O.V., Identity, Morality & Memory. Please separate by heading-- ex. 

P.O.V

blah blah

IDENTITY

blah blah blah

MIDTERM ASSIGNMENT

DFV363

Midterm Assignment

“Fleshing out a Review”

For the past five weeks we have been honing observational skills by using the template and also, sharpening critical skills by assessing a film’s relevance to questions regarding its place in a movement. For the midterm assignment, you and a partner will be assigned one particular film, which you will write a professional review for.

Remember you are combining your research to create one article. If you and your partner have conflicting opinions, this is fine – think of a way to articulate them in a comparative non-judgmental way.

You will post your very well articulated review on the blog with image. You can read from the blog when you present your review to class (i.e. reading aloud) and are allowed to screen up to eight minutes of the film. The relevance of the clip you choose is one of the major aspects of this assignment: select a scene that shows us an important theme or character arc. You are required to bring a PHYSICAL copy of your film to class, no streaming clips or youtube. Also-- burned discs often do not play in the Blu-Ray

GRADING CRITERIA:

10 points: Strength and clarity of writing

10 points: Relevance of clip. Well prepared clip selection and format.

10 points: Oral presentation (articulate reading and appropriate response to questions)

10 points: Use of objective and subjective analysis

 

Three tips for success:

• Each person should write their own review and act as editor for their partner. After you have finished this step, work together to formulate a cohesive piece.
• Watch the film twice!
• Take notes AS you watch.

Keep in mind:

*Read “Analysis of the Whole Film,” by Joseph Boggs – this will give you a roadmap (on ecompanion as PDF).

*No fragmentary sentences!

*“You should be able to defend each opinion that is objectively framed with a logical argument, based on or supported by your analysis as a whole.”

(essentially, “it looked dope,” or “she started acting all crazy” does not qualify.)

* Use as many descriptive words as you can.

* It’s ok to relate your film to other work you are familiar with, if you find there is a real connection. It is not necessary to force a connection to other work or historical context if you do not see it.

Here are some questions to use as jumping points:

1. What is the director’s purpose or primary aim in making the film?
2. What is the true subject of the film, and what kind of statement, if any does the film make about the subject?
3. How do the separate elements of the film relate to and contribute to the theme, central purpose, or total effect? (separate elements= story, dramatic structure, symbolism, characterization, conflict, setting, title, irony, cinematography, editing, film type and size, sound effects, dialogue, the musical score, the acting, the film’s overall style)
4. What is the films “level of ambition”
5. In terms of the director’s intentions and the film’s level of ambition, how well does the film succeed in what it tries to do? Why does it succeed or fail?
6. What elements or parts make the strongest contribution to the theme and why? What elements or parts fail to function effectively in carrying out the director’s intentions? Why do they fail?
7. What were your personal reasons for liking or disliking it? 

Homework -- Week 4

1. Partner up with somebody for the Mid-Term Assignment: Reviewing an anti-war film.  You will be assigned your film next week in class

2 Choose from one of the following films -- Complete the template and answer response questions IN FULL SENTENCES. I am not expecting MLA form, but forming entire thoughts in writing is essential to your academic growth.

Week Four- Vietnam

Full Metal Jacket – Stanley Kubrick

The Deer Hunter – Michael Cimino

Hamburger Hill – John Irvin

The Boys in Company C – Sidney Furie

Rescue Dawn – Werner Herzog

Good Morning Vietnam – Barry Levinson

Casualties of War – Brian DePalma

The Hanoi Hilton – Lionel Chetwynd

M*A*S*H – Robert Altman

Sub-Category --- The Returned Vet

Dead of Night (1974) - Bob Clark
Tracks - Henry Jaglom
Taxi Driver - Martin Scorsese
Black Sunday - John Frakenheimer

Response Questions:

1. Is the soldier/veteran depicted as being in control of his destiny? Give examples.


2. What political sub-text, or overt theme is the film exploring?


3. How are masculinity and patriarchy displayed through the main character(s) -- broken and dissociated or reinstated and productive. Please give examples

Homework Week 3

  Choose one of the following films and post your analysis by class next week. Remember to include a photo, the template and answered reaction questions.

Theme One – The Unit

Paratroop Command – William Witney

Kanal – Andrzej Wajda

The Big Red One – Samuel Fuller

The Thin Red Line – Terrence Malick

Theme Two – foreign experiences of WWII

Grave of Fireflies –  Isao Takahata

Rome Open City – Roberto Rossellini

Das Boot – Wolfgang Petersen

Come and See – Elem Klimov

Reaction Questions.

1. Are they any evident elements of an evolving group integration?

2. Are there any scenes where self-sacrifice is apparent?

3.  Answer TWO of the following question on analyzing characterization: 

          *Identify the central (most important) character or characters. Which characters are static and which ones are developing? Which characters are flat and which ones are round?

          *What methods of characterization are employed and how effective are they?

          *Which of the characters are realistic and which ones are exaggerated for effect?

          *Is each character’s motivation sound? Which actions grow naturally out of the characters themselves, and where does the filmmaker seem to be manipulating them for his/her purpose?

         *What facets of the central character’s personality are revealed by what he chooses or rejects?

          *Pick out bits of dialogue, visual images, or scenes which you consider especially effective in revealing character and tell why they are effective.

 

         *Which characters function as stock characters and stereotypes and how can the presence of each be justified in the film?

         *Which minor characters function to bring out the personality traits of the major characters? What do they help reveal?

 

Week 2 Reaction Questions - WWI

Choose One of the following films to analyze and create a post on the blog about. The post should include a completed template --see link to the right, as well as thought out answers to the questions below IN ADDITION to the template. Please cite any sources that you use & remember to include an image.


Theme One – The Hero

Lawrence of Arabia – David Lean

Sergeant York – Howard Hawks

Gallipoli -  Peter Weir

The Blue Max – John Guillermin

Theme Two - Melodrama

Oh what a Lovely War – Richard Attenborough

Doctor Zhivago – David Lean

The African Queen – John Huston

A Very Long Engagement – Jean-Pierre Jeunet




1. Did you find any evidence of ineffective military leadership (associated with upper-class ineptitude) that is compensated for through hard work and commitment of the lowly infantryman? Any scene where difference in social class is evident? Describe the dynamic or scene in which this theme is portrayed.

2. Does the film show a suffering soldier as a victim of war rather than exposing the structure of violence and presenting soldiers as elements in it? Or does it portray the soldier as a strong individual following codes of honor and duty How does the film achieve this point of view?

3. Does the film offer the audience the familiar pleasures of cinema – the romantic scenarios and melodramatic poses woven into a more direct and immediate sense of war? What elements of spectacle in the story (battle scenes or otherwise) achieve a sense of melodrama? 

4. Is the enemy portrayed as neutral or through hysterical exaggerations of atrocity? 

Answer each of the questions above in addition to completing the template. Depending on the theme you choose (The Hero/Melodrama) certain question will have more lengthy responses than others.

Good Luck!