Watch Scorsese's Jefferson Lecture LIVE on April 1

Be sure to look for me in the audience!

http://www.neh.gov/news/press-release/2013-03-28

Video Contest

http://www.cnu.org/highways/videocontest

This is worth looking into. If you are serious about doing it, spend time over break on your pre-production...

Bicycle Thieves

Analyze a scene from Bicycle Thieves. Be sure to read the handouts I've given you. You can access the film in parts on YouTube, starting here. Be sure to click the CC (closed captioning) on the player to get the subtitles.

Choose a 5 minute scene and analyze it completely. Remember that you need to mention why you chose the scene and this scene's relation to the film as a whole. In addition, pay close attention to: mise-en-scene, lighting, camera angles, shot types, etc. Here is a list of items to pay attention to when you write your 750 words (minimum) (and when you do your oral presentation):

• How well do I understand how meaning is constructed through the use of film language in this extract?
• How well do I understand the extract's relationship to the film as a whole?
• How well do I understand the influences of the film's genre?
• How well can I place the film and this extract in a broader socio-cultural context?
• How insightful is my analysis of the director's intention?
• How coherent, incisive, insightful, and detailed is my evaluative interpretation of this extract?

Here is a list of "vocab" you should use:

• narrative
• direction
• cinematography
• mise-en-scene
• lighting (which is often, but not always, considered part of mise-en-scene)
• camera movement
• editing
• sound (diegetic and non-diegetic)

Be sure your paper is AT LEAST 750 words. Watch the clip a number of times. Let your ideas flow. Spend time with this. If you don't, your presentation next year will suffer. It will be difficult if you don't practice. If you do what I ask, that will be an easy assessment for you!

Due: Monday, April 8, 2013

Rome Open City

Analyze a scene from Rome Open City. Be sure to read the handouts I've given you.

Choose a 5 minute scene and analyze it completely. Remember that you need to mention why you chose the scene and this scene's relation to the film as a whole. In addition, pay close attention to: mise-en-scene, lighting, camera angles, shot types, etc. Here is a list of items to pay attention to when you write your 750 words (minimum) (and when you do your oral presentation):

• How well do I understand how meaning is constructed through the use of film language in this extract?
• How well do I understand the extract's relationship to the film as a whole?
• How well do I understand the influences of the film's genre?
• How well can I place the film and this extract in a broader socio-cultural context?
• How insightful is my analysis of the director's intention?
• How coherent, incisive, insightful, and detailed is my evaluative interpretation of this extract?

Here is a list of "vocab" you should use:

• narrative
• direction
• cinematography
• mise-en-scene
• lighting (which is often, but not always, considered part of mise-en-scene)
• camera movement
• editing
• sound (diegetic and non-diegetic)

Be sure your paper is AT LEAST 750 words. Watch the clip a number of times. Let your ideas flow. Spend time with this. If you don't, your presentation next year will suffer. It will be difficult if you don't practice. If you do what I ask, that will be an easy assessment for you!

Due: Monday, April 8, 2013

Independent Study

Fourth quarter we will be working on a practice Independent Study. DO NOT FALL BEHIND WITH THIS. I want you to begin thinking about 2 films from separate cultures (like French/American, Italian/French, etc.) that represent an overarching theme. We are going to practice at the Standard Level. Here is what the IB says about the process...


Independent study
Weighting: 25%
This component is based on part 2 of the course (film theory and history), but also draws to some extent
on part 1 (textual analysis). The aim of the independent study is to encourage students to engage in some depth with a cinematic tradition that is unfamiliar to their own culture.

Students must produce a script for a complete short documentary production exploring an aspect of film
theory or film history, based on the study of films from more than one country. The documentary should be targeted at an audience of film students in the 14 to 18 years age range. Among the topics students may choose to investigate are:
• genre
• theme
• direction
• use ofsound
• colour
• editing
• lighting.
The topic should be discussed primarily in cinematic terms. The prime voice of the documentary must clearly be that of the student, who will also act as the narrator, onscreen host and/or voice-over. Students must ensure that any comments or ideas they attribute to celebrities or others, such as experts, are fully supported by detailed references in the annotated list of sources.

EXAMPLE IDEAS

• A study of the development of horror films through cinematic techniques (or their reflections of cultural fears). At SL the study could be of Nosferatu and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
• A study of cinematic representation of adolescence (and/or childhood). At SL the study could be of Cinema Paradiso and Boyz in the Hood

I want everyone to post an overarching theme and the two films they will study.

Excellent Opportunity

The University of Illinois is offering a summer camp for the first time this June called Media University. I think some of you should apply. It is two weeks and runs from June 17 through June 28. It is about $2000 for the two weeks, but there are scholarships available (need and merit based).

Here is the link: http://experience.media.illinois.edu/mediauniversity/

I am happy to help anyone who wants to apply. I spent last summer in Champaign-Urbana and I loved it. The University of Illinois is a massive campus. The first Web browser was developed there.