Greetings! A reminder to please complete your Fall Course Evaluations by the deadline tomorrow, Wednesday, December 20th. Here are the links to log in via computer or via smartphone.
Questions about the Final Exam?
Please post any questions about the final exam as a comment below—and please post any answers you have to your classmates’ questions, as well! (Of course, you can always email me, but I encourage you to use the blog so that others who may share your question can see the reply…)
Reminder: Final Papers Due in Class Tomorrow (12/8)
Just a reminder that hard copies of your final papers are due in class tomorrow. Please also be sure to include the completed peer review sheet you received from your partner along with your paper. (If you did not receive a review for any reason, please use the worksheet to self-assess your own work, and include that.) Feel free to be in touch with any last-minute questions, or to post them as comments below.
Submitting and Peer-Reviewing Drafts
You can find instructions for submitting and peer-reviewing the research paper drafts in my email. But just as a reminder, the drafts should be submitted to the “Files” page of our site. Because it looks a little different than the blog, I’m including the screenshot below for guidance:
Make-Up Assignments
As promised, here are the details about the make-up assignments you can do during the Thanksgiving break (or any time before the end of classes). Each counts as a one-pager. You can do both of these assignments, but can’t get credit for doing more than one of each. Please read the instructions carefully:
1. Movie (Theater) Ethnography: Watch a film, and write a short blog post (around 200-300 words) describing the exhibition and viewing experience; the goal is to provide a historical “snapshot” of film-going circa 2017. Some questions you should address in your post (not all may apply). Where did you see the film? (At a theater, in a classroom, at home, etc?) What technology was involved? What did you eat and/or drink? What other activities, if any, were you doing as you watched? If you went to a theater, how much did the ticket cost, and did you have to purchase it ahead of time? What were the seats like, and how did your fellow viewers behave? To receive credit, you must select the “movie theater ethnography” category and add relevant tags.
2. Home Screening: Write a short blog post (approximately 200-300 words) in which you analyze a film you watch outside of class in light of the historical questions and concerns we’ve raised this semester. (For instance, you could think about it in relation to any of the movements, trends, films, or filmmakers we’ve talked or read about, or consider its relevance to specific historical events.) The goal is to “historicize” your viewing experience, and situate the film you’ve watch in a broader context. To receive credit, you must select the “mome screening” category and add relevant tags.
Final Papers: Comments on Proposals & Updates
First, a quick note to say that I have commented on everyone’s proposals (which can be found on the “Paper Proposal” page of the blog; if yours wasn’t appearing there before, it should be now.) Take a look at my suggestions, and feel free to follow up in the comments with any follow-up questions. And please do take a look at your classmates’ projects, if you haven’t; a number of you have some overlap between your topics, so it would be particularly useful to share resources and feedback.
Second, an update about the timeline: Instead of completing a draft by tomorrow, 11/21, I am going to ask you to circulate drafts for electronic peer review by a week from tomorrow, Tuesday, 11/28. Keep in mind these are drafts, which means they’ll necessarily be works in progress, rather than polished final products! That said, you should have at least 3 pages drafted by the 28th, along with a working bibliography. I’ll provide you with more detailed instructions and a checklist you can use to assess your own and a peer’s work, which will help ensure you’re moving toward completing a final version by the due date, December 8th.
Finally, instructions about the extra-credit and make-up assignment to come shortly; stay tuned! And see you tomorrow, on Tuesday aka “CUNY Friday,” for our discussion of two major female filmmakers: Jane Campion and Julie Dash.
Midterm Review Questions? Post Them Here!
Please use the comments to post questions about the midterm—and respond to your classmates’ questions! (As an incentive, you’ll receive a point on your midterm exam for every question you answer correctly, up to three points.)
As a reminder, I expect you to know the “terms” listed on the review sheet in relation to class screenings, readings, and lectures. (So, for instance, anything on the exam about the Paramount decree would come from what you read about it in Sklar’s book.) Both the review sheet and take-home assignment are on the “Assignments” page of the blog, if you lose your hard copies.
Week 6: The French New Wave, Godard, and Auteur Theory
Feel free to share any thoughts about Breathless as a comment below. For those who would like to learn more about Godard’s first film, in addition to the two required readings, I’d recommend essays by the New York Times film critic A.O. Scott, which attests to the historical impact and enduring legacy of Breathless, and scholar Dudley Andrew.
For further viewing, you may also want to check out some of the titles included in the “French New Wave Collection” on Kanopy. In particular, I’d recommend starting with The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut, 1959), Cléo from 5 to 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962), and Weekend (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967).
Finally, anyone intrigued by auteur theory might also be interested in two additional sources: Andrew Sarris’s “Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962,” a piece which served to popularize the ideas Truffaut advanced in “La Politique des Auteurs” in the U.S.; and New Yorker critic Pauline Kael’s scathing rebuttal, “Circles and Squares”. As you’ll see, auteur theory ignited a highly contentious debate, which in many ways continues to this day! (Finally, here’s a recent piece by another New Yorker critic, Richard Brody, which reflects on the historical importance of “la politique des auteurs” in affirming the artistic achievements of none other than Nicholas Ray!)
To-Do List for Sept 23-Oct 6
Greetings! I hope you all are enjoying the beautiful fall weather. As promised, I am writing with a summary of what I’m asking you to do before our next class meeting on October 6th:
- Read the required chapters from Sklar and the excerpt from Dana Polan’s book, In a Lonely Place, and watch Billy Wilder’s film, Sunset Boulevard.
- For your one-pagers, you might choose to respond to one or both of the screenings. Either way, I’d like you to cite at least one of the assigned readings, and to document your citation using MLA style; see the resources on the right-hand side of the blog if you need a refresher. (Note: you should not produce two separate response papers.)
- Watch the two clips I’ve posted below from two celebrated Hollywood musicals of the postwar period: Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and The Band Wagon (1953). Post a comment in response to the clips, using the prompts I’ve included in the post as points of departure for your own thinking.
- Send me a 1-2 paragraph email ([email protected]) by October 1 in which you describe your goals for the remainder of the semester. What would you most like to get out of the course? What skills do you feel you’d most like to develop? How do you see the work we’re doing in this course in relation to your own professional and/or academic goals?
- I’ve posted an Office Hours Schedule (see the link in the menu above). If you’d like to schedule a meeting, click on the link; you’ll be taken to a Google Doc where you can enter your name next to the time slot that works for you. If none of the available times work, let me know and we can find one that does.
If you have any questions about the above assignments, post a question below, and I (or someone else in the class) can respond!
Week 4: Updates and Reminders
First, a quick note about the readings on Rashomon for tomorrow (both available on the “Readings” page). As I mentioned in class, I’ve asked you to read the excerpt from Kurosawa’s autobiography in place of the Stephen Prince essay. You’re also reading an excerpt from film historian Donald Richie’s book on Kurosawa; however, I just realized that the PDF I initially posted was missing the first 10 pages of the chapter! The whole chapter is there now, but I’ll understand if some of you only had time to read p. 13-21. So you know: The first half of the chapter focuses on Richie’s interpretation of the film and its themes (and makes a fascinating argument about which of the many accounts is in fact the most reliable and why), while the the second concentrates on the film’s aesthetics, production, and reception.
Second, a reminder that we will not meet on September 22 or 29, as a result of the upcoming holidays. I’ll talk more in class tomorrow about what I’ll ask you to do over that break, but for your own planning, remember that you’ll need to screen Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard (1950) and do reading from the Robert Sklar book, Movie-Made America. So, if you haven’t ordered it yet, now’s the time!
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