Test on Wednesday, 12/12

The test will focus on George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest and the key terms and concepts from Chapter 8 of our textbook, Understanding Movies. Also, review everything from the beginning of the course, such as literary, dramatic, and cinematic elements, etc. Be sure to look over your notes, your homework assignments, and all Viewing Guides and handouts.

Along with the general plot and character developments of the three films, be sure to focus on these areas in your review:

• In Night of the Living Dead: the zombie apocalypse genre and its conventions; continuity error; colorblind casting; "stealing a scene"; indie film; subversive subtexts (cultural/historical significance); ironies in the plot; final shot; director's cameo. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.
• In Spirited Away: The typical conventions of animated films; the film’s “eco-message”; motifs involving the importance of name, memory, and identity; Miyazaki’s inspiration for the character of Chihiro; auteur; moments of realism. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.
• In North By Northwest: director's cameo; rear screen projection technique; femme fatale; final cut privileges; title credits; montage; characterization and compression; visual irony; visual foreshadowing; aural cue; "stealing a shot"; "Becoming George Kaplan"; "The Matchless Eve Kendall"; "Murder scenes shot lovingly and love scenes shot murderously"; epiphany and character arc; how tension and suspense are created in "The Crop Dusting Scene." Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point
• In Chapter 8 - Understanding Movies: mimesis, diegesis, avant-garde, plot, story, conventions, genre, classical paradigm (including exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, resolution and closure), linear vs. non linear narratives, realism as style, rites of passage, cinema verite

This is only a general guide and not a complete list of everything we learned and everything you should study!

Extra help will be offered after school at 2:40 p.m. on Tuesday, 12/11 in room 452.

The approximate test breakdown: 40% multiple choice / 20% mini-essay / 40% short answers

Good luck!

Blog Topic #2 - Comment by 9 p.m. on Monday, 11/19

Does Night of the Living Dead Follow The Classical Paradigm?

Considering the film's story structure, is there a brief period of exposition leading to the inciting incident that sparks the rising action building to a late climax ending with a resolution and closure?

Write a well-developed paragraph or two that demonstrates a knowledge of the terms in red above and give a specific example for each from the film in support if you agree. If you disagree, argue why the film fails to follow the classical paradigm using specific examples.

Respond by leaving a COMMENT on this posting by clicking on the "No comments" link below. Once you submit your comment you will be unable to see it until I publish it after the due date.

For full credit on this home work assignment, your comment must be a minimum of 1 well-written, well-developed paragraph (5-7 sentences) that follows the criteria above. Comments that are not proofread will receive a zero.

MAKE SURE YOU END YOUR COMMENT BY WRITING YOUR FIRST NAME AND LAST INITIAL!

Test on Wednesday, 10/3

The test will focus on Harold Ramis's Groundhog Day, and the key terms and concepts from chapter 1 of our textbook, Understanding Movies. Also, review everything from the beginning of the course, such as literary, dramatic, and cinematic aspects, etc. Be sure to look over your notes, your homework assignments, and all Viewing Guides and handouts.

Along with the general plot and character developments of Groundhog Day, be sure to focus on these areas in your review:

• In Groundhog Day: Classical film style; establishing shot; final shot; characterization of Phil and his seeming omnipotence;; motifs (what are they and what's the effect?); montage; allusion; hedonism; director's cameo; the structure and dark side of comedy; existential questions posed by the film. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.
• Key Terms and the Effects they Create: visual rhetoric (RotMI); cut; dissolve; long take; eye-line match; deep focus; soft (shallow) focus; diegetic, non-diegetic, and internal diegetic sound; authorial and subjective points of view, painterly vs. linear style--and EVERYTHING FROM CHAPTER ONE of our textbook! 

This is only a general guide and not a complete list of everything we learned and everything you should study!

Extra help will be offered after school on Tuesday, 10/2 in room 452 at 2:45.

The approximate test breakdown: 40% multiple choice / 20% mini-essay / 40% short answers

Good luck!

Blog Topic #1 - Comment by 9 p.m. on Friday, 9/28

Groundhog Day as Comedy

As we've learned in class, the key element of comedy as a genre is harmony. It has been noted that comedy moves from "confusion to order; from ignorance to understanding; from law to liberty; from unhappiness to satisfaction; from separation to union; from barrenness to fertility; from singleness to marriage; from two to one."

Choose any three (3) aspects of that definition, and apply it to Groundhog Day using a specific example from the film for each. For instance, briefly discuss how the film moves "from confusion to disorder," "from barreness to fertility," and "from two to one" by giving a specific example for each.

Respond by leaving a COMMENT on this posting by clicking on the "No comments" link below. Once you submit your comment you will be unable to see it until I publish it after the due date.

For full credit on this home work assignment, your comment must be a minimum of 1 well-written, well-developed paragraph (5-7 sentences) that follows the criteria above. Comments that are not proofread will receive a zero.

MAKE SURE YOU END YOUR COMMENT BY WRITING YOUR FIRST NAME & LAST INITIAL!

Test on Wednesday, 5/30

The test will focus on Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest, Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso, the Student Choice Film for your specific class period (Slumdog Millionaire, Period 2 or Good Will Hunting, period 7), and the key terms and concepts from chapter 2 of our textbook, Understanding Movies. Also, review everything from the beginning of the course, such as literary, dramatic, and cinematic elements, etc. Be sure to look over your notes, your homework assignments, and all Viewing Guides and handouts.

Along with the general plot and character developments of the films be sure to focus on these areas in your review:

• In Cinema Paradiso: Establishing shot; characterization of Toto/Salvatore; minor characters and how they develop (character arcs); Italian life post WWII; symbolic imagery; jump cut; rack focus; final images (before and after the credits); elegy; the "Cinema of Life." Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.
• In North By Northwest: director's cameo; day for night shooting; rear screen projection effect; femme fatale; MacGuffin; final cut privileges; title credits; parody; montage; characterization & compression; visual irony; phallic symbol; visual foreshadowing; aural cue; character subtext; "stealing a shot"; film subtexts; "Becoming George Kaplan"; "The Matchless Eve Kendall"; "Murder scenes shot lovingly and love scenes shot murderously"; epiphany and character arc; how tension & suspense are created in "The Crop Dusting Scene." Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point
• PERIOD 2 STUDENT CHOICE FILM - In Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire: Bollywood; structure (3 timelines); crosscutting; widescreen aspect ratio; Themes: strength of the human spirit, chance/destiny.
• PERIOD 7 STUDENT CHOICE FILM - In Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting: Classical film style; title credits; puns in the title?; kaleidoscopic view; attachment disorder; bird's-eye shot; slow motion photography; painterly vs. linear style; visual repetitions (motifs); final images for the 4 major relationships in the film; final shot; attachment disorder as a psychological term. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.
• From Understanding Movies: (Ch. 2) Mise en scene ("placing on stage"), aspect ratio (standard vs. widescreen), iris shot, the dominant, subsidiary contrasts, intrinsic interest, tight vs. loose framing, character placement, composition, proxemic patterns, open vs. closed form.

This is only a general guide and not a complete list of everything we learned and everything you should study!

Extra help will be offered after school at 2:35 p.m. on Tuesday, 5/29 in room 452.

The approximate test breakdown: 40% multiple choice / 20% mini-essay / 40% short answers

Good luck!

Blog Topic #3 - COMMENT by 9:00 p.m. on Thurs., 5/24

Tell Us about Your Final Exam Project: Creating an Original Short Film

1. What's the name of your production company and how is it appropriate for your group?
2. What role will you play in the film's creation and why? (Screenwriter, editor, actor, etc.) Why is that the right role for you?
3. Give a brief description of your film. What's the general plot? To what genre does your film belong? What will be the film's style? What will be the establishing shot and what theme will it it establish?

Respond by leaving a COMMENT on this posting.

For full credit on this home work assignment, your comment must be a minimum of 1 well-developed paragraph (5-7 sentences) that follows the criteria above. Comments that are not proofread will receive a zero.

Test on Tuesday, 5/1

The test will focus on Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing, Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot, and the key terms and concepts from Chapter 8 of our textbook, Understanding Movies. Also, review everything from the beginning of the course, such as literary, dramatic, and cinematic elements, etc. Be sure to look over your notes, your homework assignments, and all Viewing Guides and handouts.

Along with the general plot and character developments of the films, be sure to focus on these areas in your review:

• In Some Like It Hot: Comic structure (beginning with social upheaval), Sugar's songs' lyrics, Screwball Comedy, curtain line, filmed in black and white for a reason, parallel editing (crosscutting), using proxemic patterns to create humor, parody, sight gags, slapstick, repartee, situational comedy, sexual innuendo, running gag, dramatic irony, meta-filmic moments. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point. 
• In Do The Right Thing: title credits; match cut; breaking the fourth wall; litany; episodic story structure; montage; allusion; racial tensions in NYC; Spike Lee's DVD Special Features. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point. 
• In Chapter 8 - Understanding Movies: mimesis, diegesis, avant-garde, plot, story, conventions, genre, classical paradigm (including exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, resolution & closure), linear vs. non linear narratives, realism as style, rites of passage, cinema verite

This is only a general guide and not a complete list of everything we learned and everything you should study!

Extra help will be offered after school at 2:35 p.m. on Monday, 4/30 in room 452.

The approximate test breakdown: 40% multiple choice / 20% mini-essay / 40% short answers

Good luck!

The RotMI Research Project

Oh, boy! It's time to write a research paper!

Test on Tuesday, 3/13

The test will focus on Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, Weijun Chen’s Please Vote For Me, Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run, and the key terms and concepts from chapter 1 of our textbook, Understanding Movies. Also, review everything from the beginning of the course, such as literary, dramatic, and cinematic elements, etc. Be sure to look over your notes, your homework assignments, and all Viewing Guides and handouts.

Along with the general plot and character developments of the films, be sure to focus on these areas in your review:

• In Jaws: genre: thriller; metonymy; the "Jaws Shot"; triadic composition as motif; long take; DVD special features; story structure; how sound contributes to both mood and character; cameo; Quint's monologue on the USS Indianapolis. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.
• In Please Vote For Me: Similarities in the 3 candidates’ home lives; candidates’ strengths and weaknesses; who wins the election and what factors help that person? Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.

• In Run Lola Run: 5 visual aesthetics, epigraph, birds-eye view shot, split screen, pastiche, crane or boom shot, chaos theory/butterfly effect, motifs (spirals, etc.), montage, red filter, freeze frame, web of life plot, Lola as hero. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.

• Key Terms and the Effects They Create: visual rhetoric; cut; dissolve; long take; eye-line match; deep focus; soft (shallow) focus; diegetic, non-diegetic & internal diegetic sound; authorial & subjective points of view; visual, audio, and text tracks in documentaries; film style spectrum (realism, classicism, formalism) and documentary film style spectrum--and EVERYTHING FROM CHAPTER ONE of our textbook! 

This is only a general guide and not a complete list of everything we learned and everything you should study!

Extra help will be offered after school at 2:35 p.m. on Monday, 3/12 in room 452.

The approximate test breakdown: 40% multiple choice / 20% mini-essay on documentary film style / 40% short answers

Good luck!

Blog Topic #2 - COMMENT by 9:00 p.m. on Friday, 3/2

For our second Blog Comment Home Work, watch the short documentary Hilary's Straws on Vimeo.com, and leave your response to the questions below by clicking on the link "0 comments on this topic" below. Once you submit your comment you will be unable to see it until I publish it after the due date.

THE ASSIGNMENT:

Watch the short documentary Hilary's Straws and leave a comment that responds to the following questions:

1. We've defined documentaries as nonfiction films that are usually shot on location, use actual persons, rather than actors, and focus thematically on historical, scientific, social, or environmental subjects. Their principal purpose is to enlighten, inform, educate, persuade, and provide insight into the world in which we live. How has this film enlightened, informed, educated or persuaded you about?
2. How does the filmmaker want you to feel about Hilary? Explain.
3. In terms of the VISUAL TRACK (images) or the AUDIO TRACK (voices, music, sound effects, etc.), what's one element that significantly contributes to create that "feeling." Explain.

For full credit on this home work assignment, your "comment" must be written in complete sentences with accurate responses to all three questions. Comments that are not proofread will receive a zero.


BE SURE TO SIGN YOUR COMMENT WITH YOUR FIRST NAME & LAST INITIAL!

And the winner is...

Hollywood's Academy Awards have the Oscar. RotMI has the Baby Daz.

The 3rd Annual RotMI Winter Film Festival viewers have spoken! Congratulations to the winners of the coveted Baby Daz in the following categories:

BEST STORY
Behind The Curtains (Tyler, Kevin, Jae)

BEST COMEDY
Mr. Wrong (Amanda, Jennifer)

BEST PERFORMANCES
The Visit (Justin C., Matt, Joash)

BEST ART PRODUCTION
Night of the Living Japanese (Crystal, Isaac, Kerry)

BEST EDITING
Aurora (Arisa, Anita)

BEST PICTURE | BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY | BEST MUSIC
By My Side (Tom)

Congratulations to the winners! Thanks for a great semester!