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.

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