Final Exam Project Written Reflection

Click on the image to get the requirements for the Final Exam Project written reflection. Then check out the Film Terminology list to make sure your film exhibits at least 5 of these cinematic elements and 1 camera movement.

Submit your reflection to Turnitin.com by 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 6.

Student Choice Film

It's time for our class to pick the next film we'll study!

For the next few days we'll be accepting student-nominated selections and, afterwards, we'll vote on which film the class will see. (Each class section will choose its own film, but we need at least 4-5 nominations per class to make this work.)

If you wish to nominate a film, you must leave a comment below with the following information NO LATER THAN Monday, 5/7 at 9 p.m.:

1) The film's title, director, and year it was released (check IMDB.com for this info)

2) 2-3 sentences about why you're nominating this film. If you've seen it before, why do you think viewing the film would be a valuable experience for the class? If you haven't seen it, why are you nominating it?

Also,

• The film you're nominating should be no longer than 2 hours (less than this would be even better!) and its content should be appropriate for our class.
• 1 nomination per person. 
• "Sign" your comment with your first name and last initial!

Test on Wednesday, 4/25

The test will focus on Sam Mendes' American Beauty, Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times, Alfred Hitchcock's North By Northwest, and the key terms and concepts from chapter 2 from our textbook, Understanding Movies. Be sure to look over your notes, your homework assignments, and all Viewing Guides and handouts (especially regarding the Classical Paradigm and Episodic narrative structure). Also, know how to define "rhetoric" and be able to give an example of "rhetoric of the moving image." Along with the general plot, key quotes, and character developments of our films, be sure to also focus on these areas in your review:

• In Modern Times: Film as important social/historical document; silent film; inter-title; characterization of “The Tramp”; episodic structure; motifs; sight gags and slapstick; final shot. DVD Special Features: deleted scene; original ending; talkies; all voices filtered through technology, and 24 frames per second (fps). Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.

• In American Beauty: formalism as film style; what do we see when we "look closer"?; possible meanings of the film's title; 3-act structure; parallel editing; Drama as genre. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.
• In North By Northwest: 3-act structure; director's cameo; day for night shooting; femme fatale; MacGuffin; final cut privileges; title credits; parody; montage; characterization and compression; visual irony; phallic symbol; visual foreshadowing; character subtext; "stealing a shot"; film subtexts; matte 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 2 - Understanding Movies: 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 possibly 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, 4/24 in room 452.

The approximate test breakdown: 60% multiple choice / 20% mini-mise en scene analysis / 20% short answers

Good luck!

Writing a Mise en Scène Analysis

❶ Let your eyes wander around this frame from Modern Times for a few minutes. Using “The Elements of a Mise en Scène Analysis” handout you received in class, analyze the frame considering the following elements numbered 1, 3, 9, 10, 14, and 15.

❷ Write a 1-2 page typed and double-spaced mise en scène analysis that ultimately describes the frame’s significance to the film as a whole and/or something significant regarding the characters in the frame. 

❸ I suggest this as a structure for your essay: 

❡1 - A brief description of the frame’s context–who is in the frame, what’s their relationship, and what’s happening at this moment in the story. 

❡2 - A breakdown of the elements numbered above (1, 3, 9, etc.) Make sure you explain your responses: how do you know it's Closed Form, for example. And what makes the Dominant the Dominant?

❡3 - An analysis of how those elements contribute to the frame’s overall meaning or significance.

 Look over the model mise en scène analysis provided in class and click on the image above to get a closer look.

 Submit your analysis via Turnitin.com by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, 4/18.

Key Concepts for Chapter 2

There will be a very brief Reading Reward (quiz) on TUESDAY, 4/10 [NEW DATE] on some of the key concepts from Chapter 2 of our textbook, Understanding Movies. The best way to prepare is to thoroughly read Chapter 2, completing the fill-in-the-blank handout (on Google Classroom) as you go, and focusing on the following terms and concepts:

• Mise en scène
• Aspect ratio
• The dominant
• Open form vs. closed form
• Proxemic patterns
• Classical composition

Good luck!

Test on Wednesday, 3/7

The test will focus on Steven Spielberg's Jaws 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. Look over your notes, your homework assignments, and all Viewing Guides and handouts.

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

• In Jaws: The conventions of classical cinema; thriller as genre; metonymy; the "Jaws Shot"; triadic composition as motif; long take; visual foreshadowing; DVD special features; continuity errors; cameo; Quint's monologue on the USS Indianapolis. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.

• Key Terms and the Effects They Create: framing (shot types), camera angles, lighting (high/low key, neutral); visual rhetoric (the definition of RotMI); deep focus; shallow/soft focus; rack/selective focus; eye-line match; diegetic, non-diegetic, and internal diegetic sound; authorial and subjective points of view--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, 3/6 in room 452 at 2:35 p.m.

UPDATE: Approximate test breakdown: 60% multiple choice / 20% mini-essay (on classical cinema) / 20% short answers

Good luck!

Key Concepts for Chapter 1

There will be a very brief Reading Reward (QUIZ) on Monday, 2/12 on some of the key concepts from Chapter 1 of our textbook, Understanding Movies. The best way to prepare is to thoroughly read Chapter 1, completing the fill-in-the-blank handout (that you received in class) as you go, and focusing on the following terms and concepts:

• Film style: Realism, formalism & classical cinema
• Shots: Long, medium, close-up and the effects they create
• Angles: Eye-level, high, low, birds-eye view, and oblique (also known as canted or dutch) and the effects they create
• The role of the cinematographer
• Photography: Soft-focus, deep-focus, and rack focusing (selective focusing)

Good luck!

Welcome to the RotMI Blog, SPRING 2018!

Bookmark this site now! It's the place to come for course information and everything you need to keep up with assignments and due dates!

Test on Wednesday, December 13

The test will focus on Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot, Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing, and the key terms and concepts from Chapter 2 of our textbook, Understanding Movies. Be sure to look over your notes, your homework assignments, and all Viewing Guides and handouts. Also, know how to define "rhetoric" and be able to give an example of "rhetoric of the moving image." Along with the general plot, key quotes, and character developments of our films, be sure to focus on these areas in your review:

• In Some Like It Hot: Comic structure (beginning with social upheaval and ending in harmony); comedy as "serious fun"; Sugar's songs' lyrics; Screwball Comedy; curtain line; swish pan and its effect as visual rhetoric; filmed in black and white for a reason; parallel editing (crosscutting); using proxemic patterns to create humor; Kinds of Comedy: parody, sight gags, slapstick, repartee, situational comedy, sexual innuendo, phallic symbols, running gag, dramatic irony, and 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 vs. the classical paradigm; montage; racial tensions in NYC; and Spike Lee's DVD Special Features. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point. 

• In Chapter 2 - Understanding Movies: 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 necessarily 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, 12/12 in room 452.

The approximate test breakdown: 60% multiple choice / 20% mini essay on mise en scene / 20% short answers

Good luck!

Test on Wednesday, November 8

The test will focus on Tom Tykwer's Run Lola Run, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, and Weijun Chen's Please Vote For Me. Be sure to look over your notes, your homework assignments, and all Viewing Guides and handouts. Also, know how to define "rhetoric" and be able to give an example of "rhetoric of the moving image." Along with the general plot, key quotes, and character developments of our films, be sure to focus on these areas in your review:

• In Run Lola Run: 5 visual aesthetics; the formalistic aspects of the film's style and story structure; epigraphs; birds-eye view shot; split screen; Butterfly Effect; motifs (spirals, clocks, etc.), montage; flash forward; red filter; freeze frame; web of life plot; and Lola as hero. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.
• In Psycho: shooting day for night; voyeurism; MacGuffin; parallel editing or crosscutting; director's cameo; motifs of mirrors and birds; the shower scene; the characterization of Norman Bates; the final image; and the groundbreaking features of the film in general. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.
• In Please Vote For Me: Documentary Style Spectrum: What are the qualities of a formalistic documentary vs. a realistic one? Similarities in the 3 candidates’ home lives; candidates’ strengths and weaknesses; who wins the election and what factors help that person? Documentary as genre: what's the purpose of a documentary? What did this film enlighten you about? The effect created by parallel editing or crosscutting. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.

This is only a general guide and not necessarily 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, 11/6 in room 452.

The approximate test breakdown: 60% multiple choice / 20% mini essay on documentary style / 20% short answers

Good luck!

Reflecting on Your Reading Project Book

By now you've finished (or almost finished!) reading the film-related book you chose to read a few weeks ago, and now it's time to reflect back.

In a well-written reflection of 2-3 pages (typed and double-spaced) you should describe your reading experience. The most thorough reflections will consider the following:

• What kind of a reader are you? How much do you read for pleasure? What's your general attitude toward reading? Have your reading habits changed as you've gotten older?
• Was anything new about this experience? First book you've ever read on an iPad/Kindle? First time you've read a nonfiction book or book about film?
• What're your book's title and author?
• How did you choose your book? Where did you find it? Was it recommended by someone?
• What is the subject of the book?
• What expectations did you have? Did the book meet those expectations? Why or why not?
• What insights into the world of film have you gained? Give specifics and develop your examples. Use a direct quote to add specificity.
• Describe the experience of reading the book? Was it a quick read? Was it challenging? Was it pleasurable or not? Why?

If you've read a book that was adapted into a film then you've also watched the film and should discuss

• More than what's missing in the film that was in the book. Is there a pattern in what was cut? A sub-plot? An entire major character? What was the effect of the changes?
• Was material added? What's the effect of the new material?
• Do some research! Was the author any way involved in making the film?
• Describe the experience of reading the book versus seeing the film. Which did you prefer and why? 

Aside from being well-written, your reflection should be original, honest, and informal. It should also be typed, double-spaced and submitted to Turnitin.com by 11:59 p.m on Sunday, 10/29.

For an "A" you also need to effectively utilize a parenthetical statement, exercise some sentence length variety, and try one of the four openings as taught in class and, in the heading of your essay, state which opening you're using. For example:

Jane Doe
RotMI Reading Project Reflection
ANECDOTAL OPENING

Test on Wednesday, 10/11

The test will focus on Gus Van Sant's's Good Will Hunting 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, the definition of RotMI, etc. Be sure to look over your notes, your homework assignments, and all Viewing Guides and handouts.

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

• In Good Will Hunting: Classical film style; title credits; puns in the title?; kaleidoscopic view; 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; long take; attachment disorder as a psychological term. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.
• In Chapter 1 - Understanding Movies: film style; various shots; framing; angles; lighting; cut, dissolve; eye-line match; deep focus; rack focus; diegetic, internal diegetic, and non-diegetic sound; authorial and subjective points of view, etc.

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

The approximate test breakdown: 60% multiple choice / 20% mini essay on Literary, Dramatic & Cinematic Aspects / 20% short answers

Good luck! 

The RotMI Reading Project

Here's a chance to read a great book about--what else--film!

By Friday, 9/29, find an appropriate book (see below) and bring it to class.

It may be a book...

• About a favorite film, such as The Jaws Log, the reflections of screenwriter Carl Gottlieb on the making of Jaws.
• Written by a critic that analyzes a film such as The Godfather (BFI Film Classics) or Star Wars (BFI Modern Classics). BFI is the British Film Institute and they've published many books for what they call Film Classics and Modern Classics.
• That was adapted into a film. Both The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me were originally written by Stephen King and can be found in one book called Different Seasons.
• Written by a director about how films are created, such as Sidney Lumet's Making Movies or David Mamet's On Directing Film.
• That interviews a groundbreaking person in Hollywood, such as Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman to ever win the Oscar for Best Director (The Hurt Locker): Kathryn Bigelow: Interviews
• That chronicles a director's life, such as Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light or an actor's autobiography, such as Michael J. Fox's Lucky Man: A Memoir. 

Whatever book you choose it should be between 100-300 pages, appropriate for a school assignment, and brought to class on Friday, 9/29. Books on iPads, Kindles or other electronic devices are more than welcome.

We'll discuss in class how we're going to write about our books and by when you need to finish reading. Just go find a great book about film!

And the Winner Is...

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

The 8th Annual RotMI Winter Film Festival viewers have spoken! Congratulations to the winners of the coveted Baby Daz in the following categories:




BEST MOCKUMENTARY

The Tortoise of Death (Ben C., Charles, Ari, Ryan M.)

BEST PERFORMANCES
Home Again (John-Carlos, Alexis, Sahaj, Andrew C.)

BEST MUSIC
Reunite (Caleb, Rohin, Liam, Paaras, Brandon M.)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

We have a tie!
Bruh. (Simon, Josh, James, Evan, Abin) and Return of Darkness (Hardy, Leo, Ben Z., Jay, George)

from Bruh.

from Return of Darkness

BEST EDITING
Bruh. (Simon, Josh, James, Evan, Abin)

BEST DOCUMENTARY

A Day in the Life (Brad, Bradley, Max, Jake)

BEST PICTURE
Reunite (Caleb, Rohin, Liam, Paaras, Brandon M.)

Thanks for a great semester, everyone!

RotMI Winter Film Festival - 2017

The coveted Baby Daz Awards are up for grabs! Cast your ballot now!

Test on Tuesday, December 6

The test will focus on Tom Tykwer's Run Lola Run, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho,  Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing, and the key terms and concepts from Chapter 2 of our textbook, Understanding Movies. Be sure to look over your notes, your homework assignments, and all Viewing Guides and handouts. Also, know how to define "rhetoric" and be able to give an example of "rhetoric of the moving image." Along with the general plot, key quotes, and character developments of our films, be sure to focus on these areas in your review:

• In Run Lola Run: 5 visual aesthetics; the formalistic aspects of the film's style and story structure; epigraphs; birds-eye view shot; split screen; Butterfly Effect; motifs (spirals, clocks, etc.), montage; flash forward; red filter; freeze frame; web of life plot; and Lola as hero. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.
• In Psycho: shooting day for night; voyeurism; MacGuffin; parallel editing or crosscutting; director's cameo; motifs of mirrors and birds; the shower scene; the characterization of Norman Bates; the final image; and the groundbreaking features of the film in general. 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 vs. the classical paradigm; montage; racial tensions in NYC; and Spike Lee's DVD Special Features. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point. 

• In Chapter 2 - Understanding Movies: 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 necessarily 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, 12/5 in room 452.

The approximate test breakdown: 60% multiple choice / 20% mini essay on mise en scene / 20% short answers

Good luck!

Extra Credit Hitchcock Project

Not everyone has to go to college, but if you're planning to and didn't so well on our last test, here's an extra credit option for the first quarter:

Choose an Alfred Hitchcock film you've never seen before, watch it, and submit your answers to the questions below on Turnitin.com. Here are the DUE dates:

November 9: Submit the title and year of your film to MrD at the beginning of class. Make sure it's a film you're able see; there are no substitutions.

November 14: Submit your typed and double-spaced responses to the questions below to Turnitin.com by 3 p.m.

Missing either of these deadlines makes you ineligible for extra credit. Also, make sure you do your own work and that what you submit is 100% original. This is not a collaborative effort; do NOT show your work to anyone else, compare notes, or use the work of another "as a reference."

EXTRA CREDIT QUESTIONS

1) What's the title and year of your film? (Remember to underline film titles!)

2) Hitchcock's films often revolve around murder, betrayal, love, and a man/woman on the run. Which of these elements apply to your film? Give specific examples.

3) Hitchcock saw himself as the Master of Suspense. What's suspenseful about your film and how, through sound or visuals, does he create suspense? Be specific.

4) Define "voyeurism." What moments of voyeurism are in your film: does a character spy on or watch the movements of another character? Does Hitchcock use subjective POV to turn us, the viewers, into voyeurs?! Give specific details.

5) How does your film compare to Psycho? How is it similar or different visually or in terms of its themes. Again, give specifics and develop your ideas.

Test on Monday, 5/16

The test will focus on Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot, Asghar Faradi's A Separation, the Student Choice Film for your period, and the key terms and concepts from Chapter 2 of our textbook, Understanding Movies. Be sure to look over your notes, your homework assignments, and all Viewing Guides and handouts. Also, know how to define "rhetoric" and be able to give an example of "rhetoric of the moving image." Along with the general plot, key quotes, and character developments of our films, be sure to focus on these areas in your review:

• In A Separation: Visual and physical separations in the mise en scene; how is the depiction of life in modern Tehran, Iran similar and different to life in the west?; drama as genre; long takes at the film's beginning and end; what crucial information is not divulged at the end of the film? Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.

• In Some Like It Hot: Comic structure (beginning with social upheaval and ending in harmony); comedy as "serious fun"; Sugar's songs' lyrics; Screwball Comedy; curtain line; swish pan and its effect as visual rhetoric; filmed in black and white for a reason; parallel editing (crosscutting); using proxemic patterns to create humor; Kinds of Comedy: parody, sight gags, slapstick, repartee, situational comedy, sexual innuendo, phallic symbols, running gag, dramatic irony, and meta-filmic moments. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.
• In American Beauty (Period 1) OR The Sixth Sense (Period 2): Be familiar with the characters, plot developments, and the concepts discussed in class. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.

• In Chapter 2 - Understanding Movies: 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 possibly 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 Thursday, 5/12 in room 452.

The approximate test breakdown: 60% multiple choice / 40% short answers

Good luck!

How to Conduct a Mise en Scène Analysis

❶ Let your eyes wander around this frame from North By Northwest for a few minutes. Using “The Elements of a Mise en Scène Analysis” handout you received in class, analyze the frame considering the following elements numbered 1, 3, 9, 10, 11, 13 and 15.

❷ Write a 1-2 page typed and double-spaced mise en scène analysis that ultimately describes the frame’s significance to the film as a whole and/or something significant regarding the characters in the frame. 

❸ I suggest this as a structure for your essay: 

❡1 - A brief description of the frame’s context–who is in the frame, what’s their relationship, and what’s happening at this moment in the story. 

❡2 - A breakdown of the elements numbered above (1, 3, 9, etc.) Make sure you explain your responses: how do you know it's Closed Form, for example. And what makes the Dominant the Dominant?

❡3 - An analysis of how those elements contribute to the frame’s overall meaning or significance.

 Look over the model mise en scène analysis provided in class and click on the image above to get a closer look.

 Submit your analysis via Turnitin.com by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 4/11.

Test on Monday, 2/29

The test will focus on Steven Spielberg's Jaws 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. Look over your notes, your homework assignments, and all Viewing Guides and handouts.

 

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

• In Jaws: The aspects of classical cinema; thriller as genre; metonymy; the "Jaws Shot"; triadic composition as motif; long take; DVD special features; continuity errors; cameo; Quint's monologue on the USS Indianapolis. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.

• Key Terms and the Effects They Create: framing, camera angles, visual rhetoric (the definition of RotMI); deep focus; rack focus; diegetic and non-diegetic sound; authorial and subjective points of view--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 Thursday, 2/25 in room 452 at 2:35 p.m.

UPDATE: Approximate test breakdown: 60% multiple choice / 20% short answer (on classical cinema) / 20% short answer (LCD aspects)

Good luck!