Films - PEL Spring 2

Here are the movies we will be studying for the Spring 2 term.

"Black Narcissus"

"The Hill"

Boris Karloff in "Targets"

"Blade Runner"

3rd and Final Paper

The third and final paper for Elements of Film deals with genre analysis.  If you have already written on this subject, you may choose either the analysis of a single film or the discussion of a director’s work (subjects of the two earlier papers).

For this last paper please select a genre and give a brief history, a discussion of its conventions, styles and themes.  Also important is which notable filmmakers might have made this a focus of their work and if this genre fits into the national identity of any particular country.  Viewings outside the required films are always good to add credibility.

You may turn this paper in on the final day of class or email it to me no later than Friday, Dec. 13.  There will be no penalty for doing so.  Please send it to:

 thammond1946@yahoo.com

If you have any past due papers, these are due on the last day of class.  I will accept them, but deduct one grade for anything late.

See you all Monday night for the final exam.

Nykvist's The Sacrifice

            Ingmar Bergman and Sven Nyqvist’s movies are very beautiful and deep. I love the composition of light and shadow in each scene. There is also a lot of use of negative space. Each frame is an individual piece of art. Because each frame is so powerful and the monologues are often deep in meaning, I find it difficult to watch in one sitting. The slow plot does not keep me in my seat, but I do not want to miss anything because it is so beautiful, so I watch in several sittings.

A lot of Swedish films I have a problem hearing properly and it doesn’t help that the lip sink is often off! Another sound glitch was when they were in the woods and the distance of the sound was off. You couldn’t tell who was speaking because the people in the distance sounded just as close as those in the foreground.

            I thought that it was interesting that with a conversation with the maid, the hostess was behind the camera so the maid looked the camera straight in the eye and responded about her final chores in a list.

I thought it was funny that the translator decided to capitalize Little Man as if that was his name, but when the mother jumped to English she called him Little Man too, so perhaps that was his name. He must have been named before the Swedish name laws were changed.

Map of Movies

I found this interesting map of some of the best movies.

Lady Eve

I enjoyed "Lady Eve" and the humor used. I was surprised to find that I liked the slapstick humor. I thought that it was tastefully done with Mr. Pike tripping over things and getting things spilt on him. I was also happy to find that he was not indecisive over his response to Lady Eve and Jean; that he was not torn up over believing his protector or his guests who were enchanted by Lady Eve. I thought that it was interesting that it was Jean who was unsure of her feelings, but she stayed true to her plan of hurting him and as Lady Eve, drove him back to loving Jean. It was so captivating that I almost forgot it was in black and white.
The parts that took me out of the movie were when Lady Eve did the same things Jean would have done. I found it difficult to believe that Mr. Pike didn't recognize it was Jean when she put her cheek against his. I was also surprised that he believed the story that Jean was Lady Eve's forgotten half sister; "the stage coach story". 

GUIDELINES FOR PAPER #2

3-4 pages with citations

Discuss a film genre.  The textbook contains a chapter on genre and deals with several of them specifically.

You may pick a genre that interests you.

Please pick something more specific than “comedy” or “drama.”  Examples – romantic comedy or spy thriller.

You may examine the selected genre from a historical standpoint, standard conventions, motifs, themes and filmmakers who specialized in that particular type of story

Sometimes historical periods are heavy in a certain genre.   Example – film noir is a product of the 40s and 50s.  If you use this approach, discuss possible reasons for this.

You may use, as an example, a film we have viewed in class or as a home assignment.

Please use at least three other films to support the various points of your essay.  These might be movies you have already seen or ones that you view for the purpose of writing this paper.

Several possibilities: musicals, crime, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, westerns, war, teen drama, screwball comedy, slapstick, biblical epic, etc.  There are many more than these.

If you have questions about your subject, please talk to me after class or call me at 813-900-4759.

Grapes of Wrath

I really liked watching Grapes of Wrath. At first I thought that I didn't much like the black and white but when I  got further into the film, I could see how it added so much to the story and it's setting. I am a little bias because I read the book first and thought the movie didn't do it much justice. But putting that aside, I thought the way that it was filmed was very smart and realistic. The costumes added a lot to the movie and the feel of the file and it's time period. I was captivated by the characters and their developments in the film. My favorite character is Mama. What a strong individual. All in all, I thought this film was really well done, considering when it was filmed. I like that it has an "old" feeling to it. It adds to the story it is telling.