Class Meeting
Saturday, August 29
9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Room Hendry Hall 143
Reading Assignments
Study Guide - Supplementary Unit 1: Film Language
Supplementary Unit 2: Thinking and Writing About film
American Cinema - Chapter 1: The Emergence of the Cinema as an Institution
Supplemental Books
If you are serious about film study, the best book on Film Appreciation and
Analysis is Understanding Movies by Louis Giannetti.
An excellent book on the psychological and emotional impact of film
technique is Sight, Sound, Motion by Herbert Zettl
Television Assignment
Sunday Night/Monday morning - September 7
Midnight - 1:00 AM
Program 11 - Film Language
Program 12 - Thinking and Writing About Film
Additional Screenings
*Scarlet Street
D.W. Griffith - Edison Library PN 1998 .A3 G735x
In Class Discussion
I. The Film Experience
- Movies start with some aspect of society we are familiar with, the film's "convention." But the creators add plot twists, characters we identify with, and other narrative devices to give the story a new flavor to attract audiences. This is "artistic invention."
No familiar aspect of society = boring movie.
II. "Going to the Movies"
- 1. Different content or scope
We go to films to see what we can't see in real life, or at home.
2. A social activity. The film is a "social integrator."
- We "go to" a movie, we "watch" TV. Films are always funnier, sadder, scarier in a crowd.
3. Strong cultural force
An entire generation learned how to look, act, and talk from the movies.
4. Relief
III. The Psychology of Movie Viewing
- 1. Movies present a vivid, visual presentation. The audience is receptive.
2. The special characteristics of movie viewing - the dark, social isolation, big sound, big screen, forces the viewer into deeper concentration. This makes the subjects even more receptive.
3. Narrative form involves them with the action and emotionally manipulates them.
These movies have a beginning - middle - end.
4. Audience identifies with stars, characters, story lines, and situations.
IV. Become Part of the Movie
- "It's Only A Movie."
But film making techniques psychologically transport you into the world of the film
V. Pictorial Composition: Tweaking the Lizard Brain
A PowerPoint presentation. Note: Includes LARGE graphics, if you don't have a fast Internet connection, be patient.
Supplemental Web Sites
There are thousands of excellent websites. Over the course of the semester, we'll tell you of some specific ones to visit. But for now, here's a "little" list of quality film sites:
24fps - Projections on Film
99 Lives: The Video Magazine
AFI's 100 YEARS...100 MOVIES
American Film Institute
American Society of Cinematographers
"Animation Journal" Home Page
Black Film Center/Archive Home Page
Box Office Guru
Cinema History: Films from the Silent Era
CineMedia
Classic Films
Cyber Film School
Doug Stickney's Silver Screen Siren Website
Early Motion Pictures Home Page
Film & History
Film and Television
"Film Comment" magazine
"Film Culture" Magazine
Film Noir Reader
Film Scouts
Film.com Home
Girls On Film
Hitoshi Doi's anime page
"Images": A Journal of Film and Popular Culture
Los Angeles Times MetaHollywood
Matt's Script Archive
Matinee Today - Film Art - Film Posters
Moderntimes
Motion Picture Editors Guild Home Page
MovieLink | 777-FILM Online
Mutoscope & Biograph Co., Inc.
National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress, Home Page
Polish Cinema Database
PRODUCTION @ OMNIBUS:EYE MEGA MEDIA-LINKS
Screen It
The Silent Film Web Group
Silent Movies
"The Astounding B Monster"
The British Film Institute
The Film 100
The Independent Film and Video Makers Internet Resource Guide
The Internet Movie Database
The Motion-Picture Industry: Behind-the-Scenes
The MSTed movie gallery: Jamie's Mystery Science Theater 3000 page
The Silent Film Bookshelf
The Silent Westerns
The Silents Majority
Learning Objectives
A. Understand that film makers manipulate audiences emotionally and
psychologically through the use of techniques
- 1. Understand that films are made up of individual shots
2. Understand that composition, angle, and movement manipulate
audiences
3. Define the different types of camera movements
4. Understand the difference between camera movement, subject
movement, and optical movement (zooming)
5. Describe the different types of editing
6. Define and describe other types of transitions, including fades,
dissolves, and wipes.
B. Understand the elements and goals of film analysis
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