My review/presentation

I posted a link at right to my review/presentation of The Station Agent (delivered in class on Friday and Monday). Mid-way through the review (without any introduction to the scene), I showed a two-minute clip. You may need to set up your scene for us in class, giving it some brief context.

The only thing I changed about the review from its form on Friday was the correction of one mistake and the addition of the comment about the score. It's difficult to comment on everything of value in a terrific film like The Station Agent, but it seemed, on reflection, a poor choice (the result of rushing) to fail to comment on the wonderful music.

That should give you a sense of what I'm after. Please e-mail me (or post here) if you have any questions. If you're presenting on Tuesday and Wednesday, you must see me by Monday to set up your clip.

And to clarify once more for the people who may have, somehow, missed this detail: You are writing and presenting on a movie about which you have not already written.

Schedule: Your presentations

Below is a schedule for your presentations. When you present on the film of your choice, you will also hand in your paper, which is to be a thoughtful review of about two pages. You must see me first about the film, and, in advance, you must bring me the DVD so we can cue up the selected scene(s), which can total, at most 5 minutes. The entire presentation should run 10 minutes; I'll let you have 12 minutes at most. We'll be on a tight schedule, but that's why I've left the last day of class open: presentations nudged out of their slots can be done then.

If you handed in your paper directly to me, you got to choose your presentation date. For those that came in afterwards, I assigned dates based on availability. Those who have not—as of today—given me a paper got the stinkiest (i.e., earliest) dates by default.

Please contact me ASAP if you see any problem on this schedule:

Tuesday, Jan. 12
Mark Sieling
Marisal Dobbins
Justin Kuneman
David Munteanu
Miguel Goodlin-Saenz

Wednesday, Jan. 13
Pat Feeney
Will Bock
Kevin Dodge
Gerard Davis
Maryam Seraji

Thursday, Jan. 14
Tessa Green
Sammy Rodziewicz
Logan Gittelson
Carina Hodgins
Brandon Pu
Nate Johnson

Friday, Jan. 15
Jenna Grossman
Kelsey Weiner
Ji Won Song
Colin Leverich
Dan Singer

[Monday: MLK Day; read or listen to one of his speeches]

Tuesday, Jan 19
Philippe Lewalle
Jon Mangram
Rossy Katanga
Jonathan Embry
John Baringer

Wednesday, Jan. 20
Matt Rufo
Carl Stanbro
Caleb Batman
Connor Hoffman
Adam Hege
Kendra Futera

Watch this site

Before you leave for break, you have to give me your paper. (Only one person has already done so.) Either in class tomorrow, or when you see me to give me the paper, or (for Nate) when I find you tomorrow, you'll choose (at random) a date for your final presentation. The presentations will take place over the final three classes of the semester; there will be five or six per block, and you'll hand me your paper for the presentation immediately afterward.

I'll post more details another time, but the presentations are meant to take only ten minutes, with a film clip lasting, at most, five minutes.

See you on 12/18.

Your paper for the 18th: another note

Be sure to confirm with me the film you're choosing. Some people have done so.

Also, let me know if you're having trouble finding critical articles. (I don't mean reviews; I don't want you merely referring to film reviews. These are great movies requiring critical perspectives, not simply plot summaries and recommendations to audiences.) I told Ms. Morrison to expect people from class.

Big Assignment Explained

Before we depart for the next break (are we actually managing to squeeze in a school year here?), you have to do a major paper. The grades for this quarter will be based on: the Psycho paper; a research paper on a film of some critical value; a review and presentation on a film of your choosing, great, not-so-great, or truly objectionable.

Choose a "classic" or critically acclaimed film. (Ebert's book is a good place to look for these.) I'm especially interested in having you choose something you haven't seen. Check with me to make sure it's not a film I'm covering in class. You can choose this film in collaboration with others; watching the film together would be both enjoyable and useful, as you can gain insight from each other's views.

The end result is an approximately five-page paper, a critical overview of the film plus your own view of its value and success as a movie. Use Ebert's comments as a springboard, but also use other critical commentaries on the film. I have several resources myself or can point you to some at the public library or online. At least three resources (one could be Ebert) are required. Knowing something about the history and having behind-the-scenes information about the film can also help flesh out your writing.

We'll talk more about this in class.

Psycho assignment

First, here are the brief citations for those essays, just so you know, for your; I don't require a bibliography, so it's enough to write something like "(Ebert, p. xx)" or "(Sterritt, p. xx)." Cite their ideas, don't plagiarize them:

"Psycho," The Great Movies, Roger Ebert
"Psycho," The Films of Alfred Hitchcock, David Sterritt

You're to write a formal argumentative essay of approximately 500-750 words that analyzes the movie by responding to the Sterritt and Ebert essays. Some possible approaches: What is the movie about? How does the movie use its visuals and words to address its issues? How does your own view mesh or contrast with the views of the essayists? As in an essay on a piece of literature, think about how to divide up the paper, focusing on a particular aspect of the film or idea from the film in each body paragraph. Use the Ebert and Sterritt essays as touchstones and reference sources. You could simply use the Sterritt piece as a springboard, with your entire essay responding to his arguments. Whether you merely reference the essays or directly quote them, you still have to cite them properly in the paper.

This is not due on your next class day, but on next Wednesday and Thursday. If you're having trouble framing an argument, please talk to me.

Post any questions here.

A test approaches!

Next Wednesday and Thursday, I'll give you a test on film terms. You'll be given approximately 20 definitions; you have to produce the terms. Everything I'll use will come from the glossary I've linked to at right.

The one term there I haven't dealt with yet is "deep focus," which you'll see examples of in the next few days.

With any luck, we'll be watching one of the worst movies ever made on Thursday and Friday. Let's hope it comes in at the library!