21L.011  The Film Experience

21L.011 Essay 2 Assignment now posted on Stellar

The assignment sheet on Stellar has a slight modification of the third topic, because the wording on the sheet that was previously handed out was in need of some cutting—it had a confusing redundancy. But no substantive change in the topic has been made.

Announced on 23 April 2013  6:59  p.m. by Martin Marks

SECTION ON APRIL 18TH -- READ THIS, PLEASE

This is a reminder that many early films have been posted on Stellar, which you are expected to watch BEFORE section on Thursday April 18th. Since many of you have been jammed up with the weekend events (positive and horribly negative) as well as finishing a third short writing assignment, here are some prompts for what you should do before the class meets.

BE SURE TO LOOK AT THESE EXAMPLES BEFORE you come to class!
From Groups 1-2: the 6 Lumière films
From Group 3: Star Theatre, The Great Train Robbery, The Mermaid, Trip to the Moon
From Group 4: The Thieving Hand, Princess Nicotine, Corner in Wheat, and Lonedale Operator

BASIC QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION: Why are the films split into four groups? What does each group have to offer that is different from the others, in terms of (a) Subject matter? (b) Use of camera and editing techniques?

BROADER QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE READINGS FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT: How one views all these films is the subject of a "debate" between Burch and Gunning (and others).

a. Are they examples of a "Primitive Mode of Representation" (PMR)? That is, are these films mainly to be thought of as “primitive” steps toward an accomplished use of the medium to tell compelling stories? The PRM thus is said to be a preliminary stage, before the “Institutional Mode of Representation” (IMR) took hold, in Europe and Hollywood after 1912-1915. Griffith’s films are seen as one of the pivotal groups that established the “grammar” of film narrative. A few others help get us there, but many of them are dismissed as crude and forgettable.

b. Or are these early films enjoyable and artful as they are, and as a composite “Cinema of Attraction”? If audiences at the time enjoyed them and found them marvelous , why should we now dismiss them as primitive?

c. Even more assertive is the idea that these “attractions” were in a sense an avant-garde movement, connected to multiple forms of “Modernism” in the arts that swept across Europe and the USA between 1890 and 1920. They are also to be celebrated as examples of both surreal and documentary modes of film—both foundational modes that are alternatives to “simplistic” and stylistically “invisible” narrative film, and thus to be honored and praised, rather than to be dismissed.

Announced on 17 April 2013  12:18  p.m. by Martin Marks

3rd Short Writing Asst Due Date Postponed / Screening Monday Night

There are THREE announcements here!

(1) The DUE DATE OF THE 3RD SHORT WRITING ASSIGNMENT (which will be graded) HAS BEEN POSTPONED. You may submit it electronically to your recitation instructor by TUESDAY, April 16, at noon. (At section on Thursday this week, JoAnn, Kristen, or James, will let you know if they have any special requests about this.)

(2) TO WORK ON THE ASSIGNMENT: Toward the bottom of the Materials for our class, you will find four clips posted. As it says in the syllabus, you should pick two of the four clips and "compare the ways they use elements of editing and/or sound to establish form and meaning." The first two clips, as you will see, are somewhat expanded versions of clips that were part of the midterm test. They make a natural pair for the assignment, as do clips 3 and 4. But if you wish to "Mix and Match" a different pair of the clips, you can do so. ( It will probably be more challenging, though, to mix and match this way and come up with a way of comparing them meaningfully. )

(3) ATTENDANCE WILL BE TAKEN AT THE SCREENINGS OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL WEEKS. We know how busy many of you are: if you have a truly unavoidable conflict, let us know. But these screenings involve multiple very challenging films, and I will speak briefly about most of them before they are shown. Also, we are using the best available versions (which are not always available on line). I am sure you will get more out of these films by coming to the screenings for your first experience of them.

Thank you—and take heart: a real spring is finally on the horizon.
--MM

Announced on 07 April 2013  11:52  a.m. by Martin Marks