Midterm Review Assignment: DUE at NOON on SATURDAY

ENGL2900 Midterm Review
Fall 2007

1. Post your answers by noon on. Saturday (September 29, 2007). This includes taking care of contacting me with any problems with blogger.com before then.
2. Document your answers (cite page numbers from textbook [Prince 14], date of class lectures, webpages consulted, etc.)
3. Be concise and accurate. If you are wrong, then the whole class will get the answers wrong.
4. Sign your name next to your assignment as an indication that you will complete your task.
5. This exercise is worth 10 participation points. You will be evaluated in accuracy, timeliness, and your ability to follow directions. I will consider awarding 1-3 extra participation points for those who go above and beyond your assignment and/or complete the assignments of absent classmates.
6. It is wise to be a cooperative member of the classroom community for this review. However, if your classmates fail you, you are still responsible for reviewing all of these assignments.
7. Your exam will consist of providing definitions, multiple-choice, and short-answer (lists are preferable to sentences, which take longer to construct).
8. Hyper-linking to other classmates’ answers that relate to yours will enhance this study guide. To hyperlink, you right-click on the time of your classmates’ post and select “copy link.” In your own blog post, highlight the term you are hyperlinking, (e.g., Nosferatu, French New Wave, etc.), click on the hyperlink icon (it will have a tiny chain—not available in safari), and when the field comes up, enter the html address you have copied.
9. You may need to revisit certain scenes in the films to answer these questions.
10. You will do better on the exam if you cross-check your classmates’ answers with your own notes from your film notebook.

Will Angel
Define the three functions of color cinematography and the three characteristics of color. Give examples from Nosferatu.

Eric Anthony
Explain how Casablanca demonstrates the conventions of Classical Hollywood Cinema. Point to specific scenes and characters.

Stephen Battise
Describe the different kinds of shot “joins.” Give examples from the films we’ve viewed.

Hillary Bauer
Define motif and identify one or more in at least 3 of the films we’ve watched.

Elisa Bizzotto
Define jump cut and how it functions in French New Wave and Soviet Montage

Maxwell Brooke
Explain how production design creates meaning in 2 scenes of Citizen Kane.

Courtney Burbank
Describe the 3-point lighting system. Give examples of where it has and has not been used in the films we’ve seen.

Andrew Chandler
Briefly describe how Citizen Kane is about both Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst

Meredith Clough
Provide a historical explanation for the rise of French New Wave.

Michael Combs
Describe the technical innovations that enabled the development of French New Wave.

Scott Councilman
Describe the basic plot of Breathless and what events it is based on. Describe the impact of the film’s resolution.

Alan Crews
Explain what the characters of Ilsa, Rick, Victor, Strasser, and Renault symbolize.

Chelsea deMonch
Describe the opening of Casablanca and how it initiates the development of the film’s major themes.

Lallie Jones
Explain how Nosferatu is concerned with knowledge and what different characters do with knowledge.

Ellen Kalbaugh
Explain how Citizen Kane depicts yellow journalism and the Spanish-American War.

William Linton
Name the conventions of Soviet montage and briefly describe how they function in three scenes/images of Potemkin.

Tina Mackenzie
Describe specific images in Potemkin and explain their symbolic significance to that period of Russian history.

Brandon Mathis
Definitions: persistence of vision, ADR, grayscale, letterbox, pan-and-scan, pan and tilt, aspect ratio, stylization, explicit and implicit ideology (give examples), shot-reverse-shot, method acting, technical acting, archetype, mise-en-scéne, 180-degree rule, boom/crane shot, rack shot, deep focus.

John McHone
Explain the differences between realistic lighting, practical lighting, and pictorial lighting and between diegetic and non-diegetic

Daniel McLamb
Explain the impact of World War II on American and European cinema.

Jeremy Menzel
Describe how lighting creates meaning in at least 2 scenes of Citizen Kane.

Erinn Navarro
Explain why we study film today. Why do we watch films that are not necessarily “enjoyable” for a 21st-century audience?

Katie Neubeiser
Define and identify 4 examples of German Expressionism in Nosferatu

Derek O’Bryan
Definitions and examples of (in any of the films we’ve viewed): high angle, low angle, canted angle, medium shot, long shot, establishing shot. Give examples.

Crystal Packard
Explain the function of horror films and how Nosferatu exhibits this function.

Chris Pitts
Explain how internal structure time differs from story or narrative time and running time. Give at least 3 examples from the films we’ve seen.

Mary Kirk Pollard
Briefly describe what occurs in the three stages of film production. Describe the different responsibilities of the director, producer, cinematographer, editor, and production designer.

Daniel Reutzel
Define the conventions of Classical Hollywood Cinema. Give examples from Casablanca.

Will Russ
Describe the significance of the scene where Ellen sits by the seaside in Nosferatu. Use specific details of the mise-en-scéne.

Carter Thompson
How is Breathless self-reflexive? Name at least 2 scenes that are self-reflexive and briefly describe their significance to the rest of the movie.

Xue Vang
Explain the differences between hard and soft lighting and between perceptual transformation and perceptual correspondence

Sara Veale
Explain how the main and subplots are resolved by the end of Casablanca.

Nate Watson
Describe the conventions of French New Wave and provide at least 4 examples from Breathless.

Jessica Wynn
Describe a specific sequence of images in Potempkin and their relevance to the rest of the film and its themes.

Nosferatu

I was poking around youtube and I kept finding clips of this scene where Ellen refers to Hutter as "Jonathon". What is this all about. Also, just thought it was cool how they used shadows with Count Olaf, and the way he moved soooo slow was creepy.

Streaming movies and TV

Courtesy of John McHone, a website that streams movies and television for free. He mentioned that some links are dead but lead to other links. Also, he notes South Park is under cartoons.

tv-links.co.uk

Nosferatu 1922--full version, public domain

Dramatic Look Nosferatu Version

This is just funny.

Nosferatu Videoclip - Ellen wakes as the Vampire preys on Hutter

Viewing guidance for Nosferatu

I apologize for the lateness of this post--I've had trouble at home with both my internet and my car.

For Nosferatu, you should be able to describe how different scenes and images exhibit conventions of German Expressionism.

You should also be able to talk about what kinds of archetypal characters Hutter and Ellen are.

Finally, you should be able to discuss changes in cinematography.

Orson Welles' War of the Worlds (part 1)

Courtesy of Tina McKenzie, the first 3 parts of Welles' famous broadcast.

Orson Welles' War of the Worlds (part 2)

Orson Wells War of the Worlds (part 3)

Citizen Kane Viewing Questions

1. Choose one scene and describe in detail its mise-en-scéne.
2. How would you describe Charles Kane’s performance style? How would you describe Susan’s?
3. How does this film play with temporal order (that is, how does it manipulate events that happened in linear time to build the mystery of Charles Kane)?
4. How many perspectives tell the story of Charles Kane? How do they differ?
5. What leads to the downfall of Charles Kane?
6. Describe the ways that the cinematographer designed the lighting on/in Xanadu. How does it change?
7. According to Citizen Kane, how is American “news” produced?
8. Pay attention to the camera angles. Describe how a few are used (give brief scene description).
9. How does Citizen Kane depict the 30’s?
10. How would you characterize the lighting of the film? Be sure to use the terms from your book.

Les Quatre Cents Coups - The Puppet Show

Example of Jump Cuts

Scene from Trauffaut's "The 400 Blows" or "Les Quatre Cents Coups"

A montage...

...in honor of my failed quiz.

Breathless Screening Questions

Film Facts: This film is the most straight forward and comprehensible of all of Jean Luc Godard’s films. This is also the only film that Godard directed but did not write (it was written by Francois Truffaut, another pioneer of the New Wave style). Keep an eye out for Godard making an appearance in the film as an informer.

Screening Questions:
1. Look for the use of: jump cuts, quick cuts, long takes, sudden changes in camera distance, graphic discontinuities (particularly the lighting). What is their effect on you?
2. What about the film’s conclusion? What happens and what does it all mean? How or why does this ending feel artificial or unsatisfying?
3. Look for references to painting, novels, philosophy, poetry and other films.
4. What is the “plot” of this film? Is it motivated by cause and effect? If not, what drives the film forward?
5. Look for scenes in which important parts of the plot seem to be rushed or cut out?. What is the effect of this? How are these scenes edited?
6. What kind of character is Patricia? What kind of character is Michel? How or why are they different from the characters we encounter in Classical Hollywood films?
7. What scenes take up a lot of the film and yet do not serve to move the narrative forward? How does it feel to watch these scenes?
8. What moments, actions, or themes are repeated in the film (especially in relation to Michel’s behavior)?
9. How or why is this film like film noir? How or why is it like an American gangster film?
10. What exactly is this film about? What is the “point”?

Voiding the Fill

Another take on Eisensteinian montage, war, masculinity, and sexuality.

The Green Berets Trailer [1968]

Consider what kind of ideological issues this film's trailer raises.

Battleship Potemkin El acorazado Potemkin with Led Zeppelin

Is viewing the movie any different with a more recognizable soundtrack?

Fall 2007 Film Schedule, ENGL 4980

You are invited to the film screenings for ENGL 4980.

Wed, Aug. 29: Hot Fuzz (2007)
Wed, Sep. 5: The Public Enemy (1931)
Wed, Sep. 12: Double Indemnity (1944)
Wed, Sep. 19: Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Wed, Sep. 26: A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Wed, Oct. 3: Straw Dogs (1971)
Wed, Oct. 10: The Godfather (1972)
Wed, Oct. 17: Titus (1999, Viewing room TBA)
Wed, Oct. 24: The Corporation (2003)
Tue, Oct. 30: 28 Days Later... (2002, Viewing room TBA)
Wed, Nov. 7: Amores Perros (2000)
Wed, Nov. 14: Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (2003)
Wed, Nov. 21: FILM TBA to be watched over the break
Wed, Nov. 28: Team America, World Police (2004)

All films are screened in Bate 1031 except for Titus and 28 Days Later...

Fall 2007 Film Schedule, ENGL 2900

Click on the links below for more information about the films:

Mon, Aug. 27: Casablanca (1942)
Tues, Sep. 4: Potemkin (1925)
Mon, Sep. 10: Breathless (1960)
Mon, Sep. 17: Citizen Kane (1941)
Mon, Sep. 24: Nosferatu (1922)
Mon, Oct. 1: The Conversation (1974)
Mon, Oct. 8: The Searchers (1956)
Wed, Oct. 17: O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Mon, Oct. 22: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Mon, Oct. 29: The Exorcist (1973)
Mon, Nov. 5: Blade Runner (1982)
Mon, Nov. 12: The Public Enemy (1931)
Mon. Nov. 19: Fast, Cheap and Out of Control (1997)
Mon. Nov. 26: Apocalypse Now (1979)

All viewings will be held in Bate 1031 starting at 6:30 pm