Week One July 24th Film as Art
Read pages 22-38 & 63-65
1 Define Art
2 What was the DaDa movement of the 1920s
3 The French say all art is political. In what way is this true?
4 In the Spectrum of Abstration where would film be? Why?
5 Send a crique of the film you watched this week
Week Two July 31st Film and Media a Chronology
Read pages 570-601
1 Send me a daily email for four days telling me what surprised you, or you found interesting.
2 Send a crique of the film you watched this week
Week Three August 7th The Language of Films
Read pages 152-171
1 Comment on page 154. Do you know of any internet sites with more perception examples?
2 Explain Denotative and Connotative meaning.
3 Tell me about a time when you saw a film with someone and you caame away
with different understandings? Why did this happen?
4 Send me some honest feedback about the course so far. Is it meeting your expectations? Howcan it be improved?
5 Send a crique of the film you watched this week
Week Four August 14th The Shape of Film History
Read pages 228-231
1 What do you like and dislike about silent movies?
2 Mel Gibson is making a
movie about the life of Christ all in Aramaic with no subtitles. Do you think it will work? Why or why not?
3 Tell me about the French New Wave movies of the 60s
4 Define Post Modern
5 Send a crique of the film you watched this week
Week Five August 21st Film Theory Form and Function
Read pages 387-416
1 Tell me about Vacel Lindsay. Send me some of his poetry that you like
2 Why has expressionism been more popular than realism in movies?
3 Define Montage
4 Define Mise-en-scene
5 Send a crique of the film you watched this week
Week Six August 28th Contemporary Theory
Read pages 417-425
1 What is structuralism?
2 Find an interesting site on Umberto Eco on the internet and tell me about it.
3 What is the difference between
European film theorists and American. Why do you suppose that is?
4 How does the last paragraph on page 424 strike you?
5 There is no critique due this week as we will be having a final exam instead.