11:11 Project

Be sure to use at least ten (better:eleven) sources from your peers for you final project.  We'll see about making more room on the server.

Installation Project

Ely is now spearheading this.  You are no longer responsible for this, but if you'd like to be a part of it, see Mr. Wilbur.

We should meet in the PC lab at the beginning of class for L'Experience: "WinkWink".  (french for the experience).

Le voila: High art. ...

Final Spoutfest - Final Week

Write your two paragraph+ review of the VERY BEST movie (in your opinion, of course) of the 2000's.  Include in your discussion some comment on how the film relates to our times, or advances us into new states (and describe).  -- In other words, answer: how does the film relate to the zeitgeist of our times?  

(that's okay.  look it up.  then don't forget it).

Hey You Guys - Almost Done!

This weeks movie (90's) chosen for its microscopic camera technology and its insight, therefore, into lives unlike our own (and because you might not likely see it if I don't assign it): "Microcosmos". (1996)

ps.  The more of you that can do your final presentation this Thursday, the better.  Then you'll all have more time for extra credit that I'll assign at that point.

Justin and Ely.  If you guys could both bring to class Quicktimes you could get to each participant, that would be great!!  You don't need to edit further than that.  

We'll talk about that installation project on Thursday too.  It would be perfect if we'd have time to pull that together this week, but it's doubtful.  We'll discuss.

Also, finally, everyone remember to remember to bring some recording device to class.

See you then, then.

Yours humbly,

LH

80's Movies

Well, okay. Since we've kinda thrown it open to watching different movies (something I'd change if I do this course next time, but won't worry about now), here's a list of some choices for this week's film. If you've seen one of them, that doesn't count. Be honest and watch something new.

"The Killing Fields" - devastating but powerful.
"Platoon" - the same.
"Raging Bull" - very violent, but an important film. (I hated it the first time I saw it - was amazed by it the second)

On the quieter end:
"Wings of Desire" - (as per the syllabus) a special, philosophical film - one you might not likely watch otherwise.
"Brazil" - a surrealistic, funnybutnotfunny feat of invention.

so many more, but stick with these.

I'l be writing back here in a bit with extra credit options and directions for our avant garde video installation (that we'll likely be running when the school's accreditation officers are about)! Good art is ever a bit dangerous.
So stay tuned.

Email me if you need input/approvals on the final presentation.
Don't forget your recording devices for next week.

Fa,
Lala

Who am I Post

Post here a link (and a wee comment thereon) to any early 60's/70'ish film or artwork about an 'identity' group you belong or relate to.

Also, we didn't get to follow up on the "Do Something Bold (when you're sober) and Buck Convention or Social Norms - Just to See If You Can and How It Feels" double-dog dare.
Give it a try and share a tale here??

Enjoy your holiday all.
You're a great class and I'm thankful for you!

Yours humbly,
LH

Movie Assignments over the holiday

As on the handout, do go see an IMAX movie (preferably 3D) with an eye to present-day technologies and where they might go next. (Sorry "Dark Knight" just left). :-(

For our 70's week, see "Network" or "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

Week 6: "Clockwork Orange" or "2001: A Space Odyssey"

Give Kubrick your tough critique.  He's dead, but your considered response still matters....

Week 5 - Rebel Without a Cause

Post your comments here.
(You can also comment on "Ten Angry Men" or "On the Waterfront" should you prefer).

General Movie Blabbing

Comment here if you like: must-see movies, any miscellaneous as relates to class, if even loosely.
See you around you guys. Be good to John, he loves you so... (A quote from "Gone with the Wind" - kinda).

Well, that's what I am anyway - gone with the wind.
If I get stuck in Egypt... it's been great!
Be good. Be brave. Get some sleep

and VOTE!!

Yours Humbly,
LHohlwein

Fourth Movie Viewing - Gone with the Wind OR Casablanca

Another very long, also-racist Civil War movie.
Sorry. But... it's a classic (and there are five copies in the library) (relentless topic though, non?)
Consider here how the now matured film-making sound and color technologies effect the scope and detail of the narration of these lives. What makes you feel that this picture marks a real milestone in the history of film-making?
You could contrast this, should you chose, with "A Birth of A Nation."

Alternately, watch "Casablanca." (you'd have to rent this on your own)
Many films of Hollywood's golden era, and, indeed, ours today, have a lot of elements in it that are hard to find credible and require us to suspend our disbelief. What would be some examples of this in "Casablanca"? And/or, why do you think the movie is such a classic?

Write three paragraphs on either of these films.

Third Film Viewing - Battleship Potempkin OR The Jazz Singer

Please post your comments by Wednesday, October 29th at 8pm

The Battleship Potempkin is a piece of revolutionary propaganda and an early investigation into the deeply emotive power of editing. Consider in your comment how Eisenstein uses 'dialectical montage' (contrasting unrelated shots to lead the viewer to associations in a way that couldn't otherwise be done and often undescored by the shock of violence). Discuss an example or two of such montage work and how these juxtapositions made you feel. How does this emphasis on editing feel like a modernization of the medium?

Alternatively, (if John chooses to emphasize this in my absence), please comment on "The Jazz Singer," addressing how complex considerations of ethnicity was and is an important part urban American identity.

Second Film Viewing - Modern Times

Please post your comments here by Wednesday October 22 at 8pm.
(Be ready to snort popcorn out of your nose. So so funny.....)
Include in your response (though perhaps obvious) some comment on the effect of mechanization on society at that time.

First Film Viewing -Birth of a Nation

Please respond here with your responses to "Birth of A Nation"
This film can be shocking in its racism, but it is an unavoidable milestone in the history of film.
Write a two or three paragraph response here, recording your feelings/observations on the film and considering the time period of its release.

This is to be an informal and personal response. Due October 14th - 8pm.
We'll discuss in class.