Agenda• Mid-Term Feedback

• Perfumed Nightmare Discussion

• Break

• Halfway Point Reflection

• Trailers

• 10th film vote

Mid-Term Survey Results• Suggestions/Complaints:

– Two hours on Wednesday is rough– Different movies!– More discussion/less discussion– Spend more time analyzing clips in class that show that form– Not sure how to study for quizzes– Why so much writing?

• Questions:– Will there be a final study guide and/ or a final study session?– What the hell happened in 8½? – Difference between story and narrative?– What about sound? – What’s happening in movies now?

Perfumed Nightmare Discussion• What’s the narrative?• (How) Is it Third Cinema?• Did you like it?• Interesting facts?• Significance of Sound?• Mythical/Magical Elements?• Ideology of the film?– Is this an environmentalist

film?• Interesting editing?

Final Shot: Thoughts?

Metaphoric Lightning Round• The Bridge• The White Carabao• The Jeepney• San Marcos• Werner von Braun/Space Travel• The Caterpillar/Butterfly• The Winds of the

Mountain/Typhoon• The Horse (carved from the

rifle)• The Zwiebel Dome• Trash furnaces

Acting!• Who is Kidlat Tahimik?

– “Does this actor’s performance create a coherent, unified character?”

• Other Characters? Alma, Kaya, Mama

• “Tahimik is first and foremost a clown . . . Which marks his formal kinship with Chaplin and underscores his essential distance from all contemporary filmmaking, whether Third World of Hollywood alike” – Fredric Jameson

Other Fun Facts• Cost: Approximately $10,000

– Avg. Filipino film cost 10x that

• Shot on Super 8mm

• Not shown commercially in Philippines

• The “scoutmaster” was also the cinematographer

• Supported by Werner Herzog

• Kidlat’s real wife and child

• Followed by Turumba (1981)

Group Exercise: 10-15 Minutes• First, introduce yourselves. Nominate one secretary and two

reporters.

• Then, talk about connections between the films:– What similarities and differences did you notice between the style,

the themes, the message of these six films?

• From the discussion, I want you to write down:– A thesis statement about one pair of films that say complementary

things about film (i.e., similar ideas about the purpose of filmmaking, what the filmmaker’s responsibility is, what films have the power to do, etc.)

– A thesis about a pair of films that say contrasting things about film

Films So Far• Sherlock, Jr. (1924)

• Man With A Movie Camera (1929)

• Singing in the Rain (1952)

• Peeping Tom (1960)

• 8½ (1963)

• Perfumed Nightmare (1977)

Trailers!• Trailer Form:

– Use of Montage Editing– Voiceover Narration– “Cast Run” and Stars– Non-diegetic Music– Genre Cues– Three-Act Structure:

• Exposition, Conflict . . . – No more than 2:30 (an MPAA rule)– Establishment of Gravitas

• Awards, Critics’ Praise– Fake outs (shots that aren’t in the movie)

• Often made before film’s final cut, by someone totally outside the movie

• http://awfj.org/blog/2008/05/07/awfj-opinion-poll-all-about-movie-trailers/• http://filmcourage.com/content/the-structure-of-the-trailer-by-filmmaker-michael-lapointe• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_%28promotion%29

Industry Importance• 1970s: Birth of the Hollywood

Blockbuster– Jaws (1975), Star Wars (1977)– Wide release strategy– Emergence of giant advertising

budgets

• A Trailer is for the Brand:– For the DVD, the Video Game, the

Happy Meal, and the inevitable Sequel

• The youtube effect:– Movie trailers are the 3rd most popular

online video content (after news and user-created content)

– Virality, opportunities for indie movies

10th Film Voting• Tropic Thunder (2008)• The Muppets (2011)• Stories We Tell (2013)

• Two For, Two Against?

Next Week: Through the Olive Trees (1994)

• Director: Abbas Kiarostami• Country: Iran• Movement: Iranian New

Wave/Neorealism• Formal Focus: Acting/Editing • Why Are We Watching This?

– Kiarostami is hugely influential across the world

– It’s a slow, meditative style of directing that we haven’t seen yet

– Discussion of censorship/cultural conditions of filmmaking

Grading• What should a grade do?– Help you identify places for improvement– Prepare you for writing in other classes– Inspire you to invest time in the craft and labor of

writing, in this class and beyond

• What shouldn’t a grade do?– Make you terrified of writing– Make you rank yourself against other people