READINGS WEEK 7 / JUNE 9TH Lecture & Discussion Session on Auteur Theory

UPDATED

Required Readings:

Astruc, Alexandra, “The Birth Of A New Avant-Garde: La Camera-Stylo”, Critical Visions In Film Theory: Classic And Contemporary Readings, eds. Timothy Corrigan, Patricia White with Meta Mazaj, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011, pp350-354

here is a convenient link:http://www.newwavefilm.com/about/camera-stylo-astruc.shtml

Sarris, Andrew. “the Auteur Theory Revisited”, Critical Visions In Film Theory: Classic And Contemporary Readings, eds. Timothy Corrigan, Patricia White with Meta Mazaj, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011, pp354-361

[CLICK HERE to download]

Stephen Teo, "Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love: Like a Ritual in Transfigured Time", Senses of Cinema, Issue 13, 2001
http://sensesofcinema.com/2001/wong-kar-wai/mood/


Yue, Audrey (2003) “In the Mood for Love: Intersections of Hong Kong Modernity.” In Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes, edited by Chris Berry, BFI, pp128–136.

[distributed in class]

Reference Reading:

“Introduction” & Bazin, Andre. “On the politique des auteurs”, Cahier du Cinema--the 1950s: Neorealism, Hollywood, New Wave. Eds. Jim Hiller. Harvard University Press, 1985. P5-14 & p248-259

[DOWNLOAD Bazin article here]

[Download INTRO here]

course syllabus

For your convenience ; )
Please pay attention to the changes which are NOT included too.


Please download HERE

Film Screening May 26th

Special Screening [it is NOT compulsory,  you could loan the film from me, or watch it online on your own, if possible]

In the Mood for Love/花樣年華, Dir. Wong Karwai, 2000

May 26th, 4:30pm, Rm 131

Screening of Michael Moore's "where to invade next"

Time: May 20, Friday, 4:30pm

Venue: School of Letters, Rm 127

Nagoya U's G30 Film Nights

Dear all:
some event/film that you may want to write about; it is organized by John Wojdylo from the NU's G30 faculty.



As a special treat to G30 cinephiles and all lovers of great literature, we proudly present Peter Brook's "The Mahabharata", which is a special film adaptation of his 9-hour play of the same name, which toured the world in 1985-1989. Brook is one of the best living theatre directors.

Duration about 5 hours over two nights:

 Friday May 13

 Friday May 20

at Craig's Cafe (in the science part of the campus) at 7pm.

"In general terms, the story involves epic incidents between two warring families, the Pandavas (representing the good side) and the Kauravas(representing the bad side). Both sides, being the offspring of kings and gods, fight for dominion. They have both been advised by the godKrishna to live in harmony and abstain from the bloody lust for power. Yet their fights come to threaten the very order of the Universe. The plot is framed by a dialogue between the Brahmin sage Vyasa and the Hindu deity Ganesha, and directed towards an unnamed Indian boy who comes to him inquiring about the story of the human race. "  --  Wikipedia
The attached flyer has a few more details.

See you at Craig's Cafe 7pm on Friday!

ON READING JOURNALS

Reading Journal: Due on May 27^th & July 1^st, by 5pm

Write a 500 word reading journal (typed, double-spaced, 12-point font, and 1” margins all around; refer to CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE for formatting; focusing on assigned reading for the previous month (assignment for May to review readings till Week 6; July 1^st to review readings until Week 10). Don’t be overly concerned with grammar (although spell-check will be helpful!), but do put a lot of thinking into your reading journals since they will be key to fruitful discussions in class and even your final paper.

Please submit the Journal to the lecturer’s email address maran@lit.nagoya-u.ac.jp with the subject “READING JOURNAL I/II”. I’d send out confirmation email once your assignment is received. Late submission is not accepted unless emergency happens.

You should engage with at least TWO reading(s) as listed in our syllabus—one of which MUST be the required readings. You are expected to review, evaluate and even critique certain theoretical concepts (such as keywords proposed by scholars) and/or arguments (much detailed explanations); you should be able to present your own interpretation and viewpoints. (further relevant analysis of film shots/scenes/aesthetics/styles etc. will be welcomed but not a must).

TIPS on Reading Journal:

1. academic writing style (please consult with your tutor and do self-GOOGLING): being objective, use the right jargon, hedging etc.; 

2. theoretical focus on one or several closely related concepts; NOT a review of everything read in the previous month (you don’t have to link up them ALL together for reading journal);

3. digging into that concept (“attraction” or “montage”), and you need to do literature review (paraphrasing what the scholars have said) and further critique these ideas/concepts by linking up to the assigned articles. Self-study is necessary, and further references are welcomed as long as you could already handle the current readings well.

TAKE HOME PROJECT

CRITICAL FILM ANALYSIS: TAKE HOME PROJECT

please select any 2 out of these 3 possibilities

Option 1

A short analysis (300 words) of Citizen Kane with the methods taught (refer to Week 6 lecture). Format follows Chicago manual of style. 


Option 2
A film review (300 words) reporting on any film you have seen at the local cinema between May-July (please also offer the screening information as the endnote); alternatively, you could also write a film event report (200-300 words), reviewing a film screening event, film festival, or film-related lecture taking place in Japan between May and July. Please consult the lecturer on the possibility of your chosen topic/event;


Option 3

An original short film/video work (max. 3min; less than 1 min is OK as well) demonstrating your understanding of montage. Could be a mixture of various types of montage, but singular type would also do. You could copy the ideas  from the masterpieces (i.e., the Odessa steps), or invent something anew. Choice of subject is free.



DEADLINE: submit by July 7th, [any date before this is OK] ,via email (to the lecturer’s mail address), or USB (if it’s a film). An email of confirmation would be sent to you once the lecturer receives your submission.

readings for WEEK 6/MAY 26TH Lecture & Discussion on Citizen Kane & Orson Welles

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_tFO03XQbI8/maxresdefault.jpg

Required Readings :

Bordwell, David & Thompson, Kristin, “Narrative Form in Citizen Kane”, Film Art: An Introduction (10th Edition), University of Wisconsin Press, 2010, p316-326

[download by CLICKING HERE ]

note: it is the latest section from the 10th FILM ART edition; different from the syllabus' old 2003 version, and the page numbers changed too.

Elsaesser, Thomas & Buckland, Warren. Studying Contemporary American Films: a Guide to Movie Analysis, p195-204 

[distributed in class]

Reference Reading:

Fabe, Marilyn. “Expressive Realism: Orson Wells’s Citizen Kane”, Closely Watched Films: An Introduction to the Art of Narrative Film Technique, 2004, p 78-98

[download HERE]

NOTES on Editing/Montage

Dear all,

Please download the notes HERE
（please do not circulate beyond classroom use, thank you!）

NOTE:
password for the download is the date of the lecture. for instance if the lecture takes place on January 01, 1900 then the password would be 19000101 (eight-digit:yyyymmdd)