City Honors Film Society Class of 2012

As I mentioned in class today, the Film Forum in New York City is a great place to spend a few hours. If you go to NYC regularly, make your way to Chelsea and spend some time with some real cinema geeks!

http://www.filmforum.org/

An Interesting Career Possibility...

Check out this great article in the New York Times about combining biology with filmmaking (animation)...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/science/16animate.html?_r=1&hpw

Looks like a wide open field for those of you interested in the sciences and film.

Blog Response #8--Man With a Movie Camera

First, be sure you finish watching the film...

http://www.archive.org/details/ChelovekskinoapparatomManWithAMovieCamera

We ended at 42:37 in class.

Your Looking at Movies textbook has a nice quote about Vertov and his film on page 428.

Vertov shows us how to frame reality and movement: through the human eye and the camera eye, or through windows and shutters. But to confound us, he also shows us--through such devices as the freeze-frame, split screen, stop-action, slow motion, and fast motion--how the cinematographer and editor can transform the movements of life into something that is unpredictable. He not only proves that the camera has a life of its own, but also reminds us of the editor, who is putting all of this footage together. Reality may be in the control of the artist, his camera, and its tricks, but it also finds definition within the editor's presentation and, ultimately, the viewer's perception.

In your first well-developed paragraph, please discuss this quote in relation to a five minute piece of Man With a Movie Camera. Be sure to describe shots cinematically, as if I've never seen the film before. Discuss elements of editing, such as the juxtaposition of shots, rhythm, montage, etc.

In your second well-developed paragraph, discuss this quote in relation to a film of your choice. Try to be as specific as possible in your descriptions and speak cinematically when you discuss the film. If you'd like to come into the library during a free period to watch a clip of a film I have that you've seen, please see me. Remember: the earlier the better.