FEBRUARY 25

Film:

Vivre sa vie (Godard 1962) Blu-Ray 065

Excerpts:

Breathless (Godard 1960) Blu-Ray 060 (opening to 8:08)

Tout va bien (Godard/Gorin 1972) DVD 1398 (opening to 5:20; 1:08:14 to 1:14:07)

Reading (to be done by March 3): 

Gene Youngblood. “Jean-Luc Godard: No Difference Between Life and Cinema.” (in course reader)

Susan Sontag. “Vivre sa vie.” (in course reader)

Papers due March 4 by 4 p.m. Graduates email paper to gmairs@calarts.edu; undergraduates email paper to FilmHistoryTA@gmail.com:

There was no written assignment for today. Next week, March 4, is the final date by which the first five papers of the semester must be turned in. Failure to do so will result in dismissal from the course with a grade of NC.

FEBRUARY 18

Films:

Night and Fog (Resnais/Marker 1955) DVD 923

Antoine et Colette (Truffuat 1962) DVD 388 ­

La Jetée (Marker 1963) DVD 2577

The Bakery Girl of Monceau (Rohmer 1963) DVD 2028

Excerpt:

Band of Outsiders (Godard 1965) DVD 623 (45:07 to 51:50)

Reading (to be done by February 24): 

Colin MacCabe. “The Cinema is Not a Bad School.” (in course reader)

François Truffaut. “Evolution of the New Wave.” (in course reader)

Paper topic (paper due February 25 by 4 p.m. Graduates email paper to gmairs@calarts.edu; undergraduates email paper to FilmHistoryTA@gmail.com):

Discuss the use voiceover in two of today’s films.

This is the fifth paper assigned this semester. Please keep in mind that March 4 is the final date by which the first five papers of the semester must be turned in. Failure to do so will result in dismissal from the course with a grade of NC.

FEBRUARY 11

Films:

Pickpocket (Bresson 1959) Blu-Ray 387

Elephant (Clark 1988) DVD 1441

Excerpt:

A Man Escaped (Bresson 1956) Blu-Ray 287 (2:15  to 15:38)

Reading (to be done by February 17): 

Robert Bresson. Excerpts from Notes on Cinematography.  (in course reader)

Paper topic (paper due February 18 by 4 p.m. Graduates email paper to gmairs@calarts.edu; undergraduates email paper to FilmHistoryTA@gmail.com):

Today we discussed the idea that formal choices have consequences, that camera position, shot length, performance, etc lead the audience to identify with a character, to reject them, feel superior or inferior to them, etc. Being extremely specific, discuss the effect a formal choice made in either Elephant or Pickpocket had on your attitude towards a character in the film.

FEBRUARY 4

Film:

Night of the Hunter (Laughton 1955) Blu-Ray 140

Excerpts:

Ruggles Of Red Gap (McCarey 1935) Blu-Ray/DVD 285 - region protected Blu-Ray; you must use DVD in film library (1:18 to 9:48)

Way Down East (Griffith 1920) Blu-Ray 113 45:02 to 58:00  

Out Of The Past DVD 1056 (15:00 to 25:03)

Reading (to be done by February 10): 

Robin Wood. "Charles Laughton."  (in course reader)

Margaret Atwood. “Why I Love Night of the Hunter.”

Paper topic (paper due February 11 by 4 p.m. Graduates email paper to gmairs@calarts.edu; undergraduates email paper to FilmHistoryTA@gmail.com):

Discuss whatever you find most interesting in a single scene of Night of the Hunter. Read today’s handout thoroughly: I expect your work to be concrete and built around detailed description of the scene’s visual elements, performances, etc.