Things to Watch For in Pandora's Box

Here are some things to watch for in your second viewing of Pandora's Box:

• Note the figurines on the mantle in the opening scene and how each is associated with a different man in Lulu's life.
  
• Note how Lulu is the object of everyone's gaze, including ours, throughout the film, and how she is frequently filmed in a soft focus close-up.
  
• Note how Lulu and the apartment Dr. Schön provides for her are both modern in style while Dr. Schön's home and fiance are classical in style.
  
• Note the formally posed photo of the fiance vs. the informal sketch of Lulu.
  
• Note Countess Geschwitz's obvious attraction to Lulu and her mannish attire when we first see her.
  
• Note how Lulu's image is passed between Dr. Schön and his son (and one might argue it is passed from Countess Geschwitz as well).
  
• Note how a passing piece of the set separates Dr. Schön from his fiance just before she sees Lulu's bare back.
  
• Note the painting of Lulu in the opening scene and other art work throughout the film.
  
• Note how Alwa is portrayed as a little boy with his head in Lulu's lap.
  
• Note the various types of exchange throughout the film, including cash, blackmail, and gifts.
  
• Note how Jack the Ripper is filmed in the same sort of soft focus close-up as Lulu.
  
• Note how we lose sight of Lulu's image (save for her hand, which drops out of frame) when she is killed.
  
• Note how Jack the Ripper and Alwa both disappear into the darkness at the end of the film like moviegoers leaving a theatre at night.

Accessing iTunes Podcast

As noted on the Syllabus, I have posted a podcast with some background on Pandora's Box on iTunes for you.  Here are the instructions for accessing the podcast.

1) Click on http://itunes.asu.edu/
2) Click on Open ASU on iTunes U
3) Click on Course Login and then login.
4) Scroll down the page until you find Fall 2011.  Click on it.
5) Find ENG 466 and click on it.
6) Click on Get next to Background on Pandora's Box.

Discussion 1a Grades are Posted

Well, one film down and several more to go.  Actually, we've accomplished a great deal during the first full week.  By this point, you should have a grasp of early film history that gives you some context when viewing our first few (silent) films.   One of the interesting things about this class is getting to see how film has advanced over time.

So as the post title indicates, your grades for Discussion 1a are now posted on Gradebook on blackboard along with my feedback.  Be sure to read my feedback for advice on how to improve your grade in discussion.

Each week I like to recognize some of the top posts of each discussion.  If you haven't read these already, be sure to check them out.

Top Original Posts:

Michelle Abela                "Nonverbal Communication"
Stephanie Fleck               "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Visual Elements"
David Lawton                  "Things About Other Things"
Lindsay Schardon            "Set Design: Reality, Contrast, and Slants"
Lindsay Schardon            "Werner Krauss as Caligari"

Top Response Posts:
Amy Rodriguez               "RE: Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Film History"
Lucas Thompson             "RE: Silent but Deadly"
Lindsay Scharton             "RE: The Ending"

Pay particular attention to the Top Response Posts.  Students typically have more difficulty writing a good response post than a good original post.  Notice how the examples above (a) further develop the topic, (b) take it in another direction, and/or (c) even disagree with the original poster.  The key point being that they expand upon what was originally posted with solid analysis. 

Things to Watch For in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Generally, I recommend that you watch each film twice.  Personally, I prefer to watch the film the first time without having read anything about it to get the true theater experience.  Then, do the readings and watch the film again.  With that in mind, here's some things to watch for as you view the film a second time:

Things to Watch For

• Note the frame story which was conceived by Fritz Lang and added to the original screenplay over the objections of the screenwriters Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz. How does this change the film?
  
  
• Note the usage of and dependence upon the Intertitles to convey information in this "silent" film. Also, note how the scrolling of the intertitles builds tension. Of course, like most, if not all, silent films, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has a musical score.
  
  
• Note the iris out effect that opens the film and the various iris in and iris out effects throughout the film.
  
  
• Note how this film does not try for verisimilitude, but instead is Expressionistic. Note the unnatural, distorted look of the world--the strangely shaped doors and windows, the towering furniture, the weird geometric shapes of light and shadow, the jagged forest. How do you think this slanted world of jagged angles and sharply pointed objects affects the film?
  
  
• Note how we as the viewing audience, just like the audience at the fair, are enticed to go inside to see The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
  
  
• Note Cesar's pallid expression accentuated by the dark circles around his eyes. These along with his awkwardly rigid posture and herky-jerky way of walking would become the standard representation for zombies in film.
  
  
• Note the three streaks in Dr. Caligari's hair and the three stripes on his glove.
  
  
• Note the scene where Francis is waiting in the empty hall of the asylum, standing directly in the center of an alternating black and white circle to form a memorable tableau—much like an Expressionistic painting.
  
  
• Note how the film is shot mainly in medium and long shots without the close-ups we would expect today. Also note the lack of editing. Instead of cutting from one shot to another, the shots are held for a longer time.
  
  
• Some trivia for you. Conrad Veidt, the actor who played Cesar moved on to England and then Hollywood. During his Hollywood career, he is best known for playing the role of Major Heinrich Strasser in Casablanca.

Top 10 Discussion Tips

As you know, this coming Saturday our first Discussion is due. So in preparation for that, I've decided to give you my Top 10 Discussion Tips.  Well, okay it's actually a Top 12 list; I just like the sound of Top 10 better (thanks David Letterman).  

12) Read the Discussion link!  I cannot emphasize this enough.

11) Come up with creative titles for your posts.  No one is eager to read a post entitled Discussion 1a.

10) Avoid plot summary.  Presumably, we've all read the text and seen the film, so you don't need to tell us what happened.  Use plot summary only when it is necessary to make a point. 

9) Be opinionated.  Don't be afraid to take a stand; controversy makes for good discussion, but (see next tip)

8) Be sure to back up your opinion with analysis and one or more of the 3 E's (examples/evidence/experts).

7) Write down notes to yourself about what you want to say when doing the assigned reading or watching the films.  It's frustrating to forget a key point you wanted to make when it comes time to post.  And it's even more frustrating to see it pop up later in someone else's post.

6) Don't try and make all your posts in one sitting. 

5) Post early.  Try to post at least once (wait for it) a day or two before the discussion is actually due.

4) Check the Discussion Board daily and read your classmates' posts.  You'll learn a lot and you'll discover something that you want to respond to.

3) Advance the discussion when responding to someone else's post.  Merely, saying you agree or disagree doesn't advance the discussion and doesn't earn you any points.  Instead, try to further develop their point, take it in another direction, or argue against it.

2) Analysis and insight are what rack up the points for you.

                  And finally, my number one tip for doing well on discussion.

1) Devote the time and effort to the Discussion Board that 40% of your Final Grade deserves!

Edwin S. Porter

In Life of an American Fireman (1903, shot in 1902), Porter was the first filmmaker to attempt to show a character's thoughts.



And in The Great American Train Robbery (1903), the most popular film in America before 1912, is the first film to use an elliptical jump in time. In fact, the film not only jumps forward but also jumps back to the opening scene. Its ending shot proved so popular that most filmmakers used the same sort of shot to end their films for the next five years.

George Méliès

As noted in your text, Georges Méliès was a magician who would become a filmmaker.  Méliès noticed that by using the camera's ability to stop and start again, he could achieve magical effects such as making something disappear or transform into something else. While the Lumière brothers focused on realism and documenting their world, Méliès is the father of film fantasy.

The Conjuror (1899) And yes, Méliès is the magician in the film.


The Hilarious Posters (1907)


A Trip to the Moon (1902) This is the first science fiction film.

Lumière Brothers

The following excerpt from a documentary on The Lumière Brothers discusses how they advanced Edison's Kinetoscope and Kinetograph with their invention of the  Cinématographe, which was much more portable than Edison's bulky camera.  They shot their first film Leaving the Factory in 1895  and projected the first film to a paying audience in a movie theatre, the basement room of the  Grand  Café in Paris, on December 28, 1895.  This date is generally accepted as the birthday of the movies, even though others had projected films and charged for them in Europe and America earlier that year.  However, this was the first in a movie theatre.

Edison and Dickson

Edison and Dickson

As your text notes, Thomas Edison was the father of American movies.  He wrote several caveats describing "an instrument which does for the Eye what the phonograph does for the ear."  His fourth caveat called for a strip of film.  In February of 1889 he assigned lab space and employees for inventing motion pictures. He put William K.L. Dickson in charge of the project.  Dickson with his associate William Heise produced the first American films.  Below you can trace their progress through a number of early films.

Monkeyshines

Dickson Greeting

The Dickson Experimental Sound Film

Early Edison Films

The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots (A RECREATION)

Annie Oakley

Muybridge

Eadweard Muybridge was the first person to break continuous motion (horses running) into discrete photographic units. In 1872 California governor Leland Stanford hired Muybridge to help him win a $25,000 wager. Muybridge set up 24 cameras along a racing track and attached a string to each camera shutter and stretched the strings across the track.

Trivia questions from the reading: What was the wager? and how much did it cost Stanford to win the bet?

   

Scientific Toys

The Thaumatrope and Zoetrope are two scientific toys based on the theory of the persistence of vision. This theory was believed (wrongly as it turned out) to account for how we see movies as continuous motion.

The Thaumatrope (Greek for "wonder turner") enabled a user to spin painted images to create a crude animation. The Thaumatrope appeared in 1825.

In 1829 French inventor Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau published his research on persistence of vision and then in 1832 produced his own toy based on his research. The toys became quite popular. And perhaps, most importantly, Plateau's research found that ___ images per second* was the necessary rate for producing the illusion of continuous movement.

*Fill in the blank from your reading assignment.

Quiz question: How many frames per second are necessary to eliminate the problem of flicker, also known as the Critical Flicker Frequency (CFF)?

Some trivia for you, the Zoetrope (Greek for "life turning" or "wheel of life") is another scientific toy based on the persistence of vision, is the name of Francis Ford Coppola's film company.

How This Class Works

I wanted to begin the course by giving you an overview of how this class works, so here goes:

• First off, you should begin each day by accessing our class website here and checking to see if I have posted anything new. This should always be your starting point for our class each day.
  
  
• The Syllabus will give you an overview of the Assignments for each Week. You should review it at the beginning of every week, so you can judge how you will need to budget your time.
  
  
• This is NOT a self-paced course. As you can see by the syllabus, there are specific due dates and times when assignments are due. Generally, the deadline for assignments will be 11:59 p.m. Mountain Standard (Arizona) Time on the date listed, unless otherwise specified.
  
  
• As you can see by the Grading Breakdown (click on the Grading link), Discussion is the most heavily weighted factor (40%) in calculating your final grade. That is because Discussion is the primary learning activity you will be engaged in on a regular basis throughout the semester. I cannot emphasize enough how important Discussion is in this class. This is where you synthesize the knowledge you've gained from the readings and watching the films. Semester after semester I have found that the students who do the best job of truly engaging in the Discussions learn the most, enjoy the course the most, score highest on the exams, and are the ones who earn A's for the course.
  
  
  Generally, you will have one or two Discussions due each week. In addition to posting your own thoughts, I want you to read what your classmates have posted and to respond to each other. Do not be a hit-and-run poster who only makes their own posts but does not truly engage in the Discussion. Hit-and-run posters learn the least and miss out on the fun of the discussion.
  
  
  Be sure to read the overview on Discussion (click on the Discussion link) which explains the requirements and mechanics of the Discussion in far greater detail as well as how Discussions are graded.
  
  
• The Critical Analysis is worth 20% of your final grade. I will post the assignment for the Critical Analysis later in the semester.
  
  
• The Midterm is also worth 20% of your final grade. It will cover all of the material (readings from the text, additional readings on the syllabus, the films themselves, etc.) from the beginning of class up until the date of the Midterm. .
  
  
• The Final Exam is also worth 20% of your final grade and will include all of the material covered from the Midterm up until the date of the Final Exam. In addition, I will expect you to retain the general principles of the film movements we covered during the first half of the course. For example, for the Final Exam I would expect you to remember that the German Expressionist filmmakers shot almost exclusively inside the studio. And thus, that would still be fair game for the Final.
  
  
• A Word about the Exams. You take both the Midterm and the Final on blackboard. The exams will include True/False, Multiple Answer, Multiple Choice, Fill-in-the-blank(s), and Matching questions.
  
  
  The exam covers the readings as well as the assigned films. Let's start with the readings. It is impossible to cover all of the directors and films that are mentioned in your text. However, I will expect you to know the major directors, their films, and the major developments within each film movement/national cinema that we study. That means I'll expect you to know the major directors and their films/styles even if we don't watch their films. For example, we are not watching a Truffaut film this semester during our section on the French New wave. However, I will expect you to know about Truffaut (a major figure in the French New Wave) and his major films for purposes of the exam.
  
  
  Similarly, I will expect you to know the general principles and important developments of each film movement that we cover in the assigned readings, even if they are not specifically discussed in class. For example, we will not watch at Dogme95 film during the course and it may or may not come up during class discussion or a min-lecture. Nevertheless, given the attention paid to it in the text, I will expect you to know the basic principles of Dogme 95.
  
  
  You must also know the assigned films well. I recommend that you watch each assigned film at least twice—the first time simply for pleasure and the second time in a more analytical manner. Some of the exam questions simply test whether or not you actually watched the film closely. For example, at one point in The Rules of the Game, Octave (a major character) dresses up as a bear. In the past, I've asked students a fill-in-the-blank question asking what costume Octave wears at one point during the party scene. Anyone who watched the film should be able to answer this question easily. When someone cannot, it sends up a red flag for me.

  
  

  Other questions regarding the films are much more analytical and serious in nature. For example, you should be able to distinguish the cinematography and themes in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari from Bicycle Thieves. And you should know the significance of the Odessa Steps sequence in Battleship Potemkin.
  
  
  Both the Midterm and Final are open book/open note exams; however, there will be a time limit which means you will not have much time to look for answers. What I am saying is that you need to study for the exam to do well. I know it seems silly to have to say that, but for some reason each semester there are some students who think that because this is a film class the exams will be easy. Trust me, that is NOT the case.
  
  
• Email––yours and mine. The best way to reach me is via email. I check it several times a day and will almost always get back to you within 24 hours at the latest during the week and 48 hours on weekends. My emails to you will use your official ASU email address as listed on the class roster. It is up to you to check your ASU email (or have it forwarded to the email server you use most). But again, I want to emphasize that my emails will go to your ASU email. Do not ask me to send it to another account.
  
  
• Late work. I do not accept late assignments unless they are cleared with me ahead of time.
  
  
• Getting the films. As noted in the Films link, it is up to you to acquire the films for the course. If you are using a rental service, as I recommend you do, be sure to plan ahead so that you have the films when you need them. Refer to the Syllabus to see when we will be studying each film.

Hopefully, this overview has given you a general idea of what to expect from the course. As always, should you have any questions, please email me. And again, welcome to the class.

Welcome to ENG 466

Welcome to Studies in International Film! We are going to take a survey approach to our study of international film and examine films from various film movements and national cinemas. We'll begin by reviewing how film began a little over a century ago and then dive into German Expressionism.

If you would like to get a head start, you can begin the reading assignments for Week 1 now.  Be sure to check out the rest of the website.  If you have any questions, please email me.  Again, welcome to the class; it should be a fun semester!