The Midterm Exam

The Mechanics of the Exam:

• The Midterm Exam consists of 72 questions worth 200 points (plus two extra credit questions worth 4 points).  You take the exam on blackboard by clicking on the Assignments link, then clicking on  Midterm 2011.
  
• The Midterm is consists of True/False, Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer, Fill-in-the-blank(s), and Matching questions.
  
• You will have one hour to take the exam.  You should set your own timer, so that you do not exceed the time limit.  You will lose one point for each minute you go over the one hour limit.
  
• You will receive the questions one at a time.  Once you pass a question by, there is no going back to it.
  
• The Midterm is open book/open notes but given the time constraints you won't have much time to go searching for answers.  Thus, it's better to have your study notes to go through than searching through the text.
  
• You must close all other windows and browsers before and during the exam, as multiple windows or browsers will cause the exam to crash.
  
• If you have technological problems for reasons other than multiple windows or browsers when taking the exam, email me ASAP.

Tips for Studying:

• Review the reading assignments in the textbook and take notes for each chapter.  You should know the various film movements, their characteristics, and the influences upon the movement.
  
• You should know the major directors and the major films from each of the film movements we have studied to date and what those directors and films were known for, particularly those that were given a great of attention in the text.  And yes, the exam will cover some directors and films that we did not watch.
  
• Know the films we did watch, including the directors, the cinematic techniques, the key scenes, key dialogue, and what happens during the film.  Some questions merely test whether or not you really watched the films closely.
  
• Know the important firsts of film history.
  
• Know your early film history.  Review my posts on the subject.
  
• All of my posts and the assigned readings from the Syllabus are fair game for the exam.
  
• And finally, do study.  Those students who simply wing it, generally do poorly on the exam.

Good Luck!

Things to Watch For in Ladri di biciclette

• Note DeSica followed neorealistic principles in the film. One of these principles was to use nonprofessional actors. Lamberto Maggiorani (Antonio) was a metal worker. Interestingly, DeSica claimed that an American producer offered him millions to make the film with Cary Grant as the lead, while keeping to Neorealist principles otherwise. Can you name, at least, three other neorealist principles adhered to in the film?
  
• Note how Antonio is portrayed as an Everyman throughout the film. How does DeSica accomplish this visually? For one example, look at the conclusion of the film.
  
• Note the low angle shot of the wall of linens in the pawn shop and the tiny window Antonio and his wife are framed in.  What does this signify?
  
• Note the name of Antonio's bicycle is Fides, which means faith or reliance.
  
• Note that although Bruno is only 8 he has a full-time job. What does he do?
  
• What, specifically, does Antonio's job entail? How is this ironic?
  
• Note how the government, the trade union, the police, and the church are portrayed.
  
• Who can Antonio depend upon?
  
• Note the contrast between Antonio and Bruno vs. the rich in the pizzeria scene. How does DeSica illustrate this visually and what comment does Antonio make to reinforce the contrast?
  
• Note when Antonio strikes Bruno.
  
• Where does Antonio tell Bruno to wait for him and what happens when Antonio returns there?  What scene with Bruno sets up this scene?
  
• Note how DeSica uses physical distance between Antonio and Bruno to illustrate psychological distance.
  
• Note the famous gesture at the end of the film. What do you make of it?
  
• Why is the proper title for the film Bicycle Thieves and not Bicycle Thief as it was originally titled in English?
  
• You could argue that the film is about what Antonio loses and fails to recover and what he loses and succeeds in regaining. Identify each.
  
• Trivia Question: Lamberto Maggiorani's lean, hungry, dirty look reminds me of an American actor in a similar, and quite famous, role in an Oscar-winning American film. Can you name the actor and the film?

Things to Watch For in A Matter of Life and Death

Things to Watch For in your second viewing:

• Note the similarity/differences between June's control center and Peter's cockpit.
  
  
• What do we learn about Peter from his opening dialogue with June? What does he ask her?
  
  
• How is the "grim reaper" portrayed in this film?
  
  
• Note the scope the doctor uses to survey the town and it's similarities to the holes in the clouds that the angels look through to observe earth. Also note the doctor's use of a camera obscura.
  
  
• Why do you think the afterlife is shown in black and white while life on earth is shown in color?
  
  
• Note how the rose in the Conductor's jacket the effect June's tears have on it.
  
  
• What is the significance of the chess book?
  
  
• Note how the film is set up so that Peter's recovery from surgery is tied to the jury's decision? And that we never know whether the whole afterlife storyline is just a hallucination.
  
  
• What is the Shakespearean play that the soldiers are rehearsing for and what is its significance?
  
  
• Note the special effects in the film. What do you think of them, given the time period in which the film was made?
  
  
• Why do you think Peter chooses the doctor to be his advocate at the trial?
  
  
• Note how science and religion are portrayed in the film?
  
  
• Note the turn towards the political in the trial. What do you think that was?
  
  
• The film's original title is Stairway to Heaven and we actually see the stairway in the film. What do you think it signifies?
  
  
• Trivia: It was during a visit to Hollywood in 1945 that director Michael Powell decided to cast the then-unknown Kim Hunter as June, the American servicewoman, largely upon the recommendation of Alfred Hitchcock, who had done a series of screen tests of actors and actresses auditioning for parts in his upcoming production, Notorious. The trouble was that in these tests, Hunter was not seen but, rather, heard off-camera, feeding lines and cues to the actors Hitchcock was actually testing. But Hitchcock assured Powell that he would arrange a "face-to-face" with Hunter and her agent, so that he could see for himself whether she fit the requirements of the "all-American" girl Powell had envisioned opposite David Niven. And upon first encountering Hunter, Powell agreed with Hitchcock that she indeed was a perfect choice for the role.
  
  
• More Trivia: The first scene shot was David Niven washing up on the beach. Originally planned to fade in from black, Michael Powell decided on the spot that the effect would be too cheesy. When Jack Cardiff told him to look through the camera, Cardiff then deliberately breathed right onto the lens, which fogged the glass for a few seconds until it evaporated. Powell loved the idea and had him use it for the shot.
  
  
• Still More Trivia: The huge escalator linking this World with the Other, called "Operation Ethel" by the firm of engineers who constructed her under the aegis of the London Passenger Transport Board, took three months to make and cost 3,000 pounds (in 1946). "Ethel" had 106 steps each 20 feet wide and was driven by a 12 h.p. engine. The full shot was completed by hanging miniatures.

Poll Question

I was pleased that so many of you were impressed by The Passion of Joan of Arc.  So I thought I'd add a poll question as to which film has impressed you the most in class so far?  Please respond by midnight Sunday.

Things to Watch For in La règle du jeu

The following are some things to watch for during your second viewing:

Note Robert's antique mechanized toys. What thematic purpose do they serve?

Note the Buddha's in the background in the first scene where we see Robert and his mistress together?

Note how the love pairs and triangles between the masters is replicated at the level of the servants. 

Note Renoir's technique of deep focus so that the action and characters are in focus on all three levels: foreground, middle ground and background. For example, in the scene near the end of the film when Octave comes in to the house to retrieve his coat and Christine's, we see Robert in the foreground. But the real action occurs in the middle ground where we see Lisette and the background where we see Octave enter and call to her.

Note how the length of takes (the time a single shot lasts) during the famous hunting scene varies during the build-up to the hunt, the hunt itself, and the aftermath.

Note the themes of poaching and hunting.

Renoir has said that the film does not have a central character, rather it is about an entire social class––the French bourgeoisie.  Note how the interlopers––Octave and Marceau who belong neither to the class of the masters or servants––must leave before the film can conclude. What does this signify?

What is the symbolism of the hunt and La Fête de La Colinière? 

Note how Marceau is Robert's alter ego and Lisette is Christine's. 

Marceau is a representation of Pan––the nature god. Who or what does Schumacher represent?

Note how the dance of death that occurs on stage during La Fête de La Colinière actually takes place off stage as well as the lovers fight and, eventually, Andre is killed.

How long has everyone known about Robert's infidelity?

Note the mistaken identity theme, generally associated with of comedies.

Note how Renoir uses a moving camera with his long takes that allows him to change perspective. For example, in the scene where Andre arrives at the party, the camera starts on Christine, then it pulls back and we see Andre enter and Christine frozen (should she go to her reputed lover?). Then in the background, Octave appears and passes Andre by. His arrival frees Christine and she now moves toward Octave and, eventually, Andre. But it is the moving camera and long take that allow us to see this develop.

Question: In La règle du jeu, Renoir combines elements of Alfred de Musset's Les Caprices de Marianne, a popular 19th-century comedy of manners with Beaumarchais' Le Mariage de Figaro, a stage comedy satirizing the aristocracy. Given Renoir's obvious allegory to what was going on in Europe at the time (the film was made in the period immediately following The Munich Agreement of 1938 signed by Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini and the French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier), why do you thing he used comedies rather than tragedies?

Link to Dreyer Site

Here's a link to a site devoted to Dreyer.  This link is for your information only.  You won't be tested on this material.  Anyway, here's the link to the extended bio, you can navigate to the rest of the site from there.  If nothing else, you might want to check out the photos.

Dreyer on The Passion of Joan of Arc

Realized Mysticism in The Passion of Joan of Arc
By Carl Theodor Dreyer

The virgin of Orleans and those matters that surrounded her death began to interest me when the shepherd girl’s canonization in 1920* once again drew the attention of the public-at-large to the events and actions involving her—and not only in France. In addition to Bernard Shaw’s ironical play, Anatole France’s learned thesis aroused great interest, too. The more familiar I became with the historical material, the more anxious I became to attempt to re-create the most important periods of the virgin’s life in the form of a film.

Even beforehand, I was aware that this project made specific demands. Handling the theme on the level of a costume film would probably have permitted a portrayal of the cultural epoch of the fifteenth century, but would have merely resulted in a comparison with other epochs. What counted was getting the spectator absorbed in the past; the means were multifarious and new.

A thorough study of the documents from the rehabilitation process was necessary; I did not study the clothes of the time, and things like that. The year of the event seemed as inessential to me as its distance from the present. I wanted to interpret a hymn to the triumph of the soul over life. What streams out to the possibly moved spectator in strange close-ups is not accidentally chosen. All these pictures express the character of the person they show and the spirit of that time. In order to give the truth, I dispensed with “beautification.” My actors were not allowed to touch makeup and powder puffs. I also broke with the traditions of constructing a set. Right from the beginning of shooting, I let the scene architects build all the sets and make all the other preparations, and from the first to the last scene everything was shot in the right order. Rudolf Maté, who manned the camera, understood the demands of psychological drama in the close-ups and he gave me what I wanted, my feeling and my thought: realized mysticism.

But in Falconetti, who plays Joan, I found what I might, with very bold expression, allow myself to call “the martyr’s reincarnation.”

Reprinted by permission of the Danish Film Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark

Soviet Montage Discussion

I've posted the grades for Discussions 2a and 2b.

Some observations/comments:

1) I thought you did a good job on a couple of films that are a bit more difficult to analyze as they are quite foreign to your experience.  In fact, I purposefully inflated the grades a bit for Discussion 2b.

2) I was pleased that so many of you were pleasantly surprised by The Man with a Movie Camera.  It is a a very different film.  And I would categorize it as both an experimental film and a documentary.  In fact, one student in a past class noted that it would be interesting to see a similar sort of the day in the life film from various decades and countries.

3) If you haven't read the Discussion link already, please do so.  It's frustrating for me to give a B to someone who has two outstanding posts (you know who you are), but never makes the third posts necessary (along with meeting other conditions) for an A.

4) I think it's probably natural that we feel that we are much more liberal today than people were in the past, but that is not necessarily so. 

5) One of the things that always strikes me about the earliest films is how the recent advances in technology have brought home movies to the masses.  In fact, I'm sure many of you have much of your life documented on video.

6) Later this week, we will get to our first "talking" motion picture, but not quite yet.

7) In our next film, we get one of the most famous performances in silent motion picture history.

8) And for those of you who were longing for close-ups in The Camera of Dr. Caligari, let me just say this:  You want close-ups, I'll give you close-up!