Category: Film studies

Our feature this week is Paris Is Burning, an extraordinary documentary about the drag ball and voguing subculture of the late 1980’s (right before Madonna’s 1990 hit single Vogue created a certain degree of mainstream exposure for this scene).
Director Jennie Livingston shot the film as her NYU film school thesis project, choosing a style that is way more impressionistic, immersive and personal than we find in many traditional documentary films. (For instance, there is no omniscient voiceover narration, and the subjects get to tell their own story very directly.)
Even though Paris Is Burning was not conceived or meant as a historical documentary, it captures a moment in New York City history that is now long bygone – the time before Mayor Giuliani ‘cleaned up’ the city, when gay culture was less assimilated, existed more on the fringes of society and was beset by the spectral cloud of AIDS, especially for the disenfranchised gay people of color whose lives the film documents.
Your homework is to answer these questions about the film, which you can view via this link:

1. Which one of the various prominently featured individuals in the film did you personally find the most interesting (or relatable) in terms of the experience they talked about or the perspective they offered, and why? (AT LEAST 150 WORDS)
2. This is the link to Madonna’s famous live performance of Vogue at the 1990 MTV Music Awards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTaXtWWR16A. What are the notable similarities and/or differences between the way in which she and Livingston – both white women – represent the Black and Latino performers in vogue and drag ball culture?

Compare and Contrast these two films. Please go into depth about how these films relate, but also how they are different. I believe the 1961 film is on Amazon prime for free, and the 2021 film is on Disney+. They should also be on Tubi for free. This essay will be scanned for plagiarism so please do NOT use ChatGPT or any kind of AI to write this.

Choose one (1) film and write an essay of approximately 1,700 words or seven doubled-spaced pages. The films are available at the film Library or possibly online.
Hello,
I am enclosing essay topics for the major paper. If possible, I would like a double-spaced hard copy of your paper submitted in class next Monday, May 6. You can refer to an article(s) found in the course kit. Please note the usage.
The essay should be approximately 1,7000 words.
1) Discuss Robert Rossen’s Body and Soul as a critique of the American success story and, by implication, its dependence on capitalist enterprise. Consider the relevance of the film’s opening scene, in which Charlie Davis/John Garfield calls out to Ben/Canada Lee. Discuss the function of the film’s principle female characters. Is the film’s ‘happy ending’ justified?
2) Using Andre Bazin’s “The Evolution of Film Language” (course Kit) discuss Elia Kazan’s Panic in the Streets as an example of ‘realist’ filmmaking. Focusing on Dr. Clinton Reed/Richard Widmark, discuss the the film’s portrait of American life in both its pubic and private sectors. Can Dr. Reed be considered a hero figure in the traditional sense of the classical cinema?
3) Consider Robin Wood’s auteurist reading and Margaret Tarratt’s genre reading of Christian Nyby/Howard Hawks’ The Thing from Another World (1951) (course Kit). Are the two articles compatible when constructing a critical reading of the film? The Thing is a product of the Cold War. Does that make it a reactionary film?
4) Discuss Leo McCarey’s My Son use of the nuclear family as a means to address American values. How coherent is the film in what it’s saying?
5) Vincente Minnelli’s The Bad and the Beautiful, a film about Hollywood and the studio system, was released at a time during which the industry was struggling financially and as a cultural institution. What do you consider to be the film’s attitude towards its subject matter?
CHOOSE ONE PLZ

Create a documentary on how African dance is healing to the body for an instructor who taught it for twenty-five years and. a new student who is trying It for the first time.
Logline (up to 40 words)
Synopsis/treatment (up tp 450 words)
Topic Summary (up to 111 words)
Artistic Approach (up to 270 words)
Filmmaker Statment (up to 400 words)

Because the information on the source is already including in the heading, you do not need to use complete MLA or Chicago style references for this assignment, but you must note page numbers for each quotation and/or paraphrasing of a claim from the text in parentheses at the end of the sentence where it appears. Signal all references to the text in this way.
Proofread your papers for typos and grammatical mistakes—the papers don’t need to be fancy, but they should be clearly and cleanly written. Excessive errors will affect the mark assigned.
Each paper should isolate a specific quotation from the essay in question that seems like the best or most substantive expression of the main argument/thesis, and reprint it at the top of the page in the Reader Reflection paper, noting the page number in parentheses. *Please note: This quotation will not count towards the word count of the essay submitted for the assignment.
From here, the paper should go on to give a detailed explanation of the central claim condensed in the quotation using simple language, breaking down the idea in question step-by-step, and referring to quotations and/or fragments of quotations from the passage cited and/or from other parts of the essay to ground your explanation of the latter’s main point in evidence. If there is a key concept implied by this argument, do your best to explain it as well, referring again to the parts of the essay that elaborate it to explain why you understand it the way you do. Try to interpret the words of the author closely so you don’t take their idea out of context, but use words that are clear and help you make sense of the idea in your own terms. If you have questions or confusions about the idea, feel free to say so. Mastery is not the goal; thinking in writing and working through your understandings of the readings is the goal. Again, note page numbers in parentheses for each quotation at the end of the sentence where it appears.

500 Words Reflect on this week’s activities, readings, and films. What is a “white savior” narrative? Is the film you watched a white savior narrative? Why do people make white savior narratives? Why might it matter to tell this kind of story? What impact does this type of story have? What we did these week: 1). You have two choices for today: Blood Diamond or Hidden Figures. Blood Diamond is a 2006 action film set during the Sierra Leone Civil War, staring Leonardo Decaprio. It deals with a lot of social and ethical issues, like human rights, intervention, civil war, child soldiers, the legacy of colonialism in Africa, Western complicity in the conflict, resource extraction, environmentalism, and humanitarianism and aid. It is a very rich and problematic film with lots to discuss. However, it is a war film about child soldiers. Blood Diamond https://www.dropbox.com/s/rhexpbzzbnsq69t/Blood.Diamond.2006.1080p.BrRip.x264.YIFY.mp4?dl=0 I did this filme add it to the writing. 2) We did a group podcast it was 20 min long and it was about The Seven Jey Steps of Story Structure and we did some dissertations about a documentary called When I say Africa

1) Watch the entire 3 minute excerpt of One Flat Thing Reproduced (the link) and at least 2 of the dances in Love Songs (my favorite sections are the first solo, and the duet @ 12:40)
2) Write a one-page paper stating your feelings/views on the dance pieces. Include your reaction to the fact that the movement is derived from Ballet vocabulary, yet looks very, very different than traditional Classical Ballet. Did you like the work? Why or Why Not? 3) The ONLY way that Ballet has endured for more than 400 years is due to its ability to meld, change, and grow; making Ballet much less an “archaic Dance genre” and more of a contemporary art form ready and willing to “speak” to a contemporary audience. With all of that said, finish your paper with some ideas of where YOU would like to see Ballet go next….in your opinion, what would make Ballet even more contemporary and accessible to the audiences of today?

You are the film critic for Rotten Tomatoes, and you have been assigned by the editor to write a historical perspective piece for the home screen. Choose any film that we have seen to this point for class (but a different one from the Scene Analysis Assignment) and write a review that will make today’s 2024 viewers want to go back and see this film.
Film: The Godfather
Take a critical stance and offer your honest perspective on the film, but back it up with an argument and explanation. Remember a review is not a retelling or summary of the plot. A film review offers a unique and original interpretation of the movie.
Put the film in context with the historical period it was created in. What genre is it in? Who made it (director, studio, actors, cinematographers, etc.)? What was going on in American history at this point? What was it influenced by? What did this film influence?
Why is it important to see this film today, in 2024? How should we understand it today?
Reviews must be: 3 pages, double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font and one-inch margins.
Cite your sources in the text with either footnotes, endnotes, or in parenthesis in proper MLA, Chicago, or Harvard Citations. Include a bibliography on a separate page.
Review the Grading Rubric as grammar and organization will be considered in the grade.

professors instructions
The film “Queen of Katwe” is a Disney production based on the life of  Phiona Mutesi, a Ugandan chess player, and the actual events associated with her. In this assignment, by considering the reading assigned for the week, you will discuss how this film is different from other movies watched in class, which were mostly low-budget independent films. For your compare & contrast, you don’t have to pick more than 2-3 films, but do discuss what are the key differences in terms of styles, cinematography, and visual treatments that you noticed. Make sure to also build on the reading assigned for the week. 
The other 3 films I choose are Lumumba, Battle of Algeris, and Sembene
which i will attach with the essays i wrote just for additional material
NO OUTSIDE SOURCES

Because the information on the source is already including in the heading, you do not need to use complete MLA or Chicago style references for this assignment, but you must note page numbers for each quotation and/or paraphrasing of a claim from the text in parentheses at the end of the sentence where it appears. Signal all references to the text in this way.
Proofread your papers for typos and grammatical mistakes—the papers don’t need to be fancy, but they should be clearly and cleanly written. Excessive errors will affect the mark assigned.
Each paper should isolate a specific quotation from the essay in question that seems like the best or most substantive expression of the main argument/thesis, and reprint it at the top of the page in the Reader Reflection paper, noting the page number in parentheses. *Please note: This quotation will not count towards the word count of the essay submitted for the assignment.
From here, the paper should go on to give a detailed explanation of the central claim condensed in the quotation using simple language, breaking down the idea in question step-by-step, and referring to quotations and/or fragments of quotations from the passage cited and/or from other parts of the essay to ground your explanation of the latter’s main point in evidence. If there is a key concept implied by this argument, do your best to explain it as well, referring again to the parts of the essay that elaborate it to explain why you understand it the way you do. Try to interpret the words of the author closely so you don’t take their idea out of context, but use words that are clear and help you make sense of the idea in your own terms. If you have questions or confusions about the idea, feel free to say so. Mastery is not the goal; thinking in writing and working through your understandings of the readings is the goal. Again, note page numbers in parentheses for each quotation at the end of the sentence where it appears.