Course Description

Visual Arts 1^ST Class Hand-Out

            The film portion of Visual Arts will meet in room 5 on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays during 5^TH period, 12:25 – 1:05 PM.  We will meet during 5^TH & 6^TH periods on Thursday block days, 12:05 – 1:30 PM.  We will not meet on Wednesday block days.  Our class will cover the following:

1.      The history of film and its connection to the social, cultural, and political climate of its time.

2.      Genres of film (comedy, horror, film noir, sci-fi, westerns, gangster, war, romance, documentaries, musicals, etc.)

3.      Techniques of filmmaking and the different components necessary to make a film.

4.      A variety of ways to view a film.

Each student must have a journal book.  On Tuesdays, students will submit their journal books containing one or more reviews of films seen the previous week.  The quarter project will be a storyboard of a scene we watched this year.  There will be a 10-page term paper on a genre of film or the body of work of a particular director chosen by the student.  There will also be a 2-3 page final paper.  Grades will be based on a total of 1000 points as follows:

            Journal Book                                        250 points

            Storyboard                                         200 points

            Term Paper                                       250 points

            Asgns. & Participation                 150 points

            Final Paper                                       150 points

Assignment #1 due Friday, 8/29- Write a list of your favorite films, actors and actresses, and directors.  Discuss the types of films you enjoy watching and some of the reasons you chose the films and people on your lists.

Due Tuesday, 9/2- Cut out a film review (usually found in the Arts sections of Friday newspapers such as the Chronicle or Contra Costa Times; be sure it’s a review).  Insert the review into your new journal book and write for your first journal entry the answers to the following questions:

1.      Do you think the review was well written?  Describe the style of the writer and what you thought about it.

2.      Did the reviewer give the proper amount of information, or did he or she tell too little or too much about the film?

3.      Did the reviewer recommend the movie and did it affect your desire to see it?

4.     What do you think should go into a good film review?  Be explicit!