Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred Leuchter, Jr.

In class we watched the documentary by Errol Morris, Mr. Death:  The Rise and Fall of Fred Leuchter, Jr. (1999).  This film is an example of the Cinéma vérité style of documentary film making. It also highlights one of the characteristics of modern documentary film making: dramatic reenactments.

The film can be watched below:

Film Study Quiz

You will have a quiz over the film study unit this Friday, October 7, 2011.  You will need to know the following items:

History of Film
  1. Persistence of vision
  2. Development of Photography
  3. Thomas Edison
  3. Lumiere brothers

Film Techniques and Language
  1. Shot v. scene
  2. Types of shots
  3. Transitions (ie, cut, dissolve, wipe, etc)
  4. Mise-en-scene v. mise-en-shot
  5. Types and uses of Camera movements
  6. Types and uses of focus

Documentary film---History
  1. Robert Flaherty
  2. Leni Riefenstahl
  3. Cinema Verite
  4. Direct Cinema
  5. Purpose of documentaries
  5. Characteristics of Modern Documentaries
  6. Modern documentary filmmakers
      a. Michael Moore
      b. Errol Morris

Films:
Great Train Robbery
Citizen Kane
  1. Background information
  2. Plot and characters
  3. Film techniques
Mr. Death the Rise and Fall of Fred Leuchter, Jr.
Pink Floyd’s The Wall
The Dark Knight