Thanks for a Great Year

So that bring us to the end of another year of CAT/SOC.  Thanks, guys, for a great year.

And thanks for a quality year when it came to final projects.  There were some GREAT films! We have posted several of them for posterity.  Go to the tab above or just click here to view.

Have a great summer and keep in touch!

Mr. Janu & Mr. Miks

And here's something we did back in December 2012:

"Moneyball" Discussion

If you missed class on Monday, you will need to do a make-up assignment fro missing Moneyball.  The assignment involves watching the following video and answering the questions in paragraph form.  This is worth 100 points and will go on the discussion for both classes.

The video is from DP/30 and in it the director, cinematographer, editor and sound designer discuss the film, Moneyball.

Must See Videos for Monday's Discussion

On Monday, we will be having a  discussion over Blade Runner and Waking Life.  This discussion will focus on themes found in both movies and postmodernism in general.  Below, you will find Walking Life and "On the Edge of Blade Runner," a short documentary about the making of the film.  It has some necessary background information.  (If you want to watch Blade Runner, it is available on a foreign site.)



Waking Life from GODS•TECH on Vimeo.

Songs for Film Music

My friend, Tom Flannery, who was one of the composers for Facing Sudan and Crayons and Paper, has made available for us all of the music that he has made over the years.  I know many of you want to use songs with lyrics and may be having a difficult time obtaining those rights.

Tom has a wide variety of music available.  His has an album of great American rock and roll entitled, Teen Angst and the Green Flannel.  He also just released an album entitled Love and Streets.

He has other albums available at his website, too.  Most of his music can be labeled as "Americana."  That is, solo acoustic.  But he covers a wide variety of topics and emotions.

Here's the thing:  if you download any of the songs from his website (or iTunes, Amazon, GooglePlay, etc) he will let you use that music in your film for free.  He's very cool about you being able to use his music, if you want.

For a long time, Tom ran a website (along with Lorne Clarke, who also has music available) that put out a song-a-week.  That is actually how I discovered Tom and Lorne and they ended up creating the entire soundtracks to my films.

Although that website is no longer available, the songs and an archived version of the website is available here.  There are some 200 songs available for download on that site.

Lorne Clarke's latest album, Moonlight and Cider, is also available.  Likewise, if you have a song you want, download it and Lorne will let you use it in your film.

Also, don't forget, I also have available production music at VideoBlocks---if there is a song you want, just let me know and I will download it for you.  There are thousands of instrumental pieces there available for download as well.  And you can browse the music by category or emotion.

Editing Software

You should be in the editing stage of your movie project.  If you don't want to use iMovie, there are some option without having to spend money.  You can download a number of different editing programs in a "trial" basis.  The trial versions are usually fully functional and will work for 30 days after installation.  Below are some links to the more popular programs and most are available for Mac or PC.  Make sure you select the right one for your system:

AVID:  Avid creates the programs that are often used in Hollywood.  Their basic versions would be good for this project:  AVID DS or AVID Media Composer.

ADOBE PREMIERE PRO CS6:  This is a very powerful program; big learning curve though.  This is a free trial.

VEGAS MOVIE STUDIO:  Sony has several versions of its movie-making software--all available for a free trial.

PINNACLE STUDIO

AVS VIDEO EDITOR:  Basic program

POWER DIRECTOR 11:  A basic video editing program.


Here is a FREE program (shareware) that can be used as well:

Wondershare Video Editor


Also, checkout CNET for more programs.

First Semester Midterm

Your midterms are this week.  Miks' midterm is on Tuesday and is the essay portion.  Janu's midterm in on Wednesday and will be about 50 questions, multiple choice.

The review sheet for Janu's mideterm can be found here.

Film Study Quiz

Tomorrow, October 23, we will be having a quiz over Film Study.

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 
  7. Types of lighting
  8. Objective v. Subjective camera

Films:
Great Train Robbery
Citizen Kane
  1. Background information
  2. Plot and characters
  3. Film techniques
Pink Floyd’s The Wall
The Dark Knight

Citizen Kane

If you  missed any of Citizen Kane or if you would like to watch it again, it is available online:


 

CAT Scene Analysis Template

In order to complete your scene analysis, a Word document is available as a template.

To use the template:

1.  Click here to take you to the document.
2.  Under "File" click "download"

Now you can open the document in Word and fill it out with your analysis.

The analysis needs to be word-processed so this can make it a little easier in regards to formatting.  Or, if you prefer, you can create your own chart by going into Word (or any word processor) and create a table.  That table wil become your chart.

If you need help in this, please see me.

A copy of the assignment can be found here.

The assignment is due on November 9.  Remember, you need to pick a film from the list.

Scene Analysis Assignment

For the scene analysis, you will need to pick a movie and analyze a scene from that movie shot-by-shot.  The scene needs to be at least 20 shots long.  Click here for a description of the paper.

Every person in class has to do a different film.  You can sign up for the films below.  Note:  It is first come, first served.

CAT/SOC FILM SIGN-UP

When you sign-up, use the code "kane"

If you want to do a film that is not on the list, see me for approval and I will add it to the list.  Remember, it needs to be a film before 1970.

Pink Floyd The Wall

Over the last couple of days, we watched Pink Floyd The Wall.  We will be having a graded discussion later in the week over the film.  If you missed the movie or would like to watch it again, here it is:

Also, there is a sheet that will help you break down the scenes.  You can download that sheet here.

Why Doesn't Batman Kill the Joker?

As we watch The Dark Knight in class, you will need to read the article entitled, "Why Doesn't Batman Kill the Joker?"  A copy fo the article will be handed out in class.  However, if you are not going to be here on Friday, you can download the article online.

Click here to download the article.

Be prepared to discuss the movie in class on Tuesday.

Review for Sociological Theory Exam

Your CAT quiz over the sociology portion of the class is on Wednesday, September 12.  If you need another review sheet, click here.

There are also flashcards available to help you study.  Click on the links below:

Sociological Thinkers flashcards

Sociological Theories flashcards

The quiz will broken into three sections:

1.  Matching section for thinkers and their ideas.  You will have an idea and you will need to match it with the correct thinker.  Some of the people may be used more than once--it is not a one-for-one matching.  Some may not be used at all.

2.  Matching section for sociological theories.  Match the idea or scenario to the correct theory

3.  Multiple choice questions.  These questions are based on lecture, readings and discussions in class.

There are 30 questions in all.  60 points total.

(Plus, two extra credit Frank Sinatra questions as well)

TED discussion on Aesthetics

If you missed the video on aesthetics, the video can be viewed at the link below.

TED talk:  A Darwinian Theory of Beauty

Schedule August 22-24

Wednesday, August 22

1. Intro to Course/ Course objectives
2. Lecture: What is Sociology?

Homework, Read “The Promise” by C. Wright Mills. Be prepared to take a quiz over the reading tomorrow

Thursday, August 23

1. Quiz, “The Promise”
2. Discuss the reading
3. Discussion: the aesthetics of Beauty

Friday, August 24

1. Introduction to Clifford Geertz
2. Thick description and cultural interpretation

Welcome to the 2012-13 iCat Class!

Welcome to Integrated Contemporary American Texts.  This class is taught by Mr. Janu and Mr. Miks and is a unique class that combines history, philosophy, sociology, literature and popular culture.  A senior-only course, this class was designed to get you to think and be prepared for college.  Welcome.  We are glad you are here.

CAT Scene Analysis Assignment

As part of the alternate to the movie assignment, you need to do a scene analysis.  The scene needs to be at least five minutes long.  Each shot needs to be identified with the following:

• Shot number
• Shot Duration
• Type of Shot (Long, Medium, closeup/Type of angle)
• Description:  this is a description of the composition of the shot, lighting, camera movement, etc)

Before listing the shots, you will need to provide a brief synopsis of the film and a description the scene that you are analyzing.  Remember, you need to use the correct film language.  There is a reference packet that was given out at the beginning of the year for all of the film terms. Also, we have made a template available which can be downloaded here.

Here is an example:

Moneyball Discussion

Here is the video from DP/30 in which the director, cinematographer, editor and sound designer discuss the film, Moneyball.

JAZZ and BLUES Quiz

We will be having a quiz over Jazz and Blues this Friday, December 2, 2011.  The content will be all multiple choice and matching and will be taken from class lectures and videos.  You will need to be able to identify the following people and terms.

Origin of Blues---understand the African origins of Blues  (ie slave rebellions, Slave spirituals, use of drums)

Characteristics of Blues

Know the differences and characteristics of

     Delta Blues              Chicago Blues

     Piedmont Blues

Know the following Blues musicians/terms:

     W.C. Handy             “Blues Heroes”

      Muddy Waters        “Crossroads”

      Robert Johnson       Howlin' Wolf

      Josh White                Blind Blake

       Rev. Gary Davis       B.B. King

Common motifs in Blues

Why was New Orleans the birthplace of jazz?

Storyville

Roots of Jazz (Blues/Ragtime)

Components/characteristics of Jazz  (ie.  Rhythm, Swing, Syncopation, Improvisation)

Know the following Jazz artists:

      Jelly Roll Morton           Count Basie

      Cab Calloway                 Duke Ellington

      Louis Armstrong            Benny Goodman

      Bix Biederbecke             Ella Fitzgerald

      Bessie Smith                   Billie Holiday

"Bobby Soxers"

Swing music and Swing culture

Frank Sinatra

SCREENWRITING 101

The next part of the film project is to take your treatment and write a screenplay.  This screenplay will most likely run around 10 pages or so (think of it as about 1 minute per page).

To get a good idea about what screenplay writing is all about, here is a great site that analyzes several screenplays. It has downloadable scripts and script analyses. 

On this site, there is a great section devoted to Good Will Hunting with several important downloads:

Good Will Hunting Script
Good Will Hunting Analysis

It also has a section devoted to Zombieland as well.

Here is the Zombieland Analysis

Due dates:

Narrative script due December 16
Documentary script due January 13