Thursday, December 16, 2010
Final Project!
Here is the fabulous Weebly page Eve Thomas and I have created for our Intersession Unit. It was a blast teaching the course and working with Patrick and Eve, and I actually really enjoy working with Weebly. I have begun to construct a teacher portfolio, which can be seen here (it is not done yet, though), and a performer portfolio, which I am still working on. All in all, the things I have learned in this class have been incredibly beneficial, and I am super happy to have had the experience with Dr. Beach and my colleagues! Have a wonderful winter break, everyone!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
The Politics of Adaptation
Okay, I LOVE talking about adaptation. I actually wrote my senior thesis on “Me, Myself, and Isherwood”:
an Exploration of the Creation and Adaptation of “Christopher Isherwood.” In the paper I examined how Isherwood positioned himself as a fictional character in his Berlin Stories, to keep the implications from his life in Berlin as a gay man at a distance from the "real" Christopher Isherwood. From there, John van Druten took "Isherwood" from the book and adapted him to a more focused, refined, and stage friendly asexual character in I am a Camera, to Masteroff, Kander, and Ebb's Cabaret where "Isherwood" is now "Cliff" (all sorts of liminal sexual implications in the name...)and, although an admitted bisexual, engages in a sexual relationship with Sally.
I could go on for 50 pages. But, I will not.
Obviously, I think adaptations are incredibly important in literature for both literary and political reasons. I think teaching context along with tracking changes from adaptation to adaptation is essential to correctly framing the art of adapting work.
For lesson planning, I would love to bring in a director, like Jason Ballweber, and asking them how they get from the page to the stage, and how they manipulate a text to flesh out their vision:
an Exploration of the Creation and Adaptation of “Christopher Isherwood.” In the paper I examined how Isherwood positioned himself as a fictional character in his Berlin Stories, to keep the implications from his life in Berlin as a gay man at a distance from the "real" Christopher Isherwood. From there, John van Druten took "Isherwood" from the book and adapted him to a more focused, refined, and stage friendly asexual character in I am a Camera, to Masteroff, Kander, and Ebb's Cabaret where "Isherwood" is now "Cliff" (all sorts of liminal sexual implications in the name...)and, although an admitted bisexual, engages in a sexual relationship with Sally.
I could go on for 50 pages. But, I will not.
Obviously, I think adaptations are incredibly important in literature for both literary and political reasons. I think teaching context along with tracking changes from adaptation to adaptation is essential to correctly framing the art of adapting work.
For lesson planning, I would love to bring in a director, like Jason Ballweber, and asking them how they get from the page to the stage, and how they manipulate a text to flesh out their vision:
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Me and my multitude of music choices
So, I actually legitimately like a LOT of music. I really like classical and alternative, and classic rock, and would argue that I listen to these the most. I have not been to too many concerts in my life only Lady Gaga (which was incredible), Kings of Leon, Scissor Sisters, and Peaches/Bauhaus/Nine Inch Nails (I went for Peaches). I am obviously a big fan of campy music and one of my favorite bands of all time that reflects this sentiment are the Scissor Sisters. Other bands/artists I love and listen to frequently are Rufus Wainwright, CCRC, the Beatles, Mozart, Edith Piaf, Tegan and Sara, Lou Reed, The Ditty Bops, and Pink Floyd.
Here is one of my favorite Rufus Wainwright songs (of which there are many):
Hometown Waltz
I love this song because it encompasses all the lyricism, beautiful vocals, story, and whimsy that make Rufus Wainwright one of my favorite artists. He is so good at exploring, exploiting, and exploding genres and I just find him so dynamic. He also has a dreamy voice and is a vocal member and advocate of the GLBT community on top of everything else. I like this song specifically, because it has a plucky folk quality to it as well as a little Cajun quality with the accordion. I really like the juxtaposition of these genre markers commonly associated with "homey" American travel songs with the markers which describe Rufus's experience with home- Canada, gay communities, and destroying/leaving all remnants of his home.
Here are the lyrics for the song:
The drummers and jugglers of Montreal
Don't even exist at all
So I'm tearing up these tarot cards and Venetian clowns
Antique shops and alcoholic homosexuals
You may ask why I want to torch my home town
Partly it's bitterness and hopping 'round and 'round again
On Ontario Street looking up
Maybe I'll catch him on his way to the show
You travel the world and find all the answers
Everything operates on the unattainables
And then you hear your mother laugh attached to the phone
Could have walked around the block 'cause all roads lead to home
Say, will you ever ever ever know,
Ever ever ever fly away?
Will you ever ever ever go,
Ever ever ever find a way?
I think this song brings up really interesting questions about home and the American concept of "home" as being one singular place "rooted" to you. So, I would like to expose my students to a few traditional "home" songs and then show them Wainwright's response to that traditional concept. Then, I would have them compose their own "hometown waltz" and define how they view "home." Where is it? Who is there? Have they found it yet? Was a place they only occupied for a moment, or their entire lives? Is it a feeling? And, we could talk about waltz and ballad forms as a way to also teach the students about poetic/music forms.
This video I find extremely interesting because it is all about turning conventions on their head. It empowers the people generally oppressed or beaten down in traditional social structures such as the overweight high school girl, gay men in a formal setting, and people who have an "alternative" look- tattoos, piercings, etc. The video also flips traditionally masculine roles- the matador is hunted down, P!nk as a gangster, wrestler, terrorist organizer, and is put in a position of sexual power when she is shown in bed with loads of religious figures. That scene in itself turns all kinds of conventions on its head. And, what is really wonderful about P!nk is that she is this beautiful, talented, boisterous woman who is not afraid to laugh at herself and does not buy into the conventions of what is beautiful and what a woman should be. I really dig that. Yes, I would buy P!nk's album after seeing this video, and I think that because she makes herself so assessable to so many people, the music video does a really great job of promoting both P!nk and her values.
Here is one of my favorite Rufus Wainwright songs (of which there are many):
Hometown Waltz
I love this song because it encompasses all the lyricism, beautiful vocals, story, and whimsy that make Rufus Wainwright one of my favorite artists. He is so good at exploring, exploiting, and exploding genres and I just find him so dynamic. He also has a dreamy voice and is a vocal member and advocate of the GLBT community on top of everything else. I like this song specifically, because it has a plucky folk quality to it as well as a little Cajun quality with the accordion. I really like the juxtaposition of these genre markers commonly associated with "homey" American travel songs with the markers which describe Rufus's experience with home- Canada, gay communities, and destroying/leaving all remnants of his home.
Here are the lyrics for the song:
The drummers and jugglers of Montreal
Don't even exist at all
So I'm tearing up these tarot cards and Venetian clowns
Antique shops and alcoholic homosexuals
You may ask why I want to torch my home town
Partly it's bitterness and hopping 'round and 'round again
On Ontario Street looking up
Maybe I'll catch him on his way to the show
You travel the world and find all the answers
Everything operates on the unattainables
And then you hear your mother laugh attached to the phone
Could have walked around the block 'cause all roads lead to home
Say, will you ever ever ever know,
Ever ever ever fly away?
Will you ever ever ever go,
Ever ever ever find a way?
I think this song brings up really interesting questions about home and the American concept of "home" as being one singular place "rooted" to you. So, I would like to expose my students to a few traditional "home" songs and then show them Wainwright's response to that traditional concept. Then, I would have them compose their own "hometown waltz" and define how they view "home." Where is it? Who is there? Have they found it yet? Was a place they only occupied for a moment, or their entire lives? Is it a feeling? And, we could talk about waltz and ballad forms as a way to also teach the students about poetic/music forms.
This video I find extremely interesting because it is all about turning conventions on their head. It empowers the people generally oppressed or beaten down in traditional social structures such as the overweight high school girl, gay men in a formal setting, and people who have an "alternative" look- tattoos, piercings, etc. The video also flips traditionally masculine roles- the matador is hunted down, P!nk as a gangster, wrestler, terrorist organizer, and is put in a position of sexual power when she is shown in bed with loads of religious figures. That scene in itself turns all kinds of conventions on its head. And, what is really wonderful about P!nk is that she is this beautiful, talented, boisterous woman who is not afraid to laugh at herself and does not buy into the conventions of what is beautiful and what a woman should be. I really dig that. Yes, I would buy P!nk's album after seeing this video, and I think that because she makes herself so assessable to so many people, the music video does a really great job of promoting both P!nk and her values.
Documentary!
The documentary I watched was "Sick" Now, let me first say, that this is not a documentary I would recommend for most people. I am really interested in performance art and I think that work like Bob Flanagan's is both challenging and beautiful, but I fully understand that it is not for everyone.
The doc follows Robert Flanagan for, what turns out to be, the last year of his life. Bob was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at a young age and was told for his entire life that he would not be around for a very much longer. Because the condition left Bob in constant pain, he found that masochism was his only outlet for controlling the amount of pain his body underwent. In his own way, inflicting pain on his body was the only time Bob felt he had any control over his body. Bob wrote poetry about his condition and masochism and became well known for his tongue and cheek songs about CF in CF camps and youth organizations he worked with. Eventually, he also became quite well known in the S&M community for doing S&M performance art and eventually broke mainstream. He met his partner, Sheree Rose, also worked with him on his pieces. Always provocative, Bob presented his pieces at various venues and art museums across the nation. The end of the film is the end of Bob's life. The cameras are with him in his hospitol room when he passes away, and the camera also pans over his body in the morgue. What is both upsetting and fascinating about Bob's "work" is that-once he had left his body- he left behind a canvas. All his tattoos, piercings, and scars denote his process and experiences. It is an interesting film, to say the least, and I think it does do a good job of revealing the reality that Bob faced- what could be more real than death. The documentary also delves into the politics of the body by pushing the audience into questioning what makes us uncomfortable and why. Bob was uncomfortable for his entire life, but only by making his audience uncomfortable by manipulating his body in harmful ways was he able to make the audience understand the pain of cystic fibrosis.
Of course, I would never show this film to high school students in a classroom setting because it is so graphic and upsetting, however, I am very interested in showing students clips of docs or whole docs that present a slice of life to see if I can get them to think outside of their comfort zone and self understanding. For example, I would never put nails through my flesh, but in watching Bob's story, I am able to understand why he does. I understand that we are fundamentally different people, and am able to respect and empathize with how he expresses himself. Some docs I'd be interested in showing my students to try and get them to think outside themselves include- This American Life with Ira Glass, Small Town Gay Bar, True Life, the farmers interviews from Food Inc., Maxed Out, etc. I think a well designed graphic organizer and class discussions would be the best way to help students think of themselves in the world, rather than the world revolving around them.
The doc follows Robert Flanagan for, what turns out to be, the last year of his life. Bob was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at a young age and was told for his entire life that he would not be around for a very much longer. Because the condition left Bob in constant pain, he found that masochism was his only outlet for controlling the amount of pain his body underwent. In his own way, inflicting pain on his body was the only time Bob felt he had any control over his body. Bob wrote poetry about his condition and masochism and became well known for his tongue and cheek songs about CF in CF camps and youth organizations he worked with. Eventually, he also became quite well known in the S&M community for doing S&M performance art and eventually broke mainstream. He met his partner, Sheree Rose, also worked with him on his pieces. Always provocative, Bob presented his pieces at various venues and art museums across the nation. The end of the film is the end of Bob's life. The cameras are with him in his hospitol room when he passes away, and the camera also pans over his body in the morgue. What is both upsetting and fascinating about Bob's "work" is that-once he had left his body- he left behind a canvas. All his tattoos, piercings, and scars denote his process and experiences. It is an interesting film, to say the least, and I think it does do a good job of revealing the reality that Bob faced- what could be more real than death. The documentary also delves into the politics of the body by pushing the audience into questioning what makes us uncomfortable and why. Bob was uncomfortable for his entire life, but only by making his audience uncomfortable by manipulating his body in harmful ways was he able to make the audience understand the pain of cystic fibrosis.
Of course, I would never show this film to high school students in a classroom setting because it is so graphic and upsetting, however, I am very interested in showing students clips of docs or whole docs that present a slice of life to see if I can get them to think outside of their comfort zone and self understanding. For example, I would never put nails through my flesh, but in watching Bob's story, I am able to understand why he does. I understand that we are fundamentally different people, and am able to respect and empathize with how he expresses himself. Some docs I'd be interested in showing my students to try and get them to think outside themselves include- This American Life with Ira Glass, Small Town Gay Bar, True Life, the farmers interviews from Food Inc., Maxed Out, etc. I think a well designed graphic organizer and class discussions would be the best way to help students think of themselves in the world, rather than the world revolving around them.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
News Evaluation and Breakdown
For this post, I watched the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams online.
Here is the breakdown of the report:
1. Mozy pro commercial-30 seconds
2. Pacific Coast Drama- 2:54- the rumor that a missile lit up the sky around LA is examined and an interview with a missile expert reveals that it was probably just an airplane creating an optical illusion in the sky. The FAA reveals that it had no radar indication of a fast moving object on the day of the missile sighting. A traffic helicopter filmed the initial sighting.
3. Allstate commercial 16 seconds
4. Stranded at Sea- 2:25- a Carnival cruise liner is stuck out at sea after a fire disabled one of the main engines on the ship. The crew and customers were left without electricity, running water, and toilet use (although the crew has got these running again)relying on airlifted supplies to be brought to them. The enormous ship must be towed by tugboat to Mexico.
5. Obama visits Indonesia-3:02- this has been the President's third attempt to visit Jakarta, but the area's volcano has been spewing ash and delaying his visit. Obama lived in Jakarta for four years, so the trip was spent politically trying to build bridges between the U.S. and Indonesia and visiting old friends and teachers.
6. Merrill Lynch commercial- 15 seconds
7. Interview with one of Obama's Indonesian teachers- 2:43- Obama's teacher reveals that he was a very bright, good humored, and chubby kid, and that he did not recognize him when he ran for the Illinois senate seat until he smiled. The man also remarked that the president doesn't just take care of the U.S., but the whole world, and that is something people don't understand. His last remark was that he hoped the president would be more relaxed and happy the next time they met.
8. Trend Micro Commercial- 13 seconds
9. Cholera outbreak in Haiti- 23 seconds- all this said was that cholera has spread to Port au Prince, and that is very bad news.
10. Bush's Book release- 2:41- George Bush is at a Borders signing his book and segments of a longer interview are shown. Clips include Bush saying that water boarding is not torture because a lawyer told him it was not, Kanye West thinks he's a racist and that is not appropriate, he quit drinking at 40, and he was with his mother, Barbra Bush, when she miscarried and showed him the fetus. He thinks that may be where some of his Pro-Life sentiments stem from.
11. Merrill Lynch commercial- 15 seconds
12. Steven Hayes receives the death penalty-1:02-6 members of the Steven Hayes trial discuss what it was like handing down the death penalty as a sentence. One juror said, on the Today Show, that it was a "tool the founding fathers gave us to use when we saw fit, and this man is not capable of producing anything positive for society."
13. NYC Chancellor of Schools leaves-18 seconds- He is stepping down to change his career to the corporate world.
14. Achievement Gap Report-2:24- the report discusses how Black male students significantly under perform on standardized tests, how family and socio-economic features add to the stats, and how charter schools aimed at Black male students are trying to close the gap. 50% of Black males graduate from public high schools and 5% of college students are black males.
15. Merrill Lynch- 15 seconds
16. Mr. Goodwrench Gone- 27 seconds- The longstanding GM "mascot" will discontinue this year.
17. Mr. Peanut Speaks- 25 seconds- Mr. Peanut, the Planter's Peanut mascot, has not spoken for decades, but is now voiced by Robert Downey Jr.
18. The Great American Clothes Swap- 2:11- This is an "Apparel Diet" that several women in CA are now a part of. They clean out their closets and examine what clothes they already have, make outfits from them, and vow to stop shopping for a month. The women also meet to swap clothes to give themselves a variety by recycling instead of consuming. A shopping expert says that, in order to be a smart shopper, you need to have a budget, a buddy, and a stopwatch.
19. Mozy commercial- 30 seconds
20. Perils of Apparel Diet (my title)-1:50- loads of retailers and other women were made about the clothes club's mission. The leader reminds women that you already are fabulous.
21. 6 Items or Less- 1:50- a woman who started a similar club speaks about how she only wore 6 items for a month and learned how to accessorize with those things instead of continually buying new things. She gained followers and media attention by using Facebook and Twitter as connection services.
22. Cadillac commercial-16 seconds
23. Consumer's love debt- 1:46- A woman who works with women who spend too much on clothes talks about the American trend for overspending and accruing debt.
First off, I would like to comment on how hard it is to find a news broadcast to watch online that isn't the Colbert Report or Daily Show. I do not have TV in my house, and watch most of my media on my computer and just use our television to watch movies and what not on Netflix. It took me a long time to find a news source that wasn't just snippets of previous programs. There also seems to exist a "privileged" news media. In the show I watched, there were extra segments you could watch after the program labeled "web only." For instance, one of these clips was a longer segment of the Bush interview which revealed why part of the clip was filmed in a church- because that's where Bush and Laura got married, and his faith helped him quit drinking. The majority of the other "web only" clips were from the program's British constituents featuring British reporters.
In terms of content, I was not very unimpressed. After watching, I do not feel that I know anything that is pressing in the world. There was no update about what is going on in Afghanistan, how the gulf clean-up is going, ANY mention of the economy etc. I thought that most of the program was fluff. Perhaps that is what the Nightly News program is, but I just assumed it would be more informative! Also, several of the news stories that I thought were most important were only seconds long! The cholera outbreak in Haiti only received 23 seconds of airtime, but this is an issue that will have devastating effects on the country. Meanwhile, the program spent the greatest amount of time on upper-middle class white women who have decided to cut back on spending money on clothes. That story got 5:01! Not to sound like a curmudgeon, I am happy for those ladies, but I don't really care. Something that I do care about- the achievement gap report- only got 2:24 of airtime. I think that is unacceptable, and is one of the major reasons I stopped watching the news in the first place.
Activity:
To really highlight this issue of misinformation, I would like to introduce my students to different news sources. Providing my students with a frame of reference for what other countries, people, and cultures deem "news worthy." After stumbling around the internet, I found this neat site which I would like to use in the classroom. I would break students to groups in which they would be assigned to one of the news sources. Each group would watch and take notes on 10 minutes of news and then return to the larger group and share their findings.
Here is the breakdown of the report:
1. Mozy pro commercial-30 seconds
2. Pacific Coast Drama- 2:54- the rumor that a missile lit up the sky around LA is examined and an interview with a missile expert reveals that it was probably just an airplane creating an optical illusion in the sky. The FAA reveals that it had no radar indication of a fast moving object on the day of the missile sighting. A traffic helicopter filmed the initial sighting.
3. Allstate commercial 16 seconds
4. Stranded at Sea- 2:25- a Carnival cruise liner is stuck out at sea after a fire disabled one of the main engines on the ship. The crew and customers were left without electricity, running water, and toilet use (although the crew has got these running again)relying on airlifted supplies to be brought to them. The enormous ship must be towed by tugboat to Mexico.
5. Obama visits Indonesia-3:02- this has been the President's third attempt to visit Jakarta, but the area's volcano has been spewing ash and delaying his visit. Obama lived in Jakarta for four years, so the trip was spent politically trying to build bridges between the U.S. and Indonesia and visiting old friends and teachers.
6. Merrill Lynch commercial- 15 seconds
7. Interview with one of Obama's Indonesian teachers- 2:43- Obama's teacher reveals that he was a very bright, good humored, and chubby kid, and that he did not recognize him when he ran for the Illinois senate seat until he smiled. The man also remarked that the president doesn't just take care of the U.S., but the whole world, and that is something people don't understand. His last remark was that he hoped the president would be more relaxed and happy the next time they met.
8. Trend Micro Commercial- 13 seconds
9. Cholera outbreak in Haiti- 23 seconds- all this said was that cholera has spread to Port au Prince, and that is very bad news.
10. Bush's Book release- 2:41- George Bush is at a Borders signing his book and segments of a longer interview are shown. Clips include Bush saying that water boarding is not torture because a lawyer told him it was not, Kanye West thinks he's a racist and that is not appropriate, he quit drinking at 40, and he was with his mother, Barbra Bush, when she miscarried and showed him the fetus. He thinks that may be where some of his Pro-Life sentiments stem from.
11. Merrill Lynch commercial- 15 seconds
12. Steven Hayes receives the death penalty-1:02-6 members of the Steven Hayes trial discuss what it was like handing down the death penalty as a sentence. One juror said, on the Today Show, that it was a "tool the founding fathers gave us to use when we saw fit, and this man is not capable of producing anything positive for society."
13. NYC Chancellor of Schools leaves-18 seconds- He is stepping down to change his career to the corporate world.
14. Achievement Gap Report-2:24- the report discusses how Black male students significantly under perform on standardized tests, how family and socio-economic features add to the stats, and how charter schools aimed at Black male students are trying to close the gap. 50% of Black males graduate from public high schools and 5% of college students are black males.
15. Merrill Lynch- 15 seconds
16. Mr. Goodwrench Gone- 27 seconds- The longstanding GM "mascot" will discontinue this year.
17. Mr. Peanut Speaks- 25 seconds- Mr. Peanut, the Planter's Peanut mascot, has not spoken for decades, but is now voiced by Robert Downey Jr.
18. The Great American Clothes Swap- 2:11- This is an "Apparel Diet" that several women in CA are now a part of. They clean out their closets and examine what clothes they already have, make outfits from them, and vow to stop shopping for a month. The women also meet to swap clothes to give themselves a variety by recycling instead of consuming. A shopping expert says that, in order to be a smart shopper, you need to have a budget, a buddy, and a stopwatch.
19. Mozy commercial- 30 seconds
20. Perils of Apparel Diet (my title)-1:50- loads of retailers and other women were made about the clothes club's mission. The leader reminds women that you already are fabulous.
21. 6 Items or Less- 1:50- a woman who started a similar club speaks about how she only wore 6 items for a month and learned how to accessorize with those things instead of continually buying new things. She gained followers and media attention by using Facebook and Twitter as connection services.
22. Cadillac commercial-16 seconds
23. Consumer's love debt- 1:46- A woman who works with women who spend too much on clothes talks about the American trend for overspending and accruing debt.
First off, I would like to comment on how hard it is to find a news broadcast to watch online that isn't the Colbert Report or Daily Show. I do not have TV in my house, and watch most of my media on my computer and just use our television to watch movies and what not on Netflix. It took me a long time to find a news source that wasn't just snippets of previous programs. There also seems to exist a "privileged" news media. In the show I watched, there were extra segments you could watch after the program labeled "web only." For instance, one of these clips was a longer segment of the Bush interview which revealed why part of the clip was filmed in a church- because that's where Bush and Laura got married, and his faith helped him quit drinking. The majority of the other "web only" clips were from the program's British constituents featuring British reporters.
In terms of content, I was not very unimpressed. After watching, I do not feel that I know anything that is pressing in the world. There was no update about what is going on in Afghanistan, how the gulf clean-up is going, ANY mention of the economy etc. I thought that most of the program was fluff. Perhaps that is what the Nightly News program is, but I just assumed it would be more informative! Also, several of the news stories that I thought were most important were only seconds long! The cholera outbreak in Haiti only received 23 seconds of airtime, but this is an issue that will have devastating effects on the country. Meanwhile, the program spent the greatest amount of time on upper-middle class white women who have decided to cut back on spending money on clothes. That story got 5:01! Not to sound like a curmudgeon, I am happy for those ladies, but I don't really care. Something that I do care about- the achievement gap report- only got 2:24 of airtime. I think that is unacceptable, and is one of the major reasons I stopped watching the news in the first place.
Activity:
To really highlight this issue of misinformation, I would like to introduce my students to different news sources. Providing my students with a frame of reference for what other countries, people, and cultures deem "news worthy." After stumbling around the internet, I found this neat site which I would like to use in the classroom. I would break students to groups in which they would be assigned to one of the news sources. Each group would watch and take notes on 10 minutes of news and then return to the larger group and share their findings.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Genre Evaluation Take Two
Well, for whatever reason, my first post of this did not copy to my blog, but I will try again!
I chose horror as the genre I would like to examine because I think it is a fascinating genre. The line between good horror films and bad horror films (and books, and shows, etc.) seems to be so clear, yet horror movies seem to be one of the few niche markets that can knowingly release "bad" work, and still do well financially.
When I think of "good" horror movies, I think of The Shining, The Exorcist, The Omen, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Alien, Saw, Halloween, Psycho, Scream, Sean of the Dead, Paranormal Activity, etc. Alternatively, when I think of "bad" horror films, my mind reverts back to the genre itself- most horror films are bad. For the most part, "good" horror films tend to be the exception, and this is only until they are sullied by the plethora of sequels and prequels that inevitably follow any scary movie success. So what makes a good horror film?
This is a tricky question. When you get down to it, the same aspects of "good" film apply to all movies, but with horror, I believe that timing is of the essence. You have slow burn movies like The Shining and Paranormal Activity where it takes the entire film's length to reach the payoff point, and you have rough and rowdy rides like Saw and Halloween that scare you from the get go.
It is also my opinion that less is more in horror movies. Consider Jaws. The first half of the film is terrifying because you never see the shark. While shooting the film, Spielberg could not get the mechanical shark to function properly, so they tried shooting glimpses and shadows of Jaws instead of showing what a giant, floating set piece he really was. This turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to Spielberg.
Films like Paranormal Activity pick up where Jaws left off. Here is what I thought was the most terrifying moment in the film:
Smart horror films seem to attack us when we are most vulnerable, in our sleep, in the bathroom, etc. And, I think the reason subtle horror movies like Paranormal Activity are so scary in the face of giant, digital monsters and unnecessarily explicit gore is that it plays on things we encounter that scare us. A billow of wind through a bedsheet, a creek in the house, a glimpse of a shadow are all things that make us jump.
The last bit of this genre I would like to discuss is the sub genre of slasher movies. I think it is incredibly hard to make a good slasher movie. There are only a few that come to mind: Psycho, Scream, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, etc. Partly what ruins most generic slasher movies is the incredibly flawed logic that exists within most slasher films (and horror films as a whole). As a matter of fact, most slasher movies are laughable, which is why films like Scream are so great. Scream knows what it is and in what genre it exists and exploits that to include themselves in the joke as opposed to being the butt of it.
Part of the reason so much horror becomes comedic is because the beats are extremely similar to comedy. There is a set up, the anticipation/build, and then the payoff: the punchline or the scare. One major difference between the two genres is that in comedy, the clown sees everything, but in horror, the victim only sees when it is too late. Laughter is also just another coping mechanism for dealing with things we cannot understand, or that scare us. I think this connection is the real reason anyone bothers with horror movies at all: it's fun to feel scared once in a while!
Here is my teaching activity that can also be found on our PB Works site:
Oh, the horror...the horror! Examining cliches and the horror genre
by Allison Witham
After reading a classic, such as Frankenstein or Dracula, or modern piece of horror literature, The Shining etc., I would ask the students to create a series of lists. The first list would be qualities of good films such as logical progression through the story, well developed characters, the film leaves an impression on the audience, etc. I would then ask them to think of horror movies they have seen and jot down what are some common features of horror movies like, plot holes, graphic violence, graphic nudity, sequels, etc. Finally, I would ask them to create a venn diagram with their two lists to figure out what are the earmarks of good horror movies are. After hearing from the students about the common characteristics they found between good movies and horror movies, I would ask the students about the horror characteristics that did not meet the "good movies" criteria they established. After hearing from students and writing their observations on the board, I would introduce the idea of cliches. We would have a brief lesson on cliches and their uses and then move on to the second half of the activity.
The students would be broken into groups and asked to imagine they are the producers of Dracula (or whatever novel they are reading). I would then pass out reviews and stills of previous versions of the film or, (depending on the grade level and appropriateness) perhaps even show some clips. After they materials have been passed out, I would ask the students to devise criteria for the film to make it a "good horror film." Ex. Count Dracula's accent should be legit, the costumes should be period and not just about showing off the actresses' chests, and the characters should have some depth to them instead of being wooden. Afterward, the groups would be invited to pitch their films to the class and vote on who should be produced.
I chose horror as the genre I would like to examine because I think it is a fascinating genre. The line between good horror films and bad horror films (and books, and shows, etc.) seems to be so clear, yet horror movies seem to be one of the few niche markets that can knowingly release "bad" work, and still do well financially.
When I think of "good" horror movies, I think of The Shining, The Exorcist, The Omen, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Alien, Saw, Halloween, Psycho, Scream, Sean of the Dead, Paranormal Activity, etc. Alternatively, when I think of "bad" horror films, my mind reverts back to the genre itself- most horror films are bad. For the most part, "good" horror films tend to be the exception, and this is only until they are sullied by the plethora of sequels and prequels that inevitably follow any scary movie success. So what makes a good horror film?
This is a tricky question. When you get down to it, the same aspects of "good" film apply to all movies, but with horror, I believe that timing is of the essence. You have slow burn movies like The Shining and Paranormal Activity where it takes the entire film's length to reach the payoff point, and you have rough and rowdy rides like Saw and Halloween that scare you from the get go.
It is also my opinion that less is more in horror movies. Consider Jaws. The first half of the film is terrifying because you never see the shark. While shooting the film, Spielberg could not get the mechanical shark to function properly, so they tried shooting glimpses and shadows of Jaws instead of showing what a giant, floating set piece he really was. This turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to Spielberg.
Films like Paranormal Activity pick up where Jaws left off. Here is what I thought was the most terrifying moment in the film:
Smart horror films seem to attack us when we are most vulnerable, in our sleep, in the bathroom, etc. And, I think the reason subtle horror movies like Paranormal Activity are so scary in the face of giant, digital monsters and unnecessarily explicit gore is that it plays on things we encounter that scare us. A billow of wind through a bedsheet, a creek in the house, a glimpse of a shadow are all things that make us jump.
The last bit of this genre I would like to discuss is the sub genre of slasher movies. I think it is incredibly hard to make a good slasher movie. There are only a few that come to mind: Psycho, Scream, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, etc. Partly what ruins most generic slasher movies is the incredibly flawed logic that exists within most slasher films (and horror films as a whole). As a matter of fact, most slasher movies are laughable, which is why films like Scream are so great. Scream knows what it is and in what genre it exists and exploits that to include themselves in the joke as opposed to being the butt of it.
Part of the reason so much horror becomes comedic is because the beats are extremely similar to comedy. There is a set up, the anticipation/build, and then the payoff: the punchline or the scare. One major difference between the two genres is that in comedy, the clown sees everything, but in horror, the victim only sees when it is too late. Laughter is also just another coping mechanism for dealing with things we cannot understand, or that scare us. I think this connection is the real reason anyone bothers with horror movies at all: it's fun to feel scared once in a while!
Here is my teaching activity that can also be found on our PB Works site:
Oh, the horror...the horror! Examining cliches and the horror genre
by Allison Witham
After reading a classic, such as Frankenstein or Dracula, or modern piece of horror literature, The Shining etc., I would ask the students to create a series of lists. The first list would be qualities of good films such as logical progression through the story, well developed characters, the film leaves an impression on the audience, etc. I would then ask them to think of horror movies they have seen and jot down what are some common features of horror movies like, plot holes, graphic violence, graphic nudity, sequels, etc. Finally, I would ask them to create a venn diagram with their two lists to figure out what are the earmarks of good horror movies are. After hearing from the students about the common characteristics they found between good movies and horror movies, I would ask the students about the horror characteristics that did not meet the "good movies" criteria they established. After hearing from students and writing their observations on the board, I would introduce the idea of cliches. We would have a brief lesson on cliches and their uses and then move on to the second half of the activity.
The students would be broken into groups and asked to imagine they are the producers of Dracula (or whatever novel they are reading). I would then pass out reviews and stills of previous versions of the film or, (depending on the grade level and appropriateness) perhaps even show some clips. After they materials have been passed out, I would ask the students to devise criteria for the film to make it a "good horror film." Ex. Count Dracula's accent should be legit, the costumes should be period and not just about showing off the actresses' chests, and the characters should have some depth to them instead of being wooden. Afterward, the groups would be invited to pitch their films to the class and vote on who should be produced.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Media Ethnography
For my media ethnography assessment, inspired by Tara's examination of Gopher games, I chose to discuss the trend of the Minneapolis theatre scene and it's unavoidable money troubles.
Last night, at Woyzeck we had ten audience members for our first show, and five audience members for our second show. Tonight, Thursday, we have one hundred and fifty tickets pre-sold for all three shows. Obviously, there is a large disparity here due, most likely, to a growing trend in audience attendance I will speak more on later. Weekends are really the "banking" points of a a show's run. It is just incredibly difficult to get patrons in seats during the Monday through Thursday portion of the week without offering a discounted incentive. This is understandable, though. People work during the week, have appointments and errands, and probably need to get up early the following morning. For performers, some shows often offer Monday night performances if they want to include actors, crew, and techs in their audience. This is because most runs are "dark," or have the night off, on Mondays.
Last night, I spoke with two members of the audience about their days after the last show.
Nick:
Nick is a recent graduate of University of the U. His degree is in theatre arts, and he came to see the show because he saw the last version, knew a lot of people in the cast, and really liked all the "shots up on Facebook." I asked Nick how many plays he sees a month. He thought about it for a second, and asked if he was supposed to imagine if he was not working on anything himself. I said yes. "Oh, probably at least two a month. Sometimes one each week. You know, Allison, depends what's playing." I then asked Nick what he thought about people our age and younger seeing shows. He told me that most people our age and younger have probably never stepped foot in a theater. "Most people I know who see theatre, are involved/ were involved in theatre at some point in their lives. I also think it is kind of stigmatized for dudes to come and see plays on their own. Not me, though. I don't care. And, its stupid, look at your show, it's like a haunted house- which people love. I don't know, I don't get it." I asked Nick if he thought cost was a factor. He told me it was probably the biggest factor to more people not being able to, or thinking to attend shows. He explained that he never actively went to see shows as a young person, because he had no money. Only once he was in college, working, and getting student discounts could he afford to go out and see performances. I asked him if he sees much dance theatre. Nick told me that he did not, though he wished he did. Lastly, I asked Nick if shows featuring new media in them draw him in over others: "Yes and no," he explained. I think it has to be done well. Sometimes it seems gimmicky and I don't like that, but other times it is really cool. Like the person to film scene in Brief Encounter the Guthrie brought in, that was amazing."
Linda: Linda is in her early fifties (I did not get to ask her where she worked), and is a major follower of dance theatre. She told me that she loves Black Label Movement's work, and came to the show expecting to see more of a dance concert and was pleasantly surprised with the "museum-like qualities and theatricality" of the show. I asked Linda if she saw much theatre, and she told me that her husband was more into theatre, and that they would occasionally go to the Guthrie to see shows there. When I asked her if her husband came with her to see the show, she told me, "No, he is a pretty traditional guy when it comes to shows. No offense, but he would have hated this. That's just him, though. He used to turn his nose up at dance, as well, but has warmed up to it over the years." I asked Linda what other theaters she liked to go to, and she responded that she really loved going to the Walker and seeing outside dance companies, but it was pretty expensive, and she also enjoyed going to the Ritz theater for dance concerts. I asked her if she had ever been to the Bedlam or Bryant Lake Bowl. She told me she had been to BLB a few times times and really enjoyed herself, and had never been to Bedlam, but had heard "interesting things." When asked how many shows she sees a month, Linda told me she saw one or two a month. Lastly, I asked Linda if shows featuring media, or media sources featuring shows played into her choosing to see certain performances over others: "Yes, I do like when projections and things like that are used, especially in dance. It is so beautiful to see the form and line of the body against the lines of the projection" and "Yes, I have the Facebook now, my daughter is so embarrassed. I joined the groups of the dance companies I really like and get their invites, and it helps me schedule which shows I want to see instead of sifted through all the postcards!"
Reflections:
Right now, theaters are suffering. It is currently better to be a company than a venue. Several companies I work with around the Cities have had issues with empty opening and mid-run sections of shows, and then selling out their last four performances making the ever looming threat of breaking even more and more dire. On the flip side, several venues around the Cities, such as the Southern, are taking the risk out of putting up shows for themselves and putting it on the invited company. The Southern now sets monetary goals for each weekends take for any show they let in their doors. If the company does not make its goal, the company must make up for the money lost from house totals. It seems harsh, but is actually an insurance policy for the Southern to keep them in the black. Running a space is incredibly expensive and theaters closing around the Twin Cities has everything to do with money rather than talent or integrity. Check out this article about Jeune Lune for a sad example of bankruptcy ruining art:
On the subject of cost to audience members, an interesting division of patrons occurs at different theaters. At theaters like the Guthrie, Orpheum, State, and Walker, ticket costs are high. Most patrons of these theaters are well to do, frequently attend those theaters, and are usually forty years old and above. These venues generally show "straight" plays and musicals, with the Walker being the exception. Theaters such as the Southern, Mixed Blood, Red Eye, and the Jungle are middle sized theaters that serve, generally a more diverse population of people, and art, bring in younger crowds, late 20's and up, and feature more experimental shows with shorter runs, and younger casts. Finally, theaters like Bedlam, Open Eye Figure Theatre, and Bryant Lake Bowl serve the counter culture of the theater community and offer off-the-cuff new works, bar and bike culture within the theater space, and maintain incredibly young audiences ranging from late teens to 90's.
When examining venue, it seems that Minneapolis theatre is a hobby for the privileged, despite groups like Bedlam (who also just lost their space, but will reopen soon) doing their best to incorporate diversity and community based activities. But, there is one company that stands out among the rest for promoting social justice and has making theatre assessable to all. This is Ten Thousand Things Theatre. Artistic Director Michelle Hensley gets some of the best actors in Minneapolis together to work on classics from the canon and then brings her actors to community centers, homeless shelters, correctional facilities, rehab centers, and other spaces where access to art is sparse and puts on the shows for free. The company works with minimal sets and sound, and the lights stay on the whole time so the audience can see each other experiencing the performance. TTT chooses plays that have real meaning for their audiences. Last year, the company performed Othello and Endgame and Hensley said that their community audiences related to them on deep levels. The women incarcerated in the correctional facilities felt Clove's pain in his restlessness. The adolescents at Native American Community Center understood the Othello's horror after learning of his double cross. The company makes theatre personally significant to it's audience. In addition to their free, community shows, TTT also performs at Open Book for paying audiences to help fund their efforts in the community.
Last night, at Woyzeck we had ten audience members for our first show, and five audience members for our second show. Tonight, Thursday, we have one hundred and fifty tickets pre-sold for all three shows. Obviously, there is a large disparity here due, most likely, to a growing trend in audience attendance I will speak more on later. Weekends are really the "banking" points of a a show's run. It is just incredibly difficult to get patrons in seats during the Monday through Thursday portion of the week without offering a discounted incentive. This is understandable, though. People work during the week, have appointments and errands, and probably need to get up early the following morning. For performers, some shows often offer Monday night performances if they want to include actors, crew, and techs in their audience. This is because most runs are "dark," or have the night off, on Mondays.
Last night, I spoke with two members of the audience about their days after the last show.
Nick:
Nick is a recent graduate of University of the U. His degree is in theatre arts, and he came to see the show because he saw the last version, knew a lot of people in the cast, and really liked all the "shots up on Facebook." I asked Nick how many plays he sees a month. He thought about it for a second, and asked if he was supposed to imagine if he was not working on anything himself. I said yes. "Oh, probably at least two a month. Sometimes one each week. You know, Allison, depends what's playing." I then asked Nick what he thought about people our age and younger seeing shows. He told me that most people our age and younger have probably never stepped foot in a theater. "Most people I know who see theatre, are involved/ were involved in theatre at some point in their lives. I also think it is kind of stigmatized for dudes to come and see plays on their own. Not me, though. I don't care. And, its stupid, look at your show, it's like a haunted house- which people love. I don't know, I don't get it." I asked Nick if he thought cost was a factor. He told me it was probably the biggest factor to more people not being able to, or thinking to attend shows. He explained that he never actively went to see shows as a young person, because he had no money. Only once he was in college, working, and getting student discounts could he afford to go out and see performances. I asked him if he sees much dance theatre. Nick told me that he did not, though he wished he did. Lastly, I asked Nick if shows featuring new media in them draw him in over others: "Yes and no," he explained. I think it has to be done well. Sometimes it seems gimmicky and I don't like that, but other times it is really cool. Like the person to film scene in Brief Encounter the Guthrie brought in, that was amazing."
Linda: Linda is in her early fifties (I did not get to ask her where she worked), and is a major follower of dance theatre. She told me that she loves Black Label Movement's work, and came to the show expecting to see more of a dance concert and was pleasantly surprised with the "museum-like qualities and theatricality" of the show. I asked Linda if she saw much theatre, and she told me that her husband was more into theatre, and that they would occasionally go to the Guthrie to see shows there. When I asked her if her husband came with her to see the show, she told me, "No, he is a pretty traditional guy when it comes to shows. No offense, but he would have hated this. That's just him, though. He used to turn his nose up at dance, as well, but has warmed up to it over the years." I asked Linda what other theaters she liked to go to, and she responded that she really loved going to the Walker and seeing outside dance companies, but it was pretty expensive, and she also enjoyed going to the Ritz theater for dance concerts. I asked her if she had ever been to the Bedlam or Bryant Lake Bowl. She told me she had been to BLB a few times times and really enjoyed herself, and had never been to Bedlam, but had heard "interesting things." When asked how many shows she sees a month, Linda told me she saw one or two a month. Lastly, I asked Linda if shows featuring media, or media sources featuring shows played into her choosing to see certain performances over others: "Yes, I do like when projections and things like that are used, especially in dance. It is so beautiful to see the form and line of the body against the lines of the projection" and "Yes, I have the Facebook now, my daughter is so embarrassed. I joined the groups of the dance companies I really like and get their invites, and it helps me schedule which shows I want to see instead of sifted through all the postcards!"
Reflections:
Right now, theaters are suffering. It is currently better to be a company than a venue. Several companies I work with around the Cities have had issues with empty opening and mid-run sections of shows, and then selling out their last four performances making the ever looming threat of breaking even more and more dire. On the flip side, several venues around the Cities, such as the Southern, are taking the risk out of putting up shows for themselves and putting it on the invited company. The Southern now sets monetary goals for each weekends take for any show they let in their doors. If the company does not make its goal, the company must make up for the money lost from house totals. It seems harsh, but is actually an insurance policy for the Southern to keep them in the black. Running a space is incredibly expensive and theaters closing around the Twin Cities has everything to do with money rather than talent or integrity. Check out this article about Jeune Lune for a sad example of bankruptcy ruining art:
On the subject of cost to audience members, an interesting division of patrons occurs at different theaters. At theaters like the Guthrie, Orpheum, State, and Walker, ticket costs are high. Most patrons of these theaters are well to do, frequently attend those theaters, and are usually forty years old and above. These venues generally show "straight" plays and musicals, with the Walker being the exception. Theaters such as the Southern, Mixed Blood, Red Eye, and the Jungle are middle sized theaters that serve, generally a more diverse population of people, and art, bring in younger crowds, late 20's and up, and feature more experimental shows with shorter runs, and younger casts. Finally, theaters like Bedlam, Open Eye Figure Theatre, and Bryant Lake Bowl serve the counter culture of the theater community and offer off-the-cuff new works, bar and bike culture within the theater space, and maintain incredibly young audiences ranging from late teens to 90's.
When examining venue, it seems that Minneapolis theatre is a hobby for the privileged, despite groups like Bedlam (who also just lost their space, but will reopen soon) doing their best to incorporate diversity and community based activities. But, there is one company that stands out among the rest for promoting social justice and has making theatre assessable to all. This is Ten Thousand Things Theatre. Artistic Director Michelle Hensley gets some of the best actors in Minneapolis together to work on classics from the canon and then brings her actors to community centers, homeless shelters, correctional facilities, rehab centers, and other spaces where access to art is sparse and puts on the shows for free. The company works with minimal sets and sound, and the lights stay on the whole time so the audience can see each other experiencing the performance. TTT chooses plays that have real meaning for their audiences. Last year, the company performed Othello and Endgame and Hensley said that their community audiences related to them on deep levels. The women incarcerated in the correctional facilities felt Clove's pain in his restlessness. The adolescents at Native American Community Center understood the Othello's horror after learning of his double cross. The company makes theatre personally significant to it's audience. In addition to their free, community shows, TTT also performs at Open Book for paying audiences to help fund their efforts in the community.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Bring your cameras, cell phones, and video cameras to Woyzeck!
If you would like to come check out Woyzeck, feel free to bring any recording devices to use during the performance. You can then upload any media you capture to the Woyzeck-My Woyzeck Facebook page and share your experience with others who have seen, plan to see, cannot see the show! Here is a video mash up someone snagged from previews:
Thursday, October 21, 2010
How iTunes has changed the way I think about music
When the iPod first came out, I was very hesitant to get one. I have always liked going to music stores and buying a cd, and looking at the inside artwork, and inserting the disc into a machine that played it. Call me old fashioned. But, all this changed when I got my new computer for my freshman year of college. At that time, when you bought a mac, you received a free iPod nano via a rather lengthy rebate proceedure.
As soon as I started playing with iTunes, I was hooked. Now I have an iPod classic that I try to cram as much music on as possible. I have begun hoarding my friend's music onto my iPod. But, the more I put on the device that I do not actually own, the greater the potential for me losing all that music is. I am actually starting to get paranoid about what will happen to my music should the iPod die, which it will invariably do. I also don't like how music is purchased anymore. I miss music stores. I loved going to Sam Goody as a kid! It was a treat! Now you can shop from home on the iTunes Store and all your purchases are remembered for you. It is kind of weird to me, actually. I still have all my cds from my adolescence, as well as a large number of my dad's cd collection. Needless to say, I will not be giving them up any time soon. One benefit of iTunes is that it enables the user to quickly make playlists and dump sound creations from garage band into a burnable format. And, I have to admite the genius playlist configuring feature is pretty cool.
I guess I am just conflicted overall.
As soon as I started playing with iTunes, I was hooked. Now I have an iPod classic that I try to cram as much music on as possible. I have begun hoarding my friend's music onto my iPod. But, the more I put on the device that I do not actually own, the greater the potential for me losing all that music is. I am actually starting to get paranoid about what will happen to my music should the iPod die, which it will invariably do. I also don't like how music is purchased anymore. I miss music stores. I loved going to Sam Goody as a kid! It was a treat! Now you can shop from home on the iTunes Store and all your purchases are remembered for you. It is kind of weird to me, actually. I still have all my cds from my adolescence, as well as a large number of my dad's cd collection. Needless to say, I will not be giving them up any time soon. One benefit of iTunes is that it enables the user to quickly make playlists and dump sound creations from garage band into a burnable format. And, I have to admite the genius playlist configuring feature is pretty cool.
I guess I am just conflicted overall.
Voice thread
http://voicethread.com/share/1422357/
I hope this works!!! I have tried so many times to make this silly voice thread turn out correctly, if not, I will try again....
I hope this works!!! I have tried so many times to make this silly voice thread turn out correctly, if not, I will try again....
Thursday, October 7, 2010
If you want to see Woyzeck for free...
You could usher one of the shows!
Here is the pertinent info:
Ushers are still needed for most shows of Woyzeck Project. I was
wondering if any of you might have students who would like to see the
show for free sort of speak, that is usher for the show. Each show
will have three ushers: one as crowd control at the front door and the
other two will tour with the audience.
If you know anyone who might be interested or have students, feel free
to give them my info below.
Alison Goetzman <---(Note, this is not the Allison who is your classmate)
Audience Services Manager + McKnight Fellowship Assistant
The Southern Theater
1420 Washington Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55454
alison@southerntheater.org
612.340.0155 ext310
Here is the pertinent info:
Ushers are still needed for most shows of Woyzeck Project. I was
wondering if any of you might have students who would like to see the
show for free sort of speak, that is usher for the show. Each show
will have three ushers: one as crowd control at the front door and the
other two will tour with the audience.
If you know anyone who might be interested or have students, feel free
to give them my info below.
Alison Goetzman <---(Note, this is not the Allison who is your classmate)
Audience Services Manager + McKnight Fellowship Assistant
The Southern Theater
1420 Washington Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55454
alison@southerntheater.org
612.340.0155 ext310
Incorporating media lenses into lesson plans
This lesson would be designed to introduce students to reading media through the feminist lens.
First I would ask the students to think about videos and commercials they've seen from the 1950's and 60's. I would draw a diagram on the board with the headers "men" and "women" and ask the students what words pop into their heads when thinking about gender in that time frame.
Once brainstorming is complete, I would show the class a powerpoint of some 1950's and 1960's ads that perpetuate gender norms of the times. A brief discussion would follow noting their observations.
I will then show the students the "Somewhere That's Green" clip from Little Shop of Horrors once to let them acclimate to the clip:
Once they've seen the clip, I will ask them to share what they thought with the class. After a few observations/opinions, I will ask the class if they thought the clip highlighted any of our preconceived notions of gender in the 50's and 60's. After their response, I'll ask them if there was any evidence against what we devised on the board. Then, I will ask the students if they thought the clip was funny, and why?
I will ask the students if they know what satire is, and take a couple of definition attempts before giving a definition.
Next, I will ask the students to watch the clip again, this time looking for elements of satire.
After the second showing, I will ask for their observations.
For homework, I would ask students to think about gender in the present, and bring in some current ads that deal with gender. I would also ask them to think about what would the modern, "Somewhere That's Green" look like?
First I would ask the students to think about videos and commercials they've seen from the 1950's and 60's. I would draw a diagram on the board with the headers "men" and "women" and ask the students what words pop into their heads when thinking about gender in that time frame.
Once brainstorming is complete, I would show the class a powerpoint of some 1950's and 1960's ads that perpetuate gender norms of the times. A brief discussion would follow noting their observations.
I will then show the students the "Somewhere That's Green" clip from Little Shop of Horrors once to let them acclimate to the clip:
Once they've seen the clip, I will ask them to share what they thought with the class. After a few observations/opinions, I will ask the class if they thought the clip highlighted any of our preconceived notions of gender in the 50's and 60's. After their response, I'll ask them if there was any evidence against what we devised on the board. Then, I will ask the students if they thought the clip was funny, and why?
I will ask the students if they know what satire is, and take a couple of definition attempts before giving a definition.
Next, I will ask the students to watch the clip again, this time looking for elements of satire.
After the second showing, I will ask for their observations.
For homework, I would ask students to think about gender in the present, and bring in some current ads that deal with gender. I would also ask them to think about what would the modern, "Somewhere That's Green" look like?
Analysis of Bud Light commercial
The below ad was banned from the 2010 Superbowl, but it actually says a lot about American culture.
Through the lens of race: All of the office employees who are highlighted in the commercial are white. At the end of the commercial, the African American man and woman who work in the office are shoved behind the line of white people so they are hardly visible. Furthermore, the only African American individual featured in the commercial is a delivery man, who oafishly slams into a wall after seeing the secretary naked behind her desk. This implies a number of things. 1. White collar jobs are mostly reserved for white people in this world. The delivery man's shirt is blue, implying that if your are not white, you are doomed to blue collar work. So, race in this video is also related to class. 2. The delivery man is the only person to have a large reaction to nudity in the commercial, and he is the only man to react to the naked woman. This could be viewed as an echo of the brutally racist idea that African American men lust after white women.
This commercial can also be viewed from the feminist lens: First, the commercial starts with traditional gender role reinforcement. Women are supposed to be the nurturers in our society, so naturally the female office employee takes it upon herself to organize the clothing drive. The men couldn't care less, until they are offered a personal benefit: beer. And apparently, women do not like beer. Throughout the whole video, the only woman who derobes for extra beer is the secretary. This subtle indication of class differences implies that well bred, white collar women do not drink beer, but lower middle class and working class women can drink with the boys. And, of course, we need to talk about body image. The secretary is fit, tan, and embodies the male ideal of what "sexy" looks like. The other women in the commercial, who are a bit plain, are dressed extremely conservatively and seem prudish. This is also measured against the men who strip for beer. Most of them have bellies, unkempt body hair, expose skin that has never seen the sun, and do not embody what would be called "sexy." Their nudity is supposed to be funny, but why couldn't the stuffy women strip down as well? That would be funny, wouldn't it? This disparity between body types, intentions, and genders are all earmarks of the pale perspective of the human body.
Check it out for yourself!
Through the lens of race: All of the office employees who are highlighted in the commercial are white. At the end of the commercial, the African American man and woman who work in the office are shoved behind the line of white people so they are hardly visible. Furthermore, the only African American individual featured in the commercial is a delivery man, who oafishly slams into a wall after seeing the secretary naked behind her desk. This implies a number of things. 1. White collar jobs are mostly reserved for white people in this world. The delivery man's shirt is blue, implying that if your are not white, you are doomed to blue collar work. So, race in this video is also related to class. 2. The delivery man is the only person to have a large reaction to nudity in the commercial, and he is the only man to react to the naked woman. This could be viewed as an echo of the brutally racist idea that African American men lust after white women.
This commercial can also be viewed from the feminist lens: First, the commercial starts with traditional gender role reinforcement. Women are supposed to be the nurturers in our society, so naturally the female office employee takes it upon herself to organize the clothing drive. The men couldn't care less, until they are offered a personal benefit: beer. And apparently, women do not like beer. Throughout the whole video, the only woman who derobes for extra beer is the secretary. This subtle indication of class differences implies that well bred, white collar women do not drink beer, but lower middle class and working class women can drink with the boys. And, of course, we need to talk about body image. The secretary is fit, tan, and embodies the male ideal of what "sexy" looks like. The other women in the commercial, who are a bit plain, are dressed extremely conservatively and seem prudish. This is also measured against the men who strip for beer. Most of them have bellies, unkempt body hair, expose skin that has never seen the sun, and do not embody what would be called "sexy." Their nudity is supposed to be funny, but why couldn't the stuffy women strip down as well? That would be funny, wouldn't it? This disparity between body types, intentions, and genders are all earmarks of the pale perspective of the human body.
Check it out for yourself!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Woyzeck Publicity Stills Movie
Here is my very poor attempt at making an iMovie using production stills from William Cameron
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Video Annotations!
Here is my video annotations for the last two minutes of American Beauty. SPOILER ALERT! If you have not seen the movie, don't watch this. Instead, go directly to the video store and rent the movie.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Media Literacy Everywhere!
So, the show I am currently rehearsing for, The Woyzeck Project, is developing an online forum where people who come and see the show and bring some device to record their experience can share what they see. We just put up our first rehearsal video on Facebook which is here and a video segment of the first draft of the piece we did as a mainstage show at the U two years ago which has a lot of similar elements to this rendition of the show below. As you can guess, the show is very dark and abstract. I will keep posting updates if people find it interesting!
The Woyzeck Project '08- The Rave Scene
The Woyzeck Project '08- The Rave Scene
Response to Eve's Vlog
I watched Eve's vlog about her vegetable box, and, despite her pessimism about her ability to keep her audience interested, I really enjoyed it. Eve, it is a lot like Christmas. I imagine holiday theme socks as the present equivalent to brussel sprouts. I actually got really invested in what you were going to pull out of the box each time you reached in! Also, I don't know what you were so worried about, you seemed very at ease in front of the camera.
It was surprising how many jalapenos you guys got! I can't handle those things. And don't feel stupid, I don't like brussel sprouts either. Lastly, I think you're right. That looks like a cabbage, in which case you should boil it and it will be delicious. I, being German, am a big fan of red cabbage.
Happy cooking and thanks for the video!
~Allison
It was surprising how many jalapenos you guys got! I can't handle those things. And don't feel stupid, I don't like brussel sprouts either. Lastly, I think you're right. That looks like a cabbage, in which case you should boil it and it will be delicious. I, being German, am a big fan of red cabbage.
Happy cooking and thanks for the video!
~Allison
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
It's a blog!
Hello there! Well, it seems I have successfully created my blogspot, now to see if my vlog will link to this site... here goes nothing! Oh, just kidding, I hadn't made it a Quicktime thing on MediaMill. Perhaps tomorrow it will be up and ready to go.
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