Welcome to Film Analysis
Get ready to have some cinematic fun – and be prepared to do a great deal of thinking, viewing, listening, talking, writing – and maybe even some producing. This course addresses the fundamental vocabulary, artistry and technology of film and basic film production. In...
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. short stories
We’ll read “The Lie” and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. And we’ll also watch “Examination Day” – an episode of “The Twilight Zone” – and “2081” – an adaptation of “Harrison Bergeron.”
“The Man in the Moon”
As a film instructor, I’m often asked what my favorite films are. Frankly, I don’t have a favorite, but I do have a pretty short list of movies that I consider to be important contributions to the art form, and in some cases nearly flawless. “The Man in the Moon” is...
Richard Kelly’s dark(o) debut
“Donnie Darko” I’ve seen this film at least two dozen times and I still find new things to examine, question and ponder. Shoot, I still stumble and mumble whenever anyone asks me, “What’s ‘Donnie Darko’ about?” Frankly, I’m really not 100 percent sure. So, when I...
Found Poetry
Found poetry can be as profound as original, traditional poetry. The difference? The words are found in existing texts, then edited and arranged in new, poetic ways by the poet. Confused? No worries. Read this excerpt from Poets.org: Found poems take existing texts...
Literary Terms
Outside Links Literary Devices dot net Oxford Dictionary of Literary Devices Poetic Terms DeMiero’s List of Terms Rhetoric Definition Rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive communication, especially the use of figures of speech and other...
Shyamalan’s suspenseful visions
With homage to Orson Welles, Steven Spielberg and Alfred Hitchcock, M. Night Shyamalan has contributed much to modern day suspense. Although his films are often found assigned to the suspense/horror genre, his films rarely evoke a sense of gore. Instead, in his best...
Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”
Our ‘national novel’ – Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” “To Kill A Mockingbird” became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. Not only did it earn author Harper Lee the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, it was also...