Film Theories and Such...

As I was reading Great Films and How to Teach Them, I came across a chapter dedicated to film theories. Now prehaps it is because I have not been exposed to many film classes, even though I have some friends majoring in this field, but I had no idea there were theories involved. This may sound a little naive, or perhaps just plain stupid, but when I watch a movie, I just watch it. I do not think about a feminist approach, structuralism, realism, etc. when it comes to movies. As we were doing shot-by-shot analysis of the Lost episode, I realized how much fun it can actually be to analyze a film. I never before thought about all the work it goes into shot within a movie, or how it actually can be used as foreshadowing. This is one way we can teach our students foreshadowing within literature.

As we were watching Lost, my group had to analyze the movement of the camera. As I was paying close attention to detail (for the first time) I realized how it lead up to each significant moment. The urgency of the character running through the forest, the slow movement to the left as you finally see piece by piece as to why they are on this beach, to the shacking of the camera that captures the chaos. This is not all, there is also the music, the sounds of the people and what it around them, this can all lend itself to a wonderful lesson plan.

I have always enjoyed watching movies in class, but we never picked apart a movie before. I always told myself that I would maybe show one movie per year, since we watched it in class and didn't really discuss much afterward. Now that we have been looking at film, I have discovered that it is an excellent was to teach literature. Obviously you cannot just show films and that's it, but it is not a "lazy" thing to do when you run out of options. It can be a great learning experience if you delve into the material and connect it with the concept you are trying to teach, or if you connect it with the literature you are reading.

And the Cleveland Film Fest is coming up. Yay! I am actually really excited to go. I was a little uneasy about the driving part, only because I am not very good at it and I tend to get hopelessly lost while almost hitting every other large object. I have decided to take a date (good for me. haha) and have him do the navigating. Hopefully we will like it. Actually, I just hope it's a good date! lol

Wiki What?

When I found out that we were going to be working on wiki's, I started to panic. I have NEVER head of them before, but after we started to go over what they were all about, I got really excited. I think this is a great tool to have as a teacher. If you ever get stuck and can't seem to come up with a really great idea, you could go to the wiki and find ample amounts of lesson plans and ideas. I am actually really excited to be doing this, so I have been thinking about what I can do for my book.

I was also really excited to get Macbeth. I have read it dozens of times and I have always loves Shakespeare. I just have to read over it once again to get the feel of the play once more, and then I should be good to go!

As for the Cleveland Film Fesitval, I am so excited! I love movies but I never seem to be able to get out and see them. I think the money issue is also a problem, but I am really excited to make a day out of the festivities. Maybe even some shopping? lol I just hope I don't get lost in Cleveland. Every single time I go there, which is not often, I almost hit a bus. So wish me luck since I am going to need it. I still have not decided which movie I am going to see, but I will decide that very soon and hopefully buy tickets online.

Autobiography

Last week when I was sitting at my table watching everyone go over their presentations, I couldn't help but flashback to my younger days. Not much younger, but younger none-the-less. I was able to see how much our media plays a part in our lives. So many of us watched the same things, listened to the same music, and found the same things interesting. I also could not believe that I was not the only one that was influenced by media that came before my time. It was a lot of fun to see what influenced people while growing up, and I found a lot od similarities even though we are quite individual now.

I also went home this weekend and looked through a lot of things from my childhood. I reread a lot of the books that I read as a child. I also came home to discover that my roommate's dog ate my teddy bear, Mickey, while I was gone! I thought it was a little ironic how I went home and was reminiscing over all the great things that I did as a child while my favorite thing in the world, (or at least close to my favorite thing) was getting destroyed in Kent. He is a little battered, and he now has no nose, but I think it is fixable. He was not able to digest the plastic nose, which is very surprising since he eats rocks and socks everyday, so I am going to try to fix it. If anyone has any suggestions that would be great. I can't sew it, so if there is any type of glue you can think of let me know. I feel a little better since I told them my dead grandmother got the bear for me, and she wasn't coming back to buy me another one. I realize it was a little overdramatic, but they should not have let their satanic dog loose in my bedroom while I was gone.

Now that I have completely gone off topic, I want to say that I have been reading Sherman Alexie's poetry. I have also realized that I read him often, and I don't read much else. I have decided to get some Jack Kerouac texts as well as some other beat poet's work. Reading them in U.S. Lit got my attention, but I feel as though I need more of it. I just don't think this class is doing many of the texts justice.

Now I am going to go dye my hair. Seeing all the hair commercials has made me realize that my roots are in fact showing, and I look terrible. Till next time!