On the index card, please write:Your nameWhat grade you are inDescribe your summer in one word3 of your “likes”3 of your “dislikes”What you are excited about this school year

Literature and Film

All about Mme SuarezB.A. in French and European Studies from CSU

(GO RAMS!)M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from UMKCTaught kindergarten for 3 years at a French

immersion school, second year at SVAMarried, has a cat named OreoVices: Diet Coke and the Real HousewivesLikes: Barenaked Ladies, dance (any type),

anything scary, Halloween, going to the movies, Mexican food, trivia, being organized

Dislikes: spiders, soggy bread, loud eaters, singing in front of others

SyllabusKate Suarezksuarez@skyviewacademy.k12.co.us**** 303-471-8439 ext. 246Personal webpage found in the “Foreign Language” section of the High School page on SkyView website.Emails detailing the upcoming themes/subjects for the week will be sent out on Fridays by 6:00pm Grading Scale:A 90 – 100B 80 – 89C 70 – 79D 60 – 69F below 60

Supply List:college ruled spiral notebookfolderpens/pencils (every course – blue or black ink only)

****Late Policy: Late assignments will be accepted up to 5 days after the due date with a deduction of 10% per day up to 5 days. After 5 days, the assignment is entered as a “0.”

Syllabus cont.Expectations:As a general rule, you should always come to class on-time and prepared. This course is heavily discussion-based, so you are expected to participate, have an open mind, and be respectful of your peers and teacher. Some of the films we watch this semester may contain strong language and and/or mature situations, and we may not be covering films in which you are particularly interested. As young adults, I expect you to handle these situations in a mature manner and trust that these films were carefully selected and all serve a purpose beyond entertainment or “shock” value. You may discover an appreciation for films you didn’t enjoy in the past! I encourage open discussion, flexibility, and a positive attitude – our primary goal is to learn and evaluate – the relaxing film-watching is a bonus!

Syllabus cont.Class Overview: This course has two focal points that work together to bridge the gap between literature and film. The first is to examine film as a visual medium and explore how screenwriting and filmmaking are thought-provoking contributions to the arts. The second purpose is to examine films for their literary devices and analyze these elements just as we would with written works. Some of the topics covered this semester include symbolism, the Hero’s Journey, creating conflict and relatable characters, irony, genre study, and screenwriting. Students will participate in thoughtful and critical discussions, and learn to evaluate film beyond entertainment value. As a final project, students will write their own short screenplay using the elements we study throughout the semester.

Clips from several films will be shown, along with some films in their entirety. Some films covered include:

The Wizard of Oz (1939) The Sixth Sense (1999) The Princess Bride (1987) Forrest Gump (1994) Planet of the Apes (1968) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) Warm Bodies (2013) Inception (2010)

SVA’s Big 51. No food or drink in the classroom2. Cell phones are not to be seen or heard in

the classroom3. All hands, feet, and objects should be kept

to yourself4. Be where you are supposed to be at all

times5. No backpacks in the classroom

SVA’s Consequences for Misbehavior

1. Warning2. Call/email home3. Detention & call/email home4. Office Referral * Severe offences: automatically #4

ActivityOn each of the three slips of paper on your

desk, write down one of your favorite movies of all time. Don’t show anyone! Then fold them up and put them in the hat up front.

Note: These don’t have to be critically acclaimed, famous, or classic films – just your favorites!

Film as a Medium

“Talking Pictures”Film is a visual medium. It’s called “talking

pictures” because that’s what it is: a string of moving images throughout which characters engage in occasional conversations that will supplement the visuals. Movies are driven by action.

A Brief History of FilmThe history of film began in the late 1880s with the

invention of the first movie camera. Motion pictures were initially exhibited as a carnival novelty. Most films before 1930 were silent.

The movie theatre was considered a cheaper, simpler way to provide entertainment to the masses. Movies became the most popular visual art form of the late Victorian age. It was simpler because before the cinema people would have to travel long distances to see major dioramas or amusement parks. With the advent of the cinema this changed. During the first decade of the cinema's existence, inventors worked to improve the machines for making and showing films.

Eadweard MuybridgeOn June 15, 1878, under the sponsorship of Leland Stanford, Eadweard Muybridge successfully photographed a horse named "Sallie Gardner" in fast motion using a series of 24 stereoscopic cameras. The experiment took place on June 15 at the Palo Alto farm in California with the press present. The exercise was meant to determine whether a running horse ever had all four legs lifted off the ground at once. The cameras were arranged along a track parallel to the horse's, and each camera shutter was controlled by a trip wire which was triggered by the horse's hooves. They were 21 inches apart to cover the 20 feet taken by the horse stride, taking pictures at one thousandth of a second.

William Dickson and Thomas EdisonWilliam Kennedy Laurie Dickson, chief engineer with the Edison Laboratories, is credited with the invention of a practicable form of a celluloid strip containing a sequence of images, the basis of a method of photographing and projecting moving images. Celluloid blocks were thinly sliced, then removed with heated pressure plates. After this, they were coated with a photosensitive gelatin emulsion. In 1893 at the Chicago World's Fair, Thomas Edison introduced to the public two pioneering inventions based on this innovation; the Kinetograph – the first practical moving picture camera – and the Kinetoscope. The latter was a cabinet in which a continuous loop of Dickson's celluloid film (powered by an electric motor) was back lit by an incandescent lamp and seen through a magnifying lens.

The Lumière BrothersAt about the same time, in Lyon, France, Auguste and Louis Lumière invented the cinematograph, a portable camera, printer, and projector. In late 1895 in Paris, father Antoine Lumière began exhibitions of projected films before the paying public, beginning the general conversion of the medium to projection. They quickly became Europe's main producers with their actualités like Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory and comic vignettes like The Sprinkler Sprinkled (both 1895). Even Edison, initially dismissive of projection, joined the trend with the Vitascope, a modified Jenkins' Phantoscope, within less than six months. The first public motion-picture film presentation in the world, though, belongs to Max and Emil Skladanowsky of Berlin, who projected with their apparatus "Bioscop", a flickerfree duplex construction, November 1 through 31, 1895.

The Silent Film EraInitially, there were technical difficulties in synchronizing images with sound. It was clear that Edison originally intended to create a sound film system, which would not gain worldwide recognition until the release of "The Jazz Singer" in 1927. However, there was still significant interest in motion pictures for films to be produced without sound. This is referred to as the silent era of film. However, to enhance the viewers' experience, silent films were commonly accompanied by live musicians and sometimes sound effects and even commentary spoken by the showman or projectionist. In most countries, intertitles came to be used to provide dialogue and narration for the film.

Transitions From primitive roots, filmmaking has greatly evolved over the years. The first experimental films were simply filming everyday occurrences as well as artistic shorts to awe and amaze audiences. Early filmmakers like Georges Méliès dreamed of making actual stories come to life on screen. Thus the tradition of telling stories on film was born, and film became one of the most popular visual mediums in the world.

Books vs. FilmA book is an interpretive medium. A hundred

people can read the same novel and not only get a hundred different messages out of it, but also envision completely different people in the various roles. Books and short stories are driven by imagination.

Plays vs. FilmA play – which is driven by dialogue – is a

combination of both of the concepts of film and books. It provides a lot of moving parts but concurrently calls upon the audience to “fill in the blanks” of a setting that is essentially a cutaway view into the characters’ immediate environment.

Pros and consPros Cons

Film Can transcend time and space

Hard to get into characters’ heads

Books Can conjure any realm, era, or enormous cast at a far less cost

Requires a longer commitment of time (reading) to enjoy it

Plays Great longevity as a performance piece

Physical limitations

Film: original or adaptation?An original screenplay is based on a new ideaAn adaptation is based on already-published

material. How close an adaptation is to the published material varies.

Film adaptationsA number of movies have been successfully

adapted from novels and stage plays. Just as many more, however, have not been enthusiastically embraced by audiences. Why?Too many liberties taken with the plotToo much commercializationPrefer the original source ?

Adaptations Novels (Life of Pi, The Hunger Games, The Great Gatsby, World War Z) Short Story (3:10 to Yuma, Brokeback Mountain, The Curious Case of Benjamin

Button) Poetry (Troy, Beowulf, Howl, O Brother, Where Art Thou?) Biography/Autobiography (127 Hours, Into the Wild, Girl, Interrupted) Scripture (Clash of the Titans, Hercules, The Passion of the Christ) Plays (Shakespearean plays, stories based on Shakespearean plays, Casablanca,

My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music) Television (Mission: Impossible, The X-Files, Saturday Night Live films, Star

Trek) Radio (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Lone Ranger) Comic Book (Spider-man, The Avengers, X-Men, The Walking Dead) Video Game (Tron, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Mortal Kombat) Lecture (An Inconvenient Truth)

Films based on other sources Historical events Toys (G.I. Joe, Transformers, Battleship) Pictures (The Girl With the Pearl Earring, Pretty Baby) Journal Articles/Documented Experiences (The Amityville Horror, The Conjuring,

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)

JournalChoose any book or play you have read that has

subsequently been made into a film you have seen. Which version do you think was better? Why?

Some ideas:Romeo & JulietTwilight SagaHarry Potter et al.Lord of the Rings et al.300 Diary of a Wimpy KidChronicles of Narnia et al.

JournalWhat is the best book you have ever read?

Could it be successfully adapted to a movie? Why or why not? Could it be successfully adapted to a stage play? Why or why not?