ESSAY 1

Select one of the following seven questions and write a response of approximately 5 pages. Feel free to modify the topic, but please discuss any modification with me in person before you start writing. Submissions should be typed and double-spaced. Please return the essay by October 7, 4 pm.

1.      Tom Gunning has introduced the term "cinema of attractions" in order to characterize the peculiar outlook of early cinema and the spectatorial activities associated with it. How does Gunning's "cinema of attraction" differ from later cinematic practice? Please refer to at least one of the following clips in order to develop your argument:

·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Auguste and Louis Lumiere: Promenade of Ostriches, Paris Botanical Gardens (1896)

·        Auguste and Louis Lumiere: Photograph (1895)

·        Auguste and Louis Lumiere: New York, Brooklyn Bridge (1896)

2.      In the famous opening sequence of Louis Bunuel's An Andalusian Dog, we witness a razor cutting straight through a human eye. Discuss potential meanings of this truly shocking shot and interpret them in light of the larger project of surrealism.

3.      To what extent can we understand the following sequence from F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu as representative of German Expressionist cinema. Please recapulate some of the basic principles of expressionist filmmaking in order to make your point.

4.      Discuss certain affinities and fundamental differences between surrealist and expressionist modes of filmmaking during the 1920s.

5.      Explain why many avant-garde artists in the first decades of the twentieth-century showed great interest in the new medium of film. What did they hope for? What did they try to accomplish?

6.      Discuss the following clip from Battleship Potemkin in terms of Eisenstein's theory of montage. How does Eisenstein in this scene try to direct the viewer's attention? How does he try to position the viewer as an active participants in the making of the film's meaning? And does he succeed with this?

7. How did the coming of synchronized sound affect German cinema around 1930 in both aesthetic and industrial terms? How did Fritz Lang's M, in particular the opening sequence, respond to the new possibilities of film sound?

 

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