STUDENT WORK
Genres in Film
A number of students will share work towards the end of the semester to illustrate how new or more exposure to genre elements and tropes have affected their work from fine art painting to film, screen prints and fashion design.
analog before digital: punk/no wave film & music (LA 408)
The final project for this course is designed to allow students to choose their medium to respond to or engage with a band, artist, filmmaker, writer or visual artist's work that we cover during the semester. Some students make work inspired by Jack Smith, Vivienne Dick, Jim Jarmusch, Penelope Spheeris or Nick Zedd while others write filmmaking manifestos, make music videos, produce a webisode or perform music. Projects are presented in our final class and discussed in a critique format. Below is a sampling of film, video and 2-D work produced for the class. Collaboration is highly encouraged.
Motion Picture Theory & Style (GS 605/MPT 602)
During the course of the semester, my graduate students are given three analytical writing assignments that get them asking questions and making claims about producer intention, audience reception, intertextuality, subtext, realism and formalism. Through these assignments and their midterm paper I encourage students to critically engage with films and filmmakers on a scholarly level in order to expand their understanding of film through aspects of style, production, technology and reception.
The sample below was written for an assignment to analyze a director's style by focusing on creative aspects unique to cinema like mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, sound, story structure and performance while tracing similarities or variation over time in light of concepts, movements and ideas covered in the course.
"Fighting Modern Loneliness Together: Groups of Women in Pedro Almodóvar’s Films" courtesy of Bridget Carls
The sample below was written for an assignment to analyze a director's style by focusing on creative aspects unique to cinema like mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, sound, story structure and performance while tracing similarities or variation over time in light of concepts, movements and ideas covered in the course.
"Fighting Modern Loneliness Together: Groups of Women in Pedro Almodóvar’s Films" courtesy of Bridget Carls