3rd Paper Topic
1. Write an original research paper in
the form of an illustrated, hyperlinked webpage on one of our toga
movies that you have not yet discussed.
Like your
earlier papers, this final paper should analyze the film of your choice in the
context of its genre, the toga film, focusing in particular on features that
make the movie of your choice stand out, either positively or negatively, from
the rest of the genre (e.g., plot, acting, cinematography, editing, music,
sound, costumes, scenery, use of toga film conventions, etc., etc.).
2. Use illustrations to support points your
paper makes. Use hyperlinks to refer
to additional information on external webpages (e.g., maps of Spartacus'
campaigns, info on gladiatorial equipment).
3. In
addition to your own observations, make sure to consult and use a number of scholarly
sources (at least three) that are relevant for your movie, and list the
sources you use on a separate bibliography
page!
Please post a link to your webpage below.
By Thursday, Nov. 15, midnight, respond briefly to two of your classmates' draft webpages.
Suggest additional evidence from our movies
that would support their argument but has not yet been mentioned, alert them to
potential counterarguments, or make other suggestions that will help them
improve the readability of their webpage and the plausibility of their
arguments.
Final Webpage Version: due
Monday, Nov. 19, 2012, 10 A.M.
Email a pdf-copy to me by 10 A.M. and bring a hardcopy to
class on Tues., Oct. 23.
https://sites.google.com/site/ridleyscottsgladiator/home
ReplyDeleteAlyssa, your site seems visually pleasing and is easy to navigate, definitely a good start.
DeleteI also like that you have already quite a lot of content. Maybe the order in which you present your topics can still be twisted a little bit. For example, does it make sense first to discuss costumes when you haven't even talked about the movie's themes or message yet? The costumes are a supporting factor, illustrating the underlying themes and messages, and so I think it will be easier for you to bring that out when you discuss them after talking about the film's themes and messages.
Your current section "script" is the one, in fact, that seems to me to be the one that talks most clearly about the movie's themes and ideas. I'd rename it accordingly and put it at the top of your paper/webpage, right after the homepage with the thesis. Then you can talk about how the filming (= cinematography), the sets, and the music reinforce the movie's message(s).
The section "filming", BTW, looks already very promising. Your observations are detaiuled and right to the point. Obviously, you can still expand on several of them, and it would be good, of course, if you can find suitable still shot illustrations for all or at least most of the shots you describe. I'm using a free and easy-to-use software program for Mac OS X called CaptureMe to take crystal-clear screen shots: http://www.chimoosoft.com/products/captureme/. Similar programs probably exist for Windows machines as well. Ask the people at the help desks in our computer labs.
Finally, once or twice you and others still slip into the past tense when you describe a movie. Don't! ;-)
http://oliviamonical300webpage.webs.com/
ReplyDeleteThanks, Olivia!
DeleteEvan is working with the same website host and has said that he'd be willing to help you a little bit with the technical side since he's worked with it before. Otherwise, I hope you'll see a little bit more where you could go with this in terms of content after today's class meeting!
Olivia, I think that you should work on your color scheme for your website. The colors seem to clash a bit. Other than that, you have 3 solid things you want to talk about. I would suggest using the sexism in the other movies we watched to help your first point. Or you could talk about how even though Cleopatra ( in Cleopatra ) is a very sexualized being, she knows what she wants, and gets it.
DeleteOlivia, I think you have great points for your different categories. For the section on women, you should definitely mention the Persian female prostitutes and what they did to the portrayal of females. In the spartan culture section, I think it would be interesting to contrast Spartans to Romans.
DeleteI would agree with Alec, the color scheme is a little off. Maybe you could use a brown/black and red/maroon scheme, to go with the bloody and gritty coloring used in the movie? The layout could use a little tweaking as well.
DeleteOther than that, I think the content of the site will turn out great! You seem to have chosen very interesting topics that I think will keep your audience reading.
Thanks guys. My plan was to do all of those things haha
Deletehttps://dl.dropbox.com/u/120874623/Film%204/Film_Project/Home.html
ReplyDeleteLooks really good in terms of layout and easy navigability.
DeleteContentwise, I've had a glance at the costume and relationship part. Both are full of interesting observations, and I also like that you don't just describe what people are wearing, but also what it means. I hope, though, that you won't look at the relationships only from the costume lense. Or are you trying to write a paper that claims that costume is the clue to everything in Cleopatra? ;-)
You might want to read through your introduction. It says, "...draws views in." when I think you mean "viewers". Also, try adding in more shots of the movie for your other pages. Your first page is interesting, but the other pages are just text. Maybe I just like reading books with a lot of pictures, but I think it would add to the website.
Deletehttps://sites.google.com/site/symboliclanguageinepicfilms/home
ReplyDeleteLindsey, I like the content of your site very much! You do a great job of making your point and providing proper evidence. The layout is also very easy to navigate. But is there any way to make the site a little more colorful or visually stimulating?(I don't know if there is as I'm not using Google Sites, but I just thought I would ask.) It just seems very white and plain in its current state.
DeleteI agree with Evan. I wouldn't say you should make it more colorful per se...but maybe if you made the earth category a dark brown and the air section a different blue...that might be interesting : )
DeleteThe site does look a little plain, but not bad at all. Maybe a more vivid color in the margin, such as a darker brown instead of the pale beige, would already make a difference and make the site more visually interesting. That's mostly true for the intro page, though. On the other sites, the pictures you use provide visual interest.
DeleteOtherwise, what impresses me most at this point is how much of it seems to be your original research.
You clearly need to get some more suitable pics, though. Most of all, get rid of this raft picture from the awful 2010 Ben Hur mini series (http://lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com/297764.html) and try to replace it with a still from the actual 1959 Ben Hur (http://www.ebay.com/itm/JACK-HAWKINS-CHARLTON-HESTON-BARECHESTED-HUNKY-ON-RAFT-BEN-HUR-11X14-PHOTO-/160702601843).
http://willamette.edu/~jpphilli/Ben_Hur_1959__A_Review/Home.html
ReplyDeleteI like the theme you chose for your blog. It makes it look sophisticated and it is easy to read. The way you displayed your website is also easy to follow and understand. I believe your ideas are solid and it is a great start to our final project!
DeleteBeautiful design and easy to navigate!
DeleteI also read everything you've written so far. I think your focus on the question of Ben Hur's Jewish vs. Roman identity is a really promising way to approach the movie. Basically, all you need to do at this point is elaborate more on what you've written.
Talk, for example, in more detail about _how exactly_ the film sets up the conflict between the Roman and the Jewish culture from the start. Or maybe you should focus right away on Ben Hur and his need to choose between his Roman and his Jewish identity. In any case, you do a really nice job describing the irony that Ben Hur has to become a Roman, the very thing he originally rejected, in order to regain his identity as a Jewish prince.
All in all, this page is a great start!
http://disneyshercules.webs.com/
ReplyDeleteAlec, I really liked how you posted songs from the movie on your webpage. I think it would be interesting if you added that the message of the film is very good for younger children. You could also address the real Hercules/Heracles and the accuracy of portraying them.
DeleteI was actually planning on doing that! I was unsure if I should add in another webpage to talk about it. I think that is the best.
DeleteI really like the layout and it is visually appealing and looks like a website that would be about a movie such as Hercules. The songs are a nice touch and I think the descriptions really help the reason for you putting the songs on each page. The songs are well placed for the topic of each page
DeleteAlec,
DeleteThe cloud theme of your webpage is a nice touch, considering that the movie is all about Hercules' desire to return to the heavenly realm of the Greek gods. The page looks attractive and is easily navigable.
The parts of your paper, represented by the titles of your subpages, also look basically okay. Maybe you'll twist them a little as you go on. Instead of "Humor for Old and Young", you could talk simply call this "Humor" and then talk on the site itself about the reasons for the film's broad appeal, namely that its humor speaks to both young and old.
Making anachronistic references to Nike sneakers, Victoria's Secret (Aphrodite's Secret store), Disney movies, and so on is, of course, a comic technique that you find in other "toga" comedies as well, as the chariot (instead of car) pursuit and waterskiing in "A Funny Thing" and the jokes about contemporary politics (PLO, etc.) and modern Latin instruction in "Life of Brian".
One more thing:
DeleteWhen you talk about the film as musical, I hope you mention not only the anachonistic humor of having a Greek Gospel chorus, but also bring in for comparison the song and dance scenes in "A Funny Thing" and "Life of Brian" ("Look at the Bright Side of Things").
http://gladiatormovie.webs.com
ReplyDeleteEvan, your webpage looks attractive, and you already have a lot of iconic photos that you could use to illustrate your points.
DeleteIn terms of navigability, though, improvements are clearly still possible.
Right now, you have a number of topics in a menu on top, which is great, and a number of sections on a pop-up menu under HOME. The order of the topics on top doesn't make sense, though. Clearly, the bibliography should be the last menu point. The topics on the pop-up menu sound more interesting, but I'd prefer it if there were visible at once, i.e., parts of the menu at the top of the page.
It's interesting that your site looks completely different than mine and I don't know how that happened! We're using the same website creator, but maybe you've been able to find something I haven't. Anywho, I really like the picture you have of Commodus playing with his sword, but there's too much white space on the website. When you put in pictures and text that will probably improve a lot.
DeleteWww.willamette.edu/~cfuller
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your blog. I think that the black is a much better choice than the white theme. It makes the pictures stand out more also. I think that you should add a picture from Gladiator on your color page. I think it would help to prove your point. Overall I think your ideas are solid and its a good start to your paper.
DeleteI also love the design of your webpage!
DeleteI also liked a lot of what I read on your Color page. Your interpretation of what the draining of color during Commodus' entry into Rome symbolizes is right on. Of course, it would be great if you uploaded a suitable image to illustrates this point, which you were probably planning to do anyway. If you can't find one, you can create an appropriate still photo with the free software "Capture Me".
BTW, the old black & white movies lack color, of course, but they may be trying to achieve similar effects with lighting. The picture of the temple interior in "Cabiria" is a great example. Remember how we first see it really dark, and then the scene gradually lights up, as if our eyes were getting used to the light inside?
Anyway, your thesis that "Gladiator" represents a highpoint in the development of the genre basically works. You may want to rearrange the evidence, though, according to importance. No one who thinks about what's so great about this film will first and foremost think about its color effects. They'd probably much rather mention the special effects, then maybe talk about the gripping plot, the great acting, and the fast-paced, bloody action scenes. Only at the very end will they probably talk about the way the film is photographed (the cinematography), which includes its manipulation of color, its use of close-ups and slow motion during battle scenes, and stuff like that.
Secondly, when I read your subsections, I am not sure whether your page tries to give an overview of the development of different aspects of film technology, or whether your focus is actually on the movie "Gladiator". I would prefer the latter. Yes, you should bring in your knowledge of other movies to show in which way "Gladiator" improves on them or actually regresses (if that's the case). But the other movies should only serve to illustrate what "Gladiator" does differently.
http://www.willamette.edu/~masantos
ReplyDeleteMalia, visually, your page looks really beautiful and interesting. With the page links on top, it also seems easy to navigate.
DeleteContentwise, I can't really say much about it yet. I really like that your intro emphasizes that the movie mocks not just organized religion but all systems of conformity (or, in other words, any kind of ideology, political or religious, that demands conformity and does not tolerate dissent).
It makes sense to start with an analysis of the plot, as you do. I wonder, though, how you'll be able to separate from that your discussion of the controversial topics. For me, it would be difficult to talk about one without talking also about the other. Why don'y you talk about the film's "controversial plot" instead as one of the things that make this film so remarkable.
I hope you'll add a chapter/webpage on epic parody in "Life of Brian" because that is clearly part of what makes this movie so enjoyable.
Please make sure to read and use the secondary literature on the Monthy Pythons that I assigned earlier, such as the Steritt article on WISE. This will tell you, for example, that the Python's drag queen characters (women played by men with shrill voices) are called "pepperpots" and are a typical feature of their kind of comedy. It also talks about the blasphemy charges.
Remember, all of our movies are still around, so we usually speak of them in the present tense.
Finally, since you use a Mac, try to get the Capture Me software (I've sent the link around earlier), in case you want to get stills of scenes you can't otherwise find on the internet.
http://colloquiumhercules.webs.com/
ReplyDeletehttp://www.willamette.edu/~bmcalist
ReplyDeletehttp://willamette.edu/~bkeller
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to Kieran's site:
ReplyDeletehttps://sites.google.com/site/themesusedintogafilms/
And here is Nikolas' site:
ReplyDeletehttps://sites.google.com/site/gladiator2000net/
Here is the final version of Cassie's page on Cleopatra (1963):
ReplyDeletehttps://dl.dropbox.com/u/120874623/FILM/Film_Project/Introduction.html
Here's the final version of Jill's webpage on Ben Hur (1959):
ReplyDeletehttp://willamette.edu/~jpphilli