Film Journal: Gone with the Wind

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening 
In class, we discussed Gone With The Wind very briefly, just going over it because of time restraints. Since Gone With The Wind is around a four hour feature, watching it in class would take much more than one time period, so it became extra credit. We discussed how this is another film where star actor Clark Gable steps in as the lead male role to give it a romantic twist. Gone With the Wind was originally a book written by Margaret Mitchell in 1936, and was soon made into a film a couple years later.

2) Find a related article (on the film, directed, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, ect.) You can use the library or the Internet. Cite the article or copy the url to your journal entry. Summarize in your own words the related article but do not plagiarize any content.
The article I chose to complement Gone With The Wind is an article on Rogerebert.com that can be found by clicking HERE. [If link does not work, can also be found here: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-gone-with-the-wind-1939 ] This article gives a generalized idea of the film including a summary and a lot of backstory that many people would miss upon the first time watching it. In the beginning of the article, the website states that Gone With The Wind took place during the civil war in the South, which gives the film a kind of chaotic background twist.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. How did the article support or change the way you thought about the film, director, content, etc.
This was a film that became one that I had to watch at home, and although I knew it was going to be long, I didn't quite expect it to be as long as it actually was. This article actually enlightened me much more about Scarlet's part, and how Margaret Mitchell intended her to be an extreme sex symbol throughout the entire film. The article speaks of her lusty intentions, yet the loveliness of a "southern flower", as Roger Ebert states. Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh were a match made in heaven for this film, which the article also brings up. 

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of 4 things: the screening, class discussions, text material, and the article.
The screening was extreme for it's time. Gone With The Wind is one of those title names that stands out from its generation of film because of its theatrical complexity on screen. Aside from that, the romantic aspects have been talked about for what is nearing one hundred years after its release. I also think that as a book turned film, this is one of the more revolutionary releases when it comes to that style of production. As a book, the scripting is done very differently compared to a script that is being written from scratch because the elements already exist. It's just a matter of perfecting what the reader would be imagining, except in screen. According to class discussion, it was also ranked #4 as one of the Best American Films, granting it royalty in the industry. I think my opinion for the film really changed for the better after reading the article I chose for this journal. Roger Ebert pointed out most of the points that I missed the first time around, such as the entire war being played out from before it until after it, all through the eyes of Scarlet. I didn't catch that while watching the film, even though it was one of the broader main ideas. Gone With The Wind is one of those classics that really never grows old because even with as much time that has passed, people can still go back to it and learn from its romance and cinematography.


CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 

1) (X) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class. 

2) (X) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 

3) (X) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 

4) (X) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper. 

5) (X) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read. 

6) (X) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 

7) (X) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 

8) (X) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper. 

Film Journal: Casablanca

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening
Last week in class we talked about the uprising of one of the most influential romance films of the 1940's, Casablanca. In this film, there are snippy lines that go back and forth between Rick and Ilsa, the two lovers that fall in and out of love throughout their stay in Casablanca. One of the main themes of the film covers lost love and romance inside a chaotic world [the early 1940's] where there is only self sacrifice and honor while dealing with the military and problematic causes of the war during World War II in this French Moroccan territory. There was a constant flow of refugees from the war that were going through Casablanca in hopes of getting Visas to travel to Lisbon, and then to the U.S. sometime after.

2) Find a related article (on the film, directed, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, ect.) You can use the library or the Internet. Cite the article or copy the url to your journal entry. Summarize in your own words the related article but do not plagiarize any content.
THE ARTICLE CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING HERE
The article I am going to be relating to the film is the film article from Rogerebert.com. One of the first sentences in the article states that "No one making 'Casablanca' thought they were making a great movie." The sentence alone shocks me, because it's almost the opposite as Citizen Kane. As soon as Citizen Kane came out, it flopped, but as soon as Casablanca came out, it blew up. I figured that someone living back then would have loved the morality behind Citizen Kane much more than anything Casablanca, but it was the opposite. This article is essentially what Roger Ebert thought of Casablanca as a film. He elaborates on the quote I cited at the beginning of this section ["No one making 'Casablanca' thought they were making a great movie"] by saying that it was another A List movie including the big stars of that time frame, and setting their acting careers in stone, saying that they would have moved on to great roles in the future, which they did.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. How did the article support or change the way you thought about the film, director, content, etc.
Reading the entirety of the article on Roger Ebert's website definitely made me think much higher of Casablanca. After seeing more modern films that have stood out to me much more than Casablanca, which I have seen six times, I always thought that Casablanca was just rather inferior to other strong holds in the romance department such as When Harry Met Sally, Dirty Dancing, Titanic, and many others. Now that I look at Casablanca as a whole, I see that it has much more than just grimy dialogue in a rogue bar between gamblers and refugees. There are some comedy aspects, such as in the beginning scenes of the film where you meet the first couple characters. There is a lot of drama and foreshadowing that I never saw before because I just didn't notice any. I also picked up on how much the lighting influenced it because of the black and white characteristics.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of 4 things: the screening, class discussions, text material, and the article.
Over the course of the screening, I was somewhat uninterested, to be honest. I loved the role of Rick, but Ilsa was very bland. She seemed like she was trying too hard [and her voice kind of made me get shivers down my spine] but acting is no reason to hate a film. Because I have seen it five times before I had seen it in class, in class being my sixth, I figured I would look for extra things to like about the film. Eventually, I learned to like it as more of a historical piece rather than a film piece. The class discussions helped me learn more of a backstory to the film, showing me how it was made, and teaching me about the creation of the film through Michael Curtiz [the director.] The article gave me repercussions of historical facts about the film, showing me more of a professional standpoint of how the film is seen from a critic's standpoint. All in all, I have learned a lot about the film, and it has definitely helped out with the history of film, but there are much better, even though Casablanca stands out on its own.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 

1) (X) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class. 

2) (X) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 

3) (X) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 

4) (X) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper. 

5) (X) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read. 

6) (X) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 

7) (X) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 

8) (X) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper. 

Film Journal: Citizen Kane

1)  Relate what was discussed in class or text to the screening.
Last week in class, we viewed the film Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles, one of the biggest Blockbusters of the 1940's, but it wasn't always that way. Upon the release of the film, it was an utter failure. Welles spent a massive budget creating what he thought would be an instant masterpiece, but it instantly flopped. Right after the Oscars, it was thrown in a vault, never to be seen again. It was almost not released, yet time did tell. As the film grew in age, it gained popularity. Welles, who put the majority of his life into this film, directed, starred, and held many other aspects to its development. Sadly, he was never given as much control over a film again.

2) Find a related article (on the film, directed, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, ect.) You can use the library or the Internet. Cite the article or copy the url to your journal entry. Summarize in your own words the related article but do not plagiarize any content.
The article that relates most to Citizen Kane is its rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a film critic site. Because Rotten Tomatoes rated the film so high, I figured it would be a good example to use to point out the positive aspects that were not seen when it first came out. The article starts by bringing up Charles Foster Kane's death, and how his last audible word was "Rosebud." The rest of the article is basically a summary of the film, stating what direction the plot goes as far as going step by step through the movie. According to the article, Rotten Tomatoes rated the film at 100% with an audience rating of 91%. Both of those scores are relatively high compared to what the original audience of the film was when it had first came out.
That article can be found HERE

3) Relate the article to the screening.
This article, as mentioned before, is a step by step summary of what happened throughout the film. Because of the bad ratings that the film once received when it originally premiered in 1941, it's shocking that it has turned into such a revolutionary film that has been rated at 100% by Rotten Tomatoes. Citizen Kane is both controversial because of Hitler's appearance in the beginning of the film as well as incredibly in-depth because of the following of Kane's entire life.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of 4 things: the screening, class discussions, text material, and the article.
Since this is the fourth time I have seen Citizen Kane, I am used to the twists and turns that occur throughout the film. I'll admit that the first few times I had seen the film, I had little to no interest in seeing the film, but then I absorbed the meaning behind it: the downfall of a man who had everything, and now has nothing. Because of that, I fell in love with the movie and looked at it very analytically, looking at the flaws of Kane, and where he went wrong with his life. In class, we talked about why it was an utter failure the first time it premiered, and now I understand why. Since there was a view of Hitler in the beginning, I'm sure it turned people the wrong way, but for those who are more interested in seeing a film for its visual aspects, I'm sure they're the ones who had some trouble. Citizen Kane has much more of a moral learning factor than a visual entertainment factor. To bring up the article one more time, it mentioned the Rosebud factor, where on his deathbed, Kane said his last word, which was "rosebud." As a man who had lost everything, his life, his love, his accomplishments, and everything he cared for, the last thing he had was a sled that was given to him as a child, which was his true love all along, his little Rosebud.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 

1) (X) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class. 

2) (X) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 

3) (X) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 

4) (X) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper. 

5) (X) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read. 

6) (X) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 

7) (X) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 

8) (X) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper. 

Film Journal: Stagecoach

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening. 
During class on March 24th, we started talking about the not so famous actor of the time period, John Wayne. At the time, he was enlisted among dozens of other famous actors and actresses, however Wayne was only known as a B-list, making this his first large scale film. This film was directed by John Ford in 1939, which was the starting year of the greatest period of American Film Making [which ranged from 1939-1941.] At this time, Westerns were also out of favor. Other directors had told Ford that making a Western, especially with John Wayne, would end up ruining his career, yet the two worked extremely well together. 

2) Find a related article (on the film, directed, studio, actor/actress content, etc.) You can use the library or internet. Cite the article or copy the url to your journal entry. Summarize in your own words the related article but do not plagiarize any content. 
The article that I have found relating to the film is an article that can be found here [http://www.film.com/movies/whats-the-big-deal-stagecoach-1939] which covers almost every aspect of the film Stagecoach. The article notes some of the very large movies that came out the same year as Stagecoach, noting Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and Of Mice & Men as some of the biggest releases. As mentioned before, the Great Period of American Film Making had taken all of these movies and made them revolutionary, even today. Stagecoach influenced the entirety of John Wayne's future career simply by having him star in the film as the big, bad cowboy that saves the day. Generally, as I said in the last paragraph, Westerns were starting to not be taken as seriously in the big picture anymore, but this is a film that made the genre popular again. 

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. How did the 
article support or change the way you thought about the film, 
director, content, etc.?
This article heavily mentions how important Stagecoach was for the time frame, and although it has to be one of the films that I didn't really enjoy watching so far, I have to admit now that after watching it and reading some reviews of it, that yes it was important to the history of film. Not only did it make John Wayne popular, but it set the stage for many other big names such as Clint Eastwood, who came later on. The article changed the way I looked at Stagecoach because now I can appreciate it much more knowing that it shaped the history of film as much as it did.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal 
opinion, formed as a result of 4 things: the screening, class discussions, text material, and the article. 
The screening was boring, to be honest. The set that they used was beautiful, but the way it was applied was almost appalling. With all of the shots that could have been implemented to the background that they had, in comparison to how it was used wasn't impressing. I did like how the chase scene between the coach and the Native Americans played out though. There were some great shots in there. The class discussion set the stage for Stagecoach [had to be as punny as possible there.] I had heard of the film prior to taking this class because my mother is heavily in love with old style Western films, so she had talked to me about this one on many occasions. As our professor said, it's a film that needs some growing into. The text material focused more on the period of film making rather than the movie itself, but also gave some of a backstory. As for the article though, it definitely changed how I looked at the film. I didn't think I was going to give it another chance, and I was going to close the book on it, but seeing it from the perspective of how great John Wayne became through this, I kind of feel opt to watch it one more time and get a better understanding of the movie as a whole.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 

1) (X) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class. 

2) (X) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 

3) (X) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 

4) (X) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper. 

5) (X) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read. 

6) (X) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 

7) (X) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 

8) (X) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.