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Our librarians are the very models of librarians. ~sorry, i don’t say media specialist~ They asked me what films I intended to teach. I gave them my list.
Now I wish I could take that list back. I didn’t realize it would take until so late in the year for the films to arrive. ~not their fault at all~ My mind was on the hard work I’d done in constructing a film class from scratch. ~which, of course, i would completely re-do if i were teaching it again, but i had to teach it to know that~ I wasn’t thinking about the long-term library collection. I ended up buying a lot of the movies myself months before they came in, so the school’s money would have been better spent if I’d been thinking long term. It’s easy to pick up or rent a copy of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but Hitchcock and Chaplin can be pricey for a lil’ ole’ teacher doll. Better to slowly build the truly essential ones over time.
So, what are the truly essential films for teaching film as film, not as babysitter, help for those who didn’t read the novel, or slightly-less-boring-than-a-lecture documentaries?
A few conclusions:
- You need a selection of the best films of the last ten years. Because something is familiar doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t anaylze it. In fact, we should examine things we don’t usually question. How can you do that if EVERY film you see is new to you, or made so long ago that it takes a history lesson to understand it?
- You need at least one representative classic from every film genre. You also need an example of each of the four stages of the development of a genre. ~i chose detectives, but i wish i’d chosen horror, and westerns also work nicely~
- Important films from other countries, both classic and modern, for reasons that have as much to do with learning about film as they do about learning to appreciate other people. ~which it’s also good for, but this is film class not character education~
- You need at least one silent film. ~charlie chaplin~
- You need short films. I cannot stress this enough.
There are other, more specific titles and directors in my mind, but I’m asking for input. What would you buy to build a school film library?
12 responses so far ↓
1 Kaelie // May 20, 2008 at 8:31 pm
I COMPLETELY agree. I have to say, as excited as I was for film class this year, I was kind of pissed that the dumbass people IN THE CLASS ruined it for everyone else. I told my english teacher about how we need MORE film classes instead of just the first one. Does that make sense? First class can be an introduction, and if you don’t like it, you don’t go on. So, hoping they’re going to instate more film classes; probably won’t happen until AFTER I graduate, but I’ll be happy for the people who can actually take the class. I’m definitely having film study as one of my majors.
Kaelie’s last blog post..Darwin
2 Taylor // May 21, 2008 at 4:44 pm
I agree. There’s much more to do. And I also agree about the attitude of that class. But it’s not everyone. Not even most. What can I say? Some people are never happy.
3 Kaelie // May 21, 2008 at 7:07 pm
And 99% of them are in that class.
Kaelie’s last blog post..Darwin
4 Anne // May 24, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Okay, I said I had a specific perspective on this one. I taught geography for six years and I used Star Wars IV to teach the elements of culture using an ABC mnemonic. Within the first 6-7 minutes of seeing Luke on Tatooine, the viewer has info on “Appearance” - what Luke and his family are wearing, hair/shoes. “Belief systems” the Force is mentioned. “Dates” - the history of the rebellion is mentioned. “Entertainment” - later in the movie when they get to the cantina. I can’t even remember the rest of the alphabet part, but the education system is mentioned (Flight academy), jobs and technology are present (moisture evaporation farm), we watch Luke and his family eat food (soup?). We get the element of place with the setting suns and the desert…
The way Lucas dumps us head-first into the culture of this past/future lets us view the rest of the movie with an element of belief. This was especially important because the story was brand-new, not borrowed from a book the way TLOTR or Narnia were.
Anyhow, that’s my poor excuse for watching Mark Hamil when I was a teenager
5 Taylor // May 26, 2008 at 11:41 am
I love this. This is just the kind of creativity we need more of in the classroom. I also happen to think Star Wars is great for teaching LOTS of things.
6 Clay Burell // May 28, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Jeez:
Chaplin’s Modern Times - A Night at the Opera - any Lubitsch - The Thin Man - Kapra w/Cary Grant - Gone With The Wind - Treasure of the Sierra Madre - An American in Paris - A Streetcar Named Desire (Brando / Leigh - Leigh’s Blanche Dubois is Scarlett O’Hara pushing 40 when I watch it. She’s my favorite actress.) - Doctor Strangelove or Lolita - Cassavetes’ Woman Under the Influence (THE best family drama I’ve ever seen) - Woody Allen’s Manhattan or A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy or Deconstructing Harry - La Dolce Vita - Tarkovsky’s Sacrifice or Nostalghia - Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander - The Battle of Algiers (French, B&W, Bush should have watched it before being a dumbass who invades Iraq, the fekking idiot) - Waiting for Guffman (Christopher Guest mockumentary) - My Fair Lady (Henry Higgins is god) - The Importance of Being Earnest (Anthony Asquith 1962 British version - perfection) - Fitzcarraldo (Herzog) - Reservoir Dogs - Snatch or Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels - The King of Comedy - The Godfather.
Okay, that’s enough. I’m sure I left things out. Iranian film since the revolution, especially. Beautiful stuff.
Where’s your list, ho?
Clay Burell’s last blog post..An Old Prophecy Confirmed? On the Uses and Abuses of Laptop Learning
7 Taylor // May 28, 2008 at 7:22 pm
I was trying to be more of a discussion leader than preacher. Obviously that didn’t go as planned, as yours is the only true list so far…. So I’ll make a list ~or a whole other blog~ soon! Got it, dickwad?
8 Kaelie // May 28, 2008 at 7:28 pm
How old are you two?
You make me smile. I just am so unexposed to film that I can’t really make a list that would be justifiable without going all teenage “OMG I LOVE THAT MOVIE TO DEATH, THAT GUY IS SO HOTT!” Know what I mean? That’s why this girl is going for a double major in film and english.
Kaelie’s last blog post..Darwin
9 Taylor // May 28, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Kaelie, you’re more qualified than you think. Besides, the *making* of the list is the important thing. I’ve learned so much this year from teaching this class for precisely that reason.
And yes, it’s fun to be immature.
10 Taylor // May 28, 2008 at 7:43 pm
*snicker*
11 Clay Burell // May 28, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Who you calling immature, you upstart? Punk.
You can buy a film history book or find a website (Wikipedia a good start?), rent the movies or download the torrents (if you’re lucky, and I didn’t say that), and educate yourself, by the way.
Clay Burell’s last blog post..An Old Prophecy Confirmed? On the Uses and Abuses of Laptop Learning
12 Taylor // May 28, 2008 at 7:54 pm
[Updated comment] Listen, fucker, that’s my girl. I got her back. You wanna go?
But, Kaelie, he’s right. We can do it together. I intend to study film more over the summer now that I have time.
That’s why I signed up for Netflix at the END of the year after resisting it all year long. I have catching up to do.
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