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Your assignment is to write an original 7-page historical research essay, drawing on at least 5 primary documents and 2 secondary documents without using ChatGPT or other auto-writing software and applications. Your topic should be narrowly focused and related to one of the following types of early electronic media: electricity, electrical telegraphy, phonograph, wireless telegraphy, radio, or early television. Your historical essay should be focused in one of three areas, the: 1) ownership or invention of an electronic media technology by a particular inventor or company, and competitors; 2) use and arrangement of an electronic media technology in a particular location (state, city, town) or social context (home, workplace, public site, urban/rurasetting); or 3) electronic media content and its meaning and significance (electrical displays, telegrams, phonograph cylinders, radio or TV shows, advertising). Sample topics in each of these areas are included in a list Due: Thursday, March 7th, 2pm Media History Digital Library:https://mediahistoryproject.org/

QUESTION:            the following is a list of all of the films streamed this term.  Pick ONE film you would DROP from the list and ONE film you think should definitely STAY on the list for next year.  You may briefly write why you think so, but this is not required.            Note: try to be objective and do not simply say “I think you should drop BLADE RUNNER because I don’t like science fiction movies.”  It’s too late for you, think about students taking this class next year!            Possible reasons: not important enough in film history, not interesting, there are better films (of same genre, date range, country of origin, etc.), etc. IN BRUGES                                                                         THE THIRD MAN PAN'S LABYRINTH                                                         THE CONFORMIST BLADE RUNNER                                                              CHINATOWN MULHOLLAND DRIVE                                                  BELLE DE JOUR MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER                                     RASHOMON MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN                                  REAR WINDOW

ANSWER ANY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS. THESE ARE ‘BOILERPLATE” COMMENTS, BUT THEY’RE IMPORTANT! THERE ARE NO "CORRECT" ANSWERS PER SE. EFFECTIVE, WELL-SUPPORTED, CLEARLY WRITTEN ESSAYS MAY BE CONSTRUCTED FROM A VARIETY OF PERSPECTIVES. THE PROMPTS RELATE TO BUT USUALLY GO BEYOND THE SPECIFIC COURSE MATERIAL IN ORDER TO STIMULATE BROADER AND DEEPER ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION RATHER THAN MERE FACTUAL RECALL. THE OBJECTIVE IS TO ANALYZE THE PROBLEM CAREFULLY, SYNTHESIZE MATERIALS EFFECTIVELY, AND EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS AND CONCLUSIONS COHERENTLY. BE SURE TO MAKE APPROPRIATE REFERENCES TO FILMS, DISCUSSIONS, AND EXTERNAL SOURCES WHEREVER RELEVANT AND APPROPRIATE TO YOUR RESPONSE. THE ESSAY SHOULD BE TYPED AND BE APPROXIMATELY 6-7 PAGES IN LENGTH WRITING MATTERS: AS NOTED IN CLASS, ESSAYS SHOULD ADHERE TO HIGH STANDARDS OF CLARITY, CONCISENESS, ORGANIZATION, GRAMMAR, AND PUNCTUATION. BE SURE TO PROOFREAD YOUR PAPERS CAREFULLY. 1. “Judgment at Nuremberg” is a highly complex film, widely regarded by critics and scholars as one of the finest of the mid 20th century. This film deals with many issues of ethics and morality. This prompt addresses merely one of them, brought up near the end of the film. In one of the final scenes, Judge Heywood (Spencer Tracy) and one of the defendants, former Nazi Judge Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster), are shown conversing. Janning admits that the guilty verdict is just. Then he says, “I never knew it would come to that.” Judge Heywood’s response is both powerful and full of enormous implications for the present, because it deals with the implications of moral compromise with evil: “It came to that the first time you sentenced a man to death...” Imagine the following hypothetical scenario: One of your closest friends, from early childhood and a recent UCLA graduate, is a new member of a police force in the Los Angeles area. She wants to build a career as a police officer, making that a focus of her commitment to public service. Recently, while on patrol, her partner, a superior officer, engaged in an unlawful act of extremely mild violence (a little shoving, without injury) and racial profiling (nothing at all like the George Floyd murder, but wrong and probably illegal nevertheless). Your friend witnessed everything during that encounter but had nothing to do with it at all. The victim complained to the Police Commission, which referred the matter to Internal Affairs. Your superior officer asked you to “try to be as be as silent as possible” about what happened when you were summoned to appear. He said, “Just say you don’t remember seeing anything.” This is no big deal and you shouldn’t rock the boat. Besides, you do want to get ahead here in the Department, don’t you?” Because you were confused and upset, you went to your Sergeant and asked him what you should do. He told you to do what your conscience demanded if you really wanted to, but added, “Look, sometimes you just need to keep your mouth shut. You’re a good officer and so is your training officer. You gotta go along to get along. Isn’t that what your parents told you? You’re a cop now, and you’re gonna see a lotta . . . . during your service. We deal with some tough stuff out there and some potentially dangerous people.” So, your friend decides to ask you for advice. As it happens, you’ve just seen and discussed “Judgment at Nuremberg.” You tell her that you understand her dilemma. You recognize her need to advance in her career .just as you hope to, and you realize that this incident is fairly minor and not at all the same as Nazi Germany and genocide. But at the same time, her silence or even a lie would be a moral compromise. What is your advice? She trusts and values your judgment. Make an argument, with any position that makes sense to you, drawing on the film, discussions, and your own capacity for reasoning. How much, if any, compromise on this issue should you advise her to pursue and why? Always keep in mind that she is a police officer; it could make sense to address the role of policing in early 21st-century America as part of your response to this prompt.

This assignment asks you to write a short, formal paper comparing the relation of any aspect of Chaplin’s work we’ve explored in class to a contemporary figure, film, or media work of your choosing. For the purposes of this assignment, “contemporary” refers to any performance or cultural product produced in the last 30 years. The goal behind this assignment is to investigate an aspect of Chaplin’s legacy as we might observe and evaluate it today. You may decide to write on a performer, filmmaker, or artist who openly acknowledges the influence of Chaplin. Or you may want to choose a figure, film, or a performance-based work about whom the influence of Chaplin has not been recognized or claimed – at least as far as you know. In shaping your discussion, take care to consider both the merits and limitations of the comparisons you make. In what ways does “Chaplin” or “Charlie,” and the films that brought both figures international fame, remain relevant in our present cultural era, or a particular sector of it? Also consider the ways in which recognizably “Chaplinesque” images, behaviors, or patterns may carry different meanings today, in light of changing cultural codes or the new pathways through which cultural materials now circulate and have impact. Papers will be evaluated in terms of: (1) the originality and coherence of the comparisons and contrasts you articulate; and (2) the clarity and precision with which you express your ideas. As always with formal writing, you are responsible for spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

About 3-4 pages each. The assignment is to discuss any movie or television program of your choice, describing and analyzing a significant use of one of the designated formal elements Paper #2, editing & sound in ONE SELECTED SCENE. Describe in some detail how the selected scene uses form in an expressive way; that is, describe and discuss specific aspects of style. How does form create content/meaning/affect? DO NOT critique a film that we screened in class; OR one extensively discussed by Barsam & Monahan. Feel free, however, to refer in your analysis to films we have seen if relevant. I chose Jurassic World- Take a single scene from a movie or TV show of your choice and analyze it in terms of how it uses aspects of editing and sound to communicate narrative and/or thematic meanings about the story as a whole: time/space relationships, development of narrative info, use of off-screen space, setting the mood, etc.

Paper Assignment. The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is a unique and welcome resource on the UO campus. In addition to significant holdings in the arts of East Asia, the museum hosts a regular cycle of traveling exhibits, and thanks to the Masterworks on Loan Program, visitors can treat themselves to an ever-changing selection of works by internationally prominent artists. In preparation for your writing assignment, you are to visit the JSMA in person. After you have given yourself time to acquaint yourself with the artworks on display, choose one. You are to write an essay, no fewer than three pages in length, analyzing the work you have chosen in light of relevant materials from COLT 232. You cannot discuss everything, but your essay must attest to meaningful engagement with at least two of our assigned readings. After identifying the object (by title, artist, year, medium, etc.), explain how you see it differently in light of our readings, viewings, and discussions. Also, and this is required for full credit, take a “selfie” with the chosen artwork visible behind you (this is almost always allowed; when not, there will be an icon beside the work—an encircled camera with a diagonal through it). Please embed the photograph in your paper. You must also include a “works cited” page, listing readings and films using proper bibliographical form. You do not need a thesis statement or paragraph. You may compose it in the form of a diary entry. In addition to describing and analyzing the artwork, you may also reflect on the experience of visiting the museum. Nevertheless, it must be well written, proof-read, and with a thought to how connections (between the artwork and readings) can be carefully and effectively made. This is your chance to impress!

From teacher: ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION. THERE ARE NO "CORRECT" ANSWERS PER SE. EFFECTIVE, WELL-SUPPORTED, CLEARLY WRITTEN ESSAYS MAY BE CONSTRUCTED FROM A VARIETY OF PERSPECTIVES. THE PROMPTS RELATE TO BUT USUALLY GO BEYOND THE SPECIFIC COURSE MATERIAL IN ORDER TO STIMULATE BROADER AND DEEPER ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION RATHER THAN MERE FACTUAL RECALL. THE OBJECTIVE IS TO ANALYZE THE PROBLEM CAREFULLY, SYNTHESIZE MATERIALS EFFECTIVELY, AND EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS AND CONCLUSIONS COHERENTLY. BE SURE TO MAKE APPROPRIATE REFERENCES TO FILMS, DISCUSSIONS, AND EXTERNAL SOURCES WHEREVER RELEVANT AND APPROPRIATE TO YOUR RESPONSE. THE ESSAY SHOULD BE TYPED AND BE APPROXIMATELY 6-7 PAGES IN LENGTH Imagine another (over the top) scenario: After finals in June 2024, you are returning from a much needed vacation in New York. On the plane, you are sitting next to a man named George Babbitt, III, who is remarkably similar to the character Ed Horman in the film “Missing.” Like Horman, George is a middle aged businessman who is largely apathetic to the world around him and is almost entirely consumed by his family and his business concerns.  While waiting for takeoff, your conversation consists mostly of small talk. You tell him that you’re a UCLA student and have recently completed your Spring Quarter, including “Films of Persuasion.” Then, suddenly, the pilot announces that a serious mechanical problem has forced an unscheduled delay and that everyone must disembark. She says that passengers will not be able to leave for a minimum of 5 hours and will be given vouchers for a meal and two drinks. She apologizes for the delay and says that when the problem is fixed, the flight to Los Angeles will take off.  So, you and Mr. Babbitt decide to go for drinks together and “hang out” during the delay. He (“Call me George”) tells you that he has a son, George IV, who has just graduated from Torpor State in upstate New York (TS), with a major in business. He relates that he’s disappointed that his son George wants to take a gap year and is even thinking of going to Africa or Ukraine “or some other weird country” to help out with relief work. George says he should really be thinking about law school or joining his dad’s company, “Widget Pharmaceuticals.” “It’s a fine corporation. I’m going to LA to make a deal to buy some raw materials from China and outsource some of our work to some other place near there, Burma or Bangla something or other. We’re making lots of profits these days. Great place for a young person like George. He can start as a supervisor.”  Then George the Elder asks you about your classes. You tell him that you’ve recently seen and discussed “Missing” in one of your classes. You mention that it’s about a murder of a young American man in Chile in 1973 by the new military Chilean government, with American help. George replies: “Hey, I don’t know anything about that! I wasn’t even born until 1974. How could I even know about events like that? I’m not even sure where that country is!” Then you have a revelation: you think that you might use that film to make George Babbitt more actively engaged in the world. You tell him that you have the film with you on your laptop and that you have time to show it while you’re waiting in Kennedy Airport in NY. He says to you, “Sure, let’s take a look. But like I said, I don’t know anything about Chile or what happened there in 1973. That’s such a long time ago! I don’t really care! I’ll buy you another drink!”  You reply, “Okay, I’ll show you the film. I don’t want to persuade you to take any particular side about Chile or even take any particular side on any political or social issue. I just think that films in general, and this film “Missing” in particular, are useful in getting viewers to have a sharper and less apathetic view of their world and society and to become more engaged citizens. Let me try to show you by looking at this film and many of its specific scenes and its general themes! I can also make it very personal to you. Maybe “Missing” can get you to be more informed and involved in your society and the world, maybe even like your son George Jr., apparently.” 

Watch Casablanca In no fewer than and in complete sentences analyze the work. 1) The Story and the Roles 2) Musical Performances 3) Staging 4) Type/Historical period 5) Context 6) Personal experience. What is  your experience of the work once having analyzed it for the above qualities? How do you interpret and understand it? In depth answer using 1-5 answers

Response Paper For this assignment, you will write a response paper of 700-800 words in which you present a  critical-analytical reading of one text or film. Also called a précis, this is an opportunity for you  to write a brief, clearly-focused short paper to present a well thought-out, structured argument in  concise style. You may choose to focus on any one of cinematic texts we studied in this course,  and you should engage the ideas in at least one secondary source of scholarship. In your film  analysis, do your best to shed light on a film’s key themes, aesthetic elements, cultural context,  and/or cinematic strategies. Session 2 (Wednesday, April 10): Early Hong Kong Cinema: The Shanghai “Hangover” Lisa Odham Stokes and Rachel Braaten, eds. Preface, Chronology, and Introduction in Historical  Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema. xi-14. Stephen Teo, “Early Hong Kong Cinema: The Shanghai Hangover” in Hong Kong Cinema: The  Extra Dimensions. 3-28. Emilie Yueh-yu Yeh, “Translating Yingxi - Chinese Film Genealogy and Early Cinema in Hong  Kong” in Early Film Culture in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Republican China. 19-50. Film: Center Stage ??? directed by Stanley Kwan ???, 1991. II. Wuxia, Kung Fu, and Hong Kong Martial Arts Cinema Session 3 (Wednesday, April 17): The Wuxia Films of the 1970’s: King Hu, Lo Wei, and  Bruce Lee David Bordwell, “Motion Emotion: The Art of the Action Movie” in Planet Hong Kong. 127- 156. Stephen Teo, Introduction in Chinese Martial Arts Cinema: The Wuxia Tradition. 1-16. Stephen Teo, “The Martial Arts Film in Chinese Cinema: Historicism and the National” in Art,  Politics, and Commerce in Chinese Cinema. 99-109. Stephen Teo, “The Rise of Kung Fu: From Wong Fei-Hong to Bruce Lee” in Chinese Martial  Arts Cinema. Stephen Teo, “The Wuxia Films of King Hu” in Chinese Martial Arts Cinema.115-142. Man-Fung Yip, “In the Realm of the Senses: Sensory Realism, Speed, and Hong Kong Martial  Arts Cinema” in Cinema Journal. 76-97. Films: A Touch of Zen ?? directed by King Hu ???, 1971 and Fist of Fury ???  (aka The Chinese Connection) directed by Lo Wei ??, 1972.Session 4 (Wednesday, April 24): Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan: Transnational Stardom and  Identity David Bordwell, “Local Heroes: Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan” in Planet Hong Kong.17-38. M.T. Kato, “Burning Asia: Bruce Lee’s Kinetic Narrative of Decolonization” in Modern Chinese  Literature and Culture. Yvonne Tasker, “Fists of Fury: Discourses of Race and Masculinity in the Martial Arts Cinema”  in Asian Cinemas: A Reader and Guide. 437-456. Paul Bowman, “Spectres of Bruce Lee” in Beyond Bruce Lee. 162-172. Kin-Yan Szeto, “Jackie Chan’s Cosmopolitical Consciousness and Comic Displacement” in  Modern Chinese Literature and Culture. 229-261. Raechel Dumas, “Kung Fu Production for Global Consumption: The Depoliticization of Kung  Fu in Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle.” Films: Enter the Dragon ???? directed by Robert Clouse (1973) and Drunken Master ?? directed by Yuen Woo-ping ??? (1978). Optional additional film: Kung Fu Hustle ?? directed by Stephen Chow ???, 2004. III. The Hong Kong New Wave: Entertainment, Aesthetics, and  Reinvention Session 5 (Wednesday, May 1): The “Accented Cinema” of Tsui Hark and the Politics of  Disappearance Ackbar Abbas, “The New Hong Kong Cinema and the ‘Déjà Disparu’” in Hong Kong: Culture  and the Politics of Disappearance. Law Kar, “An Overview of Hong Kong’s New Wave Cinema” in At Full Speed. Tony Williams, “Under ‘Western Eyes’: The Personal Odyssey of Huang Fei-Hong in Once  Upon a Time in China in Asian Cinemas. Tan See Kam, “Tsui Hark: Accented Cinema” in Hong Kong Cinema and Sinophone  Transnationalisms. Tan See Kam, “Shanghai and Peking Blues: Fiction as Imagined History” in Tsui Hark’s Peking  Opera Blues. 103-118. Craig Reid, “Interview with Tsui Hark” in Film Quarterly. Films: Peking Opera Blues ???(1986) and Once Upon a Time in China ??? (1991) directed by Tsui Hark ???.

Assignment: Write a seven-page, double-spaced essay that describes and evaluates the editing in the film "Oppenheimer" This is a film analysis essay that should be supplemented by research material. The essay should include (Not necessarily in this order): 1)- A brief description of the film’s genre, plot, and themes. 2)- Background information on the film’s editor(s) and director. 3)- A description of the overall use of editing in the film. • What is the film’s editing style? • How does the editing help to tell the story? • Does the editing articulate a particular artistic vision? • Is the editing effective? 4)- A detailed description and breakdown of the editing in the Climax Sence • Clearly list and define the Narrative Beats and describe how they are cinematically articulated through shot design, blocking, and/or editing • Provide a Dramatic Intensity Chart and a Visual Intensity Chart of the visual and dramatic structures of the scene that are clearly labeled with the corresponding Narrative Beats. • Discuss how the shot selection and orchestration articulate the dramatic arc and climax in the scene and reveal its underlying dramatic subtext.