Film Composition and Literature
Dr. O'Brien—Room 17
Rules, Rules, Rules
CELL PHONES AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES ARE NOT ALLOWED. PERMISSION CANNOT BE GRANTED BY INSTRUCTOR. ALL PHONES MUST BE POWERED OFF AND UNABLE TO BE SEEN. LISTENING TO MUSIC IS A PRIVILEGE GRANTED BY THE INSTRUCTOR. EARBUDS, HEADPHONES, ETC. ARE NOT ALLOWED, UNLESS PERMISSION IS GRANTED, AND CAN ONLY BE LINKED TO YOUR CHROMEBOOK.
1. Materials: Students will come to class prepared each and every day with the following: headphones or earbuds, etc., pens (pencils are not allowed—please remember to always utilize pen on assignments completed in this course), assignments (always due at the beginning of the hour unless otherwise noted—i.e. Projects), film notes/computer, and a mature attitude—put downs of others and other bullying nonsense will not be tolerated. Respect one another and one another's property—remember the old adage, “Do unto others . . .”
2. Absences: It is always a student's responsibility to learn what was missed due to absence. I will not hunt you down in order to provide missing assignments, etc. My webpage and Google classroom are wonderful tools where you can locate assignment information, etc.
3. Evaluation: The semester final is worth 15% of the total grade. The semester grades are comprised of three categories: Assessment, Writing, and Learning Activities. Assessments will be 60% of the grade. Writing will be 30% of the grade. Learning Activities homework, daily work, etc. will be 10 % of the grade.
4. Daily Work: Film study demands more than any other course I teach. Students must utilize all aspects of literary elements coupled with aspects of film elements for proper analysis. This course is demanding and will require a strong student commitment daily.
5. Late Work : I absolutely positively do not accept late work. All assignments for the week are posted a week in advance of the due date and all assignments are due prior to midnight on Sunday each week, unless otherwise instructed. Please refer to the Make-Up Work Policy.
6. Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs (ChatGPT, etc.) CANNOT be utilized to produce work submitted to the instructor. AI CAN be utilized for planning and proofreading. I will explain this in more detail during class.
7. My Expectations: I expect each student in this class to dedicate oneself to the study of film. I expect every student in this class to act with maturity at all times in this course.
8. Precautions have been taken to show films of an appropriate nature; however, some films viewed in this course will contain mature material much like literature read in English courses. As in English courses, alternative assignments are always an option. It is the student’s responsibility to request such an assignment.
Possible Films*
Finding Nemo
Raising Arizona
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Big Lebowski
Fight Club
Casino
What’s Up, Doc?
Star Wars series
Cinderella Man
Apocalypse Now
2001: A Space Odyssey
Tombstone
Mystic River
Jaws
The Silence of the Lambs
Psycho
Monty Python’s Life of Brian
The Truman Show
Duck Soup
Fargo
Pulp Fiction
Citizen Kane
E.T.: The Extraterrestrial
Goldfinger
Saturday Night Fever
Vertigo
Gone With the Wind
Stranger Than Fiction
Goodfellas
Sling Blade
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Insomnia
Excalibur
Rear Window
The Godfather
The Godfather II
The Wizard of Oz
Stand By Me
Mad Max series
Batman series
The Departed
The Exorcist
The Usual Suspects
Blade Runner
Aliens
The Shawshank Redemption
LA Confidential
The Great Escape
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Unforgiven
Chinatown
The French Connection
Urban Cowboy
Die Hard series
The Lion King
A Simple Plan
*Other films may be utilized in this course.
Course Description
FILM COMPOSITION AND LITERATURE .50 CREDIT ONE SEMESTER
GRADE LEVEL: 10, 11, 12
PRE-REQUISITES: None
MAJOR REQUIREMENTS OR PROJECTS: None
DESCRIPTION: During this semester class, students will view and discuss representative films from various eras. The course will emphasize the development of various screen adaptations. Reading, writing, and speaking will be emphasized.
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