Reading the Movies: Twelve Great Films on Video and How to Teach Them
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 342 033 CS 507 726 AUTHOR Costanzo, William V. TITLE Reading the Movies: Twelve Great Films on Video and How To Teach Them. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, REPORT NO ISBN-0-8141-3910-8 PUB DATE 92 NOTE 218p. AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 Kenyon Rd., Urbana, IL 61801 (Stock No. 39108-0015; $10.95 members, $14.95 nonmembers). PUB TYPE Guides - Classroom Use - Teaching Guides (For Teacher) (052) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC09 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Class Activities; Discourse Analysis; English Instruction; *Films; *Film Study; Higher Education; High Schools; Instructional Innovation; Videotape Recordings IDENTIFIERS Film Genres; Film History; *Film Viewing ABSTRACT Recognizing film as a medium of expression that should have a place in high school and college classrooms, this book provides a framework for teaching about film as a medium and for studying the ways filmmakers use images and technology to convey experiences, emotions, and ideas. The first part ,)f the book presents six chapters on "reading" the movies: (1) the Art of 7iction Film; (2) the Languages of Film; (3) the Technology of Film; (4) a Brief History of Film; (5) Theories of Film; and (6) Film in the English Class. The second part of the book focuses on teaching approaches for 12 diverse and important films available on videocassette, from Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times" to Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" and Penny Marshall's "Awakenings." The book presents background on each film and its maker, questions for discussion, and topics and resources for further study. A list of 60 other movies, a description of 4 film projects, and a 137item bibliography are attached. (RS) *******************************************X*************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ***************************************************************A******* READINGTHEMOVIES rn Gveat Films on Video an(I hOW to reach Them , :Or . 4.4.4. Aerr UAL DEPILRTMENT OF EDUCATION Mc. of Educational Research 2nd Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS CENTER (ERIC) MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Kill's document has beenreproduced as received from Ihe person or organization originating it 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduclion quality Points of view or opinions stated fl this docit mem do not necessarily represent official OE RI position or policy TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES, INFORMATION CENTER IERIC)." 1 '1 Reading the Movies Twelve Great Films on Video and How to Teach Them William V. Costanzo Westchester Community College Z". National Council of Teachers of English \.4 1111 Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801 3 To my children, Michael and David, who taught me enough about reading movies to write a book. Film photos: Museum of Modern Art/Film Stills Archive. Courtesy of Columbia Pictures(On the Waterfront, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Awakenings);Embassy Pictures(The Graduate);MGM(Singin' in the Rain);Orca Productions, Sunafra Productions, and NEF Diffusion(Sugar Ca,ne Alley);RKO Pictures(Citizen Kane);Twentieth Century-Fox(The Grapes of Wrath);United Artists(Modern Times);Universal Pictures(The Birds, Do the Right Thing);and Warner Brothers (Rebel Without a Cause).William Costanzo's photograph courtesy of Dale Leifeste Photography, Valhalla, New York. NCTE Editorial Board: Richard Abrahamson, Celia Genishi, Joyce Kinkead, Louise Phelps, Gladys Veidemanis, Charles Suhor, ex officio, Michael Spooner, ex officio Manuscript Editor: Mary Daniels Production Editor: Rona S. Smith Cover Design and Illustration: Carlton Bruett Interior Design: Tom Kovacs for TGK Design NCTE Stock Number 39108-3050 © 1992 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is rlearly specified. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Costanzo, William V. Reading the movies : twelve great films on video and how to teach them / William V. Costanzo. cm. Includes bibliographical references. Includes filmographies. ISBN 0-8141-3910-8 I. Motion picturesStudy and teaching.2. Motion pictures and literature.3. Motion picturesPhilosophy.4. Film criticism. I.Title. PN1993.7.C61991 791.43'07--dc20 91-40981 CIP Contents Acknowledgements vii Preface ix Introduction: Films, Lives, and Videotape 1 Part I Reading the Movies 1. The Art of Fiction Film 13 2. The Languages of Film 25 3. The Technology of Film 34 4. A Brief History of Film 50 5. Theories of Film 62 6. Film in the English Class 73 Part II Twelve Great Films on Video 7. Citizen Kane 89 8. On the Waterfront 97 9. Rebel Without a Cause 105 10. The Graduate 113 11. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 121 12. The Grapes of Wrath 129 13. Modern Times 137 14. The Birds 143 15. Singin' in the Rain 151 16. Sugar Cane Alley 161 1 vi Contents 17. Do the Right Thing 169 18. Awakenings 177 Appendix 1: More Great Films 186 Appendix 2: Four Film Projects 189 Bibliography 194 Author 201 Acknowledgements The idea for this book was first suggestedby Charles Suhor, NCTE's tarsighted deputy director and a long-timeadvocate of media education. Charlie believed that the day had arrived topublish a guidebook on film for teachers of English. I was quick toseize the day. Such a book had been ripening in my imaginationthrough years of teaching film an.1 trading classroom stories withenthusiastic colleagues. If there were space enough andtime, I would list each student,friend, and colleague who has contributed to the contentsof this volume. There are some, however, towhom I owe an especially large measureof appreciation. In particular, I want tothank Bruce Kawin (University of Colorado, Boulder) and Peter Brunette(George Mason University) for reading portions of the manuscriptwith an expert and judicious eye. Their scholarshipand friendship have helped toshape this book and sustain the spirit of its author. I wantto thank Linda Dittmar (University of Massachusetts-Boston) andErnece Kelly (Kingsborough Community College, New York) forhelping with the selection of films. Their perspectives have enlarged myview of movies as well as the scope of this text. ToBarbra Morris (University of Michigan,Ann Arbor), Jonathan Lovell (San Jose StateUniversity), and my other associates on the Media Commission, I owe manyyears of supportive and productive collaboration. And I thank mygood fortune in having Michael Spooner, NCTE's senior editorfor publications, and Mary Daniels, my patient and film-wise copyeditor, to guide me through the publication process with highhopes and unflagging patience. I work at a school that takes great pridein teaching but also supports the efforts of its teachers to strengthenthe bonds with and within their professions through scholarshipand publication. The productive climate of Westchester Community Collegeis due largely to its energetic president, Joseph N. Hankin, and to itsextraordinary staff. As always, I am grateful to my generouscolleagues in the WCC library who helped provide the resources for mywork and then made sure that I sat down to do it.I am grateful, too, for theadvice of teachers like Stanley Feingold, John Cuniberti,and Maryanne Vent, who helped to vii 7 viii Acknowledgements show me the range of possibilities while keepingme faithful to my own. Finally, a note of personal appreciationto my family: to my parents for their belief in me, to my children for keepingme alert, and to my wife, Barbara, for standing byme through the years. s Preface The wave of enthusiasm for film study that crested in theearly 1970s, then ebbed during the back-to-basics movementof the following decade, has begun to rise again, impelled byadvances in research and technology. With the advent of VCRs, movieshave become more popular, less costly, and easier to screen. Notonly are movies more accessible than ever before, but laserdisk and videocassettemachines also have made it possible to give films theclose textual attention once reserved for literary works.Meanwhile, new scholarship in fields like semiotics, post-structuralism, and feministstudies has added fresh significance and sophistication to the analysis of movingimages. Film is more widely seen now as a symbol system,much like language, which encodes the values of society, reflecting andreforming our most essential cultural beliefs. For these and other reasons, the idea of usingmovies is growing more attractiveand importanttoteachers of English. Many English teachers regard film as part of the linguisticenvironment. They recognize that much of what their studentslearn about language and culture is filtered through the visual media.They seek to make more natural and substantive the connections betweenthe media arts and the language arts. It seems especially important, then, that teachershave good models and reliable resources for introducingfilms in the classroom. The purpose of this book is to helpteachers develop their own informed approaches to teaching films of high qualityand wide appeal. It begins with a general overview of film theory andresearch, followed by a closer look at twelve