The Film Foundation’s Story of Movies presents

The American West and the Film Genre

In association with

The Harrington School of Communication and Media, University of Rhode Island with additional support from the National Endowment for the Humanities

A professional development seminar for educators, grades 5 – 12

Saturday, June 14 8 a.m. – 9 p.m. & Sunday, June 15 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Swan Hall Agnes Doody Auditorium URI Campus, Kingston, RI

Who & What This free, two‐day seminar introduces educators to an interdisciplinary curriculum covering a critical period of American history (1860 – 1900) when the United States was expanding and forging an identity, and explores th how filmmakers of the 20 century represented this era. • Workshops focus on cinema literacy/film language, and film as historical/cultural document. Handout materials include screening activities and primary source documents to challenge students’ critical‐thinking skills. • Afternoon screenings feature classic Western films, each voted culturally and aesthetically significant by the Library of Congress National Film Registry. How & When to Register Classroom capacity is limited so early registration is encouraged. Continuing Education Credits (CEUs) may be supported by your school district for this program. • Register by emailing Dr. Renee Hobbs, at [email protected] or calling (401) 874‐2110. • To download weekend seminar schedule and a list of topics to be covered, visit:

http://harrington.uri.edu/wp‐content/uploads/2014/06/WEEKEND‐SCHEDULE‐The‐story‐of‐movies1.pdf Why Teach the Western Film Genre? • A rich tapestry of literature, art and social history exist to enhance the “Westerns have always been study of the Western genre, making it an ideal interdisciplinary subject for classroom study. roadmaps that tell viewers more

• Because the Western is an evolving and changing expression of different about the contemporary U.S. than stages of American cultural history, investigating the mythology of the Western allows students to interpret how Americans – as well as people about the country as it existed in in other countries – have viewed American political, social and economic th values. the last half of the 19 Century.”

• The decline of the Western genre in the last decades of the 20th Century —R. Philip Loy, Westerns in a Changing America and early decades of the 21st Century presents an intriguing subject for argument. Why did the genre decline? And what mythology, if any, has replaced the Western to explain our present‐day American demographics and value systems?

• Movies are a door to knowledge—of society, of history, of art. The Story of Movies curriculum opens these doors by teaching students to think critically about film, and providing them with a deeper understanding of this uniquely influential art form.

Saturday, Sunday, Sessions June 14 June 15 Registration 8:30 Introduction to the SOM Interdisciplinary Curriculum Watching vs. Seeing Screening Activity: The Inciting 9:00 & Common Core Connections Incident, from Red River Block 1: Conventions of the Western Film Genre Block 4: How the Soundtrack Communicates 9:30 – 10:30 • and the • Selected Scenes from Once Upon a Time in the West • What Is Savage? Sound analysis and depictions in • Screening The Great Train Robbery scenes from The Searchers

• What is a Western Film? Conventions of the Genre

Block 2: Decoding a Film’s Ideology Block 5: Changing Ideologies, Changing Depictions 10:45 – 12:15 • Identifying Ideology through Cinematic Depictions • Time & Interpretation & Racial Relations: “Don’t • Break‐out Session for screening activity: Selected Scream” from Sergeant Rutledge and Broken Arrow scenes from Destry Rides Again • Violence and Vengeance: Scenes for analysis: Ulzana’s Raid Lunch 12:15 – 1:00 Block 3: Film Language – Composition & Block 6: Pulling It All Together—Mise‐en‐scène 1:00 – 2:30 Juxtaposition • Watching: “The McBain Family” from Once Upon a • Four Elements of Film Language time in the West • Selected scenes for analysis from The Oxbow Incident and The Outlaw Josey Wales • Seeing: “The McBain Family” revisited

Matinee Film Introduction: Social Class & Prejudice Film Introduction: The Closing of the American Frontier Screening Feature Film: (1939, d. John Ford) Feature Film: Shane (1953, d. George Stevens) 3:00 – 5:00 Evening The New Frontier: The Journey West Feature The Big Trail (1930, d. Raoul Walsh)

About The Film Foundation The mission of the Film Foundation, a non‐profit 501(c)(3) organization founded by Martin Scorsese and other prominent filmmakers, is to preserve America’s cultural and artistic film heritage and to ensure that classic films remain accessible to future generations. TFF’s educational programs are designed to raise awareness of the urgent need to protect and preserve motion picture history, and to create an understanding of the social and cultural significance of film. In keeping with this mission, the foundation developed The Story of Movies, working closely with American filmmakers, scholars, and classroom educators. The groundbreaking educational initiative exposes middle and high school students to classic cinema, teaches them how to understand the visual language of film, and encourages them to appreciate the social, historical, and cultural significance of film.