Lesson 8 - Comparison of Case Study Films

Working in small groups, pick a pair of case study films to compare in terms of context of time and place, representation of the city, representation of key issues around power, poverty and conflict and stylistic devices used by the directors of each film. 

Use the relevant handout below to help record your learning and knowledge of each of the films.

Try to pick 2 films that you feel will be your focus films, you will need to write about these in detail in your exam so fill out the comparison grid in as much detail as possible to help you with your revision at a later date.



PAIR A - OOH LA LA -  La Haine and Cache

Urban_2013_14_ Lesson 8_case Study Pairs Comparison Activity - Pair a - Lahaine_hidden by candifilmstudies

PAIR B - TUDO BEM? - CITY OF GOD & NEIGHBOURING SOUNDS

Urban_2013_14_ Lesson 8_case Study Pairs Comparison Activity_pair B - Cog_neighbouring by candifilmstudies

PAIR C - YOUNG & ANGRY - LA HAINE & CITY OF GOD

Urban_2013_14_ Lesson 8_case Study Pairs Comparison Activity_pair C_la Haine_cog by candifilmstudies

PAIR D - THE MIDDLE CLASSES - CACHE & NEIGHBOURING SOUNDS

Urban_2013_14_ Lesson 8_case Study Pairs Comparison Activity- Pair D Hidden_neighbouring by candifilmstudies

Lesson 7 - Homework

Revise Narrative Theory - look over the prezi (posted in another post for lesson 7 below) and your notes in preparation for a recapping activity in lesson 8.

Lesson 7 - Analysis of Form - Directors' Visual Style and Formal Techniques in the Case Study Films

Urban Stories 1314_stylistic Analysis_directors Style Task Handout_HANDOUT 2 by candifilmstudies

Copy of A2film- FM4 Sec A - Urban Stories - Director's Visual Style - LA HAINE on Prezi

Formal Anlaysis Mind Map Notes Handouts_HANDOUT 3 by candifilmstudies

a2 Media_urbanstories2012_13_lesson 8_formal Analysis_analysis of Director's Visual Style Handout HIDDEN by candifilmstudies

a2 Media_urbanstories2012_13_lesson 8_formal Analysis_analysis of Director's Visual Style Handout NEIGHBOUR... by candifilmstudies

a2 Media_urbanstories2012_13_lesson 8_formal Analysis_analysis of Director's Visual Style Handout LA HAINE by candifilmstudies

a2 Media_urbanstories2012_13_lesson 8_formal Analysis_analysis of Director's Visual Style Handout CITY GOD by candifilmstudies

Lesson 7 - Analysis of Form - An Intro to / Overview of Narrative Theory

Copy of A2film- FM4 Sec A - Urban Stories - Formal Comparison on Prezi

a2 Media_urbanstories13_14_formal Analysis_narrative Theory HANDOUT 1 by candifilmstudies

Lesson 6 - Analysis of Key Thematic Issues in Case Study Films - HOMEWORK

Lesson 6 - Analysis of Thematic Issues in Case Study Films

Urban Stories - The Place or the People?

In the article below, posted on the website Den of Geek, the author reflects on the powerful presence of the City in Urban Stories and asks: Is it the place or the people that create the situations in an urban story? He refers to City of God to help develop his ideas.

Read through the article and identify 10 points that you think are relevant in indicating the role of the city in urban stories and how the city is represented as a character in its own right in World Cinema films.

Urban Stories Article Re the City in Film by candifilmstudies

Lesson 5 - Neighbouring Sounds - HOMEWORK - To be completed in groups

This week, you have a group homework research task that is split up into 3 parts:

Part 1. The history of Brazil
Research into the history of Brazil and find out as much as you can about:

1. The Colonisation of Brazil by the Portuguese
2. Brazillian customs and culture
3. The City of Recife

Part 2. The Director Mendonca Filho
Find out as much as you can about the director that includes:

1. his approach to film making
2. his aims with the film Neighbouring Sounds
3. his current successes with the film

Part 3. Brief Analysis of the Film
Answer the question: How is Neighbouring Sounds an Urban Story?
In your response you must:

1. refer to the context of time and place, saying how the history of Brazilian culture and references to colonialsim can be seen in the film
2. discuss the representation of the City and what this tells us about the director's point of view and his stylistic approach in getting this across
3. use at least 3 examples from the film to support your point.

Homework format:

Organise your response into the 3 parts above.

You will submit your work in whichever format you choice BUT NOT IN ESSAY FORM - you don't need to write an essay for this task! 

Some possible formats could be:

• prezi 
• powerpoint slides
• a vlog (talking to camera)
• a sound cloud / voice recording
• a blog post
• a glogster

Your responses will be posted by me to this blog in the next lesson (Friday 25th October)

Lesson 5 - Case Study Film 4 - Neighbouring Sounds (Mendonca Filho - 2012) Reviews and Reading (post incomplete)

IMDB user review

The review below reflects on the ability of Neighbouring Sounds to represent the context of time and place in relation to Portuguese Colonisalism in Brazil and relations bewteen middle and working class citizens.

THE GUARDIAN FILM REVIEW

This Guardian article below considers the representation of Colonialism in the film Neighbouring Sounds and the impact Colonialism has had on the dynamic and relationship between different groups of people in Brazil in the 21st Century. The article also looks at the film Tabu, which is less relevant for our study of Urban Stories, but an interesting discussion on how personal experience can be affected by colonialism.

Colonialism on Film_neighbouring Sounds Guardian Review by candifilmstudies

BFI FILM REVIEW

This review describes Neighbouring Sounds as: "A tense, bold and fiercely compelling portrait of urban life in modern day Brazil"

Click on the link to read the review and find out more about the director:

BFI Film Review of Neighbouring Sounds

TIME OUT FILM REVIEW

Neighbouring Sounds_time Out Review by candifilmstudies

Lesson 5: CASE STUDY FILM 4 - NEIGHBOURING SOUNDS, Kleber Mendonça Filho (2012)

Screening Table by candifilmstudies

LESSON 4 - Case Study Film 3 - CITY OF GOD Homework

Homework

1. Read through the articles and watch the Youtube review for The City of God.

2. For each source you analyse, make notes into the relevant section on the grid, so that you compile information relating to each of the key areas you will need to focus on in the exam.

Hand in for next Friday’s lesson.

Notes grid

Urban Stories 2012_13_lesson 4 Reading Summary Handout COG by candifilmstudies

Reading

Why I Love_the Represntation of the Flavela in COG_the Guardian by candifilmstudies

Roger Ebert_city of God Review by candifilmstudies

The Guardian Reading by candifilmstudies

Sincere but Avoiding Difficult Questions by candifilmstudies
:

Identitytheory_city of God Review by candifilmstudies

Youtube Review


 

Lesson 4 - Case Study Film 3 - City of God

As you watch the film, make notes in the screening grid below:

Screening Table by candifilmstudies

Case Study Film 2 - Cache, Haneke (2005, France) Some writing on Haneke as a director

Funny Frames_filmic Concepts of Haneke by candifilmstudies

Michael Haneke_senses of Cinema by candifilmstudies

Lesson 3: Cache, Haneke - Some Additional Resources and Wider Reading

Cache is a critically acclaimed film and subsequently, there is much discourse surrounding the film.

Below you will find some critical commentary on the film (some more academic than others) that are useful in helping you to come to some conclusions about the film and how it represents the thematic issues of the city, power, poverty and conflict, common to Urban Story films.

Also posted below is the first 30 minutes (2 parts) of a lecture on Cache and the politics of privacy by Dan North from the University of Exeter. This can be seen as useful to your study of the film as many Urban Stories focus on the spatial politics of the urban environment and our public experience of the City. However, in Cache, it is clear that Georges, although he has a public role as a TV presenter, is at pains to keep control of his own private world.  This public / private dichotomy is an interesting aspect of the film.

 

 There are also parts 3 and 4 of the lecture but I couldn't get them to play - maybe you will have more luck. If so, please post the links in the comments box.

We Love Hidden_observer Review by candifilmstudies

Vertigo Review Cache by candifilmstudies

l'Image Cache Essay on the Role of Mediation and Meaning in Hidden by candifilmstudies

Film Quaterly Review by candifilmstudies

Caputi Michael Haneke Cache by candifilmstudies

Lesson 3: Case Study 2 - Cache, Haneke 2005 (France) HOMEWORK

For your homework, please complete the following:

1) read through your own screening notes and your teacher's and organise your findings on the mind map;

2) answer the questions about power, poverty and conflict in Cache

3) write a short personal response to the film and the question, How Is Cache an Urban Story?

To be submitted in Lesson 4. 

Please ensure that you bring your homework to the lesson as you will need it to help you make some comparisons with our first case study film, La Haine.

Notes on Hidden Screening by candifilmstudies

CACHE_an Urban Story by candifilmstudies

Hidden Questions by candifilmstudies

Lesson 3: Case Study Film 2 - CACHE, Haneke 2005 (France)

The English translation of Haneke's 2005 film Cache is 'Hidden' but you could argue that this translation looses some of the impact of the film's French title and the allusion to some of the meaning within the film itself as a result. 

Look at the definition of the french verb cacher below; now try to spot these definitions in the film Cache.

Cache_an Urban Story_intro and Screening Questions by candifilmstudies

Screening Table by candifilmstudies

Lesson 2: La Haine - Homework

There are 3 parts to your homework for La Haine: 

1) Carry out some brief research into Paris as a City? How has is developed since the revolution as a post-colonial city? How has this affected the spatial planning of Paris and its inhabitants?

2) Complete an analysis of the opening sequence (see handout below) 


3) Write a short response to the question: How is La Haine an Urban Story? (see handout below) 


Homework deadline: next week's lesson

Homework Part 1 by candifilmstudies

Fm4 Urbanstories Lesson3 Homework by candifilmstudies

Lesson 2: La Haine - Analysis Questions

La Haine Screening Questions by candifilmstudies

La Haine and the City Analysis Questions by candifilmstudies

Lesson 2: La Haine - Some Reading

Below you will find some useful reading on La Haine, some articles are more challenging than others!  Use the 'reading summary grid' below to help you organise the content of your findings

Urban Stories 2012_13_lesson 2 Reading Summary Handout ACTUAL

La Haine Sight and Sound Article La Haine Representation Article La Haine - Lost in Translation

La Haine - Film Style by candifilmstudies

LESSON 2: La Haine, Matthiew Kassovitz

Below is a short film that is part of a series by CNN on directors and the cities they live in. Here, Matthiew Kassovitz, the director of La Haine, briefly offers his point of view about Paris, fellow Parisiennes and certain aspects and areas of Paris that he feels are important cinematically.  He also explains why cities are important backdrops for directors and that, as a director, this helps to communicate the messages in his films.

LESSON 1 - Intro to the Urban Stories Unit

Click on the link below to view The Battle of Algiers clip - embedded video not working in Prezi

The Battle of Algiers Clip

Lesson 1 Homework 

Reminder of the homework for today's lesson - due in for my lesson next Wednesday:

1)  Pick 3 clips from the Prezi, analyse them and fill out the grid on your handout

2) Write one side of A4 in response to the question: What is an Urban Story?  Your answer should include a definition and consider some of the themes, characters, common props and stylistic codes that we would expect to see. You MUST refer to examples from the clips you have analysed for homework and in class to support your answer.

Below is a reminder of some of the points (and some others from previous groups) that you came up with about the Urban Experience, which may help you writing your answer...