Auteur presentations
We have now completed all of the class auteur presentations. Use this blog as a forum for discussing that assignment. Possible questions to write about include: Is there something that you would change about the assignment? How did the assingment change your movie viewing experience? What did you learn from the assignment? Do you have any advice for other members of the class about the assignment? Would you suggest that I leave this assignment on future syllabi?
posted by cmartin at 4/04/2006 11:05:00 PM
26 Comments:
I can honestly say that I've learned so much about what an auteur director is and what he can do. I've also learned how a director's work can be recognized in his movies. I must say, this project was very interesting. I've learned a lot about films that can capture a director's personality and characteristics. I can never imagine how so much work can be put into a film in the sence that a director can think of a story and an approach that would characterize his thinking. I enjoy learning about different films and the directors associated with these films. (I haven't seen many of these films). From now on, whenever I go to watch a movie, I'll have more of an interest into who directed it verses who starred in it. For me, I'll begin to appreciate a director a little more. I enjoyed this project. I thought it was a great way to study the psychological aspects of film and how it can resemble an individual's work. I definately think this project should stay in the future's syllibi. It's a great way to learn everything about film itself.
I really enjoyed the auteur assignment this semester. It’s always cool when watching movies is part of schoolwork. I think I got most out of it was not from my own auteur, but from other classmates’ picks. The handouts are clutch, because it helps you soak in the info presented by the other people. Same goes for the clips, the more you can show examples in print or video, the better the message comes across. There are two things I would consider changing for next semester. First, if possible, have full class periods for each presenter, or 45-50 minutes after a movie screening. Also, have a class period at the beginning of the semester dedicated to teaching everyone how to work the electronic components. Everyone line up, and take turns going through the motions…because we lost a lot of class time waiting for each person to fumble with the controls of the screen/computer/DVD player/lights etc.
debbie and john,
I guess we're all in agreement, the project should stay :)
I enjoyed the auteur presentations because I've always been one of those movie viewers that's never really noticed director style. Or that they had any at all that transcended movies. So this has definitely made me more aware of that. One thing I would change is to maybe give the students a list of possible directors, or put it on the wiki, because I really wasn't familiar with any directors other than a few big name ones. I noticed alot of students already had favorite directors. Thanks to this project I feel like I can impress others with my random movie knowledge now! Oh, the only other problem is that I did have a hard time finding some of the more obscure movies that my diretor did. But I don't think there's really much you can do about that.
I agree with Dan on maybe some longer presentation times. I didn't mind only having 15 minutes, but I noticed some people were really into it and were frustrated they couldn't show everything they wanted to. I guess maybe cut out a film on thursday or something.
I thought the autuer presentations were awesome. I remember all of my friends being jelaous when i said "oh i have to watch these movies for class..." haha. Not only was it fun to research and present the information, i also learned about more directors and movies than i ever could in such a short period of time. I just wish we could have had more time to show clips and what not because i know my director has so many amazing scenes i couldnt get to.
John
i agree, this presentation made me realize how much of an art film really is, and how there are tons of ways to express that art.
I liked the auteur assignemnt a lot actually. It is always fun talkign about a director who's films you really enjoy watching. Just replaying Tarantino films in my mind is more fun than watchign some other movies. There really isn't much I would change about this assigment, it was pretty straight forward, not all that complicated, and the most time consuming part was watching the movies, who can complain abot that? Learning little unknown facts about all the other directors was cool too. Pretty much everyone did a great job of showing their director as an auteur.
Sam - the same thing happened when my friends found out haha
Sam,
I agree with you on the time restrictions on the presentations. I wish I had more time to presenton my director too. So, we pretty much agree with making the time a bit longer.
I definitely enjoyed doing my auteur presentation and watching everyone else’s presentations as well. I never really thought about what an auteur was before doing this assignment, but now I know! I think the project is a great way to learn more about your favorite director or a director that you want to learn more about. I really liked choosing a director I didn’t know much about because I will look forward to watching his movies in the future and seeing if he continues the techniques he has used in past films. The auteur project is also an interesting way for the class to learn about different stylistic and thematic techniques in film. The auteur project should definitely be kept on the syllabi for future film classes.
I agree with what everyone has said about making the presentation time longer. It would be nice to be able to show as many clips as you want to the class.
Like everyone else, I really enjoyed the auteur presentation. It was definitely the most fun assignment we've had this semester. The best part was that most of the research for the assignment consisted of watching a bunch of movies that I really like. Watching everyone else's presentations was also a great opportunity to learn about some directors that I wasn't as familiar with. Getting to see clips of movies I've never seen made me want to go out and rent them. Overall, I think it's a great assignment and it should definitely stay on the syllabus.
I agree with the rest of the class. It definitely would have been nice to have some more time for the presentation. The time constraint made it really hard to pick which clips to show and it would've been nice to feel less rushed.
I liked the auteur project a lot. I liked the fact that we could choose any director that we wanted to. I personally had a bunch in mind, but chose one that I didn’t know much about. So, by the end, I had learned a lot, and it was fun. This project made me really aware of stylistic and narrative techniques that really make a film unique to a director. The project also made me apply a lot of what we learned in class. For instance, I was looking at cinematographic techniques that I would not have understood otherwise. Overall, I think it’s a great project. I really enjoyed watching the presentations.
like everyone else, I wish i had more time to show clips... I felt like I did more summarizing of the director's work than I would have liked to... and yes, the project should stay!
I really enjoyed the auteur presentations. While I knew a good majority of the directors presented, there was a couple that I had never heard of. I found it very interesting to learn about these new directors and be able to compare them to others that were presented. Doing the project really allowed you to learn a lot about your auteur and be able to pick up on their styles outside of the project. It was interesting to see who each person chose because in most cases, I thought it said a lot about the person themselves. I would definitely recommend keeping this as an assignment.
I also agree with everyone on the time restraint. While I didn't feel too terribly rushed, I could tell others were.
I thought that the auteur presentation was one of the better assignments. I enjoyed taking a director, and looking very closely at a number of his/her works. My only complaint would be that we had to pick just one. There’s obviously nothing that can be done about this, but I really had troubled choosing my director. Not that I regretted picking who I did, but there were other that I would have enjoyed looking at closely as well. But I did like being exposed to a few directors that I had not been exposed to before. Some of the presentations of movies that I had already seen made me want to go straight home and watch them, and some of the presentations on movies I had not seen made me want to do the same. I think the assignment was good.
Yeah, we could have been given a little more time, but I wouldn't have been fully satisfied unless we got to watch every movie in its entirety, and no amount of time would permit that.
I thought that this was a great assignment for class. I really liked being able to see what kind of movies everybody likes. I chose a director that I was only a little familiar with and I ended up loving all of his movies. I learned so much about filmmaking and how a director’s personal style and expression can really be demonstrated through their movies. I wouldn’t change anything except the amount of time allowed to present because there just isn’t enough time to talk about the director and present clips to support your claim. Definitely leave this one on the syllabus.
ryan- i thought that we should do more directors also... and go home and watch all the great movies
This assignment, being the auteur presentation, was informative and enjoyable for a school assignment. I know I learned a lot from the other presenters and from my own studies. I wouldn’t change anything about the assignment. I would suggest keeping this assignment for future classes. I would also suggest to future classes that they pick an auteur that they really admire and respect, because they will become engrossed in his work. Also, try to pick an auteur that is somewhat obscure or different. Not only will it make the assignment easier because you can focus on this particular director’s distinction, but the class will find it more enjoyable because it’s a completely new concept.
what's up with the deleted comment? somebody a little noncommital? and the presentations could def be longer, i didn't get to everything i wanted to, i know that.
the auteur presentation was my favorite thing to do in this class mainly because i got to talk (who doesnt like to hear themselves talk) especially about a topic that im genuinely interested and is a part what makes up my 'character.' i was pretty happy that most if not all of the class had not seen 'vincent', the short film i chose to show. i get pretty excited about showing people something new that gives a little more insight about why Tim Burton is an auteur. I liked other peoples presentations because i got to see a lot of movies that i had never seen or had a little bit of knowledge about. and if anything, now i have more useless trivia knowledge! i would definitely bring this project back for the next eng2300 class.
i agree with everyone, having a lot more time to show clips would have been pretty cool but then again how many people would want to sit through other peoples longer presentations. everyone likes to hear themselves talk and be the ones front and center but its a different story when youre hearing someone else talk for an hour..but then again this presentation was interesting and every auteur that was mentioned was worth hearing about for 20 + minutes. i think the time was just about right.
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