Assignment F1

• See either one pre-1950 feature film directed by Charlie Chaplin (such as CITY LIGHTS, MODERN TIMES, THE GOLD RUSH) or any combination of Chaplin shorts adding up to at least 60 minutes (such as ONE AM, EASY STREET). Do not see THE PAWNSHOP (which we'll be watching in class) or A WOMAN OF PARIS (which was directed by Chaplin but in which he doesn’t appear), and do not see CHAPLIN (a biopic which is very interesting but neither directed by nor starring Chaplin himself).

• At the top of your assignment, put your name and the number 1 (for page 1). Under that, put the sentence, "I have watched all of __________________," substituting the name of the film (or films) for the blank line. Don't put this statement unless you have in fact watched all of the film(s). (Remember that film titles must appear IN CAPITAL LETTERS. Don't put quotations marks around the titles of films, but type the title of the film ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS.) Viewing the complete film(s) and putting the "I have watched" statement will earn you 5 points.

• You may now earn up to an additional 15 points (for a possible total of 20) by writing about Chaplin and his work. Don't summarize any plots — you should assume that I've already seen the film(s). Instead of telling me what it is (or they are) about, tell me what you thought about Chaplin and his work. For example, did you like Chaplin as a comedian? As a film-maker? Why, or why not? Whether or not you liked Chaplin and his work, did you think that what you saw was good? Again, why or why not?

• Be sure to comment on Chaplin both as a comedian and as a film-maker, and on the material you viewed both as comedy and as film. For the purposes of this assignment, you should consider that the film(s) you saw are representative of Chaplin's overall body of work — even though they might in fact not be. Remember, this is not a research paper. I'm interested in what you have to say, not in what you can learn by reading up on the film-maker.

• Important Cautionary Note: If you see a film or combination of films made before 1928, it's likely that there will be a musical soundtrack and possibly some sound effects. You'll probably have a more enjoyable viewing experience if you leave the volume up, but you should be aware that the sound was added later, and that Chaplin almost certainly had nothing to do with its creation. When you write about the film, don't comment on the music and/or sound effects. That would be sort of like watching a movie on broadcast television today and then writing about the commercials!

• At the end of your assignment, you'll add one additional page, which I'll be referring to as your "My Criteria for Quality in Film" page or "My Criteria" page. Put your name and a page number and the heading "My Criteria for Quality in Film" at the top of this page. (If your assignment is three pages long, for example, your "My Criteria" page should be numbered Page 4.)

• Under the "My Criteria for Quality in Film" heading, use your comments about the film as guidelines towards proposing two general statements indicative of your personal taste in movies. These statements should be numbered (1)and (2), and they should be written as complete sentences. It might be useful to introduce each statement with such language as "Excellent movies feature," or "A movie is more likely to be good if," or "A characteristic of high-quality cinema is." (For example, if you commented in the body of your essay that you liked the acting because it was realistic and you liked the script because it had a happy ending, you could propose these two statements as criteria for quality: "(1) Excellent movies feature realistic acting. (2) A movie is more likely to be good if it ends happily.")

• Don't just put something like "Good movies feature good acting." The point here is for you to think about — and then explain to me — what such quality words as "good," "excellent" and "effective" actually mean.

• Save your "My Criteria" page to your hard drive — you'll be adding more items to this list and resubmitting it with each subsequent film assignment for the remainder of the semester.

• Your film assignments are to be typed or wordprocessed. Handwritten assignments will not be accepted. Use a 12-point font. Double space, and leave 1" margins at the left, right, top and bottom of every page. Do not justify your right margins. Put your name and a page number at the top of every page (including the "My Criteria" page).

• Putting these assignments off until the last possible moment probably won’t work very well. Each of them requires you to view an additional film or films outside of class time, so you should be sure to leave yourself enough time to view the necessary films, think about them, write a first draft, and then edit and revise. That’s more work than some of you are going to want to do — but it’s the way to get a good grade in this course!

• Be sure to spell the names of directors, actors, screenwriters and other people correctly. Always CAPITALIZE the titles of films.

• There is no set length requirement for these assignments. However, know that I rarely give full credit for the F1 assignment to students who turn in less than three double-spaced typewritten pages, and know also that I will expect each subsequent film assignment to be at least somewhat longer than the previous one.

• As I grade your papers, I will be looking for the following elements: evidence that you are paying attention in class, evidence that you are reading the textbook, references and comparisons to other films you have seen (in or out of class) and especially to films you have previously written about, use of the film vocabulary introduced in class and in the textbook, clear presentation of your opinions, reasonable explanations and justifications to support those opinions, and college-level writing skills (spelling, punctuation and grammar).

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