Film Studies Update

Welcome to week 8!

Last week we had a blast watching Knives Out. I’ve never had a class so engrossed in a film. They seemed to love the overall story and I can tell they’re starting to pick up on details that might not have been so apparent at the beginning of the school year. Story elements like foreshadowing, cinematic techniques such as lighting and camera angle are becoming more apparent as we begin to move from casual film viewer to watching with a purpose.

This week we’re going to be discussing cinematography, which is basically the decision of what appears in the frame. Specifically, we’re going to look at the deliberateness at which cinematographers use lighting, camera angles, shots, and sound to create an emotional response in the audience. As part of this study the students were assigned a paper today, due Friday, where they analyze one aspect of cinematography from Knives Out.

I don’t know yet if we’re going to start a new film this week since we’re looking more into filmmaking techniques, but if we do I’ll probably move on to the second choice from the poll a few weeks ago which was the animated film from Studio Ghibli: Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki.

What’s new with Mr. Dudek?
This weekend was crazy. I was up in Pinetop with the football team Friday night, didn’t get back till 2am Saturday, was up at 7:30 for my son’s volleyball tournament at 8:30 then went and coached the JH Team C at our first jamboree in Phoenix at 10:30. I promptly slept 11 hours Saturday night.

Have a wonderful week Roadrunners!
Mr. Dudek
PDudek@santancs.com