Film Studies Update

Good morning and welcome to week 12!

It’s been crazy coming back from break, realizing that I haven’t posted or emailed in a while. With half-days, conferences, homecoming games, etc. it’s taken a while to get settled in.

In light of it being October and spooky season, we’re examining what makes movies scary/suspenseful/etc. Last week we discussed the long, slow scenes of Ridley Scott’s Alien and this week started off with some long, slow scenes from Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds. Both directors build suspense with long, slow takes and deliberate camera movements, but with remarkably different feelings and outcomes to their respective films.

The next full film we’ll watch in class is a toss-up at the moment. I want to do something Halloween-based and asked the students for suggestions. I realized how very few films are actually centered around Halloween, rather most students equate “dark” or “scary” movies as Halloween movies. The films they listed include; The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, Zombieland, Coraline, Train to Busan, some suggested (much to my surprise) classic horror films like Halloween (1978), Silence of the Lambs, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Exorcist. While I’m excited that they want to venture into these films I’m probably not going to show many in class; they can watch these on their own 🙂

What’s new with Mr. Dudek?
Well, the Legendary Dad Bod competition is still going on. Votes can be cast here. I’m hoping to use the prize money to go to grad school for my masters degree. Peter finished up his volleyball season with winning the championship. He’s started soccer now and his team won their first game last weekend. Myla is trying out different gymnastics and dance classes. I think she’s doing a hip-hop class now. The baby is home sick with pink eye at the moment but other than that she’s all over the place and becoming quite the daddy’s girl.

Have a great week roadrunners!
Mr. Dudek
pdudek@santancs.com