Please post your final project update as a comment to this post. Write a concise paragraph outlining your final project in terms of both content and form. Include a working bibliography to demonstrate the extend of research and thinking you have been doing for your project.
Content:
What materials (films, interviews, critical essays) are you using, both in-class and outside? What argument will you be presenting based on these materials? Are you going to focus on one individual film from our class (which you are required to do as a starting point)? Or are you going to bring in one film from outside class as a comparative case to enrich our understanding of the class film of your choice (you need to focus on the film within our class)?
Form:
Are you going to write a conventional paper (8-10 pages)? Are you going to do a short film project (3-5 min., must include at least 4-5 page analytical writing, could incorporate it as voice over)? Are you going to create a multimedia (even bilingual) website (with multiple pages, must include at least 4-5 page analytical writing)? Are you going to do any other creative projects? Please make sure to consult with me on individual bases if you are doing creative projects.
Working Bibliography:
List any and every source you plan to use for your project as you know by Monday Nov. 25 at 10 pm. Annotate your bibliography as much as you can.
My final project will be a multimedia presentation structured similarly to Dr. Luo's lectures. I will be incorporating powerpoint, clips from various films, and interviews/critical essays from various sources given by Dr. Luo in previous classes. I have not yet decided on the topic that I will be presenting; however, I have narrowed it down to the following list.
ReplyDelete-How do sound, camera angle, and lighting play a role in Chinese film? (Films: Blind Shaft, Millenium Mambo)
-When is one considered an adult? (Films: Millenium Mambo, Beijing Bicycle, Blind Shaft)
-What defines identity? (Films: Beijing Bicycle, Blind Shaft, Eat, Drink, Man, Woman)
-Human nature- where do we draw the line? (Films: Beijing Bicycle, Blind Shaft)
Bibliography:
-"Human" in the Age of Disposable People
-Li Yang Interview
-Wong Xiaoshuai Interview (pg. 176)
-http://sensesofcinema.com/2001/13/wong-kar-wai/mood/
my topic for the final is going to be about the "hidden rules" in China. Since a long time ago, these "hidden rules" are everywhere in China. And if you are not farmiliar with these rules, you will not understand some of the scenes in Chinese movies, and also, if you are not farmiliar with these rules, you will have no idea why some of the movies were forbid to be shown in China for a period of time.
ReplyDeleteThe films I choose to talk about from our class are Blind Shaft and Let the Bullets Fly. I might add some other films outside of our class. I am just going to write a conventional paper about my topic.
Raymond and I are going to collaborate on a short film project that is related to the "Country vs. City" (Rural vs Urban) idea in "Beijing Bicycle". We will be using primarily our own interpretation of the movie (we want to keep it original), as well as the documents provided in Blackboard. Other sources such as scholarly articles and movie analysis by critics may also be considered as reference sources
ReplyDeleteWe will be filming a friend, who is acting as the "foreigner" of the movie, similar background to "Guei" in "Beijing Bicycle" and how he dealt with the cultural differences that he encounters. Our actor will be acting out scenes that are related to the scenes in "Beijing Bicycle" to demonstrate our ideas of "Country vs. City".
Bibliography
-Yingjin ZHANG, “The PRC: Post-Socialist Cinema,” read from Chinese National Cinema, 281-296
-Wang Xiaoshuai Interview
-XU Jian, “Representing Rural Migrant Workers in the City: Experimentalism in Wang Xiaoshuai’s So Close to Paradise and Beijing Bicycle,” Screen 46, 4 (Winter 2005), 433-49
-http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0DE3DC1F3BF936A15752C0A9649C8B63
I plan to compare and contrast the two film styles used in 'The Killer' and 'Millenium Mambo' in order to gain a deeper understanding about the effects that cinematographic techniques can add to, or change the meaning of a scene. In addition to a short analytical paper, I intend to produce a short film, with one scene filmed from the two different styles, in order to provide a visual accompaniment.
ReplyDeleteI'll be consulting a variety of sources, including
- ---. "Space, Place, and Spectacle: The Crisis Cinema of John Woo." Cinema Journal 36.2 (1997): 67-84. Print.
-Bordwell, David. "Master shots: On the set of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s THE ASSASSIN." David Bordwell's website on cinema. N.p., 06 JAN 2013. Web. Web. 25 Nov 2013. .
-Hanke, R. "John Woo's Cinema of Hyperkinetic Violence: From a 'Better Tomorrow' to 'Face/Off'." Film Criticism 24.1 (1999): 39-59. Print.
-Marsen, S. "The Semiotic Construction of Worldview in Film: Multimodal Variations in Le Samourai, the Killer, and Ghost Dog." Semiotica 190.1-4 (2012): 153-75. Print.
-Tunney, T. "'John Woo's Violent Tradition'." Sight and Sound 7.2 (1997): 66-66. Print.
-Udden, James. No Man an Island: The Cinema of Hou Hsiao-Hsien. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2009. Internet resource.
-Williams, T. "John Woo - the Films." Film Quarterly 54.1 (2000): 46-47. Print.
-Woo, J. "Filmic Memories - John Woo; Filmmaker." Film Quarterly 52.1 (1998): 71-71. Print.
My final project is about the people from countryside and their living in city. Migrant workers are hard to fit into the city lives, but some of them are keeping work straightly, while others are earning money by illegal short cuts. Money can change people and lack of money even can lead people into the wrong way. I will compare the individuals in Blind Shaft, and The Postmodern Life of My Aunt, and by analysis these people’s behaviors, in order to figure out the effects that money can change poor people, especially migrant workers in the big city.
ReplyDeleteBibliography may be used:
“Human” in the Age of Disposable People, Rey Chow
The Future of Chinese Cinema? Li Yang
Representing Rural in the City, Xu Jian
The Resistance of Non-resistance: on the (im)possible fragility of ethics in Li Yang’s Blind Shaft, Mark McConaghy
I find out I am really interested in Chinese people 's characteristic(identity). I will focus on the Chinese people characteristic reflect in the film. Some characteristic in he film is good side of Chinese, others are bad side. Once we understand what is the Chinese people's identity, we can understand the film and culture better. The film I will focus on is Let the bullet Fly and Evil near the door. Both of these films are directed by Jiangwen. He is my favorite director.
ReplyDelete"Let the Bullet Fly" Website :http://www.letthebulletsfly.wellgomovies.com/
"Gender Politics and Neoliberalism in China": Ann Hui's The Postmodern Life of My Aunt by Gina Marchetti
"Ann Hui Interview from Speaking in Images"
NYT review of Let the Bullets Fly
For my final project, I'm going to create a website focusing on Beijing Bicycle. I'm going to include a brief summary on there. I'll have a page that discusses the importance and popularity of bicycles as transportation in China. With this, I also want to talk about how an article by Piper Gaubatz talks about how bicycles are the reason for such congestion and traffic in China.
ReplyDeleteOn another page of the website, I will discuss how the bicycle acts as a bridge for the boys. Bridge being a connection with the city and with popularity/girls. I want to have a third page, but I am currently doing research to find that third topic. A possibility for that is how the film is relate-able because most people, naturally, are attached to a certain object they own for a certain reason. I will continue to do research for another aspect.
Bibliography:
"Changing Beijing," by Piper Gaubatz.
"Paradise Lost; Wang Xiaoshuai's Nostalgic "Beijing Bicycle" This is an interview with Wang I found online at indiewire.com
On my final paper, I am going to mainly talk about ‘Blind Shaft’ and Li Yang’s second film ‘Blind Mountain’ which is out from our class. It would about darkness time in China during that time and collusion. People could do anything for interest. China's present situation and contrast before. And why some of these kinds of films were banned or still banned now in China.
ReplyDeleteLI Yang interview from course content http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Mountain
Blind Mountain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Mountain
Blind Shaft http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Shaft
Chow on Blind Shaft
For my finial paper, I plan to write something between “The Killer” and “A Better Tomorrow”. I want to talk about three things on the finial project. First of all, I’d like to describe feeling that is director want to express. Secondly, I will say something about technique of cinema in that two film. Thirdly, I want to discuss some knowledge of background thus understand, at that time, Chinese film. I am going to write a conventional paper.
ReplyDeleteI will consulting some literature, such as：
John Woo interview
In my final project, i am going to talk about the human nature during a bad environment and what the idea they may think in their mind. During some bad environment, they may change their own life way, they may effect by so many factors. And there are so many movies talk about these things, so there are lots of are not allowed in China. I am not sure which film i will use. Maybe not the class film, but I will choose some classic movies about these main idea in my final project.
ReplyDeleteChris and I will be doing an analysis on the topic of people from the country vs people from the city situations as seen in movies that we have seen for class such as "Beijing Bicycle." We would be utilizing articles from our readings for our analysis.
ReplyDeleteChris and I will be making a film based on this analysis where we take a look at someone who is from the country trying to get use to comming to the city. Some scenes that we have seen in the movies will be used to help show the comparison.
I would like focus on the role of music in the film, as we see many of film‘s reason for success, the important is episode of film. Such as the “Titanic”, the song of “My heart will go on” is the key of the “Titanic” to success. I will use the two films of we have see in this semester to explain why the music is very important in the film, how the music make film to success and What is the specific effect of music in the film? I will take the film name of “Beijing Bicycle” and “In the Mood for love” for example, compares the same point between the two film’s music and not only demonstrate the music effect in the film, but also explain its impact on the audience.
ReplyDeleteThis is my Bibliography:
1.The book of 《The basic function of movie music》Zhang JianMing
2.Two films name of “In the mood for love” and “Beijing Bicycle”
3.The book of 《Sound art theory》China Film Press 11/2008
I want to talk about the issue of migrant labors in recent China. It will be discuss basically on the background and the influence. There are two films we watched mainly talked about the issue which are “Beijing Bicycle” and “Blind Shaft”. I choose the option of multimedia for my final project. I will make several slices of PPT includes some video clips and several of sources about the topic.
ReplyDeleteBibliography:
- Beijing Bicycle (Shiqi sui de danche, 2001, dir. Wang Xiaoshuai, 113 min.)
- WANG Xiaoshuai, “Banned in China,” Speaking in Images, 162-180.
- XU Jian, “Representing Rural Migrant Workers in the City: Experimentalism in Wang Xiaoshuai’s So Close to Paradise and Beijing Bicycle,” Screen 46, 4 (Winter 2005), 433-49.
- Blind Shaft (Mang jing, 2003, dir. Li Yang, 89 min.)
- Rey CHOW, “‘Human’ in the Age of Disposable People: The Ambiguous Import of Kinship and Education in Blind Shaft,” Sentimental Fabulations, 167-180.
- Also some video clips outside of class.
Many films are not purely commercial product. It can not only give you visual enjoyment but also give you the spiritual enjoyment. A good film story’s behind has deeper connotation. It will tell us about life philosophy. Maybe some films’ story is full of gloom and despair. But it still wants to tell us some positive things. In a lot of films, we can see some characters still keep invincible spirit in desperate environment. That is film’s positive element. So I want to talk about deeper connotation that some films want to tell us such as ‘Beijing Bicycle’ and ‘Aftershock’.
ReplyDeleteMy final project's theme is “Generation ". I hope use "Blind Shaft" and "Beijing Bicycle response" these two films. In fact, I think that these two movies are a reflection of the character of a certain age China, with the passage of time, when we go to watch the movie; we could get more memory and contrast. However, I think that these two movies have been unable to explain the situation of current China. Because with the development of the times, people's living standard gradually increased, it hard to find some same story as the movies had shown. I would like to go through these two films, and compare with the current Chinese state of life.
ReplyDeleteHanna and I plan to collaborate on a paper and website together. With our approach to content, we want to look at Comrades: Almost a Love Story and Beijing Bicycle in order to analyze the nature of migration and its effect on their characters in these two films. We will look at the characters' "native" or starting location and then make comparisons to their destination: in this case the shift from a rural home to an urban area that provides a means for employment. In terms of our form, we want work together with a digital medium alongside the paper in order to highlight the differences between a visual/multimedia analysis and a conventional formal paper analysis.
ReplyDeleteFor sources, we plan to use the two films, as well as four pieces of reading done in class: Rey Chow's "By Way of Mass Commodities," the Peter Chan interview from "Speaking in Images," Jian Xu's "Representing Rural Migrants in the City: Experimentalism in Wang Xiaoshuai's So Close to Paradise and Beijing Bicycle," and finally the Wang Xiaoshuai interview from "Speaking in Images." I'm assuming we will also have some multimedia sources, but we haven't pinned down where we'll be obtaining them (film screenshots, etc).
I will be writing an auteur criticism essay on director Jiang Wen and his film Let the Bullets Fly, focusing on his approach to the action-comedy genre. I plan to compare and analyze his cinematographic style with regard to other films of the same genre. Additionally, I will research his career influences and other inspirational elements, and look at how these elements are incorporated into his films. I will argue that despite being a bit cliche and delivering an overall fantastical plot, Let the Bullets Fly is an entertaining film due to Jiang Wen's unique approach to action and comedy.
ReplyDelete1. Interview with Jiang Wen, 2007.
2. Let the Bullets Fly Review.
3. Film: Let the Bullets Fly
The links were removed for some reason so here is a repost:
Delete1. http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/07/31/talkasia.jiangwen/
2. http://cinema-scope.com/features/features-let-the-readings-fly-jiang-wen-reaches-for-the-mainstream/
I want to talk about the use of sound in film. I will be primarily examining the movie "Eat Drink Man Woman" since I find that film, from a "sound perspective" the most fascinating. The argument I will make will revolve around how sound impacts our viewing experience, mentality, and emotions during the film. As far as a medium goes, it will be some type of multimedia presentation, that way I can incorporate all of the sounds into the presentation.
ReplyDeleteSources:
Ang Lee interview: "Freedom in film"
The National in Taiwan Cinema
Once Upon A Time: Technology Comes to Presence in China
"Eat Drink Man Woman" (the film itself)
various other sources.
My project will focus on the film “Blind Shaft.” My analysis will primarily discuss how the film presents the harsh realities of contemporary China and highlights various social issues relevant. Furthermore, the project will ultimately argue how “Blind Shaft” is a film about “disposable people” and the lack of care for human capital. I intend to write a conventional paper about 8-10 pages long. The sources I will use are the following:
ReplyDeleteChinese ecocinema : in the age of environmental challenge /: Of Humans and Nature in Documentary: The Logic of Capital in West of the Tracks and Blind Shaft
A time for the humanities : futurity and the limits of autonomy /: 'Human' in the Age of Disposable People: The Ambiguous Import of Kinship and Education in Blind Shaft
Asian cinema: Documentary as Haunting of the Real: The Logic of Capital in Blind Shaft
I plan to focus on sound (more specifically music) in film. I'm not sure which of the films we have seen as examples, but I want to examine how music plays a role, telling us often what emotions we should be feeling. I find the absence of music very striking in films and perhaps there is a good antithesis there.
ReplyDeleteRou’s Topic: Citizens V.S. Countrymen
ReplyDeleteMy final project is about "pretending" as a citizen in the film "Almost a Love Story" and " Beijing Bicycle." In both of the films, the characters from rural countryside or mainland are all want to be the "real" citizens. So they mimic the citizens' behaviors and dialect. But why do they need to do that? I will discuss the social behaviors and historical background of this phenomenon. However, as far as I am concerned, they do not need to pretend in this way. Everyone should has his or her own identity, not exactly same as others.
References,
Chen, J. (2013). Perceived Discrimination and Subjective Well-being among Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China. Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare, 40(1), 131-156.
Lei, K., & Li, L. (2012). Discrimination against Rural-to-Urban Migrants: The Role of the Hukou System in China. Plos ONE, 7(11), 1-8. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0046932
CHUNG, H., & UNGER, J. (2013). The Guangdong Model of Urbanisation. China Perspectives, 2013(3), 33-41.