Sumários
Film. Bullets over Broadway
20 Março 2017, 10:00 • David Alan Prescott
Showing of film Bullets over Broadway, w. Woody allen and Douglas McGrath, dir. Woody Allen.
F. Scott Fitzgerald and "The Love of the Last Tycoon"
15 Março 2017, 10:00 • David Alan Prescott
Analysis of excerpts from the film The Last Tycoon (w. Harold Pinter, dir. Elia Kazan) adapted from the novel The Love of the Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and dealing with the Hollywood producer Irving Thalberg and his attitude towards writers. Reading of extract from the novel.
Pulp Fiction: conversation as dialogue
13 Março 2017, 10:00 • David Alan Prescott
Showing of and reading of brief extract from the film Pulp Fiction by Quentin Tarantino. Explanation of how in good film writing the apparently meaningless conversations between people are usually meaningful, informative and/or productive. (In technical terms, the dialogue should locate us within the story, move the plot forwards and/or give us information about the characters.
Short attempt at exercise in which students imagine telling others about their own towns when speaking to either a) a five year-old child, b) someone their own age, or c) an elderly couple.
First Blood and Brainstorming Exercise
8 Março 2017, 10:00 • David Alan Prescott
Demonstration of how First Blood goes from being a novel in 1972 to being a movie in 1982. The first script is written in 1972 but then goes through many changes until the final shooting script, including going from Johnny Rambo being a violent killer who is killed at the end to being a violent killer who commits suicide at the end and then, with Sylvester Stallone now working on the final script, becomes a sympathetic character who is not directly responsible for killing anyone and who survives at the end.
Brainstorming exercise: the class has to imagine a good, kind doctor going from waking up in the morning to arriving at hospital to receive his first patient. The class decided he: wakes up at 05:28, before the alarm, turns off the alarm so as not to wake his wife and returns to bring her a cup of coffee before he leaves for work. At the hospital he talks to a cleaning lady, knowing her name, and asks about her young son's work at school. The receptionist comments that he is early as usual and he goes to wait for his first patient, a young child.
Changes to make him a "bad" person involved, according to the class; he wakes up to the sound of the alarm at 09;00. His wife's space has been slept in but she is not there. At the hospital he ignores the cleaning lady, walking across her wet floor. The receptionist looks at her watch and says that his first patient, Mrs Smith and little Johnny are waiting, yet he still goes off for a coffee, which he carries with him to his office.
Introducing Characters
6 Março 2017, 10:00 • David Alan Prescott
Showing of different methods of introducing characters and demonstration of the importance of speaking and showing names of characters. Extracts from episode #3, Dead Weight, (w. John Dugan, 1971) from the series Columbo, from the film Kalifornia (w. Tim Metcalfe, dir. Dominic Sena, 1993) and Die Hard (w. Jeb Stuart, dir John McTiernan 1988).