Sunday, January 10, 2010

Why I'm Doing This and How I'd Like It To Work

Every time I go to watch something, I feel anxious, indecisive and don't know what to watch. There are so many films I haven't seen and directors I haven't really studied. I long to be back in the classroom, with a purpose in watching certain films. A classroom provides focus and expectation. But what if I could do it on my own!? I worked with a professor where I planned classes, made handouts and helped choose which films to watch, so why not create classes for myself? A focused study of films I've been wanting to watch for a long time.
So here it is, a class on Ozu, the great Japanese dramatist and three European art-film directors, all of whom I really should know well if I want to consider myself versed in cinema.
And hey, if I'm doing all this work, might as well let others join in, right?
How it's going to work: on the day scheduled for the film, I will post a handout and supplemental materials. Hopefully everyone will be able to watch the film on that day or close to it, take a couple days to let it settle in the mind, re-watch or read articles and then post thoughts and comment on what others posted.
Don't be shy, we're all friends here. And I trust we will all keep our personal pretension in check.
I look forward to hearing from everyone. Email if you have any questions or suggestions.
Most of all, enjoy the films.

2 comments:

Cameron White said...

I'm really happy that you've undertaken this project and invited us to come along with you. I hope today's screening went well and I'm excited for everybody to comment on this blog and their personal blogs as well. I'll be a couple days late as I'm awaiting netflix, so I'll let you know...cheers again and good luck to all!

jamesonnephi said...

I'm so glad you commmented!
I wondering if there's a way to make commenting more visible?