Tuesday, March 26 selection / deflection photo analysis

You will have the next two days in class to write you second reviews, which are due at the end of class on Thursday.  Plan accordingly. Some folks are participating in a field trip Thursday, while others are headed out of town early for the break.  Keep in mind that the reviews are nevertheless due on Thursday.

In class today:  you will use a graphic organizer to analyze a series of photos for
1) Selection: What an author (photographer, filmmaker)
chooses to draw a reader’s/viewer’s attention to
    and

2) Deflection: What an author (photographer, filmmaker) chooses to push into the background, downplay, or leave
out entirely.

3) In approximately 50 words, tell the story as you see it, based upon the series of photos.  This is due at the close of class. 
NOTE: if you are absent, please analyze the photos at the end of the blog. If you are in class, you have been given an individual set of photos.

Photo analysis series                                                                                                                         NAME_______________________________________________

Look carefully at each of the images in your series and describe precisely was has been selected and what has been deflected.  The purpose of this is to learn to see and hence appreciate how a photojournalist “writes” through the picture.        When you have completed the organizer, please on the back compose a statement of approximately 50 words that tells the story that you have witnessed through the images.             

Image 1	Image 2	Image 3	Image 4	Image 5
Selection
Deflection

Monday, March 25 photo journalism..day 1, Joshua Febres

Deflection and Selection
There is a long and dignified tradition of documentary work in which writers, photographers, filmmakers, and journalists set out to create records or accounts of events, people, and

places that might otherwise go unnoticed or misunderstood. These records are meant to raise questions and to function as calls to action.

Photographers and filmmakers have contributed to this tradition as

well. In New York at the turn of the century, photographers like Jacob

Riis and Lewis Hine exposed how poor families and their children were

crowded into tenements. Throughout the depression, photographers

like Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange made vivid images of the lives of

the people who were living under harsh and difficult conditions. A

relatively recent example of filmmakers who work in this tradition are

the records – made by both amateurs and professional (e.g. Spike Lee) –

who captured the devastation that Hurricane Katrina wrought on the

lives of ordinary people living in the lower Ninth Ward.

Familiarize yourself with  these terms and their meaning. You will be revisiting them often these next few weeks. They should become part of your vocabulary. I will ask you to write them out for a homework grade this Wednesday.

Think of selection and deflection as major creative

and ethical issues that authors and image-makers face when

doing documentary work on behalf of others.

o

Selection: What an author (photographer, filmmaker)

chooses to draw a reader’s/viewer’s attention to.

o

Deflection: What an author (photographer, filmmaker)

chooses to push into the background, downplay, or leave

out entirely.

ASSIGNMENT: Look at the photo essay and listen to the audio for, “Joshua

Febres: "The Uncertain Gang Member,” one of the entries on the

New York Times’ series “One in 8 Million.” see link below; if it fails, copy and past into your browser. Respond to each of the following questions with a minimum of 75 words, using descriptive details from the images and textual evidence. You should be able to finish this in class today, although I will accept it until midnight for those who, despite their best effort, are unable to finish this. That means no play time! thank you :)

One in 8 Million: New York Characters in Sound and Images

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html#/joshua_febres

1. Discuss how the contributing photographer and journalist told

this story in a way that was respectful of the young man, his

family, and community.

In other words,

what was said and how it was said? What choices did the journalists make

about what they included and how they discussed what

they saw and heard? (selection and deflection)

2. Look closely at the images that accompany the audio.

How are those images selected, framed, and composed?

What is the effect of the choices that the photographer(s)

made?

3. What are the consequences of these choices for how we
see the young man at the center of the piece?

Friday, Mar 22...your choice reviews

http://www.fairygodmothersrochester.com/



Next week we are beginning our photojournalism unit.

The second review is your choice. It may be of a film, a theatre production, music or dance performance, video game or a restaurant. You will find detailed information about the process below.

THIS IS DUE NEXT Thursday, March 27  by the end of class. It should be a minimum of 400 words. I will give you class time on Tuesday to write. NOTE: if you are on a field trip or leaving town early, you must turn this in before hand. No late reviews will be accepted. Plan accordingly. I strongly suggest you watch your film, play your game, attend your concert or art show or eat out this weekend. Although I am not collecting your notes, you know what is needed to write a good review. TAKE NOTES. 

In class today, please read through the general material below and submit to me specifically what you will be reviewing.

How to write a restaurant review: Offer Some Background – Be sure to offer as much information about the restaurant you are reviewing as possible, including location, phone number, type of cuisine, hours, etc. On many restaurant review websites you must add the restaurant to the site database (if it is not already there) and fill in any information the site asks for (like whether or not the restaurant serves alcoholic beverages or takes reservations). If another user posted inaccurate information – such as the wrong hours – change the information yourself or inform the website directly.

Give Both Pros and Cons – Maybe the food was less than stellar but was the service unparalleled? If your restaurant experience was riddled with both pros and cons, make sure you list both to provide readers with an accurate, well-rounded review.

Name Specific Entrees – Most restaurant-goers will appreciate specific recommendations and whether or not you loved or hated the food. Listing specifically what you ordered will help validate your opinions. Some review websites even have a spot where you can list exactly what dishes you ordered.

Evaluate the Entire Experience - While the food is obviously the main attraction of any restaurant, there are other factors that can greatly influence the overall dining experience including ambiance, décor and service are important to note. For example, how quickly did you receive your food and was the server attentive to your needs? Did the décor enhance or distract from the overall ambiance of the restaurant? Be specific as possible about the details of the restaurant.

Use Descriptive Adjectives – To really spice up your review (no pun intended), use descriptive adjectives. For example, instead of simply saying that the grilled chicken you ordered was “bad,” tell why it was bad; was it dry, bland, too salty, etc? Rest assured, you can never provide too much detail in a restaurant review.

Let Your Personality Shine Through – No one wants to read a boring, dull review of anything, let alone a restaurant. Furthermore, there is no added value or insight to your review if you simply copy what someone else has already written. Make your review highly personal and unique to you, using your own “voice;” readers will be much more interested and find your review helpful if it is genuine

How to write a theatre or concert review:

1. Your review should be  consistently clear, readable and interesting. Ultimately, your review should generate popularity and profitability.
Note: Music-loving freelancers who have built solid readership and suitable publication experience have discovered that they may earn free media passes to concerts. In other cases, concert reviewers can count concert tickets as tax-deductible business expenses, if they have written and published concert reviews for payment.
Many concert reviewers point out that they have even been invited backstage to meet and interact with well-known musicians.
PRACTICAL STUFF
Here's a practical guide to writing a review of a live concert.

1) Writing Concert Reviews: Choose the concert you plan to attend and review.
To start, most concert reviewers choose to specialize, focusing on their own particular musical tastes. For example, if you simply love the symphony, you might begin attending orchestral concerts and publishing concert reviews on such performances. If you prefer hip hop, rap or rock music, attend a performance.

2) Writing Concert Reviews: Attend the program, and watch carefully.
Take notes, if possible. Be advised that recording devices (such as video cameras and audio recorders) are not allowed in most concerts.
Make a list of songs or musical numbers performed during the concert. (Often, concert reviewers may obtain set lists before concerts.) Jot down impressions, specific performance details and any surprises that may occur during the concert. These notes will prove essential when it comes time to write the review.
 Focus on your  subject as much as possible, not any perceived "star" quality. Remember: real journalists aim at writing the news, not to becoming the news.
3) Writing Concert Reviews: Include essential elements in your concert review.
    Be sure to include the name of the musical act (or acts) in your concert review. Mention orchestral conductors, soloists and other key players by name.
       Briefly outline the musical genre, and point out why this concert may have been notable. (as with the film review, you should have done some background reading.) For example, was this a reunion concert of previous musical colleagues or a benefit concert for a certain charitable cause? Was the concert part of a major musical event, such as a music festival, or simply a local band performing in a street fair?
The best concert reviews evaluate both content and performances, describing the songs and overall quality of the performance in specifics and overall. Concert ratings may include musical specifics, as well as technical quality (sound, staging, pyrotechnics, props and other details).
Although a concert review focuses primarily upon the performance, an adept concert reviewer may also comment on the audience. Was it a full house with standing room only or a sparsely attended event? Did the audience seem enthusiastic and involved or disappointed and disinterested?
No concert review is complete without an accurate description of the concert venue and the concert date. If the concert is part of a series or ongoing run, the concert review should mention the remaining dates and times. If the performers will take the same act on the road to other cities, a comprehensive concert reviewer will cite the remaining tour stops and dates.
4. Writing Concert Reviews: Edit your concert review carefully

Thurs, March 21

I am at all-day PD, but I need everyone to be productive....so due at the close of class:

You will find below two musical reviews. Tomorrwo you will commit to your choice of a second review. This will give you insight into what constitutes a well-written concert review.  Please read and respond to the questions as pertains to each review. Send along as usual.

The Irrera Brothers, violinist John, and pianist Joseph, list many credentials separately as soloists, but in Weill Hall this February they joined together in a performance as a duo. It is always interesting when talented soloists play together, but when they are siblings, there is an additional layer of interest. One would expect a connection between the players that would be hard to match. By and large, I found this to be the case.

Beethoven’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in G major, Op. 96 opened the program. There were balance issues at the very beginning, with the piano covering the violin, and the playing was somewhat tentative. The notes were all there, and there were moments of beauty, but I was hoping for more. Perhaps there was some nervousness at first. The Chaconne in G minor from Italian composer Tomaso Antonio Vitali (1663-1745) followed the Beethoven and whatever nerves might have present prior had happily abated. The balance was excellent, the shaping of the dramatic lines was strongly realized, and the brothers were right with each other as they built the tension into a fever pitch.

The second half opened with the World Premiere of “Bow Shock” by Russell Scarbrough (b. 1972). Written for the Irrera Brothers in 2012, this is a work that showcases their individual and duo talents to the hilt. The composer in his program notes stated, “the term ‘Bow Shock’ comes from the field of aerodynamics and refers to a curved shock wave that proceeds a solid body moving through the atmosphere at supersonic speeds. It’s a great image for this music…and I couldn’t resist the double-entendre with the word ‘bow’.” It is a jazz-tinged, driving, hyper-energetic work that invites the listener to fasten his seatbelt for the ride. It was a win-win-win: the Irreras can be well pleased that this work shows them to such great advantage. Scarbrough should be delighted with such accomplished musicians giving his music such a dynamic performance. Finally, the listener gets the best of both worlds! After this wild ride, it was time to come back to earth with Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22 from Clara Schumann (1819-1896). These works were composed as a gift for the legendary violinist Joseph Joachim. These pieces might at first glance seem light works for the salon, but they require subtlety from the violinist and pianist alike. The Irreras clearly grasped this concept and delivered a performance full of grace, wit, and charm. Ending the program was the Sonata for Violin and Piano in D major, Op. 94a by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953). Originally scored for flute and piano, it was modified for violin by the composer at the request of his close friend, the great violinist David Oistrakh. This work, although “classical” in form, is unmistakably Prokofiev with its humor, lyricism, and driving energy. The Irreras evidently have a special affinity for this work, as it was a riveting performance. It was the highlight of a very successful concert.

The brothers offered two encores, The first was an arrangement of Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, No. 2 (“for Chopin’s birthday,” stated Joseph Irrera, although Chopin himself always stated his birth date as March 1). The second was “Danse espagnole” from Manuel de Falla’s La Vida Breve,  as arranged by Fritz Kreisler in 1926.

-Jeffrey Williams for New York Concert Review; New York, NY
1. Who were the musicians and what instruments were they playing?
 2.What musical pieces were specifically  played?
3. Give two textual examples that illustrate the reviewer's impression of the performance.
4. . Why was this particular concert notable?
5.  What indication is given within the review that the writer is credible?


#2

Fuse Jazz Concert Reviews: 35th annual John Coltrane Memorial Concert

John Coltrane left this plane of existence 45 years ago. Exactly 10 years later, on July 17, 1977, the first John Coltrane Memorial Concert was held in a small performance space in Boston. As the tradition grew, so did its audience, and the event has occupied Northeastern University’s Blackman Auditorium since 1986. The 35th anniversary concert was held on November 3, 2012, proving that Coltrane’s music and memory continue to strongly hold sway in the hearts and souls of musicians and audiences alike.

It is to the credit of the concert’s founders, which include the saxophonist Dr. Leonard Brown, who serves as associate professor of music and African American studies at Northeastern, and percussionist Syd Smart, that the JCMC has evolved into more than simply a celebration of a master musician—important though that is. Over the years, the concert has also provided a platform for honoring people for their contributions to jazz music and history, and since 1992 the John Coltrane Memorial Concert Educational Outreach Program has brought live performances of creative improvisational music to elementary and secondary students in schools throughout Boston and Cambridge. Earlier this year, the Friends of the John Coltrane Memorial Concert became registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.
But getting back to the concert. This year’s honorees were saxophonist Andy McGhee and former WGBH jazz disk jockey Steve Schwartz. McGhee, honored on the night of his 85th birthday, was recognized for his long career as a musician, in which he performed with the bands of Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman, and Count Basie, as well as an educator at the Berklee College of Music. Schwartz, whose status as a beloved presenter of jazz has been elevated even higher in recent months due to his becoming a martyr for the sake of WGBH’s commitment to money over music, received a hero’s welcome and a warm embrace from his former colleague, Eric Jackson, who reprised his traditional role as master of ceremonies for the event.

The concert’s special guest was local girl made good Terri Lyne Carrington, who hails from Medford, Massachusetts, and was a drum phenom by the time she was a teenager. Anchoring the John Coltrane Memorial Ensemble seemed second nature to Carrington, whose ability to build a tight yet fluid groove was on display all evening. Though her solo spots were few and short, she added considerable energy to a band that was chock full of local legends and young lions.
Briefly, the ensemble featured Carl Atkins, Brown, McGhee, Bill Pierce, and Stan Strickland on saxophones; Bill Banfield on electric guitar; Consuelo Candelaria-Barry on piano; Tim Ingles and John Lockwood on electric and acoustic bass, respectively; Ricardo Monzon on percussion; and Emmett G. Price III on piano and keyboards. On some tunes, the entire ensemble played, while others featured different, smaller configurations.
The program opened with two tunes from Coltrane’s Blue Train album: the title track, which featured short solos from a number of the players, and “Moment’s Notice,” which proffered a sprightly arrangement by Pierce. That was followed by Price’s hornless arrangement of “Impressions,” with a small electric group consisting of Banfield (who unleashed a torrid solo), Ingles, and Price, supported by the acoustic rhythms of Carrington and Monzon. That was followed by a lovely reading of the somewhat obscure early ‘60s Coltrane composition “Central Park West” from Coltrane’s Sound, deftly arranged by Atkins. The first half of the program concluded with one of the highlights of the evening, “Equinox,” arranged and conducted by Banfield, with Strickland distinguishing himself on both baritone sax and flute while Carrington kept up a busy and funky beat.

After a brief intermission, a photo slideshow of images from previous concerts aired on a screen while a recording of “After the Rain” from an early ‘90s concert played in the background. Following that, Strickland, clearly on a roll, powerfully led his own arrangement of “Selflessness,” one of Coltrane’s major works from his fertile 1965 period. In the original, Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders shared sax duties; at the concert, Atkins played Sanders to Strickland’s Coltrane, which resulted in some hot blowing.
That was followed by a beautiful duet arrangement of “After the Rain” with Candelaria-Barry (the arranger) and Pierce, who demonstrated a stunning ability to articulate softly and lyrically on tenor. “Resolution,” the second part of the miraculous A Love Supreme, came next. Arranged by Brown, the piece showed that the ensemble was equal to the composition. The final number was “Peace on Earth,” a soothing culmination of all the emotions unleashed over the course of the concert. A richly deserved standing ovation capped another successful John Coltrane Memorial Concert, with everyone present already impatiently awaiting next year’s edition.

1. Who were the musicians and what instruments were they playing?
 2.What musical pieces were specifically  played?
3.Give two textual examples that illustrate the reviewer's impression of the performance.
4. . Why was this particular concert notable?
5. What indication is given within the review that the writer is credible?
6.How did the the audience respond to the performance? (use text)

Tuesday, March 12 how to write a review / assignment

Grades for term 4 are closed.  The unit material on reviews will be for term 5. 
FIRST: read the information on writing reviews. This is essentially the rubric for how you will be assessed.

General Information: How to write great reviews  

When writing reviews of any kind—restaurant reviews, book reviews, movie reviews, art reviews, music or concert reviews, and more—it's important to organize your thoughts carefully and always to keep in mind the people who will be likely to read what you write. Keep a few key pointers in mind to ensure that whatever review you write will be intelligent, informative, engaging, and fair.

1. Ask yourself “what does the reader want to know?”

This is the most important thing to remember when writing a review. You can craft the wittiest prose with the cleverest metaphors, but unless the reader finds out what they want to know, you’ve not done your job as a reviewer.

2. Decide on the overall point you want to get across to the reader.

If you know your subject matter well (which, as a reviewer, you should do), you’ll no doubt have a whole ream of opinions, both good and bad, that you can knock back and forth like a review-writing game of tennis. All those viewpoints can get confusing, so simplify it.

3. Be ruthless when editing – don’t be precious about your “art”.

If it doesn’t help you answer the reader’s question (point number 1, above), or isn’t directly conducive to getting your main point across (number 2), then get rid of it! You might be really proud of a line you’ve written, but unless it helps the review as a whole it’s no good.

4. Don’t write about yourself; it’s about the band, book, movie or whatever you’re reviewing.

A classic novice’s mistake this one. Look at any page of Amazon customer reviews, and you’ll no doubt come across someone who tells a story all about how the guy they work with said The Da Vinci Code is great, but I wasn’t sure because he’s not too smart, but then he did recommend that other book to me that was pretty good, although he’s a religious nut so it probably won’t be my thing, but I suppose I should because otherwise he’ll never shut up about it…WHO CARES?

5. Don’t be afraid to state the obvious.

You’re an expert in your field – anything you don’t know about the works of Stephen King isn’t worth knowing! So it can be a bit frustrating as a reviewer to have to hold your reader’s hand and explain to them that he’s a quite well-known horror writer and that they may even have heard of The Shining – it was made into a film, you know?

 6. Don’t praise—or damn—blindly. If you’re going to enshrine the subject, or entomb it, back up your opinions with concrete evidence. Why is that particular pizza so darn good? What's an example of a particular author's dazzling turns of phrase? What about the artist's technique makes a particular painting so exciting? In what ways did the cabaret singer fail to engage the audience?

7. Have an opinion. Writing a review is not an occasion to be modest or self-effacing. As long as you're capable of backing up your opinion, don’t be afraid to express, emphatically, what you feel or believe. Remember: professionalism is in the details. Specific facts, keen observations, and well-considered insights amount to more than opinions.

8. Avoid “I” and “In My Opinion”

Too many critics pepper reviews with phrases like “I think” or “In my opinion.” Again, this is often done by novice critics afraid of writing declarative sentences. But such phrases are unnecessary; your reader understands that it’s your opinion you’re writing about, not someone else’s. So leave out the “I.”

9. Give Background

The critic’s analysis is the centerpiece of any review, but that’s not much use to readers if he doesn’t provide enough background information.

So if you’re reviewing a movie, that means not just outlining the plot but also discussing the director and his previous films, the actors and perhaps even the screenwriter. Critiquing a restaurant? When did it open, who owns it and who’s the head chef? An art exhibit? Tell us a little about the artist, her influences and her previous works.

How to Write a Movie Review

Writing a movie review is a great way of expressing your opinion of a movie.  The purpose of most movie reviews is to help the reader in determining whether they want to watch, rent or buy the movie.  The review should give enough details about the movie that the reader can make an informed decision, without giving anyway any essentials such as the plot or any surprises.  

Below are our guidelines and tips for writing a good movie review.

 1. Watch the movie (seems obvious, but…)

 The first step in writing the review is to watch the movie.  Watch the movie in a relaxed environment you are familiar with.  You do not want to be distracted by an unfamiliar room.  Watching the movie a second time will help you absorb a lot more detail about the movie.  Take notes as they watch the movie review.  (you will turn these in!)

2. Give your opinion (look over the general guidelines again)

 Most movie reviewers will give their opinion of the movie.  This is important as the reviewer can express the elements of the movie they enjoyed or disliked.  However, as in all good journalism, the reviewer should also give impartial details, and allow the reader to make their own mind over an issue the reader liked or disliked.  Opinions should be explained to allow the reader to determine whether they would agree with your opinion.

 Many regular movie reviewers will develop a following.  If one can find a reviewer who shares a similar taste in films, one can confidently follow the reviewer’s recommendations.

 3. Who is your audience? (In this case it is your peers)

 You need to consider who your likely readers are.  Writing a movie review for children requires a different approach than if writing for a movie club.  Ensure you report on the factors that matter to your likely audience.

 4. Give an outline

 Give the plot outline of the movie, but don't give away essential details such as the end or any surprises.  If there is a big surprise you want to entice readers by telling them something special happens, just don't say what.

 5. Actors

 If the movie contains actors, as most do, detail who is starring in the movie and how well you think they acted. (research the actors / directors, etc)

 6. Structure

 Did the movie follow a regular predictable story line? Flashbacks?  Foreshadowing?

7. Cinematography /  lighting

 Give details about how well the movie was shot and directed.  How did the camera angles contribute to the tone and mood?

 8. Music

Did the movie have its own score, or did it feature songs from popular artists?

9. Many of those literary element terms that have you have had in English classes carry over into the film critic vocabulary: plot (and its various components), setting, characters, tone, dialogue, point of view, imagery and don’t forget to look for symbolism.

10. Read, read and read

 Read and check your review thoroughly.  It can be embarrassing to find errors in your work after it has been published.  This is especially important for reviews that will be published on the Internet, as search engines are always looking for the correct spellings of key words.

ASSIGNMENT: 1. Make sure you have read both the general information on reviews and the specifics as regards writing a film review. As well,  please have read the New Yorker review of The Hunger Games. This is the level of detail that should be in your review. 

                2. Choose a film from the list below and watch it. They are all approximately 1:35 minutes long; hence you have Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in class to watch the movie privately. YOU NEED EAR PLUGS! You may not share!

                3. By the end of class, On Monday, March 18 send along  your detailed outline, that is your organized collection of notes that you took whilst watching the film.  This may include background information on the actors / director (do a bit of reseach), aspects of sound, cinematography and dialogue examples. Make sure you have a copy for yourself. This is the only material you will use to write your reviews the next couple of days. When I read the reviews it must be obvious this was your source material. You have plenty of class time; the expectation is that you will frequently pause the film for you notes, comments and reflections. Anyone should be able to write the review based upon your notes.

                 4. On Wednesday March 20 send along by midnight- your review, which will be a minimum of 500 words.  

You might want to look up the films, before making a decision as to what you wish to watch.

1. Pink Floyd- The Wall http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQE3vcwU97g
2 His Girl Friday (Rosalind Russell / Cary Grant 1940) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rdSZUlzIQw.
3.It Happened One Night (Claudette Colbert / Clark Gable http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aASIcbo3u6E
4.. Night of the Living Dead http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfShkumjeq8   original 1968 George Romero film

5.. 12 Angry Men  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0NlNOI5LG0
6.. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCAaEbCDovQ
7.. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion -Woody Allen  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOoCjUG3fSE
8. Armageddon   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfBiBeQ0hZY  this is a longer film; so plan accordingly.
9. Religulous  http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/religulous_by_bill_maher_full_movie/

Monday, March 11 writing reviews

Notice from Mr. Tirre that I received this morning:
TALKBACK4Teens is inviting SOTA students to join their next forum filming this coming Monday March 18 in Rochester.
How much teen talent does Rochester have?? TALKBACK4Teens airs on Public Television and the web. Filmed in the television studio in
downtown Rochester, this is an opportunity to discuss talent in Rochester and your own talents in particular.  All interested students
please contact us at Participate@TalkBack4Teens.com and put S-O-T-A in the subject line, and go to the website TalkBack4Teens.com

These next couple weeks we are working writing how to write reviews. Everyone will write one for a film and another of the their choice: music, theatre, restaurant or art exhibit.
 These are due by midnight tonight. As with other assignments, please respond on a word document and send along. This is the last grade of this marking period.
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE HEAD OR EAR PHONES TOMORROW.

Please read the following the film review from The New Yorker on The Hunger Games and answer the following questions.  Due by midnight tonight.
1. How has the author Denby prepared himself with background material to write the review?
2. What literary elements do you note in the article? Identify textual examples of characterization, plot, setting, tone and dialogue.

3. What historical allusions does Denby make? Again be specific.
4. To what does Denby proclaim the success of the film?
5.What do we know of the actor Jennifer Lawrence's background?
6. Who is the cinematographer and what type of camera work is used in the film?
7. According to Denby, why is this film incapable of being a classic?
8  Discuss who the audience is for this review and how you know it.

The Current Cinema

Kids at Risk

“The Hunger Games” and “Bully.”

by David Denby

Suzanne Collins’s “The Hunger Games” (the first book in a best-selling young-adult trilogy) is a sensational piece of pop primitivism—a Hobbesian war of all against all. In a dystopian society in the future, a group of wealthy, epicene overlords—authoritarians with violet hair and the vicious manners of French courtiers—threaten and control an impoverished population. Years ago, the virtuous commoners rose up, unsuccessfully, against their decadent rulers, and they’ve been both cosseted and terrorized ever since by a yearly lottery in which two teens from each of twelve districts are selected, trained, and turned into media stars. They are then set loose in a controlled wilderness, where they must survive hunger and one another, until only one of them is left alive. The survivor will bring home to his district both glory and food, and everyone, rich and poor, watches the events on television. Collins’s idea seems to be derived from the bloodier Greek myths and Roman gladiatorial contests (the big shots have names like Seneca and Claudius); from William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies”; and from TV spectacles like the myriad “Survivor” shows and sado-Trumpian elimination contests. Collins’s strategy of putting girls and boys (some as young as twelve) at the center of a deadly struggle adds tense, nasty excitement to the old tales and tawdry TV rituals she draws on.

Trying to explain the trilogy’s extraordinary popularity, critics and commentators have reached for metaphors. Perhaps it’s that the books offer a hyper-charged version of high school, an everyday place with incessant anxieties: constant judgment by adults; hazing, bullying, and cliques; and, finally, college-entry traumas. If you stretch the metaphor a bit, the books could be seen as a menacing fable of capitalism, in which an ethos of competition increasingly yields winner-take-all victors. Collins might seem to be one of those victors herself: there are twenty-four million copies of the trilogy in print in the United States alone. But maybe the reason for its success is simple: it makes teens feel both victimized and important.

Collins understands her audience well, and she can write. Her first-person narrator, Katniss Everdeen, who hails from a shabby coal-mining area, is a tough, resourceful girl, a huntress who protects her family. Collins, staying inside Katniss’s head, produces short, tactile sentences that are precise about apprehension and physical experience. However fanciful the basic premise, the books are rugged girls’ adventure literature of the kind that used to be written for boys. Making an exciting movie out of “The Hunger Games” should not have been that hard.

I certainly have no quarrel with the casting. Jennifer Lawrence demonstrated a convincing strength as Ree, the Ozarks girl with a husky voice and pale-blue eyes in “Winter’s Bone.” In “The Hunger Games,” as Katniss—a more dynamic version of Ree—she has a lightly burnished copper complexion, and when she’s still, there’s something luminous, slightly otherworldly about her. Her gravity and her steady gaze make her a fine heroine. And I enjoyed nineteen-year-old Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, the other competitor from Katniss’s district, who adores her; he has a lost look, an engaging not-quite-handsomeness. In true young-adult-fiction style, Katniss has a second admirer—stalwart, gentle Gale, played by Liam Hemsworth, who looks, in this movie, like a larger Taylor Lautner. Among the adults, Stanley Tucci and Elizabeth Banks, wearing enormous wigs, camp it up as the rulers. Though the satiric point of making some of the plutocrats monsters out of an eighteenth-century farce eludes me,

But the rest of “The Hunger Games” is pretty much a disaster—disjointed, muffled, and even, at times, boring. Collins herself labored on the script, along with Gary Ross and Billy Ray, and Ross (“Pleasantville,” “Seabiscuit”) directed. Working with the cinematographer Tom Stern, Ross shoots in a style that I have come to despise. A handheld camera whips nervously from one angle to another; the fragments are then jammed together without any regard for space. You feel like you’ve been tossed into a washing machine (don’t sit in the front rows without Dramamine). Even when two people are just talking calmly, Ross jerks the camera around. Why? As the sense of danger increases, he has nothing to build toward. Visually, he’s already gone over the top. And the action itself is a thrashing, incoherent blur—kids tumbling on the ground or wrestling with each other. Katniss stalks various kids with her bow and arrow, but she kills only one intentionally—a domineering sadist—and you don’t see the arrow hit him; you don’t even see him fall. Ross consistently drains away all the tensions built into the grisly story—the growing wariness and suspicion that each teen-ager must feel as the number of those still alive begins to diminish, or the horror (or glee) that some of them experience as they commit murder. The camera rushes through the wilderness, but, in the end, the movie looks less like a fight to the death than like a scavenger hunt. Katniss is always finding something useful in a tree or lying on the ground.

“The Hunger Games” is a prime example of commercial hypocrisy. The filmmakers bait kids with a cruel idea, but they can’t risk being too intense or too graphic (the books are more explicit). After a while, we get the point: because children are the principal audience, the picture needs a PG-13 rating. The result is an evasive, baffling, unexciting production—anything but a classic