Well, you can look at my syllabus and class schedule at
http://www.und.nodak.edu/instruct/cjacobs/Intropage.htm" and
http://www.und.nodak.edu/instruct/cjaco ... hedule.htm" for what I did this semester for a similar course on an introductory college level. The syllabus page has links to various other readings, study notes, selected film study questions, and the assignments. I don't think you could get away with showing BLUE VELVET to high school students, however! I usually start with SINGIN' IN THE RAIN or SUNSET BLVD, and jump back and forth in film history throughout the semester following the topic sequence of film narrative (story vs. plot), genre, mise en scene, acting, cinematography, editing, sound, and then theory and criticism.
The only film I show every semester is CITIZEN KANE, and I try to get at least one film from every decade of the 20th century plus a day with a film history anthology of shorts covering Muybridge, Edison, Melies, and the like from the 1870s through the 1910s. STAGECOACH is a good film to show for narrative and/or genre, and is covered in Barsam & Monahan's LOOKING AT MOVIES book extensively. I try to show one silent comedy feature (usually Keaton, with a Chaplin and Lloyd short, but sometimes a Chaplin or Lloyd feature with shorts by the two others) and usually one silent drama feature, plus a few foreign sound films (especially RASHOMON, sometimes THE BICYCLE THIEF, THE SEVENTH SEAL, CONTEMPT, THE RED DESERT, THE BLUE ANGEL, THE 400 BLOWS, LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD, YOJIMBO, TOKYO SONATA, MAD DETECTIVE, WALKABOUT, etc.). I often show a noir classic like SCARLET STREET, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, OUT OF THE PAST, THE SET-UP, CROSSFIRE, etc., and sometimes a precode like BABY FACE, THE SIN OF NORA MORAN, THE MAYOR OF HELL, MURDER AT THE VANITIES, DESIGN FOR LIVING, etc. and/or a Preston Sturges comedy (especially SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS or HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO or MIRACLE AT MORGAN'S CREEK). I often show a Hitchcock, usually REAR WINDOW, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, or PSYCHO. From the 1970s, ROCKY works well, or maybe DOG DAY AFTERNOON or DAY FOR NIGHT. The more recent films I show are films they probably didn't bother to see in theatres, like SUNSHINE CLEANING, GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING, ADAPTATION, THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE, AMERICAN MOVIE, RUN LOLA RUN, etc. Some semesters when I have an extra film day, I'll run experimental and avant-garde shorts, like Brakhage and some of the 20s-30s classics, and on rare occasion have a day of animated shorts (which I'm more likely to squeeze in when possible before shorter features).
Back when I took film, you could get a stack of books for $2 to $10 each, but now the typical textbooks range from $50 to $100 apiece! The best textbook is probably Bordwell & Thompson's FILM ART, but it's unfortunately written on a college level, which makes it unsuitable for the majority of college freshmen, let alone high school students (unless you have a special gifted class or film/English majors). The second-best choice I've found is Barsam & Monahan's LOOKING AT MOVIES, which has a few annoying factual errors (and/or misleading statements) regarding technology and history, but makes up for it with an excellent pair of DVDs that come with the textbook of tutorials on the chapters and a bunch of interesting short films. There are several other worthwhile books, but you may need two or three books for a good intro course. To cover film as entertainment, business, technology, art, craft, and history all in one book, these are the main two to consider. My own textbook, FILM: FROM WATCHING TO SEEING (written with Bill Goodykoontz) is unfortunately only available at Ashford University, or I'd recommend that for a thorough and readable text for general readers rather than academics, without too many typos or inadvertant mistakes that got through the proofreading stage (there are always a few you never see until they're in print!).
Tue Dec 06, 2011 10:42 pm