Today we discussed your group analysis of short films. Each group:
1) gave a short summary
2) identified important elements/parts of the film
3) identified moments in the film when the part was used
4) explained the meaning of the part and how it helps us better understand the film
Group 1 "Future Hero" (we will skip summaries in this post--but please do not skip them in your own work)
Important Element: the nap
The moments in the film that you identified were
1.) the disengaged father napping
2.) the father being woken from a nap by the entrance of the killer
3.) the father wanting a nap, but resisting this urge in order to be with his son
4.) at the end of the film, the [awake] father has successfully defending his son, has maintained his relationship with his wife, and we see the family together as a unit
Meaning: You determined that naps signaled a kind of disengagement. When the father engaged, this changed the course of history.
Group 2, "Rosemary Jane:"
Important element: doors
Moments in the film that uses doors:
1) Rosemary is reluctant to open the door and go outside
2) Upon returning, she is relieved to close the door behind her
3) After her interactions, her return is much more relaxed that her previous return. She is not in a hurry to close the door behind her.
Meaning: doors = social boundaries
In this film, doors are barriers that Rosemary places between herself and the outside world. She is anxious about engaging with the world and relieved to leave it. But over the course of the film, she becomes less anxious and more engaged.
Group 3: "You and Me"
Important element: the bed
Moments:
1) The man makes his bed clean and orderly in preparation for the woman
2) the woman enters and they use the bed to watch a film/make love. They begin a relationship.
3) They bring work/food/etc to the bed.
4) The bed becomes a mess and they eventually fight and break up.
5) The man takes refuge on the bed.
6) He cleans his bed.
Meaning: bed = relationship
The bed is a symbol of a romantic relationship. Initially, the bed is only used for romantic purposes. But it slowly becomes polluted with non-romantic things: work, food, etc. This pollution is what ultimately causes the relationship to fail. And the man must re-make his bed and start again.
Group 4: "Ringo"
We had some difficulty with this one, a story about prostitution and mother-son relationships. We talked a lot about money, but did not reach a satisfying conclusion by the end of class.
This is ok. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out the meaning. I will take the weekend, look at the film, and present a cohesive analysis on Tuesday.
