Planet of the Apes

Friday, July 13th: Planet of the Apes


Tomorrow is our first Film Response day, and it should be really fun.  The idea behind these assignmentsis that films are just as worthy of our critical analysis as texts, and so instead of a Response Paper on writing, we will have a Film Response on something we all watch.

The film for tomorrow is the original 1968 Planet of the Apes.  It's an excellent film that holds up surprisingly well.  Here's a Netflix link. 

As you watch, be sure to take notes with references to where you are in the movie (for example, "48:30- X crazy awesome thing happened!")  This will make writing your Film Response much easier, and it will give you something to reference in class. 

Film Response Assignment (from syllabus update):
     Bring a 400-700 word response to class based on the assigned film.  Each class member will read their response out loud, to be followed by a discussion of their observations and thoughts.  You are free to write on any elements you wish: it might be a scene, character, theme, dialogue, or anything else that you notice and find interesting.  Try to focus on some of the themes of the class, though this is not strictly necessary.  Film responses will be turned in and graded, so they should be typed and clearly written.

If you have trouble deciding what to focus on, you may consider writing about the relationship between religion and science in the film, the juxtaposition of apes and humans, or the "surprise" ending (so popular it's not even a surprise anymore).

No blog comments are required for Film Response days, but feel free of course.