Session 3a: Using Film to Teach About China

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Please reply to this thread with your thoughts and comments on Professor Yang Ye's presentation on "Using Film to Teach About China."

[Anonymous]

I was interested by his approach to teaching film arts. The idea of focusing less on content and more on construction is a way that had been hinted at in the film classes I have taken, but never really fleshed out. When teaching literature and writing, form rather content does take center stage. I really liked his quick lesson on Housman's "With Rue My Heart is Laden" because it was so simple and clear for students to see the difference between fabula and sjuzet (two terms I would like to introduce to my students this school year).

[Anonymous]

I have been contemplating developing my unit by focusing on idea of the Asian hero. Initially, knowing nothing except the fact that samurai warriors flew their airplanes into US warships during WWII, I expected to find evidence for great differences between European and Asian heroes. However, instead I am discovering striking similarities. For instance, in Zhang Yimou’s Hero, the protagonist bases his decision on ideals of Confucianism: acting humanely and justly; follow protocol; honor wisdom and loyalty. That sounds like chivalry to me!

And then when the images of the sword develop the hero’s character – even to the point of arising out of the water and awaiting his strength to pull it out of the table in front of the emperor – I knew I had a vivid visual to help students see the continuity of the hero myth between Asian and European cultures. Hooray!

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed the readings very much last night. After the film, which sparked great discussion, Sharon and I sat down to the readings. We were so delighted! In fact, we were finding passages of poetry and prose to read aloud to each other. Something that was extremely interesting were the constant parallels between the Chinese poetry and prose and Emerson and Thoreau’s writings. It seems that this instinct to revert back to Nature to find Truth is nothing new. Nor is the idea that Truth and Nature are one, and to find Truth, one must give up the quest for material goods and power, and focus on the self. It is also interesting that the problems and issues people wrestle with have not changed much. It would not be a stretch to apply these writings to today’s society. I know this is going to enhance my students’ learning experience!

[Anonymous]

Today’s session was so informative. Thank you, Professor Ye, for sharing your knowledge and talents with us, and thank you, Clay and Miranda, for giving us the opportunity to listen to him. I found the discussion on fabula and sjuzet very helpful. Sjuzet is what turns ordinary words and pictures into art, and this concept will be very helpful in assisting students in literary, film, and art analysis.

I was also surprised to see that the structure of Chinese film is the same as Western theatre. I had a similar reaction to the writings. I guess I expected to see a different order or something because I have always heard that Asian works were “so different.” We were talking about this last night, and it was great to hear Professor Ye say this afternoon that the cultures are not so different after all.

[Anonymous]

Professor Ye's passion for film and its impact on the human condition as well as history and philosophy has inspired me to want to watch more. Although I have already seen a few there is obviously a lot more to view. What I am particularly interested in is using clips from some of these movies to help motivate and inspire writing in class. I asked this in the films forum, but does anyone know a way to take clips from a film and burn them to a disk?

[Anonymous]

I have been contemplating a similar "Hero" theme to incorporate into my World History curriculum this year; therefore, in order to do so I picked up a book that you may want to look into to help you as well. The book is titled, The Hero with a Thousand Faces; it was written by Joseph Cambell in 1949. His book goes through a number of mythological heros and reveals the one archetypal hero in them all. Many of the points he makes could be applied to particular instances in history as well. Let me know if you would like to look at it and I will bring it with me next week...

[Anonymous]

The new Batman movie also brings in a new definition of a hero that hits on the importance of the noble actions of a hero above following the law or what the majority expects from him/her. Since that will be fresh on students' minds from this summer you might want to put in examples from that movie into your overall discussion of a hero. I think the movie hits on a powerful idea.

[Anonymous]

If you like Hero of a Thousand Faces you may also want a copy of Campbell's Power of the Myth. Fascinating stuff. Especially for the Odyssey.
I absolutely loved Prof. Ye's presentation today. I am so glad he spent the day here, and I just regret that I didn't know the schedule before (my fault) because I just spent the last 5 weeks at UCR.
In any case, what I found particularly useful is the listing of camera and film techniques because they so closely parallel the characteristics of the novel. So I have something more to make that segment come alive, because it's one more career application I can use to give relevance to the material I teach. It's right in line with Curr. Stds. too. yay.
I really enjoyed reading Sontag's essay, too. I may get a copy of that and read it to the kids. It helps to know someone else is looking at the how instead of the why.

[Anonymous]

Just a little comment on Samurai. It was not samurai warriors who flew into allied warships, but just regular soldiers willing to give up their lives for the country. They probably were influenced some by their past warrior culture in doing so though. As for the code of chivalry and the medieval knight, somehow I picture the knight getting within ten paces and wasting no time at all in thrusting the sword into his adversary. I could be wrong on this, but I also believe the Chinese warrior probably would have done the same as well, but that would ruin the story.

[Anonymous]

Hey guys,

Prof Ye mentioned Wong Kar-ai, but I wanted to personally plug the movie Happy Togetherhttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118845/, which is my favorite book by him, and which got me into Hong Kong cinema. It's not appropriate for the classroom, but it's a great flick! And I just looked it up yesterday and found that the two guys are the "concubine" from Farewell My Concubine and Broken Sword from Hero. Good stuff!

[Anonymous]

I completely agree with you Matt B. I am also inspired by the films we saw. I am looking forward to getting the movie Hero so I can watch the whole thing. Professor Ye helped me look at film, poetry and art in a different way. Thank you everyone for arranging this whole seminar it has been very informative.

[Anonymous]

I can totally relate about film, it makes a reading come more alive and the plot can be more visual. I am a photographer and publish the yearbooks at our school. Recently my publisher told me, "We really love your yearbooks, you capture so much through your pictures, and even though you hardly put captions in, your pictures have mood and tell a story. We can hardly wait to see what your gonna do in the next one." This is quite a compliment. When Prof. Ye was talking about perspective, angle, shot, lighting, and mostly the message being conveyed beyond the message assumed really connected to my own work.
I use film to reinforce a concept, for example, if we are studying setting, I'll show setting and discuss it a little, then open it up to my class by asking them how it influences the plot. The understand that it set the mood the creator intended it to be. I use it to teach character traits as well, and it really helps them to understand theme right on. Film brings life to a story.
I realized that I didn't watch Asian films looking for its signifcance but now I'm going to be looking for it.

[Anonymous]

Mr. Ye was great. I've never heard of the terms Fabula or Sjuzet and so I never thought of the seemingly simple ideas of gathering the information and manipulating it to fit the genre or form that you want to make your materials come alive and touch someone.

Prof. Ye on poetry - Oh how beautiful = "...you must hear the music of the language for it to be poetry." So true - this I impart to my students -- but not in such a melodic way. I hope that I can recall those few words and the feelings it gave me, when once again, I teach poetry.

More in general about the movies: I would not normally watch most of the movies we previewed because of the violence. However, I so enjoyed them that I think I'll begin.

[Anonymous]

I love the terms fabula and sjuzet. My friends and I have been using these terms in a variety of ways that were probably never ment to be. I will however be introducing these terms to my students and I think the concepts will be excellent for literary analysis and writing.
I have been trying to talk my principal into letting me teach the visual and literary art of film, but have not met with much success. I am now so inspired and even more determined to teach this subject matter. I will fit it in where ever I can.

[Author]

Posts