Pulp Fiction screen shot

Links

This page includes links to materials on course films and directors, independent cinema, class web tools, databases for film research, sites on film terminology, guidelines on writing about film, and information on the Seattle film scene. 

Course Films and Directors

Far From Heaven and Poison

  • Beneath the Surface of Things: Interpretation and Far From Heaven
    James MacDowell explores various definitions of "interpretation" before turning to an analysis of Far From Heaven as an interpretation of Sirkean melodrama.
  • Decade: Todd Haynes on Far From Heaven
    IndieWIRE interview with Haynes.
  • Illegal Art: Superstar
    See Haynes experimental film about the life and death of musician Karen Carpenter (while the link stays active).
  • Great Directors: Douglas Sirk
    From Senses of Cinema, a discussion of Douglas Sirk, the director whose works Haynes references in Far From Heaven.
  • Great Directors: Todd Haynes
    Brief biography and extended analysis of Haynes's first six films, including Poison. Article includes, bibliography, filmography and links to additional web resources.
  • Introduction to Hollywood Cinema: Pastiche and Affect in Far From Heaven
    Professor Julie Leyda's PowerPoint slide presentation on Far From Heaven as a pastiche of Sirkean melodrama. The slides on color scoring, which clearly draw from the Higgins article we read for class, feature full-color screenshots. Leyda also describes the similarities and differences between Sirk's work and Far From Heaven.
  • Melodrama Films
    From Filmsite, a brief history of the genre.
  • New Queer Cinema
    Overview of New Queer cinema features clips from selected films, links to online articles and a bibliography and filmography.
  • (Not) Queering White Vision
    From Jump Cut, an article that explicates Haynes's conflation of the discourses of racial difference and homosexuality in Far From Heaven . Includes useful close reading of screenshots from the film.
  • Paradise Lost: Far From Heaven
    Educational supplement to Far From Heaven that describes the racial, gender and sexual politics of 1957 America.
  • Shot Analysis: All Man
    Student essay on Far From Heaven describes in minute detail the cinematic techniques in selected scenes and analyzes their significance.
  • Todd Haynes: A Bibliography of Materials
    Partially annotated biliography of books and journal articles on Haynes and his work. Although the site indexes materials at UC Berkeley, the UW Libraries should have most of the resources listed.
  • Todd Haynes's Poison and New Queer Cinema
    Scholarly article outlines the "aesthetic and political aims of queer cinema" before turning to an analysis of Poison.

My Own Private Idaho

  • The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
    Full text of Henry IV, Part I, Henry IV, Part II and Henry V.
  • My Own Private New Queer Cinema
    Article examines the emergence of New Queer Cinema and analyzes My Own Private Idaho and Gregg Araki's The Living End (1992). Author Mark Adnum addresses the way both films draw upon the road film genre and "display some of the non-medical symptoms of AIDS."

Faces and Shadows

Humpday

The Puffy Chair

Pulp Fiction

SIFF Films

  • TBA

Winter's Bone

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Independent Cinema

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Course Web Tools

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Film Research

  • AFI Online
    Site of the American Film Institute.
  • American Studies Web
    An essential Internet research tool for American Studies scholars. The site has numerous links to sources on American literature, history, art, material culture (including film), gender studies, performing arts, religion and psychology, legal studies, race and ethnicity, economics, politics and social sciences.
  • Cinemedia
    "The Internet's largest film and media directory," Cinemedia contains links to resources on cinema, directors, organizations, networks, actors, particular films, and research.  Browse the categories to view Cinemedia's 25,000+ links.
  • Deep Focus: A Complete Guide to Motion Pictures
    Information on film history, the development of motion picture technology, directors, and specific films, performers and directors.
  • English Server
    Links to multiple resources in the humanities and social sciences.
  • Film History
    Decade-by-decade overview of historical events, industrial shifts, and emerging genres, with listing of key films from each year of a particular decade.
  • Hollywood and Society
    Essay by Douglas Kellner that explores the film-society connection from the silent period to the contemporary era.
  • Internet Movie Database
    Searchable index of over 125,000 films.  Contains links to biographies of directors, screenwriters, producers and actors; commentaries on individual films; and links to popular film reviews.
  • Movie Review Query Engine
    Use the query engine to search for Web reviews of particular films.
  • Library of Congress Internet Resources Page
    Links to U.S. and international research sites on film and filmmakers.
  • Research 101
    This page defines primary and secondary sources, describes the information cycle and offers tips on how to construct search statements, select databases and evaluate sources.
  • Scene to Shining Screen: A Short History of Film Music
    UCLA Professor Paul Chihara's page on changing styles of film composition.
  • UCLA Arts Library Selected Internet Sources on Film
    Links to sites on directors, actors, studios, unions, electronic journals, film research, festivals, movie reviews, searchable databases, and internet guides to film.
  • UW Libraries Cinema Studies Research Site
    Authored by a cinema studies librarian, the site has information on finding cinema studies resources in the UW libraries and links to electronic journals and cinema studies resources on the Web.

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Film Terminology

  • Film Sound Design
    Site dedicated to film sound includes extensive glossaries of several scholars' descriptions of sound terminology, introductory articles on film sound and the soundtrack, other online articles, and links to sites on film, sound, and film sound.
  • Glossary of Film Terms
    Part of Dartmouth's page on writing about film, the glossary defines key film terms, from "accelerated motion" to "zoom."
  • Reading a Film Sequence
    A short guide on how to to read the text and context of a film.  The page has excellent questions to guide students in their analysis of narrative, staging, cinematography, editing and sound.
  • Sound and Image: Notes for a Glossary
    From the University of Waikato, an online glossary of films terms grouped under the headings "General," "Image," "Sound," "Movement," "Editing," "Ideology," and "Semiotics." The section on images provides screen shots and other graphics to illustrate shot distance, framing, and composition.

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Writing About Film

  • Citing Film, Video, and Online Media
    Information on how to correctly document citations of film, video and online media materials.
  • Dartmouth's Writing About Film Page
    Detailed web site explains expectations for film papers; defines types of papers written for film classes (formal, historical, ideological, cultural studies, auteurist); describes useful strategies for taking film notes, annotating shot sequences, and questioning the film's contexts; provides writing tips; and includes an extensive glossary of film terms. 
  • GMU Writing Center's "Writing About Film" Page
    George Mason's step-by-step guide to writing film analyses.
  • Plagiarism Discussed
    A Purdue Online Writing Lab handout on what can constitute plagiarism, with information on when and when not to cite sources.
  • MLA Citation Guide
    This site not only reviews MLA guidelines for formatting papers, composing a works cited list, and citing books, articles, and electronic sources within your text.
  • Thinking Critically about Discipline-Based Web Resources
    Authored by UCLA librarian Esther Grassian, this page offers criteria for evaluating discipline-based world wide web sites.  Writers can use Grassian's list to help them decide whether a particular web source is appropiate for an academic research paper.

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Seattle Film Scene

  • IFP Seattle
    IFP/Seattle offers local filmmakers education on the business of filmmaking, connects them with other filmmakers, and exposes their work on a national level.
  • Northwest Film Forum
    An organization that supports local filmmakers with a Start-toFinish Grant program, production facilities, equipment, and workshop, Northwest Film Forum also houses two cinemas featuring unique programs of American and international films.
  • 911 Media Arts Center
    911 helps independent digital media artists to create and distribute their work. The center also offers classes for community members.
  • Seattle Film Institute
    Seattle Film Institute concentrates on film, offering courses in Super 8, 16 mm, sync sound, screenwriting, and the language of film.
  • Seattle International Film Festival
    Complete information on Seattle's annual film festival as well year-round screenings at the SIFF Cinema.
  • Seattle's True Independent Film Festival
    Seattle's answer to Slamdance is "a celebration of off-beat independent film from the Northwest and the rest of the world." STIFF seeks to program innovative films that can be overlooked by festivals that concentrate on higher budget "independent" films starring name actors.
  • TheFilmSchool
    A local school focused on dramatic writing, TheFilmSchool offers intensive classes in screenwriting and directing fundamentals.
  • Three-Dollar Bill Cinema
    Sponsor of the Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and other events.

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