Dazed and Confused

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

Richard Linklater is for sure one of the best directors and story tellers since the 1990’s. He does an excellent job of taking stories with very little or no plot and making them interesting. He knows how to create characters that appear realistic but also have their very own unique personality. Dazed and Confused, Boyhood, and Slacker are three of his more popular movies that follow the idea of telling a story without much of a plot. Dazed and Confused follows a group of high school students on the last day of school, and while it’s a highly entertaining movie there is little very little plot compared to many typical Hollywood movies. A similar concept is used in Slacker, as well as Linklater’s latest film Boyhood. Both films follow a similar story structure without much of a plot but in the case of Boyhood and Dazed and Confused, Linklater does an amazing job of telling his stories through the development and growth of his characters. Linklater also has the great ability to make his dialogue sound very natural which makes the movie very easy to relate to as an audience.

2) Find a related article (on the film, director, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, etc.) and summarize the content.

The article from The Hollywood Reporter titled “Richard Linklater Spills Secrets on His Films, From 'Dazed and Confused' to 'Boyhood'”, discusses some of Linklater’s more well known works and how he became the director that he is today. Linklater made his first experimental film in 1991 called Slacker. The movie does not really have an actual plot but it was made on an extremely small budget of only $23,000 and is now seen as a cult classic. That led Linklater to his next film Dazed and Confused. Linklater included a lot from his personal life in Dazed and Confused as he would have been 16 years old at the time when the movie took place. Dazed and Confused is a little more structured than Slacker but still lacks a traditional plot line that most movies have. "I've largely replaced the notion of conventional story with a time structure," says Linklater. Dazed and Confused was not instantly recognized by critics and audiences but quickly gained a following once it was released on video. Linklater’s overall success from Dazed and Confused let him to work on future movies such as Before Sunrise, Waking Life, Scanner Darkly and his most recent Boyhood, which all follow loose story structures and reasonably low budgets. Even though his movies appear to have lose stories, Linklater focuses a lot on getting the movie right on the script first which he thinks gives his films a lot more structure than many people think. Linklater has his own style of writing and directing and it the reason why he has been able to make so many unique pieces.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.

The article from The Hollywood Reporter which summarizes Linlater’s more memorable films and gives insight to him as a director. Linklater’s style is definitely apparent in his 1993 film Dazed and Confused. Dazed and Confused has a fairly lose plot line as do many of Linklater’s other films. Even though there is little plot in the film, the final product was most likely very similar to the original script that Linklater wrote. The article definitely supported my current opinion of Linklater as a writer and director. In my opinion he is one of the great auteur style directors of our time. He knows how to create these great stories that may be based off of true events or personal stories and he knows how to put the thoughts from his mind onto the screen. He is a visionary in the true literal sense of the word, and Dazed and Confused makes that very apparent. Linklater was able to take some of his own personal experiences from high school in the 1970’s and capture them with a great cast of characters.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/richard-linklater-spills-secrets-his-757621

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as aresult of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article.

Richard Linklater’s film Dazed and Confused, sheds a light on what it was like to be a teenager in Texas in the 70’s. The film has a great set of characters, and without them the movie would be nothing. Even though the film takes place in the 70’s, many of the themes and events that take place in the film can apply to teenagers from any time period. One of the other reasons why the film is so great is because it is such a good hangout movie. The dialogue between the characters is so smooth and natural that at times when watching the movie you feel like you are actually with the characters in each scene. The also does a great job of not singling out any particular group or clique, when watching the film as an audience you get to learn about all the different groups that make up a school as a whole. You see the freshman, misfits, stoners, and jocks all interacting in one place, giving you the feeling of what it what be like to be at that school. Lastly, one of the biggest reasons why the characters are developed so well is because of the script that was written by Linklater. The banter back and forth between characters makes the movie flow very well and the comments he makes on school and authority figures reassures you what life would have been like growing up in the 70’s. Overall, Linklater’s film is a cult classic and I think will forever be seen as a movie that defines what it’s like being a teenager in the 1970’s. 

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 1) ( x) I have not handed in this assignment for any

other class. 2) ( x) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other

classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 3) (x ) If I used any passages word for word, I

put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 4) (

x) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in

the text of the paper. 5) ( x) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally

read. 6) (x ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in

another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 7) (x ) I did not

so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 8) (x ) I

checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and

ideas used in my paper.

Name: _____Joe Katulak_______________ Date: __3/31/15________

Unforgiven

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

Unforgiven is a classic American Western. We follow Clint Eastwood as he searches the west to hunt down and kill a couple of outlaws who slashed up a woman’s face. This film can be seen as a revitalization of westerns being that it showed respect many of the great early westerns such as Stagecoach and The Searchers. All of these three movies follow the tale of an outlaw, played by Clint Eastwood and John Wayne in their respective movies. The Searchers and Unforgiven both have a very obvious connection being that the outlaws in each of the stories are out looking for men that have done some kind of wrong to a woman.

2) Find a related article (on the film, director, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, etc.) and summarize the content. You may use the library or the internet.

The article “Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven and the Western Tradition” is a review of the film Unforgiven and is a critique on Westerns and how Unforgiven fits into that category. The article states that the film attempts to justify the motives of Munny, and does a fairly good job even though his actions are not in fact justified. However the article also states that some of the motives of the main characters do not add up with typical westerns. The article states that the motives for each of the characters in the film were either for glory or money which is opposite of traditional westerns. The article states that a typical western is about a man of leisure and that involving a desire of material wealth will take away from the story. Also the article makes a point to say the Munny does not start off alone as a typical westerner does; Munny begins his journey with the kid and Ned. Overall the article appeared to be pleased with the film but ultimately seems to be rejecting it as a true western.

http://www.cod.edu/people/faculty/pruter/film/unforgiven.htm

 3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. How did the article support or change the way you thought about the film, director, content, etc.?

This article was a good review of the plot of the story and brought up some good points critiquing the film as a western that I had not previously thought of. However there were a few main points that I did not completely agree with. The writer of the article makes the point about how Munny doesn’t start off on his own unlike many other westerns. This is a point in which I half agree on because even though this is true, I still see Munny as a lone ranger type simply working with others. This same type of situation can be compared to The Searchers in the sense that both characters end up working with other people in order to complete a shared objective. A similar argument can also be made regarding the pursuit of wealth. In Unforgiven, Munny, Ned and the Kid are on this hunt for the sake of getting a reward. The search for wealth or a reward can also be said about The Good the Bad and The Ugly, another one of Clint Eastwood’s films. The article was a good critique of the film but I think it didn’t see the bigger picture of the film. I see the film as a very classic western tale that uses many concepts of traditional or classic westerns.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article.

Unforgiven is a near perfect modern take on the classic western genre. Many comparisons can be made to this film especially from classic westerns such as, Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Good the Bad and The Ugly. I see the film as some kind of combination of all three of those films. There are saloon shoot outs much like in Stagecoach, a man searching the west for a woman or in this case fighting for a woman similar to The Searchers, and lastly making a long journey for money like in The Good the Bad and the Ugly. Out of all of these three films I especially see a strong connection to The Searchers. The main characters in both films appears to be fairly alone in their lives, even though they each have some kind of family with them in the beginning. Also both films seem to focus heavily on the journey to their final destination and then when arriving at their final destination the story they thought they knew has changed. For example, Munny heard a list of terrible things that happened to the one prostitute from the kid, when fact the story was much exaggerated. More important than the final destination of both characters is the concept that both the protagonist are looking to provide some kind of rescue or salvation to a woman, which each film executed very well. The film was directed and acted wonderfully by Eastwood and in my opinion he left the movie feeling like a true western.  

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 1) ( ) I have not handed in this assignment for any

other class. 2) ( ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other

classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 3) ( ) If I used any passages word for word, I

put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 4) (

) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in

the text of the paper. 5) ( ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally

read. 6) ( ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in

another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 7) ( ) I did not

so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 8) ( ) I

checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and

ideas used in my paper.

Name: _Joe Katulak_______________ Date: __3/10/14________

Sex, Lies, and Videotape

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

“Sex, Lies, and Video Tape” is one of the earlier films written and directed by academy award winner Steven Soderbergh. Soderbergh left his home in 1963 to move to LA to start his career in the film making industry. He got his start in the industry with a documentary and two short films, which ultimately led him to write and direct his first feature film, “Sex, Lies and Videotape”. Since then, he has worked on and directed much more well known titles such as “Gray’s Anatomy”, “Erin Brockovich” and “Oceans Eleven”.

2) Find a related article (on the film, director, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, etc.) and summarize the content. You may use the library or the internet.

The article from indiewire titled, “How Steven Soderbergh’s ’sex, lies and videotape’ Still Influences Sundance After 25 Years” takes a look at how Soderbergh’s film heavily influenced the Sundance Film Festival and independent movies all together. “Sex, Lies, and Videotape” was done on a relatively small budget of only 1.2 million and was a big help in the beginning of the independent film movement. Soderbergh shot the film in a very natural way and even operated the camera for parts of the film. The high approval of his film at Sundance helped turn Sundance into an “industry event”. Even with Soderbergh’s big success in Hollywood, he has recently retired from film making to explore other forms of art while he still has the chance. Soderbergh also left commenting on how increasingly competitive the film making industry is becoming since more and more small budget films are being made separate from the big studios.

http://www.indiewire.com/article/how-steven-soderberghs-sex-lies-and-videotape-still-influences-sundance-after-25-years

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. How did the article support or change the way you thought about the film, director, content, etc.?

Overall this article from indiewire gave me a little more insight and respect to Steven Soderbergh. I have a very similar opinion on the movie industry to what he does and I think it is very interesting that the article explored that. Since Soderbergh showed “Sex, Lies, and Videotape” at Sundance, the film making industry has definitely changed for the better in my opinion. Sundance lets filmmakers showcase their films that were most likely not funded by big movie studios. This gives filmmakers the chance to show their work to a large audience and even potentially sell their movie to make money off of it. This is great because now all filmmakers, including writers and directors now have more freedom to make the movies that they want to make, where as if they went through the studio system, the movie might not have been made all together. Sundance has helped give birth to many popular films and cult classics such as “Reservoir Dogs” and “Memento”and is currently very influential in the film making industry.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article.

“Sex, Lies, and Videotape” is a great examination of what individuals think about privately regarding relationships and sex. The story itself is very intriguing as it examines parts of human psychology that I would assume is interesting or a curious topic to many people, including myself. The film is not really graphic in any way but the audience still gets the allusion of intimacy between a lot of the characters. This is especially prevalent at the end when we see the final tape of Graham and Ann. I specifically liked how Soderbergh went about showing the final tape. He went in an almost non- linear approach, by showing it later on as opposed to when Graham and Ann were actually shooting the tape. With all that being said the film was intriguing, entertaining and is also a staple in independent film history.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 1) ( ) I have not handed in this assignment for any

other class. 2) ( ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other

classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 3) ( ) If I used any passages word for word, I

put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 4) (

) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in

the text of the paper. 5) ( ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally

read. 6) ( ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in

another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 7) ( ) I did not

so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 8) ( ) I

checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and

ideas used in my paper.

Name: __Joe Katulak_____________________ Date: _3/4/15_________