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Rebecca Bell-Metereau | 3 Jul 2006 21:17
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Re: UPDATE CFP The Documentary Tradition: WW II--Germany

From: James Ward <Jjward <at> cedarcrest.edu>
Call for Papers

2006 Film and History League Conference
"The Documentary Tradition"
http://www/filmand history.org

AREA:   World War II:  Germany
CHAIR:  James J. Ward

At this year's Berlin Film Festival, a 2 ½-hour semi-documentary on the bombing of Dresden in February
1945-at 10 million euros, the most expensive film ever made for German television-occasioned
considerable comment. Together with last year's _Sophie Scholl: Die Letzten Tagen_ (released earlier
this year in the US) and 2004's _Der Untergang_ (_Downfall_ in US release), both Oscar nominees for best
foreign film, these recent German films have blurred the line between fiction and fact, at least in regard
to the Second World War.

For the November 8-12 Film & History conference on "The Documentary Tradition" at the Dolce Conference
Center in Dallas, Texas, papers are invited in the "World War II: Germany" area.  Possible topics include,
but are not limited to: German/Nazi documentary film dealing with the war, the home front, countries
under German occupation/control, anti-partisan warfare, the Axis alliance and war effort, "total war"
(as proclaimed by Goebbels in February 1943), the development of _Wunder_- and _Vergeltungswaffen_,
and the pursuit of the _Endsieg_ in 1945. Post-1945 (West and East) German documentary films and
television programs dealing with the war are also appropriate, as are post-1989 German film and
television productions on World War II, the German defeat, occupation and division, and the "memory" of
the war. Recent scholarly and media controversies in Germany arising from the Second World War-e.g., the
"Crimes of the Wehrmacht" exhibition (1995-99) and the debate over the _Bombenkrieg_ inspired in part by
the publication of Joerg Friedrich's _Der Brand_ in 2002-suggest other possible topics and approaches.

"World War II--Germany" is conceived as generous and expansive. Questions about the suitability of
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Rebecca Bell-Metereau | 3 Jul 2006 22:54
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(unknown)

From: "Cook, Bradley D" <bcook <at> indiana.edu>

I am hoping someone on the list can give me some pointers on how to find
Catherine Feltus (stage name Catherine Craig)? She was married to actor
Robert Preston and according to his March 1987 obit. she was still alive
at that time and living in either Los Angelas or more-likely in
Montecito, Californina which is just south of Santa Barbara.

I have tried finding out who Preston's agent was, thinking I could
contact him/her, but have not been able to find a name.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Bradley D. Cook
Curator of Photographs
Office of University Archives & Records Management
Indiana University
Bryan Hall 201
107 South Indiana Avenue
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-7000
812-855-4495
812-855-8104 (Fax)
bcook <at> indiana.edu
Visit our website at:
          http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives
VENI, VEDI, VICI.
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Darryl Wiggers | 5 Jul 2006 14:44
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Kritikos V.3 July 2006

From: "Nicholas Ruiz" <nr03 <at> fsu.edu>

Kritikos V.3 July 2006

Spiderman, Superman--What's the difference?...(a.kozlovic)

http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/%7Enr03/spiderman-superman.htm

Gates' Buffet, or Fail-Safe Philanthropy...(n.ruiz)

http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/%7Enr03/gates-buffet.htm

Nicholas Ruiz III
ABD/GTA
Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities
--Florida State University--
Editor, Kritikos
http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~nr03/
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Darryl Wiggers | 5 Jul 2006 14:49
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Japanese Cinema/ Japan Foundation Grant

From: Jonathan M Hall <jmhall <at> uci.edu>

Apologies for cross-posting

Dear Colleagues,

I am really happy to announce that UC Irvine has been named a recipient
of a Japan Foundation Overseas Library Support Grant for growth in the
area of Japanese cinema, in particular avant-garde, independent,
experimental, and colonial cinemas---areas in which UC Irvine has
pronounced strengths, in addition to its developed focus on Asian
cinema.  The Library also has been recently active in securing some
rare J-film-related materials.

Of course, I'm delighted personally at the generosity of the Japan
Foundation, which is supporting Japanese film culture more and more
these days, and I hope colleagues in Southern California and beyond will
benefit from the collection in future years.  As a public university,
the doors of our Library are fully open to all.  For copyright
reasons, use of the film and video collection is limited, but access
can be arranged. (Of course, the materials being acquired through the  
grant
have not arrived yet ...)

I'd like to think that the Japan Foundation will support other
institutions in their attempts to develop Japanese film studies
collections.  I hope colleagues at other schools will suggest this
program to their Libraries.

Yours sincerely,
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Darryl Wiggers | 5 Jul 2006 14:49
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Re: Catherine Craig

From: <skwalker <at> umd.edu>

You may want to try IMDB Pro. It's a much more in-depth internet site  
than the IMDB.com. They offer information about agents, the business  
of entertainment, history of film, etc. You can sign up for a free  
two week trial. As I did when I had a specific question, it was  
plenty of time to scan through the site contents without paying for  
the service. Just go to www.imdb.com or imdbpro.com good luck, Susan  
Walker

---- Original message ----
Date: Mon, 3 Jul 2006 15:54:15 -0500
From: Rebecca Bell-Metereau <rb12 <at> txstate.edu
To: H-FILM <at> H-NET.MSU.EDU
From: "Cook, Bradley D" <bcook <at> indiana.edu

I am hoping someone on the list can give me some pointers on how to find
Catherine Feltus (stage name Catherine Craig)? She was married to actor
Robert Preston and according to his March 1987 obit. she was still alive
at that time and living in either Los Angelas or more-likely in
Montecito, Californina which is just south of Santa Barbara.
I have tried finding out who Preston's agent was, thinking I could
contact him/her, but have not been able to find a name.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Bradley D. Cook
Curator of Photographs
Office of University Archives & Records Management
Indiana University
(Continue reading)

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Darryl Wiggers | 5 Jul 2006 14:53
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Voiceovers in 1990s films?

From: Rebecca Bell-Metereau [mailto:mbeky <at> yahoo.com]

Does anyone have any thoughts about the use of voiceover in 1990s  
films?  Names
of films?  Suggestions about why this was used as frequently as it was?
Articles or books that mention the use of voiceover, particularly in  
more
recent films of the last couple of decades?  Thanks in advance for  
any thoughts
on this topic.

Rebecca Bell-Metereau
Texas State University
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Darryl Wiggers | 5 Jul 2006 19:40

Re: Voiceovers in 1990s films? (two responses)

From: Henry McKean Taylor [henry.taylor <at> bluewin.ch] 

It probably ties in, at least to some extent, with the neo-noir boom of 
that decade, voiceover being one consistent feature of much noir.

*****************************

Dr. Henry M. Taylor
Fellow, University of Zurich
Phone +41 44 272 21 61
Mobile +41 78 639 49 82
henry.taylor <at> bluewin.ch
cinema <at> fiwi.unizh.ch

------------------------------
From: Wilson, Larry [larry.wilson <at> sjcd.edu] 

 Voiceovers are a result of the failure to understand that motion
pictures are a visual medium. Of course, their use could just be
laziness on the part of director and screenwriter.

Larry C. Wilson 
History, San Jacinto College Central
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Darryl Wiggers | 5 Jul 2006 22:36

Voiceovers in 1990s (and other decades) films?

From: Rebecca Bell-Metereau [mbeky <at> yahoo.com] 

Thanks for the suggestions, no doubt accurate.  The use of voiceover
certainly ties in with the neo-noir style in a film like Blade Runner
(1982), but what about its use in comedies like Ferris Bueller's Day Off
or While You Were Sleeping? (which only uses voiceover in the opening,
and then drops the convention)?  Even with Blade Runner, part of the
reason it is in one of the many versions of the film was that preview
audiences expressed such bewilderment over the plot that Scott decided
it would help to clarify (the lazy screenwriter theory).

I'm really hoping that some of you who are SOOOOOO good at coming up
with exhaustive lists will help me out a little more on this question
(and wear Darryl out with multiple postings; I think he's had it far too
easy lately), both in terms of titles and rationales, theoretical
frameworks, etc. 

Again, thanks in advance from  
Rebecca Bell-Metereau
Your Humble Occasional Co-Moderator for H-film listserve
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Darryl Wiggers | 6 Jul 2006 01:26
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Re: Voiceovers in 1990s films?

From: Jason Grant McKahan <jgm8530 <at> mailer.fsu.edu>

Dear Rebecca:

One fruitful area of inquiry may be the political economy (studio  
intervention) in film production following audience reception  
analysis of prescreenings of so-called ambiguous scenes/films.  I'm  
thinking especially of the studio reaction to Blade Runner and the  
choice to add a voice-over by Harrison Ford, supposedly for the sake  
of story clarity. Increase in voice-over narration may be, in part, a  
result of changes in film financing, production and "playing  
potential" in the age of 1980s mass audience targeted blockbusters.  
The director's cut dropped this narration...

Best,
Jason McKahan
Florida State University
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Darryl Wiggers | 6 Jul 2006 01:26
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Re: Voiceovers in 1990s films? (two responses)

From: "mccosha <at> bgnet.bgsu.edu" <mccosha <at> bgnet.bgsu.edu>

While narration and voiceover are sometimes the crutch of a lazy
or poor filmmaker, it can often be used in a way that adds depth
and humor to the work.  I don't think narration is inherently
anti-thetical to the film medium.  Although it is principally a
visual medium, its status as an aural medium can't be denied.
Just as you can have a badly shot film, you can have a bodly
narrated (and written) film.

I think "Fight Club" (1999) is a great example of an excellent
interplay between spoken and visual narration.  The film was
based on the book, and I'd imagine film adaptations of novels
ofen employ narration (5 of the films below were based on books).
  Some more 90s examples that come to mind:

Goodfellas (1990)
Forrest Gump (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Usual Suspects (1995)
Casino (1995)
Trainspotting (1996)
American Beauty (1999)

Tony McCosham
Bowling Green State University
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