TCP 01

ALL EMAIL SUBJECT LINES SHOULD LOOK SOMETHING LIKE THIS:

EA105 LASTNAME classname keyword

NO UNDERLINES!

Please be careful to get the subject line correct since, at the end of the term I am logging in a large number of essays from three class at nearly the same time and have no time to write you and ask where your essay is and assess very severe late penalties if the submission is late or missing (usually an "F"). This might seem odd but every semester I have one or two students who simply choose not to submit anything to me. Expect an acknowledgment from me 24 hours after the deadline or within 48 hours if you submitted early.

TCP 00 - Overview (go to that page)

TCP 01 - Work related to Initial Presentation (go to that page)

Choose countries (team work)
Report choice to me
Choose mood-genre & theme (team work)
Report choice to me
Select hypothetical films
Present in class hypothetical NDTs

TCP 02 - Work related to NDT Report (Progress Report 01) (go to that page)

Select films (team work)
View films
Develop NDT (individual work)
Report NDT to me (individual work)
Decide NDT (team work)
Present in class NDT
Revise and resubmit NDT
Report revised NDT to me

TCP 03 - Work related to IE Report (Progress Report 02) (go to that page)

Research for your IE (individual work)
Before, and to be used in, your in-class presentation: Submit at the same time: 1) a PPT slide that has your films, NDT, bibliography, and current working thesis or direction of your IE; 2) the script you will read for your presentation (individual work)
Present briefly in class on the current state of your IE, and field questions / comments from me

TCP 04 - Work related to IE file-sharing and submission (go to that page)

Finish writing your IE (individual work)
Submit your IE (individual work)
Team IE's: Release and access (team work)

TCP 05 - Work related to the JCS, the final TCP submission (go to that page)

Meet to jointly write the JCS
Submit to me and wait for a receipt acknowledgment (indicates you are finished with the course)

TCP — Work related to initial presentation

summer: make sure understand the final step is classwide, and restructure so this can be shared

Goal

Students set some of the early important parameters in this segment of the TCP: the countries, the mood-genre & theme. Students learn what an NDT is—presenting an NDT that shows the team understands the concept.

Grading rubric

Was the country report submitted on time and in good form? Was the mood-genre & theme report submitted on time and in good form? Based on the in-class quiz, had the student come to class prepared for the NDT exercise? Did the group submission of the NDT evidence a solid understanding of what an NDT needs to be? Timesheets might be used to answer questions about a particular student's involvement in the team. It is not a major element, however.

This is a hybrid individual-group grade. Expect variations among team members. Good performance on the group NDT even if an individual student did not do well on the quiz can help that student. Poor performance on the group NDT has only a marginal downward effect on a student who did well on the quiz. Late submissions are, in theory, a big negative for all aspects of the TCP. I was lenient this time (Spring 2013).

The details for this section were supressed: I wanted to allow the mere announcement of the importance of reading the instructions and preparing for class to separate the more motivated students from those still passively engaged in this course. I will use this method in the future, too.

TEAM WORK — Select the E.A. countries you will compare

Decide the *East Asian countries you will compare. You can choose to do two or three. Two is much easier. By "countries" I mean that the film was domestically released in that country and directed by someone of that country's culture and the primary setting of the film is that country. Probably all the main characters should also be from that country but there are some exceptions to this. Funding is more complicated and might or might not be relevant—if it is funded by the country's government, it is probably relevant; if it is, say, a French studio providing a lot of the cash, this may or may not be relevant.

I don't really care how you meet to make this decision or how long to take to make it. Of course you should include all team members in the decisions!

ANY ONE MEMBER OF THE TEAM CAN SEND THIS EMAIL — Decision Report

Report to me which E.A. countries your team has chosen.

This is a simple email with content like "Our team, Group A, has decided to compare films from Korea and China."

BUT this email must go to all team members at the same time it goes to me. This report is only a written record of your decision, so that no one makes a mistake later, and to lock in the decision. Use the keyword countrieschosen

Deadline: Before class begins Thursday, March 7

TEAM WORK — Select the mood-genre & theme of the films you will eventually work with

I am using for the first time this semester a hybrid word: mood-genre. Earlier these were two different steps in the process. However, the real point here is that there are film types (dreamy films, romantic comedies where everything will always turn out well, violent films, gritty films, black humor films, nihilistic films, hold your breath suspenseful films, horror ...). The official genre categories don't really capture this (some comedies seem hardly funny at all, others are pure Mr. Bean) yet "mood" doesn't seem quite enough (dark, creepy, gorgeous historical/costume piece literary films, etc.) So, I'm leaving it up to you to do the work of selecting a type. BUT, do keep in mind (since we are working with values) that indie films and Hollywood blockbusters play to different audiences so comparing values can be tough. Two indies films or two blockbusters are safer. Some films confirm values; others challenge them. This is less of a problem since they both refer to values whether accepting or resisting, so there is common ground usually. Films that take up ethical issues (infidelity) tend to have common ground. ... I'm pasting in the information provided to earlier generations of students in this course, at the bottom of this page. You can look it over if you want. It might be helpful (but ignore the instructions, they are not for you).

By theme I mean the topics presented online, for the course basics, under the section: "IIB. Main topics (themes)—The below is the main list of "love"-related topics that we consider:")

Do not discuss specific films, do not mention film titles. Do not try to think of films you want to work with and work "backwards" from that to a mood or theme. I try my best, through the TCP instructions, to force you into situations where you see new films that you don't really know much about at the beginning. This creates a more flexible frame of mind.

Instead, work more generally, thinking what types of films you can work with given the goals and themes of the course, and the goal of the TCP (stated in the Overview).

"Mood" and "genre" have a huge affect on romantic narrative direction and interpretation of narrative events. You cannot conclude a successful comparison of two films unless they are more or less of the same mood-genre or at least get them close then stay aware of the differences.

*Students often try to shortcut the process by selecting films first then tailoring the mood and theme to the films they want to watch. This has consistently produced low scoring projects and each generation of students have warned against it, once they come to the end of the process and have the full perspective of what was supposed to be done. Avoid the temptation!

*You will find that comedies can be quite complex when it comes to values. It is difficult to tell if they are supporting or subverting a value, for example. Films whose primary intent it to lightly entertain also are a problem because their values systems often slip all over the place, making comparisons and conclusions hard to nail down. Actions films can actually be OK as long as the romance in them is central to the story rather than just an excuse for action. Drama, however, remains the best genre in most categories but you should put some thought into the difference between high-discourse idealized drama (such as, say, "Lincoln") and hard-nosed, gritty drama (such as, say, "Taxi Driver") since optimism/pessimism has a huge influence on the shape of a romantic narrative (things will work out / things never work out). Horror films of the best quality can be really good but horror films in general tend to be more visceral than cognitive (so high-low rule can come into play). Some visceral qualities needs to be in a film or the romance is unbelievable; so it isn't that it needs to be avoided, it just needs to not suck up all the narrative air.

ANY ONE MEMBER OF THE TEAM CAN SEND THIS EMAIL — Decision Report

Report to me your mood-genre & theme.

This is an email with content like "Our team, Group A, has decided on such-and-such a mood-genre (describe it fully). Further, our group has selected the theme (this should be exactly on of the phrases that are in bold on the indicated page, such as "layering".

Deadline: Before class begins Thursday, March 7 and after the submission of the EA countries. However, it can be immediately after that submission. I just want two separate emails. I don't really care how you arrive at this decision, as long as everyone is included in the decision. Work done with your team in some way

TEAM WORK — In-class Initial Presentation

Select two provisional films and write a provisional NDT onto a white board and hang it on the wall. You will not be presenting it orally; it must be self explanatory and follow the content and format guidance found on the terms page.

Deadline: 10:15 AM, Thursday, March 7. This is because I will then take the remaining 40 minutes or so to discuss each team NDT.

Parameter Set "A"—General type of love the two of you will explore

Do this first before moving to Set "B". Once you report a choice in this category it can never ever be changed.

ETHICS IN LOVE. Narratives where the ethical component seems to be a major topic. Often individuals are confronted with challenges between personal desires and principles, but there might also be conflicts between principles involved. Some films strongly promote and reward ethical choices (or punish those who fail to make ethical choices) while some just portray troubled individuals who know they are not acting ethically. All romantic narrative probably have some of this component; this parameter is for those films that seems to make this an important part of the story, if not the very theme of it. Common areas: loyalty, trust, fidelity, betrayal, selfless love, sacrifice, incest, etc. One challenge for this category is finding meaningful differences between the two countries.

LOVE TURBULENCE. Narratives which are less interested in ethical issues (the lovers in their social context with social norms and social demands) and are more interest in exploring an inner, psychological, turbulent world of love: the power of jealousy, the pleasures of revenge, other-abusive or self-abusive behavior, dysfunctional behavior, uncontrolled hatred, extreme loneliness, protagonists that are disadvantaged in some way (slow-witted, carrying a past wound, flawed in personality or looks, trapped in anxiety, etc.) These are some of the most fascinating films. However, be sure that romance is actually a key part of the film, not just a simple narrative framework as an excuse to explore these issues. Relationships (real or not, successful or not, achieved or not, past-present or future, are out topic — what happens with these two people). Also, remember to work with "high" love. It is possible, even with these highly emotional, visceral films. One other challenge for these films is working with the subtle interface of, for example, what makes for jealousy (between the two countries compared) and what is considered an appropriate or inappropriate response to it.

CELEBRATIONS OF LOVE. Celebrations of romance: These might be like our caizi-jiaren stories: attractive or talented or otherwise inherently interesting individuals get together after some challenges, but we never really worried or maybe we did but it all worked out and we feel the power of love in overcoming obstacles. Or Cinderella stories. Or fluffy romances. (Comparing two fluffy romances can lead to some interesting essays but it is sort of risky since they often are very disciplined about their ideas.) Celebrations of love films might also just place a very high valuation on love: it heals (or could have healed), it transforms, everything is sacrificed for it (and that worked out), the love-goal is all important. The outlook is optimistic in terms of love-in-the-world: there will be a happy ending or there could have been a happy ending; that is, love and solutions to love problems are possible, they just didn't happen in this case. In other words, the view of love (and maybe life in general) is fairly idealistic.

REALISTIC VIEWS OF LOVE. Pessimistic, realistic, non-romantic views of love: love as a strategic game, love never works out, the main characters of the film cannot learn how to love, the world always intervenes and prevents love, love sort of works out because nothing is perfect, etc. In other words, the view of love (and maybe life in general) is contrasts with the idealism above and emphasizes a difficult world where love is not possible or slimly possible or otherwise imperfect, incomplete or frail in some way.

About sex. We do not explore the dark waters of sexuality as a specific topic but it is almost always an important element in some way. Still, we are not trying to answer "What is this director's view of sexuality?" We are, instead, asking "What is this director's view or love?" and "What is this director's view of the limits the audience will allow in expressing that view?" and/or the director's understanding of what the audience wants on screen as values.

*You can also create your own category different from any of the four above but beware of something quite narrow and make absolutely sure that you and your partner are on exactly the same page as to what that category is.

Parameter Set "B"—Setting some parameters so the two films can be compared with some success

Do this only after having completed the above. Once you report the required portions, they can never be changed. The additional possible parameters can be discussed to create general directions AND if one of the students finds a film first and it fits one of these categories that student must email the other student immediately (so that student can modify his or her search accordingly and not waste time finding something that doesn't work well).

REQUIRED—SETTING: You must decide whether you want a standard contemporary setting or a historical setting (1940s World War II, Edo Japan red light district, Tang dynasty, etc.) Beware of this major risk with historical settings: most movies use the historical setting just for decoration while keeping entirely modern values (except minor things such as more formal demeanor, speech habits or such). Treat movies set in the past as modern unless there director is clearly interested in the time period and is exploring it. "House of Flying Daggers", for example, is a modern movie; "2046" is a 1960s value movie by intent of the director even though some of it is set in the future; the three segments of "Three Times" (1911, 1960s, 2000s) is specific to those times (that was the point of the film).

REQUIRED—MATCH GENRE (more or less): Many movies can be considered as under several genre. The only important point here is to get movies somewhat close to each other for comparison purposes. However, what is really going on is that you are deciding how you will look at films (for example, the serious part of a comedy or the romantic part of an action film). So, don't worry as much about how someone labels a film as to whether or not you can approach the film as legitimately part of a certain genre. If this parameter doesn't work out perfectly for the team that's OK. You will just have to fine-tune your analysis approaches later.

Comments on specific genre (I think I originally pulled these categories from Netflix)—

Action / adventure: usually have flat, standard romances plugged into them. Avoid them. This includes mafia, gangster, yakuza movies unless the romantic element is central. (But spy movies with intrigue and an overlap of official duties and romantic desire work just fine.)
Anime: These can be used but BOTH movies must be anime.
Children & Family: These can be interesting in that they almost certain uphold or teach a certain set of values. But don't go stupid on this.
Classics: This is a meaningless designation as far as we are concerned. Convert it to something else (usually drama) and consider the problems with historical settings mentioned elsewhere.
Comedy: Very complex. Do not be fooled. Easy to watch definitely does not equal easy to analyze.
Documentary: Of course rejected because we are looking at the production of narratives presenting romance. Almost none of these would match the need.
Drama: A good choice.
Faith & Spirituality: Unlikely that you can find a matching pair, but it would be interesting if you did.
Gay & Lesbian: Outside the boundaries of our topic although, in your search, you will come across some excellent movies in this category. I regret setting them out-of-bounds.
Horror: Use them only if the romance is central. "Audition" for example, is OK in my opinion.
Independent / Indie: This can be a great category. And it is OK to pair a film like this with a mainstream film, as long as you are aware that you are doing so.
Musicals: Surprising, these work pretty well.
Romance: Yep. … Except this probably really means either comedy or drama or even thriller.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy: Handle with care. Most of these are more interested in technology than human relationships, but not all. Just give it a good thinking-over before going in that direction.
Special Interest: No.
Sports: No.
Television: No.
Thrillers: Same problem as action films.

ADDITIONAL POSSIBLE PARAMETERS (that you can use if you want — they might be helpful in getting a pair of films that work well with each other)

MAIN INTENDED AUDIENCE Broad distribution that pleases a lot of people (which will necessarily uphold widely held values), or "artsy" movies that please those who take movies as serious art and are comparing the movie against other movies as an artistic product (which are more unpredictable as to whether the values are widely held or not). Notice that most Hollywood films uphold common values despite their "edgy" or "transgressive" content. Usually in the end, common morality is affirmed through the punishment of the transgressors, or us feeling sorry for them, etc. In other words, don't take what happens as the marker for the values but how what happens is treated / presented.

ROMANTIC CONFIGURATIONS Is the movie about a love triangle (might be infidelity, might be a woman trying to choose between two men, etc.) or a pair (the struggle of a couple to achieve their love, the story of a divorce, etc.) or a more complicated configuration (there are some "squares" out there).

POINT OF VIEW: First person male or first person female (my problems with love), Third person generic story-telling perspective, but centered on the man or the woman.