Thursday, November 1, 2007

John Heartfield and Parody Reading Assignment

In contemporary usage, a Parody (or Lampoon) is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. As literary theorist Linda Hutcheon (2000: 7) puts it, "parody...is imitation with a critical difference, not always at the expense of the parodied text." Another critic, Simon Dentith (2000: 9), defines parody as "any cultural practice which provides a relatively polemical allusive imitation of another cultural production or practice."

Parody exists in all art media, including literature, music, and cinema. Cultural movements can also be parodied. Light, playful parodies are sometimes colloquially referred to as spoofs. The act of such a parody is often called lampooning. (Source cited)

Adbusters

Ad spoofs

John Heartfield historical reference (Reading assignment due Monday Nov5th)

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Rick Mercer Challenge Activity

Take a Rick Mercer Photo Challenge. The challenge is simple:

In this assignment you will brush up on your Photoshop skills. I would like you to download the following image and save it to your computer(H:drive). Create a political spoof by manipulating the photograph.

Write a 500 word essay explaining what the image represents, how and why you changed the image. Also explain the meaning of the image.

Rick Mercer posts these photos on his website: http://www.rickmercer.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.gallery&challengeId=84&seasonId=2. Consult this website to see images made by others.

Click here to download the image


Monday, October 22, 2007

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Is "Fahrenheit 9/11" a Documentary Film, or What is a Documentary Film? Tuesday Oct 9th Assignment

Read the following article and answer the following questions: Click here for the article

1) How do you define the term "documentary film"?
2) Is "Fahrenheit 9/11" a Documentary?
3) How has the definition of documentary changed in recent years, if at all?
4) Can or should documentaries have a point of view and if so, are they still called documentaries?

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Fast Food Documentary

This is a good example of a high school student documentary project on Fast Food.

Fahrenheit 9/11