Charlie+Chaplin

== =Assignment 2/19/2010= By now you have all created a page and begun to add content. (HINT: You should be writing a brief synopsis of you chosen movie for the "Becoming an Expert" assignment, and planning to watch it and take notes as described in Filmsite.org: How to watch a movie.) For __**today's assignment**__, create a paragraph on your page about Charlie Chaplin and silent movies. Find an image on the internet to illustrate it. In this paragraph, tell how Chaplin's movie Modern Times reflected the concerns of the time. Check your facts so your insights are accurate! Be sure to say what year it was filmed. Then explain how Chaplin transcends time so that people from every decade and in all different walks of life continue to relate to and enjoy his movies. Don't be afraid to reference (for extra credit) the other silent stars you know about: Keaton, Valentino, Fairbanks and Pickford. Remember I'm an art teacher and I like visuals!!! Make this interesting to look at please! :D Grading the Chaplin Paragraph looks like this: 10 pts. the date 20 pts. the image 20 pts. description of the times in reality 30 pts. description of the times in the movie 20 pts. explanation of how the movie works today TOTAL=100 pts.



= Modern Times =

Read the following short easy article on how the brain of a critic works, by Robert Glatzer. __How A Critic's Brain Works__

Chaplin's classic "Rolls Dance" or "Table Ballet", a scene from //The Gold Rush//, 1925, a film inspired by the news of the cannibalism committed by the Bonner Party during their attempt to cross the Rockies in Colorado. media type="youtube" key="xoKbDNY0Zwg" height="344" width="425"

Now see the infamous Johnie Depp imitate Chaplin doing the Rolls Dance in a film called //Benny and Joon//. Depp plays a disabled man who is a gifted mime artist and comedian styled after Chaplin in this sleeper film from the 80's. FYI: this is a great date flick, romantic, funny, sweet and not too cheesy. I can't understand why it isn't better known or more popular. It's available on Netflix. [|Click Here!]

Also from Benny and Joon, here's a scene where Johnnie Depp does a hat routine styled after Chaplin: media type="youtube" key="osAHjOPYOyE" height="344" width="425"

Now watch a regular person like you and me try doing The Rolls Dance: media type="youtube" key="BukhYfGOsBY" height="344" width="425"

Here is a pastiche of Depp doing Chaplin style comedy in Benny and Joon: media type="youtube" key="O4zAS_el9lA" height="344" width="425"

Play the following video to hear the theme song from Modern Times, written by Charlie Chaplin. He wrote it as an instrumental piece, but two writers in the 50's gave it lyrics that blend perfectly with the wistful yet hopeful feeling of the music. It is Michael Jackson's all time favorite song, and was sung by his brother to honor his passing. It is also the opening song for this year's winter olympics in Vancouver. In this video you'll hear the Michael Jackson recording he made for his late 90's album hiStory. media type="youtube" key="iu-rLA4POkI" height="344" width="425"