IAP 2019 Activities by Category - Film and Television

Lana Scott, Manager, Media Services, MITx

	Jan/07	Mon	12:00PM-01:30PM	2-146, Bring your lunch
	Jan/14	Mon	12:00PM-01:30PM	2-146, Bring your lunch
	Jan/22	Tue	12:00PM-01:30PM	2-146, Bring your lunch
	Jan/28	Mon	12:00PM-01:30PM	2-146, Bring your lunch

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/04
Limited to 15 participants
Attendance: Repeating event, participants welcome at any session
Prereq: None

From lady "Ghostbusters" to talk of a female James Bond, Hollywood has taken a shine to remaking classic movies with gender-swapped or race-swapped leads as a way of mixing up a tried and true formula. Gender and race swapping is nothing new in Hollywood. In 1940, Howard Hawks cast Rosalind Russell for His Girl Friday (1940) in a part played by a man in the source movie, The Front Page (1931).Recently it was annouced that High Fidelity will be made into a 10 part series with the lead character played by an African-American actress, even though the book clearly has a white male character lead. The reactions have been mixed.

What do these remakes say about minorites and women? Does it signify that women's movies still need some sort of male appeal to get made? A gender-swapped or race-swapped movie implies that women and minorities aren't important enough to get their own, original stories, and thus must piggy-back on franchises that have already proven to be successful.

With the onslaught of multiple gender and race-swapped movies in the works and those already in the public, this class will take on this phenomeon from a cultural perspective. We'll discuss representation of gender and race in films. You'll be asked to watch different versions of different movies and think critically about what it means to change the gender or race of characters. 

Sponsor(s): Office of Open Learning
Contact: Lana Scott, NE49-2ND FLOOR, 617 253-7896, LMSCOTT@MIT.EDU

Andrew Silver, Retired Professor of film, MIT Alum, Chris Boebel, Media Development Director, MIT Open Learning

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/15
Limited to 6 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: interview - email asilver@asilverproduction.com

Using selected films and books to illustrate a spectrum of leadership skills and styles, the participants will observe and discuss the essence of leadership in action with invited leaders and experts.  Three sessions will focus on three separate works, and the leadership themes and questions each evokes.

Sponsor(s): Office of Open Learning
Contact: Chris Boebel, NE49-2ND FLOOR, cboebel@mit.edu

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Fat Man and Little Boy

Feb/01

Fri

10:00AM-12:00PM

Location TBD

Fat Man & Little Boy, starring Paul Newman, about the top secret Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb during World War II. Clashing leadership styles, ethical leadership, Leadership on complex scientific and engineering projects.

Andrew Silver - Retired Professor of film, MIT Alum, Chris Boebel - Media Development Director, MIT Open Learning

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Apollo 13

Feb/01

Fri

02:00PM-04:00PM

Location TBD

Apollo 13, starring Tom Hanks. Leadership in crisis, improvisation, personal qualities of leadership, grace under pressure.

Andrew Silver - Retired Professor of film, MIT Alum, Chris Boebel - Media Development Director, MIT Open Learning

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Leadership in Turbulent Times

Feb/01

Fri

06:00PM-08:00PM

Location TBD

Selections from Leadership: In Turbulent Times, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Transformational leadership. Turnaround leadership, Vision.

Andrew Silver - Retired Professor of film, MIT Alum, Chris Boebel - Media Development Director, MIT Open Learning

Rachel Ellis Adams

	Jan/17	Thu	10:00AM-12:30PM	2-135
	Jan/22	Tue	10:00AM-12:30PM	2-135

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/16
Limited to 8 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

Actors and directors get the headlines, but where would they be without scripts from writers? Compelling characters are at the heart (and in the capillaries) of all great movies.  In this workshop, we will explore the process of creating interesting, complex, and believable characters from the ground, up.  Emphasis will be on writing for feature-length narrative film rather than episodic television or short films, but there is much overlap. Sessions will include lecture, film clips, discussion, in-class writing, small-group workshopping and a (fun!) writing assignment between the two sessions.  The first session will include an overview of basic screenwriting conventions and formatting rules.  The second session will be based on writing done by participants over the weekend (participants will be asked to bring multiple printed copies).  No prior screenwriting experience is required.

Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Rachel Ellis Adams, readams@mit.edu

David Kaiser, Professor, Physics and STS

Jan/09

Wed

07:00PM-09:00PM

6-120

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: None

Come watch a special preview screening of a new NOVA documentary film about quantum entanglement, “Einstein’s Quantum Riddle,” to be followed by a panel discussion featuring local experts, including MIT physicists who conducted the recent “Cosmic Bell” experiments that are featured in the film. Panelists include Brindha Muniappan (MIT Museum), Paola Cappellaro (MIT Nuclear Science and Engineering), Alan Guth (MIT Physics), David Kaiser (MIT STS and Physics), Calvin Leung (MIT Physics), Christ Schmidt (NOVA), and Nicole Yunger Halpern (Harvard and MIT Physics). Free and open to the public.

Sponsor(s): Science, Technology, and Society, MIT Museum, Physics
Contact: Gus Zahariadis, 3-3452, gusz@mit.edu

Dan Crohn, Instructor

	Jan/08	Tue	01:00PM-03:00PM	4-237
	Jan/10	Thu	01:00PM-03:00PM	4-237
	Jan/15	Tue	01:00PM-03:00PM	4-237
	Jan/17	Thu	01:00PM-03:00PM	4-237
	Jan/22	Tue	01:00PM-03:00PM	4-237
	Jan/24	Thu	01:00PM-03:00PM	4-237
	Jan/29	Tue	01:00PM-03:00PM	4-237
	Jan/31	Thu	01:00PM-03:00PM	4-237

Enrollment: Advanced sign-up required plus brief application essay
Sign-up by 12/21
Limited to 12 participants
Attendance: Participants must commit to regular attendance

Do you want to make people laugh? Here’s your chance. In this crash course, you will go from the fundamentals of comedy writing and performance technique to constructing your own stand-up set. Material will be workshopped in a supportive, constructive environment led by stand-up comedian Dan Crohn, who has appeared on Last Comic Standing and the popular WTF podcast with Marc Maron. With years of experience teaching and performing stand-up, Dan will help you work towards a final graduation performance, MC-ed by him and scheduled for Friday, February 8.

Applicants should send a brief essay (up to 300 words) to stand-up-comedy@mit.edu by December 21 explaining why they want to take this series.  Participants must commit to regular attendance and to the final performance on Feb 8.  Prepare to amuse!  Funded by the De Florez Fund For Humor.

Sponsor(s): Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Contact: Kieran Setiya, 32-D916, 617-715-4264, stand-up-comedy@mit.edu

V. Michael Bove, Jr., Principal Research Scientist, MIT Media Lab, David Levine, Professor of the Practice of Performance, Theater, and Media

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/11
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

This activity is a hands-on exploration of the artistic possibilities of 3D video generally, and of storytelling on volumetric displays specifically.  Teams of students will work through a series of experiments and exercises designed to push the boundaries of this new medium.  We particularly encourage students with experience in  filmmaking, animation, and code development for game engines.

 

Sponsor(s): Media Arts and Sciences, Media Lab
Contact: V. Bove, E15-490, 617 253-0334, VMB@MEDIA.MIT.EDU

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Jan/14

Mon

01:00PM-04:00PM

E15-341

V. Michael Bove, Jr. - Principal Research Scientist, MIT Media Lab, David Levine - Professor of the Practice of Performance, Theater, and Media

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Jan/22

Tue

01:00PM-04:00PM

E15-341

V. Michael Bove, Jr. - Principal Research Scientist, MIT Media Lab, David Levine - Professor of the Practice of Performance, Theater, and Media

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Jan/28

Mon

01:00PM-04:00PM

E15-341

V. Michael Bove, Jr. - Principal Research Scientist, MIT Media Lab, David Levine - Professor of the Practice of Performance, Theater, and Media