Presentation - Brian Hu

[Anonymous]

I really enjoyed this presentation because the sample movie clips really highlighted the way they reflected the agendas present in the regions where they were made. I think the propaganda films of Taiwan and mainland China would be perfect for a lesson unit on propaganda. After students are shown sample clips of the propaganda films, they can work in groups to identify the values and ideas that are being emphasized and discuss the techniques that are used to emphasize them. They can also work together to make inferences about the assumptions that the director and government officials are making about the intended audiences of the films. Afterward, students can analyze film clips of American propaganda movie (such as patriotic war movies) and analyze them in the same way. This way student can become more aware of the way movies can be used to emphasize and reinforce specific values and ideas that are sanctioned by the government or society.

As a side note, there are software programs, such as Camtasia, which allow a user to copy video clips from DVDs and the internet and to modify/manipulate them by adding audio commentary, written notes, etc., to them. The program also allows you to create videos that contain test/quiz questions which the students can answer while they are viewing the video. I have a colleague whose school purchased Camtasia and provided her with the training to use it, and she found the program very easy to use. She is now planning to create short video presentations to provide her classes with graphic examples of the concepts she is teaching. At the very least, these would increase student interest and, hopefully, increase comprehension.
edited by ghom on 7/31/2014

[Anonymous]

Brian's take on cinema vs. cinemas is quite a surprise for me. I have never given much thought on the distinct "cinemas" within China. Now I reflect more deeply, we do have cinemas with movies very different from one another. I am much more familiar with Hong Kong movies than those produced in Mainland China. My observation is that people from Hong Kong (used to be British colony) strongly support their own production and resist the movies produced in Mainland. Many Hong Kong people emphasize they are "Hong Kongese" instead of Chinese. I think apart of social values, language also contributes to this separation between Hong Kong and Chinese films. As Cantonese speaker, I can easily pick up the local jokes but I don't always get the humor in Chinese movies. I completely agree when Bryan mentioned that some Hong Kong films which are heavy on local verbal jokes receive huge support from audience.

[Anonymous]

Brian Hu's presentation was excellent and it gave me so much to think about. The idea that the first Chinese films were based on Chinese Opera stories caught my attention. I was especially curious about the stories that the Chinese Operas are based on themselves. As I researched, I came upon the story of Mulan. I thought it was just a Disney movie, but it turns out to be much more. I found a very good retelling of the Opera by Prof. David K. Jordan, UCSD here: http://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/cgi-bin/chopera.pl?taleid=Opera021. I also have found that there are several children's picture books (not Disney) about the story of Mulan. This website actually compares the Disney story to the Xu Wei poem of the life of Mulan, called "The Female Mulan Joins the Army in Place of Her Father" (Hmmm... I wonder what it's about?)
http://dettoldisney.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/mulan-vs-the-legend-of-hua-mulan/. (By the way this website compares other Disney revisions to their originals, as well.)

[Anonymous]

Brian's presentation was one of the more interesting guest lectures we had during the week because his presentation was broken down into segments where he showed movie clips to demonstrate what he was talking about. I even got the idea of my movie review from his clips (The barber). I was also interested to learn how the government sends messages through film.

Arno Madathian

[Anonymous]

Embarrassingly, I must admit that I had to be guilted into seeing "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" and a few Bruce Lee/action films. I guess I hadn't connected to the cultural motifs. Dr. Hu's presentation certainly help change that. The clips he showed and his personal story made Chinese Cinema accessible to me. Consequently, I know I will be bringing it into the class room. In much the same way that I now show Bollywood films, with a socio-cultural lens and a desire to connect with a global community.

[cgao]

Attached is Brian's presentation.

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