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Robert Altman's
1992 masterpiece is just as rewarding 20 years later as when it was first
made. A deft
and dazzling satire of the way people behave in movie studios, The Player is witty, surprising,
intelligent – and hugely entertaining – as it questions the morals and ethics
of modern Hollywood, and by extension Western society. It can be
enjoyed – and analysed – on several levels, and rewards multiple viewings. |
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Lost among the hype and counter-hype, though, is the staggering craftsmanship of The Player's filmmaking. …there's unparalleled invention to every aspect of production. That's why The Player is the rare modern movie that gets better the more you watch it. And deeper. Details of character and motivation surface on repeat viewings… And funnier. An overheard line of dialogue in an early scene will blossom into a joke 30 minutes later. And creepier. Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins), the studio executive whose soul slips away after he kills a pesky screenwriter, is as cocky and damned as Faust in Armani. – Ty Burr, Entertainment Weekly |
Contents
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Teaching
Guide |
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Study Programme |
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Introduction |
3 |
Introduction |
2 |
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Suggested Teaching Plan |
4 |
After the First Viewing |
3 |
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After the First Viewing |
5 |
Initial Quiz |
4 |
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Initial Quiz |
6 |
Analysing the Plot |
5 |
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Plot Summary |
7 |
Narrative Structure |
6 |
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Analysing the Plot |
8 |
Close Reading Task sheets |
10 |
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Narrative Structure |
9 |
Styles of Film-making |
13 |
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Scene
by Scene commentary |
12 |
Design and Setting |
15 |
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Close
Reading the Text |
25 |
Characterisation |
16 |
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Scene Analysis: Opening Shot |
34 |
Themes |
18 |
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Styles of Film-making |
37 |
Genre and Style |
18 |
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Design and Setting |
40 |
Modernism & Postmodernism |
19 |
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Characters and Actors |
43 |
Altman as Auteur |
20 |
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Themes |
47 |
Useful Quotations |
21 |
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Making the Film |
49 |
Cast List |
22 |
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Postmodernism – an overview |
52 |
The
Complex Makeup of a Movie |
23 |
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Modernism & Postmodernism |
53 |
Scene List |
24 |
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Allusions Explained |
55 |
Glossary of Film Terms |
26 |
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Genre and Style |
56 |
Worksheets |
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Altman as Auteur |
58 |
Study Plan |
2 |
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Interesting Trivia |
59 |
Plot Summary |
3 |
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Film Techniques |
5 |
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Scene Analysis: Opening Shot |
6 |
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Noir Features |
8 |
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Scene-by-Scene Work sheets |
9 |
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Extras include a PowerPoint analysis of the long opening
shot; screenplay (transcript), story of the making of the film; more than 100
shots from the film; genre list and definitions |
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