The Eisenstein Centenary Pack by Keith Withall is a gift for a film teacher, as it focuses on an auteur study and analyses the socio-political contexts of his work. Its major strength, however, is the examination of different editing styles, which assesses Eisenstein's contribution in relation to Hollywood techniques. This is especially useful for teaching Media Students about editing in lessons on 'reading images'. Passing references to Eisenstein's legacy in NYPD Blue, Homicide and Oliver Stone's JFK are noteworthy, although these lack detailed development. It's definitely worth investigating the storyboarding activities and suggestions for filming sequences using different editing techniques.
Roy Stafford's Melodrama Genre and Narrative Pack provides a historical perspective on the genre and includes chapters on narrative (applying Todorov and Propp), a case study on The Piano, and a fascinating exploration of the male melodrama (useful for work on representations). Student activities accompany each area, including analysing generic conventions and family life in Coronation Street. There are even opportunities for students to relate the work to the only film they're ever interested in watching - Titanic. Any resource which places Douglas Sirk and German auteur Fassbinder back to back with Leonardo DiCaprio and Coronation Street's Les Battersby has surely got to be worth checking out!
Eisenstein Centenary Pack, Keith Withall, ITP publications, £10.50 inc p&p
Melodrama Genre and Narrative Pack, Roy Stafford, ITP publications, £8.50 inc p&p
Available from itp, 36 Hospital Road, Riddlesden, Keighley BD20 5EU (make cheques/official orders payable to 'in the picture').
© 2001 Cath Davies