ST. BONAVENTURE (Feb. 25) –The voice of Kirk Douglas fills the darkened classroom and ears of junior journalism and mass communication major Sam Wilson while watching Ace in the Hole on Tuesday night. The culture of 20th century American history comes to life on the big screen, granting Wilson the ability to gaze back in time. Visions of the press and news reporting danced before Wilson’s eyes, creating a hauntingly familiar feel for him, the news writer.
By scribbling down his ideas about the film, Wilson offered his opinions to the laid-back, easygoing classroom atmosphere on Wednesday. Aficionados Paul Spaeth and Phillip Payne, history professor, lead the expedition of stepping back through time, one film at a time.
Paul Spaeth, director of Friedsam Memorial Library at St. Bonaventure University, has always had an interest in movies.
“One of the things that primed me for watching movies was looking at comic books when I was growing up because it’s the same kind of thing. It’s scenes and it’s the world in a frame. It’s very much a similar kind of experience,” said Spaeth.
Spaeth took the unique “frame by frame” perception of life and decided to collaborate with professors from departments all over campus, trying to instill knowledge of the power of film into students.
Associate professor of philosophy Roderick Hughes, who taught with Spaeth for 10 years, said that the memory holds visual images better than textual information.
“It gets your imagination jump-started, and for the most part, people like to watch movies more than they like to read novels,” said Hughes.
Presenting a story or idea through a movie that would traditionally be available in books paints a more vivid picture in the mind for the learning student. Surrounding that student with the feeling of a theater, with better quality sound and a larger picture, escalates the experience to another level, allowing him or her to become more involved, said Spaeth.
“The whole movie-watching experience involves so many of your senses,” said Spaeth.
Guy Imhoff, French professor and department chair of modern languages, has taught a class with Spaeth. It focused on the French language and culture through film.
“French films are very psychologically involved and you don’t go just to be entertained. They talk about very special, strange people in society. You can always put an untrue story in a realistic background,” said Imhoff.
French films give one a first-hand experience with true accounts from the past. Easily identifiable cultural problems become more apparent when shown visually, such as war, violence, society, social problems, racism, unemployment, marriage and divorce, said Imhoff.
“Teaching with him can show you the dynamics and I can talk about society,” said Imhoff.
Imhoff taught the grammar and culture in the films, while Spaeth taught the reasoning behind a camera angle, the lighting and all the work required to put a movie together, said Imhoff.
Spaeth has taken a historical look at film, enabling him to experiment with his approach and covered material.
“I’ve taught with Phil Payne from history and continue to do so currently. We’ve taught 20th century American history four times together, and in the fall, we’re going to teach a course that will talk about the history of science fiction,” said Spaeth.
By including literature and film in the curriculum, the student can see the history as well as the artistry of film, said Spaeth.
“I’m still not so concerned with content of the film or genre as I am with the basis of the art of film, which is individual. I always approach film from a standpoint of being primarily a visual art. If you talk about art, you have to talk about the artist. Usually, I’d be talking about a director or creator or fashioner of that image in the film,” said Spaeth.
Senior English major Adam Kroeger, taking History of Combat Film with Dr. Payne, shows that the instructors learn from each other.
“I would recommend it to someone who wants to look at the deeper meaning behind the films as to why they were made,” said Kroeger.
Film studies isn’t just about cameras and composition. It’s like reading a book or looking at a painting, where only the specialists can appreciate the little details, said Imhoff. The aesthetic of film focuses on a collaboration of different pieces coming together to create one product, said Hughes. Learning the background information gives students a greater appreciation of the film’s meaning, said Imhoff.
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