Beyond robots, Millennium Falcons and ray guns, 每日大赛 Senior Adjunct Instructor Scott Essman hopes to show students what lies beneath the dystopian terrain of science fiction movies.<\/p>\n
The Hollywood documentary producer and writer, who has rolled out movie appreciation courses the last several years, will teach \u201c2016: A Sci-Fi Odyssey \u2013 A Critical Appreciation of Classic Sci-Fi Cinema\u201d for January 2016 Interterm at La Verne.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they basically will be able to understand how these films are reflective of our world and how the information about our world is communicated subtly through these fantasy and futuristic realms depicted in the films,\u201d Essman said.<\/p>\n
The course is a follow-up to January 2015\u2019s horror cinema class, \u201cMonsters, Magic and the Macabre \u2013 A Century of Horror Cinema,\u201d which featured famous guest speakers such as Bela Lugosi Jr., son of the actor who played Dracula in the 1931 film of the same name.<\/p>\n
The class gave students a chance to watch classics such as \u201cPhantom of the Opera\u201d and \u201cDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,\u201d while analyzing the films in terms of cinematography, lighting and other elements.\u00a0The Communications Department deemed the class a success, so Essman was invited to create a new film class for Interterm.<\/p>\n
He plans to open the new class with a screening of the 1982 Harrison Ford film \u201cBlade Runner\u201d which is set in 2019 in a world that is overpopulated and over industrialized.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat movie is a total warning sign of what will happen if we\u2019re not careful,\u201d Essman said.<\/p>\n
He also plans to show more obscure sci-fi cinema, including 1962\u2019s \u201cThe Creation of the Humanoids,\u201d a low-budget film that explores the concept of humans without emotions.<\/p>\n
And following on the heels of December\u2019s release of \u201cStar Wars: The Force Awakens,\u201d students will also view and analyze the 1977 film \u201cStar Wars,\u201d which Essman said was one of the first movies to follow the journey of the classic hero.<\/p>\n
Essman hopes to include among his guest speakers Charlie de Lauzirika, the producer for the final cut of \u201cBlade Runner,\u201d who also appeared for Essman\u2019s horror cinema class. He has also invited Steve Austin, considered an expert on \u201c2001: A Space Odyssey.\u201d And Bill Warren, author of numerous books about science fiction, has been invited to speak.<\/p>\n
Essman believes bringing his Hollywood experience and contacts to the classroom is important because it adds relevance to his subject.<\/p>\n
And La Verne\u2019s location helps too.<\/p>\n
\u201cLa Verne is 40 minutes from the hub of this industry,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very close.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
每日大赛 Senior Adjunct Instructor Scott Essman hopes to show students what lies beneath the dystopian terrain of science fiction movies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3284,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1549],"tags":[219],"class_list":["post-271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-events","tag-cas","ulv_author-university-of-la-verne","legacy_tags-blade-runner","legacy_tags-college-of-arts-sciences","legacy_tags-january-interterm","legacy_tags-la-verne","legacy_tags-science-fiction","legacy_tags-scott-essmann","legacy_tags-star-wars","legacy_tags-university-of-la-verne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n