Spring 2013

WRTNG-UG 1075
THE MONTAGE IS THE MESSAGE
Gallatin School, New York University
194 Mercer Street, Room 305
Thursday 3:30pm-6:10pm

Professor Luke Mitchell
Office Hours: Thursday 1:30pm-3:30pm
One Washington Place, Room 510
luke.mitchell.all@gmail.com
347-683-0446


Materials are indifferent; but the use we make of them is not.
Epictetus


Course Description
A man smiles, a shot is fired, he frowns. No: A man frowns, a shot is fired, then he smiles. The
sequence tells all. In class, we will draw from this insight, fundamental to film theory, to
construct compelling written narratives. In particular, we will explore the ways we make choices
not only about what to describe but also about how to arrange those descriptions, and how in
making these choices, we begin (whether we intend it or not) to make an argument.

Goals
You will learn to think of a written story as a functional object, the utility of which is determined
by the elegance of its construction. Together we will take apart and reassemble film sequences
and magazine articles, and you will set about assembling and reassembling written works of your
own. The two major projects will be: To report and write a short article based on a conventional
structure and a longer feature, the structure of which will be your own invention. Ultimately, you
will come to recognize the narrative techniques that inform all of the arts (indeed all of life) and
draw on those techniques to make your own work more persuasive and beautiful.

POLICIES

Grading
Eighty percent of your grade will be based on your written work (as described below). The
remainder will be based on classroom participation. Part of your classroom participation grade
will be based on your completion of in-class writing exercises and quizzes. Please note that
classroom participation, including prompt attendance, is worth the equivalent of three full letter
gradesit is a key to success in the class.

Plagiarism
Students who plagiarize on a given assignment will receive an F on that assignment and be
reported to the associate dean, per the NYU Statement on Academic Integrity.

Late Papers
Meeting a deadline is important. Being clear about why you cant meet a deadline is even more
important. Unless you make a reasonable request for an extension, late papers will be penalized.
MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS

1. Museum Outline
To better understand the linear nature of narrative you will literally walk through one. To do so,
you will select a museum exhibit (or other suitable space), visit it and take notes, then write an
outline of the space that presents it as a narrative experience. (Worth 10 percent of grade.)

2. Short Article
Like songs or poems, magazine articles can take on a variety of preexisting narrative forms. Some
of these forms are simple and some are complex. This assignment has two parts. First, you will
select a specific magazine form from a specific magazinea review, a profile, an editorial, etc.
and determine the structure that defines that form. Second, you will write a story that
recapitulates that structure and thereby emulates the form. (Worth 20 percent of grade.)

3. Long Article
The long-form exercise will invert the priority of the short-form exercise. Rather than find a form
and shape the facts to it, students will find the facts and then determine the most compelling
means by which to arrange them. This assignment has five parts. 1. Write a pitch. 2. Gather and
inventory facts. 3. Create an outline based on the inventory. 4. Write a draft based on the outline.
5. Revise the draft. (Worth 50 percent of grade.)


Points are cumulative.


SELECTED READINGS AND VIEWINGS

Ball, Cecilia. The Border Is Wide. Harpers Magazine October 2006: 63-70. Print.
Didion, Joan. The White Album. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979. Print.
Frazier, Ian. Nobody Better, Better than Nobody. The New Yorker 21 Feb. 1983: 50-83. Print.
Kaufman, Frederick Wasteland. Harpers Magazine. Feb. 2008: 46-59. Print.
Lethem, Jonathan. The Ecstasy of Influence. Harpers Magazine Feb. 2007: 59-71. Print.
McPhee, John. Structure. The New Yorker 14 Jan. 2013: 46-55. Print
Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851. Print.
Mitchell, Luke. The Black Box. Harpers Magazine. Dec. 2007: 37-50. Print.
Trow, George W. S. Eclectic, Reminiscent, Amused, Fickle, Perverse. The New Yorker 29 May
1978 and 5 June 1978. Print.
Weschler, Lawrence. My Grandfathers Last Tale. The Atlantic Dec. 1996: 86-106. Print.
Weschler, Lawrence. Inhaling the Spore. Harpers Magazine Sep. 1994: 47-58. Print.

2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick. MGM, 1968. Film.
Apocalypse Now. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. American Zoetrope, 1979. Film.
Mea Culpa. Dir. Bruce Conner. 1981. Video
Russian Ark. Dir. Alexander Sokurov. Wellspring Media, 2002. Video.
Strike. Dir. Sergei Eisenstein. Goskino/Proletkult, 1925. Film.
The Sunbeam. Dir. D.W. Griffith. Biograph, 1912. Film
Variations on the Sunbeam, Dir. Aitor Gametxo, 2011. Video.
Touch of Evil, Dir. Orson Welles, 1958. Universal Pictures. Film.
WRTNG-UG 1075 - Spring 2013



THE MONTAGE IS THE MESSAGE
A tentative outline, subject to change at any moment


I.

1. WHY MONTAGE? (JANUARY 31)
Turtles all the way down. Moral implications of narrative. The structure of this class.

2. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING (February 7)
The whiteness of the page. Eisenstein meets Coppola. The memory palace.
McPhee, John. Structure. The New Yorker 14 Jan. 2013: 46-55. Print
Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851. Print.
2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick. MGM, 1968. Film.
Apocalypse Now. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. American Zoetrope, 1979. Film.
Strike. Dir. Sergei Eisenstein. Goskino/Proletkult, 1925. Film.

3. MOVING THROUGH SPACE (February 14)
What is a cut? Montage vs. mise en scne. The bomb under the table.
Weschler, Lawrence. Inhaling the Spore. Harpers Magazine Sep. 1994: 47-58. Print.
Russian Ark. Dir. Alexander Sokurov. Wellspring Media, 2002. Video.
Touch of Evil, Dir. Orson Welles, 1958. Universal Pictures. Film.
Museum outline, first draft due (5 points)

II.

4. BORROWED FORMS (February 21)
Music as metaphor. Cut time. What is a rubric?
Weschler, Lawrence. My Grandfathers Last Tale. The Atlantic Dec. 1996: 86-106. Print.
Museum outline, final draft due (5 points)

5. DOES IT STAND UP? (February 28)
Story workshop. Montage as machine. Will it start?
The Sunbeam. Dir. D.W. Griffith. Biograph, 1912. Film
Variations on the Sunbeam, Dir. Aitor Gametxo, 2011. Video.
Short article, generic outline due (5 points)

6. THEFT! (March 7)
Parts and plagiarism. Can structure be stolen? When an editor re-writes, who is the author?
Lethem, Jonathan. The Ecstasy of Influence. Harpers Magazine Feb. 2007: 59-71. Print.
Short article, real outline due (5 points)

(Continued . . . )
WRTNG-UG 1075 - Spring 2013




III.

7. LONGER TRIPS (March 14)
Pitching and catching. Hitchcock and Kuleshov. Montage as argument.
Interview with Alfred Hitchcock, Telescope. CBC, Toronto. 2 Jan. 1964. Television.
Kaufman, Frederick Wasteland. Harpers Magazine. Feb. 2008: 46-59. Print.
Ball, Cecilia. The Border Is Wide. Harpers Magazine October 2006: 63-70. Print.
Short article, final draft due (10 points)

8. GATHERING MATERIALS (March 28)
Inventory as a form of meditation. Ideas as scenes. Scenes as ideas.
Mitchell, Luke. The Black Box. Harpers Magazine. Dec. 2007: 37-50. Print.
Long article, pitch due (10 points)

9. MAINTAINING INTEREST (April 4)
An outline is a list of lists. Directionality and entasis. Trap doors. The beat.
Frazier, Ian. Nobody Better, Better than Nobody. The New Yorker 21 Feb. 1983: 50-83. Print.
Long article, inventory due (10 points)

10. WORKSHOP (April 11)
Readings to be announced
Long article, outline due (10 points)

11. WORKSHOP (April 18)
Readings to be announced

12. WORKSHOP (April 25)
Readings to be announced
Long article, rough draft due (10 points)

13. WORKSHOP (May 2)
Readings to be announced

14. MAKE IT TRUE (May 9)
The power of montage. Hitlers cat. Selection or censorship?
Didion, Joan. The White Album. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979. Print.
Long article, final draft due (10 points)

Fourteen Stories

1. Tell a story about the most interesting thing that happened since you came to New York.

2. Tell a story with a punch line. Doesnt have to be funny. The point is we know its done
without you having to say so.

3. Tell a story (with a definite ending) that starts in one place and ends in another.

Tell a story in three parts.

Tell a story with a punch line. Doesnt have to be funny. The point is we know its done
without you having to say so.

Tell a story from the perspective of some other person.

Tell a story that takes place in at least two locations.

Tell a story that involve at least two different people who never see each other in the story.