In this Internet Assignment we will study the work of two great directors: Orson Welles from The United States and Jean-Luc Godard from France. How their alternative first films changed the course of cinema, during two important decades of the twentieth century, is the main topic of this assignment.

Orson Welles was a child prodigy, actor, theater director, and radio personality. After scaring half the country with his CBS radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds," he was invited to Hollywood by the RKO Radio Studios. The result was Citizen Kane, what many critics around the world consider to be the greatest film made in America.

Jean-Luc Godard was born in Paris, became a film fanatic in his youth, and eventually joined the influential film magazine "Cahiers du cinéma," as a film critic and one of the architects of the controversial "Auteur Theory." His first full-length film À bout de souffle (Breathless) put the French New Wave on the map, and revolutionized the art of cinema with quirky editing, unconventional pacing, and alternative aesthetics.

As you study Citizen Kane, make sure that you become familiar with the following people involved behind the scenes in the production of the film: Orson Welles (director, producer, screenwriter, actor) Gregg Toland, A.S.C. (cinematographer) Herman J. Mankiewicz (screenwriter), Robert Wise (editor), Bernard Herrmann (composer).

Read and study pages 327-331 of your History of Narrative Cinema textbook. These pages discuss the production of Citizen Kane. There will be a quiz on this reading on January 8, 2014. Notes may be used.

Watch and study the film Citizen Kane. Also make sure that you have read pages 332-342 in your History of Narrative Cinema textbook. On January 9, 2014 there will be a quiz on Citizen Kane and the content of the above reading. No textbook, or notes of any kind will be allowed during the quiz.

Before you begin to watch and study Breathless, read the following pages in your A History of Narrative Film textbook:

"Theory: Astruc, Bazin, and Cahiers du Cinéma" pages 441-443.

"The New Wave: First Films" pages 443-445.

"The New Wave: Origins of Style" pages 445-446.

There will be a quiz on the above readings on January 21, 2014. Notes may be used. This quiz is worth 40 points.

Watch and study the film Breathless. On January 23, 2014 there will be a quiz on this film. No textbook, or notes of any kind will be allowed during the quiz. This quiz is worth 60 points.