The Power of Film by the Founding Chair of UCLA’s famous Film & TV Producers Program where he taught 53 years

[GeorgeKunath]

Originally Posted by GeorgeKunath » Tue Jan 30, 2024 10:20 am – 259 views in Sec. 3 (Possible Topics for Future Meetings) before being transplanted here


This proposal (please see below following the double row of asterisks) was suspended until 4/9/2024 because --

George Kunath had been entranced with Prof. Howard Suber’s six-part documentary entitled “The Power of Film” which aired on Turner Classic Movies 1/1/2024 to 2/8/2024.

Per https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30423047/e ... t_eps_sn_1 --

Episode 1 on 1/4/2024 – Popular and Memorable

A tiny fraction of the most commercially successful American films lasts from one generation to another rather than the large proportion. Howard Suber asks why this small minority continues to have such power.

Episode 2 on 1/11/2024 – Trapped Between Fate and Destiny

Nearly all memorable stories, whether told in movies or in real life, are about traps. The most memorable are generally about the loss, sacrifice, and ultimate triumph the central character must engage in to escape their trap.

Episode 3 on 1/18/2024 – The Power of Character Relationships

The structure of memorable stories often focuses on one central character. The drama stems from their relationships and interactions with others.

Episode 4 on 1/25/2024 – Heroes and Villains

Film dramas often portray central characters as heroes or villains, yet the two are frequently quite similar. Memorable films tend to compensate for the real world's lack of justice, commitment and altruism.

Episode 5 on 2/1/2024 – The Power of Paradox

In memorable films, paradoxes create tension as the truth about characters and situations is often the opposite of first impressions. This reveals surprising truths that engage audiences.

Episode 6 on 2/8/2024 – Love and Meaning

Despite Hollywood's penchant for happy endings, many iconic love stories conclude with lovers separated or dead, their bittersweet paradox etched in memory.

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Accordingly, George Kunath was appalled when his copy of Prof. Suber’s book entitled “The Power of Film” arrived on 2/19/2024!!!

After all, the Amazon description had said –

“One of America's most distinguished film professors provides the definitive A to Z course on the intricacies of film. Each entry in this remarkable book, which represents a lifetime of teaching film, has already inspired and educated several generations of Hollywood's greatest filmmakers and writers. This book examines the patterns and principles that make films popular and memorable, and will be useful both for those who want to create films and for those who just want to understand them better.”

HOWEVER, the book is nothing more than a dictionary of terms used in film making AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SIX-PART DOCUMENTARY THAT AIRED RECENTLY ON TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES.

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In the past, we have occasionally focused on movies/documentaries rather than a book.

However, the 6-part documentary was no longer accessible for viewing.

Accordingly, this proposal was suspended until the 6-part documentary was again available for viewing.

And at such time, the proposal would be modified to focus on the documentary rather than the book.

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WE ARE HAPPY TO REPORT THAT ALL 6 EPISODES –

(1) Are available for "binge watching" on Turner Classic Movies on 4/10/2024, AND

(2) Are also available for viewing on Amazon Prime Video with a Max subscription for $9.99/month (which Max subscription you can cancel afterwards) - please see https://www.amazon.com/The-Power-of-Par ... 237&sr=8-4.


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The Original Proposal --

Hitler’s “right hand man” was Joseph Goebbels whose official title 1933-1945 was “Minister of Propaganda.”

As we have studied several times, William Shirer recorded in his definitive “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” that the reason why Hitler did not care whether prominent members of the American media including Shirer had free rein to travel throughout Nazi Germany and to interview whomever they wanted FOR 27 MONTHS AFTER BRITAIN’S DECLARATION OF WAR -- was the fact that Hitler knew that his Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels had such tight control over the German media that nothing that William Shirer or his colleagues might report would ever find its way back to the German public.

Yes, in America, we have Free Speech and Freedom of the Press.

Nonetheless, Americans typically believe anything they see in a movie!!!

So let’s take a close look at the movie industry.


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I propose “The Power of Film” by Prof. Howard Suber (Michael Weisse Productions 9/1/2006 – 424 pages but probably fewer sans notes & index – Paperback $15.06 + shipping or $14.31 Kindle from Amazon.com).


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Book Description per Amazon.com

The Power of Film, the 6-episode, 6-hour series that summarizes Howard Suber’s 50+ years of teaching film at UCLA, has been licensed by TCM, Turner Classic Movies. The first screening of the series will take place in January and February 2024.

One of America's most distinguished film professors provides the definitive A to Z course on the intricacies of film. Each entry in this remarkable book, which represents a lifetime of teaching film, has already inspired and educated several generations of Hollywood's greatest filmmakers and writers. This book examines the patterns and principles that make films popular and memorable, and will be useful both for those who want to create films and for those who just want to understand them better.


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Author Bio per Amazon.com

For 53 years, Howard Suber taught generations of screenwriters, directors, producers, and film scholars at UCLA’s celebrated film school, and his former students are today creating films and television programs and teaching film studies throughout the world.

He created and for many years chaired UCLA’s current Film and Television Producers Program, which is focused on the realities of the modern film and television industries. He team-taught with, or brought into the Producers Program, many of the most important movie studio heads, agents, producers, lawyers, and executives in the industry. He also was one of the founders of The UCLA Film Archive and founded and chaired the Ph.D. program in film.


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Editorial Reviews per Amazon.com

"Howard Suber's understanding of film storytelling fills the pages of this wise, liberating book. Much of it is surprisingly contrary to what everyone knows. A remarkable work."
- Francis Ford Coppola

"Suber genuinely helps us understand 'the power of film' - why it has been the predominant art form for more than a century, and why it continues to have such power over the lives we all lead"
- Geoff Gilmore, Director of the Sundance Film Festival

"What Aristotle did for drama, Suber has now done for film. This is a profound and succinct book that is miraculously fun to read."
- David Koepp, Screenwriter, War of the Worlds (2005), Spider-Man, Mission Impossible, Jurassic Park