This is a blog for EFL students in Robin's Firefly course at Gachon University.
Firefly Cast
Monday, June 10, 2013
Week 16: Presentation Day 3 (and last day of class)
Presenters:
Ungyung Jeong - Costumes in Firefly
Ji Ye Shin - Joss Whedon ???
Yongjin Kwon - Firefly Vs. Cowboy Bebop
Jun Bo Shim - Dialog that Makes Me Wonder
Min Sun Joo - Future Technology
Sunyoung Kim - ???
Yong Jin Park - Comparing American and Korean Dramas
Uranzaya G. - Female Characters ???
Monday, June 3, 2013
Week 15: Presentation Day 2
Presenters:
Hyun Jeong Park - Gina Torres
Byoung Ho Choi - Summer Glau and Melinda Clark
Uranzaya Gereltsogt - Female Characters in Firefly
Uyanga Erdenebaatar - Serenity, the ship
Seahoon Jang - A comparison between Firefly and a comic (?)
Jeonghyeon Shin - River's Psychic Ability
Minchan Park - ???
Sanwon "John" Ko - Joss Whedon
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Week 14: Presentation Day 1
Today's Presenters:
Courtney Strickland - Morena Baccarin
Ji-eun Lee - The Development of Human Culture
Ji-Young Hwang - Science in Firefly
YongJin Park - Comparing American and Korean Dramas
Dajung Choi - Simplifying Neuroscience (River's Brain)
Monday, May 20, 2013
Week 13: Done the Impossible
Because we didn't have time last week, we will watch some of the DVD Special Features for Serenity. After that we will watch the fan documentary, Done the Impossible: The fan's tale of Firefly & Serenity.
Click here to watch the trailer.
Reminder: Presentation outlines are due May 30th, by 5PM.
Click here to watch the trailer.
Reminder: Presentation outlines are due May 30th, by 5PM.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Week 12: Serenity
"Serenity" won several awards, including the 2006 Hugo Award for best dramatic presentation-longform. Summer Glau won the 2006 Saturn Award for best supporting actress. Joss Whedon won a Nebula Award for best script.
*^.^*
Next week we will watch the documentary Done the Impossible: The Fan's Tale, the story of the Firefly fandom. Afterward, I will be available to discuss your presentation with you if you need.
NOTE: Assignment #4 is due this Friday, May 24th, by 5PM.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Week 11: Objects in Space
Class dated May 13

We will watch the movie, Serenity, in class next week. You do not have to watch it in advance unless you want to. There is no homework for the movie. There is no vocabulary sheet for the movie.
Continue working on Assignment #4 (due 5/23) and your presentation. We will end class early again this week so that you may consult with me or work independently on your project.
Fan art corner!
Objects in Space (plus DVD special Features)
Written by Joss Whedon
Directed by Joss Whedon
Vocabulary here.

We will watch the movie, Serenity, in class next week. You do not have to watch it in advance unless you want to. There is no homework for the movie. There is no vocabulary sheet for the movie.
Continue working on Assignment #4 (due 5/23) and your presentation. We will end class early again this week so that you may consult with me or work independently on your project.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Week 10: Heart of Gold
Class date May 6th
Heart of Gold
Written by Brett Matthews
Directed by Thomas J. Wright
Vocabulary.
1. Compare/contrast the girls of the Heart of Gold and Inara.
Compare/contrast Inara and Nandi.
2. What themes are addressed in this episode? Explain your ideas with examples and dialog from this episode.
5. Favorite quote from this episode? Who said it? What does it mean to you? Why do you like it?
6. What did you like or not like about this episode? Explain.
Heart of Gold
Written by Brett Matthews
Directed by Thomas J. Wright
Vocabulary.
Poor Inara. *sniff*
1. Compare/contrast the girls of the Heart of Gold and Inara.
Compare/contrast Inara and Nandi.
2. What themes are addressed in this episode? Explain your ideas with examples and dialog from this episode.
3. Who is your favorite character in this episode? Explain your ideas with examples and dialog from this episode.
4. What do you think was the most interesting scene? Explain your ideas with examples and dialog from this episode.
5. Favorite quote from this episode? Who said it? What does it mean to you? Why do you like it?
6. What did you like or not like about this episode? Explain.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Week 9: The Message
Class date: April 29th
The Message
Written by Joss Whedon
Directed by Tim Minear
Vocabulary
Trivia(via wikipedia):
- "The Message" was the last Firefly episode filmed, by which time the cast and crew knew the show had been canceled. The final scene, in which Serenity's crew return Tracey's body to his family, marking an end to the former soldier's journeys, therefore had an extra poignancy for them.
- Greg Edmonson, composer for the show, wrote the musical piece that is heard when Tracey is returned to his family not only as a farewell to Tracey, but as a farewell to the series itself.
- Kaylee has expressed romantic interest in two men thus far — Simon and Tracey — who have threatened her life. Simon refused to treat her gunshot wound unless they protected River from the Alliance in "Serenity" (although Kaylee believed he was bluffing), and in this episode Tracey held her at gunpoint. Joss Whedon wryly observes in the DVD commentaries that threatening Kaylee became a formula for drama, one he admitted using in early Buffy episodes, in which he would put Willow in danger to win over the viewers.
- In the DVD audio commentary for the episode, a joke is made at how the postmaster is apparently the only Jew in space; calling him a 'Space Jew', or 'Spajew' for short.
See the gifs on this page! OMGWOW!
Fan art corner!
1. What's your favorite episode so far? why? explain.
2. Favorite character so far? why? Favorite scene with this character? why?
3. Which character has changed the most so far? what's your evidence?
4. Funniest episode so far? explain.
5. Funniest character? why?
Friday, April 19, 2013
Final presentation guidelines
For your Final Project, you will prepare and perform a 10-15-minute presentation on a topic of your choice related to the TV series or movie or both.
Example topics:
- Moral Ambiguity in Firefly
- The growth of a character through the series and movie
- The concept of 'found family'
- Individualism vs. Statism
- Choose an actor/writer/director you like and tell us about other things they have done.
- Choose a feature of TV, such as writing, music, dialog, cinematography, lighting, etc, and explain its importance in Firefly.
Anything that is interesting to you is an acceptable topic as long as you can talk about it for 10-15 minutes.
You don’t have to include all the episodes in your analysis, but you may want to go ahead and watch the remaining episodes and the movie if you want more material to work with. Remember that if you watch ahead of other people in class, be careful not to spoil them during class discussions. BE ESPECIALLY CAREFUL IF YOU WATCH THE MOVIE!!!
And the accompanying article here.
Presentations should be memorized. You may have notes to look at, but any students who READ their presentation will receive a ZERO. You must email me the script of your presentation by 9am the day of your presentation.
You may use Powerpoint if you want to, but text on the slides should be minimal.
Here's a video with some good tips about giving presentations:
You may use Powerpoint if you want to, but text on the slides should be minimal.
Here's a video with some good tips about giving presentations:
And the accompanying article here.
Topics due: Thursday, May 16th in my email by 5pm. I may have comments or suggestions for you which I will email back to you.
Presentation Outline due:
Thursday, May 30th.
Script: You must email a copy of your presentation materials (script, ppt, whatever) by 5pm the day before your presentation.
Script: You must email a copy of your presentation materials (script, ppt, whatever) by 5pm the day before your presentation.
NOTE: This is your FINAL. Students choosing not to do the presentation or who are absent on their presentation day will FAIL this class.
Grading for the presentation:
You will be graded on Preparation, Materials, Delivery, and Overall Quality. You will also give a grade to other presentations.
Average of audience scores - 50%
My score - 50%
Monday, April 15, 2013
Week 8: Wars Stories and Trash
Class dated: April 22
Trivia (wikipedia)
Trash
Written by Ben Edlund and Jose Molina
Directed by Vern Gillum
Vocabulary
War Stories
Written by Cheryl Cain
Directed by James A. Contner
Directed by James A. Contner
Trivia (wikipedia)
§ The opening scene, where Simon
is prodding through River's brain scans and Book speaks of Simon's great heist,
refers to the entirety of the previous episode, "Ariel". Before Niska
intervenes, the crew is in the process of selling the stolen medicine from "Ariel".
§ River's sharpshooting skill
becomes a point of contention in the episode "Objects in Space" as
well as the feature movie Serenity.
Written by Ben Edlund and Jose Molina
Directed by Vern Gillum
Vocabulary
Trivia (wikipedia)
- Saffron is a returning character who first appeared in "Our Mrs. Reynolds", an episode that apparently occurred "about a half a year back" from this one.
- After Jayne stocks up Simon and River's cabin and leaves, River, in another paranormal instance, tells Simon that Jayne is afraid they'll know what he was attempting to do in "Ariel", two episodes past. Simon and River confront Jayne on the subject towards the end of the episode.
Homework:
1. Work on your next assignment.
2. Watch episode 10, The Message. Yes, that's right, only one episode!
Vocabulary for The Message
Friday, April 12, 2013
Friday, April 5, 2013
Week 6: Out of Gas and Ariel
Out of Gas
The best hour of television ever written.
Written by Tim Minear, directed by David Solomon
Vocabulary for 'Out of Gas'.
Trivia (wikipedia):
In this episode, the ship is crippled by the failure of the catalyzer on the port compression coil. Kaylee mentioned that this part needed fixing twice before: in "Serenity", when she asked Mal to buy a new compression coil for the engine, and in "The Train Job", when she complained that "somebody won't replace that crappy compression coil". In "Serenity", Kaylee alludes to the compression coil as a "nothing part, till you don't got one"; a sentiment repeated by Mal to the salvage crew when he is hailed. In the trash-yards of "Ariel", Wash can be seen finding a catalyzer and throwing it away.
According to the DVD commentary, Alan Tudyk took the big red "recall" button from the Firefly set and presented it to Joss Whedon, telling him that if Whedon managed to get the series renewed, he could press it to call the cast back.
Also according to the commentary, Gina Torres (Zoe) was written out of the bulk of the episode because the filming took place just after her marriage to Laurence Fishburne and they were away on their honeymoon.
One more thing: Executive producer of Firefly and writer of 'Out of Gas' has written some questions for your midterm! oooooo! assa!
Vocabulary for Ariel
Trivia (from Wikipedia):
The medical shuttle that appears in the episode and is used to ferry the main characters back and forth from St. Lucy's is built from a 2/3 scale model of a Soviet Mil Mi-24 Hind D helicopter. A group of fans have bought the scrapped medical shuttle (from a scrapyard in Mojave, California), and are in the process of restoring it, hoping to show it on the Firefly convention circuit.
Go learn about the Ariel Ambulance Rescue Group! :)
When the crew returns to Serenity after their successful raid of the Alliance hospital, Malcolm grabs Kaylee from behind and pulls her into a friendly hug. This was improvised by Nathan Fillion, and was left in the shot because Joss Whedon felt it was such a natural movement for Malcolm to make.
And, guess what?! The writer of this episode, Jose Molina, also wrote a question for your midterm! :)
Fan art corner!
Out of Gas:
The best hour of television ever written.
Written by Tim Minear, directed by David Solomon
Vocabulary for 'Out of Gas'.
Trivia (wikipedia):
In this episode, the ship is crippled by the failure of the catalyzer on the port compression coil. Kaylee mentioned that this part needed fixing twice before: in "Serenity", when she asked Mal to buy a new compression coil for the engine, and in "The Train Job", when she complained that "somebody won't replace that crappy compression coil". In "Serenity", Kaylee alludes to the compression coil as a "nothing part, till you don't got one"; a sentiment repeated by Mal to the salvage crew when he is hailed. In the trash-yards of "Ariel", Wash can be seen finding a catalyzer and throwing it away.
According to the DVD commentary, Alan Tudyk took the big red "recall" button from the Firefly set and presented it to Joss Whedon, telling him that if Whedon managed to get the series renewed, he could press it to call the cast back.
Also according to the commentary, Gina Torres (Zoe) was written out of the bulk of the episode because the filming took place just after her marriage to Laurence Fishburne and they were away on their honeymoon.
Ariel
Written by Jose Molina
Directed by Allan KroekerVocabulary for Ariel
The medical shuttle that appears in the episode and is used to ferry the main characters back and forth from St. Lucy's is built from a 2/3 scale model of a Soviet Mil Mi-24 Hind D helicopter. A group of fans have bought the scrapped medical shuttle (from a scrapyard in Mojave, California), and are in the process of restoring it, hoping to show it on the Firefly convention circuit.
Go learn about the Ariel Ambulance Rescue Group! :)
When the crew returns to Serenity after their successful raid of the Alliance hospital, Malcolm grabs Kaylee from behind and pulls her into a friendly hug. This was improvised by Nathan Fillion, and was left in the shot because Joss Whedon felt it was such a natural movement for Malcolm to make.
And, guess what?! The writer of this episode, Jose Molina, also wrote a question for your midterm! :)
Fan art corner!
Out of Gas:
Ariel:
![]() |
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Week 5: Our Mrs. Reynolds, Jaynestown
Our Mrs. Reynolds
Directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall
Written by Joss Whedon
Trivia (imdb):
Homework for today:
Directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall
Written by Joss Whedon
Trivia (imdb):
- This is the only episode in which River does not speak. She had lines in the original shooting script, but they were cut before the episode made it to air.
- The supposedly biblical quote Saffron uses in her seduction of Mal does not appear in the Bible. She may have fabricated it, assuming Mal would not known the difference.
Vocabulary for Our Mrs. Reynolds.
Jaynestown
Directed by Marita Grabiak
Written by Ben Edlund
Written by Ben Edlund
Trivia (wikipedia):
- After finishing the episode, Adam Baldwin took the head of Jayne's statue as a souvenir. It was later returned as additional shoots were needed where the Serenity crew first sees the statue. If one looks closely, they can see the visible crack where the head was broken off and then reattached.
- I know the person who now owns the head. He bid on it at a charity auction. He tweets as @Jayne_Statue. He wrote some questions for your midterm. :)
Vocabulary for Jaynestown.
Homework for today:
1. Assignment #2 due due April 11th.
2. Watch episode 'Out of Gas' and 'Ariel'
Vocabulary for 'Out of Gas'
Vocabulary for 'Ariel'
3. Note: Your midterm is Week 7. It covers all episodes up to and including 'Ariel'.
Fan Art Corner!
Our Mrs. Reynolds:
Our Mrs. Reynolds by tuesdays-gray featuring western cowgirl boots
Jaynestown:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)


































