Description
5-page minimum written Essays: you will address a chosen topic and connect it to the trends and cinematic movements discussed in class. Your topic must fall within the historic period of our class and must match the various international film movements we discussed in class. Any production after 1945 from any country or regional culture should not be considered. Successful papers will require thorough research beyond the class discussions and sometimes multiple movies to review.
Compare techniques and themes in films from two cinemas – i.e., American Birth of a Nation withFrenchNapoleon, etc.
Analyze a film within the context of a time, place, or movement, covered in class – i.e., Battleship Potemkineand Soviet Montage Cinema, Safety Last and the Hollywood Comics period, etc.
Analyze a director/auteur’s career from this period – pick a technique (close-ups, lighting, set design, etc.) and discuss its uses in a film from this period. Example: editing in Intolerance, lighting, and camera in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, etc.
Select a film from and deeper into a movement/cinema from the studied period that you’d like explore more. Example: Hollywood social realism, the battle of the sizes and the war between film and TV, Post-war Classicism in France, The Hollywood war on the Code, the impact of format and color, the collapse of the studio system, Exploring the subconscious in German cinema, and many more…
WRITTEN ESSAY:4-5 pages long. 12 pt. Courier font, double-spaced. Margins – top/bottom 1”, sides 1.25”. Place your name, course number, the assignment, the title of the movie and the due date in a separate cover page. Quotations and paraphrasing should be kept to a minimum. You are expected to footnote all references, attach your bibliography and footnotes on a separate page. Footnotes and bibliography in Chicago style (use owl.purdue.edu as reference)Example of footnote for book: First name last name, Title of Resource. (City of publication: Publisher, year published), page #.Example of footnote for article: First name last name, “Article Title,” in Name of Journal/Magazine/Newspaper/etc. (City of publication: Publisher, year published), page #.Example of footnote for film: First name last name, Title of Resource, directed by First name Last name (Release year; City: Studio/Distributor), medium.If a resource is referenced again, it would look like this: Last name, page #. Sources should all be listed alphabetically in bibliography at the end of the project. Your written assignments should be free of spelling and grammatical errors and formatted to the specs indicated above. They should have an exceptional writing style that shows your creative approach, uses descriptive language, and contains unique ideas that will make me want to read the paper. Assignments should demonstrate a high level of effort, a deep understanding of the concepts presented in class, and a thoughtful analysis of the movie or topic and the cinematic period. Succinct film plot summaries or synopsis, (no longer than one page!) are absolutely required for every movie analysis. And BTW: summaries are not part of the analysis! All statements need to be backed up with specific examples, such as scenes, sequences, dialogue, or shots from the movie itself. The research for your paper should come from a variety of credible sources. Quotations and paraphrasing should be used sparingly, and properly indicated in correct citation format. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will lead to failing your essay. It is the instructor’s discretion on whether this will be reported to the office of student affairs.
The 5-page length does not include your name, course name, assignment page number, footnotes, or bibliography/credits.A/ Narrative or Plot (10 Points)
Relate details of the events, actions or characters which are important in the film, and which lead to and support your view of the movie’s theme. Usually it is good to start with the question: Who did what and why?” Also, consider What is the genre of the film? and What is the national tradition of the film? Remember to begin with a research of the movie’s and the director’s background within the particular cinematic movement of the period.
B/ Formal elements (15 Points)
Please address the following formal elements in the selected movie:
* Writing
* dialogue
* Sets (if studio), settings (if location), or both
* Camera (angle, framing, focus, composition, movements)
* Lighting (contrast, high key, low key)
* Editing (cuts, parallel editing, cross-cutting, effects, rhythm, pace)
* Sound (use of sound, creative sound effects)
* music
* Acting (style of acting, performance, etc.)
* Design, external features, costumes, make-up
Not every one of these formal elements will be equally important in each movie. Comment on what is significant to the movie you are analyzing. Be sure to tell me how the elements function in the movie, what purpose do they serve.
C/ Theme (15 Points)
I will phrase the meaning of “theme” in a number of different ways in order to distinguish it from the narrative: the central argument of the film, the point of the story, the thesis of the movie, a summary of the meaning of the plot, a general statement of the intention of the film, what the movie is about, an interpretation of the narrative. Also address any secondary or tertiary themes that the story development of the film might bring to the attention of the viewer.
