Film Analysis Assignment
Goals for this
project:
1) Learn about a new discourse community and become familiar
with the idea of a discourse community.
2) Learn a set of terms that you then apply and thereby
begin to see something (in this case, film) in a more specialized way.
3) Learn or develop observation skills to use in future
papers. Describing a moving picture and taking notes on dialogue approximates
and is good practice for interviewing, which you’ll do later.
Assignment Basics
Deadlines: The rough draft is due for workshop on 2/24. I expect
this draft to be quite rough. The final draft, should you choose to revise this
paper, is due with the rest of the portfolio on 5/4.
Length: 6 full pages minimum for the rough draft; finished drafts
tend to be longer. At least 4.5 pages of the rough draft needs to be your
writing. In addition to the writing, I recommend that you include a few
well-chosen graphics (such as film stills or sketches). You can insert these
individually, but also consider grouping a few shots to give your reader a
sense of the movement within a scene (see the Yale site’s example under
“Diegesis”). Screenshots are remarkably easy to make and integrate. If you can
view your film on a computer, see the Help files for instructions on how to
take a screenshot.
Sources: On your last page (not a separate page) include a Work
Cited entry for the film, or a Works Cited list if you use more sources. I do not encourage you to use outside
sources in the rough draft, but if you do, all sources must be cited: 1)
listed on the Works Cited, 2) mentioned in the text where there ideas or words
appear, and 3) set off with quotation marks, if you use their words.
Film Choice
Choose a film you find worth examining and that I approve. I
might need to chat with you about the film before I feel comfortable approving
it. This does not need to be your favorite movie, an undisputed classic, etc,
but it should be complex and meaningful. Since we are doing a film
analysis and not a review, it is important that your film have some interesting formal qualities. A film
with an interesting theme or script but nothing special about the way it is
shot, edited, lit, designed, etc. is not going to work.
Choose a film you will be able to view multiple times, especially
if you intend to revise this paper for your portfolio.
Do not choose a children’s movie, documentary, or “short.”
In other words, do choose a full-length
fictional or fictionalized film meant for adults. Clear your film choice
with me by 2/10, preferably, or at your week five conference at the latest. Do
not settle on a film before I approve it.
Approach
We will study some websites to develop a vocabulary for
talking and writing about film. Dartmouth’s guide explains what a film analysis
is in very simple terms and gives a short glossary, the “Syntax of Film: A
Glossary” source gives illustrations and more terms, and Yale’s site gives more
detail about—and film clips to illustrate—the terms introduced at the other
sites.
These URLs are listed here for your convenience but are also
on Blackboard. You’ll need to read them and keep a double-entry journal started
on Wednesday 2/8 and completed by your week five conference.
- http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/humanities/film.shtml
- http://www.filmglossar.de/glossarypdf.htm
- http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/
It’s important to note that the film analysis is not a
simple critique or review; it focuses on formal qualities such as scenes,
editing, lighting, etc. In this sense, formal
does not mean the opposite of casual; it refers to what is observable in the
film. Just as a “formal” art analysis focuses on the formal qualities of line,
color, shape, texture, and so on, this type of film analysis focuses on the way
the scenes are set up and the film is put together.
Yale’s site gives an example of a true shot-by shot
analysis. Since we are all amateurs just being introduced to the idea, I don’t
think we’ll do anything so strict, but we will include a significant amount of
formal analysis into our papers. The formal analysis should not be an
afterthought; it should be an integral part of the paper.
Think of it as a critical analysis paper in which you record
your thoughts about the movie with specific observations using accurate
terms—informed by the glossaries. You will include your overall thoughts on the
film as well as close analysis of 1-3 key scenes/moments in the film, using the
terms we’ll learn from the online guides.
Thesis Statement
A critical analysis is a type of argument. Your finished
draft should include an appropriate thesis statement that relies on support
from the film. Quotes from the dialogue, descriptions of the shots, and images
from the film should all work together to support an interpretive claim you
make about the film. Interpretive claims focus on the significance or meaning
of the work.
Do not attempt to perfect your thesis statement before you
begin the rough draft. Let the thesis statement evolve as you work on the
paper.
