This assignment allows you a degree of flexibility. Choose one of the following films, and write an analytical essay on the film you have selected
This assignment allows you a degree of flexibility. Choose one of the following films, and write an analytical essay on the film you have selected
Instructions:
Instructions for Assignment:
This assignment allows you a degree of flexibility. Choose one of the following films, and write an analytical essay on the film you have selected. You are to treat the film under consideration as a representative example of the type of film specified. The assignment is designed to indicate both your understanding of the category (be it classical cinema or art cinema), including the attendant formal features, and how an individual film embodies those features. Besides articulating what the category entails in terms of style, narrative structure, distinctive narrational strategies, ideological positions, etc., your essay should use close textual analysis to demonstrate how form can be linked to the objectives of this category. Your paper must have a stated thesis which guides the analysis you pursue, and at least two specific sequences from the film should be employed as examples to bolster your argument. Use this paper to draw together the materials you have been exposed to and demonstrate your command of the critical tools you have acquired. Ideally, your essay should provide a precise and persuasive analysis of a specific type of film practice and demonstrate how analysis illuminates our understanding of the film in question.
- Sullivan’s Travels (U.S.A, 1942; director: Preston Sturges; 90 minutes, classical cinema)
- The Lady From Shanghai (U.S.A., 1948; director: Orson Welles; 87 minutes, classical cinema)
- The Third Man (U.K., 1949; director: Carol Reed; 108 minutes, classical cinema)
- Smultronstallet / Wild Strawberries (Sweden, 1957; 91 mins.; director: Ingmar Bergman; art cinema)
- Vivre sa vie / My Life to Live (France, 1963; director: Jean-Luc Godard; 85 minutes, art cinema)
- L’Avventura / The Adventure (Italy, 1960; 143 mins.; director: Michelangelo Antonioni; art cinema)
1. The manner of submission requires the assignment must be typed and double-spaced with reasonable margins, and should be between 6-7 pages, excluding any appendices (i.e., a segmentation and/or film stills). Submit a title page with your name, student number, course name and number, included. Do not type your name on any other page of the document (i.e., page header), as the work is meant to be marked “blind” to the author’s identity. This ensures the essay’s argument, and not the individual student, is marked. Including a concise one-page segmentation of the film’s narrative as an appendix to your essay will earn a bonus mark of 1%.
2. Film Art contains various samples of film analyses which demonstrate how formal concerns can be integrated into the examination of particular types of films. These might prove helpful as examples of how to approach your film.
Most importantly, I draw your attention to Film Art, specifically to a relevant section titled “Analyzing (Film) Style.”: in the 3th edition, pages 276-278; in the 5th edition, pages 357-360; in the 6th edition, pages 329-332; in the 7th edition, pages 391-394; in the 8′ edition, pages 306-309; in the 9′ edition, pages 314-316; in the 10′ edition, pages 311-314; in the 11 ‘ edition, pages 306-309; in the 12’h edition, pages 307-310. This is essential reading for writing your essay.
Perhaps more significant is a section titled “Writing a Critical Analysis of a Film” found in earlier editions of Film Art. For those using earlier editions, this section can be found at: pages 364-368 in the 3rd edition; pages 431-436 in the 5th’ edition; pages 431-437 in the 8t edition; pages 443-451 in the 9th edition; and pages 450-456 in the 10th edition. Note that the publisher, McGraw-Hill, has removed this material from the 11’h and 12th editions to place it into an online added-cost appendix called “Connect Film”. For the convenience of those using the 11th and 12th edition of the text, this material has been placed on the course Avenue site as a PDF file. This is an excellent step-by-step writing guide worth reading carefully as it will help to steer you through the task at hand.
3. This paper will be assessed both in terms of content and style. Sloppily written essays with poor organization, grammatical errors, or other related problem will be penalized. Check for spelling and grammatical errors before you submit your work.
4. On the Content tab of the course Avenue-to-Learn website are two sheets (“Guidelines for Writing Style” and “Advice on Academic Essay-Writing”) which provide guidelines that have proven useful for myself and others. They are offered up as further help in this somewhat strange task of writing one’s first academic film analysis.
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