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Four times during the term, you will have an opportunity to write a reaction to a film for extra credit. Papers should be typed, double-spaced. No late papers can be accepted. If the paper is hastily done or plagiarized, it will earn no points.

A good paper will 1) demonstrate a close and thoughtful viewing of the film or films in question 2) demonstrate understanding of the concepts covered in class and the text, 3) contain some original observations or ideas, and 4) be well written according to the conventions of academic writing. Avoid merely retelling the story of the film. Pages 545-552 in our text discuss writing critical papers about film. I suggest you look over these pages before writing your insurance paper.

Choose one of the following sequences. View it several times, take notes, and then write a paper of around 750 words analyzing the sequence in terms of mise en scene, editing, sound, and cinematography, the concerns of the first four chapters of our text. Questions you might address:

What terminology best describes each stylistic element. Eg., Is the opening shot a long shot? Is the camera tracking or is it zooming in? Is the edit to the next scene a fade out/fade in, a dissolve, a direct cut?
What motivates each stylistic element? How does it advance the story or develop a theme? In other words, why might the filmmakers use a tight close up in one shot, and a long shot in another? Why might they use music in one scene and not the next?
Which techniques are meant to be 'invisible' to the viewer? Which call attention to themselves? How and why? Eg., does the sequence use a great deal of “invisible editing (continuity editing)? Is there a jump cut that’s surprising? A very dramatic zoom shot? An extreme long shot where the character appears tiny in a landscape?
Overall, how does the combination of the techniques in this sequence connect (either stylistically or thematically) to the film as a whole?

Please remember to follow the academic honesty guidelines on the syllabus. Your essay should be typed (1 to 5 points)

See another gangster film, romantic comedy, or western. In a paper of 500-750 words, discuss how the film is typical of that genre in terms of formula, conventions, iconography, narrative, or anything else you find interesting or relevant. Then discuss ways in which it is not typical or ways in which you feel it presents interesting variations on the genre. Most important, what is the significance of these similarities and differences to what we expect from the genre? In other words, why might the filmmakers have chosen to make the film conform and vary from the conventions of the genre in these ways? What might those choices tell us about the audience or about the culture in which the film was made? Feel free if you like to compare your film to the gangster film/romantic comedy/western we saw in class. (1 to 5 points)

Here is a partial list of films that provide a good basis for this kind of analysis

Western: High Noon, Stagecoach, The Searchers, The Wild Bunch, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Fort Apache, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Shane, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, Rio Bravo, Red River, Dances With Wolves, The Tin Star, The Naked Spur, Ride the High Country, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Shootist, Ride the High Country, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, or any film mentioned in our text on pp. 295-301.

Romantic Comedy: I think you will have more to say if you choose a film not from the last ten years or so: His Girl Friday, It Happened One Night, Ball of Fire, The Lady Eve, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Meet John Doe, Some Like It Hot, Four Weddings and a Funeral, American President, Annie Hall, Manhattan, When Harry Met Sally, 10, Arthur, Pretty Woman, Shakespeare in Love, any film with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy,

Gangster Films: Scarface (1932 or 1983), Little Cesar, The Roaring Twenties, White Heat, Godfather I, Godfather II, Bonnie and Clyde, The Untouchables, Goodfellas, In Bruges, Once Upon a Time in America.

According to the book Screenplay by Syd Field, a plot-point is an incident or event that hooks into the action and spins it around in another direction. At about 27 minutes into a movie (or 27 pages in the script) the first plot point occurs. Everything in the plot has been set up. Then there is an obstacle that leads the movie into the second act or confrontation portion. Likewise, at about 87 minutes into the movie, there is a plot-point or sudden twist that leads into the resolution of the story.

See a film of your choice and in a paper of 250-500 words, try to identify its three act structure and plot points. Defend your choices as to what the plot points are and where the acts begin. How do these events in the plot spin the action in a new direction? Is there a first plot point that presents an obstacle to the hero? Is there a second plot point that leads to the resolution? Or perhaps the film you’ve selected does not seem to be consistent with Field’s theory. Is its plot satisfying to you, in spite of this fact? (1-3 points)

1. See another foreign language film. In a paper of around 750 words, analyze it in terms of its cinematography, mise en scene, editing, and sound. Does it have a three act structure, or a less conventional plot? Then, analyze how it is similar to and/or different from a Hollywood studio film (see p. 292). What is the possible significance of these similarities and differences? (See also pp. 317-332, if the film you chose fits into one of the categories discussed in those pages).

There are many good films available in the “foreign” sections of local video stores. Almost any foreign language film you can borrow from the ERC in the basement of the library will provide a good basis for your analysis.

A partial list of suggestions: My Life as a Dog, Bicycle Thief, Life is Beautiful, The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding, Salaam Bombay, Babette’s Feast, Day For Night, Tree of Wooden Clogs, Cinema Paradiso, Spirit of the Beehive, The Return of Martin Guerre, Jean de Florette, Manon of the Spring, Au Revoir Les Enfants, Cries and Whispers, Fanny and Alexander, Amarcord, La Strada, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Ballad of Narayama, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Pele the Conqueror, My Beautiful Laundrette, Europa Europa, Farewell My Concubine, The Wedding Banquet, Close to Eden, Eat Drink Man Woman, Z, Shall We Dance, Last Tango in Paris, Children of Heaven, Koyla, Blue, White, Red, Decalogue (choose any two parts), Look at Me, The Passenger, City of God, The Lives of Others, The Dreamers, Cache, Goodbye Lenin, Central Station, An Autumn Tale, Dirty Pretty Things, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Tsotsi, or any foreign language film mentioned in our text.

2. See another documentary and use pages 345-362 in our text to analyze it. You may wish to discuss any of the following that seems relevant to the film you chose:

--Goal: to inform, entertain, criticize, or celebrate? A combination of more than one?

You also may, if you wish, compare it in one or more ways to Troublesome Creek.

A partial list of suggestions: anything documentary mentioned in our textbook in chapter eight, American Dream, Roger and Me, The Thin Blue Line, Streetwise, Harlan County USA, Thy Brother’s Keeper, Woodstock, Wild Man Blues, Hoop Dreams, Stevie, Crumb, Fast Cheap and Out of Control, Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine, Vernon Florida, Sicko, American Movie, The Fog of War.

"INSURANCE" PAPER