FilmAnalysisEssayAssignment

Write an essay of about 600-800 words (about 3 pages) on the following topic.
Refer to at 3 or 4 of the 8 movies weve watched thus far in class, using as many
specific details as possible concerning the various elements of film that weve
discussed cinematography, mise-en-scene, movement, editing, sound,
acting. Naturally, youll want to observe all the rules of good writing that is, of
grammar, organization, logic, &c.
Topic: How do the specific cinematic techniques or elements of a film support
the message or point it is making? As much as possible, choose the films and
point out techniques in such a way as to make some general point about the
way(s) in which a film exposes its themes.

TipsforWritinganEssayonFilm

ThefollowingtipsforwritingyourMidterm/Finalareinascendingorderofimportance,
beginningwithbasicmechanicalissuesandendingwithverybroadpointsconcerningcontent.

Mechanics
Foranyformalessay,youshouldfollowtheformattingguidelinesoftheprofessionstyleinthe
fieldinthiscaseMLAstyle.Thatmeansyoushouldhave
aheading(yourname,thecourse,&c.),
aheader(yourlastname&thepagenumber,whichyoucanaddusingfunctions
undertheInserttabinyourwordprocessingprogram),and
anoriginal,relevanttitle.
(UnderCourseDocumentsinBlackboard,IhaveincludedadocumenttitledEssayFormat
[yellowlettering]thatshowswhatadocumentshouldlooklikeinMLAstyle.)

Useitalicsforthetitleofanyfeaturelengthfilm.

Grammar
Indiscussinganyworkofart,includingafilm,youshouldusethepresenttense,notthepast.

AsanupperlevelEnglishcourse,thisoneassumesthatyouhaveageneralgriponbasic
organizationalconcepts(paragraphing,essaystructure,&c.),grammaticalconcepts(sentence
1

structure,agreement,modifierplacement,parallelism,&c.),andpunctuation.Youcancheck
mydocumenttitledWritingProblems(cyangreenlettering),whichliststhemajorsentence
errorsandrefersyoutothelocationsintheLittleBrownHandbookwhereyoucanfind
informationonthoseerrors.

Style
Inallofyourwriting,youshouldstrivetowriteconcisely.(UnderCourseDocuments,Ihave
includedadocumenttitledConciseness[azurebluetitle]thatdiscusseswaystoavoid
wordinessingeneral.)Asforspecificwordinessproblemsassociatedwithwritingabout
film/literature,hereareafewtips:
Avoidreferencestoyourselforyourthoughts/opinionsjuststatethemdirectly.
Avoidreferencestoyourwriting(Imgoingtodiscuss)oryouressay(Thisessayis
about).
Avoidreferencestoyourreader;avoidthe2ndpersonpronoun(you,your)altogether.
Minimizereferencestotheartistsinvolvedinthecreationofspecifictechniques.Its
finetonamesomeoneonce(e.g.,thedirector,thecinematographer,orthescriptwriter)
ifyouhappentoknowwhothatpersonis.Butdontconstantlysaythingslike,Inthis
scenethedirectoruseslightingtoshow.
Avoidreferencestotheintentionsofthefilmoritsmakers,likeThemovieistryingto
makethepointthat.Again,juststatethosepointsdirectly,e.g.,Thehighcontrast
lightingsupportsthethemeofthedarksideofhumannature.
Avoidreferencestothefilmsaudience,e.g.,Theviewernoticesthat.
Inalltheabovecases,juststateyourpointsdirectlye.g.,Thehighcontrastlightingin
thisscenesymbolizesorTheexpressioniststyleunderscorestheliberalmessage
that

Content
Dontjustmakebroadgeneralizationsabouthowgreat,howineffective,howconfusing,&c.the
techniquesareinthefilmsthatyoureusingasexamples.Instead,discussindetail(whileof
coursewritingconcisely)howthetechniquedeliversitseffect.

Finallyandprobablymostimportantly:Youshouldhaveacentralidea,athesis,forthewhole
essayanargumentthatisoriginal,complex,relevant,specific,anddebatable.Thus,instead
ofjustsortofparrotingmyquestionandsayingsomethingobviouslike,Thefilmsweve
watchedinthisclassuseavarietyofcinematictechniquestocreatemeaning,youshouldtry
tonarrowthefocustosomethingspecificperhapssomepatternthatyounoticedfromweek

toweek,orsomeaspectoffilmthatyoufoundyourselfparticularlyinterestedinaswewent
along.

Ifyoufindyourselfhavingdifficultyinidentifyingsuchanaspect,Ihaveincluded2itemsunder
CourseDocumentsthatmightbeofsomeusetoyou.OneofthemistitledLevelsofLiterary
Interpretation[purpletitle]andlistsanumberofdifferentsubjectsthataworkmight
address,orcriticalperspectivesthroughwhichwemightviewthatworke.g.,varioussocial
issuesorsymbolicframeworksorcultural/historicalcontextsorartisticinfluencesrelatedtothe
work.Oryourthesiscouldbesomestrictlyaestheticpoint.

FortheFinalespecially,youshouldbestrivingtousethevariouscriticalapproachesweve
touchedonduringthesemester,andspecificallythosediscussedinChapters10(Ideology)&11
(Critique).TheotherusefulitemIveincludedunderCourseDocumentsistitledIssuesin
Ideology,whichisjustabriefsummaryoftheleftcenterrightmodelthatGiannetti
discussesinChap.10.

EssayRubric

Content:
Topic
Thesis
Body
Logic
Research
Form:
Organization

Style
Grammar,
Punctuation,
mechanics
Manuscriptform
(orspoken
delivery)

Excellent(A)

Highlyrelevant&
original.
Exceptionally
complex.
Lotsofdetail;ex
tensivedevelopment
Airtightreasoning.
Vasteffortonfinding
sources.

Seamlessflowof
information
Vital,original,
energeticprose.
Essentiallyfreeof
errors.
FollowingServer
documents;con
fidentlydelivered.

Good(B)

Veryrelevantw/
personaltouches.
Verycomplex.
Gooddetail,examples,
coverage.
Soundreasoning;few
lapses.
Goodsources;
interestingvariety.

Goodstructure;major
componentsinplace.
Good,soundEnglish
expression.
Freeofmajor
sentenceerrors,but
someminorones.
Mostguidelines,
followed;good
presence.

Fair(C)

Marginallyimportant
ororiginal.
Somecomplexity,but
fairlystraightfwd.
Somedetailandeffort
ondevelopm.
Okay,butwaveringona
fewpoints.
Somesources;lacking
invariety.

Basicstructureinplace,
butblandpresentation.

Poor(D)

Somewhatinsignificant;
derivative
Notverycomplex.

Failing(F)

Notrelevantor
original.
Verysimplistic.
Tooshort;no
concretedetail.
Illogical;offtrack.

Asmatteringof
sentenceinfractions.

Speakingmainlyin
generalizations.
Patternoffaultylogic&
emotionalappeals.
Littleeffortonsources;
sloppybibliography.

Componentsoutofplace
ortransitionshardto
follow.
Awkward,inconsistent
language.
Significantmajor
sentenceerrors.

Somelapsesinform;
goodhumor.

Disregardsfomatrules;
lacklusterperformance.

Somewhatbland.

Virtuallynocitations.

Seriouslylackingin
structure.
Noenergy.
Varietyoferrors.

Noknowledgeof
requiredformats;
poorattitude.