FILM ANALYSIS ( film vocabulary, close-reading of a film, image/shot/scene analysis, argument construction and film analysis as a whole).

Every paper will have to be between 1600 and 1800 words long – excluding works cited, title and images. A student can pick any one of the 9 films for the course and analyze it, close read it, and attempt construct an argument about how the film is portraying the particular city in which it is located, and the idea of the urban as a whole. Sample claims will be posted later on this month. Think about which film intrigued you the most and what commentary about cinema’s role in representation of space, place and world-ness that the film provides. The idea of the final paper is to allow the student to demonstrate a grasp on film vocabulary, close-reading of a film, image/shot/scene analysis, argument construction and film analysis as a whole, while placing focus on the urban. In essence, one will pick a film, and formulate an argument surrounding that film’s engagement with a particular spatial category – what does the movie say about the city; what elements of filmmaking does it use to articulate that opinion; how does this portrayal critique/ offer a commentary on the city/country/local from which it comes. The process will be • Provide a summary of the historical context of the film – what tradition of filmmaking does it belong to, what were the condition of the society from which it originates during that time, what were the other filmmaking trends in play at that time, or earlier in that space. • NO PLOT SUMMARIES – you might include it in an earlier draft if it helps you write, but there should not be even a hint of a plot summary in the final submission. • An argument statement or a thesis statement – included somewhere in your initial two paragraphs should be an outline of your argument. “Film X says _____ about the city Y, as seen by its use of _____.” – is a simplified formula of what an argument / thesis statement might look like. • A close reading of one or two scenes: You can include images if you are only reading a frame, or links to YouTube clips if you’re using a shot, or a whole scene. Otherwise do indicate a time-stamp of the scene you wish to discuss. Break the scene down into its various components be it lighting, cinematography, background music, colour schemes, blocking, editing, mise-en-scene, facial expressions, subtitles. Try to CLOSE read the scene(s) you have picked. • Remember that the scenes you read will have to be relevant to your argument. The close reading will be the evidence, that will allow for certain inferences to be made, which in turn will prove your thesis. • Using the scenes you have read and analyzed and tying them into a broader idea of what the urban means to this film. You can place the film in conversation with the reading we did for that unit, or other relevant readings and extrapolate as to whether the film is sticking to pre-existing notions of the urban in that particular space. • A conclusion that restates your thesis in a more refined manner and ties the various threads of your paper together. Refer to the next few sheets for recommended formatting and citation styles. The paper will follow MLA 8th edition. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/09/