Diagnostic essays are due at the beginning of class, on Monday, February 13. Late or emailed papers will not be accepted. The papers are ungraded but mandatory. They will provide a first opportunity to write in greater depth about a film, and for us to begin identifying current strengths & weaknesses in your writing.
The papers should be 3-4 double-spaced pages in length. You may write about any of the films we've watched in class, thus far, including the Lumieres's and Edison films,
A Trip to the Moon,
Metropolis, and
Modern Times.
The best way to approach the paper (particularly given its short page count) is to treat it as a
sequence analysis, identifying a single sequence and performing a close-reading of it. The sequence should be at least 3 minutes long, but not more than 10 minutes long. A
sequence is a series of shots somehow connected logically--in terms of a) their common locale or setting; and/or (b) their relation to one dramatic moment in the plot (i.e. a "scene"); and/or c) their common function in terms of furthering plot development; and/or (d) their relation to some common theme or issue. Such a sequence may be worth choosing, however, less for its relation to setting, plot, or theme, than for the fact that it contains a typical or extraordinary stylistic feature you would like to examine. Examples might be the robot transformation sequence, in
Metropolis, or the dream sequence in
A Trip to the Moon.
Your paper should briefly address what happens in the sequence, but it should not be a 3-page description of the events. Note the relationship between events and the way they are represented. (Remember: signifier & signified.) What characterizes the mise-en-scene (sets, locales, composition, lighting, and movement of other objects in the frame--including people)? This can include diegetic & non-diegetic material. What characterizes the cinematography: film stock; color, black/white, or tinting; lenses and changes in focus (deep focus, shallow); camera angles (high/low/"straight-on"), camera movement (panning, tracking, zooms), framing; shot duration; distance of camera to objects (close-ups, medium & long shots)? How is it edited? Finally, what is notable about the sound? (Include dialogue, the score, diegetic music/sound, special effects, silence, etc.)
You must have a thesis and write the paper like a normal "argumentative paper." For example: "The juxtaposition between 'silent' dialogue and recorded speech makes a statement about the 'voice of the worker,' in
Modern Times." I would advise you to watch the entire movie, again, to consider how the sequence fits into the film at large.
In this paper, as in all papers, I will be analyzing your ability to do the following:
* Formulate a coherent thesis and support it with evidence from the film.
* Write analytically, moving beyond plot summary and into close-reading of the film.
* Relate your interpretation of the sequence/film to the theme(s) of the class--representations of technology and sub-themes, such as modernity, machine culture, science/evolution, time/space relations, travel/transportation, the body, law & authority, etc.
* Write gracefully, using proper grammar and clear word choice.
In this first paper, you do not need to cite a printed reference, however you are not discouraged from doing so. Emphasis should be placed on close-reading of the film itself, but as we will be incorporating written/secondary texts into our discussions and as you will be required to cite such texts in your two longer papers, it's never too soon to begin practicing. Meanwhile, as a reminder, I have a zero-tolerance policy towards plagiarism. Even in an ungraded paper, plagiarism will result in automatic failure of the class.
Ok, have fun and feel free to email me with questions.
