Diagnostic Essay Assignment

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.