Communications Question – Description
Exam is a film analysis. You will watch a film from the approved list (below) that I have provided and answer the 11 (eleven) focus questions listed below. I will evaluate your Final Exam on how comprehensive and in-depth your answers are. I have given you a mix of different film genres to choose from.
Choose from the films below:
12 Angry Men 1957. 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968
A Streetcar Named Desire 1951 Alien 1979
American Beauty 1999 Apocalypse Now 1979
Beasts of the Southern Wild 2012 Boyz n the Hood 1991
Blade Runner: The Final Cut 2007(This version is Ridley Scott’s best since the original release in 1982)
Casablanca 1942 Citizen Kane 1941
Cool Hand Luke 1967 Das Boot 1981
Daughters of the Dust 1991 Do the Right Thing 1989
Dog Day Afternoon 1975 Dr. Strangelove 1964
Eve’s Bayou 1997 Fargo 1996
Field Of Dreams 1989 Fruitvale Station 2013
Full Metal Jacket 1987 Gone With the Wind 1939
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner 1967 Harakiri 1962
High Noon 1952 Howl’s Moving Castle 2005
Jaws 1975 Kill Bill: Vol. 1 2003 (or Vol. II 2004)
Lawrence of Arabia 1962 Malcolm X 1992
M*A*S*H 1970 Metropolis 1927
Midnight Cowboy 1969 Network 1976
No Country for Old Men 2007 North By Northwest 1959
On Golden Pond 1981 One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest 1975
Persepolis 2007 Psycho 1960
Pulp Fiction 1994 Raging Bull 1980
Rear Window 1954 Saving Private Ryan 1998
Schindler’s List 1993 Seven Samurai 1954
She’s Gotta Have It 1986 Spirited Away 2001
Taxi Driver 1976 The Exorcist 1973
The Big Lebowski 1998 The Graduate 1967
The General 1926 The Godfather 1972 (or The Godfather II 1974)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1966 The Grapes of Wrath 1940
The Great Escape 1963 The Joy Luck Club 1993
The Producers 1967 The Shawshank Redemption 1994
The Shining 1980 The Silence Of The Lambs 1991
The Wind Rises 2013 Unforgiven 1992
Vertigo 1958 West Side Story 1961
When Harry Met Sally… 1989 Young Frankenstein 1974
11 FOCUS QUESTIONS
1.What (or whose) point of view is represented in this film? How might the story be told differently using another’s point of view?
2.What did you learn from this movie? What was the point of view (feeling) the director was trying to create?
3.What do you see as a pervasive motif, or overall theme, to this movie? Is it well developed? How did the screenwriter or director convey this theme?
4.Reflect on how you made sense of this film. Were there points of confusion for you? Did you combine what you were seeing and hearing with background information you already knew? What surprises did you become aware of as you watched?
5.Which characters were well developed? Which were simple, and which were complex? Did any characters grow or change over the course of the story?
6.What was the importance of the setting? What elements contributed to the successful portrayal of the setting?
7,What symbols did you find (relates to semiotic theory)? Were they effective for you?
8.Discuss the use of special effects. Evaluate the film in terms of music, artistic quality, and crafting.
9.What values are portrayed in this film? Did you feel it was preachy or manipulative? In what ways? What did you learn about people, human nature, or societies?
10.Explain how the film relates to the topics you’ve learned in this class. What differences did you notice? What characteristics were prominent or effective in each mode of presentation?
11.What would you say to a friend who asked you about this movie? Be complete and specific.
The following information is for background only. DO NOT answer any of the questions below
Additional information for Analyzing Movies
When we watch movies we tend to concentrate on the actors and the story. It is useful to make a list of the film “arts” and consider the role each plays in the film we are considering.
Credits and mise-en-scene: What are the first images in the film (often while the credits are rolling), and what do they tell you. Where and when is the film set and how do you know this? Do you know yet how the film will end?
mise-en-scene [n]: Arrangement of scenery and properties to represent the place where a play or movie is enacted
Cinematography and visual style: Color, space, focus, depth of field, camera angles, POV (point of view), composition, movement, aspect ratios, light and lighting, atmosphere. Is there a “style”? What is the overall look and feel of the film?
Editing: Continuity, cutting, montage, pace, graphic relations, rhythmic relations, spatial relations, temporal relations, ellipsis, and hyperbole.
Production design, costumes, and FX: Color, light, set design. “Realism” or “Fantasy”?
Narrative: Dialogue; story, plot, and screen time; narrative structure (flashbacks and flash-forwards).
Acting, dialogue, and movement: Styles of acting, dancing, etc.
Sound and music: Diegetic and non-diegetic sound; leitmotifs (A leitmotif is a recurring piece of music, or at least melody, that represents a character, action, or theme); FX.
Diegetic sound: Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film. Eg. voices of characters; sounds made by objects in the story; music represented as coming from instruments in the story space (source music). Diegetic sound is any sound presented as originating from a source within the film’s world. Diegetic sound can be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame. Another term for diegetic sound is actual sound. Diegesis is a Greek word for “recounted story.” The film’s diegesis is the total world of the story action.
Non-diegetic sound: Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action. Eg., narrator’s commentary; sound effects which are added for dramatic effect; mood music. Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from a source outside story space. The distinction between diegetic or non-diegetic sound depends on our understanding of the conventions of film viewing and listening. We know that certain sounds are represented as coming from the story world, while others are represented as coming from outside the space of the story events. A play with diegetic and non-diegetic conventions can be used to create ambiguity (horror), or to surprise the audience (comedy). Another term for non-diegetic sound is commentary sound.
Genre: What “kind” of movie is it, and how do you know?
Intertextuality: What other films, music, works of art, or “texts” are referred to in the film and why?
“Critical” aspects of film: Historical, moral, social, gender, and economic issues.
Opinions: Is the film “good” or “bad”? Justify your opinions.
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