Write an essay about Racial profiling by police officers in the 2004 film crash.

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Racial profiling by police in the movie crash

Write an essay about Racial profiling by police officers in the 2004 film crash.

Are these movies effective in the way they challenge traditional expectations of cinematic storytelling? Why or or why not?

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Inception and Arrival Movie Cinematic Ambiguity Essay

Essay prompt:

For the two movies you watched that do not focus on a hero’s journey, how does each movie use ambiguity to engage the audience, develop character or plot, and explore complex ideas. Are these movies effective in the way they challenge traditional expectations of cinematic storytelling? (Why or or why not?)

The two movies are Inception(Christopher Nolan) and Arrival(Denis Villeneuve).

If your film uses exterior sets, how does nature function as a symbolic analogue to the the mood, theme, or characterization? Choose a scene. How does your film uses makeup?

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DISCUSSION

Watch Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941; available on Swank) or Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth (2009; available on Kanopy). Read the accompanying essays about these films.

Then you will submit a two-page reflection paper (APA style) explaining how acting and dramatization function in your films Be sure to write an abstract, use specific details and relate to your textbook. If you don’t cite Understanding Movies, I will deduct points. Answer the following questions for which you’ll need those two scenes?:

1)What style of acting, as explained by Giannetti, does your film employ? Choose one scene.

2)If your film uses exterior sets, how does nature function as a symbolic analogue to the the mood, theme, or characterization? Choose a scene.

3)How does your film uses makeup?

Do not use terms like “personally,” “I think,” “I feel.” Treat reflections as if they were short essays. Don’t evaluate these films (“Citizen Kane is a masterpiece with great performances”). Avoid a casual, chatty, gossipy tone.

Finally, your abstracts should mention in the first sentence what arguments you’ll make about one of the two films you’ve chosen.

Explain the concept of sound or what type of communication was used in the movie “the outsiders”. needs to be 3 paragraphs.

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Communication in Film

Find & Post (or post a link to) a concept of Communication in Film (photo, short video, brief piece of writing, song, etc., no one else in the class has posted to the blog yet) related to this week’s chapter(s) in Movies and Meaning.

Each post should be at least three paragraphs in length.

Explain the concept of sound or what type of communication was used in the movie “the outsiders”. needs to be 3 paragraphs.

Analyze the ways in which smell is utilized in the film as theme and social comment. Analyze the term parasite and the multiple ways that it can be explained in the film. Are there oversimplifications or stereotypes that get in the way of the overall cleverly constructed message in the film?

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Parasite (Bong Joon-Ho, 2019)

Mini-essay (2 pages)

Find a way into one of this week’s films by examining a cinematic element that you believe is crucial to your making meaning from the experience of viewing it.

Use MLA or APA citation style.  Research outside sources and/or use the sources in this week’s readings as starting points.  Be sure to cite any information you include in your essay.

Here are some suggestions for questions to structure your essay:

  1. Analyze the ways in which smell is utilized in the film as theme and social comment.
  2. Analyze the term parasite and the multiple ways that it can be explained in the film.
  3. Are there oversimplifications or stereotypes that get in the way of the overall cleverly constructed message in the film?
  4. Is this the first movie that could be considered worthy of a Best Picture (not Best Foreign-Language Film) Oscar?
  5. Analyze the use of genre(s) in the film. Note the place where the film makes a dramatic turn in genre.
  6. Compare the film to another of the director’s films, focusing mostly on analysis of Parasite and making brief comparison to another film.
  7. Analyze the lighting and use of framing in the film. How is meaning made in these ways?
  8. Does the film present a universal theme?
  9. Where does the viewer’s sympathy lie? Which characters are most endearing?
  10. Define and analyze gender roles in the film.
  11. Analyze the film’s settings with careful attention to elevation, up and down, stairways, movement and space.
  12. Analyze the ways in which architectural design was key to the story.

 

Feel free to devise your own approach if you like.  Ask/discuss with me first to be sure that it will work.

 

What elements of cinema are at play, and how do they enhance or distract from the overall goal? How does the subject matter make a difference? What is the “so what” or why does the director present the content in the way that he/she does? How does it matter in the world?

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The Wonders of World Cinema

 Run Lola Run (Tom Tykwer, 1998)

Mini-essay, 2 pages

Find a way into the film by examining an element that you believe is crucial to your making meaning from the experience of viewing it.   The following compilation of questions is meant to help spark your ideas.  One of these questions is sufficient for your 2-page mini-essay.

Your essay should be analysis and not summary.  Break down the movie into parts that support your overall framework or argument and then synthesize these parts into a coherent whole.   Answer the question “So what?” or why does this matter in the world (or at least the world of cinema).

Alternatively, construct your own framework for the mini-essay on something that sparks your interest.  Discuss it with the class or with me to be sure that you are on the right track to a viable essay.

These are general frameworks for structuring your essay:

  1. What elements of cinema are at play, and how do they enhance or distract from the overall goal?
  2. How does the subject matter make a difference? What is the “so what” or why does the director present the content in the way that he/she does?  How does it matter in the world?  Include the context of the movie, the place and time it was made.
  3. Does the movie fit into the national cinema from which it was made? How do you think others might perceive it?  How was it received on the world stage?

Use MLA or APA citation style.  Research outside sources and/or use the sources in this week’s readings as starting points.  Be sure to cite any information you include in your essay.

 

Choose one of these questions specifically about this movie:

  1. How does the film celebrate alternatives – the process of making choices in our lives that affect not only ourselves but the people and communities in which we live?
  2. Analyze the way in which the director combined Hollywood style and the art film elements.
  3. How does characterization as done with cinematic techniques affect how we feel about Lola and Manni?
  4. Is Lola a mythical presence and/or a kind of superpower?
  5. Is Lola portrayed as an object of the male gaze in the way in which she is filmed?
  6. How does the architecture and history of Germany become a key element, and perhaps even a character, in the film?
  7. How does this film fit into the New German film movement?
  8. Can the film be said to be a representation of chaos theory?
  9. Analyze the use of light and color to convey meaning in the film.
  10. Construct your own structure for your essay.

How does editing create a variety of functions that help develop a film’s mise en scène? Be sure to use specific details you’ve learned in Understanding Movies.

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Reflection Essay

Turnitin similarity score cannot be higher than 25%

Submit a 1-2 page reflection on how your film uses movement and editing as defined by Chapters Three and Four in Understanding Movies. Use Robert Bresson’s Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) OR Takashi Miike’s 13 Assassins (2010).

Warning: 13 Assassins is a violent period samurai film.

These questions should help frame your response:

How does editing create a variety of functions that help develop a film’s mise en scène?
Be sure to use specific details you’ve learned in Understanding Movies. You must cite at least two scenes for full credit. If you don’t cite Giannetti to support your arguments, you will not get full credit.

You must include an abstract between the title page and body.

Do not use terms like “personally,” “I think,” “I feel.” Treat reflections as if they were very short essays. You’re not writing a review of these films, therefore do not share how these films impressed you; don’t refer to the “gorgeous cinematography” or “incredible acting.” Avoid a casual, chatty, gossipy tone.

Watch 2 short films and answer documentary question.

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Short Film & Documentary

Watch 2 short films and answer documentary question

Link to my work docs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LK5YM8qZ_OvwH8…

Type the answer directly on my google docs

 

Write an overview of what the argument of the article is. What evidence he uses to prove his point. What importance he sees the types of editing have for the evolution of cinema.

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Daniel Dayan ” The Tutor- Code of Classical Cinema”

– Write an overview of what the argument of the article is.
-What evidence he uses to prove his point.
-What importance he sees the types of editing have for the evolution of cinema.

Find an article about a cultural advancement or phenomenon currently impacting the film industry. Research the author and get a sense of what perspective/bias the author is bringing. Explain what aspects of the article you might agree with.

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Film

Find an article about a cultural advancement or phenomenon currently impacting the film industry. Then follow these steps:

Step 1. Critical response: Write a 300-500 word response to the article in which you:
Summarize the article
Research the author and get a sense of what perspective/bias the author is bringing.
Explain what aspects of the article you might agree with.
Explain what aspects of the article you do not agree with.
Make a claim about what you want to defend against the article’s criticism and why you feel confident in your defense
Conduct your own research to help you express why you mostly (dis)agree with its criticism

Step 2. Provide an Annotated Bibliography of 3 more scholarly sources, including:
MLA Citations
Precis of the articles (format attached below)
How you plan to use the articles.