Critical Analysis of a film

Sex and the Cinema Dr. Carolyn Rebecca Chalker Spring 2018 Dr. Beth Carol Roberts LONG ESSAY I: Critical Analysis of a Film Core Texts [select one]: Blow Up (1966, Michelangelo, Antonioni)

Teorema (1968, Pier Paolo Pasolini)

Born in Flames (1983, Lizzie Borden)

She Must Be Seeing Things (Sheila McLaughlin)

In the Realm of the Senses (1976, Nagisa Oshima)

Crash (1996, David Cronenberg)

For this critical essay, you are to analyze ONE of the core texts. In order to do so, you will need to view the film you select multiple times, making a unique set of viewing notes every time you do. To demonstrate your ability to think and write about a film as film, we would like you to take a formalist approach. Working inductively, you are to use evidence from the text as the basis for your ideas. In other words, your thinking should evolve from what you see and how you make sense of it. The challenge is to find meaningful patterns, repetitions, and associations, among the narrative and formal elements (i.e. cinematic techniques) and, from these, to develop an insightful reading of the film as a whole, one that addresses an issue or concern pertinent to our course. In terms of cinematic techniques, take a look at the powerpoint presentation [Formal Elements of the Cinema] and the chapter from Corrigan, both posted on Bb under RESOURCES. This material explains the basic elements of film language. While we do not expect you to “speak” on the level of a film scholar, we would like you to be able to analyze the film as a film. For instance, rather than discuss its subject matter (story, plot, and character), you should focus on patterns, repetitions, and associations, which work to structure its narrative. DO NOT DO ANY OUTSIDE RESEARCH ON THE FILM, ITS DIRECTOR, PRODUCTION, OR CRITICAL RECEPTION! If you were to include information from an outside source without properly citing it you would be plagiarizing. To avoid doing so inadvertently, do not investigate any aspect of the core text. The essay will be evaluated on your ability…

• to identify and utilize formal and narrative elements of the film; • to consider how these elements work, independently and collectively, to express meaning in a film; • to develop your own ideas about the film’s meaning, based on your understanding of the evidence.

In terms of writing and thinking skills, this critical analysis should exhibit those appropriate to an essay, not a thesis paper. That is, you are not out to “prove” a statement using a set of examples (thesis). Rather, working from your observations, you are to set up, explore, and develop an idea, based on your analysis of the evidence. Your objective here is to persuade your reader through your presentation of evidence (what you see) and your powers of persuasion (how and why you think about this evidence as you do). You will need to make a claim about the core text, one that is articulated, explored, and developed through a beginning, middle, and end.

The essay will be assessed in terms of the logic of your thinking and the clarity of your prose. The final draft should be as perfect as possible, free of any typographical, grammar, and punctuation errors. In addition to following the instructions in this prompt, your work must meet these requirements:

• a title does not mention assignment, film, or director • minimum of 1500 words • no outside evidence, such as the fieldtrip, readings, or other cultural artifacts • Works Cited section, which includes the core text, following MLA guidelines • typed, double spaced

First draft due: Friday, March 2, no later than 11:59 PM [upload to ASSIGNMENTS] Final draft due: Friday, March 9, no later than 11:59 PM [upload to ESSAY DRAFTS]