Film Analysis Research Assignment | Essay Help Services

Approx. 6 pages, double-spaced, 12-point font. (~1500 words) not including Citation List and Filmography
• Title of Paper on first page, date, your name on each page. Use page numbers.
• Send by email with your name and week # in filename.

Citations and Filmography
You must use at least 5 citations from the assigned semester readings, or other sources if appropriate. Be sure to correctly cite all references, including films, as described in the Corrigan textbook, Chapter, 7. See PDF of Book in UB Learns. Include a filmography. Title, date and director all italicized

Please Be Concise. Avoid Generalizations. I do not want a rambling disorganized paper. Plan first and make a paper draft outline.

Re-read, “A Short Guide to Writing about Film”; especially use Chapter 7, “Manuscript Form” by Corrigan for the correct format for acknowledging your sources. Include a list of “Works Cited” (your choice of Styles (Chicago, MLA, APA). Review the chapter on Style and Structure. Use the Corrigan book for advice and guidelines about writing a film analysis paper. Also, consult the essay in your Course Reader by Bill Nichols entitled, “How Can We Write Effectively About Documentary?” (Assigned March 7).
-Be sure and polish your paper. NEVER HAND IN YOUR FIRST DRAFT. Revise and re-write. It’s evident to me when you have not written a second or third draft.
-You are required to use a spell check program, also proof read.
Subject/Topic of Paper: Your Choice

You may write your paper on a subject of your choice: write on one film, or one documentary filmmaker, or a specific documentary genre, or several non-fiction issues/themes, or compare two different films, 2 directors or 2 genres etc. You may choose in-class films or not seen in class. Present a well-developed argument – much like a trial lawyer.

Other Paper Topic Suggestions:

• Other Topics: The particular strengths and weaknesses of documentary nonfiction film versus fiction film. Perhaps compare 2 films from each genre that are on the same subject matter, for example, Titticut Follies and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, or Grey Gardens documentary and HBO’s Grey Gardens fiction, Boys Don’t Cry or the Brandon Teena Story. Or films that cover similar themes or subject matter.

• The notion of “truth claims” in documentary film – is objectivity possible? Whose truth is it? Why is subjectivity valid and valued? Why is the personal film valuable, what do we mean by accuracy and authenticity, how do idealistic notions of “truth” haunt documentary?

• How do storytelling devices function in documentary? How do documentary makers shape reality into narrative story forms?

• Examine some of the moral and ethical issues, dilemmas and situations in documentary film. Discuss several films.

• New directions in nonfiction such as experimental documentary, non-fiction Internet sites, fake docs, hybrid fiction/nonfiction films, America’s love affair with reality TV, and documentary in social media.

• Reflexivity: What are the advantages and disadvantages of filmmakers revealing the filmmaking process and showing themselves? Why is subjectivity so powerful? Write about a Reflexive film.

• Write about issues important to you or to your own field of interest, for example: ethnicity, gender, diary films, experimental, ethnographic film, a critique of contemporary good TV documentaries, representations of African Americans, Asians, Native Americans, the internet and documentary, activist video, or what makes a doc popular or commercially successful.

You can use films from class or on line sources: Netflix, Kanopy, Hulu, etc. Please do not write about music, concert films and music band films. There are not enough references for them.

Do not describe in detail what the film is about (its subject matter, story or plot) except for the ways in which the story/themes interacts with the film’s form and construction. (Remember, I have probably seen the film.) Do not go into long historical or biographical background information.

Writing Guidelines
1. Make a preliminary outline. Don’t write this paper at the last minute. This is a 400 level course, and I expect a well-written paper. (If you plagiarize or copy another paper, you fail.)

2. Include introductory thesis statement: establish your theoretical argument. What are you going to discus and prove?

3. Develop your argument with “proofs” or evidence. Cite scenes. Move logically from point to point.

4. Conclude with an original summary of your argument and a brief conclusion.

Use Evidence
Include film examples as “proofs”: As evidence for your ideas, you must include specifics from scenes, shots, audio, camera movement, particular filming challenges, editing strategies and cuts etc. All discussion and themes must be grounded in examples and details. Refer to films seen in and out of class. Use examples of shots as evidence to prove your arguments. Do not generalize.

Readings
Include an informed discussion showing evidence of your reading. Do external research for your paper, referencing all ideas which are not your own. You must use citations from your class reading and/or outside texts (some citations from internet sites are OK, but also use articles and books). Use the readings to establish ideas with which you agree or disagree, or use readings as a starting or ending place for your arguments.

Include Original Thought: Along with your film and reading references, I am interested in your own critical thinking and observations, and your own thoughtful responses to both the films and to the readings. Write your own opinions with your own reasoning and rational – not merely your likes or dislikes