Order Description
Film Studies 1
Introduction to Film Studies

Spring, 2016

Short Paper on Camera Work or Lighting

Due Date: Thursday April 21, at the beginning of the lecture (or a slightly different date and time determined by your TA). Please hand in the paper to your TA. Submit a hard copy of your paper. E-mail submissions will not be accepted unless you have a good reason.

Assignment
Write a short paper of 2-3 pages in which you analyze a film’s cinematography. You should focus on one scene (one sequence) that you believe to be very important. Your analysis should demonstrate how the scene’s meaning is revealed either by the use of camera work or lighting techniques. For lighting, consider the direction and intensity of illumination as well as the importance of shadow.

Film
Your TA will give you a list of films (about 10), and you choose one of them for your analysis. However, if you want to analyze a film of your own choice outside the list, please talk to your TA and get her/his permission first.

Please watch the entire film first, perhaps more than one time, and watch the particular scene of your analysis several times.

Length and Format
The length of the paper should be between 2-3 pages. It should be double-spaced using a font of 12 (preferably Times New Roman). The name of the course, your section, the date, and your TA’s name should appear on the upper left corner of the first page.

Attachment (not more than 1 page in length)
Attached to your essay, please provide the following information about your scene:
1) number of shots;
2) a very brief description of the major action of each shot;
3) camera distances and angles of the shots.
For the sake of convenience, you may choose a scene that does not last longer than 2-3 minutes and contains no more than 15 shots.

The paper should be coherently organized and smoothly written. It is expected to reflect college-level competence in form and content. What you say and how you say are both important. Mechanics of writing such as grammar and spelling will also be graded.

Film list is below.

Film list:
Choose a scene from one of these films (all mentioned in Ch. 1 & 2 of the book), and include a link to the clip you use:
The Shining
Vertigo
Atonement
Flags of our Fathers
Do the Right Thing
The Matrix
Anything by Akira Kurosawa
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
The Godfather, Part 2
Zodiac
JFK (Oliver Stone)