SCENE ANALYSIS ESSAY AT LEAST TWO PAGES AND HALF
Basic Instructions: This assignment asks you to make a thematic argument about a film. While this thematic argument should consider the film in its entirety, the essay should focus on supporting its thesis through a close analysis of no more than two scenes. To support and refine its thesis, the essay should draw on the film’s narrative but also on relevant formal features—mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing, and sound. NB: A summary of a film will receive a poor grade. A simple description of the formal elements within a scene will receive a poor grade. A paper without an argumentative thesis will receive a poor grade.
Eligible Films: You can write on any of the films that we’ve watched for class or watched extensive clips from: Modern Times, Our Hospitality, Do the Right Thing, Whiplash, Singin’ in the Rain, His Girl Friday, Casablanca, Silence of the Lambs, and The 400 Blows. If you’d like to write on early cinema shorts, please consult with me first.