Taking Things Apart

Taking Things Apart   ---   Writing Film Response Papers

We will be viewing several films this quarter, each of which is designed in some way to mesh with thematic ideas that we would like to address in the program.  Although all of the films are quite entertaining, our primary purpose in showing them is to provide you with an opportunity to do some critical analysis of visual material. 

A critical analysis is neither a film review nor a retelling of the story within the film.  Rather, it is a discussion of an element (or elements) of the film which contributes to the overall effect that the film has on a viewer.  Thus, you might want to write about the lighting of the film, or the camera-angles that are used (the film’s ‘point of view’), or the cinematic devices which are used to move the plot line forward.  In other words, we would like you to take the film apart and show how---and to what end---one or more of those parts is used.  How was the film structured?  How does it relate to our readings, or what we did in the science lab or the art studio?  And, based on whatever you’ve written about, what do you think it meant? 

You should not recapitulate the plot unless you are showing how particular parts of it serve as evidence to support your ideas.

Write at least 2 full pages about each of the films.

[REMEMBER: when writing about texts and/or films, your personal liking or disliking of the material is absolutely irrelevant to the task at hand. Write about the material, not about yourself.]