800-1000 words for 2 short essays

2 short essays for a first year film class 800-1000 words each (im fine with 800 each). Below you will find the specifications of the assignment. When it is reffering to the textbook, you can just google what they are reffering to instead of looking for the textbook. This course is a very laid back film course. You do not need to watch the entire film, only a scene or two of your choice. (mention time stamps of scene) Please only write 2 different short essays for 2 different films. When I did the midterm, the hardest part was reaching the 800 word mark. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me for any questions. I’ll tip $10 if done before the 21st (so I have time to proof read and add textbook citations if needed)

Thank you so much!

The questions are intended to test you on your knowledge of basic concepts in film studies and your skill in analyzing films. In answering the questions, feel free to draw on the class screenings, and also the course reading assignments and weekly lectures, to back up your points.

Keep in mind that you don’t need to include quotations from the book and lectures when analyzing a film. When quoting from the textbook or video lectures, try to do so sparingly. Limit yourself to relatively short quotes, and remember to integrate them into your analysis of the film. In other words, if you include a quotation, be explicit about how it supports your ideas on the film.

When citing sources, there is no need to include a formal bibliography or list of works cited. To refer to a lecture video, use parentheses, as in: (Lecture Video 3.1). To refer to a reading assignment, cite the author and page number at the end of the sentence using parentheses, as in the following: (Corrigan and White, 83).

Each essay ought to include between 800 and 1,100 words. If you write a bit more than 1,100 words–i.e., up to 1,400 words–thats ok. It is usually to the students advantage on this sort of exam to write lengthy answers. Please write in full, grammatically correct sentences.

The deadline for submissions is Thursday, 23 December, at 12:00 noon. You can, of course, submit the exam any time prior to 23 Dec., if you wish.

The exam asks you to write two short essays, each in response to any two of the following four questions:

1. Discuss Julieta (Pedro Almodovar, 2016) as an example of the aesthetics of film melodrama. Referring to the textbooks section on melodrama (pages 351-354), identify some melodramatic conventions evident in Julieta. Is Julieta best seen as a family melodrama, a physical melodrama, or a social melodrama? Pick two scenes (or moments from scenes) from Julieta that exemplify the Almodovars use of melodramatic conventions, identifying how Almodovars techniques of cinematography, editing, mise-en-scne and/or sound support the films impact as a melodrama.

2. Examine Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950) as an example of Kurosawas flamboyant use of film technique. Focusing on the opening twelve minutes, examine the following three scenes: the opening scene at the ruined gate, the woodcutters journey through the forest, and the woodcutters testimony at the hearing. What are the main style differences between the scenes? How does Kurosawa use film technique to characterize the woodcutters flashback? Why does Kurosawa present the woodcutters journey as a lengthy silent scene? In answering these questions, please refer to specific devices of mise-en-scne, cinematography, editing and/or sound.

3. Discuss The Love Witch (Anna Biller, 2016) as example of an approach to filmmaking inspired by the feminist writings on visual pleasure discussed in the textbook (392-393). Describe two scenes (or moments from scenes) in The Love Witch that could be said to privilege female forms of visual pleasure, identifying the effects of particular methods of mise-en-scne, cinematography, editing, and sound. What makes these scenes different from how the same material (which could include nudity, gore, and other elements associated with exploitation cinema) might have been handled by a filmmaker other than Anna Biller?

4. Discuss Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989) as a film that exemplifies conventional filmic storytelling in some respects but challenges it in others. Explain how Do the Right Thing differs from an ordinary narrative film by commenting on both the films narrative (how its story is structured) and its style, its use of film technique to depict story events. Pick a scene or two that exemplifies Spike Lees approach to telling the story. In describing the scene(s), explain how Lees use of mise-en-scne, cinematography, editing, and/or sound add to the scenes impact. (Besides the week 8 lecture video, see the analysis of mise-en-scne in Do the Right Thing in the textbook on pages 100-101.)