Category: film

The Laramie Project film is from 2014

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Question 1: Discussion: The Laramie Project film is from 2014, adapted from the play which debuted in 2001. Do you find the material still relevant? Or is it dated? Are there other plays and films better suited to a discussion about homophobia or brutality toward members of the LGBTQ+ community? What are your thoughts? (around 250 words)

Question 2: Critique: Discuss what the advantages or disadvantages might be of telling a true story this way (characters recreated by actors, using actual interviews) rather than making a documentary. Film Critique General Guidelines

You will write ten critical responses to film adaptations this semester. Your responses should be brief, 1.5 pages in length, but detailed and thorough.

Writing a successful critique means going beyond simply deciding whether the film adaptation was “good” or “bad”. Value judgments like “it was great” are impossible to support with any real evidence. Instead, carefully consider the effectiveness of the film adaptation, and how the creative choices made by the director, actors, and designers inform your understanding of the play. You may begin by simply asking yourself your general emotional response to the film (I loved it, I only liked certain aspects of it, I thought it would never end…) but that is merely scratching the surface. Your task is to determine critically and then articulate intellectually why you believe the film succeeds or fails in its adaptation of the play you read.

Justification of your opinions is key. There is no “right” or “wrong” response to a work of art. However, if your perspective lacks justification your opinions will lack validity. Stating “this film was effective because the acting was good” will not suffice. Why was the acting good, and what do you mean by “good”? Explain and use examples.

Example:

Incomplete:

Among the cast, performance styles varied. Meryl Streep’s interpretation of Mother Courage also appeared inordinately funny.

Complete:

Among the cast, performance styles varied; rather than fragmenting the production, however, this collage of techniques complemented the evocative and eclectic setting and highlighted the way that Kushner’s script spoke across specific historical moments. Meryl Streep’s interpretation of Mother Courage also appeared inordinately funny, thereby turning preconceived notions of the tragic character on their head and allowing the contemporary audience to see the play with fresh eyes.

Sample Solution

Film Analysis

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Watch one of the following films (except if you choose #9, 21 & #22, you must watch several film clips together ) below.

Each film is based on various sociological topics (in the U.S. context). Please do not include your personal opinions. (Please be aware how social forces influence and inform your biases and filtered perspectives. Please check your own subjectivities). This exam is not asking you to take a “position” on the topic. It is not asking you to argue and convince others of a position. It is asking you to explain and analyze the particular topic you’ve chosen (via the film clips) from a sociological perspective. As a sociologist, provide a thesis for your essay and offer an analysis of the topic, using the sociological imagination, Using your readings and class materials, please provide a sociological explanation of the topic the film(s) you’ve chosen. Incorporate and apply the sociological concepts and paradigms from lectures, readings, discussions, and class sources.

You will be graded on the following:

1) COMPOSITION: grammar, syntax, spelling, organization
2) CONTENT: information & data
3) CREATIVITY: originality of approach and ideas
4) CRITICAL ANALYSIS: sociological imagination
5) CITATION: sources; references of each textbook, each film clip, online Canvas posts, class lectures/discussion, bibliography/works cited -page.

Use how many sources deemed necessary from the class readings. You don’t need to go through all of the readings. The are mainly articles going through core concepts of sociology. If you look at the links they have key words that you might look for.

Film Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHDkALRz5Rk

Sample Solution

Film Analysis

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You are going to take some steps to convince a producer that you have a good idea and would like to make a short film based upon the poem “Incident” by Contee Cullen. Write a list of planned-out shots. in the order in which they would appear on screen. Then write a summary (called a treatment in Hollywood) of your vision of the file. You should have at least 8 planned-out shots. Your paragraph should be 5-8 sentenses.

Sample Solution

The Crime Film

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Consider the scene in isolation from the rest of the film. You may watch the entire film if you wish, but you will be graded on the precision with which you are able to describe the sequence and the quality of your ideas about its possible meanings.

Your task, then, is twofold: 1) to describe what you see as clearly as possible (you do not need to use filmic terms); and 2) to explain what it might mean (literally, thematically and symbolically).

Sample Solution

Contemporary Directions in Film

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Compare and/or contrast the storytelling of the two films: how do the two compare/contrast
in terms of the changes in storytelling between the classic Hollywood of 1917-1960 and your period?
Technological: Compare and/or contrast the technological elements of the two films: what technological
elements made your two films possible? What changes allowed your post-1960 film to be different from
the pre-1960 film you choose? You might consider changes between the two as well.
Social: Compare and/or contrast the social milieu of the two films: how does the contemporary film
continue or move away from the social context of the earlier film? What social concerns are evident in
one or both? Does the later film have more or less social awareness and why?
Thematic: How does a particular strand of meaning show itself in both your films? For instance, the
social commentary of My Man Godfrey and the motif of the idle rich followed by the theme of the
dehumanization of the poor—does your film have a similar examination of socioeconomic class?
Another example would be the subject of masculinity: how does, say, My Man Godfrey treat the
representation of masculinity as compared/contrasted with your more contemporary film?

Sample Solution

Analysis Of Psychopathology In Popular Film.

Posted on | by Belinder

Write a paper on Analysis of Psychopathology in Popular Film. here are some film options The Doctor (1991) , A Brief History of Time (1992), Frida (2002), Fatal Attraction (1987),

Silence of the Lambs (1991), Fearless (1993), Primal Fear (1996).

A comprehensive description of psychopathology (symptoms) or particular Psychopathological dynamics (Oedipus complex, Existential Angst) depicted, including a formal DSM/ICD diagnosis of the protagonist or main character. This should include specific and relevant symptoms and biographical information that indicates how the person displays these dynamics or meets criteria for a particular mental disorder.

Identify a minimum of 3 SCENES either in the film or story that best the above points.

A reflection on the positive and negative messages that the film or story portray regarding the particular disorder or psychological dynamics.

Discussion of how well or poorly the movie or Literary work characterizes the particular form(s) of psychopathology depicted.

Sample Solution

Video review

Posted on | by Belinder

• Watch this video and answer these questions down bellow using a narrative format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIpQ8eJ5lu4&feature=youtu.be

• Did you notice a rhythm in the story by Mark Goldman? Explain.
o What is the culture of the story as told by Mark Goldman? Could this story apply to any other culture? Explain.
• Give your overall critique of the performance noting:
o Sequencing
o Pacing
o Originality

Sample Solution

Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills

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C​‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‌‍​indy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills comprises of over seventy black and white photographs made between 1977 and 1980. When thinking about this series, some aspects of her entire body of work immediately come to mind: disguise and theatricality, mystery and voyeurism, melancholy and vulnerability. Each individual image creates a distinguished scene. Untitled Film Still #21 for example, reminds of a scene from an outdated television show or movie, with the woman in the picture as leading heroine, wearing a vintage 1950s outfit and looking captivated by something outside the frame. This creates suspense: we will never know what happens across the street from this woman. It makes the image not so much about what is happening in the picture, but more about what happened before and after the moment it was shot. This narrative element is characteristic of Untitled Film Stills. The scenes are recognisable as film stills – imitating typical cinematic angles, lighting, and dramatisation – but they come from no particular movie. Since she became renowned as an artist in the late 1970s, Cindy Sherman played with the slipperiness of identity. In Untitled Film Stills, but also in all her later series, it is always Sherman herself who is in front of the camera. Yet these images are neve​‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‌‍​r really self-portraits. Sherman uses photography as a tool to deceive, and evades her own personality by taking on different identities. With vintage clothing, wigs and make-up, she creates an entire range of personalities. Sherman takes on many roles, also behind the camera: photographer, director, hairdresser, set designer and stylist. In conducting herself to working with only her own body, she is capable to explore the endless possibilities of this seemingly limited subject. The different personas Sherman depicts are stereotypes; they represent a series of clichés: career girl, bombshell, fashion victim, schoolgirl, society lady, etc. – all characters deeply embedded in our cultural history. They resemble publicity pictures made on movie sets, adopted from female roles in magazines, advertisements and especially movies. All Sherman’s personas in Untitled Film Stills project the constructed idea of the women’s image, pointing out the arbitrariness of the female stereotypes. How do you see women’s roles today? Have they changed significantly in the past fifty years? How does the media portray women today? What kinds of roles do they play and are these roles culturally determined?

Sample Solution

“Invisible City by Hubert Davis” movie review

Posted on | by Belinder

Write a movie review for “Invisible City by Hubert Davis” This is the link for movie https://vimeo.com/157753809

All writing standards are shaped and changed by society, so “standard” form may not fit what you want to write. Below you will find some basic principles to write your documentary review.
First, documentaries rarely focus on a “plot”, but rather much more on the message and content.
Questions to get you started:

  1. What is the main issue/topic of the documentary? Is it a political and social piece?
  2. What is the context of this issue? Is this issue controversial? Here you can do some research on the Regent Park public housing project (Toronto).
  3. What is the history of the director of the movie?
  4. Which specific points in the movie do you wish to analyze in detail? These can include scenes, socio-economic and political context, use of imagery, use of music and sound, juxtaposition of shots etc).

Sample Solution

WATCHING FILMS

Posted on | by Belinder

Respond to the questions below after reading:

Thomas Elsaesser, Malte Hagener. “Cinema as Window and Frame.”
André Bazin, “Ontology of the Photographic Image,” “Painting and Cinema.”
week film: Rear Window (Hitckcock, 1954)
Questions:
What are the authors’ main arguments?
How do the texts dialogue with one another?
How did they change your understanding of the act of watching films?
Your comment about something that stood out to you, or that you’d like more explanation on.

Sample Solution