Assignment:
Review the three scenes you identified for your first assignment (1.3) and pick one to analyze in-depth; Alternatively, you may pick a scene from one of the films we watched as a class to analyze if you prefer. Watch the scene again and write an essay on the formal aspects of the scene and how these aspects contribute to the emotional aspect of the scene.
Expand your original analysis, drawing on what you have learned in our course to expand your initial ideas. Aim for three pages (or more). You might address the following topics, but you do not necessarily have to address them all and you are welcome to address other related topics as you wish:
Start by giving a bit of context. What is the overall film about? Give a short summary so that the reader knows about the plot of the film and be sure to introduce the specific scene that you are analyzing.
How does this scene make you feel and why? What mood is the viewer meant to experience?
Discuss the use of light and shadow
Colors use within the scene
Use of space within the scene (remember the principles from Molly Bang)
Motifs and symbols
Angles
Point of view
Camera movement
Sound (digetic or nondigetic, music, etc.)
Mis-en-scene
Acting
Equipment for living – the idea that a film offers viewers direct and/or indirect guidance on how to deal with difficult situations
Finally, remember that the focus of each aspect of your analysis is how each aspect you discuss should focus on the emotional impact, so if you are writing about the music in the background in a specific scene, you want to explain what that music is and how it relates to the emotional experience that scene creates.
*Do it on the films The Great gatsby, Psycho, and The Shawshank Redemption*
