Visual Arts and Film Studies Scene Analysis

Visual Arts and Film Studies Scene Analysis

Project description

Scene Analysis
Objective:

For your third paper, you must closely analyze two scenes from the same film or one scene from each. You have quite a few choices for films. This unit focuses on international road movies: Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; The Motorcycle Diaries; Wages of Fear; Perfumed Nightmare; and Central Station. The analysis should be comparative; that is, you must juxtapose your readings towards an argument wherein both scenes are compared with one another. In your analysis, please be sure to not just incorporate the content of the scenes (what actually happens), but the form as well (technical aspects, such as lighting, camera angles, sets, etc…). Your analysis should be geared towards proving an argument and should have a clear thesis statement and adequate support. You will not be required to provide outside sources to back up your argument; using the one or two films as material from which you interpret and formulate meaning is enough to satisfy the requirements for this paper. However, you will need to provide a “Works Cited” section at the end of your paper including the film(s) as well as other sources you may choose to use. Please cite the film(s) and other sources using the standards set forth by the MLA.
Topics:

Since your paper is not just a description of what happens in two scenes, but a reading of how these scenes produce meaning, you must approach this assignment as you do any piece of argumentative writing. You must, therefore, focus upon proving a debatable point. Below are some topics to guide your analysis towards a successful thesis. Please note that you will be required to choose one of these topics unless you get an alternative topic approved by me. If you wish to write on another topic, then, you must first consult with me.

1. Thelma and Louise and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert are similar in that both films take great pains to equate their protagonists’ physical journeys with their personal growths. As we have found, this is common in the road movie genre. Thelma and Louise and Priscilla are also significant in that the characters’ developments are in reaction to, or despite of, the societies they travel across. In other words, both films are political in nature because they both examine the ways in which society marginalizes certain groups. Thelma and Louise focuses on women as the marginalized group, and Priscilla on the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community (and aborigines, to a certain extent). For this essay, pick two scenes (one from each film) that clearly exemplify the films’ critiques of how women and LGBT people are treated in society. These scenes may depict examples of sexism or homophobia or they may also depict the characters’ fear of such. Be sure to incorporate formal analysis into your argument. How are sexists and homophobes depicted? What do they look like and how do they act? How do the films effectively produce threatening environments (with lighting, editing, etc…) so that the viewer may share in the main characters’ fears? How does camera placement and movement emphasize the threat against the main characters?

2. Although stylistically very different movies, The Motorcycle Diaries and Easy Rider both depict journeys on motorcycles. Both films also stress identification with the land the characters traverse. In Easy Rider, the characters become more and more marginalized as they head east. In The Motorcycle Diaries, Ernesto feels more connected with the land and the people he meets as he heads north. For this essay, compare two scenes (one from each film) wherein the characters are shown riding their motorcycles in a landscape. How do the filmmakers convey the characters’ relationships to the landscapes? Are long shots emphasized? How does the soundtrack and/or ambient sound further a sense of belonging or disbelonging? Are the characters’ facial expressions and body movements emphasized? If so, what do they illustrate in terms of the characters’ relation to their setting? How dominant is the depiction of the motorcycles in these scenes? How do these contribute to feelings of connection or alienation?

3. Henri-Georges Clouzot has been called the “French Hitchcock.” As in the work of Alfred Hitchcock himself, Clouzot’s films are very carefully crafted to produce suspense. Wages of Fear provides a classic model for how one can create suspense in film. Most characteristic of Clouzot is his use of time in making scenes suspenseful. In Wages of Fear, speed is an especially important element towards this end. Pick two scenes in the film, one wherein the action is slow, even agonizingly so, and a scene that is characterized by fast action. Consider how Clouzot makes both of these scenes suspenseful. How does he use cinematography in either scene? Is his use of sound different in making the fast scene suspenseful than it is in making the slow scene so? What about editing? Mise-en-scene? In short, create an argument concerning Clouzot’s manipulation of speed and how this becomes translated as suspense.

4. Werner Herzog said that Perfumed Nightmare is “one of the most original and poetic works of cinema made anywhere.” What do you think he means by saying that the film is “poetic”? In what ways can a film be “poetic”? For this essay, compare a scene from Perfumed Nightmare with a scene from any other movie viewed this semester and argue what you think makes Perfumed Nightmare uniquely “poetic.” Be sure to focus on formal considerations such as the use of sound, cinematography, costume, and setting.

5. Christian iconography and subtext can be found all over Central Station. Not only are the characters looking for Jesus, a carpenter, and waiting for his return, but Dora and Josué’s journey is paralleled to an actual pilgrimage to a famous religious site in Northeastern Brazil. For this essay, consider how religion and spirituality are represented in Central Station and construct an argument concerning the role religion plays in the film’s narrative. Is the film different if you think of it as a spiritual and/or religious text? If so, how? If not, then what do you think Salles is trying to achieve by incorporating Christian allusions into his film? Pick two scenes that depict either characters discussing religion or religious themes and/or that showcase religious iconography or imagery and compare them as support towards your argument. Be sure to consider how these scenes are constructed (lighting, composition, camera movement, etc…) as evidence.

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