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Part 1 | Introduction (1-3 paragraphs)
In general, your introduction should prov
Part 1 | Introduction (1-3 paragraphs)
In general, your introduction should provide an overview of the films and the main elements you will be analyzing in the rest of the paper. Think of it as a way to introduce your reader to these films and walk them through your main focus within the paper. After reading the introduction, the reader should know exactly what films, cinematic elements, and specific movie moments you will be discussing.
Your introduction will have four small components: (story + plot, style + tone, formal elements/sequence + justification, thesis statement).
Story + Plot:
Briefly describe the stories being told, as well as how the film arranges story information for viewers through the plot. Be sure to include: the settings, the main characters, the amount of time covered in the films’ narrative, and the types of film (comedy, drama, fantasy, etc.). You should explain briefly how the films’ stories are being presented and/or the general sense of the film’s narrative arc.
Example: City of God tells the story of the City of God, a place where young people have few options. Told through flashbacks and voiceover narration from City of God resident, Rocket, the film follows multiple characters lives’ leading up to a tense final showdown in order to show how the need to survive leads young people into a life of crime and/or gang participation, from which very few are able to escape.
Style + Tone:
Here, you will identify and describe the overall style (Stylized? Realistic? Whimsical? Futuristic?) and tone (Light? Heavy? Dark? Emotional? Ethereal? Political?) of your selected film. You will also describe the way your selected elements contributes to the overall style and storytelling mode of the film. Remember: the tone of the film refers to the overall feeling and the atmosphere of the narrative world, and the style refers to the unique way that atmosphere is created.
This part should answer the following for your selected film:
What is the visual style and tone of the overall film world? How do your selected elements (such as cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, acting, or sound) help create or add to this visual style and overall tone?
Formal Elements & Sequence + Justification:
Next, you will identify the three formal elements you have chosen to analyze and pick a specific sequence you will be discussing in your paper.
Example: This analysis will explore how cinematography, mise-en-scene, and performance operate in the The Graduate sequence “Ben’s Party + Mrs. Robinson’s Seduction.”
After you identify your formal elements and specific sequence, you will provide a brief justification or explanation for why you have chosen this film and elements to analyze.
Example: Examining cinematography, mise-en-scene, and performance in The Graduate will reveal how the film explores themes of disenfranchisement and solitude amongst young people figuring out the rest of their lives.
Thesis Statement:
Your larger thesis statement should be bolded at the end of your introductory paragraphs. This statement includes all the elements of your paper in one place and shows your interpretation of how the elements work together to create layers of meaning. This sentence will include: the films and elements you will be analyzing and the meanings you think they create in the film.
Example: Cinematography, mise-en-scene, and editing in The Graduate create a cinematic in world in which tense or anxious scenarios and disillusioned characters dramatize the familiar struggle to find one’s purpose and stay true to one’s self.
Part 2 | Analysis: Elements & Sequence (3-4 pages)
This is the main part of your paper. This is where you will bring in a lot of detail and examples from the films and sequences to show that you understand how formal elements work to create meaning, mood, and tone. You will closely analyze your selected sequence for how your selected formal elements work together to create meanings for viewers.
Set Up Your Sequence (2 paragraphs):
Briefly describe the sequence you will be analyzing. Where does it take place in the film? What occurs in the sequence? How does it relate to the broader plot of the film? This should take no more than 2 paragraphs.
Analyze your Element & Sequence (5-7 paragraphs):
Here you will analyze your elements in your selected sequence. Remember, you are picking three elements (mise-en-scene, sound, performance, editing, cinematography) to analyze deeply in one sequence. You want to include as much detail as you can about how these elements operate in the film sequence and the film more broadly.
You can think about whether your sequence maintains established formal patterns in the film, or if it breaks from these established patterns and/or introduces news patterns. You should also think about why the filmmakers utilize these formal choices (as opposed to others), and how they add to or clash with the narrative action happening in the sequence. Try to write your analysis so that the reader can “see” and “hear” your sequence as they read about it.
Suggested format:
Paragraph 1: Set Up Sequence
Paragraph 2: Description of Element 1
Paragraph 3: Analysis of Element 1
Paragraph 4: Description of Element 2
Paragraph 5: Analysis of Element 2
Paragraph 6: Description of Element 3
Paragraph 7: Analysis of Element 3
Paragraph 8-9: Compare and contrast elements in the scene and their relationship to the narrative/action
Part 3 | Interpretation + Meaning (1-2 paragraphs)
Here you will analyze how you think your analyzed elements function in the sequence to create meaning. You will do so through engaging with two levels of meaning: 1. Literal and 2. Inferred (symbolic) or Latent (cultural).
1. Literal meaning (plot or story meaning) – MUST INCLUDE
For the first part of this section, you will interpret and summarize the literal meanings in your selected sequences. This level of meaning explores the plot and story meanings. Here, you will be summarizing the basic interpretation of what you see on the screen, how it is presented, and what it means to the story and the themes presented. Highlight specific moments in your sequence analyses and discuss how they create ideas, set moods, and advance the plot.
Example: In The Graduate, elements of mise-en-scene works together with cinematography to make Ben appear as if he is being trapped by a predatory animal during Mrs. Robinson’s seduction. Mrs. Robinson’s animal print decor and tendency to be framed by a jungle-like setting in the background shows her control and power in the scene. While Mrs. Robinson stays in one place, Ben, wearing a plain suit that feels out of place in this environment, paces slowly. His anxious movements are tracked with long takes and tracking shots that create the feeling that he is trapped. The slow editing pattern also echoes the slow-building tension in the sequence, which then quickens and disorients the viewer when Ben is confronted with Mrs. Robinson’s naked body.
2. Select ONE (1) of the following:
Inferred meaning (symbolic or metaphorical meaning)
This level of meaning explores the characters and story elements as broader metaphors or symbols. Think about what bigger ideas the elements are communicating such as innocence, corruption, humanity, disobedience, judgment, etc. What might sounds, colors, characters, props, or images mean beyond their literal meaning in the film? This and the next section should be where you take time to explore the deeper meanings in your thesis statement.
Example: In The Graduate, Ben’s character represents the disillusionment of young adulthood. After leaving the imposed regimen of school and college, Ben’s singular question is: What do I want to do with my life? Throughout the film, we watch Ben literally and figuratively float through life in a daze-like fashion. This sequence shows Ben’s powerlessness at home and in his relationship with Mrs. Robinson. The montage sequences later on in the film showcase this same lack of direction and the existential purgatory that Ben finds himself in after graduation and in his relationship with Mrs. Robinson.
Latent meaning (social or cultural meaning)
This level of meaning explores larger social meanings and cultural values. One way to think about latent meaning is to think about why the film was made in society at the time? What might the film be commenting on in culture and society?
Example: In The Graduate, Ben embodies the existential crises faced by many young people during the 1960’s. Disillusioned by the promises of 1950’s suburban utopias because of the social and cultural turmoil of the civil rights era and the anti-Vietnam war movement, young people in the 1960’s were also facing this bigger question of: if the society we were raised to participate in no longer promising, what do we do with our lives?
Part 4 | Conclusion (1-2 paragraphs)
Your concluding paragraph(s) should summarize everything you have explored in the paper. You want to briefly give the reader an overview of how the films relate to each other, how the formal elements operate, and your broader conclusions about the films and their multifaceted meanings. A well-written conclusion is a powerful way to close out your paper. Don’t gloss over it!
After you have written the majority of your paper and your conclusion, now is a good time to go back to your introduction and make sure that it sets up everything you discussed and explored. Often when we write a first draft, we are also writing through our ideas and discovering what they are along the way! A good check to see if you have a cohesive paper is to re-read your introduction and conclusion side-by-side. Do they make the same arguments and outline the same points? Do they accidentally introduce new and/or conflicting ideas that aren’t developed in the rest of the paper? You should expect to re-write parts of your introduction and/or conclusion after you have finished drafting the paper!
I also recommend using highlighters or highlighted text to match the arguments and ideas in your introduction and conclusion with their location in the paper. Does every idea introduced in the introduction appear in the body of the paper? Is that idea fully developed and explained to your reader in a way that walks them through your thought process?
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