COM 221, Introduction to Film, Summer 2010 Dr. Kim Neuendorf Extra Credit Paper Description

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1 1 COM 221, Introduction to Film, Summer 2010 Dr. Kim Neuendorf Extra Credit Paper Description Each student may complete one optional, extra-credit paper, that can add up to 10 percentage points to your course total. The total extra credit received from both the paper and viewing logs together is 15%. The paper must be some original analysis of film, either at the level of the individual film, the individual auteur (often a director, but not necessarily), or the genre. In order to do such an analysis, you need to take one specific perspective on film--use Chapters 10 and 11 of the Giannetti textbook for ideas on this (e.g., political ideology, semiological, historical, feminist, etc.). The list at the bottom of this handout gives many examples from film journals of how this can be done. The paper is NOT to be a movie review a la Ebert and Roeper, but rather an original, theory-based set of observations on your part. You must use at least three (3) scholarly sources for this analysis. These will be either journal articles or scholarly books (a combination is OK). Use the accompanying list of scholarly journals as a start. Also, many books on film are scholarly, but not all e.g., some juicy biographies of actors would not qualify. It s probably best for you to check with your instructor (me) on whether a given book is scholarly. Popular sources (e.g., articles in magazines such as Time or Newsweek, or the content of most web sites) may be used as supplementary material, but will not count as one of the three scholarly sources. The piece will be judged on the basis of its quality and depth, both in terms of the library sources used and the thought and theory behind the original analysis. The typical paper will receive about 5-8% of your grade, although I have given zero points to some papers in the past, when they are of the limited "why I liked Rocky 9" form. I have also given "total" points to some papers (10%). A proposal indicating (a) the film(s) to be analyzed, and (b) the theoretic perspective used to do the analysis must be handed in by the first class period after the midterm, and must be approved by me in writing before you proceed. Unapproved papers will not receive extra credit. The finished paper is due at the final exam and will not be accepted after that time. It must be typed, double-spaced, easily legible, and free of spelling and grammatical errors. Under no circumstances should you hand in the only copy you possess! Keep a copy in case the one you hand in is accidentally lost or destroyed. The final paper will probably be about 7-8 pages, but there is no real page minimum or maximum. Referencing of your sources must be done in APA (American Psychological Association) form, in that it's the most flexible and easy to use. (A handout showing the essentials of this system is available from the instructor.) Remember that too much direct quoting may be interpreted as plagiarism -- make sure your ideas are presented in your OWN words. Where quotes are used, quotation marks and proper APA referencing are necessary. Any film you use in your analysis must be available on video/dvd or online, so that I may access it if need be. Also, you may NOT use any of the films shown in class (see list in your syllabus) as the primary focus for your analysis.

2 2 Scholarly Journals articles from these are acceptable as Scholarly Sources Cahiers du Cinema (French) Camera Obscura Cinema Cinema Journal Critical Studies in Mass Communication Criticism Film and History Film Criticism Film Culture Film Heritage Film History Film Quarterly Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media Journal of Communication Journal of Film and Video Journal of Popular Culture Journal of Popular Film and Television (formerly Journal of Popular Film) Jump Cut Literature/Film Quarterly Mass Comm Review Media, Culture and Society Media Information Australia Quarterly of Film, Radio & Television (formerly Hollywood Quarterly) Quarterly Review of Film and Video (formerly Quarterly Review of Film Studies) Screen Velvet Light Trap Wide Angle Examples of Journal Articles that Apply Theory The paper should do something along these lines (and all the citations are in APA style good e.g. s) Realism MacDougall, D. ( ). When less is less: The long take in documentary. Film Quarterly, 46(2), Hall, J. (1991). Realism as a style in cinema verite: A critical analysis of Primary. Cinema Journal, 30(4), Formalism/Expressionism Anderson, T. (1997). Reforming jackass music : The problematic aesthetics of early American film music accompaniment. Cinema Journal, 37(1), 3-22.

3 3 Haenni, S. (1998). Staging methods, cinematic technique and spatial politics. Cinema Journal, 37(3), Linderman, D. (1991). The mise-en-abime in Hitchcock's Vertigo. Cinema Journal, 30(4), Bundtzen, L. K. (1987). Bergman's Fanny and Alexander: Family romance or artistic allegory? Criticism, 29, Haenni, S. (1998). Staging methods, cinematic technique and spatial politics. Cinema Journal, 37(3), Anderson, T. (1997). Reforming jackass music : the problematic aesthetics of early American film music accompaniment. Cinema Journal, 37(1), Auteur Semiology Lieberman, E. A. (1994). Charlie [Chaplin] the trickster. Journal of Film and Video, 46(3), Burke, F. (1991). Fellini: Changing the subject. Film Quarterly, 43(1), Hark, I. R. (1990). Keeping your amateur standing: Audience participation and good citizenship in Hitchcock's political films. Cinema Journal, 29(2), Viera, M. (1990). The work of John Cassavetes: Script, performance style, and improvisation. Journal of Film and Video, 42(3), Prendowska, C. (1979). Marlon Brando as the auteur. Literature/Film Quarterly, 7, Starkman, R. ( ). Mother of all spectacles: Ray Muller s The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl. Film Quarterly, 51(2), LeMaster, D. L. (1997). The pathos of the unconscious: Charlie Chaplin and dreams. Journal of Popular Film and Television, 25(3), Kelley, S. M. (1995). Giggles and guns: The phallic myth in Unforgiven. Journal of Film and Video, 47(1-3), Kinder, M. (1991). The subversive potential of the pseudo-iterative. Film Quarterly, 43(2), Friedman, L. D. (1979). Cinematic techniques in The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum. Literature/Film Quarterly, 7, McDonald, K. I. (1979). Symbolism of Odd Obsession by Ichikawa. Literature/Film Quarterly, 7,

4 4 Historiography Wexman, V. W. (2005). Right and wrong; that s [not] all there is to it! : Young Mr. Lincoln and American law. Cinema Journal, 44(3), O'Leary, B. (1996). Local government regulation of the movies: The Dallas system, Journal of Film and Video, 48(3), Noriega, C. (1990). Something's missing here! Homosexuality and film reviews during the Production Code Era, Cinema Journal, 30(1), Kepley, V. (1990). Soviet cinema and state control: Lenin's nationalization decree reconsidered. Journal of Film and Video, 42(2), Elsaesser, T. (1990). The new German cinema: A history. Wide Angle, 12(1), Higashi, S. (1998). Melodrama, realism and race: World War II newsreels and propaganda film. Cinema Journal, 37(3), Simmons, J. (1997). A dammed nuisance: The Production Code and the Profanity Amendment of Journal of Popular Film and Television, 25(2), Worland, R. (1997). OWL meets the monsters: Hollywood war films and war propaganda, Cinema Journal, 37(1), Genre Analysis Grant, B. K. (1996). Rich and strange: The yuppie horror film. Journal of Film and Video, 48(1-2), Shumway, D.R. (1991). Screwball comedies: Constructing romance, mystifying marriage. Cinema Journal, 30(4), Welsch, T. (1997). At work in the genre laboratory: Brian DePalma s Scarface. Journal of Film and Video, 49(1-2), Political Ideology (Marxism) Feminism Morgan, J. (1990). From clochards to cappuccinos: Renoir's Boudu is "Down and Out" in Beverly Hills. Cinema Journal, 29(2), *Just about anything in the journal Camera Obscura Bihlmeyer, J. (2005). The (un)speakable FEMINITY in mainstream movies: Jane Campion s The Piano. Cinema Journal, 44(2),

5 Gay Studies Martin, N. K. (1994). Red Shoe Diaries: Sexual fantasy and the construction of the (hetero)sexual woman. Journal of Film and Video, 46(2), Kimball, A. S. (1997). Bad-ass dudes in Pulp Fiction: Homophobia and the counter-phobic idealization of women. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 16(2), Robertson, P. (1995). Camping under western stars: Joan Crawford in Johnny Guitar. Journal of Film and Video, 47(1-3), ***"OTHER" (not from class notes or textbook): Psychological Manon, H. S. (2005). Some like it cold: Fetishism in Billy Wilder s Double Indemnity. Cinema Journal, 44(4), Bick, I. J. (1994). 'That hurts!": Humor and sadomasochism in Lolita. Journal of Film and Video, 46(2), Balter, L. (1983). Alexander Nevsky, Film Culture, 70-71, Psychological/Perceptual Singer, L. (1990). Eye/mind/screen: Toward a phenomenology of cinematic scopophilia. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 12(3), Literary/Adaptation McCombe, J. P. (2005). Oh, I see... : The Birds and the culmination of Hitchcock s hyperromantic vision. Cinema Journal, 44(3), Firda, R. A. (1979). Literary origins : Sternberg's film The Blue Angel. Literature/Film Quarterly, 7, Wright, T. M. (1997). Romancing the tale: Walt Disney s adaptation of the Grimms Snow White. Journal of Popular Film and Television, 25(3), Literary/Autocritical Parody (M.M. Bakhtin) Perlmutter, R. (1990). Zelig according to Bakhtin. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 12, "Blakean" (William Blake) Fairchild, B. H. Jr. (1979). Songs of innocence and experience: The Blakean vision of George Lucas. Literature/Film Quarterly, 7,