Demonstrate your knowledge of relevant film terms, film production, and cinematic movements and styles.

Animation

Write at least ONE short essay on films of your choice. In Focus 1 will look at animated films, and In Focus 2 will analyze blockbuster/franchise films. For each short (1000 word minimum) essay, you will choose a film within the assigned genre and analyze its cinematic form and content using the skills in film analysis you’ve developed in our class. This is your chance to demonstrate your knowledge of film terms (be sure to use specific and accurate terminology to describe the film elements you analyze) and your ability to apply your critical lens and analyze film. You can reference the assigned Film Experience chapter for that week, along with additional readings if required.

The goals are to:

Demonstrate your knowledge of relevant film terms, film production, and cinematic movements and styles.

Apply your knowledge of film production, genre, and form to create meaningful analysis of a film.

Create a unique and well-supported argument about your chosen film.

Guidelines:

Choose (at least) one film/video in the required genre.

Have an introduction, a clear argument, evidence, and analysis.

Use appropriate film terms.

1000-word minimum.

Use MLA citation style if citing sources.

Questions to get you started (don’t answer them all! Pick one or two.)

Animation:

  • How does this film used the medium of animation in unique ways? How does it interact with the history of the form?
  • How do the themes of race, gender, sexuality, nation and/or colonialism that we have been discussing appear in this film?
  • What does this film mean? How does it use its form (color, animation style, composition, plot, etc) to create those meanings?