Movie Coursework

Component B, element 2: Essay and annotated bibliography (2500 words) 40%

The essay and annotated bibliography aims to assess your knowledge and understanding of Section B: Industrial and Institutional Film Cultures, as well as your study skills, including the ability to find, evaluate and apply critical sources.

If you attempted but failed this assessment previously, make sure you re-read and respond to the feedback you received.

Essay (approximately 2000 words)

Choose one of the following questions:

Discuss how and why early narrative cinema sought to 'position' the specator. Your answer should include close analysis of Way Down East (Griffith 1920 US) and focus on cinematic strategies (such as framing, lighting, editing, etc.) and spectatorship.

Discuss how and why classical Hollywood entertainment was shaped by economic considerations. Your answer should include close analysis of Gilda (Vidor 1946 US) and focus on issues around genre, stars, style and mass production.

Discuss how and why French critics celebrated certain Hollywood directors as auteurs. Your answer should include close analysis of Written on the Wind (Sirk 1956 US) and focus on the relationship between authorship and mise-en-scene.

Discuss how and why art cinema challenged conventional and commercial film cultures. Your answer should include close analysis of Persona (Bergman 1960 Sweden) and focus on issues around narrative, style and spectatorship.

Discuss how and why feminist filmmakers have turned to avant-garde cinema. Your answer should include close analysis of Daisies (Chytilova 1966 Czechoslovakia) and focus on issues around gender, representation and spectatorship.

How do I present the essay?

This links to guidance on the basic requirements about how to present your assessments, including advice on layout and a presentation checklist.

Annotated bibliography (approximately 500 words)

All Film Studies assessments should be accompanied by a bibliography listing all your sources of information, including Internet sites (but not lecture notes and handouts) and a filmography listing all films mentioned in the essay. For this particular assessment, though, we want you to produce an annotated bibliography: that is, for each item on the bibliography, you will provide a brief paragraph (approximately 100 words) summarising the text and evaluating how useful it was in helping you answer the essay question. You should evaluate what kind of information the text provided: was it appropriately academic/critical in its approach? The aim of the exercise is to encourage students to develop their independent learning and research skills.

The annotated bibliography should include five or six texts in total, using various sources such as:

Book chapters

Journal articles

Appropriate