For this 4-6 page essay (Times New Roman, double-spaced, 1 inch margins), you will use the film “The 4oo Blows” by Francois Truffaut for this assignment. As we’ve mentioned before, part of our goal in this class is to reflect on the national and international forces influencing the development of film’s language and messages. Over the course of the semester, we’ve not only touched on national policies and movements, but the evolution of international forces that have affected film language, too. For this paper your goal is to discuss how your chosen film’s formal structural patterns, economics, material conditions, technical developments and/or meanings are situated within an international context – and whether or not the film’s ideology successfully or problematically reflects its internationality.
Questions to consider:
In what ways is the film an international project? How does it rely on other cinemas to generate meaning?
In what ways does the film present itself internationally and nationally?
How do you see that international/national character affecting its story, the structure of its plot, its mise-en-scène, settings, character, editing, camera work, sound)? What does it MEAN that the film is international, and in what ways does it still speak to its national character?
Does it successfully negotiate an international ideology?
This is not as hard as it sounds. In each case that we have studied film, we have considered an international film language while considering the film in its particular national setting. We have discussed influence, which reaches across national lines, and economic or social pressures particular to the film’s particular moment in history. Chances are, if you have picked a good film, you will already be satisfying the prompt.
Your paper must include at least one detailed close reading of a single scene working as evidence in support of your thesis. Always remember that film is a VISUAL medium, and close readings ought to include interpretations of the relationship between visual/cinematographic strategies and the themes of the film you’ve chosen to focus on.
You are required to support your readings with secondary research and citations. You are welcome to use any of the readings from class, including the textbook, as well as independent research (remember our research guide! https://guides.stetson.edu/film Links to an external site.). Be sure to cite research using MLA formatting.
An A paper will have an original thesis (an interpretation of the film against which reasonable people might offer counterarguments or alternative interpretations); it will provide appropriate, properly-cited evidence in establishing its context and supporting its interpretations, and its close reading will go beyond narrative-driven evidence, taking into account cinematographic elements (the stuff we learn about in class: composition, sound, editing, camera angles, etc). Your goal is not to discuss WHAT happened, but to offer a unified explanation and interpretation of the primary effect and/or meaning the film or the film’s technique generates.
Breakdown:
Format: 1 inch margins, 12pt Times New Roman font, 4-6 pages (min/max), an effective title
Goal: Discuss how your film’s formal structural patterns, economics, material conditions, technical developments and/or meanings are situated within an international context – and whether or not the film’s ideology/message successfully or problematically reflects its internationality.
Required Elements:
A genuine thesis addressing form, meaning, and context
One detailed, close reading of a single scene
Visual/cinematographic interpretations
MLA cited secondary support
I imagine: introduction, a paragraph or two discussing any conflicts the film might present between its native national concerns and its international audience. Then move to the interpretation or message of the film you want to explore and uphold (cinematographic close readings would be appropriate here), then relate to that meaning to its status as NATIONAL or INTERNATIONAL (what are the attitudes, philosophy, etc, portrayed, and how does that relate to its national context, or does it go beyond?) (cinematographic close readings would be appropriate here), – Possibly with a discussion of whether or not the film SUCESSFULLY negotiates the international or national (cinematographic close readings would be appropriate here, too) or FAILS ?