English 375

Projects

1.  Film Sequence Breakdown (100 points):  Each week, a group of 2-4 students will be responsible for presenting a brief analysis (15-20 minutes) of a sequence from the film scheduled that week.  On the day of the presentation, the group will show a selected clip from the film to the class, and then offer a commentary and critique, perhaps focusing on unusual or innovative camera or editing techniques that the clip uses, or larger questions of ideology, or some other point of interest relating to the clip.  The group will turn in a typed version of their presentation.

2.  Semiotic Analysis of Film Noir Image or Poster (50 points):  Visit this Film Noir website--or another one of your choice--and select a film noir image or poster to analyze.  Your job is to read this image in terms of its function as an ideological text.  On or before the due datge, you can either post the image and your analysis to our website of e-mail it to me.  More details to follow.

3.  Interview (100 points):  Select someone to interview about a film-related topic.  This person might be a film buff (a friend, a family member, an educator) or someone who might simply have originally seen movies from one of the earlier periods we will be studying.  You need to devise your questions ahead of time, take a tape recorder with you to the interview, and hopefully take a picture of the person you are interviewing.  You can work with a partner if you wish.

4.  Essay for On-Line Film Journal (100 points):  Write an essay (1,000-3,000 words long) for one of the following web-based film journals:
Images: A Journal of Film and Popular Culture
Bright Lights Film Journal
Senses of Cinema
You need to first research all three journals to determine which forum would be appropriate for your essay and to study to obtain the writer's guidelines for each one.  Spend some time looking through back issues to get a sense of the content and style of each journal.  Before you begin work on this project, I'll ask you to consult with me about the topic.

5.  Weekly Film Critiques (10 points each):  Each week you'll come to class with a critique (250-750 words, typed) of something you found interesting or problematic about the assigned film.  These should be analytic critiques.  Please avoid "I really liked it" or "I thought it was horrible" responses.  Instead, I'd like to see you link the film to some of the theoretical and/or technical issues raised in class.

6.  Field trip to Ann Arbor Film Festival (20 points): During the week of March 12 our class will converge at the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor for the 39th Annual Ann Arbor Film Festival.  To get the 20 points, you need to attend the festival, provide me with your ticket stub, and write a brief critique of the film(s) you saw.