In some modules, you will be required to do an analysis of a short film. The material that follows gives you information about how to write an analysis. When an analysis is required, the requirement will be listed in the assessment section of the module.

Selecting a Short Film

The following guidelines will help you select a film:

• The film you select to watch must be available in You Tube or somewhere else on-line.

• If the film is not on You Tube, it must be publicly accessible without requiring a membership or password.

• You Tube films that are marked as having adult content require membership in You Tube. You may choose such films for the class. By their nature these films might contain disturbing language or images. However, for this class, you are not required to watch any films that are designed as having adult content--even if another student chooses such a film to analyze.

• Your selection must be a complete film; not just a scene.

• The intent of the video must be that the individuals involved were creating a complete film.

• Because we are favoring short films, I hope that students will push themselves to watch and analyze films that they might not ordinarily view. For example, I would encourage someone who avoids horror films to analyze a film such as Life and Death of a Pumpkin. Or take the 8.5 minutes to watch a gay film such as Daddy's Boy or some other film on a topic that you might avoid.

• Films that are intended as pornography are not appropropirate.

• You may not select a film that appears in the film index I have created as part of the film resources web site used in this class or which has already been selected by another student in the class.

I suggest that you begin to identify films by using the search term “short film” in You Tube.

If you have a question about whether or not your selection is acceptable, please ask me.

Students Can Not Use the Same Film

Once a film has been selected by a student for analysis, no other student may select the film for analysis. Therefore, you need to follow the following guidelines once you select a film.

• Once you select a film for analysis, you must list the name of the film in the "Selected Films Forum" in BlackBoard.

• The subject of your posting must be the exact title of the film as listed in You Tube and, in parentheses, the focus of your analysis.

• If the name of your film begins with “A, ” “An” or “The,” you should list the article at the end. For example, The Mind’s Eye would be listed as “Mind’s Eye, The."

• The message of your posting only needs to be the name of the film. However, the name must be hot linked to the You Tube page on which the film is found.

If you do not follow these rules, your posting will be deleted and it will be possible for someone else to select your film before you have a chance to repost.

Writing the Scene Analysis

After reading the appropriate chapters in Understanding Movies, viewing the film clips associated with the chapter, and selecting a short film, you will write a 500-750 word analysis of the film. Your analysis will demonstrate an understanding of the film element described in the assigned chapter.

Let’s assume you decided to watch All About My Dog – Marimo the same week you read the chapter on “Editing.” You would write your analysis focusing on editing in that film.

In your scene analysis, you should make specific references to the textbook.

Submiting the Film Analysis

Once you have completed your analysis, you will e-mail it to me and I will post it on a web site of resources for film students.

The subject line of your e-mail message must be in the following format:

ENG200: Name of Module (Your name)

For example, if I were submitting my editing analysis of All About My Dog – Marimo, my subject line would read:

ENG200: Editing (Steve Berg)

Please note that I did not include the name of the film nor any other information except the module name and my name.

International Requirement

During the semester, at least one of your selected films must have an international perspective. Because the Schoolcraft College International Institute has selected South Asia as their geographic focus for 2009, your international film must focus on India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, or Sri Lanka.

Even though All About My Dog – Marimo is a Japanese film, it would not meet the international requirement for this course. However, there is no reason that a Japanese film could not be selected for analysis. In fact, I would encourage you to watch international films that don't meet the "international requirement."

Automobile Requirement

"In collaboration with the Schoolcraft College International Institute and GlobalEYEZers, Learning Support Services is again hosting the Global Roundtables: An Interactive Symposium, Monday, March 16, 2009. This year’s symposium discussions will be inspired by student made Youtubes. The auto-industry will be this year’s focus."
--Dr. Debora Daiek

Because we will be preparing videos to submit for this event, one of the films you select must feature a car.

Please note that the film you select need not be a documentary. Nor does it even need to be be appropriate for the Global Roundtable. For example, the Academy Award nominated Mike's New Car would be perfectly acceptable for for the automobile requirement for this course simply because it features a car.