Test on Wednesday, 4/25

The test will focus on Sam Mendes' American Beauty, Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times, Alfred Hitchcock's North By Northwest, and the key terms and concepts from chapter 2 from our textbook, Understanding Movies. Be sure to look over your notes, your homework assignments, and all Viewing Guides and handouts (especially regarding the Classical Paradigm and Episodic narrative structure). Also, know how to define "rhetoric" and be able to give an example of "rhetoric of the moving image." Along with the general plot, key quotes, and character developments of our films, be sure to also focus on these areas in your review:

• In Modern Times: Film as important social/historical document; silent film; inter-title; characterization of “The Tramp”; episodic structure; motifs; sight gags and slapstick; final shot. DVD Special Features: deleted scene; original ending; talkies; all voices filtered through technology, and 24 frames per second (fps). Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.

• In American Beauty: formalism as film style; what do we see when we "look closer"?; possible meanings of the film's title; 3-act structure; parallel editing; Drama as genre. Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point.
• In North By Northwest: 3-act structure; director's cameo; day for night shooting; femme fatale; MacGuffin; final cut privileges; title credits; parody; montage; characterization and compression; visual irony; phallic symbol; visual foreshadowing; character subtext; "stealing a shot"; film subtexts; matte shot; "Becoming George Kaplan"; "The Matchless Eve Kendall"; "Murder scenes shot lovingly and love scenes shot murderously"; epiphany and character arc; how tension and suspense are created in "The Crop Dusting Scene." Be able to cite specific examples of these concepts from the film to prove your point 

• In Chapter 2 - Understanding Movies: Mise en scene ("placing on stage"); aspect ratio (standard vs. widescreen); iris shot; the dominant; subsidiary contrasts; intrinsic interest; tight vs. loose framing; character placement; composition; proxemic patterns; open vs. closed form.

This is only a general guide and possibly not a complete list of everything we learned and everything you should study!

Extra help will be offered after school at 2:35 p.m. on Tuesday, 4/24 in room 452.

The approximate test breakdown: 60% multiple choice / 20% mini-mise en scene analysis / 20% short answers

Good luck!

Writing a Mise en Scène Analysis

❶ Let your eyes wander around this frame from Modern Times for a few minutes. Using “The Elements of a Mise en Scène Analysis” handout you received in class, analyze the frame considering the following elements numbered 1, 3, 9, 10, 14, and 15.

❷ Write a 1-2 page typed and double-spaced mise en scène analysis that ultimately describes the frame’s significance to the film as a whole and/or something significant regarding the characters in the frame. 

❸ I suggest this as a structure for your essay: 

❡1 - A brief description of the frame’s context–who is in the frame, what’s their relationship, and what’s happening at this moment in the story. 

❡2 - A breakdown of the elements numbered above (1, 3, 9, etc.) Make sure you explain your responses: how do you know it's Closed Form, for example. And what makes the Dominant the Dominant?

❡3 - An analysis of how those elements contribute to the frame’s overall meaning or significance.

 Look over the model mise en scène analysis provided in class and click on the image above to get a closer look.

 Submit your analysis via Turnitin.com by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, 4/18.