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• In Modern Times: Film as important social/historical document; silent film; inter-title; characterization of “The Tramp”; episodic structure; motifs; sight gags and slapstick; final shot.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!