Write a paper that informs readers about a common way of understanding a film as well as a different, more surprising way of understanding that text.

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For this assignment, you will write a paper that informs readers about a common way of understanding a film as well as a different, more surprising way of understanding that text. In other words, you will explain two ways of making sense of a visual text, and analyze it to show evidence of the surprising interpretation.

This paper highlights the factor of tension—the existence of two quite different ways of making sense of a text. You will need to summarize those different ways of interpreting the text and then explain in detail how the second way extends or complicates the first. Recognizing more than one interpretation is a crucial skill for different kinds of academic assignments you will be asked to write in other courses.

How did definitions of deviance differ for the actions of prison officials and inmates? What were the various statuses, roles, groups, networks, and hierarchies within the prison?

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Film Analysis: The Shawshank Redemption (Castle Rock Entertainment, 1994). Running time is 142 minutes. The film is available through Scheele Memorial Library, public libraries, and online.

The purpose of the film analysis is to reinforce sociological concepts and provide you with practice applying one of sociology’s major theoretical perspectives. The story told in The Shawshank Redemption spans more than 20 years. As movie viewers, you vicariously spend 20+ years in prison with Andy, Red, Heywood, Brooks, etc. The focus of the assignment is to explore Shawshank Prison as a society. The film analysis should relate the film to sociological considerations of culture and/or social structure.

Select a theoretical perspective—functionalist, conflict, or symbolic interactionist—and use the perspective to analyze the culture and/or social structure of Shawshank Prison. In particular, what are the unique symbols, language, values, norms, sanctions, and hierarchies of Shawshank? How are the culture and social structure created and maintained? What impact does the culture have on inmates and prison officials? Additional questions are provided below to help guide observation.
The task is to sociologically analyze the film. This is not a film review or film critique. It is a sociological research paper. It should be written as a research paper with an introduction that leads to a clear thesis statement outlining which theoretical perspective best applies to the social setting. The main body of the paper should discuss relevant sociological concepts that appear in the film and how the presentation of these concepts supports the thesis statement.

The finished paper should be approximately 3-4 double-spaced pages in length (12-point, Times New Roman or Calibri, please number all pages). The paper must have a title. Use appropriate citation of all sources. Please use MLA or APA citation format.

Due: April 30, 2020, submitted to Blackboard by 11:59 p.m. Make sure you use the appropriate file type, as specified on Blackboard (Word or pdf files).
General Instructions:
1. In the film analysis, you should use relevant quotations and examples from the film to illustrate sociological concepts and support their theoretical position.
2. Remember that the film is fiction and that films tend to be moralistic (i.e., advocating an ideology), psychological, or both. Filter these non-sociological aspects of the film and use your sociological imagination to investigate social features.
3. Focus only on those aspects of the film that relate to prison society, such as the culture of Shawshank Prison, the way inmates learned that culture, and the impact the culture had upon individuals. Or, you could explore the prison’s social structure: the statuses, roles, groups, networks, and hierarchies (such as dominant and subordinate groups within the prison).

Questions to Aid Data Collection:
The following questions are intended to help you focus your observations. You are not required to answer all of these questions, nor should you write your film analysis as a set of responses to these questions. These questions are simply a guide for data collection.

How was structure established by inmates in the prison?
How were new prisoners greeted by current inmates?
Why did new prisoners “break down or go mad” in the first night in prison?
How did Andy learn the norms of Shawshank?
Was Andy able to control his physical well-being in prison?
What symbols exist in Shawshank? For example, what gets used as currency?
What unique words or phrases made up the language of Shawshank inmates?
What values did inmates of Shawshank share?
What formal norms governed Shawshank? Informal norms?
What formal sanctions did inmates experience? How did inmates informally sanction each other?
How did definitions of deviance differ inside Shawshank as compared to outside the prison?
How did definitions of deviance differ for the actions of prison officials and inmates?
What were the various statuses, roles, groups, networks, and hierarchies within the prison?
Why did Andy’s social standing in Shawshank improve with the inmates? With prison officials?
Why wasn’t Brooks able to make it on the outside?
Why is hope dangerous inside prison?
How did Andy help return humanity to Shawshank prison?
Why did Red say he couldn’t make it on the outside? What is an “institutional man?”
Why was Andy’s removal of his prison shirt after his escape so symbolic?
Why did parolees live in fear?
Did resocialization occur at Shawshank?
What types of formal and informal sanctions did prison officials receive?

Sociological Concepts: culture, culture shock , language, symbols, values, formal norms, informal norms, folkways, mores, formal sanctions, informal sanctions, socialization, rites of passage, agents of socialization, resocialization, total institution, social structure, status, ascribed status, achieved status, master status, role, role exit, aggregate, group, primary group, secondary group, in-group, out-group, reference group, social network, formal organization, bureaucracy, deviance, crime, social control, power, social hierarchy or ranking, social mobility

Partial List of Characters: Andy Dufresne, Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding, Warden Norton, Captain Hadley, Heywood, Tommy, Bogs Diamond, Brooks Hatlen

This assignment was adapted from one developed by Prof. Kevin Dougherty of Calvin College.

Discuss how the assigned film exhibits this “character arc” aspect of classical Hollywood style: which characters struggle to achieve goals, how successful are (or are not) they, and what do they discover in the process?

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ENG. 215 Film Genres Analysis #1: Classical Hollywood Style

In an original analysis, thoroughly address the following prompts:

  1. Most genre films are presented in what our text calls “classical Hollywood style,” an approach to storytelling dominant in Hollywood since the early 1900s (Ch. 2-3). Classical Hollywood style has several defining characteristics, primary among

 which is the notion of “invisibility” or “verisimilitude.” These terms refer to the illusion of immediacy and authenticity in cinema: in other words, when we watch movies, we seem to be witnessing events, beings, and locales appear and move as we watch. In truth, we are watching an elaborately constructed artifice built from the multi-layered creative details of filmmaking–camerawork, acting, sound design, editing, costume and set design, etc.–but the experience seems like we are watching a story actually “happen” firsthand, even if the story is improbable or unrealistic (i.e., animated, involving improbable or impossible situations, set in non-existent places).

Discuss 2 scenes from the assigned film which are particularly impressive in terms of their invisibility / verisimilitude. (Important note: verisimilitude / invisibility should not be examined based on how “realistic” something is in comparison to our own experiences or expectations: instead, we’re addressing those creative elements in the movie which make the events depicted seem as if they are actually happening as we watch, no matter how unrealistic the movie may be).

  1. According to renowned film scholar Jim Belton in our text American Culture, American Cinema, classical Hollywood cinema is primarily “character centered,” meaning that while plot is important to this style, the characters involved in the story are the most immediate focus of our viewing attention: over the course of the story, some of the characters–usually, but not exclusively, the main characters–undergo internal and / or external struggles in the course of trying to achieve specific goals or solve certain problems, and along the way, these characters discover important things about themselves, others, and the environments in which they exist. Discuss how the assigned film exhibits this “character arc” aspect of classical Hollywood style: which characters struggle to achieve goals, how successful are (or are not) they, and what do they discover in the process?
  2. In classical Hollywood style, the mise en scene–a movie’s visuals and accompanying sound design–is purposefully constructed to emphasize the emotions and the actions of characters as they progress through the narrative. Keep this in mind and examine 2 scenes from the assigned film which demonstrate this purpose of mise en scene: discuss how character actions and emotions are emphasized in each scene by visuals and sounds. (For example, camerawork, lighting, special effects, dialogue, music, and sound effects are all creative elements which can be used to emphasize character actions and emotions).
  3. Often, Classical Hollywood style develops themes which are directly connected with

 “accessible” subject matter featured in a film’s story. “Themes” are the main points / observations that a story makes about its subject matter. For example, a film may

have “parenting” as one of its primary subjects: what the film says about parenting (how to do it well, why good parenting matters, etc.) is a theme of the film.  Keep this in mind and try to identify the main subject(s) and theme(s) of the assigned film, with detailed scene support.

  1. Based on your current knowledge of film genres, to which of the 10 genre(s) we will study in this class–melodrama, musical, comedy, war, thriller-noir, western, horror, science-fiction, fantasy, or action-adventure–do you think the assigned film belongs? Discuss in as much detail as you

Be sure to support your claims with specific evidence from the movie, textbook, and lecture notes: generally speaking, the more direct synthesis created among these three entities, the more substance and length your analysis will have. Each prompt should be given roughly equal attention and space in your analysis.

Assessment, Formatting, Due Date

Assessment: submitted essays earn one of five marks.

70-63 points: essay is extremely detailed and exceeds 2 full pages in length 62-56 points: essay is very detailed and is 1 ½- 2 full pages in length

55-49 points: essay is adequately detailed and is 1-1 ½ pages in length 48-42 points: essay lacks detail and is 1/2 to 1 full page in length

41-00 points: essay has little or no detail and is less than 1/2 page in length

Improperly formatted or incomplete papers earn no more than 48 points, regardless of their content / length. Points are earned only by papers that are submitted on time: missing or late essays earn 0 points.

Papers must address only the prompts detailed on this assignment sheet. Papers which are designed to address, or which include discussion of, prompts from assignment sheets used in previous sections of this course earn 0 points.

Format: single-spaced; 12-point Times font; name and response # centered at top of p. 1; double-space once in between heading and beginning of essay; do not double- space in between paragraphs; 1” margins on all sides

Describe the pacing (or rhythm) of what you watched. What is the effect of the pacing on the viewing experience?

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Your analysis must go beyond any discussion of the film in the textbook or other course materials. I am looking for you to assimilate information from the other sources to apply to the film to demonstrate that you understand the purpose and process of film editing.

In Chapter 8 you learned about the art and craft of film editing, which some filmmakers believe is the most important part of the film making process. The film editor, working closely with the director, must choose from thousands of shots and hours of footage from production–that were most likely not shot in order of the screenplay–and assemble them into an engaging and coherent two-hour film (give or take).

For this assignment:

A. watch either the “Run Lola Run I” scene from the German film Run Lola Run (Tom Tykwer, 1998) OR the “Baptism and Murder” scene from The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) below.

You will be analyzing the editing in the scene you watched based on what you learned in Chapter 8, the documentary The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (Wendy Apple 2004) below, and the article about Walter Murch’s “Rule of Six.“

Note that you can use these same clips for upcoming DF #6, so you may want to read that assignment and make notes about your observations about the use of sound as you are watching them.

B. Address these three points about either “Run Lola Run I” from Run Lola Run or “Baptism and Murder” from The Godfather:

·  What are some of the specific editing techniques and/or transitions used between shots and scenes in what you watched? Make sure to use correct terminology and to be specific about how and where these techniques and/or transitions are used in what you watched.

·   Describe the pacing (or rhythm) of what you watched. What is the effect of the pacing on the viewing experience?

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (Wendy Apple, 2004)

This is an abridged version of the documentary. The copyright holder has blocked access to the full-length version on YouTube several times. If editing is a subject that interests you, you should be able to watch more of the film on YouTube.

Run Lola Run I from Run Lola Run

In Run Lola Run, Lola (Franka Potente) has 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 DM to save her boyfriend, Manni, from his gangster-boss. She first decides to ask her banker father for the money. Because her moped was stolen earlier in the day, Lola must run from her family’s apartment to the bank where her father works.

While Lola is running, we see her father in his office with a coworker with whom he has been having an affair. (Note the use of handheld camera in this part of the scene–you can tell by the shakiness.)

This scene is Lola’s first of three attempts to get the money. If you watch the entire film, you’ll see three different scenarios presented as Lola runs. Each run is slightly different, and therefore, each has a different outcome. Lola learns from each run and makes changes each time. So in that respect, the “game of life” is shown to be like a video game or other game of skill. However, there are factors over which Lola has no control, so we also ponder what the role of fate is in life and how we impact others’ lives and they impact ours in ways that will never know.

There is an article about Run Lola Run entitled “Running in Circles” that you might find helpful.

Run Lola Run I

Play media comment.

“Baptism and Murder” from The Godfather (Please note that this scene is violent, showing gangland-style killings.)

“Baptism and Murder” from The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) is certainly one of the most famous and brilliant scenes in film history. It was photographed by cinematographer Gordon Willis, aka the “Prince of Darkness” because of his skillful use of underexposure, and edited by the much-awarded William Reynolds and Peter Zinner. The music is by acclaimed Italian composer Nino Rota, who is well-known for his work with director Federico Fellini.

In this scene, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) is becoming godfather to his nephew Michael Rizzi in the sacrament of Baptism in the Catholic Church. Most of the service is in Latin; however, Michael Corleone must answer questions on behalf of his godson. At the same time, Michael’s henchmen are brutally eliminating the Corleone family’s enemies.

Baptism and Murder

 

Movie Response: What historical events are mentioned and/or portrayed in the movie?

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HIST 1301

Movie Response Questions

The movies that we watch in this class are meant to give you a better understanding of the ways in which movie makers use history to entertain and, at the same time, to influence the public’s view of historical events. When you watch movies in this class you need to pay close attention not only to the story but the historical events that are being depicted. You are to look beyond the superficial action and try to see how the movie presents and shapes history for the watching public.

You will answer the same questions for each movie that you watch in this class.

– Watch the movie carefully and answer the following questions. Please make sure to include as much information as possible.

  1. Write down the main characters as the movie progresses. Make sure to also write down
    defining characteristics. What are their motivations? How do these characters represent
    people who could have lived during the historical period that is depicted in the movie?
    (HINT: You may have to watch the entire movie before answering these questions.)
  2. Where does the action take place? How and why are those locations important? Do they
    match what you read in your textbook? How?
  3. What historical events are mentioned and/or portrayed in the movie?
  4. What important historical details are included in the movie? How do they help to make
    the movie more authentic and interesting?
  5. How did the class readings and videos help you to understand the movie? Do you think
    that you would have understood the movie as well as you did without preparation? Do
    you think that the average movie goer would have understood the movie in the same
    way? Why or why not?