Analyzing Cinematic Techniques and Themes in Film – Essay, Singapore

University National University of Singapore (NUS)
Subject Film Studies

Final Essay Assignment

The final essay assignment requires you to apply a particular approach covered in the second half of the module to a film of your choice (you MUST pick a film OUTSIDE the module syllabus). You are expected to construct an argument within your chosen framework that you will support with detailed cinematic analysis.

Choose ONE of the following topics:

1. Film and Authorship

Apply the Auteur approach to any film of your choice. Remember that to do so effectively, you need to familiarize yourself with the filmmaker’s body of work so that you can effectively examine and consider his/her “signature style” as well as consistent thematic concerns. Please ensure that your argument extends beyond a claim that “this auteur’s film fits within his larger oeuvre”. So, you might want to choose a film that doesn’t initially appear to fit within the filmmaker’s oeuvre, to argue that in fact, it still does; or you might wish to argue that the director’s signature style and themes evolved over his body of work, or changed with a specific film.

2. Film and Genre

Apply the genre approach to a film of your choice. Clearly, you should consider what genre the film belongs to (in some cases, the film could arguably conform to a combination of genres). You might want to consider how the film manipulates the different aspects of film style to conform to, deviate from, update, or “play” with familiar genre conventions. You should then construct an argument from that perspective. Do remember to support your argument with the relevant cinematic analysis.

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3. Film and Spectatorship

Apply Mulvey’s theory of gendered spectatorship to any film of your choice. Remember that you will need to identify the key arguments related to Mulvey’s notion of spectatorship and consider how these qualities are expressed or re-negotiated in the film’s content and aesthetic choices. You should critically examine how the film’s cinematic aspects shape the cinematic spectacle as it relates to issues of gender and looking. As Mulvey’s focus is on the mainstream Hollywood cinema of the classical studio era, you might wish to construct an argument that examines films outside of this category and demonstrate whether or not her theory still holds and why.

Things to bear in mind:

  • The challenge is in constructing a focused, valid argument and providing a coherent, sustained analysis that supports that argument.
  • Hence, your essay should focus on providing a detailed and well-developed analysis of the film’s cinematic elements that support the claim you are making about the sequence, and by extension the film.
  • Given the length limitations, you should center your argument around the analysis of AT LEAST ONE relevant short sequence drawn from the film of your choice.
  • DO NOT simply offer a general impression of the movie as your argument. For instance, don’t simply describe the “story” of the film but instead examine and comment on how editing and mise-en-scène (or any other techniques that you find interesting in the sequence):
    • reflect and reveal something significant about the signature style and theme(s) of the director/auteur;
    • demonstrate how the film adopts and adapts the genre’s conventions in interesting ways;
    • help shape and/or complicate the film’s spectatorial conventions and gender negotiations.
  • Begin your paper with a clear and concise statement of your argument and then support that argument with a focused and detailed analysis of the cinematic techniques within a sequence that best reflects your main claims.
  • Remember also to provide sufficient narrative context to ground your discussion and argument, i.e. you should assume that your reader is not familiar with the film you have chosen.

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