B. preparing your film analysis

1. Choose any scene from any film you want. The only restrictions are that the scene chosen should be maximum 5 minutes, and that it should be from an English-speaking film, and in English.
2. One week before your film analysis in class, email me the name of the film and a description of the scene chosen.
3. Analyze how the scene chosen produces its meaning. This meaning can be abstract (“the scene makes a statement about the death penalty”) or emotional (“this scene is very funny”). Your analysis will show what film techniques (lighting, editing, camera movement, music, etc.) were used to communicate this meaning. The meaning should not be a summary of the plot or how the scene advances the plot !
4. Come to class with your scene ready to be shown. Setting up usually takes too long. The best way is to put your scene (or the whole film) on a USB flashdrive to we can play it directly from my computer.

C. your reaction paper

1. Each week a students must write a reaction paper about a film he or she has seen recently.
2. This reaction paper is maximum 2 pages long.
3. It must include the following:

1. 1. A brief summary of the plot (4 lines).
   2. Relevant information about the director, or the stars, or the studio producing it.
   3. A link to the relevant page on http://www.imdb.com
   4. An explanation of what the film is about.
   5. An analysis of how the film achieved (or not) its goals: techniques used, target audience, reaction of the audience in the theater, themes, mood, your personal reaction, etc.
   6. Your reaction paper must be about your reaction to the film, and how the film achieved that reaction.
   7. Your reaction paper will be posted on the class website.