You should consider critically the FINAL section of the film Gattaca as captured in the URL in the ‘Gattaca Assessment Task’ folder. You can find this folder under the ‘Assessment Information and Help’ button on the left of the Blackboard site.
The section you are asked to look at begins at 3:45 (that is 3 minutes and 45 seconds into the clip), AFTER Dr Lamar says, ‘You don’t wanna miss your flight, Vincent’. Do not include his speech in your analysis. Here is the URL

https://vimeo.com/125111596

You are encouraged to come up with your own interpretation of this sequence in terms of the notion of the constructed fictive self. You should focus on how cinematic techniques and properties help create a sense of identity. Because you have a tight word limit you need to think carefully about what to include or exclude, what to emphasize and what to downplay.

Do not include secondary reading in your answer. For this first exercise we want you to express your thoughts, to have confidence in your own critical abilities. (Later assessment tasks will allow you to bring in the ideas of others.)

You should focus as much as possible on this short sequence. The next piece of assessment, the essay, will give you an opportunity, if you wish, to consider larger themes and questions in Gattaca. You will also be given the choice in that essay to write on texts other than Gattaca, if you wish.

Here are some things you might consider:

How identity is presented and assessed individually and generally
How the narrative conclusion confirms and/or changes notions of identity
How genre informs and encourages certain expectations
The use of music
The use of sound
The use of colour
The mood created
Imagery and symbolism
Ambiguity
Continued over page
Parallels and contrasts
The use of particular shots (close ups, medium shots, long shots) and the connections between shots
Voiceover

Please do NOT use the suggestions above as a checklist that you run through in order. (You don’t have the space, in any case.) These suggestions are NOT exhaustive and you might plausibly feel that you can add an important missing element or elements. Many of these and other elements work simultaneously, sometimes in harmony, at other times by way of contrast.

You are encouraged to write coherently, fluently and persuasively. Again, the tight word limit requires that you maintain focus, but within that confirmed space you can write with energy, clarity and wit. Pay attention not just to what you say, but to how you say it.