All Extra Credit Due by our last day of class (not including the final.)

Paper length: One to two full pages, double-spaced, font size 12. Must be exactly this length.

Requirements: Watch a film of your choice; this must be showing at a movie theater of a film you have not seen before. Only watch it once. Write the paper within 24 hours of seeing the film, preferably immediately—as if you are a film critic writing for a publication and your deadline is the next day.

Write the paper as a critique with our class as your intended reader, and include a recommendation to either see or not see the film. You may use or invent a rating system as in “thumbs up” or “5 stars.”

Use terminology learned from the class to critique the film as follows:

1. Form: Identify dominant or overriding style choices (realism/antirealism/formalism) made by the director. Include cinematography, mise en scene, sound, editing, movement and anything else that contributes to the cohesion of the style, and the statement of the work. This portion of the paper should be concerned with formal analysis, not content. Credit the director by name.

2. Narrative: Briefly discuss the story, but do not write a synopsis or regurgitate the plot. Is it a genre film? If so, which genre and why? Consider what the theme and statement of the movie might be. What is it about in a large sense? How does it relate to our culture, or politics, and how does the film function as a work of art or piece of entertainment, or both? This portion of the paper is concerned with content.

3. Critique any other elements of the film that have particular impact (either positive or negative) including acting, writing, directing, visual elements, music, FX, cinematography, etc. Credit by name any artists you critique.

A bit of research might help, particularly if the screenplay is an adaptation of another work, or if the director or star actor/s have a body of work that contributes to this particular film. It would also be helpful to read some reviews of other films to get a sense of how to write in this style. All sources must be properly cited, and an additional works cited page is required if you are citing sources.

You may write the paper in 1st or 3rd person (NOT IN 2nd PERSON!) Use correct grammar and spelling (e.g., underline or italicize names of movies.) I will be using software to check for plagiarism so cite sources properly, and make the work your own.