Expert Answers

Choose one meaningful example of how Casablanca employs the continuity style of Classical Hollywood. Include the timecode of the moment you discuss and use the vocabulary you developed in analyzing film form. Showing your attention to the film’s historical context via the reading material will benefit your response. Use at least 250 words to explain your response. Your lecture defined the star images of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Choose a specific moment from Casablanca that exemplifies one of their star personalities and describe why and how using the film's timecode and at least two full sentences.

Choose one meaningful example of how Across 110th Street exemplifies Post-Classical Hollywood style, storytelling, and/or representation in a way that shows attention to the film’s historical context via the lecture. Include the timecode of the moment you discuss and use the vocabulary you developed in analyzing film form during the earlier modules. Use at least 250 words to explain your response. What is an aspect of Across 110th Street that would not have been done in Classical Hollywood? Employ your knowledge of Hollywood history from recent modules to support your answer and incorporate a timecode from Across 110th Street that exemplifies the differences you highlight. Use at least two full sentences to explain your answer.

Please write a response paper of 700-800 words in which you present a critical reading of one film of your choice that we studied in this class so far. Also called a précis, this is an opportunity for you to write a brief, clearly-focused short essay to present a well thought- out, structured argument and analysis in concise style.

Compare Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse with one of the three other periods of Hollywood history we've covered. Using a timecode, select a scene from the film and explain how this scene shows differences from Silent Hollywood, Classical Hollywood, or Post-Classical Hollywood. Complete your answer using at least 250 words and show your knowledge of these periods as presented in readings. What does Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse assume you already know about its intellectual property going into the film? Discuss a specific scene using the film’s timecode to support your answer. Use at least two full sentences to explain your response.

What is an example of psychological causation, authorship, or ambiguity in Chungking Express? Convince me of your knowledge of this term from the reading materials. Include the timecode of the moment you discuss and use the vocabulary you developed in analyzing film form during the earlier modules. Use at least 250 words to explain your response. How is art cinema different from Hollywood in narrative and/or style? Using a timecode, choose a moment from Chungking Express to support your answer. Use at least two full sentences to explain your answer. Focus on a moment in Mississippi Masala (timecode included) where its diverse representation stood out to you and consider it in accordance with the lecture on American Independent Cinema. How is this an example of what independent cinema does differently from Hollywood? What insights do you get about different cultural experiences from this film? Use at least 250 words to explain your response.

How do non-linear storytelling techniques, such as flashbacks or fragmented timelines, influence the audience's understanding of character motivations and themes in a film? Analyze a specific film that uses this approach (e.g., Memento, Pulp Fiction, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and discuss how it shapes the viewer's perception of time, memory, and identity

For your Midterm Paper, please write a well-organized essay of about 800-1000 words that presents a clear argument and comparative analysis of two primary sources. Please focus on doing a close comparative reading of two Hong Kong films of your choice. You may choose two films by the same director or featuring the same actor, or you may choose to compare two very different films. It is important that you relate your close readings of the two films you are focusing on to key themes and concepts that we are discussing in this class. You should also engage the ideas in at least one secondary source. Please submit your complete, correctly formatted essay via Canvas link by Friday, November 15. When writing your essay please keep the following in mind: 1. Construct a clear, well-rounded thesis / argument. 2. Analyze and discuss TWO (2) primary sources (films) within the framework of your central thesis / argument. 3. Integrate and engage ideas in at least ONE (1) secondary source of relevant scholarship or theory. Be sure to acknowledge the author and title of the text(s) you are referring to. 4. Follow correct formatting guidelines (MLA or Chicago Manual of Style) for all references and bibliography (list of works cited).

For this project, you are to write the first act of an original screenplay. You do not have to write out the entire screenplay from start to finish! By an act, I mean a substantial beginning or setup of the film contained in your screenplay that establishes your main character(s), sets up the setting or locale, and gives readers an awareness of the main thesis or conflict of the film to be resolved (or not) in subsequent acts. The screenplay concept must be completely original. It cannot be an adaptation from a book or television show or any other preexisting material. However, while it is important to be creative in this project, your grades will not be based on my subjective appreciation or disapproval of your original ideas. Instead, your project assessment is based upon how well you seem to understand and apply the different aspects of motion picture production in your screenplay, and how well you follow the instructions below. In short, your grade is not dependent on your creative writing skills. In many respects, this project is an evaluation of what you have learned about film from the class. Your screenplay should demonstrate that you considered how dialogue functions in your film, as well as other tools of cinema such as cinematography, the selection of shots and how they will be assembled in the editing room, and mise-en-scene (the sets, costumes, lighting, actors, etc.). As you have hopefully learned from this course, films are comprised of so much more than what the actors are saying on-screen. If your screenplay consists of dialogue only, then it is not really a screenplay! ------------------- It is imperative to use terminology, vocabulary, and concepts that you have learned in this course throughout your screenplay. You are writing a “shooting” script, not a “spec” script. Speculation or “spec” scripts are screenplays written with an intentional vagueness for sales purposes. The production information is not included in the spec screenplay so producers and directors can fill it in as they see fit. In contrast, you are creating a production or “shooting” script. You are the writer and director for this project! Please provide all the camera shots and editing transitions you envision between shots and scenes as well as information about mise-en-scene (costumes, sets, lighting, etc.). If this information is not included, I cannot see your application of what you have learned in class. Let me be clear: This is the most important element of your project. Furthermore, the screenplay must be in screenplay format. There is a specific formatting strategy for screenplays that must be followed to receive credit for the project. I have provided examples in the Important Documents module in Canvas to help you mirror this format. While I do not expect absolute perfection with specifics such as margins or exact placement of page elements, I do need to see that you are trying to mirror the format. If you submit something that does not even closely resemble a script, you will lose points. There are screenplay software applications out there for purchase that you may use but they often will not allow you to output to a word doc or PDF so be careful! I will only accept scripts in .doc, .docx, or .pdf formats; no other format will be graded. However, be aware that there are several ways to write screenplays in Microsoft Word, including templates provided within that program. One final important rule: Screenplay projects must be at least 2,000 words. Before this amount of writing makes you panic, screenplay pages typically hold anywhere from as little as 100 words of dialogue or as much as 300-plus words of dialogue and description. In the provided formatting information, you will see that the writing of dialogue takes up a significant amount of space on a page. ------------------- This project will be difficult, so do not procrastinate! You must learn the formatting and come up with original material, so it is not a good idea to leave this to the end of class. Therefore, I suggest you start writing now. I have placed both a formatting guide AND a few pages of a sample screenplay project written for you in Canvas under the instructions to get you started. Again, I will not accept a late screenplay, so please do not put yourself in a position to not complete this project by the deadline!

Write: Compare and contrast "Two Stage Sisters" and "Yellow Earth" Two major films of Chinese cinema, “Stage Sisters” and “Yellow Earth,” were made 20 years apart in very different political eras, yet share fundamental themes. Compare and contrast the two in terms of character/character development, plot, theme, use of music, and cinematic style. You may want to choose a couple of those subjects of those to focus on, while mentioning others. What do you think was the intent of the director in making these films? Were they influenced by the dictates on art and culture proposed by Mao Zedong in his Yenan talks and which became the standard by which art and culture was measured in post-World War II China? Here is the link to Mao's quotations on Art & Literature from the Little Red Book: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/wor... Finally, which film do you prefer and why? Be specific. Requirements: An essay paper of 4 - 6 double-spaced typewritten pages (there should be at least 4 written pages, or a minimum of 1000 words), with citations in MLA/Chicago style as necessary. Include a bibliography in MLA/Chicago style of sources you have consulted, citing at least three text sources which cannot include the films, our textbook, or Wikipedia. The bibliography page does not count towards required number of written pages

Discussion Board Two Answer questions on the following stories. Your answers should be clear, to the point, based on evidence/examples, and demonstrate your understanding of the story. P.D. James: Post your answers to the questions on the two P.D. James stories, EITHER all the questions on the two stories in "THE MISTLETOE MURDERS" OR all the questions from the two stories in "SLEEP NO MORE." (25% for each story.) Ring Lardner: Answer questions on the Ring Lardner story, "Haircut." . Pick one question to answer, 1 OR 2, and then answer questions A-E for that question. (25%) Dashiell Hammett: Answer questions on the Dashiell Hammett story, "The Gutting of Couffignal." Pick one question to answer, 1 OR 2, and then answer questions A-E for that question. (25%) You will also post a Reply comment on two other students' posts. (You will get full credit OR up to -10 points off for missing or incorrect Reply posts) 1) P.D. JAMES "THE MISTLETOE MURDERS" OR. "SLEEP NO MORE" IF YOU PICK "THE MISTLETOE MURDERS" DO BOTH P.D. James “The Boxdale Inheritance” 25% AND "The Twelve Clues of Christmas" 25% (see below) A) Answer the following questions on "The Boxdale Inheritence" Your answers should be clear, to the point, based on evidence/examples, and demonstrate your understanding of the story. 1- Detectives look for motive, means and opportunity in a murder. Discuss these here. A- Who has the most obvious motive? Why? Who lacks an apparent motive? Why? B- What was the means of murder here? There are actually two means/reasons for the death. What are they? C- Which suspects lack an opportunity to carry out the murder? How do we know? D- Who finally figures out who had the means, motive, and opportunity? How? Who was morally responsible, who did it, and why? E- How was the criminal punished? What did Dalgliesh tell the Canon? Do you agree with his decision? Explain. B) Answer the following questions on “The Twelve Clues of Christmas” 25% Answer the following questions on "The Twelve Clues of Christmas" Your answers should be clear, to the point, based on evidence/examples, and demonstrate your understanding of the story. Detectives look for means, motive, and opportunity in a murder. Discuss these here. A- Who are the suspects? Who has an obvious motive here? Who lacks an apparent motive (at first?) Why? B- What was the means of murder here? Who does or doesn’t have an opportunity to carry out the murder? C- What narrative voice is used? Who is the narrator? D- If this is a genre story, what stage is it in? (Primitive, classic, revisionist, parody?) Explain why. E- Explain five clues that Dalgliesh comes up with. Why are there so many clues? IF YOU PICK "SLEEP NO MORE" DO BOTH P.D. JAMES "The Yo-Yo" 25% AND "The Murder of Santa Claus" (25%) Answer the following questions on "The Yo-Yo." Your answers should be clear, to the point, based on evidence/examples, and demonstrate your understanding of the story. A- What narrative voice is used in this story? Who is the narrator at the time he tells the story, and why does he tell this story? B- What are the means, motive and opportunity for the murder? C- Who witnesses the murder, and what happens as a result? D- What happens to the murderer in the end? E- What crime is the narrator guilty of? What does he think of the murder and his role when he looks back at it? Answer the following questions on "The Murder of Santa Claus. " Your answers should be clear, to the point, based on evidence/examples, and demonstrate your understanding of the story. A- What narrative voice is used in this story? Describe the narrator at the time he tells the story, and describe him at the time the story took place. B- What are the means, motive and opportunity for the murder? C- Who witnesses the murder, and what happens as a result? What happened to the murderer? D- Who are the "red herrings" in the story, and what happens to them? E- Who is the narrator at the very end of the story? Why do you think the narrative voice switched? C) Ring Lardner “Haircut” 25% Answer ONE of the following questions (1 OR 2). Answer A-E for your queestion. 1) Characterization: A- There are four main characters: Jim Kendell, Doc Stair, Julie Gregg and Paul Dickson. Who are they, and what are they like? B- What does the narrator think of them? C- What do you think of them? Why? D- How does this influence our understanding of the killing? E- Was the killing intentional, or not, in your view? Explain. OR 2) The details of the killing: A- The narrator explains the killing as an accident. Who is killed, and who does the killing? B- What are the means, motive and opportunity if this was murder instead of an accident? C- To what extent is the murder justified, or understandable? Why was the killer considered not guilty of murder? Who decided, and why? D- What clues suggest that the killing was not an accident? E- Would you consider the killer guilty of murder? Who else might be responsible, and why? Explain. D) Dashiell Hammett “The Gutting of Couffignal” 25% Answer ONE of the following questions (1 OR 2). Answer A-E for your question. 1- The setting: A- Where is Couffignal? What sort of community is it? What social commentary is included in this description? B- What has the detective been hired to do here? What does that say about the community? C- How does he re-define his role, and why? What does that redefinition of his role say about him? D- Who is guilty, of what crimes? What are the means, motive, opportunity? E- What other, later detectives behave in the same way: examples from fiction or films? OR 2- Solving the mystery A- What crimes are committed, and how? B- Who committed the crimes? C- How are the criminals characterized: what are they like, and how do we know? D- What is the motive for committing the crimes? E- What does the detective think of these criminals, and how does he show it? What does this say about the criminals’ view of society, and his?