Scene Analysis (25%)

Scene Analysis
Students are asked to write a short scene analysis (750-1250 words/3>5 pages) on a film screened in class. Like the commentaries, the analysis should focus on the relationship of the scene to the film and be concerned with how the stylistic approach adopted by the filmmaker serves to advance the story’s themes. Hence the paper should be concerned equally, if not more with the filmic elements (image/sound/staging) rather than the literary aspects of the film (script or dialogue).

Ask yourself what the film is about and how/why the filmmaker has approached the subject the way s/he has? Which scenes are key to the film? How do these scenes contribute to the film’s overall sensibility? What images stay in your mind as significant? What do they mean?

Begin with a brief introduction that succinctly summarizes the film story and then situate the key scene(s) in relationship to the film’s themes and/or approach. Is it a beginning scene or an end scene? Does it occur at a critical juncture in the story’s unfolding? Next, describe and analyze the scene in terms of key incidents, repeated motifs and style. Finally, interpret the scene in terms of the stated thesis (how the scene presents the ideas of the film). The summary should restate your introductory thesis in a new way.