FILM STUDIES

 

Unit One Worksheet: Form, Narrative, and Meaning

 
Fill in the blanks: 


1. A film structured around _________ focuses the audience’s attention on what happens. 


2. Conflict in film is __________ and __________. 


3. A film centered on a moral or philosophical riddle communicates primarily through ____________ or ____________. 


4. ____________ are repeated images, patterns and ideas. 


5. __________  _________ in a film refer to what viewers want or need to believe is true. 


6. The _____________ of a story centers primarily on probability and necessity. 


7. We make assumptions about characters/actors when they appear on screen according to their _____________, ___________, _____________, ____________   ___________, and ____________. 


8. __________  characters are two-dimensional, predictable, but not realistic. 


9. __________  irony requires the audience to have knowledge that is denied to the characters in a film. 


10. An old man dying in a maternity ward or a baby being born in a cemetery is an example of irony of  _____________. 


11. The compositional elements of a visual arts film employ all of the following: __________, __________, __________ and __________. 


12. Usually a film begins with the work of a _______________ . 


13. A set of elements in a film that depend on and affect one another is called a ___________. 


14. ______________ is created in a film by a delay in fulfilling an established expectation. 


15. All of the following are considered to be film forms and meanings: ____________, ___________, ______________, ______________, _____________. 


16. An ___________  meaning is an openly asserted meaning. 


17. ____________  meaning can lead an audience to come up with broad concepts for a film called theme or message.

18. A ____________  meaning is a manifestation of a wider set of values characteristic of a culture/society. 


19. The main way an audience is able to predict the outcome of a film is based on characters of a film’s __________. 


20. An example of ___________  meaning is: “A girl dreams of leaving home to escape her troubles. Only after she leaves does she realize how much she loves her family and friends.” 


21. An example of ______________  meaning is “In the Depression, a tornado takes a girl from her family’s Kansas farm to the mythical land of OZ. After a series of adventures, she returns home.” 


22. An example of _____________  meaning is “In a society where human worth is measured by money, the home and the family may see to be the last refuge of human values-especially during the Depression.” 


23. An example of ____________  meaning is “An adolescent who must soon face the adult world yearns for a return to the simple world of childhood, but she eventually accepts the demands of growing up.” 


24. Films create mystery by keeping __________ from the viewer and only presenting __________. 


25. ____________ and ___________ are both part of the convention of time or temporal order. 


26. Change in  _____________ is the most common pattern of plot development. 


27. A unique way to explain the __________  of narration is to use who knows what when techniques. 


28. “__________  _____  __________” like Groundhog Day appeal to the way people think in ordinary life. 


29. A  film’s  ______________ manipulates the audience’s degree and the __________  of knowledge. 


30. Character ____________ can be unrestricted, restricted, subjective, and /or objective.  


31. An important trait that functions to get the narrative moving is the character’s _________ / _________.

32 All of the following are part of great stories and scripts: ______,  _______, and  ______. 


33. Depth of Narration is related to ___________ and ___________  points of view.

34. ____________  _______________  ____________  is characterized by cause and effect, natural looking editing, objective narration, and a strong sense of closure. 


35. ABACA is another way to describe _________,___________, and __________. 


36. Explaining why any element (a costume, lighting, camera angles, etc.) is used in the film and how it creates meaning is called ______________. 


37. When all relationships we perceive within a film are clear and economically interwoven, we say that the film _______  __________  _______  ____  ___________. 


38. If a story is to be considered good, it must first contain the following elements: It must be interesting, simple but _______________ . 


39. ____  __________  ______ means to begin in the middle. 


40. A _______ is a contrasting character. 


41. A _________ character doesn’t change 


42. ____________  value of an object in a film comes from value placed on it by a character, musical emphasis and context. 


43. “How do we work out complex problems between us” This concept is explored in the films The Notebook and When Harry Met Sally. Both of these films are excellent examples of the _____________ _____  _________  _______________. 


44. Run Lola Run/ Memento/ Groundhog Day- What is it all about? Who are we? Why are we here? These types of films deal with _________  ____  ______________  __________. 


45. “The love of money is the root of all evil.” How do we make the right choices of good over evil? The films Wall Street and Constantine both contain these types of ________  _______________. 


46. Lord of the Flies- “What are we like deep down inside?” This type of story explores the truth about __________  ____________. 


47. Rocky and On the Waterfront- How can we find respect and worth in a difficult situation? Both films represent _____________  ______  ___________  ____________. 


48. The film Crash is a __________  ______________ picture that explores the question “How can we improve as a society and better our institutions?” 


49. How do we grow, learn, and change? Finding Nemo and The Wizard of Oz are both ___________  _____  ______ stories. 


50. _______ refers to arrangement of the material in the film and the _________ refers to sum of the total events in a narrative. 
 


Short Answers: 


  • Explain the elements of a good story. Unity?
  • What are hooks, segments, scenes, transitions, macrostructure, and microstructure?
  • How does the form/structure create the meaning?
  • How is depth different from range?
  • Explain 4 V’s: voyeuristic, visceral, vicarious, and verisimilitude.
  • Explain 3 truths (external, internal, and artistic).
  • Explain spatial, temporal, and logical/causal structure.
  • Explain linear vs. non-linear structure.
  • Explain 6 types of conflicts. Discuss equilibrium, disruption, characters, and goals in your response.
  • Explain the types of characterization.
  • Explain the types of Irony? Types of symbolism?
  • How are repetition and parallelism used in a film? Explain motif.
  • How is classical Hollywood Cinema different from films now?’
 
 
 
Films

  • Wizard of Oz
  • Juno
  • Usual Suspects
  • Groundhog Day
  • Memento
  • Run Lola Run
  • Frailty
  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  • The Prestige
  • National Treasure
  • Shakespeare in Love
  • Jerry McGuire
  • 6th Sense
  • Truman Show
  • A Beautiful Mind
  • Love Actually
  • The Notebook
  • Gone Baby Gone
  • Mystic River
  • Good Will Hunting
  • Lucky # Slevin
  • Jacob’s Ladder
  • Crash
  • Arlington Road
  • The Game
  • Goodfellas
  • Finding Neverland
  • 11:14
  • Snatch
  • Primal Fear
  • Back to the Future
  • Sleepers
  • Forrest Gump
  • Vanilla Sky
  • Syriana
  • Munich
  • Minority Repost
  • Timecode
  • Sliding Doors
  • Dark City
  • Star Wars
  • Jaws
  • Shawshank Redemption

QUESTIONS FOR ANALYING THEME

Picture

On Theme and Focus
What is the film’s primary focus: plot, emotional effect or mood, character, style or texture or structure, or ideas? On the basis of your decision, answer one of these questions:



1. If the film’s primary concern is plot, summarize the action abstractly in a single sentence or a short paragraph.

2. If the film is structured around a mood or emotional effect, describe the mood or feeling that it attempts to convey.

3. If the film’s focus is on a single unique character, describe the unusual aspects of his or her personality.

4. If the film seems to be built upon a unique style or texture or structure, describe the qualities that contribute to the special look or feel of the film.

5. If the film’s primary focus is an idea, answer these questions:

a. What is the true subject of the film? What is it really about in abstract terms? Identify the abstract subject in a single word or phrase.

b. What comment or statement does the film make about the subject? If possible, formulate a sentence that accurately summarizes the idea dramatized by the film. 


On Identifying the Theme

1. Although a director may attempt to do several things with a film, one goal usually stands out as most important. Decide which of the following was the director’s primary aim, and give reasons for your choice.

a. providing pure entertainment-that is, temporary escape from the real world

b. developing a pervasive mood or creating a single, specialized emotional effect

c. providing a character sketch of a unique, fascinating personality

d. creating a consistent, unique feel or texture by weaving all of the complex elements of film together into a one-of-a-kind film experience

e. criticizing society and social institutions and increasing the viewer’s awareness of a social problem and the need for reform

f. providing insights into human nature (demonstrating what human beings in general are like)

g. creating a moral or philosophical riddle for the viewer to ponder

h. making a moral implication to influence the viewer’s values or behavior

i. dramatizing one or more characters’ struggle for human dignity against tremendous odds

j. exploring the complex problems and pleasures of human relationships

k. providing insight into a growth experience, the special kinds of situations or conflicts that cause important changes in the character or characters involved.

2. Which of the items listed in the previous question seem important enough to qualify as secondary aims? 


On Evaluating the Theme

1. Is the film’s basic appeal to the intellect, to the funny bone, to the moral sense, or to the aesthetic sense? Is it aimed primarily at the groin (the erotic sense), the viscera (blood and guts), the heart, the yellow streak down the back, or simply the eyes? Support your choice with specific examples from the film.

2. How well does your statement of the film’s theme and focus stand up after your have thoroughly analyzed all elements of the film?

3. To what degree is the film’s theme universal? Is the theme relevant to your own experience? How?

4. If you think the film makes  significant statement, why is it significant?

5. Decide whether the film’s theme is intellectually or philosophically interesting, or self-evident and boring, and defend your decision.

6. Does the film have the potential to become a classic? Will people still be watching it twenty years from today? Why?



QUESTIONS FOR ANALYZING FICTIONAL AND DRAMATIC ELEMENTS 
On Story

How does the film stack up against the five characteristics of a good story?

1. How well is it unified in plot or storyline?

2. What makes the story credible? Pick out specific scenes to illustrate the kinds of truth that are stressed by film:

a. objective truth, which follows the observable laws of probability and necessity

b. subjective, irrational, and emotional inner truths of human nature

c. the semblance of truth created by the filmmaker

3. What makes the film interesting? Where are its high points and its dead spots? What makes you bored by the film as a whole or by certain parts?

4. Is the film a proper blend of simplicity and complexity?

a. How well is the length of the story suited to the limits of the medium?

b. Is the film a simple formula that allows you to predict the outcome at the halfway point, or does it effectively maintain suspense until the very end? If the ending is shocking or surprising, how does it carry out the tendencies of the earlier parts of the story?

c. Where in the film are implication and suggestion effectively employed? Where is the film simple and direct?

d. Is the view of life reflected by the story simple or complex? What factors influenced your answer?

5. How honest and sincere is the film in its handling of emotional material? Where are the emotional effects overdone? Where is understatement used? 


On the Significance of the Title

1. Why is the title appropriate? What does it mean in terms of the whole film?

2. How many different levels of meaning are expressed in the title? How does each level apply to the film as a whole?

3. If the title is ironic, what opposite meanings or contrasts does it suggest?

4. If you recognize th title as being an allusion, why is the work or passage alluded to an appropriate one?

5. If the title calls your attention to a key scene, why is that scene important?

6. How is the title related to the theme? 


On Dramatic Structure

1. does the film use linear (chronological) or nonlinear structure? If it begins with expository material, does it capture your interest quickly enough, or would a beginning “in the middle of things” be better? At what point in the story could an in medias res beginning start?

2. If flashbacks are used, what is their purpose and how effective are they? 


On Conflict 
1. Identify the major conflict.

2. Is the conflict internal (individual against self), external, or a combination of the two? Is it primarily a physical or a psychological conflict?

3. Express the major conflict in general or abstract terms (for example, brains versus brawn, human being(s) against nature).

4. How is the major conflict related to the theme? 
 


On Characterization

1. Identify the central (most important) character or characters. Which characters are static and which are developing? Which characters are flat and which are round?

2. What methods of characterization are employed and how effective are they?

3. Which of the characters are realistic and which are exaggerated for effect?

4. What about each character’s motivation? Which actions grow naturally out of the characters themselves? Where does the filmmaker seem to be manipulating the characters to fit the film’s purpose?

5. What facets of the central character’s personality are revealed by what he or she chooses or rejects?

6. Which minor characters function to bring out personality traits of the major characters, and what do these minor characters reveal?

7. Pick out bits of dialogue, images, or scenes that you consider especially effective in revealing character, and tell why they are effective.

8. Which characters function as stock characters and stereotypes? How can their presence in the film be justified? 


On Symbolism

1. What symbols appear in the film, and what do they represent?

2. What universal or natural symbols are employed? How effective are they?

3. Which symbols derive their meaning solely from their context in the film? How are they charged with symbolic value? (In other words, how do you know they are symbols and how do you arrive at their meaning?)

4. How are the special capabilities of film ( the image, the soundtrack, and the musical score) employed to charge symbols with their meaning?

5. Which symbols fit into a larger pattern or progression with other symbols in the film?

6. How are the major symbols related to the theme?

7. Is the story structured around its symbolic meanings to the extent that it can be called an allegory?

8. Which symbols’ meanings are clear and simple? Which symbols are complex and ambiguous? What gives them this quality?

9. Are visual metaphors employed effectively? Are they primarily extrinsic (imposed artificially on the scene by editing) or intrinsic (a natural part of the setting)? 
10. How fresh and original are the film’s symbols and metaphors? If they seem clichéd or timeworn, where have your encountered them before? 


On Irony

1. What examples of irony can you find in the film?

2. Is irony employed to such a significant degree that the whole film takes on an ironic tone? Is an ironic worldview implied?

3. Do any particular examples of irony achieve comic and tragic effects at the same time?

4. Where in the film is suspense or humor achieved through dramatic irony?

5. How do the ironies contribute to the theme?