Category: Film

Write a book report response paper about David Cook’s A History Of Narrative Film book on the chapters of 1940’s to 1970’s. 
Here’s a link to the book: 
https://archive.org/details/a-history-of-narrative-film-by-david-a.-cook/page/393/mode/2up

Write a book report about the particular era of French New Wave cinema. Make sure to include examples of French New wave films as well as directors.  
Here’s a link to Richard Neupert’s A History of the French New Wave Cinema Book. 
https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_the_French_New_Wave_Cinema/OIp7bDHNDs8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover

Please prepare a 2-page essay for 3 question sets (6 pages max). You can choose the first two from several options and your third is required for everyone to answer.
Read, and re-read the questions carefully, as you formulate your responses. Each essay is worth up to 33 points (everyone will get 1 free point); make an effort to write in an organized and substantive manner to fulfill as much of the point total as you can.
The Midterm Exam must be typed, double-spaced, and submitted/uploaded at our 165D Canvas Course Site by Wednesday, May 15. You may use your notes and consult the readings in preparing your essay answers. Talking with classmates to develop ideas can be useful and productive, but your writing must be original work. Re-viewing the visual/media material will definitely be helpful.
CHOOSE TWO question sets to write a response to from the following:
A)  Compose a short essay involving Renee Tajima’s historical overview and analysis of Asian American Independent Filmmaking and Peter Feng’s writing, employing his chapter on Chan Is Missing and/or recalling how he defines “Asian American” and “Asian American Cinema” as laid out in lecture. What are the two stages that Asian American cinema has gone through? Elaborate upon them, and provide examples. How are these films expressly political? Name the particular characteristics in the Asian American film movements (developed in the 1960s and 1970s). What is the “anti-slick” approach to filmmaking, and the “politics of the imperfect aesthetic” that Tajima discusses? Three areas of concern are: funding, audience, venue; what are ways that you see the “watershed” film of the 1980s, Chan Is Missing, engaged with these concerns? What is Feng’s main argument in “Being Chinese American, Becoming Asian American”? How does he suggest we understand the contested term, “Asian-American” and why? One of the key objectives in forging Asian American cinema/media is to conceptualize and materialize subjectivity – what does it mean to have subjectivity (in a film or story)? Finally, respond to Tajima’s critique that the work of Asian American filmmakers gets “defined by thematic, not cinematic, significance” – that is, there is a false dichotomy between politics and art. What are examples you can identify from films/examples we have seen in class where the thematic is linked to the aesthetic or cinematic (not separated)? Consider especially: My America: Or Honk if you Love Buddha, The Grace Lee Project, All Orientals Look the Same, and/or Chan Is Missing (you can draw from other pieces if you choose).
B)  Define Orientalism. Explain how is it about control? What is an ‘Other’? Illustrate examples of Orientalism, in specific terms, from films such as (including though not limited to): Broken Blossoms, The World of Suzie Wong, clips from The Slanted Screen and/or Slaying the Dragon; you might also want to refer to mainstream U.S. media
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depictions related to the Vietnam War. Scholar and critic Eugene Franklin Wong (who is seen in the documentary, Slaying the Dragon) argues that stereotypes have marketability – what do you think this means? Furthermore, why is Wong concerned about how (the lack of) knowledge influences the creation of images and stories? Define controlling images. How are controlling images part of an Orientalist discourse? Elaborate upon at least one an example. Compare the key points in John Tchen’s essay about the portrayal of the Chinese man in Broken Blossoms with Ono and Pham’s Chapter 2 (about Yellow Peril); how would you describe the two approaches and how they differ? Similarly, Gina Marchetti’s chapter about the White Knight and Peter Feng’s Nancy Kwan-dary analyze the representation of Asian women in relationship with Western white men, though Feng’s piece offers, potentially, a more optimistic/empowered view. Explain how so, by outlining their key points. Finally, using Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding model, can you describe what a dominant, negotiated, or oppositional viewing experience of The World of Suzie Wong might be like?
C) Consider the following points of analysis by Anne Cheng, and then respond to some of the discussion questions about the film in your own written voice. Flower Drum Song: is a morality play about national identity; offers multiple narratives (diegetic, narrative, choreographic, musical) that tell very different stories about that identity; the film “astonishes simply because it fills the stage with Asian-looking bodies…. I propose that this visual impact complicates, rather than confirms, the Orientalist fantasy that this movie is supposed to offer. For the ‘real’ Asian bodies solicited to ‘play themselves,’ far from granting substance to the fiction, heighten the instability underlying such efforts of delineation.” The “visage of citizenship” (the face of ‘American’) is the question that raises anxiety that must be – according to both film and psychoanalytic theory – anxiety must be allayed. “…it is the very mode of that anxiety on which a peculiar form of melancholic national identity – what will be called ‘Asian Americaness’ – gets born.” Cheng’s main understanding of Flower Drum Song is that it represents Asian Americaness and Asian American identity, as melancholic, depressed, abject, and in the end, impossible (i.e., Helen Chao). The discussion questions are posted in Canvas; you are welcome to discern from the list a few you want to write responses to.
D) What does giving Don Bonus a camera allow him to do? Describe the way that he films his home and school; describe the emotions he expresses, mediated by the presence of the camera. What kind of storyteller would you describe him as? How is aka Don Bonus counterhegemonic, an example of presenting a counternarrative and countermemory? How is The Story of Vinh similar? What is the difference between an immigrant and a refugee? In The Story of Vinh, what are the competing narratives being offered? Why do you think Don has more agency than Vinh? Why do the two stories – and the two young men – come across so differently (even if both films are made by Asian American filmmakers)? What are the structural and directorial differences? Discuss the ending of each film, and how each (ideologically) concludes ~ i.e., the politics of the happy ending. What did you hear and learn about the context of militarism in The Story of Vinh and/or aka Don Bonus? How would you connect The Story of Vinh to another film you have seen in 165D?
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E)  How do you see that ‘memory’ is produced? How do Janice Tanaka (Who’s Going To Pay for These Donuts, Anyway?) and/or Tad Nakamura (Pilgirmage) challenge or critique the cause for the loss of memory, the denial of memory? How does this then give their films – and their filmmaking process/project/effort – political as well as personal and artistic significance? What is the relationship between history and memory that both Who’s Going to Pay for These Donuts, Anyway? and Pilgrimage portray? How do these films produce counter memory/ies? Kent Ono understands spectatorship as participatory (not passive or simply observatory). What does it mean to you to be a witness? Who Killed Vincent Chin? is also about memory and the experience of “historical consciousness.” Bill Nichols in his essay argues for the importance of collage as a crucial technique for representing the case of Vincent Chin. From your viewing experience of the film, how is this collage presented, what is its impact on you, and to what extent does such collage help you understand (if it does) the causes of Chin’s death? Does this skillful collage make the film feel less or more like a documentary? As with Renee Tajima-Pena’s film, My America: Or Honk if You Love Buddha, what are some cinematic and artistic techniques that Who Killed Vincent Chin? employs that make it an uncommon and innovative documentary? Describe how you respond to Who’s Going to Pay for These Donuts, Anyway? and Pilgrimage as social documentaries.
F)  One of three key arguments in Asian Americans and the Media, by Kent Ono and Vincent Pham (as laid out in Chapter 1) is that a critical intervention into media is possible. What are the other two? What is the methodology that the authors utilize in their project? Why do you think this approach is useful or necessary? Ono and Pham articulate two statements in setting up a theoretical framework, explain each of the two following quotations:
“Our overall theory about how media operate with regard to Asian Americans is that, because of a lack of systemic power within mainstream media production, they typically appear in ways that comport with colonial representations …” and “Such images … also have a mass psychological effect within US society; more importantly, these images are part of a history of image-making and story-production linked to historical and continuing systems of oppression.”
Respond to the question that Ono and Pham raise in the introductory chapter of our course textbook: “Do TV, film, and other media systems play an important role in maintaining a racialized social order …?” You can invoke examples from class as well as from outside of class if you like. Finally, thinking about the documentaries in particular about Hollywood – Slaying the Dragon about the patterns of representation of Asians and Asian American women in particular, and The Slanted Screen: Asian Men in Film and Television – what might you identify as a factor in the lack of significant change in the representation of Asian Americans?
Remember, you can write approximately 2 pages per Exam Question, and you can strive to organize your responses in a way that flows.
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REQUIRED QUESTION for Everyone:
Who Killed Vincent Chin? is about one of the most important civil rights cases involving Asian Americans. It is a key film and cultural text, which is successful not only in its cinematic and story-telling achievements but also as a political documentary. Address the questions below in prose form; that is, organize your thoughts and outline a plan to write a short essay about the film, Who Killed Vincent Chin? Ideally, you can foreground a main thesis, and incorporate many of the following:
What is the significance or rhetorical function of the title as mode of address?
Describe the uniqueness of the film form, of WKVC? and what effect/effectiveness it
produces? For example, how does WKVC? “derail narrative without destroying it?”
What does having no narrator serve to do?
What position are you, the viewer, placed in?
How – and why, does WKVC? present/propose alternative knowledge?
Do you think alternative forms of storytelling must be used (not classical, linear narrative)
to represent stories about Asian Americans? Why or why not?
Identify one or two examples of a cut or juxtaposition that affected you in viewing the
film, and explain the close analysis.
How do you feel, how do you react to the close-up shots of the interview with Ron
Ebens? With Lily Chin?
What is the role of African Americans in this film? Who are they?
What made this a difficult case to win? First as a civil case, then as a federal Civil Rights
case?
Ron Ebens may not be ‘a racist,’ but how is he in a position of ‘white’/race privilege –
What defines his whiteness?
Think about the concept that this was a “tragic accident.” And think about Ebens and his
family and friends. How, in their minds, was this something “that just happened”?…
Ask yourself: Would Vincent Chin have been beaten to death in the manner that he was
if he was white? Would Ron Ebens and his son have gotten off, found “not guilty,” if they were Black? Respond to the question that the film reiterates as the official legal dilemma: “Was it a case of racism, or a barroom brawl?”
Finally, relate WKVC? to at least one other film you have seen in 165D so far. EXTRA CREDIT (5 points). Answer in a few sentences:
Describe what Dumbfoundead performs and critiques in “Safe”? What cinematic techniques does he employ and what is the effect? How is the music video counter- hegemonic? Why do you think Dumbfoundead’s song is called, “Safe?” What image/moment stays with you, and why?
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Visual Texts (through Week 6):
All Orientals Look the Same (1986), and Black Sheep (1990), Valerie Soe The Grace Lee Project (2005), Grace Lee
My America … or Honk if You Love Buddha (1997), Renee Tajima-Pena Seeking Asian Female (2012), Debbie Lum
Slaying the Dragon (1988), Deborah Gee
The Slanted Screen: Asian Men in Film & Television (2006), Jeff Adachi
Profiles in Science (2002), Wes Kim
Broken Blossoms (1919), D.W. Griffith
Monday (2017), Dinh Thai
a.k.a. Don Bonus (1995), Spencer Nakasako and Sokly Ny
Yellow Brotherhood (2004), Tad Nakamura
The World of Suzie Wong (1960), Richard Quine, with Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006 ), Justin Lin Flower Drum Song (1961), Henry Koster
Forbidden City, U.S.A. (1989) Arthur Dong
Chan is Missing (1981), Wayne Wang
Another America (1996), Michael Cho
Mele Murals ( 2016), Tad Nakamura
Pilgrimage (2007), Tad Nakamura
Who’s Going to Pay for These Donuts Anyway? (1992), Janice Tanaka
Who Killed Vincent Chin? (1987) Christine Choy and Renee Tajima
The Story of Vinh ( 1990), Keiko Tsuno

If you need a link to the two movies let me know.
This is a 500 – 750 word* assignment where you will make a focused, researched argument based on one of the questions listed below:
Promt:
Both Blood Quantum and Atlantics present para- and post-colonial zombie/possession narratives that critique not only larger colonial systems but intra-communal violences — patriarchal and misogynist violences in particular. Choose one of these films and select a scene that captures some of these nuances. How do the directors develop visual, sonic or formal queues to support the political or social themes they’re developing? Remember to choose a reading from the syllabus when building your thesis.
You are required to:
Have a thesis statement that states your argument, the conceptual frameworks or terms you’re using and the scene you’ve chosen to focus on in a clear and concise manner.
Discuss one scene of the film you’ve chosen that demonstrates your argument particularly well.
Although you should only discuss one scene of the film, you are required to watch the film in full and you must demonstrate that you know the basic facts of the film, filmmaker and the period in which the film was created.  You should be able to identify the actors and the names of the characters they are playing, if relevant.  
Discuss one formal quality of this sequence. [Example: mise-en-scene, lighting, sound, composition, editing, frame rate, deep focus, camera movement] *Please note, if you are not a film major, you are responsible for consulting the resources listed below and reaching out to schedule a meeting during office hours ahead of time in order to address questions and concerns.
Include one sources from the course reading materials. You should demonstrate that you understand the concepts and points of the reading, using direct quotes and summarizing their meaning in your own words.
Demonstrate a clear understanding of how your argument fits into the historical, cultural or social context of this film. You should consult lecture materials, course readings and supplemental readings.
*All written work will be double-spaced, written in Times New Roman 12-point, and use standard margins. Proofread your work for grammatical and spelling errors. 
*Essays longer than 750 words will be penalized 1 point for each word over the limit. If you can’t make your argument in the space provided, reduce the scope of your argument.
Each assignment will also have a correctly formatted works cited page that includes citations for any films and texts cited, paraphrased, or consulted.  All written work will use current MLA formatting for analysis essays including in-text parenthetical citations.

Your third  paper is a formal research paper that will rely on your using scholarly  sources to help you forward your argument.
You will select one film from the film list on your Canvas page, and you will make an argument about what the film proposes. In other words, you will put forth an argument based on the content of the film. For example, if I were using the film Guess Who as my primary source, I might argue that the film addresses the topic of masculinity in America. I might elaborate on that topic to argue that  the film establishes a battle between the older more established power of whiteness and the younger  more nascent power of blackness to conclude that the era of the 1960s has fundamentally changed the character of American masculinity.  
Your job is to find a discussion in your film that you would like to engage and pursue.  
Think about the following:
1. What  topic does the film discuss?
2. How does it approach the topic?
3.  What position does the film take?
4. What literary theory might be best to approach this film? (feminsim, marxisim, queer theory, cultural studies, psycholoanalytical) 
You will present your argument about your film in a clear and scholarly manner, using vetted secondary sources that speak to the topic . 
I would like your paper to submit to the following basic guidelines: 
Approximately five to six pages in length. You must have at least five five complete pages.  You can stop anywhere on page 6. 
must have an abstract
double space
12 font
New Roman Times font
1 inch margins on all sides
submit as an attachment in Word
must have title and must be centered
page numbers on top right with last name 
separate WC page
must use at least four secondary sources; three of your sources must be vetted scholarly sources. 
do not begin your paper halfway down the page
Grading Criteria
Have you followed the directions of the basic guidelines? If not, I will be dropping your grade by one letter grade. 
Do your paragraphs have clear topic sentences that guide your paragraphs?Have you followed that topic sentence? 
Do you have a clear thesis with a claim and a qualification of that argument? Have you followed that thesis through your paper?
Have you used your research appropriately to advance your argument? Is it an integral part of your argument? Do you actually use it or just throw it in?
Do you advance your argument? Do you build and deepen your argument? 
Have you documented appropriately?
Have you checked for grammar and spelling?
Is your discussion whole and logical? Does your discussion flow clearly and logically?
Do your paragraphs use the rubric of state explain, and illustrate?
Does your argument move in depth and clarity?
Please do not do the following in your paper.
Do not use first and second person, unless it is part of a quote 
Do not ask questions, unless it is part of a quote
Do not cut off discussion with the expression “this shows that . . . “
Please use an active voice  
Please indent paragraphs 
When speaking about art, including film, we speak in present tense. 
Here is a list of the movies that are up for consideration for your second
and third paper. Please select one film to use as the primary source of
your second paper. I suggest that you select a topic that you are
interested in learning about – a topic that you can investigate and live
with for a while.
Please also know that you will be expected to find secondary sources
that will assist you in discussing what this film does and how it does it.
Papers that do not use appropriate academic scholarly sources that are
vetted by peers in the field will not be considered appropriate for a
passing grade.
Glory
Thelma and Louise
Boys Don’t Cry
Imitation of Life
Bamboozled
Something New
Fences
The Kids are All Right
12 Angry Men
The Crying Game
Get Out
Midnight in Paris
Fatal Attraction
Night of the Living Dead
The Woolf of Wall Street
First Blood
Like Water for Chocolate
The Postman Always Rings Twice
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Birds
Election
Gaslight
(pick one of the movies)

Assigned reading/film I found interesting: Midnight Cowboy
Assigned reading/ film found the least interesting: The Call of Cthulhu
Note : when explaining why you found them interesting/not interesting, you can use your imagination.  You can also input that I found Midnight Cowboy most interesting because of the setting in New York. < (Where I'm from). Other than that do your own thing! And thank you in advance :).

Your paper is a short collaborative paper with your partner. It will focus on the film Guess Who’s coming to Dinner. It will incorporate at least one secondary source.
The paper should focus on communicating one idea that the film expresses. This short three-paragraph essay should include an introduction, complete with a proper academic thesis; a body, which fully explores your subject using at least one secondary source; a conclusion that gracefully exits the reader out of the text.  (Please do not use in summary or in conclusion. Please think about what you have argued and discuss the relevance of this discussion.)
The first page of your paper should include a proper heading: your class, your names, and the date on the left hand side of the page at the top. You will then skip a few lines and begin with your title. You will begin your discussion on that same page. Your paragraphs should be full paragraphs of approximately 150-200 words.
Grading criteria:
Have you followed directions?
Do you have an appropriate introduction that appropriately introduces the subject?
Do you have a thesis that makes a claim and justifies that claim?
Is the body of your paper relevant to your thesis and do your sentences flow smoothly?
Have you used your secondary source appropriately? Have you let your reader know how you are using this source?
Have you documented appropriately?
Does your conclusion move the discussion forward and out?

Instructions for Media Diaries
Beginning the first week of class, you are to keep a weekly diary of media that you
watched or listened to that week (clarification: one individual program, news
article, or film per week). Each entry (300-500 words) should include the title, any
production information including director, writer, leading actors (or anchors,
reporters), producer or show runner, producing organization (newspaper, studio or
broadcast network or cable channel), as well as your observations regarding genre,
thematic content, style, and the targeted audience (whom the media is designed to
appeal to the most.) Please date your entry to reflect the time of viewing. There will
be a preliminary submission and review of these diaries in week 6, and the final
diaries are to be submitted together with the final reports by June 13 th 10 a.m.
How to select programs or films for viewing: please select a film, television
program, radio show, podcast or print medium that we have not covered in class. A
list of possible sources is provided in “Helpful Links” on Canvas. Your
selections should feature one or more of the following: 1) Latinx-related themes; 2)
Latinx-created (written, designed, or directed) media; and/or 3) Latinx performers.
The more Latinx related the show or article, the better, but it is also of interest to
comment on the representation of Latinxs in the general media, regardless of the
identity of the creator or producer. Please refrain from surfing Youtube, unless the
film or program is rare and cannot be accessed by any other means. You may also
choose to comment on artisanal or self-produced “home videos” shared on the web.

A comparative essay examining “Blade Runner” and “Ghost in the Shell”  delving into the
shared themes but differing stylistic approaches of these works of science fiction cinema. Both
films are set in dystopian futures where technology has deeply intertwined with humanity,
blurring the lines between the organic and the artificial. One central theme would be the
exploration of identity in an era of technological advancement. “Blade Runner” portrays a world
where ‘replicants’ question their own humanity and seek to extend their limited lifespan.
Similarly, “Ghost in the Shell” grapples with questions of identity in a cybernetic age, where
characters have cybernetic enhancements and the distinction between human consciousness and
artificial intelligence becomes increasingly blurred.
Furthermore, both films invite viewers to contemplate the ethical implications of
technological progress, particularly in terms of autonomy, agency, and the nature of
consciousness. The essay could explore how these themes are manifested through the characters’
interactions with their environment and with each other. Additionally, the visual and stylistic
differences between the two films offer rich material for analysis. “Blade Runner” is renowned
for its noir-inspired aesthetic and dystopian cityscapes, while “Ghost in the Shell” features
intricate cyberpunk visuals and philosophical dialogue. Overall, an essay comparing “Blade
Runner” and “Ghost in the Shell” would offer a nuanced take on how these films engage with
questions of identity, technology, and humanity, while also considering their distinct narrative
and stylistic approaches.

Pick a film scene or short sequence in any genre. It should be a scene that you
can study in depth, not just something you remember. An excerpt that you find on Vimeo or YouTube works well for this. If possible,
include the URL of the scene or sequence at the top or bottom of the page, for your lab instructor’s reference.
Please don’t give a plot summary or write about the film’s story. In this assignment, you’re analyzing and writing about editing choices.
Describe how each shot relates to the next one by identifying editing strategies. Do the edits maintain continuity or use jump cuts? Is there
associational editing? Are there match-cuts-on-action? Graphic matches? Eyeline matches? Do the shots maintain the 180° rule? Are
there POV (point-of-view) shots? How are the shots organized in terms of the content, composition, color, and movement?
How do you think the editing choices and style serve the overall intentions of the filmmaker? What other aspects of the editing of the
scene do you find interesting?