Instructions: students will focus on a period, episode, or cultural phenomenon from French history and choose at least three films (at least one not screened in class) that offer complementary and contradictory perspectives on it. Students have the option of submitting in the essay in written form but are also encouraged to make a video essay.
Submission on Canvas by May 7, before 11:59PM. No email submissions accepted! Late submissions will receive 10% deduction per day.
Formatting:
Written essays should be a minimum of 2,000 words with footnotes and bibliography in Chicago Style (17th edition).
To receive a full credit, a minimum of two scenes from each of the three or more films need to be cited by their timestamps and analyzed in detail.
The scenes must be analyzed from a historical and cinematic perspective. Appropriate use of film-specific terminology is required (camera, shot language, shot size, angle, lighting, editing, set design, sound, music, props, costumes, makeup, etc.)
A minimum of 10 secondary sources should be cited. These can include but are not limited to: 1) peer-reviewed journal articles, 2) academic book chapters, 3) interviews with directors/filmmakers, 4) long-form essays on film specialist websites such as Criterion Collection, Senses of Cinema, Cineaste, etc.
The films must be discussed together in the way they contribute to the understanding of the historical phenomenon you have chosen to analyze (Medieval France, the Crusades, the Wars of Religion, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, French Imperialism, World War I / World War II, Modernization, Feminist and Queer Movements, etc.)