ILS 2385: Invention Work, Scene Analysis Essay
NOTE: When completed, steps 1-5 should be TWO full pages and step 6 should be THREE full pages. Your total invention work should be FIVE full pages and will be submitted as ONE MS word document into the folder in Ulearn labeled Scene Analysis Invention Work
Invention work is completed to allow you the opportunity to explore ideas and create raw material to possibly use in a formal essay without the pressure of a big grade. It is informal and completely unstructured (and NOT an essay). It is a serves of free writes.
Remember, in a free write you are simply emptying your mind down onto the page without editing yourself. Don't be concerned with if an idea is "good" or "bad." That's irrelevant at this point as you are only attempting to generate ideas.
Don't worry about spelling, punctuation, or grammar.
After choosing and watching a film for the Scene Analysis Essay, it is time to explore ideas to develop raw material that will ultimately help lead you to a rough draft.
Complete each of the following steps as a MS Word document. Complete them in the order presented:
STEP 1: DISCOVERING IMPORTANT THEMES
Brainstorm: With the entire content of your film in mind, quickly brainstorm a list of what you see as a list of its theme (central ideas) for the whole movie. There are many possibilities here. Think of it this way, when you walk away from this film, watch are the big ideas that you think the director was attempting to emphasize and communicate.
"As I walk away from this film, I think the director wanted me to understand the idea of ________________. Fill in the blank with a one word idea.
Create a list of one word ideas by brainstorming a list without editing yourself or worrying about spelling, punctuation, or grammar.
Set a timer on your phone for 5 minutes, and then writing as quickly as possible make as list of themes important to the film. List these as one word ideas only.
STEP 2: IDENTIFYING ONE (OR TWO) OF THE MOST IMPORTANT IDEAS/THEMES
Ultimately, your scene analysis essay should focus on one or two themes. You can do either. I think it's often interesting to see how two ideas are at work with one another. For some, this may be a little more challenging than focusing on only one theme. You can do either. It's your choice.
Since our goal is to enlighten our reader and keep them engaged as they read (i.e., keep them a "willing audience"), we need to eliminate what the "obvious" themes might be and choose the most unique perspectives or ideas that they may not have noticed on their own. In other words, we ultimately want to reduce our brainstorming list down to one or two possible themes and also want to make sure that we are choosing to focus on our strongest argument.
Keep in mind this time that your audience is highly-educated and formal, so it's even more important for this essay (compared to the Visual Analysis about your painting) that you really need to choose your strongest argument. The highly-educated and scholarly, are quite skeptical, demand solid evidence, and possess strong analytical skills and tools of analysis. Convincing them is not as simple as explaining to a friend why you interpret a painting the way you do (the purpose of our last essay).
So, in your word document, create a bold font for the ideas on your brainstorming list that you think you need to eliminate until you only have one or two themes left on your list. The one or two left should be the most unique interpretation of theme for your film as well as your strongest argument.
STEP 3: IDENTIFYING IMPORTANT SCENES
Brainstorm: Now that you have determined what you see as the one or two most important themes of your film, the next step is to think about which scenes from your film best demonstrates that idea (or two ideas) and also communicates underlying cultural messages about gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and/or sexual identity that the film communicates.
Set the timer on your phone for 5 minutes and quickly brainstorm a list of scenes from your film that you think communicate this theme (or two themes) as well as cultural messages about gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and/or sexual identity..
Now, quickly go through this list eliminating the scene that you think are your weakest ideas. Place those in bold font until you only have ONE SCENE LEFT.
This scene will become the official topic of your paper.
STEP 4: CHOOSING THE BEGINNING AND ENDING POINT OF YOUR SCENE
Choose the beginning and ending point of your chosen scene. It should be around a 3-5 minutes scene.
Keep in mind that a logical beginning is when the scene changes (characters move from one location (set) to another, and a logical ending point is the moment in this scene when this theme is most highly emphasized.
FREE WRITE: in a quick 5 minute free write, explain what the best beginning and ending points for your scene are and why.
STEP 5: IDENTIFYING IMPORTANT MOMENTS
At this point, you should now have chosen a scene to focus on in your essay, you know which theme (or two themes) you will focus on, and you know what you will use as your beginning ending point for your analysis of this scene.
WATCH YOUR SCENE AGAIN AND KEEP IN MIND WHAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN AS YOUR THEME(S) AS YOU WATCH.
FREE WRITE: Next, set the timer on your phone for 7 minutes and free write about what you think are three to five of the most important INDIVIDUAL moments in that scene and why.
STEP 6: ANALYZING THE USE OF FILM TOOLS FOR EACH OF THE IMPORTANT MOMENTS
For this step, you will complete a 7 minute free write for each of what you identified as important moments in the scene. BEFORE YOU DO EACH FREE WRITE, WATCH EACH IMPORTANT MOMENT IN THE SCENE AGAIN. AS YOU WATCH, WHAT YOU WANT TO KEEP IN MIND IS HOW THE DIRECTOR CONSTRUCTS MEANING FOR THE AUDIENCE USING THE FILM TOOLS AND WHAT THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE THEME.
AS YOU DO FREEWRITE, ALSO THINK ABOUT HOW THE DIRECTOR'S USE OF THE FILM TOOLS AT THESE IMPORTANT MOMENTS IN THE SCENE ALSO COMMUNICATE SOMETHING IMPORTANT ABOUT THE CULTURAL MESSAGES SURROUNDING RACE, ETHNICITY, SOCIAL CLASS AND/OR SEXUAL IDENTITY.
For each of the important moments, identify two or three tools that the director makes use of to say something about this single moment in your film, and do a 5 minute free write for each of those tools. See more info about each tool below before your begin to make sure you understand how it is used.
Your free writes for this section alone should be should be a minimum of 3 FULL pages,
-How does the director uses camera shots to construct meaning and convey their theme and/or how these or used to aid in creating an overall emotional impact on the viewer?
- How the director uses the various aspects of lighting to construct meaning and convey their theme and create/shape an emotional impact on the viewer?
- How the director uses the various aspects of sound to construct meaning and convey their theme and create/shape an emotional impact on the viewer?
- How does the director uses the various aspects of editing to construct meaning and convey their theme and create/shape an overall emotional impact on the viewer.
-Identify what you see as the three most important symbols in this scene and explain HOW they are connected to the overall theme. What do they communicate or reveal about that idea? Provide detailed explanations for each.
Other film tools you can discuss are set design (particularly the use of props in a scene and color choices as they relate to theme), costume design (particularly the symbolism of color and what it tells us about the characters as it relates to theme), and special effects (and what the use of the effects tell us about theme).
Label each free write like this (just an example, choose the tools you think are important at each moment):
Moment 1, symbolism:
Moment 1, lighting:
Moment 2, sound:
Moment 2, costume design
Moment 2, special effects
Moment 3, symbolism (foreshadowing):
Moment 3, camera shot
