Movies

  Watch:Swallowtail Butterfly (Suwaroteiru, Iwai Shunji, 1996) final essay:Pick one Japan-related film and discuss the styles and the themes in relation to the historical context behind the film. It is a good idea to pick a few scenes from the film and discuss functions of shots, editing, lighting, and sound in the scene, as you did in your midterm essay. This time, discuss those scenes and their styles more in terms of the historical context. 1.need to show the shot is (close, medium or long).180 degree rule shot. 2.Requirement (Follow the length and the instructions): 8 points This is mainly about the format. If the paper follows what I require in the course syllabus, you will get 8 points. The paper can be longer than 1,200 words. But if it is too short (such as less than 800 word), you will lose points. 3.Clarity (of Expression): 8 points If the language of the paper is difficult to follow because of grammatical errors, awkward expressions, or unclear terminology, you will lose points. 4.Digestion (Assigned readings and lectures): 8 points You do not need to “cite” or “quote” from the assigned readings, but if your paper does not reflect my lecture or the assigned reading at all, you will lose points. 5.Originality (Your own ideas, thoughts): 8 points If the paper does not have any idea or thought and simply summarizes the plot of the film or only describes scenes without any interpretation, you will lose points. In this paper, your thoughts should include some sort of “historical” and “contextual” analysis of the film of your choice. In our class, we have discussed what “historical” and “contextual” mean several times. 6.Integrity (of arguments): 8 points We have discussed that your essay needs to have a certain structure: the introductory part (thesis statement), the main argument, and conclusive remarks. If your paper does not have a clear structure but is fragmented and reads just like a compilation of paragraphs, you will lose points.