Advanced Film Studies - Road to Perdition Sam MendesYou have done several film studies before. At Level 3 of NCEA, you need to know far more than camera shots and soundtrack. You need to write a critical response. Be sure you know what this means by reading the AS on the NZQA website.
You should watch the film more than once. There is a DVD copy available in the school library. Many clips from the film are available on YouTube. Viewing Road to PerditionI chose this film for study because it is good to write about. It links with Hamlet and Death of a Salesman in that it concerns the relationship between a father and a son. It is an example of a gangster film and can be related to genre theory. Likewise the road movie. It is a hybridised genre and so understanding this gives you lots to write about in the exam.
Gangster films have had a significant impact on modern culture. Read the article here - The impact of the gangster genre on American culture. See what you agree with. As a starting point, you should revise film terms. It will be assumed that you already know many film techniques such as aspects of cinematography, soundtrack and editing. If not, find a good online glossary. Some of the buttons on the right might help. Many of the skills we have covered so far this year are relevant in this film study. For example, have you read the article called "How to Read Literature Like a Professor"? It was added to the Critical Literacy page. Click its title her to download a copy. Click here to read the whole 154 page book. Essay writing skillsIn this unit, we will work with three essay topics. The first one is focused on character, the second on genre and the third on a specific scene.
Essay 1 - your task is to adapt and improve a Not Achieved essay opening. Essay 2 - write the whole essay. We will plan it in class. You will write it at home/in SMS. It will be assessed. Essay 3 - planning and discussion; note-writing. Optional extra - write full versions of all three essays. Essay 1 - improve the exemplarDiscuss the extent to which you agree with the statement below. Respond critically to the statement by making a close analysis of the text(s).
“The best films show ordinary people in extraordinary situations.” Good L3 essays are integrated. Here are some examples of what you can integrate: • quotations from the dialogue • film techniques – visual and verbal features • description of the shot and its composition • quotations from secondary sources • analysis and discussion of the connotative value of any quotations • mise-en-scene - the stage set, lighting, music • a sentence that highlights how the director mediated this scene for the audience • a sentence that highlights how the actors mediated this scene for the audience • a sentence about the historical context • intertextual references (eg refer to another gangster film) • critical theory - Freudian, Lacanian, Marxist • Multiple readings - Stuart Hall: preferred reading, oppositional reading, negotiated reading On your GoogleDrive, there is a new document called RTP - Essay 1. On it are the above notes as well as other notes from NZQA. Then there is a sample essay that did not achieve. Your task is to re-plan it and re-write its introduction and first body paragraph. Essay 2 - the tradition of the road movieIf you know how to read literature like a professor (Google that!) then you know that every trip is a quest that usually results in the characters learning something about themselves.
Here is an extract from The Criterion website that neatly summarises road movies. "One of cinema’s most abiding subgenres, road movies can be comedies, romances, thrillers, psychological dramas, or broader social commentaries. Tales of disillusionment or discovery, they are related to the bildungsroman, making literal the moral journeys characters undertake." The focus of your next essay is the Sullivans' quest for self-discovery. The topic and your planning support are already on your GoogleDoc. Discuss the extent to which you agree with the statement below. Respond critically to the statement by making a close analysis of the text(s). “In film, every trip is a quest. More than that, it is invariably a quest that results in self-discovery.” Homework-SMS: write the whole essay. it is due on Friday 13th June. Essay 3 - specific scenesFirstly, let's look at an important scene in some detail.
We will compile some notes to respond critically to this scene.
To start with, let's look at a Level 2 analysis of the rain scene: Camera angles and camera shots are also used to help us understand the man that is Michael Sullivan. Low angle shots are used to show that Sullivan is a powerful man, respected and feared by others. We see this when he goes to Calvino’s nightclub and is stopped by Frank, the doorman. Low angle shots of Sullivan, combined with Frank’s deferential behavior once he identifies Sullivan, emphasise Sullivan’s powerful reputation as a man to be feared. Similarly, in the scene when Sullivan kills John Rooney, low angle shots emphasise that Sullivan is the one who is in control of this situation. In the same scene camera shots are also used to show that Sullivan is a conflicted man. He wants to save his son and knows that the only way to do this is to kill John Rooney, the man who has been a father to him. Close ups are used to show us Sullivan’s pain and sorrow at what he is about to do. We see that Sullivan is hesitant. He is almost in tears as he makes the hardest decision of his life. The close ups here highlight that Sullivan is torn between his love for his son Michael and his love for Rooney, and ultimately he choose to save his son. The above paragraph is OK. It is not brilliant and it might be a low Achieved at L3. You should develop L3 notes that are a developed critical response. Here are a few points to get things started:
You will add 2 or 3 more points to these on your RTP Essay GoogleDoc. You will then use these notes to help plan ideas for the following essay topic:
Discuss the extent to which you agree with the statement below. Respond critically to the statement by making a close analysis of the text(s). “Great films often hinge on the successful presentation of one or two key scenes.” This is a hard essay question. You must engage with the idea of a film "hinging" on a specific scene. What will your argument be? Heads-up: on Friday 13 June, we will look at some film theory to prepare for your writing portfolio.
Here are the slides used in class to introduce mass culture theory and audience theory. Revising for exams - Mendes as an auteurWhat are the defining features of a Mendes film? Compare the two trailers here to identify some common ideas and techniques.
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The buttons below will open new windows with useful websites.
The button above used to open YouTube in a new window and plays the film. The whole film used to be available here until the studios decided that it was eroding their profits. Sorry but at least you got lessons in rampant capitalism and intellectual property law.
The button above links to a slideshow that summarises conventions of a gangster film.
The link above is quite useful. Scroll down the web page and see the other links on the RHS.
The audio player below will play you a brief conversation I had with Angus in 2013. It is about the introduction of Sullivan into the narrative. The second player is the three talks given by Cam, Ben and Carter in class on Thursday 6th June. Listen to these and pinch ideas from them to use in your own essays.
The audio player below will play you a summary of the critical responses you wrote as a class in June 2014. This task asked you to respond critically to the extract called "The Rain." It is the embedded YouTube clip on the left. The two audio files below are dull really - just the voice of a boring teacher drawing together some of the ideas that came up in class discussion as we analysed the ending of the film. Listen, trawl and strip mine these ramblings for good ideas to include in your own essays. |