Film Clip Assignment in Two Parts. You can get help here at the
Columbia Film Language Glossary and the
You'll need to watch the film on a computer that streams the film.
Choose a coherent sequence totalling around 8-10 shots from any one of the films we have seen in class thus far (and only those films) and the sequence must have not been discussed in class.
You must do an image capture of each shot as you pause the film while streaming it. Then insert the capture into your word document. I require screen captures because they actually help you "read" the film as well as give your reader more information. It's like writing about a poem without having the poem in front of you as you quote from it versus having to quote the poem only from memory.
This exercise should take you around 4-6 hours to do.
The Film Clip Assignment is in two parts. (A) Description; (B) Shot by Shot Analysis and Annotation.
Both parts must be completed for you to receive credit.
FORMATTING: Use a table with columns and rows headed with a series of five categories including (1) the shot number, (2) the time stamps for when the shot begins and ends, (3) the length of the shot (how long it lasts), (4) an exhaustive description of the shot, and (5) an annotation (comment, explanation, information) on the shot. For an example of the format (Ignore the third part in this example), click here. BUT!!!! You only need do Parts One and Two. Don't do Part Three in this example.
Part One. Brief Description of Film Clip
Write your name on your paper at the top. Now that you have chosen a film clip from one of the films we have viewed thus far, write down name the film, and describe the clip briefly (a few sentences). Please the give the time stamps for your shots your clip begins and the time it ends. On a DVD, web browser, or media player, you'll see the time stamp for the hour, minute, and second. Ditto for a streamed version of the film.
Part Two. Analysis / Exhaustive Shot by Shot (1) Description and (2) Annotation
Give the following information ABOUT EACH SHOT in the description column.
WHAT IS A SHOT? A shot is a single stream of images usually projected at 24 frames a second, uninterrupted by editing. The shot can use a static or a mobile framing, a standard or a non-standard frame rate, but it must be continuous. The shot is one of the basic units of cinema yet has always been subject to manipulation, for example stop-motion cinematography or superimposition. In contemporary digital cinema, higher frame rates are possible for a shot. We will ignore frame rates in this assignment, however.
1. In the description column, describe in detail, as relevant, the kind of shot--extreme close up, close up, medium, long, p.o.v.); camera movement, stationary, pan, tilt, whip pan, dolly in, dolly out, crane, tracking; camera angle--high, low, canted or Dutch, straight on, overhead, from below; sound--ambient, diegetic; extra-diegetic, the kind of music, if any; the title and composer, if available; voice-offs and voice-overs; editing--transition from one shot to another (dissolve, fade, wipe, cut, cut in, and so on); super-imposition; narrative sequence--linear, montage, flashback; mise-en-scène; framing and reveals--what is in the shot and what is not; lighting--source, contrast; blocking of actors, if any are in the shot; camera focus--racking, spot, soft, or deep; length of take, and so on and so on.
Describe the sound track too. DON"T FORGET ABOUT SOUND!
2. In the annotation column, comment critically on how the shot is working, what it is doing. Don't summarize the plot or quote dialogue. Don't repeat what you said in the description.
Both parts of the assignment must be completed and turned in on time to pass the course.