NAME: VIDEO PRODUCTION

Choose a movie to watch and answer the following questions as thoughtfully as possible.

Initial response 1. How did the film make you feel (be specific)? 2. What aspect of the film did you most engage with? What will you remember? 3. Would you watch it again? Why/why not? 4. How would a second viewing be different? What would you focus on? 5. How would different people view this film differently (dependent on gender, age, ethnic background, worldview, etc)? Explain why.

Film in our culture 1. How popular is this film? How well did it do at the box office? 2. How influential is it? Has it been referenced in later films, television programmes, etc.? 3. What kind of buzz has it created? What media exposure has the film received? What has the critical response (reviews in newspapers, websites, etc.) been? Why? 4. Is history treated fairly, or twisted to suit the film-makers’ purposes? 5. If the film is an adaptation of earlier material, how faithful is it to the original? What changes have been made? Why?

Technical skill 1. Is artistic and technical excellence achieved by screenplay, direction, cinematography, ​ ​ acting, editing, special effects, soundtrack? 2. What were the particular strengths and weaknesses? ​ ​

Filmmakers / Direction 1. Who wrote the screenplay (and the original story if the film is an adaptation)? 2. Who directed and produced the film? 3. Do the writers and directors have a characteristic style or particular preoccupations? What does this tell you? 4. What do we know about the worldviews of these people — from their other work or from interviews?

Acting performances 1. What did you think of the casting? 2. What expectations were created by the use of particular actors? 3. Which performances particularly stood out?

Context 1. When was the film made? What was the prevailing worldview? 2. Does the film endorse this worldview or represent a challenge to it?

Genre 1. Is it fantasy, biography, drama, comedy, science fiction, historical drama, horror, romance, war, western, romantic comedy, film noir, documentary, etc.? 2. How are genre conventions reinforced or subverted?

Structure 1. What is the plot — what happens (in summary)? 2. When do the turning points in the narrative come? 3. Are the major sections evenly balanced?Are the events in the story presented as a chain of cause and effect or are there unmotivated coincidences? 4. Is time linear or nonlinear?

Characters 1. Who is the protagonist? 2. Does the film feature single protagonist, dual protagonists (two sharing the same goals), parallel protagonists (two equally-balanced protagonist with opposing goals) or multiple protagonists? 3. How would you describe the protagonist(s) (active or passive, character, etc.)? 4. What are the protagonist(s) goals? Is there a time deadline? 5. What worldview is represented by the protagonist(s)? 6. What is the force of antagonism? 7. What problems are faced by the protagonist(s)?

Who are the other characters? 1. How would you describe them? 2. What do they want? 3. Who is my favourite character? Why? 4. Which characteristic would I want to imitate?

Consequences and change 1. What choices do the characters make? 2. What other changes take place? 3. What motivate the choices and changes? 4. What are the consequences?

Resolution 1. Is the ending closed or open? 2. Has there been any external change? 3. Are the problems resolved? How? If not, why not? 4. What self-discovery has the protagonist made? 5. How are the characters able to find the answers they need? 6. Does the film ultimately affirm or undercut the worldview it initially appears to support?

Production 1. How is the film lit? 2. Where is the camera for key shots? What angles does it shoot from? 3. How were long shots, close-ups, etc. used? 4. Whose point of view does the camera represent? 5. How did the sets, locations and props contribute to the meaning of the film? 6. How is our attention drawn to particular images? 7. How else could key shots have been filmed — why did the director do it in this way (paradigmatic meaning)?

Editing 1. What is the editing style? 2. Are there any particularly significant edits? 3. How does the editing contribute to the meaning of the film?

Soundtrack 1. What emotional effect did the soundtrack create? 2. Did any sound effects contribute to the meaning at any point? 3. How did the score enhance your understanding of scenes?

Titles / Graphics 1. Was any important information given on title cards? 2. How did they affect your understanding of the film?