The Midterm Exam consists of two essay questions referring to material covered during the first six weeks of the course. The questions ask you to analyze films using concepts introduced in this class. In answering the questions, feel free to draw on the class screeningsand also the course reading assignments and weekly lecture videosto back up your points.
When citing sources, there is no need to include a formal bibliography or list of works cited. To refer to a lecture video, use parentheses, as in: (Lecture Video 3.1). To refer to a reading assignment, cite the author and page number at the end of the sentence using parentheses, as in the following: (Corrigan and White, 83).
Keep in mind that you dont need to include quotations from the book and lectures when analyzing a film. When quoting from the textbook or video lectures, try to do so sparingly. Limit yourself to relatively short quotes, and remember to integrate them into your analysis of the film. In other words, if you include a quotation, be explicit about how it supports your ideas on the film.
Each essay ought to include between 800 and 1,100 words. (If you write a bit morei.e., up to 1,300 wordsthats ok.) Keep in mind that the 800-1,100 words refers to one answer and the exam requires that you provide answers to two questions. This means that the entire exam ought to contain 1,600 to 2,200 words. Please write in full, grammatically correct sentences.
1. Choose a scene, or scene fragment, from the first half hour of either In the Mood for Love (2000), Black Panther (2018) or Boyhood (2014) and analyze its editing as an example of the continuity style discussed in the chapter on film editing (pages 165-174). Does the scene illustrate the 180 degree rule? Does it contain a match on action, an eyeline match, a shot/reverse shot pattern, a graphic match, a reaction shot, and/or a point of view shot? Describe examples of these techniques. (You dont have to discuss all the techniques, just the ones relevant to the scene youve chosen.) Does the scene exhibit any techniques that seem uncharacteristic of continuity editing?
