Overview
Write a short essay on 1 of the 2 following themes. Your essay should make a debatable argument, provide evidence for this argument, and analyze the form and style of the films that you address. Your essay should be between 1200 and 1600 words long and must refer to at least two films we have watched this semester. At least one of these films must be drawn from the final five weeks of class. These films include:
The Jazz Singer
Singin' in the Rain
1. F.W. Murnau described his expressionistic film technique as a way to “photograph thought.” For Murnau, film was a vehicle for representing the inner psychological reality of his characters. Write an essay about the ways in which filmmakers seek to represent the inner lives of their characters. What stylistic and formal techniques do the filmmakers use to “photograph thought”? And precisely how do these techniques function to reveal the inner lives of characters?
2. Many of the films that we have watched this semester take as their central theme the tension between tradition and modernity. Write an essay about how filmmakers represent the tension between tradition and modernity. What specific stylistic and formal techniques do they use to represent this tension? And precisely how do these techniques function to capture the tension between within individual lives and society as a whole?