Assignment task: Visual Analysis Assignment
Assignment Goals:
To apply your knowledge of the stylistic aspects of film, including mise-en- scene, cinematography, editing, and sound.
To describe how the choice and use of those stylistic aspects align with a filmmaker's construction of meaning in a film.
Assignment Overview:
For this paper, you will watch the entire feature film The Long Day Closes (Terence Davies, 1992) and then analyze one specific scene of the film, explaining how the elements of film style create meaning in this scene. The stylistic elements will include sound, editing, cinematography, and mise-en-scene.
Tammy Scene from THE LONG DAY CLOSES
YouTube Video: Tammy (The Long Day Closes)
Start at 1:07 till end
IMPORTANT NOTE: You are required to analyze the "Tammy" scene of the film. If you elect to use a different scene of the film for your shot breakdown and analytical paper, you will fail the assignment without any opportunity to resubmit it for credit.
Part 1: Shot by Shot Breakdown:
In preparation for your analysis, you will identify the stylistic elements of each shot in the scene. (There are no more than 6 shots.) Please include detailed information about all of the following elements:
Mise-en-Scene: Describe any distinctive aspects of setting, costume, make-up, props, color, lighting, arrangement of characters/objects, movement of characters/objects.
Cinematography, including the following: o Camera Distance: Extreme Close Up (ECU), Close-up (CU), Medium Close- up (MCU), Medium Shot (MS), Medium Long Shot (MLS), Long shot (ELS), Extreme Long Shot (ELS) o Camera Angle: straight-on, high angle, low angle, overhead, or canted o Camera Movement: pan, tilt, tracking shot, or crane shot
Misc: distinctive lighting, unusual compositions, camera height, depth of field, rack focus, zoom, etc.
Duration of shots: How long each shot lasts
Editing Transitions from one shot to the next (described as specifically as possible): fade, dissolve, wipe, match-on-action, graphic match, etc.
Type and Quality of Sound: speech, music, noise
Source of Sound: on-screen, off-screen, voiceover. If on-screen, state source. If off- screen, state if diegetic or non-diegetic
A Shot Breakdown Table for this assignment is included in the "Complete the Assignments" section of Module 6. You are required to use this shot breakdown table format. The first three rows have been filled in with information about the imaginary film "Manic Max" to give you a sense of how to use and complete the form. Just delete these three rows before turning in your assignment.
Part 2: Analysis Paper (minimum of 1500 words, double-spaced)
In this section you will analyze and discuss the elements of film style that you've just broken down in this same scene. Using the information gained from your shot breakdown, construct an argument for how aspects of mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, and sound function separately and in relation each other in this specific scene to convey a specific theme or major concern of the film.