FILM1000 Introduction to Film Studies
Final Paper Prompt
• Due Date: Saturday, June 9th midnight via the assignment section on Canvas.
• Format: typed, double-spaced, 12 pt. font, with correct margins (1 in), docx file (PDF,
Pages, or Google Doc link will not be accepted).
• Select one of the following prompts and write a sequence analysis paper of 2000 words (+/-
10% acceptable, reference included) on one of the following films: Walkabout, All That
Heaven Allows, Who Killed Vincent Chin?, Castle in the Sky, Persona, Holy Motors.
• Your task for this assignment is to produce a concentrated, sustained research paper on
specific sequence(s) from a film of your own choice (not an impressionistic account or
subjective evaluation of the entire film) in response to one of the following topics. While you
can certainly study more than one sequence, it is unlikely that a short paper of 2000 words
can do justice to all the formal and thematic nuances of multiple sequences. You’re therefore
recommended to focus on no more than two sequences.
• Your essay should engage with at least three assigned readings of the course (either required
or recommended). You are welcome to use additional material sourced from your own
research, but only in addition to the assigned readings. Please make sure that your citations
and bibliographies are formatted correctly according to the Chicago Manual of Style.
Adopt the notes and bibliography system:
https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html
Topics (which are not titles for your paper; please come up with your own title)
1. Many of the films we have seen this semester dramatize the tension between distinct times and
spaces. Pick a film and explore the ways in which it constructs different times or spaces through
formal devices. How are these times or spaces audiovisually defined and demarcated? What are their
functions? How do they relate to each other? What can we say about the film in general by attending
to its proposed notion of temporality or spatiality?
2. Propose your own reading of a film in light of what Bill Nichols calls “the discourses of sobriety.”
What ideologies, politics, and ethics of evidentiary filmmaking are in play? Which formal strategies
are mobilized to achieve the film’s “sobering” effect? Your object of analysis can be a documentary
film or the documentary impulse perceived in a fiction film.
3. How does a film fit into, respond to, or otherwise challenge an existing generic framework (and
based on what semantic and syntactic criteria would you define such a framework)? In what ways
does the film defamiliarize what is considered conventional in the genre, and vice versa? In playing
with generic elements, structures, and expectations, what effect does the film produce on the
audience? What does the effect reveal about the film more generally?
4. Discuss how a film navigates different modes of moving image production: between live-action
and animation, between the photographic and the pictorial. Which formal and/or technical device(s)
does the film mobilize to this end? What might the significance of the privileged device(s) be with
regards to the film’s messages on narrative and ideological fronts?
You’re strongly encouraged to discuss your ideas with your tutor. The final tutorial on Week 13 will
be devoted to brainstorming and workshopping your ideas.
Notes and Tips:
• You are producing an academic writing in the Humanities. You are thus expected to balance
your subjective views and critical objectivity in your analysis. Your subjective observations
are where insights and original ideas often begin and reside, but for your paper to make
sense to others, you must develop them and convince the readers that your observations
aptly identify/engage with a broader, more objective claim. Once you have decided which
film/sequence(s) you will write on, formulate a series of questions and try to make them as
specific as possible. Watch the film and specific sequence(s) again (and again) with your
questions in mind and closely examine how the image and sound speak to your questions.
New sets of questions might emerge in the process, but these questions might be more
refined—and potentially more exciting—than the original ones. Then, repeat the same
process again. You will eventually develop a thesis, and the film/sequence(s) will offer you a
variety of strong evidence to support it.
• The structure of your essay is as important as its content. Make sure to present your thesis
statement, i.e., a short statement that succinctly describes the core of your argument (and
anticipates each stage of your argumentation), in the introductory paragraph. Ideally, the
remainder of your paper then advances your thesis with formal evidence from your chosen
film. Try to develop an outline of your paper; it will help you remain aware of the logical
steps you build up with each paragraph. Think about the appropriate length of each
paragraph too.
Grading Criteria
• 85 and above: outstanding material that exceeds the course expectation.
• 75-84: excellent audiovisual analysis supported by accurate descriptive language; well-
grounded argument with high stakes and refreshing insights.
• 65-74: very good audiovisual analysis with no or a few mistakes in descriptive language;
valuable argument with sufficient stakes.
• 50-64: good audiovisual analysis with a few mistakes in descriptive language; sufficient
argument but with low stakes.
• 49 and below: inaccurate audiovisual analysis with several mistakes in descriptive language;
insufficient or no argument; lacking in originality; failure to meet the paper’s basic
requirements according to this prompt.
Failure to adhere to the standards of the Chicago Style (such as improper formatting of the title of a
film or an essay or a book; inaccurate citation of the references; incorrect use/formatting of
footnotes) will result in a deduction of up to 10 points from the final grade.
*Under no circumstance will plagiarism, the use of AI content generator, and/or contract cheating
be tolerated.
** Typo, grammatical error, punctuation error, among other writing mistakes will hurt your grade.
Please proofread.