Midterm Exam

Each answer should be around 750 words. Please pay attention to your grammar. Hand in your hard exam next week at the beginning of class. Cite specific examples of shots and/or sequences when discussing the films; also cite references from the readings to support your arguments.

PICK TWO OF THESE THREE:

  1. We have screened films ranging from single shot 30 second street scenes to those that incorporate multiple image overlaps and dissolves. Some have been silent films (though usually accompanied by music when originally screened). All have arguably fallen under the nonfiction umbrella. How would you define documentary film at this point in the semester based on readings and screenings? What, in particular, can be done to distinguish non-fiction from fiction? Are there criteria by which we may judge a text to be documentary?


  2. Umberto Eco writes about the relationship among author, reader and text. Specifically, he discusses when, why, and how texts change their meter or rhythm, accelerating here, lingering there. Pick a film that we have screened and analyze it accordingly. Include a discussion of Eco's arguments concerning the difference between empirical and model readers.


  3. Compare the Lumiere brothers' films to THE MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA. Besides discussing cinematic elements, be sure to discuss issues of story, reality and intention.

 

PICK ONE OF THESE THREE:

  1. Compare and contrast BALLET MECANIQUE, RAIN and BERLIN: SYMPHONY OF A CITY.


  2. Films of persuasion and propaganda abound. How do such works as TRIUMPH OF THE WILL, HOUSING PROBLEMS, THE CITY, and THE BATTLE OF SAN PIETRO compare in their use of image, sound and editing to elicit specific responses in the intended audience? How can you distinguish films of persuasion or advocacy from those of propaganda?


  3. Some people lament the advent of sound-on-film while others can never get used to seeing silent film (with or without a musical accompaniment). What impact did sound have on the documentary tradition? Cite particular examples from the screenings to support your argument.