SCRN10001 University of Melbourne What Is the Cinema of Attractions Paper

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This course called Introduction of screening study,I am a freshman now, so please use words and sentences to be simpler.

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SCRN10001 Introduction to Screen Studies – – – – – Research Essay
Questions
Due on the 11th of June
Word limit – 2000 words (excluding the bibliography and filmography)
Students are welcome to illustrate their essays with images, short clips and/or sound
files. Please include hypertext links to any moving images/sounds.
Aims – within this essay students are required to:
• show an ability to conduct research by locating and accessing a range of relevant
bibliographic sources (books, chapters, peer reviewed journal articles),
• display a clear understanding of relevant key concepts in cinema studies,
• critically analyse some of the points presented within the research,
• create a coherent and convincing argument,
• provide evidence to support the argument from a direct deconstruction and close
analysis of specific sequences from films,
• use the Chicago Author-Date style of documentation (consult the Library’s Re-cite
page if you are unsure of how to use this style.
Questions:
1. Jon Lewis suggests that ‘the final resolution of the various narrative threads and
the various questions or problems posed by the story’s conflicts – can be neat or
untidy; closure can be the consequence of a logical progression of events or the
result of some magical, fateful occurrence’ (26). How does closure differ from
resolution? Closely analyse the endings of two films screened during our subject
to support your argument.
2. What is the ‘cinema of attractions’? Outline Tom Gunning’s argument concerning
the cinema of attractions. Do you accept or reject his position on spectatorship?
How does Trip to the Moon and The Wind support or contest Gunning’s argument
about the ways that early cinema opposes illusionistic absorption.
3. How does editing create film sequences? Consider how various types of transition
serve or disrupt narrative time and space by presenting a comparative close
analysis of specific edits that feature in any of the following films: Baby Driver,
Psycho, Un Chien Andalou, Under the Skin, Moonrise Kingdom or The Shape of
Water.
4. What is ‘intensified continuity’? Examine how this manifests in sequences from two
films screened in our subject.
5. Define auteur theory. Discuss its origins, elements and identify some of its
limitations. Critically evaluate the auteur approach in relation to the films of one of
the auteurs studied in our subject. What difficulties or limitations emerge in using
the auteur theory in relation to the films of this auteur?
6. Laura Mulvey calls for the radical destruction of pleasure in mainstream cinema.
Outline her argument and provide a response. Support your own position with
reference to sequences from two films (or television texts) screened in our subject.
7. What are some of the specific insights that are offered by psychoanalytic film
theory? Apply this method to an analysis of Under The Skin, The Shape Of Water,
or Let The Right One In and another film of your choice (check your film selection
with your tutor).
8. Lisa Purse argues that, ‘rather than assuming that the action sequence’s aesthetics
are somehow obvious, we should analyse each sequence with an open mind, eye
and ear; and that understanding the impulses behind the content and
presentation of the action sequence is important as is an alertness to the often
surprisingly nuanced ways in which such sequences can be communicative in
narrative and representational terms’ (75). Outline Purse’s argument and evaluate
it using two action sequences from films screened in our subject.
9. Robert Sinnerbrink identifies three ways in which ethics has been applied to
cinema (2016 p.10): ethics in cinema, of cinematic representations, and of cinema
as an aesthetic medium. Examine two films from the course that animate one or
more of these categories. How does each film mobilize aesthetic form to offer an
ethical experience?
10. Is the future of cinema virtual? How do digital and virtual reality technologies
recreate the image, impact on narrative form and engage the body of the
spectator? Examine the shift to the virtual with reference to Dear Angelica and one
other VR text (check your film selection with your tutor).
11. Why is genre film popular? Outline and analyse the conventions of a specific
genre (action film, horror, film noir, sci fi film) to explore the reasons for its
popularity.
12. What are the key differences between diegetic and nondiegetic sound?
Investigate the usefulness of this distinction by presenting a close analysis of
scenes from two of the following films: Blade Runner 2049, Psycho, Let The Right
One In, Get Out or The Shape of Water.
13. What is Complex TV? How is it different from ‘normal’ television? Outline Jason
Mittell’s argument and examine how it manifests in Sharp Objects, Russian Doll, or
Killing Eve.
14. Jeremy Butler (2010) argues that television style exists, and that it matters: what
is the function of television style? Outline Butler’s argument and closely analyse
the style of one television series screened to support your argument.
15.
Develop an essay question in consultation with your tutor.
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convincing argument

Screen Studies

Cinema of Attractions

Jon Lewis

Under the Skin

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