Formatting: double-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins.

For this project, students will write a 5-7 page paper that provides an analytical response to a film chosen from one of the films screened for class. Papers must bring together ideas from the readings done for class with an analysis of a film and the most successful papers will make use of the theoretical ideas we read and discussed in class to construct an original argument about the film, the ideas themselves, and/or the cultural context.

Your film response MUST make reference to at least one of the films that we have discussed in-class as well as at least one of the readings that has been assigned for class. You may not reference any film not listed on the syllabus for this assignment.

When you select from one of the readings, please bear in mind that you must demonstrate your understanding of the main arguments and ideas from that text and then use those ideas to analyze the film of your choice and develop an original argument about the film, the theoretical concepts, and/or the historical context.

You may contrast two films and/or two theoretical texts in your paper, although it is not recommended to include more than two films or texts in your analysis given the short length of the paper.

Please note that we only watched clips from the full-length films in class and you should watch the full version of the film on your own so that you can accurately discuss the film in your paper.

***************Summary: Each paper must analyze at least one film and reference at least one course text
Don’t just analyze each one separately, link the ideas together!*************
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Screenings: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)

Course Texts to use:
Sigmund Freud, Excerpts from The Interpretation of Dreams
Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”