Textual Analysis is an essay between 800-1000 words analysis of an American film. TA must treat a theoretical text as a lens for understanding and and analyzing the film in question.To employ a theoretical text as a lens means applying theory to see film in an unexpected and imaginative ways. Do not use a cookie cutter approach instead one must also attend to differences between the the theoretical texts arguments and the films the film you have chosen to theorize. Differences may include matters of sociohistorical context and medium as well as issues of theoretical styles and the types of questions raised. The TA should strive to complicate and develop the theoretical text you have selected through an encounter with an object that text has not treated. The aim of the TA is to use theory to theorize rather than to passively apply its ideas. The following three levels should appear in the paper 1. OBSERVATION- what si so striking of the films style in the moment you have selected. what do you notice about the set, design or props? lighting custom or makeup. how does the camera move? Are there sound effects. 2. INTERPRETATION- using the observations what does that say about the film’s plot, characters or themes? Why does this matter? 3.ANALYSIS- Having considered your many observations and their possible meanings – set them in a larger context. How do they contribute or contradict other moments in the film. How might they contribute to the history of american film.
THE TEXT I AM USING IS : THE NEW HOLLYWOOD BY THOMAS SCHATZ AND THE MOVIE IS STEVEN SPIELBERG’S JAWS