MIDTERM PROMPT: Production design is the art of creating a film’s aesthetic through its set—and as architects of a film’s setting, production designers work closely with the director and other key artisans to realize the overall look of a film (i.e. the “mise-en-scene”). More importantly, a film’s production design often contains implicit meanings that reinforce its key themes.
Please choose 2-3 feature length films from the first half of the course and write a formal analysis to explain how these filmmakers are critiquing sociopolitical issues such as class, race and gender through specific choices in the production design. You are welcome to analyze the symbolism of colors/color patters, costumes and props in addition to the locations and architecture of key buildings such as the Overlook Hotel (The Shining), the Armitage Home & the Sunken Place (Get Out), Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann House & Canyon View Estates (Don’t Worry Darling) and the Park & Kim Family Homes (Parasite).
For your analysis, please choose 2-3 feature length films from the list below:MIDTERM PROMPT: Production design is the art of creating a film’s aesthetic through its set—and as architects of a film’s setting, production designers work closely with the director and other key artisans to realize the overall look of a film (i.e. the “mise-en-scene”). More importantly, a film’s production design often contains implicit meanings that reinforce its key themes.
PLEASE USE GET OUT AND PARASITE
The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, USA, 1980)
Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017, USA)
Don’t Worry Darling (Olivia Wilde, 2022, USA)
The Stepford Wives (Bryan Forbes, 1975, USA)
Parasite (Bong Joon-ho, South Korea, 2019)
NOTE: Please DO NOT analyze more than 3 of these films. If you analyze more than 3 of these films, I will deduct points from your essay grade.
To support your ideas and contextualize your arguments about these films, please choose at least TWO essays from the list below:
Greg Smith, “Real Horrorshow: The Juxtaposition of Subtext, Satire and Audience Implication in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining” (pdf)
Anthony Carew, “American Horror: Genre and Post-Racial Myth in Get Out” (pdf)
JQ Adams, “Get Out: A Dystopian View of Neo-Slavery in the Fifth Wave” (pdf)
Sylvia Lavin, “Richard Neutra and the Psychology of the American Spectator” (pdf)
Jane Elliott, “Stepford U.S.A.: Second-Wave Feminism, Domestic Labor, and the Representation of National Time” (pdf)
Anna Krugovoy Silver, “The Cyborg Mystique: “The Stepford Wives” and Second Wave Feminism” (pdf)
Laurence Barber, “Killing The Host: Class and Complacency in Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite” (pdf)
“Inside the House From Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite” – Architectural Digest (pdf)
Anne Anlin Cheng, “The Shell Game: From “Get Out” to “Parasite” (pdf)NOTE: Please DO NOT analyze more than 3 of these films. If you analyze more than 3 of these films, I will deduct points from your essay grade.
here are the links to the essays you need in the essay
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/shell-game-get-parasite/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/shell-game-get-parasite/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/shell-game-get-parasite/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/shell-game-get-parasite/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/shell-game-get-parasite/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/shell-game-get-parasite/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/shell-game-get-parasite/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/shell-game-get-parasite/
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/bong-joon-ho-parasite-movie-set-design-interviewhttps://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/bong-joon-ho-parasite-movie-set-design-interviewhttps://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/bong-joon-ho-parasite-movie-set-design-interviewhttps://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/bong-joon-ho-parasite-movie-set-design-interviewhttps://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/bong-joon-ho-parasite-movie-set-design-interviewhttps://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/bong-joon-ho-parasite-movie-set-design-interviewhttps://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/bong-joon-ho-parasite-movie-set-design-interviewhttps://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/bong-joon-ho-parasite-movie-set-design-interview
https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA607580330&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=03122654&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E4c1fc89https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA607580330&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=03122654&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E4c1fc89https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA607580330&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=03122654&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E4c1fc89https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA607580330&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=03122654&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E4c1fc89https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA607580330&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=03122654&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E4c1fc89https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA607580330&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=03122654&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E4c1fc89https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA607580330&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=03122654&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E4c1fc89https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA607580330&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=03122654&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E4c1fc89
https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA594180949&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=1449857X&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7Eecf5612chttps://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA594180949&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=1449857X&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7Eecf5612chttps://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA594180949&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=1449857X&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7Eecf5612chttps://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA594180949&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=1449857X&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7Eecf5612chttps://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA594180949&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=1449857X&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7Eecf5612chttps://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA594180949&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=1449857X&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7Eecf5612chttps://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA594180949&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=1449857X&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7Eecf5612chttps://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA594180949&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=1449857X&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7Eecf5612c
REQUIREMENTS & SOURCES:
You must analyze 2-3 films from the course (listed above). You may not analyze films that are not on the syllabus.
Your essay should be approximately 4-5 pages, typed, double-spaced, 12 pt font (with a minimum of 4 full pages in order to not receive a grade deduction).
Your essay should include a thesis statement. Your thesis should include a What (argument/topic), How (approach at analyzing your argument/topic) and Why (statement about the overall significance of your argument/topic).
You should incorporate at least 2 sources from the course syllabus in order to not receive a grade deduction.
You may cite points in the FS 101 Online Presentations, but these are NOT academic sources and they will NOT count as one of the two required course sources.
Outside academic sources as well as non-academic sources from the web, like blogs, wikipedia and movie reviews are NOT acceptable for this assignment even if cited correctly.
NOTE: I will only accept doc, docx and pdf formats. If you are working in pages, please export your midterm as a pdf.
ESSAY STRUCTURE:
THESIS: Please begin by writing a thesis statement that contains a WHAT, HOW, WHY (see FS 101 Online Presentation: Thesis Statement Workshop with Examples that is embedded below)
In your WHAT, you should introduce your argument about the overall significance of the production design in 2-3 films you will analyze.
In your HOW, you should briefly explain how these filmmakers critique sociopolitical issues in these films as well as introduce any key essays or concepts that you will use in your analysis. NOTE: You are also welcome to frame your HOW around one of the main points made by one of the authors of these essays or one of these filmmakers in an interview to explain how this relevant).
In your WHY, you should briefly explain what you will reveal by analyzing these 2-3 films (i.e. the overall significance of your comparative analysis).
BODY PARAGRAPHS: For your body paragraphs you should carefully and closely analyze specific scenes from these films and contextualize your ideas using film terminology and concepts that are addressed in the FS 101 presentations as well as the course essays/articles.
CONCLUSION: Your conclusion should briefly summarize/synthesize your main points to make the context of your argument clear.
SUGGESTIONS FOR GETTING STARTED:
Once you have selected your films, I also encourage you to revisit the FS 101 Online Presentations and identify which readings/essays/interviews from the course syllabus that you will use for your analysis. NO OUTSIDE SOURCES ARE ALLOWED.
Since you have already analyzed many of the films for this course in the Canvas discussions, I encourage you to incorporate points that you have already made in these discussions as a starting point.
You may “rework” or “revise” ideas and passages that you have already submitted for previous Canvas Discussions as long as you can synthesize these into a cohesive essay that analyzes two films.
Although you should not plagiarize any comments that other students have written, the Canvas discussions may be useful to expand the scope of your argument. In other words, you may NOT use other students’ ideas “verbatim” and this must be your own analysis.xplain how these filmmakers critique sociopolitical issues in these films as well as introduce any key essays or concepts that you will use in your analysis. NOTE: You are also welcome to frame your HOW around one of the main points made by one of the authors of these essays or one of these filmmakers in an interview to explain how this relevant).
In your WHY, you should briefly explain what you will reveal by analyzing these 2-3 films (i.e. the overall significance of your comparative analysis).
BODY PARAGRAPHS: For your body paragraphs you should carefully and closely analyze specific scenes from these films and contextualize your ideas using film terminology and concepts that are addressed in the FS 101 presentations as well as the course essays/articles.
CONCLUSION: Your conclusion should briefly summarize/synthesize your main points to make the context of your argument clear.
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|