Final Proposal and Final Paper

All students are required to submit a proposal to the instructor on or before Fri. Apr. 12th. Students must compare a movie seen in class, or a movie listed on our syllabus, or Captain Marvel, with the comic book and/or graphic novel source material.

Submit the following on Apr. 12:

1. Two different movies that you are interested in researching. Write one proposal about one comic book or graphic novel that you'll compare to the movie adaptation. Write another, separate proposal about a different comic book or graphic novel that you'll compare to the movie adaptation.
2. These will be composed as two separate paragraphs on a single sheet of letter-sized paper, 1/2 the paper for one movie and the second 1/2 for the other movie.
3. State your hypothesis: is the movie an accurate and well-crafted adaptation of the comic book source material.
4. Must be a movie seen in class—or Captain Marvel—or a movie on the syllabus, with a long-form comic book or graphic novel as the source material. Addams Family may not qualify for this.
5. Worth 20 points, towards the Final's 120 points:
• Source Material Proposal I
• 5 points clarity of proposal, spelling, grammar
• 5 points completeness of content 
• Source Material Proposal II
• 5 points clarity of proposal, spelling, grammar
• 5 points completeness of content 
• Consult our textbook, pages 50-51, where comparative essays are covered, as well as pages 81-85; story, character(s), setting, production design, and other matters can be covered, but your proposal and the final essay might benefit from focusing on one particular area, or no more than two, but this is mostly a guideline and not a hard-and-fast rule for this work
• You may propose comparing a movie that we have not seen in class, but if you do so, you must also propose one movie we have seen in class.
• You may email this proposal to the instructor anytime before Apr. 12th, but it is absolutely due 11:30 on Apr. 12th, and if delivered in class, it must be a print out—no exceptions. Late work will not be accepted.
• The instructor will share feedback about each of your separate proposals. For the final research paper, you will write about either one comic book movie or another comic book movie you proposed.

The Final Writing Project is worth a total of 120 points

• 20 proposal, due Apr. 12
• Final Writing, minimum 6 pages, maximum 8 pages
• the final research paper may be submitted anytime before its deadline on the final exam day
• you may email the paper as an attachment but it must be as a single PDF file, no exceptions
• attach a bibliography as a separate page, not counting towards the written 6–8 page count
• Times or Times New Roman font, 12 point size and double-spaced
• Due no later than Apr. 30, may be emailed*
• 20 craft of writing/grammar/spelling
• 30 structure of written ideas and argument, required content, flow of writing including use of transitions between ideas and/or paragraphs
• 20 outside research, including citing specifics from the movie and comic book and using at least two direct quotes from outside sources to further your argument
• 20 originality and synthesis of ideas, including use of your own opinion(s)
• 10 professionalism, formatting, following directions 
• late work will not be accepted, late is anything received after 3pm Apr. 30

*Students may submit their Final Paper as early as Fri. Apr. 19 at our last class of the semester. But if extra time is needed, you may submit your paper on our scheduled final exam Tues. Apr. 30. Email is acceptable for this final paper, sent as a PDF attachment and if sent via email it needs to be received at or before Tues. Apr. 30 at 3pm.

Paper 4 - Performance

Students will work in small groups to create Paper 4, which will be a vocal performance.

Objective: This work requires you to identify a comic book or graphic novel, the source material from one of the movies seen in class—it must have been shown in class, no exceptions. Work in groups of no less than 3 students. Identify a pivotal scene in the comic book, one with enough dialogue for the group to perform. If 3 students each have a character, then that's equal billing, but if 3 of you have to each do 2 characters, then that's also equal billing and acceptable.

Due Friday Apr. 19th, with all performances taking place from 11:45 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. You may invite guests to attend this event.

Students must state their intentions on Fri. Apr. 5, identifying the team members and graphic novel or comic book they'll be using.

 

Goals:

• research the printed source material(s) used for one of the movies we've seen in class
• interpret character or characters, giving life to the written words
• use your voice as a tool to create surprise, anger, mystery, compassion, fear, and/or any other emotion(s)
• entertain the audience while being true to the source material

Considerations, Resources, Rules:

• All text shown in the comic book must be voiced by a student or students. 
• Share vocal and audio performance responsibilities, giving everyone equal work to do.
• You may perform a scene from your comic book that has been put into the movie, but it doesn't have to be in the movie adaptation. It could be something that was left out of the movie adaptation. 
• You may not use a movie's comic book adaptation for your source material. For example, if you choose Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie and want to use its comic book source material, you may not use the comic book that is "the movie storybook" which translates the movie into a comic book. Instead, find a comic book or graphic novel with Captain America, or other characters from The Winter Soldier movie, that was printed/published before the movie.
• How can the source material inform the class about the movie or movies we've seen in class, giving us a deeper understanding of a character, situation, or backstory? 
• Your source material may be full color or it may be black and white, but it must be in printed form originally. The RVRC (Rutledge Visual Resource Center) has a wide variety of comic books and graphic novels. 
• If a movie was not based on a pre-existing comic book, but you can find a comic book that was made after the movie, that would be acceptable. For example, the movie Darkman was an original screenplay and movie and not based on a comic book that came before it. After the movie came out, if a comic book was made, then that could be an acceptable choice—provided you can find that comic book and that comic book was actually printed/published.
• How will you handle sound effects? Optional, but you may explore these performance elements. One team member may take care of sound effects—if appropriate for your work—and either perform the sound effects live during class (see here, all about WALL•E's sound) or pre-record sounds and play them during class from an audio device.
• No music.
• Ask yourself, How did this work get done during the golden days of radio? Look at The Shadow, among others, as well as Little Orphan Annie. There's also Superman on the radio. BUT, be "period appropriate" meaning, don't make yours sound old-fashioned like The Shadow or Annie, just to make it sound old-fashioned. Listen to those old broadcasts to learn about the voice performance, pacing, etc.

Format:

• find your source material, the comic book or graphic novel, and have it composed into a PDF or PowerPoint—scans work okay for this
• you must show one panel at a time, the drawn and illustrated portion of the comic, and while it's on screen, give a vocal performance
• identify a scene that takes approximately 8–10 minutes to perform, no more, no less
• rehearse, rehearse, rehearse… you should know what you're doing and have practiced it many times
• you may have note cards to read from, or a script—you need not memorize your lines, but you can
• a good model can be found with screenplays: 1 written page of a screenplay takes approximately 1 minute of screen time, so consider pulling out your text from your comic book and drafting it into a screenplay form
• this must be performed live, during class, in front of the class
• pre-recorded elements can only be sound effects
• any/all text in your comic book and/or graphic novel must be spoken: dialogue between or among characters, asides—such as Deadpool breaking the fourth wall, for example—narration, etc.

Evaluation

Worth 45 points:

• 15 points: use of vocal tone, pitch, projection/volume, voice modulation, voice effects
• 20 points: teamwork, composing the vocalization as a group, and making it sound and feel natural, believable
• 5 points: appropriateness of chosen content, printed source material from a movie shown in class
• 5 points: preparedness, professionalism, following directions 
• teams will receive a group score, so if a team of three students performs a scene from Akira’s graphic novel and they earn a 44 out of 45 for the work, each student would earn a 44 for their own score sheet towards the term's final grade

Paper 3 - Captain Marvel Response

Read Chapter 1 of our textbook, A Short Guide to Writing About Film, to learn about the different ways you can write about movies, paying special attention to Theoretical Essay, Critical Essay, Opinion and Evaluation. Also read Chapters 4, 5, and 6 to give you background about researching films and digging below the surface.

Objective: Paper 3 requires you to write either a Theoretical Essay, Critical Essay, or another essay that has you investigating other opinions about a movie, while ultimately stating your own Opinion and Evaluation.

Assignment: Watch Captain Marvel, currently in theaters, and then read at least five news media reviews and at least ten comments/reviews on social media. News media would include a publication such as a magazine (Entertainment Weekly), newspaper (New York Times or even Variety), blog (Slashfilm, a.k.a. /Film), IndieWire is another one; there are plenty of other news platforms that specialize in publishing/sharing journalism, reporting, reviews, opinions, editorials, etc. Social media is a platform for engaging with people, connecting with people, such as Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, even a site like Rotten Tomatoes where reviews get published and then people can comment throughout the primary review post, or write their own reviews to crowdsource the review. Count YouTube as social media too. On Twitter, search for the topic using a hashtag and keywords, such as "#CaptainMarvel reviews."

 

Goals:

• watch Captain Marvel, which may or may not answer questions about the next MCU film, Avengers: Endgame
• learn about the positive and negative opinions circulating around Captain Marvel
• dig deep, look at who is saying what, and ask yourself, Are the negative opinions warranted? Who is right? Who is wrong? Who is way, way off base and needs to stop acting, speaking, and behaving so negatively?
• determine if the negative reviews are warranted, or if these negative reviews and in some cases mean, hateful things are the result of something else, something beyond the movie, something maybe even unrelated to the movie itself 
• share your own personal and objective opinions about what people are saying about Captain Marvel
• at the paper's conclusion, state your own opinion about the movie: is Captain Marvel great, good, okay, bad, really bad, and why?

Considerations:

• Take a stance, and stand up for the movie by putting the haters in their place, or if the movie is in fact bad, say why it's bad and back it up with sound reasoning.
• What can your paper tell us that we do not already know?
• How can your paper reveal deeper issues, going beneath what the general viewer and reviewer has seen?
• How do you interpret the negative reviews, or even the expectations about the movie before it came out, when viewed through the lens of prejudice, stereotyping, discrimination, and especially sexism?
• How can your evaluation and opinion of Captain Marvel advocate for women's rights and equality of the sexes?
• What can you learn about the movie's director, production, actors, or other backstory, to further your arguments? 
• How can you compare/contrast this situation with Captain Marvel with other movies where a female superhero was the lead? Wonder Woman? Catwoman? Elektra? The Wasp? How did those movies do, for better or worse, and how does that compare to what's happening right now with Captain Marvel?
• How can you balance your own personal opinions and evaluations with objective analysis of the movie, sharing your tastes and preferences with the reader while also being observant and open minded? See Chapter 1 Opinion and Evaluation for insights on this matter.

Format:

• your first and last name in paper's header, all on one line
  like so...  Firstname Lastname VCOM392
• Times or Times New Roman font, 12 point size and double-spaced
• 2-page minimum, 3-page maximum
• printed and handed in Mar. 22 at start of class 
• NOTE: Mar. 22 will be used to discuss the movie and the position you took when writing your paper; we will work in small groups and then come together for a discussion among the whole class; a short lecture will also be given in preparation for our March 29 movie screening

Evaluation

Worth 45 points:

• 15 points: craft of writing, spelling, grammar
• 10 points: addressing the required content for the essay
• 15 points: taking a stance on the negative reviews, and strength of argument(s) or content presented (note that compared to prior papers, this field is worth more)
• 5 points: presentation, professionalism, following directions

Mid-Term

Objective: For your Mid-Term paper, follow the format of Paper 1 or Paper 2, revising one of those papers and expanding on your ideas for a minimum of 4 pages total, a maximum of 6 pages.

Choosing the Paper 1 format requires you to write a movie review for any of the movies seen in-class this term, specifically the movie you wrote about for Paper 1—if you like, you may review a new movie.

If you choose Paper 2 for this work, the same applies, insomuch as revising Paper 2 and writing about any movie seen or discussed in class, or even read about as part of our recommended reading.

Want to write about a movie in the theaters now? A new movie? Or a movie online, be it Netflix or Hulu? You could do that too.

You may revise Paper 1 or Paper 2 or write something completely new, but if it is completely new, it must follow the Paper 1 or Paper 2 format.

Goals:

• explore one of the paper formats covered in class so far
• extend your writing into a longer paper
• engage the reader, from the start of the paper to its completion
• improve your writing from Paper 1 or Paper 2, including but not limited to spelling and grammar, argument and use of evidence, engagement and entertainment, delivery of information and clarity, satire and/or provocation

Format:

• your first and last name in paper's header
• page numbers on each page's footer
• Times or Times New Roman font, 12 point
• double-spaced
• 4-page minimum, 6-page maximum
• printed and handed in Friday March 8, start of class

Evaluation
Worth 80 points:

• 20 points: craft of writing, spelling, grammar
• 30 points: addressing the required content, be it a movie review such as Paper 1 or an "alt" format such as Paper 2
• 20 points: appropriateness of content, and reader engagement
• 10 points: presentation, professionalism, following directions

Paper 2 - Issues & Influences

Read Chapter 1 and 4 of our textbook to learn about the different ways you can write about movies. Also consult the samples shared and discussed in class.

Objective: Paper 2 requires you to write about a movie, movies, characters, a character, or a genre. Write no less than 1-page, double-spaced, but no more than 2 pages, creating a written work that is entertaining, informative, critical, and also engaging. Samples presented in class are options, but not formulas for you to follow. You can be experimental, you can compare and contrast, you can lampoon. This isn't about experimenting to be weird or odd or original—all of which you could do—but rather, to use a writing form or various forms as a framework for your ideas. Most importantly, connect with the reader.

Goals:

• write about a movie or movies, character or characters, director or directors
• entertain the reader, but also be a critical agent, who has something to say, critiquing the subject at hand
• keep the reader hooked, engaged, and interested, from the paper's start to its finish
• have fun, while also writing about something you know, or something you want to learn more about; if it's a new topic, research it deeply to really, really know about it and critique it

Considerations:

• How can you entertain the reader, keep them engaged, but also be a critical agent who evaluates movies, the movie industry, or performance?
• Any movie or movies, characters or character, genre or topic watched up to Feb. 28 can be used for this paper. You can also combine elements for something new, for instance, the Terminator, Papyrus, time travel, Avatar, Kickstarter paper we reviewed in class covered a wide range of content, and mashed it all together.
• We've covered documentaries about fonts, advertising, design, superheroes, and there are other movies on reserve in the RVRC. Any or all of those can be ingredients for this. But you can also go outside of what we've viewed. For instance, we watched a documentary about Superman, who is a superhero, and if you want to cover superheroes in Paper 2, you could tackle any superhero—past or present—who has been in the movies, or who hasn't been in the movies.
• You can write for an audience that knows the subject matter, that knows the movie and genre, but you could also write for a newbie who's not familiar with the topic.

Possibilities, Prompts:

• Any one of the following would be acceptable for Paper 2…
• List
• For/Against: play both sides, looking at something from two angles
• Fan Fiction
• What If?
• Fan Fiction, Fan Hopes, Fan Wishes
• Fan Disappointments
• Poem, Haiku
• Parody, Imitation—lots of possibilities here
• Interview, Imagined or Altered 
• Love Letter
• Break-Up Letter
• Menu, Restaurant or Otherwise
• Analysis of Space, Setting
• Analysis of Values, Value, Ethics
• Casting, Typecasting, Roles and Performances
• Casting Call
• Casting Sheet: explanation of role the producer wants to fill
• Historical Fiction
• Breaking News, News Feature
• Alternate Headlines, Real Headlines, Honest Reviews
• Advertising Copy
• Craigslist Advertisement
• Newspaper Advertisement
• Radio, Spoken Word Copy
• Script, Teleplay, Stage Play
• Mash-Up, combining any/all of the above
• See the instructor for additional possibilities, and also reference the suggested reading, including but not limited to McSweeney's, Wholphin, New Yorker, Cracked, Mad

Format:

• your first and last name in paper's header
• Times or Times New Roman font, 12 point
• double-spaced
• 1-page minimum, 2-page maximum
• printed and handed in Feb. 22 at start of class

Evaluation

Worth 45 points:

• 15 points: craft of writing, spelling, grammar
• 20 points: addressing the required content, tackling, taking apart, packing and unpacking the movie and/or movie content, its issues and influences
• 5 points: appropriateness of content, and entertainment value
• 5 points: presentation, professionalism, following directions

Paper 1 - Movie Review

Read Chapter 1 of our textbook to learn about the different ways you can write about movies.

Objective: Paper 1 due on Feb. 1, requires you to review one of the movies we have watched in class, including short films and movies on reserve for our class. Write your review as a 1-page paper, double-spaced.

Goals:

• evaluate a movie you have viewed for class, telling readers about the movie's content, narrative structure, subject matter, theme
• state why you liked or disliked the movie
• translate your understanding of the movie into a written paper
• write for a specific audience, specifically readers of Winthrop University's Johnsonian newspaper

Considerations:

• Write for anybody to understand and appreciate your paper
• Is the movie good, bad, and why?
• What’s important, and why?
• Is the movie relevant today, why or why not?

Format:

• your first and last name in paper's header
• Times or Times New Roman font
• double-spaced
• 1-page maximum, 1/2-page minimum
• printed and handed in Feb. 1 at start of class
• your paper could (possibly) appear in The Johnsonian newspaper

Evaluation

Worth 45 points:

• 15 points: craft of writing, spelling, grammar
• 20 points: addressing the required content, complete movie review
• 5 points: appropriateness of content, and strength of argument(s) or content presented
• 5 points: presentation, professionalism, following directions

Welcome!

Welcome to VCOM 392, Spring 2019 Film Studies!