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FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE

This study guide consists of three parts:

  1. Instructions for Take-Home Essays | Checklist for Exam Essays
  2. List of Terms
  3. Sample Exam with Answers

Instructions for Take-Home Essays

Write short essays of about 400-500 words in response to two of the following. Single-spaced in 12-point font with one-inch margins, each essay must fit on one side of an 8-1/2x11 sheet of paper. Put only your TECH ID (not your name) in the upper right-hand corner of each sheet, along with other information identifying the essay.

Emphasize your knowledge of specific dramatic and cinematic concepts by CAPITALIZING or boldfacing terms introduced in Boggs. Your task is to demonstrate your powers of observation and interpretation as well as your understanding of cinematic narratives. Take care not to use lazy, imprecise, or inefficient language; instead, use an economical structure, precise naming, and concise sentences. Choose your subjects carefully, so that the resulting essays adequately demonstrate the depth and breadth of your cinematic knowledge.

a)  Like no other medium, film is all at once a the expression of an artistic vision, a dramatization of a script or story, a collaboration of cast and crew, an economic enterprise, and an inherently technological challenge. Write an essay in which you analyze how the director, cast, and crew addressed any one general dramatic or cinematic element (as detailed in Boggs chs. 4-11; for example, “acting” or “visual design”) in the process of making either Beauty and the Beast or Citizen Kane.  Relevant resources: Cocteau’s Diary; reserve reading on Kane; web materials and DVDs of both, available at Media Services.

b)  Using one of the particular approaches outlined in Boggs ch. 12 (pp. 351-58), write an essay interpreting the thematic meaning of Boys Don’t Cry, Cinema Paradiso, Beauty and the Beast, Citizen Kane, or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (however, you may not write on the film you chose for [a] above). Whichever you choose, be sure that the interpretive approach is readily identifiable and your statement of thematic meaning clearly articulated.  (Please note that answering the questions Boggs provides for each approach will not, of itself, constitute an acceptable interpretive essay; instead, those questions should be addressed prior to writing the essay.)

Strong essays will articulate a clear, purposeful thesis; organize key points into separate paragraphs, each with its own claim and set of supporting evidence; make considerable, accurate use of the course vocabulary; demonstrate a keen understanding of the general concept, the particular film, and specific scenes; and make purposeful use of supporting resources, such as the film web pages, assigned reading, and introductory lectures.

List of Terms for Multiple Choice Exam

Part II of the exam will be given at approximately 7:30 p.m. that same evening, after screening a film.  Bring a Scantron form 882-E and #2 pencils. This part of the exam will consist of 50 multiple choice questions drawn from Boggs chs. 12-16; lecture and discussion material from weeks 10-13; required reserve reading, including the fables “Beauty and the Beast” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”; required reserve material on Citizen Kane and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; Cocteau’s Diary of a Film; the films Beauty and the Beast, Citizen Kane, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; the “early cinema” webpage, lecture, and films; and a selected film shown that evening.  While Part II of the exam will not be “cumulative” in nature, it will nonetheless assume knowledge of the first 10 weeks’ worth of films and readings.  Many questions will ask that you apply cinematic concepts from the Boggs text to the films we have screened in class.  You can expect some particular attention to the “scenes for study” reproduced on the course web.

Given the scope of the final, you may bring a single page (8½”x11”, one side only) of notes to consult during the multiple-choice segment of the exam.  Should you make use of such a page, I will ask that you turn in those notes with your exam. Please do not assume that bringing notes is an appropriate substitute for careful studying. Aside from the names of films, film release dates, directors, actors, and the individual cinematic and literary works studied, students should also be familiar with these concepts.

Interpretive approaches

Genres, Remakes, Sequels

Other film experiences

Censorship and cultural forces

Sample Exam

1. In December 1895, the projection of “The Sprinkler Sprinkled” and other short, documentary-style films was later said to constitute the “birth of the cinema,” now generally attributed to

  1. Thomas Edison.
  2. Louis Lumière (with his brother, August).
  3. George Méliès.
  4. Edwin Porter.

2.  Which of these technological innovations helped Disney achieve the appearance of three-dimensionality in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?

  1. The “Steadicam.”
  2. The multiplane camera.
  3. Panavision.
  4. Dolby surround-sound.

3.   In Citizen Kane, Orson Welles' use of DEEP-FOCUS CINEMATOGRAPHY

  1. recorded objects at varying distances from the camera in varying degrees of sharpness.
  2. contributed to the sense of two-dimensionality in many scenes.
  3. required the use of special telephoto lenses.
  4. permitted spectators to decide which part of the screen to focus their attention upon.

4. According to Boggs, MARXIST CRITICS tend to view each film by considering

  1. its relationship to other Marx Brothers films.
  2. its portrayal of the power struggle between members of different economic classes.
  3. whether it portrays a romantic or realistic view of life.
  4. the theories of Sergei Eisenstein.

5. According to Boggs, a student’s PERSONAL GUIDELINES for analyzing films should be
  1. consistently rigid and carefully predetermined.
  2. strong enough to dismiss any film which does not meet those guidelines.
  3. constantly changing and growing as s/he experiences a wider variety of films.
  4. whatever his or her instructor says they should be.

6. This protégé of Edison’s focused his cinematography on the shot, not the scene, and his The Great Train Robbery was the first film to feature parallel cutting, pans and tilts, and depth of framing:

  1. Louis Lumière (and his brother, August).
  2. George Méliès.
  3. Edwin Porter.
  4. D. W. Griffith.

7. The rise of animation studios, with mass-produced cel backgrounds, occurred between

  1. the 1830s and 1870s.
  2. the 1890s and 1900s.
  3. the 1910s and 1930s.
  4. the 1940s and 1960s.

8. Director Jean Cocteau was influenced by both the documentary realism of the Lumières and the magical fantasies of George Méliès in this film:

  1. A Trip to the Moon.
  2. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.
  3. Beauty and the Beast.
  4. Rear Window.

9. According to his Diary of a Film, while shooting in France in 1945-46, director Jean Cocteau not only suffered from illness, but also

  1. was unable to rely upon consistent film stock developing processes.
  2. was slowed by a cinematographers’ strike.
  3. was troubled by his unrequited love for Josette Day, who played Beauty.
  4. all of the above.

10. The Motion Picture Production Code (also known as the Hays Code) governed the release of these films:

  1. The Kiss, The Girl and Her Trust, The Great Train Robbery, and Sherlock, Jr.
  2. Modern Times, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. and Citizen Kane.
  3. M, Beauty and the Beast, and The Seventh Seal.
  4. Do the Right Thing, The Purple Rose of Cairo, and Boys Don’t Cry.

 

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