Principles of Sound and Image

by | Dec 13, 2018 | Film studies

For your academic essay assignment, you will investigate in depth the formal elements of a film, examining the chosen film’s visual technique and narrative style. You must choose a film from the list provided below and explore the style and narrative of the film in two representative sequences: the opening sequence and a scene of your choosing that you feel encapsulates the film’s overall approach to aesthetics. It is imperative that you consider all of the elements listed below and relate them to the narrative, characters and story. You may choose to concentrate upon one component of the narrative or visuals; however, your paper will not be comprehensive, and you will not have fulfilled the assignment, if you ignore form and examine only content or vice versa. The purpose of this assignment is for you to examine how film form and content work together to produce specific effects and communicate the ‘meaning’ of the narrative. After you have chosen your film and sequence, please address the following: 1. How have the filmmakers arranged and constructed the elements of mise-en- scène? How are they utilized to reveal story and character information? What tone or effect does the organization of mise-en-scène produce? What role is played by the production design? 2. How have the filmmakers organized space and plot information through editing? What characterizes the editing and how does it contribute to the narrative? How does editing serve to influence our perception of the main character(s) and the scenario? What is the role of pacing and the duration of the shots? How does editing encourage us to identify with the characters? 3. Consider the role of sound. What role does the score play in enhancing characterization and mood and how might it convey theme? How is the soundtrack, including both diegetic and non-diegetic sound, utilized and to what effect? Please discuss the score (the music), the dialogue and the sound effects. 4. How is framing utilized? What is the role of camera movement in the sequence? How are camera height, level, distance and angle utilized? 5. Reflect upon the role of narrative structure and genre for this film. What expectations do we have as a result? How do genre and narrative provide a framework for our understanding of the story as it unfolds? Please support your opinions with specific examples but do not provide a synopsis of the action of the scene except where necessary to elucidate your point(s). In your response, it is critical that you utilize proper essay format with an introduction, conclusion, explicitly stated thesis and logically developed argument. Please make sure to have a coherent argument and relate each of the parts of the essay to one another. The essay should be at least 7, but no more than 10 pages in length, double spaced. Please do not do any research of any kind, especially Internet searches. I have attached power points filled with all the necessary information. Please pick one from the following for this paper: -The Breakfast Club -The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo -Se7en -The Sixth Sense -Goodfellas -Love Actually

 

 

 

Sample Solution

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

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