Beyond the more generic instructions I’ve given for screening reports, and after you have finished watching this week’s film (Big Fish), go back and freeze-frame an image from the film. You are now looking at a single frame of a single shot. What do you notice about its mise-en-scene? See our lecture on this subject for more details of this theme. You will need to pay particular attention to the elements of its composition rather than the totality of expressive content in an entire shot. Remember what mise-en-scenemeans: all the elements placed in front of the camera to be photographed.
Your job is to notice the various compositional elements in the image. Write them down and be as descriptive as possible. Don’t just notice the color of one’s hair or eyes. But notice the lighting, colors, camera angle, room, etc. And most important of all, what meaning does all this produce? Even though you made a list of what you see, don’t post your list. Instead, use your list to discuss the meaning of the shot in your screening report. How do all the parts of what you see create meaning? If you can, please post the image, either by attaching a screenshot or photo from your phone.
Reminder: We are not just dealing with film studies, but religious studies. Film is a method of looking at how religion functions in our society. When we look at film, it’s often doing many things that we may call “religion” or “religious”. This week, you are looking at how film itself engages in theorizing religion itself. As you analyze this week’s film, think about Big Fish as part of the conversation about how film engages a type of storytelling normally set aside for religion.
For each section of this course, you will watch a required film. The object of your Screening Report is to get you to see beyond the plot of the film, so please do not get lost in the plot itself. Utilize our reading material to help you achieve a more sophisticated eye and ear. Screening Reports are not a film review or an analytical essay, and they are not a time for you to say how much you loved or didn’t like a film. Instead, Screening Reports are to get you to focus on one particular aspect of a film, such as sound, mise-en-scene, transitions, editing, etc., as a means of discerning beyond what the novice sees and hears. I will give you more detailed instructions for what to look for with each film. You will write a discussion board post (which is your Screening Report), followed by a response to students’ posts.
For your initial post of 350-500 words, follow these 6 steps.
- View the film completely in one sitting. Write down your overall impression(s), inclusive of what you felt the main focus or meaning of the movie was.
- Pay attention to the essential elements of the story itself. How was the story told? What was its point of view? If we are looking at sound, then how did sound play a part in the telling of that story?
- Contemplate the story’s conclusion. Think about what the conflict was and how was it resolved? Were the characters changed in any way? You will want to notice how each weeks focus points toward themes like this.
- Discuss the more technical aspects of the production dependent upon that weeks assignment. Describe the dialogue or narration as it relates to that week. If we are looking at mise-en-scene (within the image), then you will want to notice how that informs the narrative. If we are looking at sound, then what role does sound or even the lack of it play in pushing the message (each week you will look at something different)?
- Depending on what we look at that week, critique the use of lighting, camera angles, locations and their use. How do these combined present an overall setting and impression of the film? How did the editing work to help make the presentation more effective? Describe the rhythm, continuity and sequencing of the rise and fall action sequences, and tell how these combined to improve message delivery. Don’t worry about going beyond that week’s focus.
- Were there any other literary devices used to tell the story, such as historical context or social/cultural standards and expectations. With a particular focus on what we learned that week, write a brief summary of how all the above details worked to present/deliver the movie’s central message. Was the message delivered via emotional appeal, established authority, point of view or other? Remember that our focus in that of religion, so gear your thoughts towards that theme.
- Each Screening Report will need to look out for these points, but I will have a more specific focus for each film in our actual Discussion Board post.
Sample Solution
