Choose One of the Following Areas for Your Research

FILM 134A Fall 06

AMERICAN FILM, 1930-60

RESEARCH PAPER

Choose an American narrative film made between 1930 and 1960 and write a research paper in which you analyze the film from an historical perspective. You may continue to investigate the film you selected for your first project, but you are not required to do so. Please do not research a film that we have already screened in class. This is your chance to explore something we have not covered.

Choose one of the following areas for your research:

·  the film's use of a new technology

(sound, color, widescreen)

·  the film's treatment of a particular social issue

(sexuality, gender, race relations, politics, warfare, crime)

·  the film's relationship to a filmmaking movement or cycle

(film genres, method acting, independent production)

·  the film's relationship larger trends in the film industry

(the Production Code, the blacklist, the decline of the studio system)

·  the film's response to technological developments outside Hollywood

(television, radio, 16mm film)

PAPER PROPOSAL and BIBLIOGRAPHY due in class Tuesday, November 7th.

Your first task will be to write a paper proposal and compile a bibliography of research sources. Your paper proposal should be a one paragraph summary of your topic and an outline of your research plans. Try to pose your topic as a question, rather than a statement. For instance, “Weekend in Havana and the Good Neighbor Policy” is a much less effective topic than the question, “How did the Good Neighbor Policy affect casting, settings, characters and themes in Weekend in Havana?” The answer to that question will provide the thesis statement for your essay.

Your bibliography should include at least 7 items, not including articles you plan to use from the class readings or materials you gathered for the reception and marketing assignment. The bibliography might include books, articles, reputable websites, and DVD interviews and commentary tracks. Try to find sources that cover a range of different perspectives on your topic, such as the personnel involved in the film, the social and/or technological issues that your film engages, and its production history. The best place to start your research is the library’s website for this class: http://library.ucsc.edu/collect/film134.html.

FINAL PAPER due in class Tuesday, November 28th.

The essay should include close analysis of your chosen film’s cinematic, narrative and thematic strategies, while also incorporating historical information that places your analysis in a wider context. Your final paper should be a well-written, thoroughly-researched and logically structured piece that demonstrates your knowledge of a particular topic and your ability to integrate this information into a close reading of an individual film. The paper should be 10 pages (or 2,500 words) in length.

General guidelines:

·  Write, re-write and re-write again. Papers always improve with continued effort.

·  Use proper citation format, including a Works Cited page.

·  Underline all film titles and book titles; put only article titles in “quotation marks.”

·  Dust off that spell-checker!

·  Read your paper aloud to check for awkward passages and grammatical errors.

·  Proofread your paper for typos, spelling errors and grammatical errors before handing it in.

·  Number all pages.

Submission guidelines:

·  No extensions or late papers can be accepted for this assignment, due to strict campus-wide deadlines.

·  Papers must be submitted on time and in class. No email submissions are permitted.

·  Any act of plagiarism will result in failure of the class.