Film Analysis – The Godfather

Choose from City Lights, The Maltese Falcon, Vertigo, The Graduate, or The Godfather.

You may write about one movie or compare two of them.

Acceptable papers are minimum 2 pages, double-spaced, with 1 inch margins, as well as your name, student ID #, the date, class name, semester and year noted in the upper right hand corner. Include the name of the film or films you are comparing

Write in complete sentences. No bullet points or shorthand and NO TEXT SPEAK! (ex. It was gr8. U could really C what they were doing.)

Here is an outline to use in your analysis:

What themes or ideas were addressed in the films?

Were there any performances by particular actors that stood out? What, specifically, was memorable about their performances?

Mis en Scene

How were these design elements used to convey time, place, mood, and theme?

Lighting

Costumes

Make-up

The set

Music, sound or other elements.

Placement of Actors in the scene

Cinematography

Camera Shots (Long shot, establishing shot, Medium Shot, Close-up, Specialty Shots)

Camera Angles (High, Eye-Level, Low)

Camera Movement (Pan, Tilt, Dolly, Tracking)

Types of Camera (Crane, Hand-held, Steadi-Cam, Drone, etc)

Use of Lens (Zoom, wide, etc)

Editing

What editing techniques were used to tell the story or convey the theme or style of the film?

Cuts (cutting on action, cut away, cross cut, jump cut, match cut, etc)

Transitions (fade in, fade out, dissolve, montage, iris, wipe, etc)

Support your observations and give solid examples.