Content

Where to post the viewing notes

Post your viewing notes inside the Google Docs file that was shared with you by the instructor.

Length

A minimum of 300 words and a maximum of 500 words.

• If you stick to the minimum recommended length, you can expect a passing grade but not necessarily an A. Of course the number of words is not a reliable indicator of the quality or the richness in content of an assignment.
• The maximum is not a hard limit, especially if you feel that the film you are writing about has struck a cord with you.

From the Syllabus

<aside> ✅ 20% for viewing notes related to eight films (300-500 words each), to be posted on Google Docs by the end of Friday on the week in which the film was discussed.

• You need to post viewing notes on the films presented during Weeks 2 (It Happened One Night), 3 (Detour), 4 (The Hitch-Hiker), 6 (A Man and a Woman), 8 (Bonnie and Clyde), 10 (Y Tu Mamá También), 11 (Drive), and 13 (Green Book). </aside>

• Viewing notes should be a series of relevant comments and informed personal reactions that you write down while watching the film or immediately afterwards.

• They don’t have to be formatted or composed as a continuous homogeneous text articulating a thesis.

• They don’t require any research and should accomplish the following two goals:

  1. show your attention to relevant visual and narrative elements in the film;
  2. demonstrate your understanding of the general ideas and the specific concepts introduced during the lectures, with particular reference to the commonalities and differences identified within the road movie genre.

Follow the prompts found below.

Prompts for all viewing notes (aka ‘the matrix’)

• See also The matrix for the analysis of road movies (YT video chapter)
• While writing, keep in mind the film analysis matrix I introduced and briefly discussed during the first class, on Jan. 23. Try to focus on two or more of the following:
  1. Destination(s):
     • Where are the characters going? What is their initial plan and where do they actually end up? What is their symbolic destination?
  2. Transformation(s):
     • What is the psychological, emotional or spiritual journey undertaken by the characters? How are their identity and self-awareness affected by the journey?
  3. Impersonation(s):
     • Do the characters pretend to be what they are not, while on their journey? Are they experimenting with or testing out new roles and new identities? What kind of role-playing, chatter or storytelling supports the public manifestation of that identity?
  4. The road:
     • In what ways are the characters impacted by the journey? Which outside events, encounters and obstacles affect their narrative development, forcing or facilitating the evolution or devolution of their identity?
     • What kind of space is the road, compared to the more conventional social spaces? What rules apply there, or are created or subverted?
  5. The hidden story, the narrative gaps, the questions that are not answered directly:

     • What else is the film trying to communicate with images and scenes, and how?

       Mise-en-scène - Wikipedia

     • What else is the film about, beyond the immediate representation of a road trip?

• I recommend that you watch each film twice.
  1. The first time just enjoy the show, keep an open mind and get into the film’s characters, the story and its particular mood, its pace and visual patterns, its rhythm.
     • Put the phone away, and resist the temptation to respond to a message right away or check your social media accounts every few minutes. You’ll be surprised by the effect that the total immersion in a well-made film can have on you.
       • Would you watch (and enjoy) a football or a basketball game where the players interrupt their actions on the field at random times in order to check the screen of their phone?
     • Continuity is an essential part of the cinematic experience.
  2. The second time, stop and take some notes whenever you identify a key moment or you recognize an emblematic visual element or a significant detail that is key to the understanding of the way the story was constructed, or is representative of the style of the film, its unique approach to portraying characters, places, and themes.
     • The added advantage to this kind of approach, besides making the assignment much easier, is that you will be able to retain much more information, so that even three months from now, on the day of the final exam, you will be able to discuss that film in a more convincing, meaningful fashion, with the support of situations, specific details, relevant examples.
     • Of course you don’t have to watch the film twice in one sitting, in fact I would recommend against doing that, in the case of most people. Watch the film in two continuous sessions within a time span of no less than two and no more than five days.

An example of the viewing notes