Posted: October 6th, 2013

Critical Analysis of 2 films City of God and Amores Perros

Movies to be used: Amores perros and city of God

Demonstrate your ability to write an insightful and entertaining essay that demonstrates critical thinking about two of the films we’ve watched.
Assignment:
Assume that you have been hired to write an article for a film journal analyzing contemporary international film.  Your article must fall between 1200 and 1500 words and must examine two and only two of the films in the course.  You may pick the topic of your choice.  Here are some examples to get you thinking; however, these are just examples and you are not limited to these topics:
identity
editing
mise-en-scène
voyeurism
cinematography
symbolism
oppression
Use the films and assigned readings to support your analysis. I am not requiring any outside sources for the article.
Audience:
Film aficionados who may not be familiar with the films you’re discussing.
Tone:
You should be both entertaining and informative. You must come across as an expert—knowledgeable but not didactic or boring—and as a skilled writer who knows how to entertain the audience and turn a good phrase while informing your audience about your topic.
Format:
Use an 11 or 12 point font.
Use 3/4 inch margins (top, bottom, left, right). The paper should be in two columns (with .5 inches between columns).  
Your text should be right and left justified so it looks like a journal article (like the paragraph under graphics below).
Single-space the paper. Indent five spaces when you begin a new paragraph. Do not double-space between paragraphs.
Graphics:
You are required to include, at least, one graphic complete with a caption that does work. In other words, if your graphic is a movie poster, your caption shouldn’t say “(fill-in-the-blank) movie poster” because we can see that on our own. Instead, tell us something about the poster that is relevant to your paper.  Your caption does not count toward your word total.
Documentation:
I am not requiring outside sources (though you are welcome to use the sources on the syllabus if you like). However, if you use outside sources or even sources like the interviews and articles on the syllabus, be sure to credit them within the text.
That said, I do not want this to read like an academic paper and have the narrative broken up by your documentation.  I am not requiring parenthetical documentation with page numbers. Instead, make it read like the following example:
Modern filmmaking begins with Breathless.  In fact, noted critic Roger Ebert writes that no film debut since Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane has been as influential. 
If you use an outside source that is not on the syllabus, include a Works Cited at the end of your paper with any non-syllabus sources. You do not need a Works Cited otherwise.