Formal Analyst of the movie “The Notebook” with Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling

From Writing about Movies, 5th Edition (bundled with your e-textbook): Careful analysis of a film’s form is an essential skill for any student of cinema. Formal analysis dissects the complex synthesis of cinematography, sound, composition, design, movement, performance, and editing as they are orchestrated by screenwriters, directors, cinematographers, actors, editors, sound designers, and art directors. The meaning of a movie is expressed through a complicated interplay of its many formal elements. Your task as a formal analyst in this paper is to carefully consider the narrative intent of the different elements that go into making a particular movie: from when a particular scene takes place to the subtler issues of mood, tone, and what a character is thinking and feeling. Focus on elements such as lighting, editing, camera movement, costume, music or sound effects, etc. You do not, however, need to provide a lot of plot summary (2-3 sentences is plenty), or any quality judgment or evaluation of the movie (for example, it was good, it was bad, I liked it, the director is brilliant — you should not include these in your formal analysis). Provide your reader dynamic, detailed, and descriptive writing. You need to show, not merely tell, your readers what happens in the movie. You have to evoke, through language, something of the film’s form and your experience of it. You have to explain what you notice in the movie, using the vocabulary from the textbook that you have learned so far in this class. Choose any movie that we do not watch the full version of in class. Length: 1000-1200 words. **Include a Works Cited page with the film correctly cited, and any other sources you used (no outside sources are required, but if you do research, you have to document it using MLA style).**
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