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I began the school year with four broad project ideas. After completing research on all of them I narrowed down my ideas to the topic that I'm currently working with. I wanted to analyze what stories are told more often in historical movies. Throughout my preliminary research, I struggled to find any information on my topic. While I found other film analyses, none were on my specific topic or related to the question I had in mind. After I determined this gap in the research, I then had to narrow down this topic a lot to make it a feasible research project.
First, I had to narrow down my time period of study. Instead of looking at historical movies as a broad genre, I narrowed down the films to a specific time period. I decided to analyze movies made about World War II. I decided to analyze movies made during the 21st Century so that I could have more modern research. I want to see which stories are portrayed in recently made films, not necessarily in films made during the time period, where different social norms had a larger impact on the film industry. Then, I had to define what I'm actually analyzing in the films. Instead of just analyzing "stories" in a broad sense, I decided to look more at the people represented in the stories. I decided to observe which types of people are represented more often in the movies.
My next step was finding an appropriate research method. I did some research on other film analyses and past research projects and discovered content analysis. As I learned more about the different types of the method, I determined that conceptual content analysis is the most appropriate for the project. I then began figuring out my detailed research method and developing my categories. I decided to analyze the characters based on race, gender, and occupation. I created two data tables so that I can apply the categories separately to main characters and supporting characters. I will quantify how many times a character appeared in the film that fit into one or more of the categories. After collecting the frequencies, I can compare frequencies both within and between films to determine which demographics appear most often in the characters.
My research process was influenced by three main papers that also conducted content analysis on films:
Film Portrayals of Foreign Correspondents: a Content Analysis of Films Before World War II and After Vietnam by Raluca Cozma and John Maxwell Hamilton
Framing Two Enemies in Mass Media: A Content Analysis of US Government Influence in American Film During World War II, by Thomas B. Christie and Andrew M. Clark
Portrayal of Muslims in Indian Cinema: A Content Analysis of Movies during (200-8), by Muhammad Ashraf Khan and Syeda Zuria Bokhari (M.Phil)
These studies analyzed films from different genres and time periods, but each of the studies looked at the characters themselves and how specific groups were portrayed, which is similar to my research plan.
Once I figured out what I wanted to do, I began compiling a list of movies to analyze. I originally planned on just watch American-made films, but after hearing feedback from my peers and teacher, I decided to watch movies from the major countries involved with the conflict. I did random selection to choose films that fit my parameters without bias. Here is my final list:
United States:
Midway (2019)
Unbroken (2014)
Great Britain:
Dunkirk (2017)
Churchill (2017)
France:
Female Agents (2008)
The Roundup (2010)
Germany:
Downfall (2004)
Land of Mine (2015)
Italy:
The Duck Hunter (2010)
Miracle at St. Anna (2008)
Japan:
The Eternal Zero (2013)
Hanagatami (2017)
My project was approved, but I have continued to make revisions as I have noticed areas of improvement and received feedback from my teacher and peers. First, I adjusted my categories a little bit. My original plan was to use the same data sheet of categories for four different types of characters: protagonists, antagonists, supporting, and background characters. I changed this to only applying the categories to main characters and other supporting or background characters. I also modified my specific categories to include more specific outcomes instead of just having an "other" category.
I also adjusted how I will analyze my results. I will include descriptive statistical analysis (mean, median, mode etc.) and conduct a statistical test of homogeneity to compare my data results in a more logical, reliable, and effective way.
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