NOTE: DO NOT PRINT OR MAKE ANY COPIES OF THIS EXAM.
MAKE SURE YOU E-MAIL HEUSTON YOUR HONOR STATEMENT (ATTACHED BELOW) IN ALONG WITH YOUR ANSWERS.
REFER ONLY TO TEXTS (FILM OR PRINT) THAT APPEAR ON OUR SYLLABUS UNLESS A QUESTION TELLS YOU TO DO OTHERWISE.
Heuston
SHORT ANSWER SECTION (5 PTS. EACH):
(1) Briefly explain how/why two films from our course qualify as metanarratives (or meta-narratives, if you
prefer the hyphen).
(2) Briefly explain how elements of Kipen's "Offshoring the Audience" article and/or Anderson's "Conservatives
in Hollywood?!" article apply to films on our syllabus and/or recent films that are not on our syllabus.
(3) John Belton describes "art as a perceptual process that derives its effects from a prolongation of the
processes of perception.” Briefly explain what this might and how it relates to two films from our course.
(4) Forget the Alamo: Throughout Lone Star, the panning shots between the present and the past suggest the continuing resonance of past events in the present or the ways vivid memories and stories remain with the characters. Briefly identify suggestive or meaningful technical elements (camera work, editing, etc.) in other
films we’ve watched.
(5) “Your theoretical orientation will depend in large part on what you’re looking for.” Briefly explain how Giannetti’s statement relates to the Cheyenne Medicine Wheel and/or to film criticism in general.
(6) Briefly explain how elements of T.S. Eliot’s essay “Tradition and the Individual Talent” can help one understand the importance and/or context of three of the following films: Raging Bull, Lone Star, Apocalypse Now, 8 1/2, The Act of Killing.
(7) Briefly explain how ideology relates to clear/logical thinking AND how your explanation relates to two
films from our course.
(8) Briefly compare and contrast the directing styles of Alfred Hitchcock (at least in Vertigo) and Martin
Scorsese (at least in Raging Bull)
(9) Briefly identify and describe some alternatives to auteur theory.
(10) Thomas Schatz describes film genre as “a problem-solving strategy.” Briefly explain how one could
interpret that by referring to two or more films from our course.
ESSAY SECTION—ANSWER TWO OF THE QUESTIONS BELOW—
(25 PTS. EACH):
(1) Theory Smackdown—Auteur Theory vs. Alternatives: Explain how auteur theory relates to at least three
films we've watched since the midterm exam, including aspects of individual films that seem to conflict with
auteur theory and aspects that seem to support it. Be as specific as possible.
(2) According to Giannetti, "Virtually every movie provides us with role models, ideal ways of behaving,
negative traits, and an implied morality based on the filmmaker's sense of right and wrong. In short, every
film has . . . a given ideological perspective." Giannetti's comments make it sound as if every film has one
clear ideological perspective. Argue for AND against this by referring to films from our course. Be as specific
as possible.
(3) Explain how at least three films from our course involve conflicting narratives or undermine narrative
certainty in some sense. Be as specific as possible.
(4) Use the ideas of multiple theorists/critics from our course reading to compare and contrast the
documentary films we’ve watched. Be as specific as possible.
NOTE: DO NOT PRINT OR MAKE ANY COPIES OF THIS EXAM.
MAKE SURE YOU TURN YOUR HONOR STATEMENT (ATTACHED BELOW) IN ALONG WITH YOUR ANSWERS.