Singapore International Film Festival 2025
INCLUDING THE INTERDISCIPLINARY PATHWAY for 2026-2027 Film Cohort
The aims of the extended essay are to enable students to:
1. experience the excitement of intellectual exploration
2. engage in student-led academic research on a topic of personal interest
3. develop skills in research, thinking, self-management and communication
4. reflect on the learning experience of doing an extended essay.
For the extended essay, you have a choice of two pathways: the interdisciplinary pathway or the subject-focused pathway. The direction you take will depend on the nature of your topic, arising from exploration of your personal interests and how these may relate to your Diploma Programme (DP) studies.
Local and global contexts and the extended essay (page 9)
In extended essays, contemporary examples, case studies and real-life engagement with local and global issues can bring students’ research to life. These issues tend to be dynamic, varied and present at all levels of global social organization: global issues have local ramifications and local issues are often a part of a wider phenomenon.
An interdisciplinary approach is worth considering if students wish to focus on a contemporary issue of global significance.
THE FILM EXTENDED ESSAY REQUIREMENTS
A. Become familiar with film text and grammar as a medium of expression.
B. Clarify your thesis and why is it worth investigating?
C. Conduct a segmentation of the film ie the important turning point or the set up, the inciting incident, the opening sequences, etc.
D. If you are writing about particular scenes, conduct a shot-by-shot analysis including screensgrabs.
NOTE: Point C & D: the EE maybe enhanced by visual materials like drawings, diagrams, storyboard frames, screenshots, camera layouts, and not just decorative purpose but for discussion and references.
E. Seek out other critical writing on your film including theories, popular culture or other disciplines. You must consult the following:
Film and Television Literature (Books, Academic Journals, etc.)
Communication and Mass Media (Books, Academic Journals, etc.)
Internet Movie Database (IMdb), Internet Archive Feature Film, The Russian Film Hub (Streaming movies, Trailers and Database)
F. Examine your assumptions like background information, history, economic concerns, politics and your sources.
G. Consider the context like how issues, style and genres of the film, filmmaker and regional cinema styles.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE ON "DOUBLED-DIPPING"
Students must ensure that their EE does not duplicate other work they are submitting for the Diploma Programme. For example, the EE must not be based on the same films the student has studied for any assessment tasks as part of the course.