Embedded Files
Singapore International Film Festival 2025
2027 FILM EE
Choosing a topic
If you have already identified an interest in a broad topic area, then responding to the following four questions will help you get started.
1. What aspect or issue within this broad topic area really interests me?
2. Why is an interdisciplinary approach appropriate for my topic?
3. Which framework best suits my topic?
4. Which two DP subjects can I use to investigate my topic successfully within that framework?
Choice of topic
Choice of topic
Students will need guidance in their choice of topic.
The topic must clearly focus on film or television, rather than a literary, sociological, political or historical issue.
For example, a study of film adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays or of classic novels must not become a literature essay about the plays or the novels. It must be a discussion about the films from a filmic point of view.
The topic needs to offer enough scope for a substantial essay without being too general. Crucially, it needs to capture the interest and enthusiasm of the student.
The research question must give the essay a sharp focus within the topic and the student has to be perfectly clear about the following.
What arguments or points of view will they develop or prove in the course of the essay?
What needs to be said about the topic?
How will they use evidence to support the ideas under discussion?
What evidence will be appropriate?
If addressing a topic already addressed in academic studies, students must examine existing views and argue against them to some degree. Earlier studies must be used as a basis for discussion and not be merely replicated.
Students must also avoid:
being mainly dependent upon summarizing secondary sources
approaches that are essentially narrative or descriptive
approaches that are anecdotal
being unfocused and too general
material that is more appropriate to other subject areas.
Students should ensure that they have sufficient sources to support their EE and can access them when needed. Early planning is essential.
Treatment of the topic
Treatment of the topic
Clarity, coherence of ideas and attention to detail are all necessary to achieve an effective EE. Students need a well-formulated research question that allows them to develop an EE that is cogent, rational and economical in expression. Their ideas should be supported by relevant sources and specific reference to film and/or television texts.
Primary sources
For primary sources, there must be detailed references to at least two films/major television works. Primary sources include:
the film(s)
the script
the screenplay
the score
personal contact or personal correspondence with individuals involved in making the film.
Surveys and questionnaires undertaken by the students themselves should be avoided as they are unlikely to offer statistically valid information.
Secondary sources
For secondary sources, students must make close reference to relevant sources (print and other media) related to the question, such as:
books
journal and magazine articles
reviews
DVD “extras”
promotional material
internet material.
Use of sources
Students should:
evaluate the arguments in the sources rather than simply repeating what they say
explore a broad range of ideas from different sources, rather than relying heavily on one, or on a number of items from a single author.
Use of visual materials
An EE may be enhanced by visual materials, such as:
drawings
diagrams
storyboard frames
screenshots
camera layouts.
However, such material must not be used merely for decorative purposes.
Visual and other source materials must be properly referenced and acknowledged at the end of the essay.
In addition, students’ EEs must:
focus on developing, supporting and illustrating their argument, rather than on plot summary or character description
use filmic terminology accurately and appropriately.
The most successful essays are often those with a clear voice that transmits the student’s enthusiasm and scholarship with clarity and conviction. The EE should reflect the student’s coherent and informed engagement with their chosen topic.
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 screenshots.
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.
Film and Television Literature Index with Full Text
Academic Search Complete
Communication and Mass Media Complete
Internet Movie 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.
Report abuse