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 three questions will help you get started.
1. What aspect or issue within this broad topic area really interests me?
2. Why is a subject-focused approach appropriate for my topic?
3. How can I challenge myself and expand my thinking in this subject area?
Choice of topic
Choice of topic
It is essential that students answer the question using artistic and contextual analysis and that the work does not diverge into other areas like psychology, history or sociology.
To illustrate this, consider a film research question: “How did the Hong Kong cinema change the film industry in the 1960s?” While there are business entrepreneurs like Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest, the focus of the research question is the “changes in the film industry”. Therefore, the focus is not on entrepreneurs but on the ecosystems that relates to it.
Students may choose to discuss, for example, a social, political or gender issue arising from the films in the 1960, nevertheless, they must not treat these films merely as documentary evidence in the discussion of the issue and should focus instead on the artistic meaning and significance of the chosen films.
Developing the topic (Research Question)
Developing the topic (Research Question)
• be clearly stated and focused
• be open to amendment or change if your research takes you in a different direction
• invite a critical examination of the topic in respect of the knowledge, concepts, theories, perspectives
or methods of your chosen DP subject
• encourage analysis, evaluation and synthesis, rather than description, unsupported generalizations and value judgements.
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.
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