Film Analysis
Final Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Film Analysis explores the critical methods and theoretical frameworks used to understand and interpret cinematic works. Students engage with films from various genres, periods, and cultures, learning to dissect elements such as narrative structure, cinematography, editing, sound, and mise-en-scène. The course emphasizes the development of analytical skills, enabling learners to identify themes, symbolism, and social or historical contexts. Through screenings, discussions, and written assignments, students gain a deeper appreciation for the artistic, technical, and cultural aspects of film, preparing them to thoughtfully critique and appreciate the medium.
Recommended Textbook
Film A Critical Introduction 3rd Edition by Maria T. Pramaggiore
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711 Verified Questions
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Chapter 1: Introduction
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Sample Questions
Q1) One of the goals of the textbook is to teach students that their emotional response to a film isn't as important as their intellectual engagement with the text.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Discuss how Eadweard Muybridge's work in motion photography led to the development of filmmaking.
Answer: Muybridge's experiments in serial photography had as much to do with scientific discovery as they did with film as an art form.Muybridge's famous photographs of horses in motion (1878)were inspired by a question that Leland Stanford (later Governor of California)hired Muybridge to answer: do horses lift all four feet off the ground when running (The answer was yes.)Muybridge set up a bank of still cameras,each of which captured a shot of the horse as it moved by.These sequences of still shots offered insight into the details of human and animal movement.
Q3) In general,what do the study notes accompanying end of chapter essays emphasize?
Answer: Strategies for writing about film
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Page 3
Chapter 2: An Approach to Film Analysis
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Sample Questions
Q1) How does <i>Pan's Labyrinth</i> draw a parallel between the Captain and the Pale Man?
Answer: both hoard food and sit at the end of banquet tables
Q2) In the documentary <i>In a Dream</i>,filmmaker Jeremiah Jagar indicates the emotional cost of his father's marital infidelity by ______________________.
A) inserting a shot of his father that parallels an earlier moment, only with muted colors
B) playing a downbeat song whose lyrics focus on betrayal
C) showing his father out drinking obsessively
D) none of the above
Answer: A
Q3) In the film <i>Notorious</i>,Alfred Hitchcock uses a ________ motif to suggest the change and development of a "party girl" character.
A) dress
B) dancing
C) drinking
D) musical
Answer: C
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Chapter 3: Writing About Film
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Sample Questions
Q1) A crucial first step in writing a film analysis essay is crafting a strong ________.
A) thesis
B) title
C) opinion
D) plot summary
Answer: A
Q2) One of the benefits of a film journal is that it ________.
A) provides opportunities for personal exploration
B) helps film students study for exams
C) helps one generate ideas for papers
D) all of these
Answer: D
Q3) <i>Let the Right One In</i> creates an uncanny vision of childhood horror by showing a vampire _____________________.
A) doing jumping jacks
B) reading romance novels
C) playing with a Rubik's cube
D) playing with a pocket knife
Answer: C
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Narrative Form
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Sample Questions
Q1) In <i>Finding Nemo</i>,the exposition shows what motivates Marlin's fears and insistence that his son play it safe,allowing viewers to feel sympathetically toward what otherwise might seem an uptight character.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Russian narrative theorist Tzvetlan Todorov argued that all narratives involve ________.
A) romantic entanglements
B) people
C) both personally and politically motivated action
D) the disruption of stability
Q3) The ________ is a series of events in the third act of the film that resolves the conflicts that have arisen.
A) denouement
B) conclusion
C) exposition
D) climax
Q4) Explain how <i>Notorious</i> manipulates the audience's emotions by exploiting moments of omniscience.
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Chapter 5: Mise en Scène
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Sample Questions
Q1) The places in which a film's action unfolds are known as the ________.
Q2) Using a strong ________ appears to separate the subject from the background and produces a silhouette effect.
A) available light
B) rear projection
C) back light
D) natural-key light
Q3) Brief appearances in films by well-known actors playing themselves are called ________.
Q4) In <i>Thelma and Louise</i>,the main characters' decision to drive over the side of the Grand Canyon represents the women's ________.
A) continuing pursuit of independence and freedom
B) inability to cope with modern technology
C) desire to destroy all their ties to material things
D) all of the above
Q5) Briefly describe the two wedding scenes that are depicted in <i>The Godfather</i>. What factors of each scene make up its mise en scène? How does the <i>mise en scène </i>in these different scenes inform our understanding of the characters?
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Chapter 6: Cinematography
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Sample Questions
Q1) The ________ lenses used by CinemaScope and Panavision squeeze an image at a ratio of 2:1 horizontally into a standard film frame.
A) anamorphic
B) panoramic
C) omniramic
D) cineramic
Q2) ________ "bend" the light coming into the lens,blurring the image and creating a soft visual look.
A) Diffusion filters
B) Polarizing filters
C) Telephoto lenses
D) Neutral-density filters
Q3) Describe two common functions of camera movement (not to be confused with <i>types</i> of camera movement).
Q4) The trombone shot was created by ________.
A) Alfred Hitchcock
B) Orson Welles
C) Haskell Wexler
D) Francis Ford Coppola
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Chapter 7: Editing
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Sample Questions
Q1) The editing throughout <i>Bonnie and Clyde </i>contrasts the integrity and innocence of the young outlaws with the deceitfulness of the authorities who pursue them.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A shot taken from opposite the angle of the preceding shot is known as a ________.
Q3) ________ is the attribute of editing in which shot transitions are choreographed with other visual or sound elements,such as lines of dialogue.
Q4) <i>The Godfather</i> uses montage editing to show that the Mafia justifies its dishonorable activities,such as murder,by linking them to honorable values,such as the importance of family and values.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The title of the film <i>Notorious</i> refers to the film's antagonist,a leader of a group of Nazis actively trying to develop nuclear technology in the years following World War II.
A)True
B)False
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Sound
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Sample Questions
Q1) The sound of the adding machine in <i>Days of Heaven</i> disrupting the farmer's relaxation shows that,despite their class differences,the farmer is just as overwhelmed by the industrial system that engulfs the main characters,Abbey and Bill.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The most commonly manufactured sound effect in films is walking.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Describe one characteristic of the music that plays as the three main characters leave Chicago. Analyze (in 2-4 sentences)how this detail suggests the characters' emotions or state of mind at this point.
Q4) Sounds that are not part of the story world (those which characters cannot hear)are called ________.
A) non-diegetic
B) sound effects
C) conceptual
D) ADR
Q5) ________ is the way an actor says a line,including pauses,intonation and emotion.
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Chapter 9: Alternatives to Narrative Fiction
Film:Documentary and Avant-garde Films
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Q1) The three modes of filmmaking are ________.
A) commercial fiction, documentary and avant-garde
B) comedy, drama and documentary
C) commercial fiction, avant-garde and experimental
D) commercial fiction, commercial nonfiction and avant-garde
Q2) T or F: Stan Brakhage's abstract film <i>Black</i> Ice consists of nothing but extreme close-ups of ice,steam and water,creating a poetic evocation of the three states of H20.
A)True
B)False
Q3) <i>Grizzly Man</i> could best be categorized as a ________ documentary because it calls attention to the process of filmmaking in order to expose the ways the medium constructs reality.
A) direct cinema
B) talking head
C) self-reflexive
D) propaganda
Q4) How do the motivations behind commercial fiction films,documentaries and avant-garde films differ? How do these differing motivations affect the types of films that are created?
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Film and Ideology
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Q1) Some critics complain that studio-era films like <i>Gone with the Wind</i> and Shirley Temple's childhood films <i>(e.g.,The Little Colonel)</i>are racist because they
A) avoid presenting black characters
B) present black characters in a demeaning way
C) overlook racial difference altogether instead of trying to explore the problems inherent in the United States' racial hierarchy
D) all of the above
Q2) During the 1950s and 1960s,what political movement had a significant impact on Hollywood's depiction of African Americans?
Q3) In <i>The Birth of a Nation</i>,African Americans are ________.
A) played by non-professional African American actors
B) characterized as rapists who threaten white women
C) depicted as the victims of the South Carolina legislature following the Civil War
D) all of these
Q4) Explain why some,like Rupert Everett,argue that contemporary film industry is still biased against openly gay actors,despite the proliferation of gay characters on film and television.
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Social Context and Film Style:National,
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Q1) Which of the following was prohibited by the MPPDA's "Don'ts and Be Carefuls" list (which preceded the Production Code)?
A) interracial romance
B) profanity
C) childbirth
D) all of these
Q2) Which of the following films was not one of the five major studios during the studio era?
A) MGM
B) Paramount
C) Warner Brothers
D) Disney
Q3) Since the 1920s ________ has dominated the international film market.
A) Hollywood
B) Bollywood
C) Hong Kong
D) Cannes
Q4) Identify one reason why filmmakers ventured to California in the early 1900s,establishing Hollywood as the United States' filmmaking center.
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Chapter 12: Film Stardom As a Cultural Phenomenon
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Q1) A star's pay for a film may come in the form of ________.
A) up-front fees
B) percentages of grosses
C) percentages of profits
D) all of these
Q2) Explain how one of these figures demonstrates the way the star persona collapses the boundary between performance and biography: Jodie Foster,Mickey Rourke,or Jennifer Anniston
Q3) Audiences of the silent era nicknamed Buster Keaton's signature character the "Great Stoneface" due to his ________.
A) perceived lack of facial expression
B) resemblance to one of the faces on Mount Rushmore
C) heavy white make-up
D) lack of sympathy for female characters
Q4) Explain how Bette Davis's career demonstrates how the star phenomenon depends on collapsing an actor's private life into her performances.
Q5) Stars represent a significant portion of a film's overhead costs.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 13: Genre
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Q1) What is the relationship between rationality and emotions in most science fiction films?
Q2) In a(n)________ musical,characters with no professional connection to music or the stage spontaneously break out into song.
A) integrated
B) backstage
C) inter-textual
D) classical
Q3) <i>Paranoid conspiracy </i>films are generally set ________.
A) in creepy, remote locations
B) in suburban America
C) in crowded urban centers
D) in Washington D.C.
Q4) In an <i>integrated </i> musical,characters with no professional connection to music or the stage spontaneously break out into song.
A)True
B)False
Q5) In a sentence,explain Robert Warshow's argument about the Western's relationship to the status quo.
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Chapter 14: Film Authorship
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Q1) Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum states that Universal Studios agreed to the idea of restoring Welle's <i>Touch of Evil</i> to ________.
A) emphasize the collaboration with his cinematographer
B) show Welle's artistic vision
C) "get more value out of an old chestnut" for financial gain
D) none of the above
Q2) In the marketing campaign for the film <i>United 93</i>,Paul Greengrass was characterized as a (an)________ writer/director.
A) compassionate and socially aware
B) exploitative "badboy"
C) sterile and objective
D) politically liberal
Q3) Alfred Hitchcock's career epitomized the director as <i>auteur</i> because
A) his studio gave him complete control over his own features following the success of <i>Rear Window</i>
B) he was an artistic genius who flouted the profit-oriented studio system
C) he became famous for making adaptations of critically acclaimed literature
D) he used his celebrity status to market his films
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Chapter 15: Cinema As Industry: Economics and Technology
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Sample Questions
Q1) In 1946,the average American filmgoer saw twenty-nine films in the theater every year. By 2007,that number had dropped to eight.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Describe (in 1-2 sentences)one reason why the blockbuster mentality made Hollywood movies more infantile by the 1980s.
Q3) Explore why some critics compare Mumblecore with the French New Wave,even though Mumblecore is closely associated with cutting edge digital technology whereas the New Wave featured filmmakers who loved celluloid.
Q4) From the 1920s through the 1940s,one major studio (MGM)dominated Hollywood's industry.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Critics have explored the similarities between the French New Wave and Mumblecore's ultra low-budget films,most of which have been shot on digital video.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Explain how Hollywood's production of ideas has been "creatively centralized."
Page 17
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