FIlm

Assignment: Your first assignment is a shot-by-shot analysis of the one-reel film Suspense (1913), directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley. (You can find the film below.) The assignment consists of two components:

• a shot-by-shot breakdown of the film (the format for which is indicated below); AND
• a short critical analysis of the films formal properties, at least three full pages.

The shot-by-shot breakdown should be single-spaced for each shot entry, with a space separating one shot entry from the next. The written analysis should be at least three full pages, double spaced, twelve-point font (Times New Roman), standard/1 margins.

The Shot-by-Shot Breakdown:

Only basic information should be included in a shot-by-shot analysis. Yours should look something like this:

Shot #1 (long shot; straight-on): Establishing shot of a large building with a dead tree in the foreground. (5 seconds) Cut to

Shot #2 (medium close-up; low angle): Shot of a sign reading, Columbia Institute of Shot-by-Shot Analysis. (3 seconds) Dissolve to

Shot #3 (medium long shot; straight-on): Interior shot of a dimly lit room, a desk at the center. The desk is bare except for a computer monitor, playing Suspense. A woman in black enters slowly from left, carrying a notepad. [etc., etc.]

Adopting a clear and consistent form is essential to this exercise. You should include the following relevant information: camera distance, angle, and movement (the latter if applicable); important changes in the mise-en-scene, such as significant figure movement or action; pertinent narrative information; and shot length/duration.

Here are four additional pieces of advice:

• To shorten the work involved, use short forms for shot scales (e.g., LS for long shot, CU for close-up, etc.).
• If a shot appears to repeat an earlier shot, simply record it as follows: Shot #5: As Shot #3; Molly sits in front of the monitor and smiles, including any pertinent changes within your description if there are any. Make your reference to the most recent version of the repeated shot within the sequence.
• When title cards appear, you must signal their existence, by noting them as, e.g., Intertitle: Molly preferred the films of Lois Weber to those of D. W. Griffith. Intertitles should not be counted as shots.
• Refer to characters by whatever generic label distinguishes them (e.g., the professor, the security guard, etc.).

The Written Account:

For the purposes of this exercise, the written account should be at least three full pages. Do not offer an evaluation of the films merits (i.e., what you think is good or bad about it); do not engage in critiques of the (purported) deficiencies of early silent film, nor effusive celebrations of Webers mastery of the emerging art of cinema. Instead, concentrate on describing and analyzing the films significant formal patterns. What we are looking for is what you have learned about the formal properties of this film based on performing the shot-by-shot analysis. The main purpose of this exercise is for you to train yourself to discern various elements of film form.

To this end, you should use your observations about character movement, shot length, shot transitions, etc., to devise an analysis explaining what patterns of style emerge within this film. More specifically, you may think about questions like the following: how does the editing guide our understanding of the narrative? How are time and space treated and how do editing, mise-en-scene, etc. aid in our comprehension of that treatment? What elements of mise-en-scene or cinematography are stressed and how? It is strongly recommended that you read Bordwell, Thompson, and Smith, Film Art, 12th ed., Ch. 2, The Significance of Film Form, esp. pp. 50-54, 62-70, and Ch. 8 Summary: Style and Film Form, esp. pp. 303-310, which will give you further prompts for thinking about cinematic form.

AI Policy

Only the following AI use is permitted:

1. Students for whom English is a second language may use generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude) to polish their prose, but are required to submit both the polished and unpolished versions.

2. Students may also use generative AI as a “pattern-hypothesis generator” – that is, you may paste your shot-by-shot into the AI and ask it to help you detect formal/stylistic patterns for your three-page analysis. Your written analysis must still be your own and must develop and substantiate any patterns so identified, rather than merely restate them. If you use AI in this way, please be sure to include a link to the AI chat in your paper. (ChatGPT and Claude.ai allow chats to be shared by clicking a button on the top right of the interface.)

Outside of these two exceptions, use of AI tools will result in a failing grade.