Write a 2 page paper that addresses the questions below toward the purpose of answering this main question:

How does this film tell its story? How do the filmmakers use plot, narrative and story to engage the viewer and cause us to feel certain emotions and come to certain conclusions? How does acting come into play in this film in connection with the storytelling?

You may use the following questions to brainstorm and get started. Do not feel obligated to answer every one of these questions. Focus on the questions that you find most compelling or interesting. For each of the questions that you choose to answer, provide clear and specific examples from the film that you have chosen. Use the vocabulary from the book – refer back to your notes and the textbook for help. Please feel free to refer to the “Writing About Movies” supplement to your textbook for reminders about the elements of academic writing about film.

– Carefully reconstruct the story of the film and note which elements of the story are explicitly presented in the plot.

– Are the plot events presented in chronological order? What is the significance of the order of plot events in the film?

– Keep track of the major events (hubs) and minor events (satellites) in the film’s plot. Do any of these satellites seem unnecessary to the film overall? If so, why might the director have included these satellites?

– What nondiegetic elements are present? How are they appropriate to the film? How do they enhance the narrative?

– Do any scenes use real time or a stretch relationship between the story duration and screen duration? If so, what is the significance of these scenes to the overall narrative?

– Who is the film’s protagonist? Who are the major characters? Characterize each of them according to their depth (round versus flat) and motivation. Who or what is the antagonist?

– How do the setting and the scope of the narrative complement the other elements?

– What is the narration of the film? Does it use a narrator of any kind?

– What is the inciting incident? The climax? The resolution? What do we learn about the protagonist from the exposition?

– Is the acting in this film naturalistic or nonnaturalistic?

– What kinds of actors and actresses are used? Why?