You must answer question one or two. Do not answer both. [Course Description] [Schedule and Course Outline][Lessons (Resource Questions)][Mid-Term Exam] [Paper Assignment (and Examples)] [Final Exams]
You must answer question one or two. Do not answer both.
1. "In animation filming," write Bordwell and Thompson, "the camera stays in one position, but through the drawing of individual cels" frame by frame, the animator can create the effect of camera movement. Describe how animation in B&B is constrained by the Hollywood Formal Paradigm.
2. One pleasure available in watching an animated film arises when we notice its ability to provide us with
images and, sometimes, sounds which cannot be achieved in live action. Describe some of the ways that B&B
exploits the potential of animated film as a unique medium. Organize your answer to substantiate a thesis, one
that forces our attention on that area of filmmaking technique--mise-en-scene, cinematographic properties,
editing, sound--that B&B most fully exploits to artistic ends.
If you choose, answer one of the next two questions, but do not answer both.
3. B&B is an unrestricted narrative (which, of course, means that its story is controlled by an unseen, omniscient narrator). But as B&B write: "Narration is never completely unrestricted. There is always something we are not told, even if it is only how the film will end." In B&B, though, viewers even know the ending. It is forecast at the beginning of the story, and, besides, we're probably already familiar with the fairy tale. Why, then, do we watch this movie? How does both knowing and not knowing affect or structure our viewing experience?
4. This question, prompts you employ the concept of "depth" as a means of rethinking B&B. First, by what
means--objective or subjective--are we as viewers granted access to the emotional/cognitive states of the film's characters?
Second, how do you account for the film's reliance on this means of generating psychological information about its
characters? In other words, what would become of B&B if director Gary Trousdale had decided to emphasize mental subjectivity?
Answer no more than two of the following three questions.
5. Using vocabulary you've learned in this course, explain the story-telling functionof the magic mirror: the Beast's "only window to the outside world." Or here's a second option: explain why it is a formal (story-telling) necessity to "kill off" Gaston.
6. Using Labov's six parts of an anecdote, explain the function of the musical interludes found in B&B. Which part(s) do they most resemble? How are they used?
7. Pick a character in B&B and thoroughly explain how he, she, or it is given a personality. Keep in mind that fairy tales
(myths) always evoke stereotypes and that film emphasizes particulars.
Everybody must tackle one, and only one, of these final questions. They center on the assumption that nobody enjoys film for purely formal reasons. Content always matters.
8. To what extent do you consider B&B a fantasy about gender roles? How does it define love, romance, and male/female roles? Do these definitions reinforce or resist assumptions generally held in our culture?
9. Basic arguments advanced by B&B are undercut by contradictions. Film theorists would say, "The film's practice contradicts its rhetoric." Why is it necessary for B&B to contradict itself? What do these contradictions tell us about the values and fantasies of our culture?
10. Write out a short, imagined conversation (a short play with dialogue) between Comolli and Narboni where they seek to
employ their classification system as a means of discussing B&B. Make Comolli argue that the film belongs in Category A.
He takes the movie "straight"; it's a lesson about not being deceived by appearances. Make Narboni argue that B&B belongs
in Category E. He "reads" the film as self-referential. It's a fairy tale about fairy tales. Belle, Narboni quickly points out, is a
fairy tale character who loves reading fairy tales. Explore the implications of both positions.