Length and Due Dates

Length:  3-4 screens of analysis (approximately equal to a 6-8 page paper).  Web site should also include an annotated bibliography page and a links page separate from the analytical pages.
Proposal Due:  Friday, February 9, by 4:00 p.m. via Web form or email.
Annotated Bibliography Due:  Friday, February 16, by 4:00 p.m., via Web form or email.
Design Template/Page Descriptions Due:  Friday, February 23, by 4:00 p.m., uploaded to Web.
First Draft Uploaded:  Friday, March 2, by 4:00 p.m., uploaded to Web. 
Final Draft Uploaded:  Monday, March 12, by 5:00 p.m., uploaded to Web.

Assignment

For the Web project, you will create a film analysis site that integrates text, links, and images or video clips.  You may create one long page of analysis or separate your analysis into several shorter pages.  The web site may be on any course film(s) you did not address in your presentation. 

Although you are free to develop a topic for your Web site, the project must engage course themes and issues.  You may elucidate the context of one class film, compare two films’ aesthetic and narrative responses to the same historical, political, and industrial contexts, or examine the changing cinematic treatment of a particular cultural concern.  Regardless of the approach you take to the project, you must incorporate research into your project, using a minimum of four sources.  Your goal is to contribute a critical film reading to the World Wide Web by presenting an argument supported by independent analysis, research, course readings, and insights from class discussion. 

You will complete a series of short assignments that will help you to develop your argument and design your Web site:  a proposal, an annotated bibliography, a design template with page descriptions, and a first draft.  You will receive feedback on all of these assignments.  You will also present your Web project on the last day of class.  Failure to do the Web project presentation or to submit the short assignments connected with the Web project will result in a .5 deduction for each missing assignment in the final grade for the project.  Late short assignments will be accepted but will bring a .2-.4 deduction in the final project grade.  Late final Web projects will receive a .3 grade deduction per day late, including weekends and holidays.

General Guidelines

1) As you develop your topic, take a look at the presentation topics and the Bridgman lecture topics on the syllabus.  All presentation topics would make appropriate Web project topics.  You should also look over the questions on the Web discussion board and your peers’ responses to those questions. 

2) Although class members have viewed the film(s) addressed in your Web site, other audiences for your page may or may not have seen the film(s).  Consider including a link to a summary or review of the film.  By linking to a summary, you’ll resist the temptation to summarize the film in your site.  Remember that any summary you offer should support analysis of the film(s).

3) The Web project offers a unique opportunity to integrate text and image, video, or sound in ways that you cannot do in a traditional essay.  However, you must offer careful analysis of images and sound, despite the fact that the reader can view or listen to your examples.  Let readers know how you want them to interpret the evidence you incorporate.

4) The Web also offers the possibility for non-traditional organizational formats.  You need to decide how you want viewers to progress through the pages (at will, in a particular order, etc.).

5) Don’t forget that I’m available to meet during office hours and by appointment as you work on your project.  I encourage you to visit me as you develop a topic and conduct research.

6) As you negotiate the intricacies of Web authoring, don’t forget the resources included on the course site’s links page.

Sample

This sample project explores World War II history and contemporary contexts to discuss the issue of why African American soldiers were not represented in the film Saving Private Ryan.   While the assignment to which this site responds did not require the level of contextual analysis you will bring to your site, the project does provide a clear example of how to relate historical information to the goals of a particular film. 

Grading

Click here to see the grading scale for the Web project.