The Librarian: My Ally Presenters: Professor Beth Roberts Ben Peck – Instructional Services Librarian Jennifer Rosenstein – First Year Outreach Services Librarian

CONTEXTUALIZING A FILM TEXT When you as students have been asked to do research in the past, the expectation was that you would look for materials that simply added information and/or served to "prove" a point. But when scholars do research, the purpose is different: outside sources are used to help writers reframe and complicate their thinking. In other words, research is presumed to have an impact on the writer's ideas, just as the writer's ideas are expected to call into question claims expressed in the research. In this assignment, you are to research outside materials that, when put in conversation with your formal analysis of the core text, will affect how you see and understand the film: you may not fully know how so exactly, at the moment, only that your thinking about it will not remain the same. For this reason, avoid looking for materials that simply provide information about or an explanation for your perspective. Rather, consider HOW this research will help you develop and complicate the way you are looking at and thinking about the film.

CONTEXTUALIZING A FILM TEXT It is your responsibility to make sense of the film. Do not research reviews, analyses, or interviews about it. The search terms should be derived inductively, based on how you have looked at and thought about the film so far. That is, work from your viewing notes and screening reports to generate search terms. What kinds of associations can you make from these observations? Use the approaches outlined in Corrigan (Chapter 4) to help you formulate terms that go beyond the film's thematics. If you only research the film's thematics, you will have difficulty moving past its subject matter. Consider doing research on aspects of the film's form or style. Keep in mind that you will probably have to do many different searches--mixing up terms and trying different databases--before you find material that's worth considering. Until you begin the drafting process, there is no way to know how useful any piece of research will be. It is only at that stage that you will discover the extent to which you can work with it productively. Therefore, be ready to scrap research that isn't useful and go back to the drawing board.

CONTEXTUALIZING A FILM TEXT Write: annotated bibliography [1 entry], typed double space Once you have selected an outside source, you will begin by analyzing this piece critically. To do so, you are to actively read the full text of the piece and then write an annotated bibliographic entry of it. This entry will consist of three parts: complete citation, following MLA style 200-word summary (i.e. what the writer thinks not what the writer does) 300-word reflection: How did you arrive at this source inductively from your work with the core text? How will this source help you to look at or think about the core text in a different way?

How to find suitable search terms… Using your viewing notes and screening reports for the core text, make a list of 3 or 4 things you might want to research. Once again, you are to work inductively, beginning with what you see and how you think about it. As with the first essay, it remains your job to make sense of the film text; now that you know film language, you are in an authoritative position to do so. For that reason, you are to steer clear of search terms (title, director) that would lead to material that “explains” the film: interviews, reviews, or critical essays. Think about the six approaches outlined in Corrigan, Chapter 4. How might these guide you as you scour your viewing notes and screening reports for things to research? Based on what you have noticed and considered in Essay 1, you might want to look into, say, a socio-historical aspect; a particular formal choice; or an ideological position you believe the film world addresses. What is most important is that your search terms evolve from your observations and ideas about the film (i.e. inductive thinking). In this essay, your ideas will emerge from the conversation you create between a formal analysis of the core text and a particular context of your choosing. Ideally, the outside material you research should help you develop and complicate how you see and understand the film. The point of this research, then, is not to provide information about (or an explanation for) your analysis, but to give you evidence that you can then use to frame and explore your understanding of the film.

Library Session Agenda Break down your assignment Discuss Approaches to Writing about Film (Corrigan) Develop Search Terms related to the themes you’ll explore Find information sources from library databases

Your Assignment Analyze and interpret a film, based on what you see (patterns + relationship) and how you make sense of it. Steer clear of obvious terms (e.g., movie title/director) that would lead to material that “explains” the film (e.g., reviews and articles about it). Research, should be used not to provide information but to give you evidence that you can use to frame and explore your analysis

Approaches to Writing about Film Film History Historical Relationships of Films Conditions of Production National Cinema Relation to cultural or national character Political or aesthetic climate of a nation Genre How does the film fit with expectations of the genre? Auteur Connect with a director or other dominant figure/star Formalism Structure and style Camera techniques, shots and sequences Ideology Political or ideological perspective on a film

Search Building Tool Topic/Film: Boyhood, Directed by Richard Linklater Themes/Patterns/Relationships in the Film: Coming of Age, Maturity, Family, Fathers, Mothers Film Studies Approach(es) from Corrigan: Genre, Auteur Enter in Database

Questions? Beth: broberts2@pace.edu Ben: bpeck@pace.edu Jennifer: jrosenstein@pace.edu Thank you to the Faculty Center Staff! Documents and Slides from this presentation will be shared on the Faculty Center Website