INTOTHEIBFILM
IB FILM - Basic Outline & Expectations
One Film that Encompasses YOU!
All of these are outstanding - it must be one of the greatest run of films ever made by a director - and watching some or all of them will give you a much deeper appreciation of Hitchcock's style and themes. However, this is only for super-duper extra-special students - it's not compulsory.
​
You might also want to read around the topic a little. Start with Wikipedia, sure, but one of the most useful things you can do is to go to IMDB and read the reviews written by the professionals. They're here. (There are lots of them. Even reading the first two - Roger Ebert's very positive review and James Berardinelli's more critical opinion - will get you thinking in new and more focused ways.) Again, though this makes your work easier and better, it's not compulsory.
At IB, you are trusted to be independent - find your own level.
​
​
​
Preparing for... Textual Analysis
For Starters
Made up of 3/4 components:
Textual Analysis
Comparative Essay
Film Portfolio/Final Film
YOU MUST WATCH FILMS - I WILL SHARE A LOT WITH YOU
You are basically being asked to approach film in both an academic and a practical way, and ideally these two will blend together.
We're going to start things off by watching a film and using it as a basis to practice all the skills needed to succeed in the course.
​
The film you actually work with might be different, but for now we're going to talk about Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 classic Psycho.
Bear in mind that even at this early stage of the course, you are producing work which might well become part of your portfolio,
or
which may eventually become your comparative study.
Aim for the top levels with everything, right from the start.
​
​
​
​
Everyone will watch the film in class. (Obviously, if you miss lessons, watch it yourself. We'll make it available to you.)
Then, we'll start to do various tasks on it. However, these tasks will be easier and better if you think like a researcher and go further than a simple viewing of the film. An obvious thing to do would be to watch a couple more Hitchcock films. Now, he made something like 60 films and wrote several more, so some guidance might help. When studying a film, it makes sense to look at the films the director made immediately before and afterwards. In this case, that would be:
​
-
Vertigo (1958)
-
North by Northwest (1959)
-
Psycho (1960)
-
The Birds (1963)
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
First, have a look at what the textual analysis assignment demands. It assesses your understanding of three things:
​
-
The context of the film
-
The technical detail of the film ('what IBO call 'film elements')
-
The relationship between these two things (also, the relationship between your extract and the rest of the film or even to other films. This is where those keen students who watched other Hitchcock movies start to reap the benefits.)
​
You're going to produce an analysis of a five-minute extract of the film. Start with the context. Let's use the opening section to work with.
​
An uninspiring CLIP to say the least, but something you can work with nevertheless - there is always information to extract.
​
​
​
​
​
​
Task in 2's: Your job is to find out the various contexts of the film - Also bear in mind how the text may have meaning - keep an eye on Genre, Cinematography and Shot Composition, Editing, Sound & Contemporary issues maybe.
What can you find out about the PALE MAN:
Possibly consider various contexts:
​
Auteur
Historical
National
Critical
Economic
Political
Geographical
Pans Labyrinth
Alternative Using the Same Principles
​
​
​
​
Back to Psycho - Time to watch it.
YOUR TURN! Choose a five-minute extract and provide an analysis of it. Your teacher will tell you the detail - it might be an essay or a presentation or a talk, or you may have the choice.
​
This is to see how you fair in the grande scheme of things.