Jane Austen’s, Mansfield Park
This is a close looking essay
You will be provided a passage from Mansfield Park and two clips from two different film versions of Mansfield Park that translate the passage.
The close looking essay is not that different from a close reading essay. Except that it does establish what the original written text is before analyzing film versions, and its analyses use different kinds of evidence: instead of discussing word choices, verbal metaphors, sensory imagery created through language, a close looking assignment supports its interpretive claims with details of shot types, camera distances/angles, editing, mis-en-scene, and other aspects of a primarily visual medium that is also verbal and auditory.
The will essay use details to support a comparative analysis of the two versions of film
Needs to include:
1)List of screen versions you are comparing.
2)An introduction that includes a preview of your overall point and supporting points (i.e. a complete thesis statement).
3)A textual passage with title and chapter identification and a brief discussion (one long paragraph is okay) of its context, content, significance to the novel, and inherent challenges for film.
4) A comparative analysis of how (not how welljust how) the two screen versions handle this passage, supported by the evidence you gathered in you storyboard as well as other things you noticed but maybe couldnt record. While you may have strong ideas on overall effects like tone or power dynamic, your arguments need to be tied to the specifics that get the job done: mis-en-scene; camera distance/angle/motion; editing; lighting; set design; etc. It is fine to include casting and/or acting/directing, but please do not rely on these as the core of your answer. In the case of some of the later versions (from 2007-8) you may notice that the later film seems to respond to not only the novel but also, an earlier film. Please note these echoes!
5) A conclusion that comments on any further thoughts you have on the similarities and differences between the two film translations. Please dont feel you must decide which one is better, but if you would like to present your opinion, try to explain its grounding in both specific effects and your overall philosophy of novel-to-film adaptation/translation/interpretation.
