Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

1. Lee was a recent graduate of the NYU filmmaking program when he made Do the Right Thing.  As you watch this film, pay attention to the techniques he uses to help create a brutally hot summer day in Brooklyn.  Analyze the following filmmaking tools and techniques employed by Lee.  The questions are to help you consider each element of filmmaking.  We haven’t done a lot of that, but this is a great film to watch keeping the craft of making a movie-making in mind.  
   
   Write a one paragraph analysis of each of the tools of filmmaking.  The questions provided are to help you think about it as you watch, you don’t have to answer each question in succession in your paragraph.  Some paragraphs might have more information than others – more than anything, pay attention and take notes.  If you have time, watch it twice, so you can catch more details.  
   
   Your paragraphs should include complete sentences, well-written, grammatically correct, names of characters spelled correctly and flow well.  Read it out loud to yourself so that you can hear if it sounds right – if it doesn’t make sense to you, it won’t make sense to me either.  
   
   o    Direction:  How does Lee choose to tell the story?  Questions to help you analyze:  was the storytelling complex or straightforward?  Is there a certain amount of suspense or tension – how did he create that?  Did you like how Lee chose to tell the story?  Did he pace it well?  Was it too fast or too slow?  
   
   o    Acting and Characters:  Did the characters display complex personalities or were they stereotypes?  Who were the protagonists?  Who were the antagonists?  Or, is it even clear who the “good guys” and “bad guys” are?  Do you like how the characters are portrayed?
   
   o    Score:  Does the music support the plot?  Was it too distracting?  Was it too subtle?  Does it work well with the script?  How does Fight the Power by Public Enemy set the tone for the entire film?
   
   o    Cinematography:  Were the camera shots and angles used in a unique way to tell the story?  How does the lighting and location affect the mood and tone?  How does the camera move – or does he use a lot of still shots, in one location?  How does the “mise-en-scene” affect the mood and tone?  What effects are used in filming?
   **Mise-en-scene – literally means what we see in the frame of the scene.  So, pay attention to what is in the frame and what you see, and how it affects each shot.  
   
   o    Dialogue:  Were the conversations believable?  Did the dialogue flow naturally or did it feel staged?  Do the words match the tone of the movie and personality of the characters?
   
   10 points each/50 points total
   
   
   2.    Photographs of Martin Luther King, Jr and Malcolm X smiling and shaking hands figure prominently in the film.  Lee closes the film with opposing quotes from both leaders, each expressing differing views regarding power, violence and access to an elusive American Dream.  
   
   Answer the following questions:
   
   o    How does the film explore the themes expressed by MLK, Jr and Malcolm X?  
   o    How are the ideological differences expressed by the characters in the film?  
   o    Which characters most resemble MLK, Jr?  
   o    Which most represent the ideas of Malcolm X?      
   o    Are any of the characters representative of both MLK, Jr and Malcolm X?
   
   **Explain your answer using specific scenes and quotes from the film.  (You need to take this seriously, some of you are answering the questions without including scenes from the films.)
   
   50 points (This is a question that will take some time to analyze and write.  50 points means you should have a detailed, well-developed answer for each question.)