Background:
To compose a movie review, begin by viewing the film. If possible, watch the film carefully at least twice, taking thoughtful notes about the particular scenes, characters, settings, themes, and symbols that strike you as important. Remember that this is a writing course and that your movie review must follow standard academic essay form. This time, your focus will be to analyze the film The Hunger Games, (2012), directed by Gary Ross, based on the novel by Suzanne Collins (2008). You can find the film on Amazon. Again, this is a literary analysis, not a research paper, so PLEASE DO NOT USE ONLINE SOURCES excepting Wiki. There are several readings about this film and in general [Course Content/Background readings] posted for your consideration; feel free to reference these, if you like. Remember to list all sources you use (including the film itself) in an MLA-style Works Cited page at the end of the essay.

Assignment:
Write an essay analyzing one or more scenes from the film The Hunger Games (2012). Examine the film closely and select a few particular scenes, those you believe are meaningful in some important way. You must explain how the events, dialogue and settings in those few scenes bring out a message or emphasize alarger theme of the film. You may want to examine two or three scenes, if it helps you to track how a larger issue emerges over time. You may focus your essay on one character in a few scenes or on how two or more characters interact; on a particular setting, like the sound room where the Games are manipulated or the forest where Tributes hide and stalk each other; on a relevant symbol, like the Mockingjay; or on the formal elements of the film (the eye of the camera, the sound, and etc.). Your job is to explain how the scene(s) you analyze underscore or bring out an important theme or message in the film.

If you like, you may take your analysis to the next level, evaluating the film after you’ve analyzed an important scene or two. To evaluate is to make a judgment about the value of the film, to argue for what makes it art. Is it memorable, magical or impactful as a work of art? An evaluation adds on to your analysis why you think it’s a good film to see and recommend to others. Another option is to examine the power of the eye of the camera, the beauty or mystique of the setting, the sounds of the games and nature, or the setting of the sound studios where those manipulating the Games for TVaudiences work, etc. to interpret the film as a critique of television itself.

➢ Your purpose is to identify a theme in the film based on your analysis of one or more scenes that make the film meaningful and memorable. Here are some suggestions:
o Examine the exposition and the initial conflict in the film by analyzing the scene where the names for District 12 are drawn. How does this scene set the action in motion and identify the ways Katniss will have to grow and change in order to become an effective agent of change for those who are suffering? What theme emerges?

o Examine the scene when Katniss and Peeta and the other Tributes ride through the streets of the Capitol of the nation of Panem and are introduced by the commentators, or the scene where each is interviewed before a TV audience. How does the “girl on fire” set the stage for later conflicts? What does Katniss’ early reaction to Peeta tell us? Does she have a lot to learn? What theme emerges?

o How does the Capitol’s manipulation of the landscape of the Hunger Games, its TV audience, and the Tributes serve as a critique of today’s media and its power overAmerican viewers today? Are the Games in some ways parallel to “reality TV”? How so, and what does that mean? Analyze a particular scene where the media reveals only that which will gain desired reactions, one that resonates for you, and explore the way it mirrors media in today’s world. (The climax, where Peeta and Katniss fight the beast and join together is a good one for this topic.)

o Compare the opulence of the Capitol in one scene of your choosing (like the Penthouse where the Tributes for District 12 are housed and fed) to the living conditions of District 12 in another scene of your choosing. How do these contrasting settings reveal an important theme in the film about the corrupting power of greed and/or the deflating power of hunger? Is revolution justified?

o Examine a scene where the Mockingjay appears and examine what it represents in the world of the film. How does this symbol carry the people forward into a braver, less desperate world?

➢ Be sure to use 3-5 specific reenactments from the film itself – quote the dialogue, describe a specific event and its impact, or otherwise bring a particular scene to life in order to support your interpretation.
➢ If you have a background in film, you may want to analyze the formal elements of the film – camera angles, sound, frames, lighting, special effects, and etc. in order to explore the film’seffectiveness as a work of art. Feel free to do so, using the formal language of film analysis.

Tips:
▪ DO NOT SUMMARIZE THE PLOT. Since you are analyzing a film, you should offer your readers a BRIEF synopsis of the story in not more than 2-5 sentences. You may want to tell us when it was made, who directed it, and what book it is based on. Then, briefly tell us what happens, to whom, and where it takes place. This information should be presented in the very opening lines of your essay, leading up to your thesis. Essays relying on plot summary earn a C or lower. If the essay merely re-tells the story and interprets it without evidence, it may not pass.
▪ Compose a strong thesis claim. Tell us why the scenes you analyze and theactions, characters, settings or symbols in them matter. “SO WHAT?” What do these scenes mean, in terms of the larger issue or theme of the film? Be sure your thesis makes an argument that identifies a theme in the movie.
If you like, you may argue for the movie’s effectiveness or power as a work of artbecause of the ways the scenes are actually filmed. Proof for this kind of evaluative claim demonstrates how the eye of the camera and the other formal elements of the film work together to entrance us and empower us, raising our awareness or instilling community values that are inspiring and worthwhile.
▪ Use specific evidence from a particular scene(s) to support your thesis. How do the events, dialogue, settings and/or the behavior of the characters in the scene(s) you analyze clarify an important theme? You must analyze a representative or climactic scene in depth and explain how it represents or clarifies what the movie is about, to your way of thinking.

You must view the movie. Rent or buy The Hunger Games. Starring Jennifer Lawrenece, Josh Hutcherson, et al. Directed by Gary Ross(2012). If you prefer, you may focus your analysis on the third film in the series, Mockingjay.

Submission details:
▪ MLA format, about 1000 words (3-4 pages)MS Word document only

▪ Sources MUST be listed MLA Style on a Works Cited page
▪ 200 points possible