Week 9 [Workshop Notes] - Research Essay for Assignment 2

Research Essay Workshop
Due: 5th January 2017

Use Sussex's online resources on StudyDirect:

- ProQuest and specifically, the Los Angeles Times are good examples to look into when discussing you film.
- Nexis is another useful resource.
- Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive.
- Film Reviews from Variety and Hollywood reporter are strong examples of critical responses to films, especially pre-2000.
- Stay away from other student's work and essays unless you want to discuss audience response of fandom. For instance, a newspaper article is a much stronger and influential piece of evidence than a student blog post.
- Read the marketing and paratexts recommended readings if you are to discuss the promotion of your film, use scholar theories in order to frame your answers.

- Don't just data dump! Since you'll have to develop your own question around you case study film, you'll have to consider:
What is it a case study of it? Is it part of a trend or unique? Why have I chosen it and what can I relate it too

- Be careful not to chose too much of a contemporary film. It may be open for you to make an argument about it, however there will not be a lot of academic material you can use to reinforce your debate.

- You don't have to chose your case study from the film, a piece of reading could inspire you to do it

– We now have access to four important US historical newspaper archives: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal. These are all accessible through the library website (under online resources).

– Nexis is useful for contemporary newspapers and trade press.

– the Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive (via Online Resources) is especially important for accessing Variety (full searchable archive up to 2000).

– With all of the above, searches can be filtered by date, relevance, type of publication, type of material (e.g. You can select just reviews, or just advertising etc).

– For contemporary films, Variety and Hollywood Reporter can be accessed via their website search functions.

– There are a large number of online magazines that carry film reviews – e.g. Slate, Huffington Post, Vulture, The Atlantic, indiewire…

– Try to evaluate the kind of source you are using carefully – think about who wrote it/produced it, what audience it is aimed at, how it is circulated, etc.

– Posters and trailers are often available online, but be careful to make sure that you are viewing official content and not fan-generated material.

– Remember that DVDs and BluRays can have useful paratextual materials packaged with them.

– We also talked about developing your case study. You should ask yourself: what is this film a case study of? E.g. Is it an example of a broader trend? Does it connect to a particular debate (academically or in the media)? Or, is it a film that breaks with a particular trend/does something very different and distinctive? 

It Follows and Gender Representation:
- To what extent has the role of a female protagonist transformed in contemporary independently produced horror films such as It Follows?
- How important is representing gender in the promotional campaigns of contemporary independent horror films such as It Follows?