• Close Reading/Film Analysis
Isolate a clip of 10-25 consecutive shots from the film in this course that caught your attention for some reason: Moonlight movie.   
Write a paper about that clip in which you do the following in some fashion:
• Describe the clip, particularly where it begins and ends
• Assume that the director planned or had a hand in all the details, from the script to the shooting to the soundtrack. Examine the decisions, which likely were made in putting together the clip you have chosen.
• Analyze your reaction to the clip in terms of those directorial choices
Here are some questions to keep in mind as you work through the clip and generate ideas for your paper.
4. How does your clip function in its surrounding context--both its immediate context and scenes similar to it throughout the movie? (Hint: think of what would have been lost if your clip had been edited out of the movie.)
5. What kinds of shots does the director choose? What is incorporated into the frame vs. left off-screen? Why are these choices effective or ineffective? (Hint: play around with other possible ways of shooting the same part of the script. Try mentally substituting long shots for closeup, tracking shots for overhead shots, etc.)
6. How does the audio portion of the clip link up with the images? (Hint: after several viewings, cover or turn off the screen to listen to the sound alone. Make sure you can link changes in the soundtrack to specific images or events onscreen.)
Make certain the final version of your paper contains all of the following:
___ A focused title that lets the reader know what s/he is about to read
___ An introduction which introduces the film and leads into your thesis
___ A thesis statement containing your main point (at end of intro)
___ Topic sentences beginning each paragraph, stating that paragraph's main idea
___ Unified body paragraphs
___ A conclusion that pulls your argument together and reinforces your thesis
___ Careful proofreading/copyediting
___ A Works Cited or References page containing your movie as well as any other outside sources.

These solutions may offer step-by-step problem-solving explanations or good writing examples that include modern styles of formatting and construction of bibliographies out of text citations and references. Students may use these solutions for personal skill-building and practice. Unethical use is strictly forbidden.

Moonlight is a 2016 American drama film that follows the story of a young African American boy called Chiron. Moonlight focuses on three phases of Chiron’s life: his childhood, adolescence, and early adult life. I have isolated a clip from the opening scene one, beginning with a shot of the car pulling up in a sub-drenched residential neighborhood and ending with a shot of Chiron dashing past Juan pursued by several older boys. This clip runs from minutes 0:00 to 3.13. After the sound of sea waves on a black screen and a reggae tune playing in the background, Juan pulls up in a light blue car and parks it on the side of the road near a fence (Jenkins, 2016). He gets out of the car and crosses the road and heads to two young men, Terrence and Azu, who are arguing. Juan greets Terrence, who tells him he is handling business as usual. Azu leaves the scene, and Juan continues to converse with Terrence. Juan then walks towards his car. Just before crossing the street, a young small boy runs by trailed by several older kids (Jenkins, 2016). In this clip, the director invokes the viewers to perceive the conflicts between the personalities of the neighborhood residents and what the environment wants them to be using expressionist sound and shot design.
The clip, depicting the first shot, starts with a black screen. The audience can hear the proximate sound of sea waves crashing on a beach and a reggae tune playing...