University of Missouri Columbia World Cinema for Non Majors Essay

First, watch the opening sequence of Chungking Express by Wong Kar Wai. Then, study the Sequence Analysis Worksheet. Follow those guidelines and write a short essay of approximately 750 words on the shot-composition of the opening sequence of Chungking Express. You should begin your essay with a description of the most important features of the scene (such as camera perspective and movement, lighting, depth of field, etc.). Thereafter, you need to evaluate how these techniques add to the meaning of the specific shot or the sequence as a whole. What general impression does it create in the viewer? Does it set up particular expectations for what follows?

Sequence Analysis Worksheet

This worksheet should be used for all progress evaluations that require film analyses. Refer to it as often as you like. 

Choose a sequence that lasts about two to four minutes. A sequence is a series of shots somehow logically connected in terms of

their common locale or setting; and/or

their relation to one dramatic moment in the plot (i.e., a “scene”); and/or

their common function in terms of furthering plot development or creating “atmosphere”; and/or

their relation to some common theme or issue.

• Once you have selected your sequence, watch it several times to note details of interest in the main areas of cinematic style (points 1–4, below). As you watch and rewatch the sequence, take notes and expand them with each additional viewing.
• Mise-en-scène—the composition and content of the frame in terms of background scenery, actors, costumes, props, movement of people and objects in the frame, and lighting (Corrigan, 48–57).
• Cinematography—film stock (color, black/white, or tinting); lenses and changes in focus (deep focus, shallow); camera angles (high/low/straight-on); camera movement (panning, tracking, zooms); framing; shot duration; distance of camera to objects (close-ups, medium, and long shots; Corrigan, 57–64).
• Editing—shot transitions, logic of shot-to-shot relations; continuity editing (establishing and reestablishing shots, shot/reverse shots, eyeline matches, reaction shots, flashbacks and flashforwards, ellipsis); abstract editing (graphic matches, rhythmic editing, jump cuts); intellectual and psychological montage (Corrigan, 65–72).

Sound—music, speech, noise (music, dialogue, sound effects); diegetic vs. non-diegetic sound (including voiceovers); synchronous vs. asynchronous sound; onscreen vs. offscreen sound; use of silence (Corrigan, 72–76).

Use your raw findings to discuss the sequence and its relation to the film as a whole. Analyze the stylistic details (mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing, sound, etc.); that is, don’t just describe them but try to determine their function in the sequence. Why might these stylistic choices have been made? What do they seem to mean for the sequence and the film? You should use the new terminology you have learned (some of which is listed above) to describe techniques used in the sequence. To do this, you will need to make connections between the technical and stylistic details you have isolated and (1) narrative elements (“story”: plot and character development) and (2) thematic content (“message” with regard to political, social, religious issues, etc.) in the sequence.

1. How do these elements work together? How does this interaction within the sequence relate to the film as a whole? Do stylistic, narrative, and/or thematic elements in the sequence reinforce or contrast with the style, narrative, and thematic content of the film as a whole?
2. Common Sequence Analysis Problems
3. Here are three common problems students have writing a sequence analysis:
4. Students stick too closely to the narrative, merely retelling the events within the sequence without enough analysis of what’s going on—and why. Remember, you are analyzing and writing for readers who have seen the film—you do not need to retell what happened.

Students discuss the sequence with no overall argument about its significance within the film.