ENG III – Classwork 3/23 – 3/24 Due date 3/24 @ 10 PM

Below you will see a list of three movies all free on ​Crackle.com​. Your task is to ​choose

one​, watch it, enjoy it, but focus on the genre and style of the movie. You will then write a
250-300 word journal entry (second page of this document) focusing on this question: How does
a director’s style influence the way a person experiences the story?

3/19 – Style and Genre
-​ Panic Room​ ​d. David Fincher
– ​Take Shelter​ ​d. Jeff Nichols
– ​Riding in Cars with Boys​ d. Penny Marshall

When it comes to style, directors have choices to make with how scenes in their films
look and how they want the audience to feel. Along with style, different genres have an
influence on how films are shot and organized. For example, the long take of the burglars in
Panic Room​ could have been 20 maybe 30 different shots, but why did the director decide to do
it all in one 3 minute take? Some directors have such a unique style, you can tell whose film it is
by looking at just one frame.

To help focus on style, you should pay attention to the story, design of scenes, color(s),
cinematography, editing, sound design, and music. We’ve already focused on how narrative can
have an effect on the audience in regards to how the story is told, but now we will focus on style
and genre. Above is a list of three films: one thriller, one drama, and one comedy.

Synopses
Panic Room​ – A divorced woman and her diabetic daughter take refuge in their
newly-purchased house’s safe room, when three men break-in, searching for a missing fortune.
(Fantastic movie if you enjoy crime thrillers)

Take Shelter ​- Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father
questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself. (This is more
about mental health, but it’s a good movie to watch given the situation we’re in right now)

Riding in Cars with Boys​ – A single mother, with dreams of becoming a writer, has a son at the
age of 15 in 1965, and goes through a failed marriage with the drug-addicted father. (One of the
best coming of age stories out there, made by one of the best female directors in filmmaking
history)

Journal Entry