Segmentation & Analysis Assignment

Film 4780: Puzzle Films & Complex Narratives | Horton, Spring 2012

This assignment has two stages: first, you will complete a segmentation of a complex narrative film of
your choice from the list below. You will then write a 1000-1500 word essay based on the findings of
your segmentation. Both the segmentation and your analysis are due to me via Google Docs by
midnight on Wednesday, March 21st.
What is Segmentation?

As the name implies, segmentation involves breaking a film down into tiny pieces, or segments. When
we watch a film under normal conditions, we perform the sort of cognitive work that Bordwell
describes: we are attempting to fill-in gaps in our knowledge on the fly: making, changing, or confirming
hypotheses as we receive new information. Segmentation, however, is designed to slow this process
down so that we can identify the structure that underlies the narrative. By breaking the movie into small
chunks, we may begin to see patterns that might otherwise escape our notice. For instance, heres a
very basic segmentation to illustrate the idea:

The Wizard of Oz (Flemming, 1939) consists of three large segments:
1. Kansas
2. Oz
3. Kansas

But we can put a finer point on this, right? For example, how do we know when we are in Kansas versus
Oz? And what motivates the Oz sequence? By answering these questions, we can modify our
segments a bit further:
1. Kansas (black & white) [reality]
2. Oz (color) [dream]
3. Kansas (black & white) [reality]

We can see that the narrative follows a cyclical pattern: it ends where it begins. Moreover, the film
distinguishes the two worlds via the very simple variation between color and black & white. This serves a
thematic role, too, as the dream world is more vivid and colorful than the mundane world of day-to-day
reality.

We did a segmentation in class on the first 15 minutes of 21 Grams (Iarritu, 2003). Youll recall we first
thought about the timeline of the film to figure out what the key plot points were. The major one was
the car crash, which was the event that brought all of these characters together. Another major event in
the plot was the affair between Christina (Naomi Watts) and Paul (Sean Penn). Youll remember that we
started to code to the scenes as either pre- or post-crash, and then post-affair. In short, we began to
notice the patterns of the film and the logic of its narrative.

Camerons essay on 21 Grams went even further than we did. He argues that the jumps in time arent
simply there to open up Bordwellian gapsthough they indeed do that, but also to associate or draw
comparisons between situations. Hence, the film cuts from the death of Christinas family to a shot of
her, now pregnant, at the hospital. This is the type of thing we generally dont notice when we watch
movies normally. And this is why we segment!
How to Segment
There are no hard-and-fast rules about segmentation: Different films call for different types of
deconstruction. Im trusting you to find the best way to break down your movie.
Step #1 is to watch the film and take notes scene by scene. I recommend you number a sheet of paper
and write down what is happening in that scene and any pertinent information. Jacobs Ladder (Lyne,
1990), for instance, opens in Vietnam. We see Jake get stabbed, but, in the next scene, we see him
alive, as though waking up from a dream. You should continue doing this for the entire movie.
Once youve broken the film down scene-by-scene, you then can look for patterns. What are the main
divisions within the film? Dream/reality? Reality/hallucination? Real life/purgatory? Thats up to you
to decide. Your goal is not to come up with a master interpretation of the film. Rather, I want you to
identify the deep structure.
It might help to attempt to reconstruct a fragmented film like 21 Grams. You could number the scenes
and then put them back together in fabula order (scenes 5, 24, 7, 26, 1, 5, etc.) Or, for Jacobs Ladder,
you could chart out the possible explanations or motivations for what we see. Its up to you to identify
whats really important about your movies construction.
Really good segmentation can find all sorts of cool results. Here, for instance, is one persons (absurdly
detailed) attempt to map out the events of Inception (Nolan, 2010):
Note how the analyst
discovered a pattern
of reduction with
regard to the
number of characters
present each dream
level . With each
subsequent dream,
the one who dreamt
it moves straight
through from the
imaginary world back
to reality (e.g., the
chemist in dream
level #1, Arthur in
dream level #2, and
so on). Eventually, we see that Cobb and Saito are the only ones left still dreaming late in the film. Now, I
dont expect you to construct a map such as this one for this assignment, but if youre feeling up to it...
The Essay
Once your segmentation is complete and youve identified the patterns, blocks, and/or structures of
your movie, I want you to write a 1000-15000-word essay. The segmentation is like a science
experiment, and the essay is like the report. This essay should be self-reflective. What conclusions can
you draw about the films construction? Did you find anything that surprised you about the film after
doing the segmentation? Is the film more complex than you initially thought or less so? Does the film
resolve all of the central questions, or does it end ambiguously? Are multiple interpretations possible, or
is it mostly cut-and-dry? In other words, I want to know what discoveries you made through this process
of extremely close analysis and your reflections afterwards. Turn in both the segmentation AND the
essay as one Google Doc.
Due: Wednesday, March 21st by MIDNIGHT | Share via Google Docs
justinbhorton@gmail.com
Please select can edit when sharing
Please follow the file name convention (e.g., 4780_DoeJ_Segmentation)
Film Choices (in no particular order)
(Note: I recommend you chose a film youve seen before, or who you will watch completely BEFORE
beginning the segmentation.)
21 Grams (Iarritu, 2003)
Jacobs Ladder (Lyne, 1990)
A Scanner Darkly (Linklater, 2006)
Existenz (Cronenberg, 1999)
Donnie Darko (Kelly, 2001)
Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994)
Irrversible (No, 2002)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry, 2004)
Primer (Carruth, 2004)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Alfredson, 2011)
Angel Heart (Parker, 1987)
Elephant (Van Sant, 2003)
Swimming Pool (Ozon, 2003)
The Fountain (Aranofsky, 2006)
Short Cuts (Altman, 1993)
American Psycho (Harron, 2000)
The Game (Fincher, 1997)
Fight Club (Fincher, 1999)
Shutter Island (Scorsese, 2010)
Vanilla Sky (Crowe, 2003)
Abre los ojos (Amenbar, 1997)
The Butterfly Effect (Bress & Gruber, 2004)
The Final Cut (Naim, 2004)
Adaptation (Jonze, 2002)
Code Unknown (Haneke, 2000)
Stranger Than Fiction (Forster, 2006)
Magnolia (Anderson, 1999)
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (Sprecher, 2001)
The Rules of Attraction (Avary, 2002)
Peppermint Candy (Lee, 2000)
Blind Chance (Kieslowski, 1981)
Amores Perros (Iarritu, 2000)
Go (Liman, 1999)
Eye of God (Nelson, 1997)
The Limey (Soderbergh, 1999)
The Box (Kelly, 2009)
The Double Life of Vronique (Kieslowski, 1991)
2046 (Wong, 2004)