FPA 136FILMRESEARCHSYLVIA ROBERTS SROBERTS@SFU.CA

CONTEMPORARY ARTS LIBRARIAN

TOPIC SELECTION• Critical analysis of one or more of the conceptual and/or

theoretical aspects of cinema as discussed in the course, and how this relates to a particular aspect of the historical, political, technological or cultural developments of cinema

• Can focus on particular film, filmmaker, genre or historical period

• Focus on one or more aspects of the lectures/ readings/ articles and extends them through further reading and research

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

• First animated feature film (1937)

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

• First animated feature film (1937)

• Technical innovations: multiplane camera

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

• First animated feature film (1937)

• Technical innovations: multiplane camera

• Filmmaking influences

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

• First animated feature film (1937)

• Technical innovations: multiplane camera

• Filmmaking influences

• American and political / social ideology

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

• First animated feature film (1937)

• Technical innovations: multiplane camera

• Filmmaking influences

• American and political / social values reflected

FOCUS TOPIC - DRAFT

Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) adapts a classic fairy tale to reflect American social and political ideology, as well as using conventional narrative and stylistic techniques, to help an audiences embrace the novelty of an animated full-length feature film.

SUPPORT

“A research paper requires critical analysis based on a central argument or assertion, as noted above, which is not a value judgment but a considered thesis explored through research and analysis.”

RESEARCH SUPPORT

• Best quality

• Written by experts • Cites research consulted• Found in scholarly publications• Usually not available for free

RESEARCH TOOLS

FPA 136 research guide :

• Background sources (encyclopedias, dictionaries)

• Finding books, book chapters and articles relating to your topic

• Citation guides

• Writing help through the student learning commons

RESEARCH TOOLS

Search tips:

• Use the right search tool

• Try alternative terminology

• Search & search again

• Academic sources’ reference lists lead to other works

• Use sources that address only part of your topic

• Keep track of what you use

If you do not find what you need, please Ask a Librarian

http://cufts2.lib.sfu.ca/CRDB4/BVAS/resource/10407

“The innovation of the Disney film was that Disney’s heroine awakened as the result of human contact, and the kiss, symbolic of true love, initiated a lifelong union between the heroine and her chosen mate. The change reflected the romantic myth in its American, rather than its European, form.” (Wright, 105)

Wright, Terry Martin. “Romancing the Tale.” Journal of Popular Film & Television 25.3 (1997): 98. Film & Television Index with Full Text. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

“…the song and the scene evoke something about the process of animating the movie itself. Like the slightly out-of-focus background cels stacked downward on the apparatus of the multiplane camera, the narrative of the production of Snow White is yet visible in the animation of the story itself.” (Chadwell, 2008)

Chadwell, Sean. 2008. “Technological Determinism and the Poisoned Apple: The Case of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture 8, no.2: MLA International Bibliography EBSCOhost (accessed October 25, 2015).

“…the dwarfs in Snow White were symbolic of American workers who pulled together during the Great Depression can only be interpreted as a reference to the labor union movement at the time….Labor songs abounded in the depression era, and Walt Disney captured this aspect of American society.” (Wright, 107)

Wright, Terry Martin. “Romancing the Tale.” Journal of Popular Film & Television 25.3 (1997): 98. Film & Television Index with Full Text. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.