Critical Film Commentary #2

Due by 7:00 pm on Tuesday, November 21, 2017


This commentary will be approximately four double-spaced pages in length (standard 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper, standard 1-inch margins, 12 point font) and will be on one of the films presented in class in weeks 1-5 and 7-11 of the course on which you did not base Critical Film Commentary #1. This commentary will be broken into four numbered sections with the following titles and contents:

  1. Summary (1 page): Summarize the plot of the film in one or two paragraphs.
  2. Accuracy of Depiction of Computing (1 1/2 pages): State first the aspects of computing treated in this film (the course theme assigned by the instructor to the film may help in isolating these aspects). Then, for each aspect, describe how accurate the film is with respect to actual computing today (and, if you like, actual computing when the film was made). When there are inaccuracies, please discuss / speculate on why these inaccuracies might have occurred, e.g., technical incompetence, dramatic licence.
  3. Impact on Perception of Computing (1 page): Discuss the impression of computing made by the film on viewers of that film.
  4. Personal Assessment of Film (1/2 - 3/4 page): Discuss briefly what you thought of the film, e.g., "This is 88 minutes of my life I will never be getting back", as well as how the film might have been improved by doing things differently, e.g., "fewer explosions, more technobabble".
The above page lengths refer to the total amount / length of text in each section excluding pictures or tables. The following information must be included in a block at the top of the first page: Feel free to cite the course notes or other sources to back up your statements in the commentary (with all references to these sources given consistently in full detail in a standard format, e.g., APA, IEEE, in a "References" section at the end of the paper). Note that additional marks up to 10% of the commentary's mark value (i.e., 1.5% course mark) can be obtained by intelligently citing sources in addition to the course notes; these marks will be given at the discretion of the instructor.


Submission


Additional Notes:


Created: October 24, 2017
Last Modified: October 24, 2017