The assignment description reads:
Compare and contrast the two films of Satoshi Kon, Perfect Blue and Millennium Actress.
Some topics you might consider in your discussion:
Analyze the films regarding ideas of the gaze, use supporting references from:
Susan Napier,” ‘Excuse Me, Who are You?’: Performance, Gaze and the Female in the Works of Kon Satoshi,” in Cinema Anime, 2006, pp. 23-42.
Use auteur theory to discuss the two works to one another (links to auteur theory below). Use discussion of the films at the explic and implicit levels as well as interviews of Satoshi Kon to support your ideas.
Auteur theory in film suggests not only that a director is the primary author of a film, but also that the film must be analyzed within the context of the director’s other films.
Directors create certain expectations with their films much in the same way authors create certain expectations with their writing. Is this true of Satoshi Kon’s work? If so, what qualities are characteristic of his work?
Have a thesis or central idea on which to construct your argument. Make sure your thesis relates to themes from the reading.
Compare the two films directly. Often this is handled by talking about one film in one paragraph, the other film in a second paragraph, and the comparison of the two in the third paragraph. However, you must use a connecting idea (theme) that is introduced in an introductory paragraph. What you DO NOT want to do is talk about each film individually and then simply mention them in a conclusion.
This does not have to be a full essay but make sure you have a coherent and thoughtful argument in your post.
Make sure you are NOT analyzing the films at the referential level! You must be at the explicit/implicit or symptomatic levels. You do not need to state which level you are writing at, sometimes you might us more than one. For example, you might include both implicit and explicit analyses in your argument.
