FPA 136
FILM
RESEARCH
SYLVIA 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
“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.