Film Research Essay
approved list of films with some links on D2L. After choosing a movie, you will need to find three (3)
academic journal articles or book chapters about the subject. These must be at least ten (10) pages in
length each and published after 1975 to be appropriate. You will then provide a thesis or argument
about the film’s historical accuracy.
argument) about a film’s accuracy, and you will then support that thesis using three (3) academic journal
articles or book chapters while engaging with a scene (or scenes) from the film. You may approach the
essay in two different ways. You can use one scene on which all three of your academic sources touch.
Or, you may pick three individual scenes and match each with a different academic source. If you pick
three scenes, you should find something that unifies them to create a solid thesis (such as they all
document society, or war, or culture, etc.). As you work through the details of your essay, you should
think about this as similar to a compare and contrast paper. This means you should briefly describe the
scene, and then you will compare (or contrast) it to your research to argue about the accuracy. Final
papers need to be 1300 words of text (this excludes citations, any heading, and the works cited page)
with Chicago Manual of Style footnotes to cite your research and a works cited page listing the three
academic sources. The title of the paper should include the name of your chosen film.
o Whichever film you choose will dictate your research topic, so select whichever period
of history you find most interesting.
▪ For example, if you want to write about the Middle Ages, watch A Knight’s Tale.
▪ The list on D2L includes the films’ historical periods and links to movie trailers to
help you choose.
o As you watch the film, write down a few scenes worth researching for accuracy.
▪ For example, in Gladiator, you might ask if the gladiatorial scenes are accurate.
▪ Include the time stamps so you can cite a scene while writing your paper.
▪ If you need ideas about picking scenes for research, check out the supplemental
guide “Tips on Approaching Films Like a Historian.”
• Do the research. Find academic sources about your scenes.
o Use the TTC library website to find sources about the topic
(https://www.tridenttech.edu/student/resources/library/index.htm).
▪ Use the videos “How to Find Articles” and “How to Find Books” for help
concerning library resources.
o Remember, these sources must be:
▪ Academic journal articles or book chapters.
• Do not reuse any weekly assigned journal articles or book chapters.
▪ Written for a college audience.
• Pick academic works aimed at a college audience. The simplest way to
tell if an article or book chapter is appropriate is if the source includes
footnotes.
• Stay away from juvenile works. Books for young audiences usually
include large font sizes, no citations, and many pictures. Often (but not
always), the library catalog lists these books under juvenile literature.
• See the supplemental guide “Academic Sources Powerpoint” for more
information.
▪ At least ten pages in length.
▪ Published after 1975.
• Do not use reprints of older works that were published before 1975.
o If you are having trouble finding sources, you can try two different approaches:
▪ Try alternative search terms. If the topic name fails to bring up enough sources,
search for people or events associated with the topic.
▪ When you find a book through the library, it will include an entry with details.
Under those details will usually be a line marked “subject” with various links.
Clicking those links will take you to other books categorized under that subject.
o Remember, part of this project is to make an argument, so you will need to skim several
sources to find appropriate ones. Picking the first few you come across usually results in
a poor essay.
• Write the paper.
o The most effective method is to use the “five-paragraph essay” style to present your
ideas (visit this link if you are unfamiliar with the style –Five-Paragraph Essay).
▪ The introduction.
• Start by introducing the film and giving a thesis statement. The thesis or
argument should answer whether the film was historically accurate.
• Your thesis should make a strong, specific argument.
o Superb papers argue about one aspect of the film rather than
the film in general. This may be an argument about one scene.
Or you may use three different scenes to argue about one
attribute of the film, such as the portrayal of a particular
character, war, society, etc.
o For example, this would be a poor thesis: “I thought that
Gladiator was very accurate.”
o This is an example of a good thesis: “Gladiator’s depiction of
Roman society was inaccurate, especially in scenes X, Y, and Z.”
• You should then briefly note the topics (or scenes) that you will use to
support your thesis. These will be the three supporting points for the
body of your paper.
▪ The body of the paper.
• The easiest way to do this is to discuss each of your three academic
sources in order while comparing them to the scenes in the film. This
may be one long paragraph for each source or three sections of a couple
of short paragraphs for each source.
• Superb papers use academic sources equally. Consider writing about a
page (whether as one long paragraph or several short paragraphs) for
each source.
• You should include a brief description of the scene that you will engage
with when arguing about its accuracy. This should include enough detail
to describe the scene but remember not to go overboard because the
majority of the body should be using your research to support your
argument. Provide a footnote with the times for each scene in this style
– Gladiator, 14:55-16:25 – to cite it. See the supplemental video “How
to Footnote” for help with footnoting times or sources.
• Cite your academic research using the Chicago Manual of Style. See the
supplemental guide “Citing Research” if you need help.
▪ The conclusion of the paper.
• The conclusion should summarize your argument and main points.
o Make sure to follow this style:
▪ Include a title with the name of the film in it.
▪ Double-space your work using size 11-12 point font. The final paper should be
1300 words (you may go over 1300 words, but do not go under it).
▪ Include a works cited page listing your sources (academic journal articles and
book chapters).
Additional Tips:
• The sources should logically connect to the thesis. If they do not, find sources that fit better.
• If using a film that the unit materials do not cover until the latter part of the class, you may find
it helpful to read ahead in the textbook. Having a little background about the historical era of
the film before watching it will make it easier to find accuracies or inaccuracies.
• Do not plagiarize, do not use AI (e.g., ChatGPT), and do not pull ideas from websites. I am
assessing you on forming original ideas about a film. If you copy from websites or have AI write
your paper, the plagiarism check will find it, and you may fail the assignment.
• Use spell-check or a website like Grammarly.com to double-check your work. It is also helpful to
allow the computer to read the paper to you. In Microsoft Word, this is done using the “read
aloud” button under the review tab. If the sentence does not sound correct when read aloud to
you, it likely will not make sense to your reader.
Grading Rubric:
To do well on this assignment, you should be able to answer all of these questions in the affirmative
when you finish your paper:
• Did I form and support a strong thesis (or argument) about one of the film options?
• Did I use three (3) appropriate academic sources to support my argument?
o Did I follow the requirements for those sources (a college-level book chapter or journal
article published after 1975 with at least ten pages…)?
o Did I cite the sources correctly using the Chicago Manual of Style format as provided by
my instructor?
▪ Did I cite the specific pages for quotes and information that I paraphrased using
footnotes at the bottom of the pages?
▪ Did I cite the full academic journal article or book chapter (specifically the book
chapter with the chapter title and page numbers) on the works cited page?
o Did I include the scene times in the footnotes using this model: Gladiator, 14:55-16:25?
• Did I write a clear, succinct, and grammatically correct paper while following the required style
(double-spaced text of at least 1300 words)?