In the case of Pulp Fiction, how does the segmentation help you understand the temporal relationship between parts?
For your plot segmentation, you will create an outline of Pulp Fiction, identifying its parts and scenes in the form of an outline. Opening credits should be identified as C, end credits as EC. Each major part should be numbered and titled. Each scene should be assigned a letter followed by a sentence summarizing the important elements in the scene. Don’t get bogged down in details. Your goal is to be able to perceive the structure of the film, not to write down every element of a scene.
You will also write a paragraph in which you identify what the plot segmentation reveals about the film. Do you notice any repetition or parallels? In the case of Pulp Fiction, how does the segmentation help you understand the temporal relationship between parts?
Your plot segmentation should be 1 0.5 to two pages long, single spaced; your paragraph should be double spaced, 250-300 words. All submissions must be typed.
You will be graded according to your ability to:
divide the film parts;
provide an appropriate name for each part;
identify the scenes within each part;
succinctly summarize each scene in a sentence or two;
analyze the films plot;
write clearly and correctly;
and use the proper format for the plot segmentation and analysis.
The film will be available on the course website for you to review.
Sample Plot Segmentation:
Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
C. Credits: Fade to vista of Phoenix, AZ.
1.Phoenix:
a.Marion and Sam have lunch and talk about marriage, mother, and money while getting dressed.
b.Marion arrives at work, where a wealthy client propositions Marion and announces that hes spending $40,000 to buy his daughter a house as a wedding gift.
c.Marion, in a bra and slip, packs a suitcase.
2.On the road
a.Marion crosses paths with her boss as shes leaving town and continues driving into the night.
b.The next morning, Marion is awakened in her car by a police officer in dark glasses.
c.Marion nervously buys a new car while the police officer watches from across the street.
d.Marion continues to drive, imagining how people will respond when they discover she stole the money; it begins to rain heavily and she pulls into the Bates Motel.
3.Bates Motel
a.Marion checks into the Bates Motel and overhears Mrs. Bates berating Norman for offering her supper.
b.Norman and Marion have supper in his parlor, and Marion seems convinced that she should return the money.
c.Norman spies on Marion as she undresses.
d.Marion is murdered in the shower.
e.Norman cleans up the blood and puts Marion and her belongings (including the money) into the trunk of her car.
f.Norman sinks the car into the marsh.
4.Fairvale, California
a.Lila arrives at Sams hardware store and tells him Marion is missing along with the money; Arbogast joins them and says hes looking for her, too.
b.Arbogast visits a number of rooming houses before arriving at the Bates Motel and questioning Norman.
c.Arbogast calls Lila and Sam to say he wants to question Normans mother.
d.Mrs. Bates kills Arbogast.
e.Sam goes to the Bates Motel and cant find Arbogast; Norman is sinking Arbogasts car into the marsh and hears Sam calling.
f.Norman moves his mother to the basement over her protestations.
g.Sam and Lila go to the sheriff, who tells them that Normans mother is dead.
h.Sam and Lila meet the sheriff at church, and he says everything seems fine at the Bates house.
i.While Sam questions Norman, Lila investigates the house and finds Mrs. Bates corpse in the basement.
5.At the police station
a.The psychiatrist explains everything no nobody’s satisfaction.
b.Norman is catatonic in the police station, but mothers voice persists.
EC. End credits: the car is pulled out of the swamp
Analysis: Segmenting Psychos plot makes two things apparent. First, the motif of spying is introduced with the very first shot when the audience spies on Marion in the hotel room with Sam. Later, she feels exposed when she is seen by her boss while she is driving away. Then the police officer watches her while shes sleeping and from across the street while shes buying the car. And Norman spies on her through a peephole while she undresses. Arbogast spies on Lila and Sam, and Lila and Sam spy on Norman. Significantly, Lilas explorations of Mrs. Bates and Normans bedrooms echoes the cameras exploration of Marion and Sams hotel room in scene 1a. The film ends with the camera spying on Norman through the window of his jail cell, much as the camera had moved through the hotel window at the beginning of the film.
Second, Marion and Norman/Mrs. Bates are linked by the fact that the audience is privy to their fantasies through the use of voice overs. While Marion is driving away from Phoenix, we hear the conversations that she imagines her co-worker, boss, and client will have when they discover that the money is missing. After Marion has been killed, we hear Normans imagined conversation with his mother when he moves her into the basement, and at the end of the film we hear what have come to think of as Mrs. Bates voice explaining that shes going to make it appear as though she wouldnt hurt a fly.
