To begin with I was quite daunted by the challenge of writing about a cultural item, while relating it to actual theories. But through extended planning and collecting of research, as well as by attending the sessions and lectures, the tasks became easier the more that I became engaged with it.
I started with Metropolis as my cultural item as not only am I a fan, so I wanted to research it's creation, e.g. use of camera angles, sets, etc, but I knew that it had a lot of themes in it and history attached. I wanted to keep it as broad as possible to begin with, to make choosing a specific area of analysis easier later. This proved to be the case as I actually had too much that I wanted to research into. However, the process of stripping back and focusing on certain points began to become quite natural after a while, as some areas were easier to relate to the theories and research. Also, I found that choosing an item from the start of the 20th century was incredibly helpful as it meant that there was a lot of information on the item already to study. At the same time, it was sometimes difficult to sort through all of this information, but by using a range of sources, from books, online journals to websites, it meant that a range of information, whether it was focused on Metropolis, or more general, was always available. My main problem was with the title 'Metropolis' - as it's so generic, it frequently brought up anything even remotely related.
The actual writing of the essay wasn't as problematic as I'd imagined it would be. I'd collected all of my research, I had a basic plan and I'd completed the poster which outlined my direction for the essay. Having notes compiled on my blog was useful for me as well, as it meant that all of my notes at least were in one place. Using these it was pretty easy to just get started and then to determine more structure to the essay later. I did have difficulty not including more information on the film's history and production as it is so interesting, but this would have slowed down the pace and diverted slightly off topic. The word limit was my biggest problem - I could have continued to write, so in a way it was good for making my writings concise, but it was quite taxing to develop a point with so few words. However, I liked to think that I focused in enough to anaylse the item to a degree where a point is picked out well. After completing my first draft, getting it checked by a lecturer and making amendments, like collecting extra research, helped to make the essay more analytical and to fit the brief. Plus it helped me to know that I was on the right track.
From the whole process I now have a much better understanding of what is needed to compile and write an essay, from research, drafting to the bibliography and referencing. As well as a knowledge of selected theorists' work. Using the information learnt here, I feel I can apply them to other areas of my practical work, particularity if working for a client, to understand how my work may be interpreted by an audience. Not only this, but I feel that I know more about my cultural item as well. I set out wanting to analyse how Lang had constructed the film, because it's style is so iconic. While I only partially focused on this in the final essay, I actually learnt a lot about how a cultural item exists in the world, surrounded by other items. Next time I think I'd like to collect more wider research as most was based around Metropolis. I found that reading around the item on related topics actually not only helped me to understand the film, but other areas and perspectives on culture. This way it might aid in understanding other texts as well, not just Metropolis. However, I feel that I've learnt a lot that can be taken and improved upon next year.
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