500 Word Rationale

Title: Historical Fact in American Fiction Film

My focus film will be Titanic (1997) and my related films are going to be two of the following Unstoppable (2010), The Social Network (2010), Captain Philips (2013) or Apollo 13 (1995). The reason  have chosen these 5 films is because they each focus on a specific event. This will therefore make my secondary research easier to gather and therefore I will have fact to compare the film with.

Primary research will come from the focus film and the relevant films. For Titanic, I plan to look at the scene at the end of the film where Rose (old) is recounting her rescue and giving facts as she does, this is because it means I can look at how fiction film chose to reveal fact in the film. As well as this I plan to look at the scene where the ship is sinking and the crew find the ice berg. This is because I want to look at how the film uses dramatic effects and not necessarily the fact to create a spectator response. The last scene I want to focus on is when Jack and Rose are running through the ship away from Spicer Lovejoy as this scene shows the working of the ship and as an audience we think it's the truth however I want to research if this is just stereotyped to make it easier for the audience to understand. 

Primary research for Unstoppable I would look the scene where the control is trying to stop the train at the beginning of the film as this is very factual and can easily be compared to real fact. As well as this I want to look at the scene where the train is let lose, this is because it means I can research how it really happened and see what the film did differently and why. Look at dramatic effect. Lastly I want to look at the end of the film as it shows Frank and Will as heroes. I want to research if they really were and how the film shows that and if things have been changed in the film to make this really obvious to the audience.

Primary research for my other related film will be written out and planned when my final related film has been chosen and I can watch the film and study it.

Secondary research for all of my films will focus heavily on the internet. However, for Titanic, I plan on looking in the library at books which are historical recounts of the actual event. This will therefore give me a reliable source of information. I also plan on looking at IMDB for some facts and all comments on the film. The Empire Magazine will also help me to look at critic reviews and how they feel the film represented the events in my films.