CSCL 1921 section 5 Spring 2009
Tuesday 11:15am-12:25pm in Nicholson 125
Thursday 11:15am-1:25pm in Nicholson 115
Introduction to Film Study
Instructor: Alice Leppert
Email: [email protected]
mailbox: Ford Hall 250
office: Ford Hall 271
office hours: Tues. 12:40-1:40pm; Wed. 1:20-2:20pm, and by appointment
Course Description
This course is about movies–what they are, how they work, and ways we can watch, read, and enjoy them with a critical eye. Our basic questions are: How do films make meaning? How do they construct a world for us, while (often) giving the impression that that constructed world is natural and inevitable? How do films position us as viewers and shape us as subjects? What is the relation between the film text and the political economy of the industry? We’ll look at a wide variety of films from different times and places and consider some of the rich diversity of writing known collectively as Film Theory. This is a basic introductory course designed for those who love going to the movies, but want to understand them better.
Words of Caution: Rather than evaluating films as to whether they are good or bad, we will analyze the way they work—in other words, whether or not you like any given film is irrelevant in this course. This course is not one of “film appreciation.”
Required Texts
Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson. Film Art. 8th Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008.
Course pack, available at Paradigm Copies in the Dinkydome
Recommended
I recommend that you purchase one of the following films for one or both of your writing assignments (you must write about one of these films for your sequence analysis):
Clueless, dir. Amy Heckerling. Paramount Pictures, 1995
Gilda, dir. Charles Vidor. Columbia Pictures, 1946
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, dir. John Ford. Paramount Pictures, 1962
Menace II Society, dir. Allen and Albert Hughes. New Line Cinema, 1993
Strangers on a Train, dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Warner Bros. Pictures, 1951
Reading
Reading for the first two thirds of the course will be largely concerned with developing basic vocabulary for analyzing film, using Film Art. For the last third of the semester, we’ll be reading the work of film scholars employing different modes of film criticism, using the course pack.
Grading Policy
A completed assignment with all required elements is an average assignment; therefore it will be met with the grade of C. Earning a B will reflect above average commitment to coursework, involving thorough attention to improvement and positive contribution to the classroom. The grade of A is earned through overall excellence in coursework, the result of polished, thoughtful papers, excellent exams, and articulation of valuable remarks and questions in class discussions. A grade of D or below will be given if you have not shown an effort toward improvement, failed to meet any course requirement, or have jeopardized your grade by plagiarizing.
A Achievement that is outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet
course requirements
B Achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet course requirements
C Achievement that meets the course requirement in every respect
D Achievement that is worthy of credit even though it fails to meet fully the course requirements
F Represents failure (or no credit) and signifies that the work was either (1) completed but at a level of achievement that is not worthy of credit or (2) was not completed and there was no agreement between the instructor and the student that the student would be awarded an incomplete
All assignments and exams must be completed in order to pass the course—any assignment not completed will result in a failing grade for the course. Grades will be given for each major assignment (2 exams and 2 papers) as well as at the end of the semester.
Midterm exam 20%
Sequence analysis 20%
Final paper 20%
Final exam 20%
Participation 20%
Participation, Attendance, and Late Work
Participation includes arriving on time and prepared for class (i.e. having read the materials and completed the assignments), remaining engaged throughout class (i.e. not checking out five minutes prior to the end of class and not disrupting class in any other way), contributing your ideas to class discussions, encouraging others to share their ideas, and acknowledging, supporting, and respecting views that are different from your own. Monopolizing group conversation, disrespecting others, not paying attention in class (i.e. reading the newspaper, playing on the internet, etc.), and creating a discordant atmosphere are unacceptable participation techniques and will result in a lowered participation grade. Cell phones should be set to “silent” or turned off. Having your phone vibrate is just as disruptive as having it ring. No text messaging in class.
I take attendance very seriously—20% of your grade is determined by your engagement with the class—this will either help you or hurt you, depending on your commitment to attending and participating in class. Attendance at screenings is expected and required. You should not be in this class if you don’t want to watch films.
Work missed during excused absences (those caused by documented illness, family emergency, religious obligation, or authorized University activities) can be made up; if possible, you must contact me in advance to make arrangements regarding such absences. It is your responsibility to provide me with proper documentation as soon as possible. I do not accept late assignments for any reason other than those stated above, no exceptions. I also do not accept assignments via email. In addition, you will be penalized for work missed during unexcused absences, including participation in discussion and any class activities. If you are absent from class, get notes from a classmate. Do not ask me what you missed.
Workload
One conventional credit is hereby defined as equivalent to three hours of learning effort per week, averaged over an appropriate time interval, necessary for an average student taking that course to achieve an average grade in that course.
Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty in any portion of the academic work for this course shall be grounds for awarding a grade of F or N for the entire course.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the undocumented or insufficiently documented presentation of another person’s ideas, words, or sentences as your own. During this course, we will discuss research strategies and techniques that will help you to determine what constitutes the legitimate and documented use of outside sources. You should know in advance, however, that plagiarism is considered a grave offense. If you intentionally plagiarize, you will most likely receive an “F” for that assignment and possibly for the course. Please see me if you are ever confused about what constitutes plagiarism.
Students with Disabilities
I would like to speak with anyone who has a documented disability that may require some modification of seating, class requirements, etc. Please see me as soon as possible, either after class or during office hours, so that appropriate arrangements may be made.
Unit 1: Basics of Film Form and Style
Week 1: 1/20
Intro to Film and the Emergence of Cinema
Tues.: Intro to the course
Clips: The Player (Robert Altman, USA, 1992)
Showgirls (Paul Verhoeven, USA, 1995)
Thurs.: Screening: The Kiss (Thomas Edison, USA, 1896)
Serpentine Dances (Thomas Edison, USA, 1895)
Leaving the Factory (Lumière Brothers, France, 1895)
Arrival of a Train (Lumière Brothers, France, 1895)
A Trip to the Moon (Georges Méliès, France, 1902)
The Girl and Her Trust (D.W. Griffith, USA, 1912)
The Champion (Charles Chaplin, USA, 1915)
Week 2: 1/27
Film Form
Tues.: Reading: Film Art ch. 2
Thurs.: Screening: Nights of Cabiria/Le Notti di Cabiria (Federico Fellini,
Italy, 1957)
Clips: The Sure Thing (Rob Reiner, USA, 1985)
Step Up (Anne Fletcher, USA, 2006)
Week 3: 2/3
Narrative as a Formal System
Tues.: Reading: Film Art ch. 3
Thurs.: Screening: Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, USA, 1941)
Clips: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (John Hughes, USA, 1986)
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (Danny Leiner, USA, 2006)
Week 4: 2/10
Film Style: Mise-en-scène
Tues.: Reading: Film Art ch. 4
Thurs.: Screening: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, Germany,
1921)
Clips: Mon Oncle (Jacques Tati, France, 1958)
Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, USA, 1955)
Flower Drum Song (Henry Koster, USA, 1961)
The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford, USA, 1940)
Week 5: 2/17
Film Style: Cinematography
Tues.: Reading: Film Art ch. 5
Thurs.: Screening: Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrmann, USA, 1996)
Clips: Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming/George Cukor, USA, 1939)
Zoolander (Ben Stiller, USA, 2001)
Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson, USA, 1997)
Jaws (Steven Spielberg, USA, 1975)
Twin Peaks Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, USA, 1993)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (“Chosen,” 2003)
The Hills (“A Change of Plans,” 2006)
Trapped in the Closet (“Chapter Four,” 2005)
Week 6: 2/24
Editing: The Continuity System
Tues.: Reading: Film Art ch. 6 to p. 251
Thurs.: Screening: Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, USA, 1945)
Clips: Rocky IV (Sylvester Stallone, USA, 1985)
Beverly Hills, 90210 (“Beach Blanket Brandon,” 1991)
The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, USA, 1941)
The Women (George Cukor, USA, 1939)
Flashdance (Adrian Lyne, USA, 1983)
Stagecoach (John Ford, USA, 1939)
Week 7: 3/3—midterm exam on Thurs. March 5
Editing: Soviet Montage and Experimental Editing
Tues.: Reading: Film Art ch. 6 p. 251-260; “Soviet Montage” 453-456
Thurs: Midterm & Screening: Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein,
USSR, 1925)
Clips: Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, USA, 1943)
Strike (Sergei Eisenstein, USSR, 1925)
Olympia (Leni Riefenstahl, Germany, 1938)
Week 8: 3/10
Film Style: Sound
Tues.: Reading: Film Art ch. 7
Thurs.: Screening: Eraserhead (David Lynch, USA, 1977)
Clips: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1960)
Mean Girls (Mark Waters, USA, 2004)
Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, USA, 1979)
Yesterday Once More/Lung Fung Dau (Johnnie To, Hong Kong,
2004)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (“The Body” and “The Gift,” 2001)
Pretty in Pink (John Hughes, USA, 1986)
Say Anything (John Hughes, USA, 1989)
Beverly Hills, 90210 (“Meeting Mr. Pony,” 1992)
Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, USA, 1999)
SPRING BREAK, NO CLASSES 3/16-3/20
Week 9: 3/23—sequence analysis due on Thurs. March 26
Editing and Sound as Narration
Tues.: No reading, work on paper
Thurs.: Screening: My Left Eye Sees Ghosts/Ngo joh aan gin diy gwai
(Johnnie To and Ka-Fai Wai, Hong Kong, 2002)
Clips: Legends of the Fall (Edward Zwick, USA, 1994)
The Straight Story (David Lynch, USA, 1999)
Beaches (Garry Marshall, USA, 1988)
The Hills (“An Unexpected Call,” 2006)
Unit 2: Ways to Read Film
Week 10: 3/31
Feminist Criticism
Tues: Reading: Claire Johnston, “Women’s Cinema as Counter-Cinema”
Thurs: Screening: Happiness/Le Bonheur (Agnès Varda, France, 1965)
Clips: Dance Girl Dance (Dorothy Arzner, USA, 1940)
Not Wanted (Ida Lupino, USA, 1949)
Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, Britain, 1960)
Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, USA, 1959)
Body Double (Brian De Palma, USA, 1984)
Cruel Intentions (Roger Krumble, USA, 1999)
Week 11: 4/7
Race and the Politics of Representation
Tues.: Reading: Donald Bogle, “Black Beginnings”
Thurs.: Screening: Bamboozled (Spike Lee, USA, 2000)
Clips: Giant (George Stevens, USA, 1956)
Better Luck Tomorrow (Justin Lin, USA, 2002)
Menace II Society (Allen and Albert Hughes, USA, 1993)
Carmen Jones (Otto Preminger, USA, 1954)
Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, USA, 1989)
The Birth of a Nation (D.W. Griffith, USA, 1915)
Week 12: 4/14
Authorship
Tues.: Reading: Andrew Sarris, “Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962”
Thurs: Screening: The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1960)
Clips: North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1959)
Marnie (Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1964)
Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1951)
Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1943)
Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1960)
Week 13: 4/21—final paper due on Thurs. April 23
The Star System
Tues.: Reading: Richard Dyer, “Ordinariness”
Thurs.: Screening: Meet Me in St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli, USA, 1944)
Clips: The Pirate (Vincente Minnelli, USA, 1948)
The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, USA, 1939)
Babes in Arms (Busby Berkeley, USA, 1939)
Week 14: 4/28
Genre: The Western
Tues.: Reading: Graeme Turner, “Genre” and Thomas Schatz, “Film
Genre and the Genre Film”
Thurs.: Screening: Red River (Howard Hawks, USA, 1948)
Clips: The Searchers (John Ford, USA, 1954)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, USA, 1962)
Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, USA, 2005)
Halloween (John Carpenter, USA, 1978)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Amy Heckerling, USA, 1982)
Dirty Dancing (Emile Ardolino, USA, 1987)
Week 15: 5/5
Convergence: Film and Television
Tues.: Reading: None—study for the final exam
Thurs.: Screening: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (“Living Conditions,” 1999)
Twin Peaks (Episode Two, 1990)
Laguna Beach (“The Last Dance,” 2004)
Clips: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Fran Kuzui, USA, 1992)
Twin Peaks Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, USA, 1993)
High School Musical (Kenny Ortega, USA, 2006)
FINAL EXAM: FRIDAY, MAY 15 (1:30-3:30 PM)
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