CC
399-02 FILM THEORY AND CRITICISM
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Blackboard: http://plato.bridgew.edu/
This course develops an advanced understanding of
film as a complex cultural medium through the discussion of key theoretical and
critical approaches. Theoretical and critical approaches discussed may include:
realist theory, genre criticism, auteur theory, structuralism, feminist theory,
and journalistic criticism. The course
combines weekly feature-length viewings with lectures, group discussions, and
written assignments.
Other
readings available online and on reserve.
| Philosophy Lectures
and presentations are necessary to insure common ground for discussion, but
this course will succeed based on your willingness to explore and share your
own experiences and the course materials in thoughtful and meaningful
ways.
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Attendance Attendance at all sessions is required. More than two (2) absences will drop your
final grade, as will habitual lateness, leaving early, and leaving during
class. While I appreciate the
information, merely noting your absence or intended absence does not constitute
an excused absence. You cannot learn if you are not here.
If you miss an exam without
contacting me, you will receive a zero (0) for that exam grade. For an excused absence (approved by me prior
to the exam date), I may substitute an additional essay or research paper
rather than give a make-up exam.
Much writing about film is available in books and
online. It is not wrong to consult
these works, but you need to document your sources. This means using proper citation if you use someone else’s ideas,
and proper citation and quotation marks if you use someone else’s exact words. When in doubt, cite your sources.
This course has a zero-tolerance policy for cheating and
plagiarism: you cheat and you get a zero: The first documented instance of
cheating or plagiarism will result in a zero (0) for the assignment and a
notification of the Vice President of Academic Affairs as outlined in the Academic
Integrity section of the College Catalog (pp. 48-49). This could result in
failure on the assignment, for the class, or in expulsion from school.
| Technology: This is not a web class, but new-media technologies
are an integral part of contemporary learning.
I expect you to have basic word-processing, e-mail, and web-browsing
skills. We will integrate Blackboard
(plato.bridgew.edu) into the class.
| Assistance: If you require additional or alternate assistance,
please inform me as soon as possible so we can make arrangements to aid your
learning.
| Papers:
Any written assignment must be typed and double-spaced, with proper
margins. Use MLA style, the accepted
style for the BSC Communication Studies department, to document your work. Do not submit first drafts of papers: edit
your work for spelling, punctuation, grammar, and paragraph and sentence
structure. I grade papers for form and
content: the way you communicate affects what you communicate.
For late
papers, I will drop a grade per day after the due date. You may not submit your response papers
late.
Missed
presentations will be made up at my discretion.
Evaluation
Information
on individual assignments will be available in class and online.
I
adhere to the school’s grading system:
A
— Superior; B — Good; C — Satisfactory; D — Poor; F — Failure
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Percentage of final grade /
Assignment 20% - Response papers 8% - Group Project 17% - Final Paper &
Presentation 20% - Exam 1 20% - Exam 2 15% - Participation 100% total |
Grade Scale
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There is
no extra credit. The time to start
putting in extra effort is now.
Response papers: A one-page (about three paragraphs)
response paper is due on each film discussion date. The response paper should answer a specific question about the
film that relates to the readings and theoretical/critical approach under
discussion. It must go beyond
opinion. You will use the question
under consideration as your response paper title. Your response paper must include proper punctuation, grammar,
spelling, etc., and citation if necessary.
Response paper assignments are not graded, but you must pass in completed papers on time for all nine films (starting with GoodFellas). I will not accept late papers. Your grade for this assignment (20% of your final grade) will be an A unless you fail to pass in your work on time or fail to meet the standards listed above.
The following is a schedule of topics
we will cover in the class and the corresponding reading assignments. Additional materials will be supplied in-class or online. You must complete the reading and viewing prior to class.
Films (**) are available through
Maxwell Media Services video system or video stores. We will discuss films on the date they are listed – you must view
before this date.
Jan 21 Introduction
Jan
28 Realist Theory Kracauer “Basic Concepts”
171-182
Bazin “De Sica:
Metteur-En-Scène” 203-211
**Umberto D
(DeSica, 1952)
Feb 4 Formalist
Theory Arnheim “The Complete
Film 212-215
Munsterberg “The Means of the Photoplay” 401-407
Deren “Cinematography: The
Creative Use of Reality” 216-227
**GoodFellas (Scorsese,
1990)
Feb 11 Auteur
Theory Sarris “Notes on
the Auteur Theory in 1962)
515-518
Wollen “The Auteur Theory”
519-535
Haskell “Female Stars of the
1940s” 562-566, 571-575
**Bringing Up Baby (Hawks,
1938)
Feb 18 Genre
Criticism Altman “A
Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film
Genre” 630-641
Schatz “Film Genre and the Genre
Film” 642-653
Wood “Ideology, Genre, Auteur”
668-678
**Shadow of a Doubt
(Hitchcock, 1943)
Feb 25 Ideological
Criticism Comolli and
Narboni “Cinema/Ideology/-
Criticism” 752-759
Bordwell “The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice”
**Election (Payne, 1999)
March 3 Narrative
Gunning
“Narrative Discourse and the Narrator
System” 461-472
Chatman “The Cinematic Narrator”
473-486
Thompson “The Concept of
Cinematic Excess” 487-498
**24
Hour Party People (Winterbottom, 2002)
FIRST
EXAM
March 24 Structuralism Metz “Some Points in the
Semiotics of the
Cinema” 68-75
Metz “Problems of Denotation in
the Fiction Film” 75-89
Harman “Semiotics and the Cinema
“ 90-98
**Annie
Hall (Allen, 1977)
March 31 Spectatorship Mulvey “Visual
Pleasure and the Narrative
Cinema” 833-844
Metz “Identification, Mirror” 800-808
Browne “The Spectator-in-the
Text: The Rhetoric of Stagecoach” 148-163
**Stagecoach
(Ford, 1939)
April 7 Feminist
Theory Gledhill “Recent
Developments in Feminist
Criticism” 251-272
Williams “Film Bodies: Gender,
Genre, and Excess”
**Mildred
Pierce (Curtiz, 1945)
April 14 Group Presentations **TBD
April 21 MONDAY
SCHEDULE – NO CLASS
**
Fitzcarraldo (Herzog, 1982)
May 5 Individual
Presentations
TBA SECOND
EXAM
_______________________________________________________________________
You must have a Blackboard user account to access
Blackboard. You must have a BSC e-mail
account (e.g., name@bridgew.edu) to
create a Blackboard user account.
NO E-MAIL: go to http://www.bridgew.edu and click on “Account
Registration” Quicklink (lower left).
Click on “Claim a BSC account” and follow directions.
NO BLACKBOARD: go to http://www.bridgew.edu and clicking on
“Account Registration” Quicklink (lower left).
Click on “Activate a Blackboard user account” and
follow directions. It will take
approximately 24 hours to activate this account.
Once you have a Blackboard account, go to Blackboard (http://plato.bridgew.edu) and click on
“Course Catalog.” Scroll down and
“enroll” in CC 399-02.
If you do not plan to use your
BSC e-mail account to receive information from instructors, click on the
“Personal Information” link, and then click on “Edit personal
information.” Change the e-mail address
associated with the account.
This is a schedule of when films will be showing on the
Maxwell Library Video Services system.
The date listed is the Monday when the film system cycle begins (cycle
runs Monday-Sunday). The film is
presented on the system the week prior to our schedule discussion. All films are available for rental through
local stores, public libraries, and/or online subscription sites such as
netflix.com.
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WEEK ON
SYSTEM |
FILM
TITLE (in-class discussion date) |
|
January
19-25 |
None |
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January
26-February 1 |
GoodFellas
(Scorsese, 1990) |
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February
2-8 |
Bringing
Up Baby (Hawks, 1938) |
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February
9-15 |
Shadow
of a Doubt (Hitchcock, 1943) |
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February
16-22 |
Election
(Payne, 1999) |
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February
23-29 |
24 Hour Party People (Winterbottom, 2002)
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March
1-5 |
Annie
Hall (Allen, 1977) |
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March
22-28 |
Stagecoach (Ford,
1939) |
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March
29-April 4 |
Mildred
Pierce (Curtiz, 1945) |
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April
5-11 |
TBD
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April
12-18 |
Fitzcarraldo
(Herzog, 1982) |
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April
19-25 |
Fitzcarraldo (Herzog, 1982) |