COURSE FOR NONMAJORS
FLM 150 World Cinemas (A)
This course offers beginning students a selective survey of films produced around the world in the last 50 years. This course does not fulfill a requirement for the major, and cannot be used as an elective for it.
Attendance at weekly screenings is required.
COURSES FOR FILM MAJORS
FLM 201 Film History I: 1895-1945
An exploration of the international history of film from its invention through the silent era, the rise of Hollywood, and the development of sound to the end of World War II.
Attendance at weekly screenings is required.
FLM 202 Film History II: 1945-Present (W)
An exploration of the international history of film from the end of the War through important European developments (the French New Wave, Italian Neo-Realism, and New German Cinema) and dramatic changes in production and viewing in the United States (through the Sixties and Seventies) to recent emergence of national and regional cinemas in countries all over the world. Pre-requisite: FLM 201 or permission of the instructor.
Attendance at weekly screenings is required.
FLM 225 The Western Film
This course will examine the Western as the American film genre par excellence. Numerous theoretical approaches will be used to study the rise and fall of the Western’s popularity, its role in shaping popular myths about the United States, and its representation of masculine identity.
Attendance at weekly screenings required.
COM 240 Methods of Film and Video Analysis (A)
Introduces different strategies and different approaches for analyzing film and video texts including: formal, narrative, semiotic, psychoanalytic, social/cultural, and feminist. Students will develop an understanding of the grammar, vocabulary, and conventions of film and video production, and the factors that shape viewers’ reception.
ENG 255 Literature and Film (L)
This course examines the relationship between novels and plays and their film-adaptations, concentrating on the different ways in which we read and interpret these narrative forms. The course will attend closely to the variety of decisions that inform the translation of literary works into a different medium with different conventions for a different audience.
GRM 316 German Cinema
A survey of German films from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to Contemporary works with special emphasis on the Golden Age of Weimar cinema and the so-called New German Cinema (Fassbinder, Herzog, Wenders, Sanders-Brahms and less well known directors.) Though a close analysis of these films, the student will gain an understanding and appreciation of cinematic techniques as well as the cultural, social and political background which shaped these works. Taught in English. (A or H)
ENG 321 Shakespeare and Film (L)
This course primarily focuses on the reproduction of Shakespeare's plays on film and, to a lesser extent, the appropriation of Shakespeare's plays by modern playwrights. Plays and films on which we will focus in the next several years include Heiner Muller's "Hamletmachine", Julie Taynor's "Titus", Michael Almereyda's "Hamlet", and Kristian Levring's "The King is Alive".
FLM 325 French New Wave Cinema
This course explores the very rich period in French Cinema during the 1950s and 1960s that is known as the French New Wave (La Nouvelle Vague). Spearheaded by a group of young directors who also wrote their own screenplays (Truffaut, Godard, Malle, Chabrol, Resnais, among others), this movement gave rise to “Le cinema d’auteur” as an innovative and influential way to produce films.
Attendance at weekly screenings is required.
FLM 326 Films of Brazil: Cinema and Social Change
This course looks critically at Brazilian cinema in both historical and contemporary contexts. We will study selected films by both major and emergent Brazilian filmmakers, and also the social, political, and economic forces shaping film production in Brazil.
Attendance at weekly screenings is required.
FLM 328 Australian Cinema
The Australian Cinema embodies the spatial and temporal conditions of a distant, strange continent that is home to a complex relationship between the majority immigrant population (bearing the traditions and values of European, North American, and now Asian communities) and an indigenous people who date back over 50,000 years. The course will explore these issues by focusing on films made by Australian directors (auteurs) made in Australia and abroad, and on films made in Australia by non-Australian directors.
Attendance at weekly screenings is required.
FLM 330 New Asian Cinemas (D)
This course will selectively explore the national cinemas of Japan, China, Taiwan, India, and Korea. Although the course concentrates on recent, it will also attend to seminal movements in the development of national cinematic traditions, such as the postwar films of Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu in Japan and Satyajit Ray in India. This course also surveys new East Asian cinema – for example, Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love (Hong Kong/China) Hou Hsiao-hsien’s City of Sadness (China), Edward Yang’s Yi Yi (Taiwan), Im Kwon Taek’s Chunhyang, and Takeshi Kitano’s Fireworks (Japan) – and one or two films from India (Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay and a selected Bollywood extravaganza.
Attendance at weekly screenings is required.
FLM 332 Film Cultures of the Middle East (D) (W)
This course will focus on cinematic representations of post-revolutionary Iran, of the so-called “question” of Palestine, and of the struggle for national self-definition in Turkey. In order to provide students with a grounding in the film cultures in question, the course will also explore literary works and the commercial, social, and political conditions which inform film production, distribution, and reception.
Attendance at weekly screenings is required.
COM 340 Film Theory & Criticism
Approaches the principal theories of film considering the film text as a mode of communication, as an art form, and as an ideological practice. Explores how film and video control the production of pleasure and meaning during reception. Students view films representative of specific cultural and historical contexts, and are introduced to relevant theories and their application. Emphasizes the development of critical and analytical skills.
Prerequisite: COM 240, 241 Methods of Film & Video Analysis or COM 344, 345 Documentary Film or COM 346, 347 Exploratory Cinema
FLM 341 The Film Industry: How Hollywood Works
This course will explore the structure of the U.S. motion picture industry by considering the economics of film production, distribution, and exhibition, as well as the technological aspects of the film medium. First, its development will be considered from the early 20th Century through the Hollywood Studio Era of the 30s and 40s. Second, we will consider how creatve mavericks from the 40s through the 70s have been able to challenge or bend the rules of the Hollywood system. Finally, the course will outline the competing financial calculus of blockbuster and independent filmmaking today, considering the technological and logistical challenges facing filmmakers in an increasingly digital world.
Attendance at weekly screenings is required.
COM 344 Documentary Film (A)
Examines documentary and other reality-based modes of film and video production and the assumptions these forms make about truth and authenticity, and how they shape our understandings of the world. Both historical and contemporary forms will be considered.
COM 346 Exploratory Cinema (A or H)
Examines the origin and growth of “avant-garde” cinema. Traces the history of film and video art from the early 1920s to the present focusing on its structural evolution, thematic shifts, coexistence with commercial cinema, and its impact on contemporary media.
FLM 450 Film Studies Seminar
Advanced study and analysis of selected areas in film studies designed for majors and other qualified students. Topics may include auteur studies, genre or form studies, national or regional film studies, film theory, or explorations of film and popular culture. Special emphasis is placed on advanced textual and film analysis, scholarly discussion, and writing.
Pre-requisite: FLM 202 and senior film studies major or permission of the instructor.
Attendance at weekly screenings is required.
FLM 970 Film Studies Independent Study/Research
Independent study may be enrolled in any academic department with approval of the advisor and should provide an opportunity to undertake an in-depth examination of some facet of film studies literature and research findings.
PRODUCTION SEQUENCE
COM 251 Fundamentals of Visual Communication
Introduces basic concepts of time-based visual media with an emphasis on the perception and experience of moving images, kinesics, and the structure and aesthetics of cinematic language. Students will learn how to work with cameras, audio-recording equipment, and post-production facilities.
COM 351 Video Production
Refines an understanding of video/television concepts and operations through the application of advanced production techniques. Provides hands-on experience beginning with the development of a professional project, treatment, script, and storyboard. Focusing on production tools and skills, class workshops and outside exercises that facilitate becoming comfortable with camera and editing equipment and with the overall production process. Conceiving, coordinating, shooting, and editing the project, production teams will encounter real-time pressure and problem-solving situations.
Pre-requisite: FLM 251, Foundations of Film Production or COM 251, Fundamentals of Visual Communication
COM 467 Advanced Electronic Media Production
Students explore the convergence of video and digital media while studying the problem of constructing narrative and documentary texts.
Pre-requisite: FLM 351, Video Production.
WRITING SEQUENCE
ENG 207 Dramatic Writing
A course in the basic principles of dramatic writing for the stage, screen and other media. Playwrights will comment on each other's work in a workshop setting. The course will focus on the basic elements of dramatic writing: character, action, spectacle, diction, "music", and content. Students will study examples of prevailing dramatic forms and formats. Each student will submit a portfolio at the end of the workshop.
ENG 390 Screenwriting Workshop
ENG 917 Advanced Screenwriting
SPECIAL TOPICS FILM COURSES
FLM/COM 284 Special Topics: Cinema of the 70's (Fall, 2006)
The late 1960s and early 70s were a crucial transition period for Hollywood studios as a younger generation of filmmakers challenged the orthodoxies of mainstream moviemaking and produced works that reflected new societal concerns and values. Key films in this period include The Graduate, The Wild Bunch, Taxi Driver, The Godfather, and Jaws. This course is a close analysis of these works and others that reflected the optimism and disarray of that moment in American history. Students without previous instruction in film studies will have to do additional reading, or should co-register for COM/FLM 240, Methods of Film and Video Analysis. This course fulfills the "Genres, Forms, and Movements" requirement in Film Studies.
FLM 380-00: Postwar Italian Film: Neorealism to the Present (Spring, 2007)
From its triumphant rise from the ashes of World War II, to its radical formulation in the sixties and seventies, Italian cinema has been one of the most politically engaged, aesthetically innovative and influential national cinemas in film history. This course focuses on the aesthetics and politics of postwar Italian cinema by examining the internationally recognized work of auteurs such as Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio de Sica, Luchino Visconti, Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Bernardo Bertolucci, and the Taviani Brothers. In addition to two weekly lectures, students will be expected to attend a weekly film screening. Films include Rome Open City, The Bicycle Thieves, La Strada, La Dolce Vita, L’avventura, 8 1/2, and The Conformist. Note: This course fulfills the "National and Regional Cinema" requirement in Film Studies.
FLM 381-00: Film And Art of the 60s (Spring, 2007)
The aim of this course is to put American film from the sixties into dialogue with major artistic movements of the period in order to understand the countercultural milieu that defined this decade of intense political turmoil, aesthetic innovation and sexual revolution. Students will study a wide range of post-war avant-garde movements such as Pop Art, Underground Film, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, Fluxus, Body Art, and Performance Art, as well as commercial and independent cinema. Special consideration will be given to artists whose work spans both cinematic and non-cinematic media, such as Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, and Bruce Conner. In addition to two weekly class meetings, students will be expected to attend weekly screenings. Films include: The Misfits, My Hustler, Scorpio Rising, Bonnie and Clyde, Easy Rider, Midnight Cowboy, and Trash. Note: This course fulfills the "Genres, Forms, and Movements" requirement in Film Studies.
FLM 382 Women Filmmakers (Fall, 2007)
This course considers the legacies of women directors working in the film industry; the economic and social challenges they faced, as well as the unique and innovative contributions these directors have made to film aesthetics and narrative form. This class will introduce students to some of the central debates within feminism from the 1970s and into the present, and look at the relationship between feminism and independent female film production, with a focus on the question of female authorship. Directors to be studied include Chantal Akerman, Catherine Breillat, Claire Denis, Jane Campion, Maya Deren, and Vera Chytilova.
FLM 383 Animation:Principles & Application (Fall, 2007)
Animation: Principles and Applications introduces you to the world of animation theory, design, and practice. In this course, you will be introduced to crucial moments in animation history, from the early developers, to the masters of the twentieth century. You will gain an understanding of how traditional forms of animation come together with current technology to create content ready for the web, DVD, and other channels of distribution. The democratization of animation will be actively explored as students collaborate in small groups to produce a one-minute film for distribution on the internet.
FLM 384 Bollywood/Indian Popular Cinema (Fall, 2007)
India's Bombay-based cinema is one of the world's few challenges to the influence of American film. This course examines the world's largest film industry with the aim of understanding the place of popular cinema outside of the Hollywood model. We will consider the role on notions of gender and caste, and its function as a binding influence on the Indian Dizspora.
FLM 385 Music and the Cinema: An Introductory Survey (Fall, 2007)
Students will be introduced to the history and aesthetics of the music-cinema relationship from its origins to the present. Topics covered include the origins of the Western musical-dramatic style; the role of music in early cinema, prior to the “talkies”; the breakthrough of synchronized sound-film systems in the 1920s; the development of the Hollywood studio sound system and the age of the “classic Hollywood sound films” during the 1930s and 1940s; musicals; the role of music in adventure, film noir, crime dramas, and romantic comedies; science fiction and horror films; and the further evolution of the music-cinematic relationship in the post-WWII era , with the emergence of the long-playing record, rock and roll, youth culture, the CD, video, and DVD, and the internet. We will also consider the role of music in other national and regional cinematic traditions, especially of Western Europe, East Asia and South Asia. A prior knowledge of music and/or film history is not required. Students will be taught skills enabling them to listen intelligently and write cogently on music and cinema.
COM 385 Special Topic: Studio Workshop in Television and Film.
This course engages students in the studio practices involved in the production of documentary and narrative, television and film projects. On both an individual and small group basis, students will develop a variety of project ideas that will be realized during a multi-week intensive studio experience. That experience incorporates scripting, producing, directing, multicamera and audio strategies, staging and lighting. Multimedia and interdisciplinary projects involving theatre, art, dance, and music will be welcome. Student projects will be screened on MCTV.
FLM 386 Special Topics: The Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Soundtrack.
In cinema, supernatural themes figured since its beginnings. As electronic instruments and other innovations are introduced into the language of film music, science fiction and horrific cinema have offered some of the most exciting and outrageous opportunities for musical creativity. We will follow this musical development from silent era films such as Häxan (1922) and Metropolis (1927) through the great early horror films of the 1930s such as Dracula (1931) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), to electronic science fiction such as Forbidden Planet (1956) and modern entries to the genre such as The Matrix (1999) and The Grudge (2004).
FLM 387 Special Topics: Gender and Sexuality in the Horror Film.
Horror films are centrally concerned with issues of masculinity, femininity, heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and less defined queerness. This course will explore issues of gender and sexuality in the horror genre with reference to subgenres like the vampire film, the slasher film, the psychological horror film, and the science fiction horror film. Theoretically-informed critical readings will accompany each film text. Films screened will include Dracula, Aliens, Carrie, The Silence of the Lambs, Cat People, Halloween, and Psycho.
FLM 388: Special Topics: Major Filmmakers: Bergman and Antonioni.
This course examines the work of two giants of modernist cinema—Swedish director Ingmar Bergman and Italian director, Michelangelo Antonioni--both of whom passed away on July 30, 2007. These filmmakers profoundly shaped the art of cinema, particularly in regard to the highly stylized figuration of existential angst. This course illuminates the ways in which both Bergman and Antonioni influenced post-war consciousness through their development of a thoroughly intellectual film language. This course shall focus on both major work and more idiosyncratic films, from the 1950s through the 1980s, including The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Shame, Autumn Sonata, Scenes from a Marriage, L’avventura, La Notte, L’eclisse, Blow Up, and The Passenger.
FLM 450 Film Studies Seminar: Canadian Film, Quebecois Film, and the Idea of National Cinema.
This course examines recent trends in both English and French Canadian cinema, focusing on the work of directors such as Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg, Denys Arcand, Deepa Mehta, and Patricia Rozema. The goal is to understand the challenges of producing films in a small nation and to interrogate the idea of a “national cinema” that represents the ideals and culture of a country. Students should be advised that a number of films in this course contain challenging sexual content.
FLM 280 Special Topic: Recording Place: Location In Cinema.
This course will explore the usage of landscape in motion pictures, both through theory and hands-on practice. Films which have been groundbreaking or historical in their use of place will be viewed in the context of student's own experimentation. From the Lumieres to Herzog and James Benning, we will study how landscapes have been portrayed throughout film history, and informed entire genres. Students will shoot in groups and individually, mining the rich landscapes and spaces around us.
FLM 281 Special Topic: The 1980s
The 1980s are not generally regarded as Hollywood’s finest hour, since they seemed to feature the replacement of the dark films of the 1970s with more accessible blockbusters. But the range of films produced in this decade tell us a lot about changing social values, about the contradictions of the Reagan era, and about the legacy of the Vietnam war, among other topics. In addition to these social readings, we will consider the ways in the film scholars make critical assessments of films and how those might change over time.
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