A study of film: its aesthetics and formal
elements; its genres and filmmakers; its cultural influence as a maker of myth
and ideology; its national and global industries, including Hollywood’s classical
mainstream filmmaking practices vs. the art and independent films as
alternatives.
In all, there will be 14-16 required film viewings. The films will range from the silent
films of Eisenstein’s The Battleship
Potemkin (1925) and Chaplin’s City
Lights (1931) to Orson Welles’ Citizen
Kane (1941), Hitchcock’s Rear Window
(1954), Francois Truffaut’s The 400 Blows
(1959), Mike Nichols’ The Graduate
(1967), Woody Allen’s Annie Hall
(1977), Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven (1978), Jane Campion’s The Piano (1992) to the more recent Fatih
Akins’ The Edge of Heaven (2007), and
the Dardenne Bros.’ The Boy With a Bike
(2011). [These are only examples; film titles may change.]
The required
textbook for the course is The Film Experience, Third Edition, by Timothy Corrigan &
Patricia White; there will also be a packet of Xeroxed articles.
Assignments include two papers, quizzes on the chapters in the textbook, and a
final examination. Attendance is a
requirement.