ENG230 Intro to Film (SP12)

ENG230
Introduction to Film
306 Ernst Bessey Hall
Tues/Thurs 12:40-3:30pm

The experience of watching films is a common bonding experience in our society. Everybody watches movies and everybody can relate to others through the memories of particular titles. People become absorbed in the narrative; they identify with one or more characters. In short, everyone is familiar with the movies. Yet people do not often really know how to “watch” a film. So much of what a movie does is not meant to be noticed by its audience. This course serves as an introduction to informed film study. We will explore movies from general stylistic, thematic and industrial standpoints. The principal focus will be on acquiring the basic film terminology that will allow you to articulate informed film analysis with specificity and accuracy. Understanding film from an analytical, active perspective requires thinking through several complicated questions. What is the history of the Hollywood style of filmmaking? What does a particular shot composition mean? What different genres of film exist and why? What significance does a film carry historically? How do specific editing choices affect an audience’s perception of the story? What other types of film exist beside traditional Hollywood narrative films? How does a film’s sound work to create meaning every bit as much as the visual image does? We will explore these and other questions in the course of the semester. This course is designed to challenge those students unfamiliar with basic film technology to see movies as more than just entertainment which offers a few hours of enjoyment and distraction. This is not a class for those students intent on doing little more than watching movies passively for college credit. By the end of the semester, students will be expected to articulate the basic stylistic, historical and cultural contexts for studying the film medium.

Textbook: Bordwell and Thompson, Film Art (9th Ed.) and other assigned readings

Screenings: You are expected to attend all screenings, even if you’ve seen the film before, and to watch them actively and closely. Refrain from using laptops and cellphones during screenings. WARNING: We will be watching films in this class that contain graphic violence, nudity, and adult themes. If you think this content will offend or disturb you, you should reconsider your enrollment in this class.

Readings: Not everything in the reading will be covered in class sessions, and you will find some of the readings challenging. So read closely and take notes. You may need to re-read the more difficult texts in order to understand them. You are responsible for all content in the readings, even if not discussed in lecture. If you do not understand elements of the reading, then feel free to ask questions during discussion and office hours.

Office Hours and E-mail: My door is always open; feel free to come by during office hours to talk about your writing, the readings, the films, or any other aspect of the course. Please allow at least 24 hours before following up on emails sent.

Assignments:
Response Paper 1 (Textual Analysis) . . . 5%
Response Paper 2 (Genre/Ideology) . . . 5%
Response Paper 3 (Alternatives to Hollywood) . . . 10%
Response Paper 4 (Post-Classical/Documentary/Animation) . . . 10%
Research Paper . . . 15%
Midterm . . . 15%
Final Exam . . . 20%
Participation . . . 20%

*Completion of all assignments is required to pass the course.

Spring Schedule 2012

Most readings are from the course textbook by Bordwell and Thompson, unless a different author is indicated. Additional readings will be available through ANGEL and/or the MSU Main Library reserves. Readings and screenings are tentative, and subject to change, though any adjustments will be announced in advance. All readings should be completed before class that day.

1/10—Introduction; syllabus; “What is Film?”; Early Cinema; screening: selections from Landmarks of Early Film, Vol. 1
1/12—Mise-en-Scene; reading: “The Shot: Mise-en-Scene” and “Putting it All Together” (118-159); screening: Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World (2010)

1/17— Shot Composition: reading: “The Photographic Image” and “Framing” (167-207); screening: Citizen Kane (1941)
1/19—Continuity Editing; reading: “Duration of the Image” (212-218), “The Relation of Shot to Shot: Editing” (223-235), “Continuity Editing” (236-255)

1/24—Narrative; screening: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004); reading: “Narrative as a Formal System (78-101)
1/26—Reading: “Film Form” (56-74) and “Writing a Critical Analysis of a Film” (443-449)

1/31—Sound: reading: “Sound in the Cinema” (269-280) and “The Classical Hollywood Cinema after the Coming of Sound” (470-473); screening: Singin` in the Rain (1954); first response paper due
2/2—Reading: “Dimensions of Film Sound” (280-298)

2/7—Ideology; reading: “WALL-E: from environmental adaptation to sentimental nostalgia” (online); screening: WALL-E (2007)
2/9—reading: Jeffords, “Hard Bodies: The Reagan Heroes” (ANGEL); screening: Predator (1987)

2/14— Genre: Westerns: reading: “The Development of the Classical Hollywood Cinema” (455-460), “Understanding Genre” (328-337) and “Three Genres” (338-346); screening: The Searchers (1956)
2/16—Reading: “The Classical Narrative Cinema” (396-407); reading: Ray, “The Discrepancy between Intent and Effect” (ANGEL)

2/21—Genre: Film Noir; screening: Double Indemnity (1943); reading: “Summary: Style as a Formal System” (312-316)
2/23—Naremore, “The Death Chamber” (ANGEL)

2/28—Genre: Horror: screening: The Exorcist (1973); second response paper due; Midterm Review
3/1—Midterm (in class)

Spring Break (3/5-3/9)

3/13—Montage; “Soviet Montage” (467-469) and “Alternatives to Continuity Editing” (256-265); screening: Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
3/15—Avant-Garde; reading: “Experimental Film” (366-381); screening: Un Chien Andalou (1929), Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), Mothlight (1963)

3/20—New Wave; reading: “Narrative Alternatives to Classical Filmmaking” (408-421) and “The French New Wave” (475-477); screening: Breathless (1959)
3/22—no class (Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference)

3/27—Post-Classical Hollywood; reading: Sarris, “The Auteur Theory Revisited” (ANGEL) screening: Taxi Driver (1976); third response paper due
3/29—reading: King, “New Hollywood, Version 1” from New Hollywood Cinema (e-book)

4/3—Blockbuster cinema; reading: King, “New Hollywood, Version 2” from New Hollywood Cinema (e-book); screening: Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
4/5—“Independent” cinema; reading: “The New Hollywood and Independent Filmmaking” (477-482); screening: Hard Eight (1996)

4/10— Documentary: reading: “Documentary” (349-365) and “Documentary Form and Style” (422-430); screening: Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010); proposals due
4/12—Reading: Nichols, “How Can We Define Documentary Film?” from Introduction to Documentary (ANGEL)

4/17—Animation; reading: “The Animated Film” (382-390); screening: TBD
4/19—reading: Telotte, “Three-Dimensional Animation and the Illusion of Life” (ANGEL); final response paper due

4/24—Digital Cinema; reading: Belton, “Digital Cinema” (ProQuest); “Machines That Use Digital Media” (13-16); “To See Into Night” (4-8); Screening: Collateral (2004)
4/26—Research Papers due; Final exam review

Final Exam