Film Theories

CFV 348 Film Theories Fall 2017 Instructor: Professor Roxanne Samer Office hours: Mondays, 3-4:30; Tuesdays, 2:30-4, and Thursdays, 4:30-5:30 214 LSH; samerrox@gvsu.edu Class Times & Location: Required texts: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 1:15-2:15pm, 226 LSH Film Theory and Criticism, 8th Edition. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, editors. Please bring the book to class! A Short Guide to Writing About Film. Timothy Corrigan. Other required reading will be posted on Blackboard. Course Description: This course will introduce various perspectives on the study of film as they have developed within the field of cinema and media studies in order to explore and better understand how films generate meaning and pleasure. Students will gain an understanding of theoretical approaches to film as they developed historically and learn to write in the language of scholarly film criticism. Course Objectives: 1. Analyze the formal elements of film in the context of specific theories 2. Describe the historical development of theories of film 3. Explain the meanings of film from theoretical perspectives 4. Read and explicate theoretical essays 5. Create written work in the language of scholarly film theory and criticism Course Requirements: A group presentation, reading responses, a midterm paper, a final video essay, and some shorter homework assignments. The class format consists of lecture, student presentations, screenings, and discussions. Students are responsible for everything that goes on in the class. Late assignments will be marked down one third of a letter grade for each day late. See below for the weighting of your grades. Presentation (20%): Working in small groups, you will prepare a 15-minute presentation on an assigned reading. Presentations will include a concise PowerPoint and a handout for the class that summarizes the main points of the assigned article. A filmic example that exemplifies a main point of the article is also required. Reading Responses (20%): Over the course of the semester, you will write four responses to assigned readings. They should be 400-500 words in length. They are due via our course blog (filmtheoriesfall2017.wordpress.com) by 10pm on the Monday of the week the reading is assigned. More details and a complete schedule will be provided. Midterm Paper (20%) and Final Paper or Video Essay (30%): At the beginning of the semester you will choose one film from the list below to write about in both your midterm paper and final paper or video essay. In each of these assignments, you will discuss it in the context of one or more of the theories studied in class. Please make sure you have regular access to the film you plan to write about this semester before you sign up for it. Papers and video essays (including rough drafts and rough cuts) are due at the beginning of the class. More details will be provided. Film list for papers/video essays: Selma (Ava DuVernay, 2014) The Revenant (Alejandro Iñárritu, 2015) Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2015) Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015) Frantz (François Ozon, 2016) Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016) Wonder Woman (Patty Jenkins, 2017) The Beguiled (Sofia Coppola, 2017) Attendance and Participation (10%): You are expected to attend every class meeting on time. Please come prepared to discuss the assigned readings. Good class participation involves contributing to the ongoing discussion in an informed manner, being attentive to that conversation, and being respectful of the participants in it. Your grade will be lowered after two absences. Three tardies equals one absence. Grading: In general, my criteria for grading are: A represents outstanding writing including original thought, ability to synthesize from diverse sources and familiarity with course material. B represents good writing with ability to synthesize and familiarity with course material. C represents adequate writing and familiarity with course material. While I am happy to discuss your grade, my policy is that you must wait 24 hours after receiving a graded assignment back before approaching me with questions or concerns. Film Theories 2 SWS: Film Theories is designated SWS (Supplemental Writing Skills). Completion of Writing 150 and/or Writing 305, as appropriate, with a grade of C or better (not C-) is/are the prerequisite(s). SWS credit will not be given to a student who completes the course before completing the prerequisite(s). SWS courses adhere to certain guidelines. Students turn in a total of at least 3,000 words of writing. Part of that total may be essay exams, but a substantial amount of it is made up of finished essays, reports or research papers. The instructor works with the students on revising drafts of papers rather than simply grading the finished piece of writing. At least four hours of class time are devoted to writing instruction. At least one third of the final grade in the course is based on the writing assignments. Classroom etiquette: Common courtesies are expected. Be punctual. Do not enter the room when an oral presentation is in progress. Do not leave the classroom while class is in session. Students may use laptop computers and tablets to take notes. However, all phones must be put away for the duration of the class. Should students begin to abuse their laptop privileges, I will ban all devices from the classroom. Finally, participate in classroom discussion in ways that are productive and respectful to others. Academic Honesty: You are responsible for your own learning, which includes your commitment to values such as individual integrity and respect for the work of others in the learning community. All of the work you turn in for a grade in CFV 348 must be your own work, unique to you, prepared for this class. Academic dishonesty (including cheating and plagiarism) will not be tolerated and will result in failure on the assignment as the minimum penalty. Please see me if you have any questions about how to cite your sources using MLA or Chicago style before you submit your first paper. DSR: Students who have special needs because of learning, physical or other disability should contact Disability Support Resources (DSR) at 616-331-2490 at the beginning of the semester to make the necessary arrangements. Furthermore, if you have a disability and think you will need assistance evacuating this classroom and/or building in an emergency situation, please make me aware so I can develop a plan to assist you. In case of fire, immediately proceed to the nearest exit during a fire alarm. Do not use elevators. More information is available on the University’s emergency website located at http://www.gvsu.edu/emergency. Additional student resources: LGBT Resource Center 1161 Kirkhof Center 616-331-2530; lgbtcenter@gvsu.edu https://www.gvsu.edu/lgbtrc/ Counseling Center 204 Student Services Building (STU) 616-331-3266; gvcounsl@gvsu.edu http://www.gvsu.edu/counsel/ Film Viewing: This is not a film viewing class. Most film examples I will bring into class will be specific sequences, not entire films. You should practice active viewing by taking notes as you view the film examples. You will be required to watch Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954) outside of class prior to our September 7th meeting. We will return to this film a number of times across the semester. You will also be required to watch Film Theories 3 two additional films in preparation for special guest lectures by Professor Candace Moore (University of Michigan, Screen Arts and Culture) on November 7 th and Professor Cáel M. Keegan (Grand Valley State University, Gender Studies) on November 14th: Jane Campion’s The Piano (1993) and the Wachowskis’ Bound (1996), respectively. Each of these DVDs will be available on reserve to watch at the library. Proposed Schedule: I reserve the right to make changes as needed. All readings are from the textbook unless otherwise indicated. Week 1 August 29 August 31 Introduction to course: What is Film Theory? Reading: Scorsese, “Standing up for Cinema” (Blackboard) Formalist Film Theory: Rudolph Arnheim Reading: Arnheim, “Film and Reality,” “The Making of a Film,” and “The Complete Film” September 5 No Class – Labor Day Recess Required Outside Screening: Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954) Week 2 September 7 Formalist Film Theory: Sergei Eisenstein Reading: Eisenstein, “Beyond the Shot” and “The Dramaturgy of Film Form” Week 3 September 12, 14 Realist Film Theory Reading: Kracauer, “Basic Concepts,” and Bazin, “The Ontology of the Photographic Image,” “The Myth of Total Cinema,” and “De Sica: Metteur-En-Scene” Week 4 September 19, 21 Auteur Theory Reading: Sarris, “Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962”; Truffaut, Hitchcock excerpt (Blackboard); Wood, “Rear Window” (Blackboard); and Wollen, “The Auteur Theory” Week 5 September 26, 28 Film Semiotics Reading: Barthes, “Rhetoric of the Image” (Blackboard), and Metz, “Some Points in the Semiotics of Cinema” Week 6 October 3, 5 Ideological Film Theory Reading: Baudry, “Ideological Effects of the Basic Cinematic Apparatus,” and Wood, “Ideology, Genre, Auteur” Week 7 October 10, 12 Psychoanalytic Film Theory Reading: Metz, “Identification, Mirror” and “Fetishism” Paper Due October 10 For Peer Critique Revised Paper Due October 12 Film Theories 4 Week 8 October 17, 19 Feminist Film Theory Reading: Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” and Modleski, “The Master's Dollhouse: Rear Window” Week 9 October 24, 26 Resistant Spectators Reading: hooks, “The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators”; and Doty, “There’s Something Queer Here” (Blackboard) Last day to withdraw with "W" October 27 Week 10 Oct 31, Nov 2 Envisioning Alternative Film Aesthetics Reading: de Lauretis, “Rethinking Women’s Cinema” (Blackboard), and Solanas and Getino, “Towards a Third Cinema” (Blackboard) Week 11 November 7 Phenomenological Film Theory Guest Lecture: Professor Candace Moore Reading: Sobchack, “What My Fingers Knew: The Cinesthetic Subject, or Vision in the Flesh” (Blackboard) Required Outside Screening: The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993) November 9 No Class – Professor Samer Travelling to American Studies Association Conference in Chicago Week 12 November 14, 16 Queer and Trans Film Theory Guest Lecture: Professor Cáel M. Keegan, “You Can Believe What You Feel: Bound and the Utopian Queer/Trans Horizon” Reading: Keegan, “Dialogue with Lana Wachowski” (Blackboard) Required Outside Screening: Bound (The Wachowskis, 1996) Week 13 November 21 Digital Film Theory Reading: Manovich, “Digital Cinema and the History of a Moving Image,” and Whissel, “The Digital Multitude” November 23 No Class – Thanksgiving Recess Week 14 November 28, 30 Media Convergence and Participatory Culture Reading: Jenkins, “Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars? Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture” Final Project Outlines & Scripts Due November 30 Week 15 December 5, 7 Workshopping Rough Drafts & Rough Cuts Rough Drafts & Rough Cuts for Final Project Due December 5 December 11 Final Paper or Video Essay Due December 11 at 12pm Film Theories 5 Some Rules for Writing about Film: 1. Italicize film titles. The first time only that you mention a film, identify the director and year of release using the following format: Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942). You may ignore this rule if the director or date is part of your sentence: “In Casablanca (1942), Michael Curtiz...” 2. Use the present tense to describe events in a film. Cinematic events don’t have a past they exist in a “perpetual present.” 3. Use character names, not actor names. Make sure the character names are accurate and spelled correctly. If you want to include the actor’s name, you may incorporate it in the sentence, typically in parenthesis. “Rick (played by Humphrey Bogart) is the reluctant hero of the story.” 4. Do not review the film. Remember that you are providing filmic evidence to demonstrate your thesis, not reviewing the film. Avoid plot synopsis unless it is essential to your point. 5. Be direct in your descriptions using proper film terminology. Write about the film itself rather than your reaction to it. Avoid using first person and generalizations, such as, "I thought this was a really great scene." Instead, describe why it is effective: "The scene reflects the inner state of the heroine through its use of low camera angles and jarring sound effects." 6. Use MLA or Chicago style for any citations and include the film as the primary text under Works Cited. Visit the Meijer Center for Writing & Michigan Authors (120 Lake Ontario Hall) for additional assistance with your writing assignments; www.gvsu.edu/wc. Film Theories 6