East China Normal University International Summer Session. FIM 11 Introduction to Film Studies

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1 1 East China Normal University International Summer Session FIM 11 Introduction to Film Studies Term: July 3 rd August 4 th, 2017 Time: 13:35-15:25 Instructor: Dr. Mark Stephenson Home Institution: Western University Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdys 15:30-16:40 (3:30-4:40 p.m.) mstephe9@uwo.ca Teaching Assistant: TBD Course Description This course offers students an introduction to the study of film; it will do so principally by engaging with a number of films which have been cornerstones in the development of the medium, along with engaging with some more contemporary films as further examples of the generic, technical and formal aspects of film art. Attention throughout will be paid to film form, style and genre, as well as to the technical and technological aspects of film-making; we will also consider the role which the production, distribution and exhibition of film plays, and has played, in its development as a form of art and entertainment, and we will engage with some important elements of film theory and criticism. Some grounding will also be given in film history. Course Goals Students who successfully complete this course will: * be acquainted with a number of land-mark films in the development of the medium, and understand their significance for the development of film as a medium * be acquainted with origins of film, and its early developments * understand film genre * understand the role of narrative and narrative technique in film * be able to employ the key terms of film form, style and composition * be able to employ the key terms of film analysis * be able to write a mis-en-scene and sequence analysis * become acquainted with film theory * understand the role of technology in the historical development of film * become acquainted with film production, distribution and exhibition * know about the major film industries, both historically and in the present day

2 2 Required Text Bordwell, David and Thompson, Kristin. Film Art: An Introduction (11 th edition). New York: McGraw-Hill, ISBN: B0041VYHGW This is available for download via Amazon.com and coursesmart. There will also be a small amount of extra reading which will be posted to the course website. Course Hours The course has 25 class sessions in total. Each class session is 110 minutes in length, for a total of 2750 minutes of in-class time. The course meets from Monday to Friday each week. Attendance Summer school is very intense and to be successful, students need to attend every class. Occasionally, due to illness or other unavoidable circumstance, a student may need to miss a class. ECNU policy requires a medical certificate to be excused. Any unexcused absence may impact on the student's grade. Moreover, ECNU policy is that a student who has more than 4 unexcused absences will fail the course. Grading Policy ECNU awards grades of A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, D, and F. Most colleges and universities do not award transfer credit for grades of D or F. In this course, grading will be based on the following: Class Attendance and Participation 10% Test 1 10% Essay 1 Mise-en-scène Analysis 10% Essay 2 Editing Analysis 10% Test 2 10% Essay 3 Final Essay 20% Final Exam 30% 100% For due dates, see the course calendar. Work must be submitted by the beginning of class on the day it is due. Any work submitted once class has commenced will be considered one day late. Late work is subject to a penalty of 5% per business day. Special Arrangements Requests

3 3 If circumstances in your life pose an obstacle to your getting your work in on time, you may propose an alternative arrangement. This request must be submitted to the professor in writing 48 hours before the due date for the work. Submitting the request does not guarantee that your proposed special arrangement will be approved. However, the professor will give all requests serious consideration. General Expectations Students are expected to: Attend all classes and be responsible for all material covered in class and otherwise assigned. Any unexcused absence may impact a student's grade. Moreover, SIE policy is that a student who has more than 4 unexcused absence will fail the course Complete the day s required reading and assignments before class Review the previous day s notes before class; make notes about questions you have about the previous class or the day s reading Refrain from texting, phoning or engaging in computer activities unrelated to class during class ( 不要用手机 ) Participate in class discussions and complete required written work on time Academic Honesty Students are expected to maintain high standards of academic honesty. Specifically, unless otherwise directed by the professor, students may not consult other students, books, notes, electronic devices or any other source, on examinations. Failure to abide by this may result in a zero on the examination, or even failure in the course. Students are also expected to adhere to appropriate scholarly conventions in essays and research papers. This class includes paper assignment(s) in which students must give credit to all outside sources used by means of citations and a bibliography. Failure to do so may result in a zero on the paper assignment, or even failure in the course. Punishment for Academic Dishonesty Normally, a student who is found to have violated the principles of academic integrity on coursework will, on the first such offence, be assigned a zero on the work, and will receive a further deduction of 10% from her/his overall grade for the course. On the second offence, the student will receive a grade of zero in the course. Films

4 4 We will be screening 12 films in full over the running of the course. The majority of these will be screened in class, but 4 of them will be screened outside of class time. Three of these will be screened in a yet to be determined manner; a fifth film will consist of a field trip to a theatre to view a contemporary Chinese or Hollywood film. For the purposes of certain of the assignments, you may also be required to watch two or three further movies on your own time. Films will be shown with Chinese subtitles when possible (the majority of films in the course, as of now, can be screened with Chinese subtitles). A Note on Viewing the Films Attendance in class on the day that a film is being screened is mandatory an absence from class that day counts as an absence from class, period (see Attendance/Participation, below). Also (this is very important): *****YOU MAY NOT USE CELL PHONES AND/OR LAPTOPS DURING THE SCREENING OF A FILM; IF YOU DO SO YOU WILL BE ASKED TO LEAVE THE CLASS AND YOU WILL BE COUNTED AS ABSENT FOR THAT DAY.***** Readings The vast majority of readings for the course will come from Film Art: An Introduction. These readings are listed in the Course Outline, below; you will be expected to have done the readings before class for the day on which they have been assigned. There may also be a small amount of extra reading beyond what is listed below; this will be posted to the course website. Assignments and Tests Exact details of the assignments, and the general compostion of the tests in the course, will be given over the course of the term with sufficient advance notice ahead of their deadlines/dates. Attendance/Participation Attendance will be taken daily, and your attendance in class will form the bulk of this grade. However, your participation in class answering and asking questions, engaging in discussions and so forth will also play a factor in determining the full extent of this grade. (This supplements SIE s official policy on attendance which is given above). Students with Disabilities The professor is committed to making the course accessible to students with disabilities. To this end, students are encouraged to communicate with the professor at the beginning of term about any disabilities they have that might affect their performance in the course. FIM 11 Course Outline

5 5 Note: This outline is subject to change with sufficient advance notice; this includes the films listed (the majority of these will remain unchanged, but some changes may need to be made due to availability). I WEEK ONE (July 3 - July 7): Monday, July 3 Introduction to the Course Tuesday, July 4 Introduction to Film Mechanics, Production and Some History From Chapter 1: Film as Art: Creativity, Technology, and Business 1-4; skip Creative Decisions in Filmmaking (read it if you want to, however) Mechanics of the Movies, 4-16 Making the Movie: Film Production, From Chapter 12: Historical Changes in Film Art: Conventions and Choices, Traditions and Trends Introduction, Early Cinema ( ), Wednesday, July 5 Film (in class): The Wizard of Oz (101 min) (1939) Thursday, July 6 Aspects of Narrative Form in The Wizard of Oz Part 2, Film Form, 49-99, including Chapter 2, The Significance of Film Form and Chapter 3, Narrative Form, ending with Narrative Form in Citizen Kane, p. 99: don t read this (yet); do read Summary, p From Chapter 12, The Development of the Classical Hollywood System, Friday, July 7 Test 1 (in class); Introduction to Mis-en-Scene Chapter 4: The Shot: Mis-en-Scene, II WEEK TWO (July 10 - July 14): Film (Outside of Class) Rear Window (112 min) (1954) Monday, July 10 Mis-en-Scene in Rear Window Chapter 4: The Shot: Mis-en-Scene, (cont.) Tuesday, July 11 Film (in class): Days of Heaven (94 min) (1978) Wednesday, July 12 Cinematography in Days of Heaven Chapter 5: The Shot: Cinematography, Thursday, July 13 Cinematography in Days of Heaven (concl.); Film (in class): The Battleship Potemkin (69 min) (1925)

6 6 Friday, July 14 - Soviet Montage, Editing and The Battleship Potemkin Chapter 6: The Relation of Shot to Shot: Editing, From Chapter 12, Soviet Montage ( ), Film (Outside of class): Singin in the Rain (103 min) (1952) III WEEK THREE (July 17 - July 22): Monday, July 17 Film (in class): The Killer (110 min) (1989) **MIS-EN-SCENE ANALYSIS DUE** Tuesday, July 18 Modern Editing in The Killer Chapter 6: The Relation of Shot to Shot: Editing, (cont.) From Chapter 12, Hong Kong Cinema, 1980s-1990s, Wednesday, July 19 Sound, Colour, Classical Hollywood and Singin in the Rain Chapter 7: Sound in the Cinema, From Chapter 12, Classical Hollywood Cinema After the Coming of Sound, From Chapter 9, The Musical, Thursday, July 20 Test 2 (in class); Film (in class): Citizen Kane (119 min) (1941); Part 1 Friday, July 21 Film (in class): Citizen Kane (Part 2); Discussion of Citizen Kane LAST DAY TO DROP CLASSES IV WEEK FOUR (July 24 - July 28): Film (outside of class): The Searchers (119 min) (1956) Monday, July 24 Citizen Kane and Changes in Classical Hollywood From Chapter 3, Narrative Form in Citizen Kane, Chapter 8: Summary: Style and Form in Film, **EDITING ANALYSIS DUE** Tuesday, July 25 Genre: The Western and The Searchers From Chapter 9, Film Genres : Understanding Genre, , The Western, Wednesday, July 26 Film (in class): Ringu (95 min) (1998) Thursday, July 27 Genre: Horror and Ringu

7 7 The Horror Film, Friday, July 28 Film (in class): Breathless (90 min) (1960) Film (outside of class): TBD Field Trip to Current-run Film in Theatres V WEEK FIVE (July 31 - August 4): Monday, July 31 Breathless and Alternatives to Hollywood From Chapter 12, Italian Neorealism ( ), The French New Wave ( ), The New Hollywood and Independent Filmmaking, 1970s-1980s, From Chapter 5, Critical Analysis of Film : Introduction, 402, Narrative Alternatives to Classical Filmmaking: Breathless (À bout de souffle), Tuesday, August 1 Film (in class): Contemporary Chinese Film TBD Wednesday, August 2 Word Cinema and Hollywood s... End?/Film Production (conclusion) **FILM ANALYSIS ESSAY DUE** Thursday, August 3 World Cinema (etc.) (concl.)/exam Review Friday, August 4 Final Exam Due Dates for Assignment and Tests Note: All assignments are due in class on the due date in question; all tests will be in class 1. In-Class Test #1: Friday July 7 2. Mis-En-Scene Analysis: Monday, July In-Class Test #2: Thursday July 20 Note: covers all material from material taken up in class of Monday July 10 up to and including material taken up in class of Wednesday July Editing Analysis: Monday, July Film Analysis Essay: Wedneday August 2 6. Final Exam: Friday, August 4 Films as Viewed in Chronological Order *Denotes Film to Be Watched Outside of Class Time 1. Wednesday, July 5 (in class): The Wizard of Oz (101 min) (1931) *2. Weekend of July 8-9 (outside of class): Rear Window (112 min) (1954)

8 8 3. Tuesday, July 11 (in class): Days of Heaven (94 min) (1978) 4. Thursday, July 13 (in class): The Battleship Potemkin (69 min) (1925) *5. Weekend of July (outside of class): Singin in the Rain (103 min) (1952) 6. Monday, July 17 (in class): The Killer (110 min) (1989) 7. Thursday July 20 and Friday July 21 (in class): Citizen Kane (119 min) (1941) *8. Weekend of July (outside of class): The Searchers (119 min) (1956) 9. Thursday, July 26 (in class): Ringu (95 min) (1998) 10. Friday, July 28 (in class): Breathless (90 min) (1960) *11. Sometime Week 4/5: Field Trip to Current Run Film in Theatres 12. Tuesday, August 1 (in class): A Contemporary Chinese Movie TBD

East China Normal University International Summer Session. FIM 11 Introduction to Film Studies

1 East China Normal University International Summer Session FIM 11 Introduction to Film Studies Term: May 29 th June 23 rd, 2017 Time: 14:00-16:15 (2:00-4:15 p.m.) Instructor: Dr. Mark Stephenson Home