2018 WI Peterborough

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1 DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL STUDIES TRENT UNIVERSITY CUST 2581H: INTRODUCTION TO FILM II: FILM MOVEMENTS, FILM HISTORY 2018 WI Peterborough Professor Joshua Synenko Telephone: x6164 Traill College Office: 212 Scott House, Traill Office Hours: by appt. Administrative Assistant: Rosemary Devlin Office: 202 Scott House, Traill Telephone: x1771 Course Description A wide-ranging and diverse introduction to film, this course focuses on elements of filmmaking history, covering cinema technology, the silent era and synchronous sound, the development of industrial cinemas, and major international film movements. The course further develops critical viewing and writing skills that enhance the cinematic experience. Course Format One four-hour lecture/screening weekly. Type Day Time Location Lecture/Screening Monday 6:00PM 9:50PM TSC 1.20 Typically, each class begins with a lecture, followed by a feature-length film screening, or a film screening of excerpts, and lively student-led discussion. Texts and Materials One required textbook is available for purchase at the Trent Bookstore, with affordable rental copies available online with major book retailers: David A. Cook, A History of Narrative Film, 5 th ed. W. W. Norton & Company,

2 Additional required readings are available for free on Blackboard, online, or through Trent Library s online resources, as indicated. Learning Objectives Upon completing the class, you will be able to: identify some of the key terms and themes associated with film history, including the major international film movements. effectively analyze narrative film and assess visual culture broadly speaking. succinctly present your summaries, analyses, and syntheses in written and spoken form. Evaluation Your grade for this course will come from the following: Type of Assignment Weighting Due Date Workbook (10) 4x10= 40% 5 due by Feb. 12, 5 due by Apr. 2 Test 1 (Take home) 15% Feb (due on the 20 th at 11:59PM) Paper 15% Apr. 2 Test 2 (Exam period) 15% Apr Participation 15% Jan. 8 Apr. 9 These assignments are explained in detail below. Assignments and Due Dates Workbook: Students will write a short essay of words for ten (10) of the films screened throughout the course. For each essay, choose a single short sequence, or collection of sequences with direct, causal relationships with each other. Develop a narrative analysis for each entry (this will be explained, in detail, on Week 1 in lecture). In addition, each workbook entry must include at least one insight from the weekly student-led discussion. Aim for precision, detail, and clear writing. Test 1 (Take home): This test will focus on all subjects explored in Weeks 1-6, but the emphasis here will be on effectively writing about film, not rehearsing content from the required readings. It will be released on the morning of Feb. 19 th and due (on Blackboard) Feb. 20 th at 11:59PM. Test 2 (Take home): This final test will focus on all subjects explored in Weeks It will include short answer definitions and essay-length questions. It will be released on the morning of Apr. 16 and due (on Blackboard) Apr. 17 at 11:59PM. 2

3 Paper: In this paper, you will focus on one historical period/topic chosen from Weeks 7, 8 or 9. More details will be circulated in class. Participation: Please come to class often, and be prepared to speak. Academic Integrity Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, is an extremely serious academic offence and carries penalties varying from failure on an assignment to expulsion from the University. Definitions, penalties, and procedures for dealing with plagiarism and cheating are set out in Trent University s Academic Integrity Policy. You have a responsibility to educate yourself unfamiliarity with the policy is not an excuse. You are strongly encouraged to visit Trent s Academic Integrity website to learn more: Access to Instruction It is Trent University's intent to create an inclusive learning environment. If a student has a disability and documentation from a regulated health care practitioner and feels that he/she may need accommodations to succeed in a course, the student should contact the Student Accessibility Services Office (SAS) at the respective campus as soon as possible. Devices No mobile devices or laptops during screenings. No talking or disruptive behaviour during screenings. Late Penalties I will deduct marks at a rate of 5% per day (not including weekends) for late assignments, barring instances of verifiable illness or family emergencies. Each assignment is due at the beginning of class on the day specified in the section below. Except where otherwise noted, please bring hard copies. Schedule and Readings Week 1: Birth of Cinema and History of Film Technology Jan. 8 NF: Origins and International Expansion. Harun Farocki, Workers Leaving the Factory. Week 2: The Silent Era Jan. 15 NF: D W. Griffith and the Development of Narrative Form. 3

4 Recommended: Mark Shiel, Hollywood Cinema and the Real Los Angeles (pp ). London: Reaktion Books, (Blackboard) Charlie Chaplin (excerpts). D. W. Griffith, The Birth of a Nation (excerpt). Week 3: Expressionism, Fascism, Horror Jan. 22 NF: German Cinema of the Weimar Period. F. W. Murnau, Nosferatu. (excerpt). Fritz Lang, Metropolis. (excerpt). Robert Wiene, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (excerpt). Week 4: City Symphony / Soviet Montage Jan. 29 NF: Soviet Silent Cinema and the Theory of Montage. Sabine Hake, Reconstructing Modern Subjectivity: On Berlin: Symphony of a Big City. (Blackboard) Sergei Eisenstein, October and Battleship Potemkin (excerpt). Walter Ruttmann, Berlin: Symphony of a Big City (excerpt). Dziga Vertov, Man with a Movie Camera (excerpt). Week 5: Ethnographic Film Feb. 5 Anna Grimshaw, The Innocent Eye: Flaherty, Malinowski and the Romantic Quest. (Blackboard) Margaret Mead, Visual Anthropology in a Discipline of Words. (Blackboard) Timothy Ashe, Ax Fight. Robert J. Flaherty, Nanook of the North. (excerpt). Margaret Mead, Trace and Dance in Bali (excerpt). Week 6: American Studio System Feb. 12 NF: The Sound Film and the American Studio System. Alfred Hitchcock, Rope. 4

5 Reading break Feb. 19 Week 7: New Waves I: Italy Feb. 26 NF: Wartime and Postwar Cinema: Italy and the United States, ). Ayreen Anastas, Pasolini Pa* Palestine (excerpt). Pier Paolo Pasolini, Location Hunting in Palestine (excerpt). Roberto Rossellini, Germany Year Zero (excerpt). Vittorio de Sica, Bicycle Thieves (excerpt). Week 8: New Waves II: France Mar. 5 NF: The French New Wave and Its Native Context. Jean-Luc Godard, Breathless (excerpt). Chris Marker, La Jetée and Sans Soleil (excerpt). Week 9: Documentary Mar. 12 Recommended: Bill Nichols, How Can We Define Documentary Film? (Blackboard) Judith Butler, Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion. (Blackboard) Nick Broomfield, Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer and Grim Sleeper (excerpt). Jean Rouch, Chronicle of a Summer (excerpt). Jennie Livingston, Paris is Burning (excerpt). Week 10: Third World Cinema Mar. 19 NF: Third World Cinema. Ousmane Sembene, Xala (excerpt). Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino, Hour of the Furnaces (excerpt). 5

6 Week 11: Hollywood 1970s-1990s Mar. 26 NF: Hollywood, Frederic Jameson on Jaws Robert Altman, Nashville and Short Cuts (excerpts). Stephen Spielberg, Jaws (excerpt). Week 12: Post-Cinema Apr. 2 NF: The Digital Domain. Lev Manovich, What is Cinema? (Blackboard) Lana and Lilly Wachowski, The Matrix. Exam Period Apr

Film 100A-1: Introduction to the Moving Image Brandeis University Spring 2019

Film 100A-1: Introduction to the Moving Image Brandeis University Spring 2019 Instructor: Linda Liu, Ph.D. Email: laliu@brandeis.edu Teaching Assistant: Drew Flanagan, Ph.D. Email: dflanaga@brandeis.edu