FS 102: The History of Film, Spring 2018 CLASS: M/F, 3:10-4:10 pm LAB: W, 3:10-5:30 pm Mueller Theater, McKelvey Student Center Dr. Andrew Ade Office: 407 Thompson-Clark adeaw@westminster.edu Office hours: Mon 1:30-3; Tue 3:30-5; x7349 Wed 10-11:30 or by appointment Required Text: Giannetti, Louis, and Scott Eyman. Flashback: A Brief History of Film. 6 th ed., Pearson, 2010. Cinema is a flame in the shadows. Abel Gance Introduction A film is not a dream that is told but one that we all dream together. Jean Cocteau After a mere 120-year existence, cinema has become the indispensable art form for a global 21 st - century audience. Its universally accessible visual language affords us lasting pleasures through creative direction, eloquent photography, and inspired acting performances. While everyone comes to movies with an appreciation of the entertainment value of cinema, film students draw even greater satisfaction both from assessing movies in their cultural and historical contexts and from analyzing and interpreting film narratives. This introductory film course acquaints students with the historical evolution of cinema, at home and abroad, and attunes them to recognize the ever-shifting cinematic conventions in form and content at the hands of the great filmmakers. Goals and Outcomes: Students in this course will: View, discuss, and write on a number of significant films having artistic distinction and/or popular impact on our world Track the creation and evolving technical development of film through the 20 th -century Identify and explicate the major figures (artistic, industrial) in film history Acquaint themselves with the means of film production (studio system v independent) Appreciate the strengths and influences of various national cinemas Understand both the merits and drawbacks of the innovations of sound and color films Articulate particular elements of film study (e.g., ideology, composition, montage) in class discussions and presentations of specimen films Most important, students will consider these films as a means to increase their understanding of cinema as both a collaborative artistic endeavor and a cultural force of ever-growing power.
Course Requirements Participation: 10 %. You are required to come to class prepared to talk (having done all the assigned reading) and to participate actively and responsibly throughout the semester. Failure to participate will adversely affect your grade. I divide the participation grade thus: 1) Attention (5 %). Listening to the instructor and each other, without private chatter 2) Speaking (5 %). Contributing regularly, in small-groups or whole-class discussion Quizzes: 20 %. You will have a number of brief Friday quizzes on the readings in Flashback and on the instructor s lectures distributed throughout the semester. Short Response Papers: 20 %. You will write two short papers responding to questions about our course films and our textbook chronicle of film history. You will work from prompts. Midterm Exam: 25 %. An in-class midterm on the material in the first half of the course. Final: 25 %. As a final demonstration of your acquired film smarts, you will do: 1) group presentation of the paper topic. Guidelines provided. (15 %) 2) a longer paper, examining and interpreting a film or pair of films along specific analytical points. Paper guidelines will be provided. (10 %) Outcomes Assessment: Instructor will evaluate your comprehension and learning by: assessing your daily discussion of the screened films and textbook readings administering a series of quizzes on the readings and in-class presentation content measuring your ability to answer speculative questions on the midterm that build on your cumulative knowledge of film history and influences asking periodic on-the-spot class confirmation questions on artistic and technical film milestones, as well as film studies terms and basic concepts marking your engagement in silent, black-and-white, and foreign films under discussion noting your ability to follow the instructions for the two short papers and final project reviewing your careful redrafting of returned papers based on instructor marks for style, grammar and organization according to the course style-sheet rubric verifying your diligent application of the skills you have learned in WRI 111 and SP 111 in your final project paper and in-class oral presentation Course Policies Attendance: You are allowed three absences (excused or unexcused) without penalty; for each subsequent absence, however, I will lower your final grade by one letter-grade degree for each additional absence (e.g. an A- drops to a B+, a C to a C-, etc.). If you must miss class, please let me know by phone or email as soon as possible. NOTE: If you miss a Wednesday Lab film screening, you are responsible for finding a way to watch the film on your own. 2
Cell phones: All cell phones must be turned off and stowed by the beginning of class and remain so for the duration. Moreover, on Wednesday Lab film screening days, students will place their turned-off phones on the table at the front of the room to insure total concentration on the projected film. Late Work: All work (papers, revisions, homework) is due at the beginning of class on the day I indicate. If you have an emergency, please contact me; as a general rule, however, I will not accept late work. You must be present in class to get credit for your work. Style Sheet: You will receive the general college style sheet before the first paper assignment. You are expected to learn and adhere to its principles. The style sheet, in fact, will serve as the main rubric for your written work. To disregard its tenets in your papers will rightfully displease your instructor and down-grade your work as careless and unworthy of college performance. Learn it! Final grades will be assigned using the standard formula: A 93-100 points B + 87-89 points C + 77-79 points D + 67-69 points A - 90-92 points B 83-86 points C 73-76 points D 63-66 points B - 80-82 points C - 70-72 points F - 0-59 points Students will conduct themselves in a manner befitting the college policy on Academic Integrity. Consult this section in your Undergraduate Catalogue (e.g., pp. 65-69 for 2017-18) for official definitions of cheating, misconduct, plagiarism, and providing false information (and their consequences). 3
SEMESTER SCHEDULE (All entries are subject to changes, additions and deletions) DATE FLASHBACK CLASS ACTIVITY WORK DUE WEEK 1: ESSENCE OF CINEMA W 1/17 ----- Screening: Visions of Light (1993) F 1/19 1-11 Cinema Origins WEEK 2: EPIC SILENCE M 1/22 12-19 D. W. Griffith: Shorts to Epics (selections) W 1/24 19-25 Screening: Ben-Hur (1925) F 1/26 25-26 Silent cinema styles, acting, paradigms QUIZ 1 WEEK 3: INNOVATIONS M 1/29 39-50 Soviet kino: Battleship Potemkin (1925) (excerpts) W 1/31 50-63 Screening: The Jazz Singer (1927) (excerpts) Screening: M (1931) F 2/2 69-74 Avant-garde: short experiments QUIZ 2 WEEK 4: DREAMS/NIGHTMARES M 2/5 75-93 Screening: Zéro for Conduct (1933) W 2/7 63-68; 125-26 Screening: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) Screening: Blood of a Poet (1932) F 2/9 Art Films v. Box Office Hits QUIZ 3 WEEK 5: COMIC ANARCHY M 2/12 27-39 Screening The Kid (1920) W 2/14 102-03 Screening: One Week (1920) + Safety Last! (clip) Screening: Duck Soup (1933) F 2/16 Great film comics QUIZ 4 WEEK 6: LIFE OF CRIME M 2/19 93-98 Watching people behaving badly PAPER 1 W 2/21 110-11 Screening: Scarface (1932) F 2/23 121-25 Crime film legacy; Pépé le Moko (excerpts) QUIZ 5 WEEK 7: CAN WE DO BETTER? M 2/26 * * * MIDTERM * * * MIDTERM W 2/28 111-15 Screening: The Grapes of Wrath (1940) F 3/2 Film reflections of real life March 3-11 4 WEEK 8 SPRING BREAK!
WEEK 9: O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? M 3/12 104-09 Social Awareness in American Film W 3/14 143-48 Screening: Sullivan s Travels (1940) F 3/16 127-33 Comedy of social ideas and moral messages QUIZ 6 WEEK 10: WAR PROPAGANDA M 3/19 117-21; 135-42; 148-52 Screening: Triumph of the Will (1936): (excerpts); Screening: The Great Dictator (1940): (excerpts) W 3/21 157-67 Screening: The Third Man (1949) F 3/23 152-55; 182-88 Film noir; Post-war realism QUIZ 7 WEEK 11: B-MOVIES & DRIVE IN FLICKS M 3/26 178-81 Cheap & profitable: Teen markets / the Late Show W 3/28 168-76 Screening: (Students Choice!) PAPER 2 3/29 4/2 EASTER BREAK WEEK 12: HOLLYWOOD MUSICAL T 4/3 99-101 Life as song and dance W 4/4 Screening: That s Entertainment: Part I (1974) F 4/6 Milestone musical moments QUIZ 8 WEEK 13: COWBOYS AND CAVALRY M 4/9 The West as American identity (excerpts) W 4/11 114 Screening: The Searchers (1956) F 4/13 189-97 Modern Western paradigms QUIZ 9 WEEK 14: WORLD RENAISSANCE M 4/16 200-12; 215-20 New Eurasian rejections and rethinkings Screening: Two Men and a Wardrobe (1958) W 4/18 212-15 *NO CLASS: Undergrad Research Symposium* F 4/20 221-43 World influences on US filmmakers WEEK 15: NEW WAVES M 4/23 245-72 Screening: Godard/Truffaut; La Jetée (1962) W 4/25 Screening: The Seventh Seal (1957) F 4/27 273-85 New American voices and visions QUIZ 10 WEEK 16: END CREDITS M 4/30 285-96 Screening: ILM & Special Effects W 5/2 412-13 Screening: Thelma and Louise (1991) F 5/4 1 st set of Final Group Presentations M 5/7 11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. COURSE FINAL FINAL GROUP PRESENTATIONS 5