1 MST 225 04 Fall 2016 Film Appreciation Syllabus attributes : GFA credits: 3.0 Instructor: Wil Davis wilrdavis@gmail.com Class Time / Location: Tuesdays 6:30 8:15 PM Petty Building 213 Course Description: Analysis of selected, significant motion pictures of the world's cinema, from the silent period to the present. Course Specific SLOs: Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Accurately describe the technical and aesthetic elements of film, using appropriate terminological and conceptual vocabularies. [SLO 1] 2. Evaluate and interpret films as forms of intellectual and aesthetic expression. [SLO 1] 3. Identify and assess social and political themes conveyed in film. [SLO 2] 4. Situate films in social and historical contexts as well as within the historical development of cinema as art form, and apply such knowledge to critical interpretations of film. [SLO 2] 5. Synthesize various types of analysis and evaluation to form a more comprehensive understanding of film art and production. [SLO 1, 2] GFA Student Learning Outcomes: Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Describe and interpret art forms in relation to cultural values [LG1, 3] 2. Identify the fundamental roles of artistic expression in personal or collective experience [LG5]
2 Course Description (extended): This section of Film Appreciation is a web lecture hybrid class. Each week students will be expected to watch a feature length film outside of class and post to our Canvas discussion board or complete one short online quiz via Canvas (canvas.uncg.edu). Then on Tuesday nights we will meet for a lecture and discussion about the films we ve watched. This class will cover a roughly 120 year span of cinema history, starting with some of the first films ever made and ending with some modern masterpieces. We will study the formal elements of filmmaking (cinematography, editing, art direction, etc.) and the techniques involved therein. We will also analyze the thematic content, genre and artistic and social significance of the films we watch. Students will not be required to purchase a textbook, but will be required to purchase or stream approx 13 feature films outside of class. All required films are available for streaming via itunes (or for free on YouTube), and some may be available via Netflix, etc. Group screenings are encouraged (it s like carpooling!). Supplemental readings will be provided in class or online. There will also be two short papers and one final (longer) paper, in which students will discuss the films we ve watched and cite themes, ideas, and secondary works discussed in class. Recommended Textbook: Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. Edition 4. Barsam, Richard. Norton, W.W. & Company, Inc. 2012. (Again, this textbook is not required) Attendance Policy : This course will adhere to the Media Studies departmental attendance policy. You are allowed one unexcused absence without penalty. A second unexcused absence, and every unexcused absence thereafter, will result in a loss of 3 points from your total grade. Documented medical conditions and serious family emergencies are the only acceptable excuses, but please provide documentation. Please note that attendance will be taken via a sign in sheet which will be passed around to everyone during class. Signing in for another classmate who is not actually present is unacceptable and will result in both students getting an unexcused absence for that day. Please don t do this. Statement on Academic Dishonesty : All students are expected to know the UNCG Academic Honor Code and abide by it. Academic dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated. If you cheat, you will fail the assignment and/or the course, and you could be expelled from the university.
3 Late Assignments: Papers will be due at the beginning of class on the due dates listed below. Students will be penalized one letter grade for each day late. This means one letter grade for each day of the week late (including weekends), not each class meeting. It is the student s responsibility to contact me and arrange a time to turn in late work. In the case of documented serious illness or family emergency, we may agree on an extension. Grading: Assignment: Online participation Points: 30 (10x3) Extra Credit Opportunity Paper 1 20 Paper 2 20 Final Paper 30 Final course grades will be based on the following scale: A+ = 100 97; A = 96.9 93; A = 92.9 90; B+ = 89.9 87; B = 86.9 83; B = 82.9 80; C+ = 79.9 77; C = 76.9 73; C = 72.9 70; D+ = 69.9 67; D = 66.9 63; D = 62.9 60; F = 59.9 and lower. Schedule / Filmography : The schedule below is tentative and subject to change; check Canvas for the most updated version. Students are responsible for watching each film title in bold (below) outside of class in their entirety by the date listed next to them, as well as completing their corresponding Canvas discussion post or quiz. All films in bold are available for streaming via itunes (or free on YouTube). All films with a ** next to them are available on YouTube.
4 class (Tues) film (must watch bold films by class date) year director / duration focus 8/23 Class introduction, syllabus, Canvas, etc. 8/30 Nanook of the North** Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory** 1922 Robert Flaherty 79 min 1895 Lumiere Brothers 1 min Non fiction Fiction vs non fiction, documentary ethics Triumph of the Will 1935 Leni Riefenstahl (excerpt) 9/6 Sherman s March 1986 Ross McElwee 155 min 9/13 Grizzly Man 2005 Werner Herzog 104 min 9/20 Double Indemnity 1944 Billy Wilder 107 min 9/27 Taxi Driver 1976 Martin Scorsese 113 min 10/4 Dr. Strangelove 1964 Stanley Kubrick 94 min Propaganda film Personal essay film, autoethnography Found footage film, psychological exploration DISTRIBUTE PAPER 1 ASSIGNMENT Film Noir Notes on Film Noir by Schrader Neo noir, generic hybrid Comedy Satire, psychosexual analysis 10/11 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968 Stanley Kubrick 142 min Science fiction SFX, narrative conflict, AI, **PAPER 1 DUE** DISTRIBUTE PAPER 2 ASSIGNMENT A Trip to the Moon** 1905 Georges Méliès 13 min SFX
5 10/18 NO CLASS FALL BREAK 10/25 Alien 1979 Ridley Scott 117 min 11/1 Tree of Life 2011 Terrence Malick 139 min Mothlight** 1963 Stan Brakhage 4 min 11/8 12 Years a Slave 2013 Steve McQueen 134 min 11/15 The Story of Qiu Ju 1992 Zhang Yimou 100 min 11/22 High and Low 1963 Akira Kurosawa 143 min 11/29 The Big Lebowski 1998 Coen Brothers 117 min The Big Sleep 1946 Howard Hawks (excerpt) Feminism, generic hybrid, psychosexual analysis Experimental Film Coming of age film, discontinuity editing, cinematography Avant garde film Foreign Cinema British cinema, slavery, cinematography, music (Hans Zimmer) **PAPER 2 DUE** Chinese cinema, Yimou as auteur, bureaucracy DISTRIBUTE FINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT Japanese cinema, police procedural (American comedy) Neo noir, identity, masculinity (last class) Film noir 12/6 NO CLASS READING DAY 12/13 NO CLASS EXAM DAY: **FINAL PAPER DUE BY 10:00PM**