Early Film
|
|
| January |
|
| Week 1
|
Introduction |
| 10 |
Introduction to course, policies, etc. |
| Week 2 |
Introduction to
Silent Film |
| 15 |
Reading:
Wexman, Chapter 1 |
| In-class
Screening: Selection of shorts by Lumière
brothers, George Méliès, and Edison |
|
| 17 |
Reading: Wexman,
Chapter 2 |
| In-class Screening:
Porter, Griffith, and Chaplin |
|
| Week 3 |
Russian Formalism and
Film Form |
| 22 |
Readings:
Wexman,
Chapter 4 |
| Screenings:
October (Eisenstein, 1927) |
|
| 24 |
Discussion
of October
and "montage" |
| QUIZ #1 |
|
| Week 4 |
Early German Cinema |
| 29 |
Readings:
Wexman, Chapter
3 |
| Screening: M (Lang, 1931) | |
| 31 |
Discussion
of M and
cinematic language |
| February |
|
| Week 5 | Classical Hollywood |
| 5 |
Readings:
Wexman, Chapter 7 |
| Screenings:
The Little Foxes, (Wyler, 1941) |
|
| 7 |
Discussion
of The Little
Foxes
and "realism" |
| Recommended Reading: Arnheim, "Film and Reality" (WebCT) | |
| Week 6 |
British Documentary Tradition |
| 12 |
Reading: Wexman, Chapter 9 |
| Screening: Listen to Britain (Jennings, 1942) | |
| 14 |
Discuss Listen to Britain and "social
realism" |
|
|
QUIZ #2 |
Post-War Changes and New Film Movements
|
|
| Week 7 |
The Studio System and Transition |
| 19 |
Reading: Wexman,
Chapter 10 |
| Screening:
The
Searchers (Ford, 1956) |
|
| Short Essay #1 DUE |
|
| 21 |
Discussion of The Searchers and "auteurs" |
| Recommended Reading: Sarris, "Notes on the Auteur Theory" (WebCT) | |
| Week 8 |
|
| 26 |
MIDTERM EXAM |
| 28 |
Spectatorship
and the Cinema |
| In-class
Screening: Peeping Tom (Powell, 1960) |
|
| Recommended
Reading: Mulvey, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative
Cinema" (WebCT) |
|
| March |
|
| Week
9 |
The
French New Wave |
| 4 |
Readings:
Wexman, Chapter 12 |
|
Screening: Les Quatre Cents Coup
[400 Blows] (Truffaut, 1959) |
|
| 3rd = LAST DAY to withdraw with grade of W |
|
| 6 |
Discuss Les Quatre Cents Coup and the "jump cut" |
| Week 10 |
Post-Colonial and Third Cinema |
| 11
|
Reading:
Wexman, Chapter 22 |
| Screening:
La
Battaglia di Algeri (Pontecorvo, 1965) |
|
| 13 |
Discuss La Battaglia di Algeri and
"post-colonialism" |
| March
15-22 |
Spring
Break - No classes |
| Week 11 |
New American Cinema, Ideology, and Auteurs |
|
25 |
Reading: Wexman, Chapter 17 |
| Screening: Badlands (Malick, 1973) | |
| 27 |
Discuss Badlands and "independent" visions |
| QUIZ #3 |
|
New Hollywood, Global Cinemas, and
Others
|
|
| April |
|
| Week 12 |
New
Hollywood and the Blockbuster Industry |
| 1 |
Reading: Wexman, Chapter 20 (to p. 388) |
| Screening: Jaws (Spielberg, 1975) | |
| 3 |
Discuss Jaws and industrial changes |
| Recommended Readings: Lewis, "Money Matters" (WebCT) | |
| Week 13 |
New Woman's Film and
Independent Voices |
| 8 |
Reading: Wexman,
Chapter 20 (p.388-405) |
| Screening:
Orlando
(Potter, 1992) |
|
| 10 |
Discuss Orlando and "performance" of gender |
| Recommended Reading: Mellencamp, "Haunted History" (WebCT) | |
| Week 14 |
Three Chinas and Other National Cinemas |
| 15 |
Reading: Wexman,
Chapter 21 |
| Screening: Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai, 1994) | |
| 17 |
Discuss Chungking Express and "postmodernism" |
| QUIZ #4 |
|
| Week 15 |
Digital Film and Video |
| 22 |
Reading: Wexman, Chapter 23 |
| Screening: Time Code (Figgis, 1999) | |
| 24 |
Discuss Time Code and digital Hollywood |
| Week 16 |
|
| 29 |
Last Day of Classes |
| Short Essay #2 DUE | |
| May |
|
| 6 |
FINAL EXAM
from 11-1 pm |