Introduction to the Art of Film - Fall 2007

Course Policies	Introduction
August
15	Course Introduction – The Audience That Knew Too Much
	Working Definitions of "Critical Reading" and "Text"

20	The Business - Distribution, Promotion, Exhibition
	Film Experience – Chapter 1
	Screening: Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, 1950)

22	Star System
	Recommended Reading: "Béla Balázs on the Face of Greya Garbo," Film Experience, p.72-74

	Composition
27	Mise-en-scene
	Film Experience – Chapter 2
	Screening: Nosferatu (Murnau, 1922)

29	German Expressionism
	Quiz #1

September
3	LABOR DAY - No Classes

5	Cinematography
	Film Experience – Chapter 3

10	Cinematography
	Film Experience – Chapter 3 (cont.)
	Screening: Raising Arizona (Coens, 1987)
	Begin exercises for Shot-by-shot

12	Recommended: Place, J.A. and L.S. Peterson. "Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir" (M&M)
	Cinematography Quiz

17	Editing - Introduction to Continuity
	Film Experience – Chapter 4 (p.110-36)
	Screening: The Big Sleep (Hawks, 1946)

19	Shot-by-shot Exercise
	Recommended: Bellour, Raymond. "The Obvious and the Code" (WebCT)

24	Editing - Alternatives to Continuity
	Film Experience – Chapter 4 (p.136-65)
	Screening: À bout de souffle [Breathless] (Godard, 1960)
	Typed Shot-by-shot Due

26	Editing Quiz
	Writing Exercise for Shot Analysis

October
1	Review for Midterm
	Shot Analysis Due, attach graded shot-by-shot

3	Midterm Exam

8	Introduction to Film Sound
	Film Experience – Chapter 5
	Screening: The Conversation (Coppola, 1974)
	Last day to withdraw with grade of "W"

10	Introduction to Film Sound (cont.)

	Organizational Structures
15	Narrative Form
	Film Experience – Chapter 6
	Screening: Adaptation (Jonze, 2002)

17	Segmentation Exercise

22	Genre Film
	Film Experience – Chapter 8

24	Quiz #4
	Writing Exercise for Segmentation Analysis
	Alternatives to the Mainstream
29	Experimental Film
	Film Experience – Chapter 7
	In-class: Meshes in the Afternoon (Deren, 1943); Un Chien Andalou (Buñuel, 1929)

31	Documentary
	Film Experience – Chapter 7 (cont.)

November
5	Documentary (cont.)
	Screening: Grizzly Man (Herzog, 2005)
	Recommended: Arthur, Paul. "Extreme Makeover: The Changing Face of Documentary" (WebCT)

7	Segment Analysis Due, attach graded segmentation

12	Global Cinema
	Film Experience – Chapter 10 (p.365-83)
	Screening: Monsoon Wedding (Nair, 2001)

14	Global Cinema Cont.

19	Quiz #5

21-25	THANKSGIVING RECESS - No classes

26	American Alternatives
	Film Experience – Chapter 10 (p.383-415)
	Screening: 4 Little Girls (Lee, 1997)

28	Defining Independence?
December
3	Final Review for Exam

12	Final Exam - 11am-1 pm