COMM 140 students: Click here to discover the
film that you'll be writing about and your paper's due date, and click
here to learn your midterm exam score.
Communication 140
INTRODUCTION TO FILM STUDIES
Spring, 2012
Course e-mail address: comm140-norden(at)courses.umass.edu
Prof. Marty Norden
409 Machmer, 545-0598
norden(at)comm.umass.edu
Office hours: 11-1 TTh and by appointment
people.umass.edu/norden
http://courses.umass.edu/comm140-norden
Teaching Assistants:
T.A. phone number: 545-1311 (leave message)
COURSE SUMMARY:
This course is designed to provide an introduction to the nature and
functions of film in its narrative, documentary, and experimental
forms. We will look at the various components of film expression
(composition, movement, editing, sound, set design, acting),
developments in screen narrative, film's relationship to other arts and
media, and its role as an instrument of social expression.
The lecture period at 2:30-3:45 on Tuesday in Herter 231 will be
followed by a screening session (listed as lab) at 4:00-6:00 in Herter
231. The lecture period on Thursday, also at 2:30-3:45 in Herter 231,
will contain a discussion component.
The course's lecture periods and film screening periods are no places
for texting, Facebooking, and other activities unrelated to our class.
Out of consideration for me, the Teaching Assistants, and your fellow
students, please do NOT engage in these distracting activities during
our class periods. If the T.A.s or I discover that you are doing so,
you will be asked to "cease and desist" or leave the auditorium. Also,
please make sure that your phone is turned off before class
begins. We look forward to your continuing cooperation on these points
throughout the semester.
TEXTBOOK:
Stephen Prince, Movies and Meaning: An
Introduction to Film, 5th edition. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon,
2010. Please help the local economy by purchasing this textbook from
Amherst Books, 8 Main St.,
downtown Amherst.
OUTSIDE READINGS:
The required reading for this class includes two brief Wikipedia articles.
The links for these articles are listed in the "READING(S)"
column below. To access each article, just click on its title.
Each reading assignment noted below should be completed before
class on the indicated date to correlate with that week's lecture
material and film(s), and to facilitate discussion. Additional topics
and readings may be assigned at a later date. The Glossary that starts
on p. 467 of the Prince text will be helpful to you at various points in
the semester.
ANOTHER WORD ABOUT OUR ONLINE SYLLABUS:
In addition to the article titles, all film titles listed below on our
syllabus are active hyperlinks. If you would like more information on
any film, simply click on the appropriate link. It will take you to the
corresponding entry at the Internet Movie Database for that film.
COURSE SYLLABUS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS:
WEEK OF: LECTURE: SCREENING(S): READING(S):
Jan. 24-26 Course intro Living in Oblivion (1995) Chap. 9, Hand-out
Jan. 31- Cinematography I Visions of Light (1992) Chap. 1, Hand-out
Feb. 2
Feb. 7-9 Cinematography II Seconds (1966) Chap. 2, Hand-out
Feb. 14-16 Production design Citizen Kane (1941) Chap. 3, Hand-out
Feb. 21-23 Acting Doubt (2008) Chap. 4, Hand-out
Feb. 28- Editing Rear Window (1954) Chap. 5, Hand-out
Mar. 1
Mar. 6-8 Sound The Conversation (1974) Chap. 6, Hand-out
Mar. 13-15 Film storytelling Thelma & Louise (1991) Pp. 232-60, Hand-out
****NOTE: A MIDTERM EXAM IS SCHEDULED FOR TUES., MAR. 13 @ 2:30-3:45 p.m.
A FILM WILL BE SHOWN AT 4 P.M. AS USUAL ON THIS DATE****
Mar. 20-22 SPRING BREAK
Mar. 27-29 Genre patterns White Heat (1949) Pp. 260-89, Hand-out
Apr. 3-5 Screen realities Week End (1967) Chap. 8, Hand-out
Apr. 10-12 Documentaries Sicko (2007) Documentary Film,
Hand-out
****NOTE: MONDAY SCHEDULE ON TUES., APR. 17****
Apr. 19 Experimental film [to be announced] Experimental Film
Apr. 24-26 Film criticism Last Tango in Paris (1972) Chap. 10, Hand-out
May 1 Film theories [to be announced] Chap. 11
Changes in the above schedule may arise with the addition or
substitution of other films. In addition, we plan to show numerous excerpts
from other films throughout the semester to help illustrate the readings
and lecture material.
FILMS ON RESERVE:
We will routinely put DVD copies of our main movies on reserve in
the Du Bois library.
Each copy will typically be put on reserve after our Thursday class
period and will be available for only about a week. The copies are
intended for students writing papers on those films or who unavoidably
missed a Tuesday screening. You should NOT plan to view the course
films on a regular basis by borrowing our video copies. To
set up screening times, visit the Reserve desk or call them at
545-2358.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
A. TESTS
Two tests will be given in this course: a midterm exam, scheduled for
Tues., Mar. 13 during our usual 2:30-3:45 class period in Herter
231; and a final exam. The final will only cover material studied since
the midterm. The format of the exams will be discussed in class at a
later date. Each test will be worth approximately 25% of your final
grade. Make-up exams will not be given except through special
arrangement made in advance with me.
B. PAPER
One formal paper is required for this course. It will be worth
approximately 25% of your final grade and will focus on a film screened
in our class. Click here
to learn which film you'll be writing about. Your paper will be
due at the beginning of the lecture
period two weeks after that film's screening in class. Your
paper MUST follow one of the two following forms:
1. A close analysis of some aspect of the film's style or
technique. Analyze how the film uses a specific cinematic element or
combination of elements to create meaning or an emotional effect. For
example, you may want to examine a film's use of black-and-white
cinematography, or the camera's perspective and movement, or sound, or
editing, as any one of these items relates to a film's exposition and
narrative progression. Think about what central idea or ideas the
film may be attempting to communicate and how certain elements or
techniques are being used to achieve that communication. Consider the
relationship between what the film says (its content) and how the film
says it (its form). Also, think about how the film's narrative
structure might work to create meaning or make you as a viewer
respond or react in a certain way. Suggest by your analysis how well or
poorly the filmmakers employed the stylistic element or technique. This
does not necessarily have to be a library/web research paper (though you
may find outside research helpful), but if you use research sources --
newspaper and magazine articles, books on the filmmakers involved,
websites, etc. -- they should be appropriately cited.
OR:
2. A critical essay that examines the ways that the film functions
as a social document. Evidence and arguments may be drawn from a
variety of sources. To make a point, you may want to refer to the film
itself and tie it in with historical research, personal experience,
and articles from film journals. Be creative, but remember to give
specific examples in support of your arguments. Please consider the
following questions: In what respect does the film serve as
a socio-cultural artifact? In other words, what does the film tell us
about the filmmakers' conception of the socio-cultural setting in which
the film was made? (This setting is not necessarily the same thing as
the time-period depicted in the film.) Given the prevailing social
attitudes, preoccupations, and restraints of the time, how effectively
does the film you have chosen reflect or attack the society and culture
from which it emerged? Appropriate citations are a must for this
project.
No matter which of the two approaches you take, your paper should follow
a "purpose/evidence/conclusion" structure and include a thesis
statement. Your thesis statement, which should appear no later than
your paper's second paragraph, will guide your write-up of the results
of your investigation into the film.
The paper should be from five to six pages in length and must be
typed, double-spaced, with one-inch margins. Please do NOT rely
solely on web-based materials for your paper's sources; the web should
stand alongside the library as a resource, not replace it. As a general
rule, no more than half of your sources should be materials that
originally appeared on the web. Please note that you MUST include
citations (either endnotes or MLA-style parenthetical cites) within the
text of your paper; a bibliography alone will not be enough. I as
the reader of your paper should not have to guess where your sources
leave off and your own observations begin. Please follow this general
guideline whenever you present a point of information in your paper: if
it is not your own observation and is not general knowledge, you should
provide a citation for it. This guideline applies not only to direct
quotations but also paraphrased material -- i.e., you should give a
citation if you put someone else's observation, factual material, etc.,
into your own words.
If you have never written a paper about a film before (or even if you
have), I recommend that you look over Timothy Corrigan's excellent
book A
Short Guide to Writing About Film, available in our library. You
might also check out the online resources at Dartmouth College's Writing
Program. Its Materials
for Students section contains many helpful links, including a unit on Writing
About Film. I also suggest that you look through Chapter 10 of the
Prince textbook ("Film Criticism and Interpretation") for some practical
suggestions. Finally, I recommend that you make and keep a copy of the
paper (whether a photocopy, a computer print-out, or an electronic
document stored on a computer hard drive) until you receive the original
back from me.
Do not e-mail me your paper under any circumstances. Submit a hard copy
only, please.
As noted above, the paper is due two weeks after the movie's screening.
I will accept late papers but for reduced credit and only if you
have made arrangements with me in advance.
C. WEEKLY RESPONSE PAPERS
Beginning on Feb. 2, you will be required to submit a brief
(approximately 1-to-3 paragraph) essay written in class each
Thursday. You will write this essay in response to one or two questions
that I will pose on the film that we have just seen and discussed. This
series of weekly writing projects is designed to allow you to articulate
your views, if in a highly abbreviated way, on each major film that we
see. (It will also function as a once-a-week attendance monitor.) We
will set aside the last fifteen minutes or so of each Thursday period to
allow you to work on this assignment. Please submit your essay directly
to a Teaching Assistant (one will be assigned to you shortly) before you
leave class on Thursday. Each of these very brief weekly papers will
receive a mark ("+" for very good, a check mark for average, "-" for
sub-par, or some similar scheme) and together will account for
approximately 25% of your final grade. Importantly, they will also
help prepare you for the two tests and the paper.
Please be forewarned that I have a near-pathological aversion to handing
out "incompletes." I will give such non-grades only under the most
extreme of circumstances (such as illness or your own death) and even
then grudgingly. Otherwise, any missing work will be averaged into the
final grade.
Please contact me if you have any questions about our course
requirements.
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