Communication 140
INTRODUCTION TO FILM STUDIES
Spring, 2023 Course e-mail address: comm140-norden@umass.edu
Prof. Marty Norden
N320 Integrative Learning Center
413-545-0598, 413-545-1311
Office hours: 10:00-11:30 TTh and by appointment
https://people.umass.edu/norden
https://courses.umass.edu/comm140-norden
Teaching Assistants:
- JM Lanuza, N331
Integrative Learning Center. Office hours: 1:30-4:30 M and by appointment
- Bonnie Liang, N331
Integrative Learning Center. Office hours: 9:00-12:00 W
To leave a phone message for either T.A., call the Department of
Communication's main office at 413-545-1311.
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, production 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 S240 Integrative Learning
Center will be followed by a screening session (listed as lab) at
4:00-6:00 in the same auditorium. The lecture period on Thursday, also
at 2:30-3:45 in S240 ILC, will contain discussion and writing components.
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, 6th edition. Boston: Pearson, 2013.
OUTSIDE READINGS:
The required reading for this class includes a short journal article
titled "All That Glitters: City of Gold
Revisited," a book chapter titled "The
Documentary Film", and a brief Wikipedia article on Experimental
Film. To access these documents, simply click on the links in this
paragraph or in the "READING(S)" column below.
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. 478 of the Prince text will be helpful to you at various points in
the semester.
ANOTHER WORD ABOUT OUR ONLINE SYLLABUS:
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):
Feb. 7-9 Course intro; Living in Oblivion (1995) Chap. 10, 1
Production process Hand-out
Feb. 14-16 Cinematography Seconds (1966) Chap. 2
Hand-out
Feb. 21-23 Production design Citizen Kane (1941) Chap. 3
Hand-out
Feb. 28- Acting August: Osage County (2013) Chap. 4
Mar. 2 A:OC play script Hand-out
Mar. 7-9 Editing Rear Window (1954) Chap. 5
Hand-out
Mar. 14-16 SPRING BREAK
Mar. 21-23 Sound The Conversation (1974) Chap. 6
Mar. 28-30 Film storytelling Collateral (2004) Pp. 213-41
****NOTE: A MIDTERM EXAM IS SCHEDULED FOR TUES., MAR. 28 @ 2:30-3:45 P.M.****
****NOTE: A FILM WILL BE SHOWN AS USUAL ON MAR. 28 @ 4:00 P.M.****
Apr. 4-6 Genre patterns Moulin Rouge (2001) Pp. 241-70
Apr. 11-13 Documentaries City of Gold (1957) "All That Glitters"
High School (1968) "Documentary Film"
****NOTE: NO CLASS ON TUES., APR. 18****
Apr. 20 Guest presentation: Emily Keup, Media Education Foundation
Apr. 25-27 Documentaries II Oil & Water (2014) Pp. 318-29
May 2-4 Screen realities Waltz with Bashir (2008) Chap. 8,
Pp. 308-18, 330-61
May 9-11 Experimental film [To be announced] "Experimental Film"
May 16 Film theories No God, No Master (2013) 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.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
A. TESTS
Two tests will be given in this course: a midterm exam, scheduled for
Tues., Mar. 28 during our usual 2:30-3:45 class period in S240
ILC; 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. Once our course's enrollment has stabilized at the end of
the add-drop period, I will assign you a film to write about. Your paper
will be due at the beginning of class on the listed due date. Your
paper MUST follow one of the three following options:
Option #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 (or some combination thereof) as it 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.
NOTE: For this approach, you aren't required to examine the film in
terms of the lecture topic associated with it. For example, if I assign
you to write about Rear Window, your paper doesn't necessarily
have to focus on editing (the topic connected with that film). It may
be on any aspect of the film: cinematography, production design, acting,
sound, etc., or any combination thereof. It's your choice.
Option #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 reflect or attack the society and culture from which it
emerged? Appropriate citations are a must for this project.
Option #3. A study of the evolving critical response to the
film. How did movie critics react to the film when it first
appeared? How did their responses change over time? What do they think
of it today? What were the key arguments that they tried to make about
the film? Which arguments do you agree with (and don't agree with), and
why? As a part of your discussions, please offer evidence-based
speculations on possible reasons for any shifts in critics' views on the
film that you might have detected. You must draw upon at least
five reviews for this option, and they should ideally be spread
out over a number of years. To get you started, I'd recommend that you
avail yourself of the Du Bois Library's many online and print-based
resources. A good place to begin would be the library's
subscription to ProQuest's historical newspapers database. You'll find
it if you go to the library's website,
click on the link marked "Databases," and then type in "ProQuest
Historical Newspapers." (You'll also need to type in your UMass NetID
and password to access this database.) The "External Reviews" section
of your film's IMDb listing should be helpful, too. As with Option #2,
proper citations are required for this paper.
On your paper's first page, please specify which of the three options
that you're following. Also, please remember that your paper should follow a
"purpose/evidence/conclusion" structure and include a thesis
statement, no matter which approach you take. 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 observations 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 A
Short Guide to Writing About Film. Various editions of this book are
available in all of the Five College libraries. I also suggest that you
read "Writing a Critical Paper" on pp. 472-475 of the Prince textbook.
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
hard drive) until you receive feedback from me.
When you are ready to submit your paper, please send it as either a PDF
or a Microsoft Word document to our course e-mail address.
Do NOT send me a link to a Google doc or other online document that
you might have prepared. Simply e-mail your paper as an attachment to
the course's e-mail address.
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.
None of the three approaches I've listed above requires my approval;
just choose whichever one you'd prefer and go with it. However, if you
would like to follow an approach that differs from what I've described
above or prepare an alternative project that's related to the film I've
assigned to you (e.g., a self-designed website about that film, a short
video that analyzes part of the film), you MUST clear it with me before
you begin. Please e-mail me
or visit me during my office hours, and we'll discuss it.
C. WEEKLY RESPONSE PAPERS
Beginning on Feb. 16, 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 class 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
perhaps the paper, too.
Please contact me if you have any questions about our course
requirements.
A STATEMENT ABOUT COPYRIGHT:
Many of the materials created for this course are the intellectual
property of the instructor. They include, but are not limited to, the
syllabus, lectures, and course notes. Except to the extent not protected
by copyright law, any use, distribution, or sale of such materials
requires the permission of the instructor. Please be aware that it is a
violation of university policy to reproduce, for distribution or sale,
class lectures or class notes, unless copyright has been explicitly
waived by the faculty member.
Copyright (c) 2023 Martin F. Norden
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