Syllabus Sections
Publish Date
08/24/2010 13:11:37
Film History
DRAM-2367
Fall 2010
08/23/2010 - 12/12/2010
Course Information
Section 002
Lecture
TTh 18:00 - 20:15
EVC9 9211
Philip Fagan
Office Hours
- Voice Mail: 512-223-1790-26442
-
M W
5:45 - 6:45
RGC Portable
-
T Th
5:20 - 5:50
EVC 8313
Course Requirements
TERM PAPER
There will be one research paper, which will be assigned and discussed later in class (see calendar). The paper will draw on class readings and lectures as well as your own scholarly research, observations, and knowledge pertaining to the course material. The paper will constitute 20% of your grade. Papers must be turned in on or before the due date and there will be a class meeting devoted to discussing your papers-in-progress. Papers are due Tuesday, November 23.
EXAMS
There will be a midterm and a final exam. The exams will include multiple choice, true/ false, short answer, and essay questions. The midterm will be cumulative, covering material since the beginning of the semester. The final exam is not cumulative and will cover material since the midterm. Each exam will count as 20% of your grade for a total of 40%. As a general rule, exams cannot be made up. Your exams will be on Tuesday October 19 and Thursday December 9.
QUIZZES
There will be four multiple choice/ true or false type pop quizzes throughout the semester. The material covered on quizzes will not be cumulative. The four quizzes will each count for 5% of your grade for a total of 20%. Quizzes cannot be made up. See the course calendar for quiz dates.
ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION
Attendance and participation will constitute 20% of your final grade. Each student is allowed two absences throughout the semester. However, each subsequent absence will result in losing five points. Upon a sixth absence the student will either a) be withdrawn from the course by the instructor or b) receive an F for their final semester grade. Unless you are sick or have an emergency, I highly encourage you to attend all classes. Much of the lecture material will not come directly from your text and you don’t want to miss any pop quizzes. On occasion, lecture and film days may be switched or a different film or topic may be presented. Also, if you are absent frequently, your final grade will be whittled down significantly no matter how well you do on the exams, quizzes, and paper. In short, it will be very difficult for you to do well in this course with poor attendance. At the same time, good attendance is an easy way to enhance your grade in the course. The instructor reserves the right to administratively withdraw any student based on poor performance and/or attendance.
Attendance Policy:
2 absences or less: 20
3 absences: 15
4 absences: 10
5 absences: 5
6 absences: Withdrawal from course or F in course.
Similarly, all students are strongly encouraged to participate in class discussions in this seminar-style course. In any classroom situation that includes discussion and critical thinking, there are bound to be many differing viewpoints. These differences enhance the learning experience and create an atmosphere where students and instructors alike will be encouraged to think and learn. On sensitive and volatile topics, students may sometimes disagree not only with each other but also with the instructor. It is expected that faculty and students will respect the views of others when expressed in classroom discussions. While you will not be penalized for not being actively engaged with the material, I do reserve the right to consider your class participation when considering final grades that are “on the cusp.”
GRADING SYSTEM
Note:ACC does not post grades. The College will mail your grades to you.
4 Quizzes 20 (5 points each)
2 Exams 40 (20 points each)
Research paper 20
Attendance/ Participation 20
Total 100
100-90: A Incomplete: I
89-80: B Withdrawal: W
79-70: C
69-60: D
59-0: F
Readings
TEXTBOOK AND READING ASSIGNMENTS:
Course Text: Wexman, Virginia Wright (2006). A History of Film (Seventh Edition). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
Other than your research paper, all course material will be drawn from class lectures, screenings, and the above text. The class syllabus notes what portions of the text should be read before each class meeting. Additional resources may be posted on Blackboard. Each student is responsible for bringing their copy of the textbook to each class in order to facilitate discussion. However, the textbook is a supplement to class lectures and discussions, not vice-versa. The majority of material for which you will be held accountable will come from lectures.
Course Subjects
CLASS # DAY/DATE TOPIC
1 Tues/ Aug 24 Introduction to Class/ Silent Cinema
2 Thurs/ Aug 26 Silent Cinema to 1930s
(Terms to consider: Silent cinema, German Expressionism, Modernism, Surrealism, Soviet Montage, horror/suspense)
Reading Due: Chapters 1-2
3 Tues/ Aug 31 1930s continued
Reading due: Chapter 3-4
4 Thurs/ Sep 2 Screening: King Kong. Merian C. Cooper,
1933. (Terms to consider: Early Hollywood sound cinema, CHC, special effects movie, “Universal” horror, fantasy).
Reading due: Chapters 5-6
5 Tues/ Sep 7 HollywoodFilm in the 1940s and 50s
Reading due: Chapter 7
6 Thurs/ Sep 9 Screening: Citizen Kane. Orson Welles, 1941.
(Terms to consider: CHC, film noirand cinema style)
7 Tues/ Sep 14 Defining Genre and Style: A look at film noir
Reading due. Chapter 10
8 Thurs/ Sep 16 Screening: Nightmare Alley. Edmund Goulding.
1947. (Terms to consider: Film noir, crime film, anti-hero, formalism, World War II, pessimism)
9 Tues/ Sep 21 InternationalArt Cinemain the 1940s and 50s
Reading Due: Chapter 8
Quiz #1
10 Thurs/ Sep 23 Screening: I Vittelone, Federico Fellini, 1953
(Terms to consider: Italian Neorealism, comedy, art house)
Reading due: Chapters 11-12
11 Tues/ Sep 28 Hollywood’s Nervous Breakdown, the American
Avant-Garde, and International Cinema in the Sixties (New Modernism)
Reading due: Chapters 16, 18, 19
12 Thurs/ Sep 30 Screening: Breathless. Jean-Luc Godard, 1959.
(Terms to consider: French New Wave, auteur, art house, counterculture)
:
13 Tues/ Oct 5 An Alternative Film History: Avant-garde,
Experimental and Underground Cinema. Screening: various clips. (Terms to consider: UG, AV, Beat, Experimental, film poetry, counterculture)
Quiz #2
14 Thurs/ Oct 7 The Documentary Tradition
Reading Due: Chapter 9
Screening: Gimme Shelter. Maysles Brothers, 1970.
(Terms to consider: Documentary, counterculture film, rock and roll/performance film)
15 Tues/ Oct 12 Other Visions, Other Nations: Clips and lecture
Reading Due: Chapters 13, 14, 22
Review Sheet for midterm exam posted on Blackboard.
16 Thurs/ Oct 14 Paper assigned, Exam Q-n-A
17 Tues/ Oct 19 Midterm Exam
18 Thurs/ Oct 21 The Seventies: The Counterculture Goes to
Hollywood
Reading due: Chapter 20
.19 Tues/ Oct 26 Screening: Mean Streets, 1973.Martin Scorsese.
(Terms to consider: New Hollywood, counterculture film, rebel/ anti-hero, realism, crime film)
Reading due: Chapter 17
20 Thurs/ Oct 28 New German Cinema (Terms to consider: NGC, social problem film, documentary style)
21 Tues/ Nov 2 Screening: Stroszek. Werner Herzog, 1976.
22 Thurs/ Nov 4 The Death of New Hollywood and the Rise of the
Multiplex and Independents
(Terms to consider: New York film; (truly) Indie film; neo-noir, punk/counterculture film)
Quiz #3
23 Tues/ Nov 9 Screening: Buffalo66. 1998. Vincent Gallo .
24 Thurs/ Nov 11 Ireland: A Case Study in Third World Cinema
Reading due: Chapters 15, 21, 23
25 Tues/ Nov 16 Screening: Bloody Sunday. Paul Greengrass. 2002.
(Terms to consider: Third World/ indigenous cinema, Irish film, human rights, docudrama, documentary style, “ultra-realism”)
26 Thurs/ Nov 18 Discuss Papers-in-progress
27 Tues/ Nov 23 PAPERS DUE
One-World Culture: The International Art Film Hits
the Multiplex
Screening: Volver. Pedro Almodovar, 2007.
(International hit film)
Review sheet for Final Exam posted on Blackboard
28 Thurs/ Nov 25 Thanksgiving Holiday
29 Tues/ Nov 30 Postmodernism: Where do we go from here?
Reading due: Chapter 24
30 Thurs/ Dec 2 Screening: I’m Not There.
Todd Haynes. 2007. (Pomo, musical biopic, fragmentation)
Quiz #4
31 Tues/ Dec 7 Exam Q-n-A
32 Thurs/ Dec 9 Final Exam
Student Learning Outcomes/Learning Objectives
COURSE GOAL AND OBJECTIVES: The goal of this course is to take the student beyond the role of a passive spectator of movies, and to explore the history of cinema from a cultural, ideological, and theoretical standpoint. Rather than viewing a film as some preexisting piece of art and/or entertainment, we shall examine how films are very much “of their time.” Students are encouraged to develop their faculties for critical thinking regarding the history of film and how it relates to culture and ideology, and to demonstrate ability to discuss and write about these topics.