Film 1010: Film Aesthetics and Analysis (Summer 2008)

CRN: 50338, MW 1:50-4:35, Sparks Hall 424 Drew Ayers dayers2@gsu.edu www.student.gsu.edu/~dayers2 Phone: (812) 202-0778 Office: 840B, One Park Place Office Hours: M 11:30-1:30, R 1:00-3:00 (ALWAYS email first) Mailbox: 6th Floor, One Park Place

Note: The course website will reflect updates to the course, changes in syllabus, assignments, etc. Be sure to check it regularly. The course syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary. Course Description Film 1010 is designed to build on the historical information you gain in Film 2700 by increasing attention paid to film terms and their use in filmmaking and criticism. The course also develops student critical thinking and writing tools, with particular emphasis given to thinking and writing about cinema. That is, the course will put the terms to analytical work. Film 1010 is a precursor to the more advanced work done in upper-level film courses. Course Objectives Students will be able to: define terms fundamental to cinema studies; employ these terms in class discussion; and, write analytical/critical essays that show understanding of, engagement with, and thoughtful use of cinema studies vocabulary. The critical, argumentative, and written skills gained in this course are those assumed to be used in upper-level film studies courses as well as in other critical engagements with the world. Required Texts 1) Corrigan, Timothy and Patricia White. The Film Experience: An Introduction. New York: Bedford, 2004. (Available at the GSU bookstores) 2) Readings on electronic reserve http://reserves.gsu.edu/eres/coursepage.aspx?cid=2812 Password: 8u5e8kcb 3) Course films (Available on library reserve) Grading Short Essays: Midterm Exam: Final Paper: Film Clip Presentation: Participation/Attendance: 25% 25% 25% 10% 15%

Grading Breakdown A (100-95); A- (94-90); B+ (89-87); B (86-84); B- (83-80); C+ (79-77); C (76-74); C- (73-70); D+ (69-67); D (66-64); D- (63-60); F (59-0)

Assignments There are four primary assignments for the semester. We will talk about each in more detail in class. 1) Short Essays: There are five shorter writing assignments spaced throughout the semester. Some are merely two paragraphs; some are up to three pages. All are designed to develop your written organization and argumentative focus. Each will be graded according to coherence, structure, grammar, syntax, diction, etc. based on the type of assignment. These assignments must be submitted in hard-copy form. We will talk about each as due dates near. 2) Midterm Exam: Take-home in format, the exam is meant to test you on the material we have covered in class up to the midpoint. You will respond to two questions/prompts of your choice, selected from a list of several questions/prompts that I will provide to you. Each response should be 3 pages in length (approx. 750 words), resulting in a total of 6 pages for the entire midterm. The midterm is due in class on Monday, July 14th. 3) Film Clip Presentation: Groups of two or three people will present and discuss the cinematic aspects of a film clip of their choosing. The presentations should focus on the particular aspects of cinema we are studying (editing, cinematography, etc.). Thus, your presentation should (1) focus on a brief clip from a film of your choice clips should be no more than two or three minutes; (2) provide a reading of the clip focusing on the topic of the class discussion (editing, etc.); (3) draw summary conclusions as to how your clip is representative of the larger issues we are discussing; and (4) provide further questions for class discussion. Your group should meet with me at least a week prior to your presentation. 4) Final Paper: This assignment will be 5-7 pages in length, and it is meant to showcase all you have learned this summer. The paper should make use of all of our discussion about film essay construction, analysis, research, etc. I will provide three questions/prompts from which you may choose. You may also write on a topic of your own, but you MUST approve the topic with me before you begin writing (failure to do so will result in a required rewrite of the essay with a one letter grade deduction). You are encouraged to submit drafts before the paper is due. We will talk much more about the paper throughout the summer. The final paper is due on Friday, August 1st, at 5:00pm. Attendance Each student is allowed two absences for the summer. The reason for your absence does not matter, and you do not need to provide me with an excuse. However, be aware that if you choose to skip two classes at the beginning of the summer and then later in the summer you happen to catch a bad case of the flu, the classes you miss for illness will be counted against you. That is, choose your absences wisely. After two absences, each additional absence will subtract five percent from your attendance grade total. If you have an ongoing situation that requires special consideration, please discuss this with me at the beginning of the course. Policies 1) Late Assignments: Because of the compressed nature of a summer course, late assignments will not be accepted. If you are unable to attend class on a day that an assignment is due, you must contact me prior to that day and make alternative arrangements.

2) Academic Honesty: The universitys policy on academic honesty is published in On Campus: The Undergraduate Co-Curricular Affairs Handbook, available online at http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwcam. There is an addendum to that policy available here: http://www2.gsu.edu/~joujhr/AcademicHonestyPolicyFA06.htm. The policy prohibits plagiarism, cheating on examinations, unauthorized collaboration, falsification, and multiple submissions. Violation of the policy may result in failing the class, in addition to disciplinary sanctions. The internet makes it easy to plagiarize, but also easy to track down plagiarism. Bottom line: Dont plagiarize its not worth it. Theres always a better way. Cite all your sources, put all direct quotations in quotation marks, and clearly note when you are paraphrasing other authors work. 3) Class Etiquette: (1) I expect you to be in class on time and to stay for the entire class session. Latecomers and early-leavers distract me and your student colleagues dont do it; (2) It is expected that each student will come to class prepared, having read the required material and/or viewed the required film for the day. Additionally, students are expected to participate in class discussions; (3) It should go without saying that I expect you to treat the classroom space appropriately. Checking your Facebook profile and text messaging are inappropriate activities. In general, simply be respectful and mindful of others were all here to learn (even me J), so we should all try to make the classroom as conducive to learning and communicating as possible; (4) Make sure any email correspondence clearly identifies both you and the course. I get tons of emails every day, and this ensures that I dont accidentally delete any of your emails.

Daily Schedule
Intro/Mise-en-Scene 6/9 Topic: Reading: 6/11 Topic: Reading: Screening: Topic: Introduction to course syllabus, objectives, and assignments; Elements of mise-en-scene and their connection to film story. Smith, Its Just a Movie. (ER) Values and traditions of mise-en-scene. pp. 41-72 (C&W) Bicycle Thieves (De Sica, 1948), 93 min.

Types of Film Writing 6/16

Reviews; Analytic Essays Elements of Critical Essays, Types of Topics Reading: pp. 474-487 (C&W) Two reviews of a film of your choice (www.rottentomatoes.com might be a good starting point) Assignment: Short Essay #1 Due

Cinematography 6/18

Topic: Elements of Cinematography Reading: pp. 75-107 (C&W) Assignment: Short Essay #2 Due Topic: Cinematography in M; Presentations Screening: M (Lang, 1931), 110 min. Assignment: Short Essay #3 Due Film Presentations from Grouping I Topic: Reading: Discussion of critical essay structure; Writing workshop/discussion (Orlando) pp. 488-501 (C&W) Key terms in editing practices; Spatial and temporal relations; What do edits do? pp. 110-139; 144-157 (C&W) Discuss Bonnie and Clyde; Intro to researching film pp. 140-143; 502-513 (C&W) Bonnie and Clyde (Penn, 1967), 112 min.

6/23

Writing Critical Essays 6/25

Editing 6/30

Topic: Reading:

7/2

Topic: Reading: Screening:

Researching for a Film Paper 7/7 Topic:

Distribute and Discuss Midterm Exam; Presentations Assignment: Short Essay #4 Due Film Presentations from Grouping II Topic: Key sound terms and their uses; techniques and voice of film sound; music and sound effects Reading: pp. 166-206 (C&W) Assignment: Work on midterm exam Topic: Reading: Discussion of The Conversation; Intro to Ideology pp. 207-209 (C&W) Comolli & Narboni, Cinema/Ideology/Criticism (ER) Skim Cahiers analysis of Young Mr. Lincoln (ER) Screening: The Conversation (Coppola, 1974), 113 min. Assignment: Midterm Exam Due (bring to class)

Sound 7/9

7/14

Filmic Narrative and Genre 7/16 Topic: Reading: 7/21 Topic: Reading: Topic: Reading:

Key Ideas in Narrative Study pp. 214-251 (C&W) Narrative, cont.; Movie Genres pp. 288-293; 296-312; 315-317; 320 (C&W) Skim Bordwell, CHC (ER)

7/23

Narrative and Ideology; Presentations Elsaesser & Buckland, Classical/Post-Classical Narrative (Die Hard) (ER) Assignment: Short Essay #5 Due Film Presentations from Grouping III

FINAL PAPER: Due Friday, August 1st, by 5:00pm (papers can be dropped off in my mailbox on the 6th floor of One Park Place)

Short Essay Assignments

Short Essay #1 Write two paragraphs you could add to the essay on Bicycle Thieves that explicate specific elements of mise-en-scene at work in the film. The essay highlights specific elements like the apartment of The Santona and the characters dress as emblematic of contributing elements of the mise-en-scene of the entire film. What are two other such elements that are notable? How do they function within the rest of the films mise-en-scene? Short Essay #2 Find two reviews of a film of your choice and write overviews of each, focusing on the structure of the reviews summary of and arguments about the film. Consult the brief section on Research Materials on pp. 502-504 of our book (C&W) before beginning your research. Consider what sorts of objective verses subjective claims the authors make. How do the writers argue in support of the claims? Lets read one of your reviews in class and go over your assessment of it. Short Essay #3 Write two paragraphs that you could add to the essay on M that explicate specific elements of cinematography at work in the film. The brief essay begins with grand claims about the cinematography, nothing that the objective and subjective views presented in the film often are blurred so that it is often difficult to tell whence they are produced or given. Read the second paragraph carefully, paying particular attention to the specific reading it gives to the cinematic elements it is discussing. Notice that it does much more than describe the cinematography: it makes readings and conclusions about it. The essay hints at some of the many places you could pick as a point for your own investigation. Pick one such place and strike off on your own analysis of a specific scene. Short Essay #4 After watching Bonnie and Clyde, select two scenes from the film (other than the final scene) and write a two-page paper in which you break down these scenes by taking into consideration the relations between editing and story. That is, make an introductory claim (a topic sentence in an introductory paragraph through which you will connect the two scenes) as to how the editing relates to the story (of the scene or of the film as a whole). Then, elaborate through good critical analysis how the editing functions in these scenes as they connect to your primary claim about them. Be very specific in how you pay attention to the editing practices. Short Essay #5 Read pp. 252-254 (C&W), paying attention to how the essay sets up and fulfills a comparison and contrast. Write a three-page paper in which you briefly develop a comparison and contrast between the two films you watch from the list provided below. You do not need to work on the fullest development possible, but provide a completely full introduction as to how you could develop such a comparison/contrast. Be certain that you are attentive to the specific demands of a comparison/contrast paper. Pick one pair of films to watch and compare/contrast: Fargo (Coen, 1996) and The Killing (Kubrick, 1956) Cleo from 5 to 7 (Varda, 1962) and Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958) The Untouchables (De Palma, 1987) and Goodfellas (Scorsese, 1990)