Discipline: Humanities
ENG-English
 Degree Credit  [X]
Non Credit  [ ]
Nondegree Credit  [ ]
Comm Service  [ ]
 

Riverside Community College District
Integrated Course Outline of Record

Humanities 36


COURSE DESCRIPTION
36 Intro to Film Studies
Same as: ENG-English 36
 Units: 3.00
 
Prerequisite(s): None.

Advisory: Qualification for English 1A
An introduction to the formal and narrative principles of film, as well as the major critical and theoretical approaches to film studies, both historical and contemporary. Includes a survey of film directors, genres, movements, styles and national cinemas. 54 hours lecture. (Letter Grade, or Pass/No Pass Option.)
 
SHORT DESCRIPTION FOR CLASS SCHEDULE
An introduction to historical and contemporary approaches to film studies.
 
ADVISORY ENTRY SKILLS
Before entering the course, students will be able to:
  1. Critically discuss and interpret texts and visual materials, recognizing key ideas and responding in both oral and written form;

  2. Analyze, synthesize, and evaluate texts and films using pre-collegiate critical thinking skills;

  3. Compose developed, unified, stylistically competent writing assignments and adjust writing to the target audience with advanced-intermediate skill.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
 Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:

Recognize and identify the major critical and theoretical approaches to film studies, such as the auteur policy; realism and formalism; major film genres, such as film noir, the musical, and the western; and major national and/or artistic movements, such as neo-realism, German expressionism, and cinema vérité.

Understand and correctly employ the terminology of film studies, such as jump cut, mise-en-scène, and deep focus.

Analyze and interpret film as a form of creative expression.

Apply college-level methods of analysis and evaluation to discussing and writing about film.
 
COURSE CONTENT
  TOPICS
 

Instructor’s approach to course content may be historical, topical/thematic, or genre-based. Suggested content areas and representative works may include, but are not limited to:

  1. Before sound: Silent movies and the beginnings of cinematic expression: Birth of a Nation (D. W. Griffith, 1915); Broken Blossoms (D. W. Griffith, 1919); Sunrise (F. W. Murnau, 1927)
  2. The emergence of genres: Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939); Stella Dallas (King Vidor, 1937); Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1952)
  3. Formalism and editing: Sergei Eisenstein: Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925); Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
  4. German Expressionism: Siegfried Kracauer: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920); Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922); Pandora’s Box (G. W. Pabst, 1929)
  5. “Art Film”: Un Chien andalou (Luis Bunel, 1929); Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, 1943); La Jette (Chris Marker, 1962); Scorpio Rising (Kenneth Anger, 1964); Film About a Woman Who (Yvonne Rainer, 1974); The Gold Diggers (Sally Potter, 1983)
  6. Realism in the Cinema: Rudolf Arnheim, Bela Balázs, Andre Bazin, Siegfried Kracauer: Le Grande Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937)
  7. Neo-realism: Open City (Roberto Rossellini, 1945); The Bicycle Thief (Vittorio de Sica, 1948); La Terra Trema (Luchino Visconti, 1948)
  8. Style in Film/ Film Noir: Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944); Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950, 2004); Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)
  9. The auteur policy: North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959); The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock, 1963)
  10. “B” Movies: Creature from the Black Lagoon (Jack Arnold, 1954); Revenge of the Creature (Jack Arnold, 1955)
  11. Semiology/ Roland Barthes: Collector’s DVD Edition of The Leopard (Luchino Visconti, 1963, 2004); Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
  12. Psychoanalysis and the cinematic gaze: Laura Mulvey: Blonde Venus (Josef von Sternberg, 1932)
  13. Narrative Space: Stephen Heath: Suspicion (Alfred Hitchcock, 1941)
  14. Documentary: Harlan County, USA (Barbara Kopple, 1976)
  15. Postmodernism: The Gold Diggers (Sally Potter, 1983); Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994); Mullholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
  16. World Cinemas: Japanese Cinema, New German Cinema, Spanish Cinema; Bollywood, Hong Kong Cinema 
 
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION
 Methods of instruction used to achieve student learning outcomes may include, but are not limited to:

  • Presentation of lectures and discussions concerning film techniques, themes, theoretical approaches to film studies, and other elements of selected films in order for students to understand film as a mode of creative expression and object of academic study.
  • Guest writers/lecturers invited to class to discuss film studies and critique elements of selected films.
  • Showing of selected films to aid in the study and analysis of key aspects of film studies.
  • Showing of secondary films, videos, or slides; distributing handouts; and/or using electronic or computer-based media in order to reinforce understanding of film aesthetics.
  • Cooperative/collaborative learning tasks designed to assist students in applying concepts and terminology of film studies to representative films.
  • Individual conferences in order to evaluate and advise students on written assignments.

 
 
METHODS OF EVALUATION
 Students will be evaluated for progress in and/or mastery of learning outcomes by methods of evaluation which may include, but are not limited to:

  • Oral and written reports and presentations designed to demonstrate successful understanding and application of the techniques, themes, and approaches to film studies.
  • Written assignments on selected films designed to reinforce students’ ability to produce shot-by-shot and other examples of close analysis.
  • Questions on reading and viewing of films designed to evaluate students’ understanding of the key theoretical approaches to film studies.
  • Participation and regular attendance as required by instructor to ensure progress in mastering the course content and participation in collaborative learning projects.
  • Quizzes/tests and a final examination designed to assess students’ ability to critically analyze and apply concepts, theory and terminology of film studies.

 
ASSIGNMENTS

Required Reading Assignments


Required Writing Assignments


Other Outside-of-Class Assignments
 
COURSE MATERIALS
 All materials used in this course will be periodically reviewed to ensure that they are appropriate for college level instruction. Possible texts include:

  • Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson. Film Art: An Introduction. 7 ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003.
  • Giannetti, Louis. Understanding Movies. 10 ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2005.
  • Kolker, Robert. Film, Form and Culture. 3 ed. Boston: McGraw Hil, 2006.
  • Prince, Stephen. Movies and Meaning: An Introduction to Film. 3 ed. New York: Allyn and Bacon, 2003.
08/06
1201