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Film 211
Introduction to Film Studies
Spring 2004

Peter Bailey
Richard Jenseth
Ginny Schwartz

Time: MWF 10:50-11:50
Carnegie 10

Required texts: Russell Banks, The Sweet Hereafter (Vintage)
Stephen Prince, Movies and Meaning, 3rd Edition
(Allyn & Bacon)
Other readings, as assigned

The purpose of Introduction to Film Studies is to introduce students to what we call the language of film. That means that we will be concentrating throughout the semester on the what, the how, and the why of the filmmaker’s art—what happens in the production of films, how filmmakers create the effects of movies and the affects in viewers that they do, and why and in what forms the meanings they create cinematically matter to audiences and reflect/create the culture of which they are a part. Students enrolling in the course agree to keep up with an ambitious schedule of movies shown on the SLU network, to complete the reading assignments (some of which are available on reserve at ODY), and fulfill the following requirements:

REQUIRED WORK: Two 3-5 page critical essays (20% EACH) 40%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 20%
Participation 20%

Notes on Attendance and Participation:
Obviously, regular attendance and active participation by all members of the course are essential for its success. We do not make attendance a part of grading, except for this: if you miss more than three classes during the term, your course grade will be reduced by .25. For each absence after the fourth, the course grade will be reduced by yet another .25. After six such absences, we will ask that you drop the course. If you do not drop, you will receive a grade no higher than 1.0, no matter what work you have done.

But just showing up is not enough. We need you to show up prepared to contribute to the work of the class. This means having done the required reading and completed any assigned writing. It also means you have viewed the required films, and are prepared to discuss in detail. It is your responsibility to find time to view the films shown on the campus network, or to make other arrangements for viewing the films before the assigned date. Finally, while ‘participation’ clearly means actively joining class discussions, it also means completing the other work assigned to deepen our understanding of the readings and the films. This work might include quizzes, response writings, or participation in Blackboard discussions. All such work will be factored into the ‘Participation’ part of the course grade. Each student is also required to work with a class member to introduce a film during the course of the semester. In addition to providing basic information about the film’s director, production, actors and the like, the purpose of these introductions will be to give the class a sense of what to watch for in the movie students are about to see. These introductions will be figured into the participants’ participation grade.
Note that by enrolling in Film Studies 211, you implicitly affirm that all the work you submit for credit is your own original work, and that you understand the potential consequences of being charged with plagiarism.

Film 211 SYLLABUS

1/19 (M) Course introduction

1/21 (W) Robert Altman, The Player

1/23 (F) Film Structure and Cinematography
Stephen Prince, Movies and Meaning, Chapter 1: “Film Structure”

1/26 (M) Film Structure and Cinematography
Prince, Chapter 2: “Cinematography”
Orson Welles, Citizen Kane (1941)

1/28 (W) Film Structure and Cinematography
Alfred Hitchcock, Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

1/30 (F) Prince, Chapter 4: “Editing: Making the Cut”

2/2 (M) Alfred Hitchcock, Rear Window (1954)

2/4 (W) Rear Window

2/6 (F) Prince, Chapter 5, “Sound Design”

2/9 (M) Chapter 5, “Sound Design”

2/11 (W) “The Nature of Narrative in Film”
Prince, 214-243
Belton, “The Studio System” (ODY)

2/13 (F) “The Nature of Narrative in Film”
Schatz, “Film Genres and the Genre Film” (ODY)

2/16 (M) Genre: the Western
John Ford, Stagecoach (1931)
Prince, “The Western,” pp. 244-7
Schatz, “The Western” (ODY)

2/18 (W) Genre: the Western
Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven (1991)

2/20 (F) Genre: Horror film
Prince, “The Horror Film,” pp 255-9
Tod Browning, Dracula (1931)

2/23 (M) Genre: Horror film
Solomon, “The Nightmare World”

2/25 (W) Genre: Gangster film
Howard Hawks, Scarface (1932)
Prince, “The Gangster Film,” pp. 248-52
Warshow, “The Gangster as Tragic Hero,” The Immediate Experience (ODY)

2/27 (F) Genre: Gangster film
Martin Scorsese, Goodfellas (1991)

3/1 (M) Genre: the Musical
Prince, “The Musical,” pp. 252-5

3/3 (W) Genre: the Musical
Stanley Donen, Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

3/5 (F) Genre: Film Noir
John Huston, The Maltese Falcon (1941)
“Expressionism,” pp. 272-83
Belton, “Film Noir: Somewhere in the Night” (ODY)

3/8 (M) Genre: Film Noir
Roman Polanski, Chinatown (1974)
Cawelti, “Chinatown and Transformation in Recent American Films” (ODY)

3/10 (W) Genre wrap-up and midterm review
Judith Hess Wright, “Genre Films and the Status Quo,” In Film Genre Reader II (ODY)

3/12 (F) Midterm

3/13-3/21 Spring Break

3/22 (M) Book to film: Russell Banks, The Sweet Hereafter

3/24 (W) Atom Egoyan, The Sweet Hereafter (1998)

3/26 (F) Independent film: Spike Lee, Do the Right Thing (1988)
Excerpts from Spike Lee with Lisa Jones, “Film Journal of Do the Right Thing” (1989) (ODY Reserve)

3/29 (M) Spike Lee, Do the Right Thing (1988)

3/30 (W) Alternative Narratives/Counternarratives
Prince, “Alternatives to the Classical Narrative,” pp. 236-40
Richard Kelly, Donnie Darko (2001)

4/2 (F) Introduction
The essence of cinema
Key tensions in its development
Realism/Magic Narrative/ Attractions

Reading: “Two Traditions: Classical and Alternatives” Corrigan and White

Films for next week: Broken Blossoms (1919) Griffith
Man With a Movie Camera (1929) Vertov (counterrealism)

4/5 (M) The Turn to Narrative

Readings: “The Turn to Narrative in Early Film History: 216-229
“Classical Hollywood Narrative” 233-243

4/7 (W) Resistance and Rebellion: Alternative and Counter Narrative Film
Montage, Surrealism, New Waves, and Postmodernism

Readings: “Subverting Continuity Editing” 156-170
“Louis Bunuel” 343-347
“Montage,” Corrigan and White

4/9 (F) Realism Contra Magic: Melies to Donnie Darko
Lumiere’s ‘actualities’, Melies ‘Tricks,’ Dziga Vertov’s Montage Documentary

Films for Next Week:
Grand Illusion (1937) Renoir
Bicycle Thief (1948) De Sica

4/12 (M) Expressionism, Montage, and Dream Worlds

Readings: “Expressionism” 274-283
“Cinema Self-Reflexivity” 290-298
“Modes of Screen Reality” 262-274

4/14 (W) Realism and Neo-Realism
Bazin’s ‘Film Language,’ Italian Neo-realism, U.S. ‘Social Realism’

Readings: “Realist Models” 402-407
“ Neo-realism” 353-358
“ Evolution in Film Language” Bazin

4/16 (F) Realism and Neo-Realism Continued

Films for Next Week:
Within Our Gates (1920) Micheaux
Pinky (1949) Kazan
Menace to Society (1993) Albert and Allen Hughes

4/19 (M) Theory: Race and Film
Representations and Race in U.S. Film
Race Movies and Hollywood
African American Film Makers

Readings: “African American Cinema” Corrigan and White
“ The Birth of Whiteness: Race and the Emergence of U.S. Cinema” Bernadi
“ The Birth of a Nation and Within Our Gates: Two Tales of the American South” Gaines

4/21 (W) Theory: Representation and Race Continued
Black Independent Film since 1960
Hip Hop and Contemporary Film

Readings: “Spike Lee and the Commerce of Culture” Baker
“ Hip Hop Culture and the Production of Black Cinema” Watkins
“ Emergence of the Black Independent Film Movement” Yearwood

4/23 (F) Theory: Representation and Race Continued

4/27 (M) Theory: Auteurs, Audiences, and Genres

Readings: “Auteurist Models” 402-407
“ Film Authorship” Stam

(Closing film to be chosen by class and faculty)

4/29 (W) Closing film Discussion

5/1 (F) Course evaluation and final exam review

5/6 (TH) Final exam