INTRODUCTION TO CINEMA: FOCUS ON THE "HIGH-SCHOOL MOVIE"
NB: The use of laptop computers and other electronic devices during class is NOT permitted.
NB: Further readings and recommended viewings may be added or otherwise modified throughout the semester. Please check your MyJCU message board for updates.
Week 1: What is Cinema?
Screening: The Breakfast Club (John Hughes, USA, 1985)
Readings:
1) Sikov, Introduction, pp. 1-4
2) Timothy Shary, Teen Movies: American Youth on Screen (Wallflower Press, 2005), pp. 1-16.
Week 2: Narrative
Screening: Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, USA, 1955)
Readings:
1) Sikov, Chapters 6 & 7, pp. 89-115.
2) David Bordwell, "Classical Narration: The Hollywood Example," in Narration in the Fiction Film (University of Wisconsin Press, 1985),extracts.
Week 3: Mise-en-Scene
Screening: The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich, USA, 1971)
Readings:
1) Sikov, Chapter 1, pp. 5-23 & Chapter 9, pp. 129-142.
2) TBD
Week 4: Cinematography and Camera Movement
Screening: Elephant (Gus Van Sant, USA, 2003)
Readings:
1) Sikov, Chapter 2 & 3, pp.24-54.
2) TBD
Week 5: Sound
Screening: Carrie (Brian De Palma, USA, 1976)
Readings:
1) Sikov, Chapter 5, pp. 74-88.
2) Michel Chion, The Voice in Cinema (Columbia University Press, 1999), extracts.
Week 6: Editing
Screening: Battle Royale (Kinji Fukasaku, Japan, 2000)
Readings:
1) Sikov, Chapter 4, pp. 55-73.
2) Andre Bazin, "The Virtues and Limitations of Montage," in What is Cinema? Vol. 1 (University of California Press, 2004), 23-40.
3) Sergej Eisenstein, "A Dialectic Approach to Film Form," in Film Form (Harcourt Brace, 1977), 45-63.
Week 7: Review and Mid-term: Writing a Film Analysis
Reading:
1) Sikov, Chapter 12, pp.169-186
2) Recommended: Timothy Corrigan, A Short Guide to Writing About Film (Pearson/Longman, 2007)
Week 8: Gender & Sexuality
Screening: Heathers (Michael Lehmann, USA, 1988)
+ Home viewing: Grease (Randall Kleiser, USA, 1978)
Readings:
1) Laura Mulvey, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema," in Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings (OUP, 2004)
2) TBD
Week 9: Genre
Screening: Cry Baby (John Waters, USA, 1990)
Readings:
1) Sikov, Chapter 10, pp. 143-157
2) TBD
Week 10: Authorship
Screening: Amarcord (Federico Fellini, Italy, 1973)
Readings:
1) Sikov, Chapter 8, 116-128.
2) Andrew Sarris, "Notes on the Auteur Theory," in Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings (OUP, 2004)
3) Edward Buscombe, "Ideas of Authorship," Screen 14, no. 3 (Autumn 1973)
Week 11: Race & Ethnicity
Screening: The Class (Laurent Cantet, France, 2008)
Readings:
1) bell hooks, "The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectatorship," in Film and Theory: An Anthology (Blackwell, 2000)
2) Stuart Hall, "Cultural Identity and Cinematic Representation," in Film and Theory: An Anthology (Blackwell, 2000)
Week 12: Documentary Film
Screening: High School (Frederick Wiseman, USA, 1968)
Readings:
1) Bill Nichols, "Why Are Ethical Issues Central to Documentary Filmmaking?" in Introduction to Documentary (Indiana UP, 2001), 1-19
2) TBD
FINAL PAPER DUE
Week 13: Avant-Garde Film and Video
Screening: unfortunately, there aren't really any experimental films that also qualify as "high-school"! So we're going with a standard lineup:
Un Chien Andalou (Luis Bunuel/Salvador Dali, 1929); Rose Hobart (Joseph Cornell, 1936); Window Water Baby Moving(Brakhage,1959); Scorpio Rising (Kenneth Anger, 1964); Walden (Jonas Mekas, 1969); Serene Velocity (Ernie Gehr,1970); Associations (John Smith, 1975); Outer Space (Peter Tscherkassky, 1999); Decasia (Bill Morrison, 2000)
Readings:
1) P. Adams Sitney, "Structural Film," in Visionary Film.
2) A.L. Rees, A History of Experimental Film and Video, extracts.
Week 14: Final Screening and Review
Screening: Kids (Larry Clark, 1995)
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