FILM 2100: HISTORY AND THEORY OF FILM
Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:30am-10:50pm, TLC 1200
Erin Lee Mock, emock@westga.edu
Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 8-9:15, Mondays 12:30-2pm, Fridays by
appointment, Saturdays via gchat.
Course Description
What do we “know” about movies? So much of what we know is intuitive, based on the
feelings we have while and after watching or making films. This course aims to make what
we know about movies speakable, theorizable, contextualizable. Since the birth of cinema
(indeed, before), filmmakers, theorists, critics, historians, and players in all parts of the
industry, have grappled with what film, precisely, is, what makes it good, what makes it
real, what makes it special. Equal parts history, theory, and primary texts, this course lets
us throw all of these ideas into the air to see what lands.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Critical Visions in Film Theory, ed. Corrigan and White with Mazaj (CV)
Film Theory and Criticism, ed. Braudy and Cohen (FTC)
Film History: An Introduction, ed. Thompson and Bordwell (FH)
SCREENING POLICY
This is a film course, so the viewings are as important as the readings. No viewing listed on
the syllabus is optional unless it specifies that, though I will offer recommended viewings
throughout the term and will occasionally require additional viewings (but will always
offer options for these). For these reasons, you will need Netflix. However, you may also
access these films through other means: the English Department library, the UWG library,
the Georgia Public Library system, Amazon Instant, iTunes, DVD rental, borrowing, or
purchase. While some of these films are available in whole or in part via Youtube, that's a
bit like reading a text that's been mimeographed four times over, has pages missing, and is
in fine print—avoid whenever possible for your own good. Group screenings are a great
way to experience films, so consider setting these up in the library or in your own dorms or
homes! Remember: films are our primary sources, so take good notes. I strongly
recommend viewing films more than once, whenever possible.
CONTENT ADVISORY
Art and entertainment are filled with the many complicated elements of human life. This
means that many films contain violent and sexual content, nudity, all manner of potentially
offensive themes, and profanity. You should be aware that your continued enrollment in
this course requires that you consume such content with maturity and a scholarly
perspective. No viewing assignment will be waived on the basis of moral objection.
* indicates group screenings
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND ATTENDANCE
You are expected to do all of the reading and viewing, attend all classes, complete all
assignments, and participate fully in discussion. Attendance will be taken at the beginning
of each class meeting. Your course performance will certainly suffer when you are absent
and absences may result in a lowered grade. More than three absences may result in failure
of the course—there's just no point if you don't show up. The workload will sometimes
seem heavy—be mindful of the course requirements as we progress and work ahead when
you know in advance that it will be helpful/necessary.
PARTICIPATION (15%):
Class discussions make or break a course and I stress and assess participation accordingly.
Class discussions are fascinating when students:
• have read and viewed the texts and taken notes to which they can refer
• are willing to take risks in their comments, but back up their claims
• agree with, expand upon, and respectfully challenge colleagues’ comments
• are actively engaged at all times, but sometimes cede the floor to colleagues who have
spoken less frequently
• speak broadly at times, making connections amongst many texts, but avoid vagueness and
generalizations
• engage intimately with the texts, but avoid relying heavily on personal
experience or anecdotes
INFORMAL WRITING (10%): Occasionally, such as after special events or when we run into
difficulties, I will ask you to respond briefly and informally to a given prompt. I will give
you further instructions on that.
EXAMS: For each exam, you will be given a review sheet in advance. For the midterm and
final exams, you will be allowed to use (some) notes, so careful note-taking on texts, films,
and classroom lectures and discussions throughout the semester will serve you very well.
The best thing that you can do to prepare is to try to stay on top of the readings and
viewings as they are assigned. Getting behind is dangerous here!
EXAM 1 (5%): covering January 6-29
MIDTERM EXAM (25%): covering January 6-February 17
EXAM 3 (5%): covering February 24-March 12
EXAM 4 (5%): covering March 24-April 7
FINAL EXAM (35%): comprehensive
* indicates group screenings
OFFICE HOURS AND CONTACT
My office hours are as stated on this syllabus and students are encouraged to come by,
without appointment, during those times to discuss the course or just chat about movies.
Students who wish to see me on Friday should arrange it in advance. I also plan to do
"online office hours": this means that I will be available to students via gchat. Certainly,
students can reach me via email, but often conversations are more productive in real time,
so please favor that whenever possible.
If you are struggling in the course in any respect, please visit my office. Let’s work together
to ensure that you get as much as possible out of the course. It is in everyone’s interest that
we have open, honest, engaged communication. I’m not just saying that—I mean it.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Department Policy: "The Department of English and Philosophy defines plagiarism as
taking personal credit for the words and ideas of others as they are presented in electronic,
print, and verbal sources. The Department expects that students will accurately credit
sources in all assignments. An equally dishonest practice is fabricating sources or facts; it is
another form of misrepresenting the truth."
Plagiarism—on any assignment, large or small—will result in failure of the course. Lack of
dishonest intent is not an acceptable excuse for plagiarism. Confusion over the definition
of plagiarism is not an acceptable excuse for plagiarism. Should you have any questions
about what constitutes plagiarism, address these with me, the Writing Center, and/or the
library. Do not make assumptions and do not take risks. It is not worth it. The temptation
to cheat is always there in the age of the Internet—it is up to you to avoid the temptation
however you can.
* indicates group screenings
Common Language for Course Syllabi
Students should review the following information each semester, because these statements are updated as
federal, state, university, and accreditation standards change.
Americans with Disabilities Act
Students with a documented disability may work with UWG Accessibility Services to receive essential
services specific to their disability. All entitlements to accommodations are based on documentation and USG
Board of Regents standards. If a student needs course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability
or chronic illness, or if he/she needs to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated,
the student should notify his/her instructor in writing and provide a copy of his/her Student
Accommodations Report (SAR), which is available only from Accessibility Services. Faculty cannot offer
accommodations without timely receipt of the SAR; further, no retroactive accommodations will be given.
UWG Email Policy
University of West Georgia students are provided a MyUWG e-mail account. The University considers this
account to be an official means of communication between the University and the student. The purpose of the
official use of the student e-mail account is to provide an effective means of communicating important
university related information to UWG students in a timely manner. It is the student’s responsibility to check
his or her email.
Credit Hour Policy
The University of West Georgia grants one semester hour of credit for work equivalent to a minimum of one
hour (50 minutes) of in-class or other direct faculty instruction AND two hours of student work outside of
class per week for approximately fifteen weeks. For each course, the course syllabus will document the
amount of in-class (or other direct faculty instruction) and out-of-class work required to earn the credit
hour(s) assigned to the course. Out-of-class work will include all forms of credit-bearing activity, including
but not limited to assignments, readings, observations, and musical practice. Where available, the university
grants academic credit for students who verify via competency-based testing, that they have accomplished
the learning outcomes associated with a course that would normally meet the requirements outlined above
(e.g. AP credit, CLEP, and departmental exams).
University of West Georgia Honor Code
At the University of West Georgia, we believe that academic and personal integrity are based upon honesty,
trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility. Students at West Georgia assume responsibility for upholding the
honor code. West Georgia students pledge to refrain from engaging in acts that do not maintain academic and
personal integrity. These include, but are not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, aid of academic
dishonesty, lying, bribery or threats, and stealing.
The University of West Georgia maintains and monitors a confidential Academic Dishonesty Tracking System.
This database collects and reports patterns of repeated student violations across all the Colleges, the Ingram
Library, and the School of Nursing. Each incidence of academic dishonesty is subject to review and
consideration by the instructor, and is subject to a range of academic penalties including, but not limited to,
failing the assignment and/or failing the course. Student conduct sanctions range from verbal warning to
suspension or expulsion depending on the magnitude of the offense and/or number of offenses. The incident
becomes part of the student’s conduct record at UWG. Additionally, the student is responsible for
safeguarding his/her computer account. The student’s account and network connection are for his/her
individual use. A computer account is to be used only by the person to whom it has been issued. The student
is responsible for all actions originating through his/her account or network connection. Students must not
impersonate others or misrepresent or conceal their identities in electronic messages and actions.
* indicates group screenings
SEMESTER SCHEDULE
WEEK ONE
January 6:
Discussion: Introduction and Plato, “Allegory of the Cave”
January 8:
READING DUE:
Munsterberg, “Why We Go To The Movies” (CV)
Kracauer, “Basic Concepts” (FTC)
Berger, “Ways of Seeing” (CV)
Adorno and Horkheimer, “The Culture Industry” (CV)
WEEK TWO
January 13:
READING DUE:
“Part One: Early Cinema” (FH)
Bazin, “The Ontology of the Photographic Image” (FTC/CV)
“The Myth of Total Cinema” (FTC)
Gunning, “The Cinema of Attractions: Early Film, Its Spectator, and the
Avant- Garde” (CV)
“Narrative Discourse and the Narrator System” (FTC)
VIEWING DUE: Broken Blossoms (Griffith, 1919)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: Harakiri (Lang, 1919)
January 15:
READING DUE:
Bazin, “The Evolution of the Language of Cinema” (FTC)
Baudry, “The Apparatus” (FTC)
Eisenstein, “The Dramaturgy of Film Form” (CV/FTC)
“Beyond the Shot” (FTC)
Hansen, “The Mass Production of the Senses” (CV)
Chapter 6 (FH)
WEEK THREE
January 20: NO CLASS – WATCH A TON OF MOVIES!
* indicates group screenings
January 22: READING DUE: Chapters 4-5, 7-8 (FH)
Balazs, “The Close-Up” (CV)
“The Face of Man” (CV)
Barthes, “The Face of Garbo” (FTC)
VIEWING DUE: The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer, 1928)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: Flesh and the Devil (Brown, 1926)
WEEK FOUR
January 27:
READING DUE:
Metz, “Identification, Mirror” (CV/FTC)
“Disavowal, Fetishism” (CV/FTC)
“The Passion for Perceiving” (FTC)
“Loving the Cinema” (CV)
Some Points in the Semiotics of Cinema” (FTC)
“Problems of Denotation in the Fiction Film” (FTC)
VIEWING DUE: *Pandora’s Box (Pabst, 1929)
January 29: EXAM
WEEK FIVE
February 3:
READING DUE:
Naremore, “Protocols” (CV)
Dyer, “From ‘Stars’” (CV)
Braudy, “Acting: Stage vs. Screen” (FTC)
VIEWING DUE: Wall Street (Stone, 1987)
Fatal Attraction (Lyne, 1987)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: *Spite Marriage (Keaton, 1929)
*Safety Last (Lloyd, 1923)
February 5:
READING DUE:
Grierson, “First Principles of Documentary” (CV)
Nichols, “Performing Documentary” (CV)
Minh-Ha: “Documentary Is/Not a Name” (CV)
Chapter 24 (FH)
VIEWING DUE: Truth or Dare (Keshishian, 1991)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: Park Avenue: Money, Power, and the American Dream
(Gibney, 2012)
Grey Gardens (Maysles, Maysles, Hovde, and Meyer, 1975)
* indicates group screenings
February 6: Inside Job event attendance REQUIRED
WEEK SIX
February 10:
READING DUE:
Altman, “A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre” (FTC)
“A Semantic/Syntactic/Pragmatic Approach to Film Genre” (CV)
Braudy, “The Conventions of Connection” (FTC)
Schatz, “Film Genre and the Genre Film” (FTC)
VIEWING DUE: Red River (Hawks, 1948)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: Scarface (Hawks, 1932)
His Girl Friday (Hawks, 1940)
February 12:
READING DUE:
Schatz, “The Whole Equation of Pictures” (FTC)
Jewell, “How Howard Hawks Brought Baby Up” (FTC)
Astruc, “The Birth of a New Avant-Garde: Le Camera Stylo” (CV)
Christensen, “Studio Authorship, Corporate Art” (CV)
Chapters 10 and 19 (FH)
VIEWING DUE: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Hawks, 1953)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: Ball of Fire (Hawks, 1941)
The Big Sleep (Hawks, 1946)
WEEK SEVEN
February 17:
READING DUE:
Sarris, “Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962” (FTC)
“The Auteur Theory Revisited” (CV)
Wollen, “The Auteur Theory” (CV/FTC)
Corrigan, “The Commerce of Auteurism” (CV)
Wood, “Ideology, Genre, Auteur” (FTC)
VIEWING DUE: Rio Bravo (Hawks, 1959)
February 19: MIDTERM EXAM
* indicates group screenings
WEEK EIGHT
February 24:
READING DUE: “Part Four: The Postwar Era” (FH)
VIEWING DUE: Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954)
*Brief Encounter (Lean, 1945)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: The Red Shoes (Powell, 1948)
Shoot the Piano Player (Truffaut, 1960)
February 26:
READING DUE:
Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (FTC/CV)
Modleski, “Hitchcock, Feminism, and the Patriarchal
Unconscious” (CV)
“The Master’s Dollhouse” (FTC)
De Lauretis, “Desire in Narrative” (CV)
VIEWING DUE: Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)
Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: The Birds (Hitchcock, 1963)
Rebecca (Hitchcock, 1940)
WEEK NINE
****LAST DAY FOR GRADE OF ‘W’*****
March 3:
READING DUE:
Shohat and Stam, “Stereotype, Realism, and the Struggle over
Representation” (CV)
Diawara, “Black Spectatorship” (FTC)
VIEWING DUE: Jungle Fever (Lee, 1991)
King Kong (Cooper, 1933)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: Showboat (Whale, 1936)
Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (Liener, 2004)
Up in Smoke (Adler, 1978)
March 5:
READING DUE:
“Part Five: The Contemporary Cinema” (FH)
VIEWING DUE: Black Girl (Sembene, 1966)
Raging Bull (Scorsese, 1980)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: Midnight Cowboy (Schlesinger, 1969)
* indicates group screenings
WEEK TEN
March 10: READING DUE:
Clover, “Her Body, Himself” (CV)
Freeland, “Feminist Frameworks for Horror Films” (FTC)
Modleski, “The Terror of Pleasure” (FTC)
Williams, “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, Excess”
VIEWING DUE: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper, 1974)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: Halloween (Carpenter, 1978)
The Last House on the Left (Craven, 1972)
March 12: EXAM
March 17, 19: SPRING BREAK
WEEK ELEVEN
March 24:
READING DUE:
Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological
Reproducibility” (CV)
Carroll, “The Specificity Thesis” (FTC)
Mast, “Projection” (FTC)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: *Brokeback Mountain (Lee, 2005)
March 26:
READING DUE:
Solanas and Getino, “Toward a Third Cinema” (CV/FTC)
Chapter 23 (FH)
VIEWING DUE: The Cloud (Solanas, 1998)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: Death of a Bureaucrat (Gutiérrez, 1966)
Memories of Underdevelopment (Gutiérrez, 1968)
WEEK TWELVE
March 31: READING DUE:
Crofts, “Reconceptualizing National Cinema/s” (CV)
Virdi, “Nation and Its Discontents” (CV)
Dissanayake, “Issues in World Cinema” (FTC)
VIEWING DUE: Chocolat (Denis, 1988)
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (Mungiu, 2007)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Lee, 2000)
* indicates group screenings
April 2:
READING DUE:
Tasker, “Dumb Movies for Dumb People” (CV)
Chapters 22 and 27 (FH)
VIEWING DUE: Rambo: First Blood (Kotchef, 1980)
Hardboiled (Woo, 1992)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: The Bourne Identity (Liman, 2002)
March 28-April 6 Atlanta Film Festival attendance REQUIRED
WEEK THIRTEEN
April 7: READING DUE:
“Part Six: Cinema in the Age of Electronic Media” (FH)
Dogme95: “Manifesto” and “Vow of Chastity” (CV)
VIEWING DUE: The Celebration (Vinterberg, 1998)
April 9: EXAM
WEEK FOURTEEN
April 14:
READING DUE:
Manovich, “What Is Digital Cinema?” (CV)
“Synthetic Realism and Its Discontents” (FTC)
Friedberg, “The End of Cinema” (FTC)
Jenkins, “Searching for an Origami Unicorn” (CV)
Nakamura, “The Social Optics of Race and Networked Interfaces in The
Matrix Trilogy and Minority Report” (CV)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: The Matrix (Wachowski and Wachoswki, 1999)
April 16:
READING DUE:
Rodowick, “An Elegy for Theory” (CV)
VIEWING DUE: *Fitzcarraldo (Herzog, 1982)
SUGGESTED VIEWING: La Quattro Volte (Frammartino, 2010)
April 18-20: AFF-Carrollton and UWG Filmmakers Showcase attendance REQUIRED
FINALS WEEK: April 21: FINAL EXAMINATION
* indicates group screenings