Department of Film and Television Studies
Option Module 2009/10: Introduction to Film
Introduction to Film Studies is an option module open to students on any
degree course at Warwick which offers the opportunity to study film in the
top-ranked department of Film and Television Studies in the UK*. It will
introduce you to the basics of film analysis, involve you in key debates
about film history and give you the opportunity to see and discuss a wide
range of fictional and non-fictional, mainstream and independent, classic
and contemporary films - all projected on 35mm where possible.
The module investigates the aesthetic, technical and cultural
developments that have both shaped the films we study and structured
how we consume and access them today. Our work examines Hollywood
films like Casablanca (1943), Singin’ in the Rain (1952), Rebel Without a
Cause (1955), Mean Streets (1973), Do the Right Thing (1989) and Thelma
and Louise (1991). We also look, however, at films that represent
alternatives to Hollywood such as the German Expressionist Cabinet of Dr.
Caligari (1919), the Italian Neo-Realist Bicycle Thieves (1948), and Jean
Luc Godard’s French New Wave film Breathless (1959). We also examine
cinema now, focusing, for example, on the contemporary Hollywood
blockbuster alongside films like Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 21 Grams
(2003) and the Israeli animated documentary Waltz with Bashir (2008).
Along the way, we will study different genres (Film Noir and Neo Noir, the
Documentary, the Hollywood Musical, the Hollywood Action Film) and the
work of major stars and directors. While half the module is historically
focused, the other half is designed to take account of the transnational,
globalised nature of 21st century cinema and the implications of the new
digital technologies that have reconfigured film culture over the past 20
years.
The module will suit both those who already have some experience of Film
Studies and those who do not. Taking this module is also a prerequisite for
studying modules in the Department of Film and Television in subsequent
years, including specialist modules that focus in depth on the
development of Hollywood film.
*
According to the HEFCE Research Assessment Exercise conducted in 2008
INTRODUCTION TO FILM: 2009/10
Monday
10.00 -- 2.00 Film Screening 1
Tuesday
12.00 – 1.00 Lecture
Wednesday 10.00 – 3.00 Seminars
(Indicative Outline)
// 3.00 – 5.00 Film Screening 2
// 3.00 – 5.00 Film Screening 3
(N.B. One film per week is projected in different time slots to avoid timetable clashes; students
attend one 1 hour seminar on Wednesdays in one of six different time slots.)
Autumn Term
Weeks 1&2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Cinematography (Rebel Without a Cause, Nicholas Ray 1955)
Film Editing (Casablanca, Michael Curtiz 1943)
Film Sound (Thelma and Louise, Ridley Scott 1991)
Review of work: Film beginnings and endings
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
German Expressionism & film style (Cabinet of Dr Caligari, R. Wiene 1920)
Neo-Realism and cinematography (Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio De Sica 1948)
The Hollywood Musical (Singin in the Rain, Gene Kelly/Stanley Donen 1952)
Film Audience Behaviour : Digital viewing, DVDs, Youtube and beyond
Spring Term
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Documentary film making and the light-weight camera
(High School, Frederick Wiseman 1968)
Film Noir, B Movies and low budget film making
(The Big Combo, Joseph H.Lewis 1955, Detour Edgar Ulmer 1946)
The French New Wave
(A Bout De Souffle, Jean-Luc Godard 1959)
New Hollywood
(Mean Streets, Martin Scorsese 1973)
Independent Hollywood film making
(Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee 1989)
Neo Noir : Genre and Gender (Bound, A. & L. Wachowski 1996)
Narrative/Time (21 Grams, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu 2003)
Documentary Entertainment (The Thin Blue Line, Errol Morris 1989)
Animation/Documentary/Memory (Waltz with Bashir, Ari Folman 2008)
Summer Term
Week 1
Action/Spectacle : The Hollywood Blockbuster (Face/Off, John Woo 1990)
FILM & TELEVISION STUDIES
FI101 Introduction To Film Studies 2009-2010
Course Tutor : Martin Pumphrey
If you want to take this module, you must register your application (after consultation with your
department) with the Film and Television Studies Department Secretary :
Ms Tracey
McVey in the Humanities Building (Room 035/Ground Floor). Note : After July 2009,
Department of Film and Television Studies, Millburn House
Assessment:
One essay of 3,000 words
20%
Two essays totalling 3,000 words
20%
Examination (two hours, unseen)
60%
This module will involve students in TWO screenings (2 hours each) every week plus one lecture
and seminar. Reading in critical and theoretical texts will be needed. The course will be taught
in the Autumn and Spring terms, and weeks 1-4 of the Summer term.
Vacation Reading
The following books will be used throughout the course, so it would be a good idea to be
acquainted with them early on:


David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art (Knopf)
Pam Cook (ed) The Cinema Book (BFI)
Other recommended books are:


John Hill, Pamela Church Gibson (eds) The Oxford Guide to Film Studies (OUP)
V F Perkins, Film as Film (Penguin)