FILM AND MEDIA STUDIES 46: INTRODUCTION TO FILM
Instructor
Nicole Starosielski
nicolestar@gmail.com
Office hours:
Tues 3:15-5:15pm, 1009 Rob Gym
(or by appointment)
Teaching Assistants
Noah Zweig, noah@noahz.org
Sections: Wed 1-1:50, 2-2:50, 3-3:50, Ellison 1710
Office hours: Wed 4-6pm, Ellison 1827
Nanette Pawelek, nanetteje@gmail.com
Sections: Wed 4-4:50. 5-5:50, 6-6:50, Ellison, 1710
Office Hours: Tues and Wed, 2-3pm, Ellison 1827
.
Ethan Tussey, ethantussey@gmail.com
Sections: Wed 4-4:50. 5-5:50, 6-6:50, Ellison, 1714
Office Hours: Wed 2-4pm, Ellison 1827
Lecture/Screenings
Tues/Thurs 11-1:50
Buchanan 1920
Required Texts
Film Art (8th edition), Bordwell & Thompson
Course Reader (CR), available at Grafikart (6550 Pardall
Road, Isla Vista, 805-968-3575).
Course website
http://filmstudies46.wordpress.com/
ABOUT THIS COURSE
The goal of this course is to expand what you know about film as an art, a technology, a business, and as
entertainment, as well as to expand the ways in which you understand, comprehend, and appreciate film.
We will cover the basic techniques of filmmaking (cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, and sound),
different film forms (for example, narrative form), and contextual influences on film production
(including genre, authorship, and the formal practices of animation and documentary). By the end of the
course, you will be able to critically analyze the form and techniques used in a wide range of films and
to communicate your ideas about them in both writing and discussion.
ASSIGNMENTS and GRADING
Film analysis assignments:
Paper 1 (2-3 pages long):
Paper 2 draft:
Paper 2 (5 pages long):
Section Participation:
Final Exam:
15%
15%
5%
25%
10%
30%
due each week by section
due Friday August 15th, 4:00 PM in 1720 Ellison Hall
due Wednesday August 27th in section
due Friday September 5th, 4:00 PM in 1720 Ellison Hall
Thursday September 11, 11-1:50
Film analysis assignments: These will range from plot breakdowns to storyboarding exercises that will
help develop your critical attention to film techniques. You need to complete 10 out of 11 (each is worth
1.5% of your total grade). If you complete all 11 you will receive 1.5 points extra credit at the end of the
course. You will be able to complete some of these during the screenings, while others may take 15-20
minutes to do afterwards. If you cannot make the screening period, you may view the film on your own
and complete the assignment, but the assignments must be turned in by the next section.
Final Exam: The final exam will cover all of the material from the course, but questions will be drawn
primarily from the assigned readings.
Viewing films outside of class: The films will be on reserve at Kerr Hall, so you can view them and
complete the film analysis assignments ahead of time if you cannot attend class.
Late Policy: Late papers will be accepted, but marked down a half grade for each day late. The film
analysis assignments may not be turned in late as we will often be going over them in section.
Exceptions and extensions may be granted to students with extenuating circumstances who contact me at
least a week in advance of the deadline (and you will have a better chance of getting an extension if you
come to my office hours than if you contact me through email). Requests for extensions made within a
week of the deadline have a very slim chance of being granted.
Extra credit: There will be a variety of opportunities for extra credit (in case, for example, you cannot
make it to every class and view all of the films). These are two of the options.
o Option 1: Attend the 2008 Blue Horizons Student Film Screenings Thursday, August 21, 7:00 p.m.
at the MultiCultural Center Theater. There will be an easy question on the final exam about the
films.
o Option 2: You may intern for the summer on one of the GreenScreen student film projects. These
are large crew production projects that are in the pre-production phase right now. This option is not
worth much extra credit (only a potential +1 point on your grade), so you should only get involved if
you really are interested in participating in pre-production on a film project. This would be a good
opportunity for any of you who would like to get involved in production, but it will be a time
commitment of at least two hours per week. Contact me at nicolestar@gmail.com by August 7th,
2008 if you are interested. As there are only a limited number of slots open, they will be filled on a
first come, first serve basis.
Pass/No Pass Option: Both papers, the final, and at least 5 of the film analysis assignments must be
completed in order to pass the course.
Academic Honesty: Our class will abide with the official University policy on plagiarism (outlined here:
http://hep.ucsb.edu/people/hnn/conduct/disq.html). You may face suspension, or even expulsion, for
copying text and ideas from the internet, other students’ work, books, or any written material without
citing it. You may use internet sources, but must cite them properly.
Academic Accommodations: If you are a student with a disability and would like to discuss special
academic accommodations, please contact me during office hours during the first two weeks of the term.
Lab fee: There is a $16 lab fee for all Film and Media Studies courses. Fee cards will be handed out in
class or can be picked up in the Film and Media Studies Office (1720 Ellison Hall). Instructions for
paying the fee at the Cashier’s Office are printed on the card. If the fee is not paid by the fee deadline, a
$16 charge will be assessed for each Film and Media Studies course in which you are enrolled. Lab fees
are not refundable.
Note: This syllabus is intended as a guideline for the course. Screenings and dates may be altered. The
most recent information will always be available on the course website.
WEEK 1: FORM AND STRUCTURE
Tuesday August 5: Film Form, Spectacle, and the Cinema of Attractions
Film: Sherlock Jr. (Keaton, 1924, 44 min)
Reading: Bishop, “The Great Stone Face” (CR).
Wednesday August 6: Section
Film analysis assignment 1 (Sherlock Jr.) due.
Thursday August 7: Telling and Retelling the Story: Rashomon and Narrative Form
Film: Rashomon (Kurosawa, 1950, 88 min)
Reading: Film Art pp. 54-71, 74-82, 86-94 (The Concept of Film Form,
Principles of Film Form, Principles of Narrative Construction, Narration: The Flow
of Story Information); Akutagawa, “In a Grove” (CR).
WEEK 2: ON SET
Tuesday August 12: Cinematography and Citizen Kane
Film: Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941, 119 min)
Reading: Film Art, pp. 96-106, 162-178, 182-213, 304-315 (Narrative
Form in Citizen Kane, The Photographic Image, Framing, Duration
of the Image: The Long Take, The Concept of Style, Style in
Citizen Kane).
Wednesday August 13: Section
Film analysis assignment 2 (Rashomon) and 3 (Citizen Kane) due
Thurs August 14: Staging the Scene: Comedy, Performance, and Mise-en-scene
Film: Some Like It Hot (Wilder, 1959, 120 min)
Reading: Film Art, pp. 112-133, 136-153 (Aspects of Mise-en-scene,
Putting it all together: Mise-en-scene in space & time); “The
Private Life of Billy Wilder” (CR); Excerpt from the script of Some
Like it Hot (CR).
Friday August 15: Paper 1 due – 4:00 PM
WEEK 3: PUTTING IT TOGETHER
Tuesday August 19: Editing and the French New Wave
Film: Breathless (Godard, 1960, 90 min)
Reading: Film Art, pp. 218-257 (What is Editing?, Dimensions of
Film Editing, Continuity Editing, Alternatives to Continuity
Editing); Andrew, “Breathless: Old as New” (CR); Truffaut,
“Breathless: The Original Treatment” (CR).
Wednesday August 20: Sections
Film analysis assignment 4 (Some Like it Hot) and 5 (Breathless) due
Thursday August 21: Sound, Music, and the Classic Musical
Film: Singin in the Rain (Donan, 1952, 103 min)
Reading: Film Art, pp. 264-279, 284-292 (Fundamentals of Film Sound,
Dimensions of Film Sound).
WEEK 4: CONTEXTS
Tuesday August 26: Genre Analysis and the Post-Classical Musical
Film: Cabaret (Fosse, 1972, 124 min)
Reading: Hayward, “Musical” (CR); Schatz, “Film Genre and the Genre
Film” (CR); Altman, “An Introduction to the Theory of Genre
Analysis” (CR).
Wednesday August 27: Sections
Film analysis assignment 6 (Singin in the Rain) and 7 (Cabaret) due
First draft of paper 2 due in section
Thursday August 28: Authorship and the Auteur – Michel Gondry
Film: Be Kind Rewind (2008, Gondry, 102 min)
Reading: Bordwell, “The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice” (CR);
Cook “Authorship and Cinema” (CR); CHC/ART
CINEMA/AVANT GARDE handout (CR).
WEEK 5: PRACTICES
Thursday September 2: Documentary Practices
Film: The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (Müller, 1993, 180 min)
Reading: Sobchack and Sobchack, “Historical Overview: The Development of
the Documentary Film” (CR); Loiperdinger and Culbert, “Leni Riefenstahl, the
SA, and the Nazi Party Rally Films, Nuremberg 1933-1934: 'Sieg des Glaubens'
and 'Triumph des Willens” (CR); Renov, “Surveying the Subject: An
Introduction” (CR).
Wednesday September 3: Sections
Film analysis assignment 8 (Be Kind Rewind) and 9 (The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Reifenstahl)
due
Tuesday September 4: Animation, Toons, and Other Conflicts with “Reality”
Film: Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Zemeckis, 1988, 104 min)
Reading: Sobchack and Sobchack, “Historical Overview: The
Development of Experimental, Independent, and Animated
Filmmaking” (CR); Wells, “Thinking About Animation” (CR).
Paper 2 due: Friday September 5, 4:00 PM
WEEK 6: EXPANDING CINEMA
Tuesday September 9: Expanding Cinema
Reading and screenings to be determined.
Wednesday September 10: Sections
Film analysis assignment 10 (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) and 11 (Expanding Cinema) due
Thursday September 11: Final Exam