Film Studies I (Fall 2015)
Scotch
Movies as Texts
A historical and artistic approach to film
Overview: This course treats film as a text that can be read in ways similar to the way we read words. It focuses on the visual nature of film, both its photographic and cinematographic properties, and teaches students how they can interpret images.
Course Readings (the readings will include but not be limited to the following):
•  Barsam,  Richard.     Looking  at  Movies:  An  Introduction  to  Film
•  Bordwell,  David  and  Thompson,  Kristin.     Film  Art:  An  Introduction,  9th  Edition
•  Corrigan,  Timothy.     A  Short  Guide  to  Writing  About  Film,  7th  Edition
•  Rosen,  Philip.     Narrative,  Apparatus,  Ideology:  A  Film  Theory  Reader
Grading Policy: Grades for the marking period will be the average of marks from a combination of exams, writing assignments, homework, and projects. Some work may be counted once while more in-depth writing assignments (like the Genre Paper) will count up to ten times.
One requirement of the course is to maintain a viewing notebook. This notebook will be a collection of your observations taken while viewing films in class. It will be graded at the end of each marking period and count for about 20% of the quarter grade. It is essential that you maintain a detailed notebook because you do not have the opportunity to re-screen films when preparing an essay or other project.
Not all the films shown in this course are readily available from Redbox or Netflix, so it is important that you are present to view the films in class. Unfortunately, You cannot borrow the school’s DVDs to take home for any reason, so if you miss part of a film, you must arrange to view it at some other time in school (unless you can obtain through the library, Amazon, etc.).
Please be sure that you view what you have missed so that you have continuity and thorough notes.
Late Assignments: If you have a legitimate reason for needing extra time for an assignment, you will be given extra time without a penalty. You must, however, discuss the issue with me beforehand. Assignments submitted late without permission will be penalized 10% each day they are late.
Syllabus:
I. Film NOT Literature
Unit 1: Introduction to Film
Review film clips to define key vocabulary such as focalization, editing, and mise-en-scène; study point of view editing, neutral focalization, authorial focalization, parallel editing, cross cutting, montage, tracking, crane shot, etc. Using the summer reading assignment, consider the decisions that arise when books are made into film.
• Test on film vocabulary and concepts

Unit 2: Psycho (1960)
Explore narrative in film using previously defined concepts. Introduce themes of voyeurism and the place of the audience in the composition of a film.
• Thinking paper on relationship between theme and image in Psycho
Unit 3: Rear Window (1954)
Discuss narrative structure and reflexivity. Examine the position of the audience in cinema through Keaton’s Sherlock Jr.
(1924).
• Essay on inter-textual connections between Sherlock Jr.
and Rear Window
II. Film Noir
Unit 4: Introduction to Genre
Examine openings and scenes from classic Film Noirs (e.g., Mildred Pierce (1945), Lady from Shanghai (1947), D.O.A.
(1950), Sunset Boulevard (1950)); identify Noir’s conventions and define the genre to clarify its stylistic traits (focalization, properties of mise-en-scène, voice over narration, characterization, conventions of gender, etc.). And introduce German
Expressionism and review film clips from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920).
Unit 5: Double Indemnity (1944) as Film Noir
Examine Double Indemnity as an example of Noir. Study the representation of male and female characters, discuss mise-en-scène and the attitudes implied towards middle class culture, heterosexual relationships, male identity, etc.
• Thinking paper: Noir motives as expressed in Double Indemnit y
Unit 6: Chinatown (1974): A New Noir for a Different Generation
Examine Chinatown as Film Noir. Study the social and political climate of the 70s and how
Chinatown is an expression of this climate.
• Essay on the inter-textual relationships (cinematographic, social, and political) between Chinatown and 40s Film Noir
Unit 7: Developing a Genre
Study Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), Usual Suspects (1995) and LA Confidential
(1997) as reflections on the Noir genre. Raise concepts of inter-textuality and humor.
Unit 8: Independently Defining a Genre
• Project: Genre Study 5-7 page research paper
III: The Unconventional
Unit 9: The Innovative & Avant-Garde
Define the characteristics of the “off-beat” and “unusual” (i.e., not Classical Hollywood
Cinema), and a study of The Graduate .
• Essay on The Graduate