Film as Literature Syllabus
Instructor Information
Mrs. Joyce Robley
Phone: 814.443.2831 ext. 3430
Email: jroble@sasd.us
Course Description
In school we often only think of literature in the traditional sense: novels, plays, short stories, and poetry. This
course aims to add film as an additional form of literature to be read. In this course, students will be challenged
to become critical observers able to determine how directors use cinematic techniques to highlight this form of
text. This course will require written analyses where students can voice their opinions regarding the use and
effectiveness of literary and film devices.
Course Structure
Students can expect to spend time learning various cinematic techniques and terminology. These terms will
provide the foundation for students’ critical viewing analysis. Students will also discuss various lenses through
which to view film. Often times, people remain passive when viewing movies. It’s fun and relaxing and escapist.
However, in this course, we will not walk away from a film saying whether or not we liked it, but rather how
effective the director was or was not in telling a narrative in a moving picture. Thus, it is important to give
students background on the various ways that we can view a film as we would a short story or novel.
This course will follow a patterned sequence of viewing, analyzing, and discussion films. Students can expect the
following sequence:
Students will have approximately 5 minutes to free write in their journals after each viewing. Students are
encouraged to take notes throughout the film as well, but the final few minutes will be devoted to reacting to
the film and being a reflective viewer. Students are encouraged to write down questions with which we can
generate discussion the following day before viewing. Students will use their journals to respond to in-class
writing exercises aimed at assessing each student’s understanding of cinematic techniques and how they relate
to the narrative as a whole. A specific rubric will be distributed prior to the first in-class writing assignment.
After each film, students will have time to discuss in small and large groups in order to come to a richer, more
comprehensive viewing of the film. Students will draft tentative blogs for their critique of each film. Students
will be given lab time for blog writing after each film. A specific rubric will be distributed for blog grading.
Students may be asked to conduct research or read supplementary materials and texts in addition to watching
the films.
Students are encouraged to come to class, as make up work will prove challenging for a film course. Students
must understand that they may have to rent the film on their own to get caught up, as accommodations for
absences cannot always be made.
Films
The following is a list of films and themes that we will trace throughout the semester. Please note that we may
not get to all of them. Additionally, films marked with an asterisk (*) indicate that the film has been assigned an
R rating. Parents are asked to preview the film or review why the film was given an R rating in advance. Online
databases like IMBD are often helpful in giving a synopsis of the film and a rationale for its rating. By remaining
in the course, you and your parents are giving consent to the following list of films for the semester:
Theme 1: Coming of Age
The Breakfast Club*
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Good Will Hunting*
Theme 2: Social Issue: Mental Disabilities
I am Sam
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest*
Theme 3: A Moral Dilemma
Sling Blade
The Cider House Rules
Theme 4: The Power of Education
The Pursuit of Happyness
Dead Poets Society
Theme 5: Epiphany and Pivotal Moments
Big Fish
Walk the Line
Theme 6: Being Human
The Shawshank Redemption*
Life is Beautiful
Theme 7: Animation and Adult Themes
Up
Shrek
Final Exam
Slumdog Millionaire*
Film Terminology
1. Rack Focus- one part of the frame is out of focus and the other is in focus. This is a way of controlling
point of view.
2. Pan- the camera is fixed but turns to follow action or to view a scene. A whip-pan is a rapid sweep in
which objects blur. If the camera pans up or down, the shot can be called a tilt.
3. Tracking- the camera moves on a track paralleling the action.
4. Dolly Shot- the camera is mounted on a dolly and smoothly parallels the action, but the lens can also
zoom in or out as the camera follows the action. Or, the camera could be hand-held and parallels the
action for increased realism.
5. High Angle- the stationary camera looks down on the subject. (It can be judgmental) If the camera is on
a boom, it can zoom down and in close (or zoom even farther away) in one continuous motion.
6. Low Angle- the camera looks up at the subject. In this way, the subject can be commanding.
7. Straight Shot- the camera is at the subject’s level. The straight shot can be tight (creating more
intensity), medium, distant, or it can be a wide shot.
8. Zoom-in or Zoom-out- the camera closes rapidly on the subject. Trucking is when the whole camera
moves away from the action, widening the scene as if the viewer is moving back.
9. Cut, Straight Cut- one shot is simply added to another.
10. Montage- a series of straight cuts in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A montage
also might be a quick series of straight cuts as the camera moves closer and closer to a subject.
11. Cross-cut- different scenes, often occurring at the same time, are connected. For example, if a cavalry is
charging toward a wagon train, the shots will alternate between eh charging cavalry and the threatened
wagon train.
12. Dissolve- one image fades out while a superimposed image fades in. Sometimes it means that the first
context bring about the second. It can be used to suggest time’s passage.
13. Match-cut- when the camera focuses on a scene and the next shot focuses on a smaller aspect of that
scene.
14. Two-shot (or reverse shot)- a character is pointing at someone looking at the character and the next
shot shows the person looking. If the characters are talking, the two shot can also be a reaction shot.
15. Jump Cut or Crossing the Axis- when the camera is shooting a circular pattern, to jump more than 180
degrees can create a disorienting effect.
Working Questions for Analyzing Films for Blog Ideas
Film as a formal work
1. How does the film begin? How are viewers introduced to the story world of the film? Where are we
positioned or situated as spectators? What expectations are established in the opening sequence?
2. How do location, set design, costuming, and other elements of mise-en-scene create a fictional world?
How would you describe the visual setting or environment? What effect does it have on the mood and
tone of the film?
3. How is the camera used? It is mobile? Static? Does the camera stay close in or move back to a distance?
4. How does the editing create a rhythm and continuity in the film? Is the pacing slow or fast? Are editing
techniques used to create tension or contrast?
5. How does the film end? Where are viewers left at the close of the film? Are we given any retrospective
distance in the story? Is the narrative framed? Doe the ending offer a sense of closure?
Film as cultural text
1. When was the film made? What social and historical contexts does it seem to be responding to explicitly
or implicitly? What about the film seems dated? Why? What seems current and contemporary?
2. How does the film interpret universal themes into a contemporary context or setting?
3. How are relationships between men and women represented? Does the film rely on conventional
definitions of masculinity and femininity? Does it offer any contrasting or unconventional
representations of gender and gender difference? What kinds of power to men possess and use? What
kinds of power do women possess and use?
4. Are there any nonhuman characters in the film? How are these characters represented? How do they
interact with human characters? What kind of language and imagery is used to describe them? Do these
nonhuman characters seem to have a gender? A racial or ethnic identity? What function do the
characters serve in the film?
5. Does the film present any religious or cultural images or icons (crosses, cathedrals, cemeteries, temples,
masks)? How are there meanings used in the film? What do they signify? How are their meanings
changed or influenced by the events in the story?
6. Which characters in the film are marked or identified by their social class or economic status? Are any
characters unmarked by class difference? Does social class have any relationship or power in the film?
Do any characters move from one class to another? How?
7. Does the film echo or allude to other cultural texts (other films, pop culture, music)? How are these
“intertexts” significant in the film?