Monday, February 23, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Take Home Midterm
FILM 2400 Exam I
The following short answer questions have been formulated in a way that presupposes that you have read all articles very carefully and synthesized the main line of argument in each article. DO NOT use any direct quotes. Instead, paraphrase or summarize the arguments you are discussing. TYPE your responses. No hand-written exams will be accepted. Each response must be at least one page long (Time New Roman, 12 pts, double spaced).
10 questions x 10 points each = 100 points
Choose ONLY 10 from the following 20 questions:
1. Identify and briefly explain at least two of the ways in which the notion of ‘theory’ in the humanities (e.g. film theory) differs from the notion of ‘theory’ in the hard sciences.
2. Identify and briefly explain two major differences between formalist and realist theories of film.
3. Identify and briefly explain at least three types of montage that Eisenstein discusses in his essays.
4. Identify and briefly explain at least three ways in which film is not merely a mechanical reproduction of reality, according to Arnheim.
5. Identify and briefly explain at least three ways in which the photoplay differs from the stage play, according to Münsterberg.
6. According to Bazin, how does identification in cinema function differently from identification in theatre?
7. Why does Bazin argue that the cinema of Flaherty and Orson Wells is superior to German Expressionism (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) and to montage cinema (Eisenstein)?
8. What does Panofsky mean by “the dynamization of space”?
9. What does Panofsky mean when he writes that “the screenplay, in contrast to the theatre play, has no aesthetic existence independent of its performance, and...its characters have no aesthetic existence outside the actors” (299)?
10. Identify and briefly explain the four ‘cinematic subjects’ Kracauer discusses under the title “recording functions.”
11. Identify and briefly explain at least four of the ‘cinematic subjects’ Kracauer discusses under the title “revealing functions.”
12. Identify and briefly explain at least three ways in which literature differs from cinema, according to Chatman.
13. Identify and briefly explain the three premises of the auteur theory, according to Andrew Sarris.
14. What is the difference between an ‘auteur’ and a ‘metteur en scène’?
15. What makes Hawks an auteur, according to Peter Wollen?
16. What does Barthes mean when he writes that “the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author”?
17. How does the ritual theory of genre differ from the ideological theory of genre?
18. How does the semantic theory of genre differ from the syntactic theory of genre?
19. According to Althusser, what is an Ideological State Apparatus (ISA) and how does it function? How is the notion of ISA relevant to the study of film?
20. According to Barthes, what is the structure of myth and how does it function? How is the notion of myth relevant to the study of film?
The following short answer questions have been formulated in a way that presupposes that you have read all articles very carefully and synthesized the main line of argument in each article. DO NOT use any direct quotes. Instead, paraphrase or summarize the arguments you are discussing. TYPE your responses. No hand-written exams will be accepted. Each response must be at least one page long (Time New Roman, 12 pts, double spaced).
10 questions x 10 points each = 100 points
Choose ONLY 10 from the following 20 questions:
1. Identify and briefly explain at least two of the ways in which the notion of ‘theory’ in the humanities (e.g. film theory) differs from the notion of ‘theory’ in the hard sciences.
2. Identify and briefly explain two major differences between formalist and realist theories of film.
3. Identify and briefly explain at least three types of montage that Eisenstein discusses in his essays.
4. Identify and briefly explain at least three ways in which film is not merely a mechanical reproduction of reality, according to Arnheim.
5. Identify and briefly explain at least three ways in which the photoplay differs from the stage play, according to Münsterberg.
6. According to Bazin, how does identification in cinema function differently from identification in theatre?
7. Why does Bazin argue that the cinema of Flaherty and Orson Wells is superior to German Expressionism (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) and to montage cinema (Eisenstein)?
8. What does Panofsky mean by “the dynamization of space”?
9. What does Panofsky mean when he writes that “the screenplay, in contrast to the theatre play, has no aesthetic existence independent of its performance, and...its characters have no aesthetic existence outside the actors” (299)?
10. Identify and briefly explain the four ‘cinematic subjects’ Kracauer discusses under the title “recording functions.”
11. Identify and briefly explain at least four of the ‘cinematic subjects’ Kracauer discusses under the title “revealing functions.”
12. Identify and briefly explain at least three ways in which literature differs from cinema, according to Chatman.
13. Identify and briefly explain the three premises of the auteur theory, according to Andrew Sarris.
14. What is the difference between an ‘auteur’ and a ‘metteur en scène’?
15. What makes Hawks an auteur, according to Peter Wollen?
16. What does Barthes mean when he writes that “the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author”?
17. How does the ritual theory of genre differ from the ideological theory of genre?
18. How does the semantic theory of genre differ from the syntactic theory of genre?
19. According to Althusser, what is an Ideological State Apparatus (ISA) and how does it function? How is the notion of ISA relevant to the study of film?
20. According to Barthes, what is the structure of myth and how does it function? How is the notion of myth relevant to the study of film?
Monday, February 16, 2009
Philip Rosen Readings
The article "Introduction: The Saussurian Impulse and Cinema Semiotics” in Narrative, Apparatus, Ideology can be found online here.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=z3aMBDEPnwQC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=Introduction:+The+Saussurian+Impulse+and+Cinema+Semiotics&source=bl&ots=Z_It82X0cN&sig=_K0EUFLUCoK_2AmvMBD_Hwil9SQ&hl=en&ei=JCmUSZ-3MtjLmQe0yLj_CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA3,M1
http://books.google.ca/books?id=z3aMBDEPnwQC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=Introduction:+The+Saussurian+Impulse+and+Cinema+Semiotics&source=bl&ots=Z_It82X0cN&sig=_K0EUFLUCoK_2AmvMBD_Hwil9SQ&hl=en&ei=JCmUSZ-3MtjLmQe0yLj_CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA3,M1
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Due Date for Take Home Midterm
The due date for the take home will be Feb 26th, one week from the day it is given to you in class.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Mythologies
Hi Everyone,
If you haven't already picked it up, you'll notice that Mythologies (the readings for this week) is a difficult text. You will need to read it very carefully and will likely need to do some research to make sure your clear on some of the semiotic principles Barthes discusses.
That said, in addition to reading the Barthes, I'm including the url of a very good lecture below which gives some historical context and expands upon some of Barthes ideas.
http://seacoast.sunderland.ac.uk/~os0tmc/myth.htm
Take your time with this text--it can be very rewarding if it is read carefully. You will have great insight into the picture below if you do!
If you haven't already picked it up, you'll notice that Mythologies (the readings for this week) is a difficult text. You will need to read it very carefully and will likely need to do some research to make sure your clear on some of the semiotic principles Barthes discusses.
That said, in addition to reading the Barthes, I'm including the url of a very good lecture below which gives some historical context and expands upon some of Barthes ideas.
http://seacoast.sunderland.ac.uk/~os0tmc/myth.htm
Take your time with this text--it can be very rewarding if it is read carefully. You will have great insight into the picture below if you do!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Whadayawant?
This the the "what do you need to get by in three weeks" post-strike thread I promised.
Also, Prof. Trifanova is setting the due date of the paper to March 5th. It will be turned in at the Tutorial.
Make Comments!
Eli
Also, Prof. Trifanova is setting the due date of the paper to March 5th. It will be turned in at the Tutorial.
Make Comments!
Eli
Final Essay Paper
FILM 2400: Film Theory
Final Essay (due March 2)
7-10 pages (double-spaced, 12pts Times New Roman) + Works Cited Page (following MLA style)
Sources: You are required to use at least 5 print sources in your paper. Four of these sources MUST be articles from our textbook; the fifth one can be either an article from the textbook OR an external source. You cannot use any Internet sources (unless the source is a valid online academic journal). In addition to the 5 print sources, you are required to make reference to at least 2 of the films screened in class. Total: 7 sources.
1. What is formalist film theory? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by formalist theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of formalist theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the formalist theory readings).
2. What is realist film theory? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by formalist theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of realist theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the realist theory readings).
3. What is authorship film theory? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by authorship theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of authorship theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the authorship theory readings).
4. What is genre film theory? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by genre theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of genre theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the genre theory readings).
5. What is the theory of ideology? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by ideology theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of ideology theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the ideology theory readings).
6. What is structuralist film theory? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by structuralist theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of structuralist theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the structuralist theory readings).
7. What is semiotic film theory? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by semiotic theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of semiotic theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the semiotic theory readings).
8. What is psychoanalytic film theory? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by psychoanalytic theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of psychoanalytic theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the psychoanalytic theory readings).
9. How does cinema differ from the other arts: 1) photography; 2) theatre; 3) painting; 4) literature? What are some of the problems with the ‘medium specificity argument’ underlying comparative or inter-art analyses? (NOTE: If you choose this question, you will have to read one of the optional articles on the syllabus: Carroll, Noël. “Philosophical Problems of Classical Film Theory: The Specificity Theory”, Braudy and Cohen 332-338). In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the inter-art readings).
Final Essay (due March 2)
7-10 pages (double-spaced, 12pts Times New Roman) + Works Cited Page (following MLA style)
Sources: You are required to use at least 5 print sources in your paper. Four of these sources MUST be articles from our textbook; the fifth one can be either an article from the textbook OR an external source. You cannot use any Internet sources (unless the source is a valid online academic journal). In addition to the 5 print sources, you are required to make reference to at least 2 of the films screened in class. Total: 7 sources.
1. What is formalist film theory? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by formalist theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of formalist theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the formalist theory readings).
2. What is realist film theory? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by formalist theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of realist theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the realist theory readings).
3. What is authorship film theory? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by authorship theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of authorship theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the authorship theory readings).
4. What is genre film theory? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by genre theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of genre theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the genre theory readings).
5. What is the theory of ideology? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by ideology theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of ideology theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the ideology theory readings).
6. What is structuralist film theory? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by structuralist theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of structuralist theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the structuralist theory readings).
7. What is semiotic film theory? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by semiotic theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of semiotic theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the semiotic theory readings).
8. What is psychoanalytic film theory? What are its premises? What are its objectives? What are some of the tensions/contradictions within this theory? What are the advantages of this theory (e.g. how does it contribute to our understanding of film or what can it tell us about film that other theories can’t; what aspects of film that remain ignored in other film theories are illuminated or explained by psychoanalytic theory)? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of psychoanalytic theory (e.g. is it applicable to all films; does it ignore certain important aspects of film that other theories deal with in greater detail or more successfully)? In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the psychoanalytic theory readings).
9. How does cinema differ from the other arts: 1) photography; 2) theatre; 3) painting; 4) literature? What are some of the problems with the ‘medium specificity argument’ underlying comparative or inter-art analyses? (NOTE: If you choose this question, you will have to read one of the optional articles on the syllabus: Carroll, Noël. “Philosophical Problems of Classical Film Theory: The Specificity Theory”, Braudy and Cohen 332-338). In your discussion of these questions you should make references to at least 2 of the films screened in class (the films you choose to reference don’t have to be the ones screened in conjunction with the inter-art readings).
Revised Syllabus
Course: FILM 2400 – Film Theory
Term: Fall-Winter 2008/2009 (full year course)
Prerequisite: FA/FILM 1010 3.00, FA/FILM 1020 3.00, FA/FILM 1400 6.00. Corequisites: FA/FILM 2010 6.00, FA/FILM 2020 3.00, FA/FILM 2120 6.00.
Course Instructor: Temenuga Trifonova
Office: Centre for Film and Theatre, Room 215
Office Hours: Thursdays 12-1pm, or by appointment
E-mail: temenuga@yorku.ca
Tutors: Malcolm Morton, Elijah Horwatt, Cameron Moneo
Time and Location:
Lectures: Curtis Lecture Hall G, Thursdays 8:30-11:30am
Expanded Course Description
What is the relationship between film and reality? What distinguishes film from the other arts? How do films signify? Is cinema a kind of language? How is the film viewer’s subjectivity constructed by the cinematographic apparatus and by particular film techniques? This course provides an overview of the major areas of film theory indispensable for an understanding of the cinema. Topics include: Antecedents of Film Theory, Classical Film Theory, Authorship and Auteur Theory, Genre Theory, Cinema and Ideology, Structuralism, Semiotics, Psychoanalysis, Performance Theory, Feminist Theory, Reception Theory, Post-Structuralism, Deconstruction and Postmodernism, Queer Theory, Cognitive and Analytic Theory, Historiography, Race and Representation, National and Transnational Cinemas, Film Remakes and Sequels, Philosophy of Film. Lectures will be supplemented by film screenings. Tutorial meetings will be the main locus for discussion of required and recommended reading and assignments in the course. The required readings are central to the course. The lectures and tutorials will serve to enrich, clarify, and illustrate crucial issues from the assigned readings.
Course Learning Objectives
(1) The purpose of this course is to help students critically evaluate the major developments in film theory from the early period to the present, to look for meaningful connections between the various texts they read, and to consider the changes in their critical reception over the years.
(2) The specific objectives of the course are that students will be able to:
• acquire a firm grasp of the history of film theory
• read critically dense theoretical texts
• apply a variety of theoretical approaches to a range of cinematic texts
Course Text / Readings
Braudy, Leo and Marshall Cohen, eds. Film Theory and Criticism, 6th ed. (New York & Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004). Available at the university bookstore.
Additional readings may be assigned or recommended during the course.
Grading: The grading scheme for the course conforms to the 9-point grading system used in undergraduate programs at York (e.g., A+ = 9, A = 8, B+ - 7, C+ = 5, etc.). Assignments and tests will bear either a letter grade designation or a corresponding number grade (e.g. A+ = 90 to 100, A = 80 to 90, B+ = 75 to 79, etc.)
(For a full description of York grading system see the York University Undergraduate Calendar - http://calendars.registrar.yorku.ca/pdfs/ug2004cal/calug04_5_acadinfo.pdf)
Assignment submission: Proper academic performance depends on students doing their work not only well, but on time. Accordingly, assignments for this course must be received on the due date specified for the assignment. Assignments are to be handed in at the end of class.
Lateness Penalty: Assignments received later than the due date will be penalized one-half letter grade (1 grade point) per day that the assignment is late. Exceptions to the lateness penalty for valid reasons such as illness, compassionate grounds etc. may be entertained by the Course Instructor but will require supporting documentation (e.g., a doctor’s letter).
Missed Tests: Students with a documented reason for missing a course test, such as illness, compassionate grounds, etc., which is confirmed by supporting documentation (e.g., doctor’s letter) may request accommodation from the Course Instructor (e.g. they may be allowed to write a make-up test on a date specified by the Course Instructor.) Further extensions or accommodation will require students to submit a formal petition to the Faculty.
IMPORTANT COURSE INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS
All students are expected to familiarize themselves with the following information, available on the Senate Committee on Curriculum & Academic Standards webpage (see Reports, Initiatives, Documents)
http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/senate_cte_main_pages/ccas.htm
* York’s Academic Honesty Policy and Procedures/Academic Integrity Website
* Ethics Review Process for research involving human participants
* Course requirement accommodation for students with disabilities, including physical, medical, systemic, learning and psychiatric disabilities
* Student Conduct Standards
* Religious Observance Accommodation
Academic Honesty and Integrity
York students are required to maintain high standards of academic integrity and are subject to the Senate Policy on Academic Honesty
(http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/legislation/senate/acadhone.htm).
There is also an academic integrity website with complete information about academic honesty. Students are expected to review the materials on the Academic Integrity website (http://www.yorku.ca/academicintegrity/students.htm).
Access/Disability
York provides services for students with disabilities (including physical, medical, learning and psychiatric disabilities) needing accommodation related to teaching and evaluation methods/materials. It is the student's responsibility to register with disability services as early as possible to ensure that appropriate academic accommodation can be provided with advance notice. You are encouraged to schedule a time early in the term to meet with each professor to discuss your accommodation needs. Failure to make these arrangements may jeopardize your opportunity to receive academic accommodations.
Additional information is available at www.yorku.ca/disabilityservices or from disability service providers:
• Office for Persons with Disabilities: N108 Ross, 416-736-5140, www.yorku.ca/opd
• Learning and Psychiatric Disabilities Programs - Counselling & Development Centre: 130 BSB, 416-736-5297, www.yorku.ca/cdc
• Atkinson students - Atkinson Counselling & Supervision Centre: 114 Atkinson, 416-736- 5225, www.yorku.ca/atkcsc
• Glendon students - Glendon Counselling & Career Centre: Glendon Hall 111, 416-487- 6709, www.glendon.yorku.ca/counselling
Ethics Review Process
York students are subject to the York University Policy for the Ethics Review Process for Research Involving Human Participants. In particular, students proposing to undertake research involving human participants (e.g., interviewing the director of a company or government agency, having students complete a questionnaire, etc.) are required to submit an Application for Ethical Approval of Research Involving Human Participants at least one month before you plan to begin the research. If you are in doubt as to whether this requirement applies to you, contact your Course Director immediately.
Religious Observance Accommodation
York University is committed to respecting the religious beliefs and practices of all members of the community, and making accommodations for observances of special significance to adherents. Should any of the dates specified in this syllabus for an in-class test or examination pose such a conflict for you, contact the Course Director within the first three weeks of class. Similarly, should an assignment to be completed in a lab, practicum placement, workshop, etc., scheduled later in the term pose such a conflict, contact the Course director immediately. Please note that to arrange an alternative date or time for an examination scheduled in the formal examination periods (December and April/May), students must complete an Examination Accommodation Form, which can be obtained from Student Client Services, Student Services Centre or online at http://www.registrar.yorku.ca/pdf/exam_accommodation.pdf
Student Conduct
Students and instructors are expected to maintain a professional relationship characterized by courtesy and mutual respect and to refrain from actions disruptive to such a relationship. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the instructor to maintain an appropriate academic atmosphere in the classroom, and the responsibility of the student to cooperate in that endeavour. Further, the instructor is the best person to decide, in the first instance, whether such an atmosphere is present in the class. A statement of the policy and procedures involving disruptive and/or harassing behaviour by students in academic situations is available on the York website
http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/legislation/senate/harass.htm
Please note that this information is subject to periodic update. For the most current information, please go to the CCAS webpage (see Reports, Initiatives, Documents): http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/senate_cte_main_pages/ccas.htm.
FALL TERM
Evaluation
Tutorial attendance and participation: 10%
Tutorial quizzes (best 4 of 5): 10%
Short essay I (4 pages): 20%
Exam I (Take Home Exam Distributed February 19, Due February 26): 30%
Essay I (7-10 pages, Due March 5): 30%
September 4: What is Film Theory?
Screening:
C’est arrivé près de chez vous / Man Bites Dog (Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde, 1992)
Readings:
Branston, Gill. “Why Theory?” in Reinventing Film Studies 18-33 (reserve)
Dyer, Richard. “Introduction to Film Studies” in Film Studies: Critical Approaches, eds. John Hill and Pamela Higson 1-8 (reserve)
Stam, Robert. “The Antecedents of Film Theory” and “Film and Film Theory: The Beginnings” in Robert Stam, Film Theory: An Introduction 10-22 (reserve)
September 11: Classical Film Theory: The Formalist Impulse
Screening:
Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925)
Readings:
Eisenstein, Sergei. “Beyond the Shot [The Cinematographic Principle and the Ideogram]”, Braudy and Cohen 13-23
Eisenstein, Sergei. “The Dramaturgy of Film Form [The Dialectical Approach to Film Form]”, Braudy and Cohen 23-40
Arnheim, Rudolf. “Film and Reality”, Braudy and Cohen 322-326
Arnheim, Rudolf. “The Making of a Film”, Braudy and Cohen 326-331
Carroll, Noël. “Philosophical Problems of Classical Film Theory: The Specificity Theory”, Braudy and Cohen 332-338
September 18: Classical Film Theory: The Ontology of Film
Screening:
Il Deserto rosso / Red Desert (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964)
Readings:
Bazin, André. “The Ontology of the Photographic Image”, Braudy and Cohen 166-170
Bazin, André. “The Evolution of the Language of Cinema”, Braudy and Cohen 41-53
September 25: Questions of Realism
Screening:
The Lumière Brothers’ first films (selections):
Sortie des usines Lumière (Lumière bros., France, 1895)
Démolition d’un mur (Lumière bros., France, 1895)
Déjeuner de bébé (Lumière bros., France, 1895)
Enfants aux jouets (Lumière bros., France, 1895)
Partie d’écarté (Lumière bros., France, 1895)
Arroseur arrosé (Lumière bros., France, 1895)
Umberto D. (Vittorio De Sica, 1952)
Readings:
Kracauer, Siegfried. “The Establishment of Physical Existence”, Braudy and Cohen 303-314
Panofsky, Erwin. “Style and Medium in the Motion Pictures”, Braudy and Cohen 289-302
Prince, Stephen. “True Lies: Perceptual Realism, Digital Images, and Film Theory”, Braudy and Cohen 270-282
October 2: Film and the Other Arts
DUE: Short Essay
Screening:
Beckett on Film, 2001
Not I / directed by Neil Jordan
Ohio impromptu / directed by Charles Sturridge
Play / directed by Anthony Minghella
Act without words I / directed by Karel Reisz
Breath / directed by Damien Hirst
Une partie de campange / A Day in the Country (Jean Renoir, 1936)
Readings:
Münsterberg, Hugo. “The Means of the Photoplay”, Braudy and Cohen 411-418
Arnheim, Rudolf. “The Complete Film”, Braudy and Cohen 183-186
Bazin, André. “Theater and Cinema”, Braudy and Cohen 418-429
Sontag, Susan. “Theater and Film”, Styles of Radical Will 99-123 (reserve)
Chatman, Seymour. “What Novels Can Do That Films Can’t (and Vice Versa)”, Braudy and Cohen 445-461
October 9 Yom Kippur. No class.
October 16: Authorship and Auteur Theory
Screening:
Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
Readings:
Sarris, Andrew. “Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962”, Braudy and Cohen 561-565
Wollen, Peter. “The Auteur Theory,” Braudy and Cohen 565-581
Barthes, Roland. “The Death of the Author” in Authorship: From Plato to the Postmodern (reserve)
Andrew, Dudley. “The Unauthorized Auteur Today” in Film Theory Goes to the Movies, 77-86 (reserve)
October 23: Genre Theory
Screening:
Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)
Readings:
Altman, Rick. A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre”, Braudy and Cohen 680-691
Krutnik, Frank. “Genre and the Problem of Film Noir”, In a Lonely Street: Film Noir, Genre, Masculinity, 15-29 (reserve)
Borde, Raymond and Etienne Chaumeton. “Toward a Definition of Film Noir” (pp. 5-13) and “The Sources of Film Noir” (pp.15-28) in Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton, A Panorama of American Film Noir (San Francisco: City Lights Books, 2002) (reserve)
February 5: Cinema and Ideology
Screening:
Rambo: First Blood, part II (George Cosmatos, 1985)
Readings:
Althusser, Louis. “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses” in Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays (reserve)
Comolli, Jean-Luc and Jean Narboni, “Cinema/Ideology/Criticism”, Braudy and Cohen 812-820
February 12: Structuralism
Screening:
High Noon (Fred Zinnemann, 1952)
Readings:
Barthes, Roland. “Myth Today,” Mythologies, 109-159 (reserve)
February 19: Semiotics TAKE HOME EXAMS DISTRIBUTED
Screening:
Two or Three Things I Know About Her (Jean-Luc Godard, 1966)
Readings:
Rosen, Philip. “Introduction: The Saussurian Impulse and Cinema Semiotics” in Narrative, Apparatus, Ideology, Philip Rosen, ed. (reserve)
Metz, Christian. “Some Points in the Semiotics of the Cinema”, Braudy and Cohen 65-72
Metz, Christian. “Problems of Denotation in the Fiction Film”, Braudy and Cohen 72-87
Wollen, Peter. “Godard and Counter Cinema: Vent d’Est”, Braudy and Cohen 525-533
WINTER TERM
Evaluation
Tutorial attendance and participation: 10%
Tutorial quizzes (best 5 of 6): 10%
Short essay II (4 pages, due April 9): 20%
Exam II (April 16): 30%
Essay II (7-10 pages, Due May 25): 30%
March 5: Spectatorship
Screening:
Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 1960)
Readings:
Metz, Christian. “From The Imaginary Signifier”, Baudry and Cohen 820-836
Baudry, Jean-Louis. “The Apparatus: Metapsychological Approaches to the Impression of Reality in Cinema”, Baudry and Cohen 206-223
Carroll, Noël. “Jan-Louis Baudry and ‘The Apparatus’”, Baudry and Cohen 224-239
Heath, Stephen. “On Suture” in Questions of Cinema, 76-113 (reserve)
Pribram, E. Diedre. “Spectatorship and Subjectivity” in Toby Miller and Robert Stam, eds. A Companion to Film Theory (optional)
MARCH 6: Thomas Elsaesser IN PERSON at Cinematheque Ontario
March 12: Cinematic Excess
Screening:
Ichi the Killer (Takashi Miike, 2001)
Readings:
Thompson, Kristin. “The Concept of Cinematic Excess”, Braudy and Cohen 513-525
Williams, Linda. “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess”, Braudy and Cohen 727-742
Sconce, Jeffrey. “‘Trashing’ the Academy: Taste, Excess, and an Emerging Politics of Cinematic Style,” Braudy and Cohen 534-553
March 19: Stars and Performance
Screening:
Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945)
Reading:
Ellis, John. “Stars as a Cinematic Phenomenon”, Braudy and Cohen 598-606
Allen, Robert. “The Role of the Star in Film History [Joan Crawford]”, Braudy and Cohen 606-620
Haskell, Molly. “Female Stars of the 1940s”, Braudy and Cohen 620-634
Heath, Stephen. “Film Performance” in Questions of Cinema, 113-131 (reserve)
Miriam Hansen, “Valentino and Female Spectatorship,” 634-652 (optional)
March 26: NO CLASS (I am away at a conference)
April 2: Feminist Theory
Screening:
Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)
Reading:
Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”, Braudy and Cohen 837-848
de Lauretis, Teresa. “Rethinking Women’s Cinema: Aesthetics and Feminist Theory” in
Stam, Robert and Toby Miller, eds. Film & Theory: An Anthology (reserve)
Doane, Mary Ann. “Film and the Masquerade: Theorizing the Female Spectator” in The Film Studies Reader, J. Hollows, P. Hutchings & Mark Jancovich, eds. (reserve)
Modleski, Tania. “The Master’s Dollhouse: Rear Window”, Braudy and Cohen 849-862
April 9: Reception Theory SHORT ESSAY DUE
Screening:
All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955)
Reading:
Thomas Elsaesser, “Tales of Sound and Fury: Observations on the Family Melodrama” in Home is Where the Heart Is (ed. Christine Gledhill) (reserve)
King, Noel. “Hermeneutics, Reception Aesthetics, and Film Interpretation” in John Hill & Pamela Church Gibson, eds. The Oxford Guide to Film Studies
Staiger, Janet. “Modes of Reception” and “The Perversity of Spectators: Expanding the History of the Classical Hollywood Cinema” in Perverse Spectators: The Practices of Film Reception
Pribram, E. Diedre. “Spectatorship and Subjectivity” in Toby Miller and Robert Stam, eds. A Companion to Film Theory
April 16: The Cinematic Avant-Garde IN CLASS EXAM
Screening:
The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes (Stan Brakhage, 1971)
Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, US, 1943)
Readings:
Deren, Maya. “Cinematography: The Creative Use of Reality”, Braudy and Cohen 187-198
Brakhage, Stan. “From Metaphors of Vision”, Braudy and Cohen 199-205
Gunning, Tom. “An Aesthetics of Astonishment: Early Film and the (In)Credulous Spectator,” Braudy and Cohen 862-877
April 23: Post-Structuralism, Deconstruction and Post Modernism
Screening:
Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999)
Reading:
Brunette, Peter. “Post-Structuralism and Deconstruction” in John Hill & Pamela Church Gibson, eds. The Oxford Guide to Film Studies (reserve)
Hill, John. “Film and Postmodernism” in John Hill & Pamela Church Gibson, eds. The Oxford Guide to Film Studies (reserve)
Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” in Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. eds., 6th ed. Film Theory and Criticism, 791-812
April 30: Queer Theory
Screening:
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953)
Reading:
“Everyone’s Here for Love: Bisexuality and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” 131-155 in Alexander Doty, Flaming Classics: Queering the Film Canon (reserve)
Smelik, Anneke. “Gay and Lesbian Criticism” in John Hill & Pamela Church Gibson, eds. The Oxford Guide to Film Studies (reserve)
Doty, Alexander. “There’s Something Queer Here” in The Film Studies Reader, J. Hollows, P. Hutchings & Mark Jancovich, eds. (reserve)
Erhart, Julia. “Laura Mulvey Meets Catherine Tramell Meets the She-Man: Counter History, Reclamation, and Incongruity in Lesbian, Gay, Queer Film and Media Criticism” in Toby Miller and Robert Stam, eds., A Companion to Film Theory (reserve)
May 7: Cognitive and Analytic Theory
Screening:
Un Chien Andalou (Luis Bunuel, 1929) and Following (Christopher Nolan, 1998)
Readings:
Prince, Stephen. “The Discourse of Pictures: Iconicity and Film Studies”, Braudy and Cohen 87-105
Bordwell, David. “Contemporary Film Studies and the Vicissitudes of Grand Theory” in Post Theory: Reconstructing Film Studies (reserve)
Bordwell, David. “Making Films Mean” (1-18) and “Routines and Practices” (19-40) in Making Meaning: Inference and Rhetoric in the Interpretation of Cinema (reserve)
May 14: Postcolonial theory
Screening:
How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (Nelson Pereira dos Santos, 1971)
Readings:
Stam, Robert and Louise Spence. “Colonialism, Racism, and Representation: An Introduction,” Braudy and Cohen 877-892
Teshome Gabriel, “Toward a Critical Theory of Third World Films” in Cinemas of the Black Diaspora, 70-90 (reserve)
Shohat, Ella and Robert Stam, “The Third Worldist Film” in Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media, 248-292 (reserve)
May 21: Film and Philosophy
Screening:
Eclipse (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962)
Readings:
Deleuze, Gilles. “Beyond the Movement Image,” Braudy and Cohen 250-270
Hanson, Karen. “Minerva in the Movies: Relations between Philosophy and Film” in Philosophy of Film and Motion Pictures: An Anthology, Noël Carroll and Jinhee Choi, eds. (reserve)
Russell, Bruce. “The Philosophical Limits of Film” in Philosophy of Film and Motion Pictures: An Anthology, Noël Carroll and Jinhee Choi, eds. (reserve)
Term: Fall-Winter 2008/2009 (full year course)
Prerequisite: FA/FILM 1010 3.00, FA/FILM 1020 3.00, FA/FILM 1400 6.00. Corequisites: FA/FILM 2010 6.00, FA/FILM 2020 3.00, FA/FILM 2120 6.00.
Course Instructor: Temenuga Trifonova
Office: Centre for Film and Theatre, Room 215
Office Hours: Thursdays 12-1pm, or by appointment
E-mail: temenuga@yorku.ca
Tutors: Malcolm Morton, Elijah Horwatt, Cameron Moneo
Time and Location:
Lectures: Curtis Lecture Hall G, Thursdays 8:30-11:30am
Expanded Course Description
What is the relationship between film and reality? What distinguishes film from the other arts? How do films signify? Is cinema a kind of language? How is the film viewer’s subjectivity constructed by the cinematographic apparatus and by particular film techniques? This course provides an overview of the major areas of film theory indispensable for an understanding of the cinema. Topics include: Antecedents of Film Theory, Classical Film Theory, Authorship and Auteur Theory, Genre Theory, Cinema and Ideology, Structuralism, Semiotics, Psychoanalysis, Performance Theory, Feminist Theory, Reception Theory, Post-Structuralism, Deconstruction and Postmodernism, Queer Theory, Cognitive and Analytic Theory, Historiography, Race and Representation, National and Transnational Cinemas, Film Remakes and Sequels, Philosophy of Film. Lectures will be supplemented by film screenings. Tutorial meetings will be the main locus for discussion of required and recommended reading and assignments in the course. The required readings are central to the course. The lectures and tutorials will serve to enrich, clarify, and illustrate crucial issues from the assigned readings.
Course Learning Objectives
(1) The purpose of this course is to help students critically evaluate the major developments in film theory from the early period to the present, to look for meaningful connections between the various texts they read, and to consider the changes in their critical reception over the years.
(2) The specific objectives of the course are that students will be able to:
• acquire a firm grasp of the history of film theory
• read critically dense theoretical texts
• apply a variety of theoretical approaches to a range of cinematic texts
Course Text / Readings
Braudy, Leo and Marshall Cohen, eds. Film Theory and Criticism, 6th ed. (New York & Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004). Available at the university bookstore.
Additional readings may be assigned or recommended during the course.
Grading: The grading scheme for the course conforms to the 9-point grading system used in undergraduate programs at York (e.g., A+ = 9, A = 8, B+ - 7, C+ = 5, etc.). Assignments and tests will bear either a letter grade designation or a corresponding number grade (e.g. A+ = 90 to 100, A = 80 to 90, B+ = 75 to 79, etc.)
(For a full description of York grading system see the York University Undergraduate Calendar - http://calendars.registrar.yorku.ca/pdfs/ug2004cal/calug04_5_acadinfo.pdf)
Assignment submission: Proper academic performance depends on students doing their work not only well, but on time. Accordingly, assignments for this course must be received on the due date specified for the assignment. Assignments are to be handed in at the end of class.
Lateness Penalty: Assignments received later than the due date will be penalized one-half letter grade (1 grade point) per day that the assignment is late. Exceptions to the lateness penalty for valid reasons such as illness, compassionate grounds etc. may be entertained by the Course Instructor but will require supporting documentation (e.g., a doctor’s letter).
Missed Tests: Students with a documented reason for missing a course test, such as illness, compassionate grounds, etc., which is confirmed by supporting documentation (e.g., doctor’s letter) may request accommodation from the Course Instructor (e.g. they may be allowed to write a make-up test on a date specified by the Course Instructor.) Further extensions or accommodation will require students to submit a formal petition to the Faculty.
IMPORTANT COURSE INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS
All students are expected to familiarize themselves with the following information, available on the Senate Committee on Curriculum & Academic Standards webpage (see Reports, Initiatives, Documents)
http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/senate_cte_main_pages/ccas.htm
* York’s Academic Honesty Policy and Procedures/Academic Integrity Website
* Ethics Review Process for research involving human participants
* Course requirement accommodation for students with disabilities, including physical, medical, systemic, learning and psychiatric disabilities
* Student Conduct Standards
* Religious Observance Accommodation
Academic Honesty and Integrity
York students are required to maintain high standards of academic integrity and are subject to the Senate Policy on Academic Honesty
(http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/legislation/senate/acadhone.htm).
There is also an academic integrity website with complete information about academic honesty. Students are expected to review the materials on the Academic Integrity website (http://www.yorku.ca/academicintegrity/students.htm).
Access/Disability
York provides services for students with disabilities (including physical, medical, learning and psychiatric disabilities) needing accommodation related to teaching and evaluation methods/materials. It is the student's responsibility to register with disability services as early as possible to ensure that appropriate academic accommodation can be provided with advance notice. You are encouraged to schedule a time early in the term to meet with each professor to discuss your accommodation needs. Failure to make these arrangements may jeopardize your opportunity to receive academic accommodations.
Additional information is available at www.yorku.ca/disabilityservices or from disability service providers:
• Office for Persons with Disabilities: N108 Ross, 416-736-5140, www.yorku.ca/opd
• Learning and Psychiatric Disabilities Programs - Counselling & Development Centre: 130 BSB, 416-736-5297, www.yorku.ca/cdc
• Atkinson students - Atkinson Counselling & Supervision Centre: 114 Atkinson, 416-736- 5225, www.yorku.ca/atkcsc
• Glendon students - Glendon Counselling & Career Centre: Glendon Hall 111, 416-487- 6709, www.glendon.yorku.ca/counselling
Ethics Review Process
York students are subject to the York University Policy for the Ethics Review Process for Research Involving Human Participants. In particular, students proposing to undertake research involving human participants (e.g., interviewing the director of a company or government agency, having students complete a questionnaire, etc.) are required to submit an Application for Ethical Approval of Research Involving Human Participants at least one month before you plan to begin the research. If you are in doubt as to whether this requirement applies to you, contact your Course Director immediately.
Religious Observance Accommodation
York University is committed to respecting the religious beliefs and practices of all members of the community, and making accommodations for observances of special significance to adherents. Should any of the dates specified in this syllabus for an in-class test or examination pose such a conflict for you, contact the Course Director within the first three weeks of class. Similarly, should an assignment to be completed in a lab, practicum placement, workshop, etc., scheduled later in the term pose such a conflict, contact the Course director immediately. Please note that to arrange an alternative date or time for an examination scheduled in the formal examination periods (December and April/May), students must complete an Examination Accommodation Form, which can be obtained from Student Client Services, Student Services Centre or online at http://www.registrar.yorku.ca/pdf/exam_accommodation.pdf
Student Conduct
Students and instructors are expected to maintain a professional relationship characterized by courtesy and mutual respect and to refrain from actions disruptive to such a relationship. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the instructor to maintain an appropriate academic atmosphere in the classroom, and the responsibility of the student to cooperate in that endeavour. Further, the instructor is the best person to decide, in the first instance, whether such an atmosphere is present in the class. A statement of the policy and procedures involving disruptive and/or harassing behaviour by students in academic situations is available on the York website
http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/legislation/senate/harass.htm
Please note that this information is subject to periodic update. For the most current information, please go to the CCAS webpage (see Reports, Initiatives, Documents): http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/senate_cte_main_pages/ccas.htm.
FALL TERM
Evaluation
Tutorial attendance and participation: 10%
Tutorial quizzes (best 4 of 5): 10%
Short essay I (4 pages): 20%
Exam I (Take Home Exam Distributed February 19, Due February 26): 30%
Essay I (7-10 pages, Due March 5): 30%
September 4: What is Film Theory?
Screening:
C’est arrivé près de chez vous / Man Bites Dog (Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde, 1992)
Readings:
Branston, Gill. “Why Theory?” in Reinventing Film Studies 18-33 (reserve)
Dyer, Richard. “Introduction to Film Studies” in Film Studies: Critical Approaches, eds. John Hill and Pamela Higson 1-8 (reserve)
Stam, Robert. “The Antecedents of Film Theory” and “Film and Film Theory: The Beginnings” in Robert Stam, Film Theory: An Introduction 10-22 (reserve)
September 11: Classical Film Theory: The Formalist Impulse
Screening:
Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925)
Readings:
Eisenstein, Sergei. “Beyond the Shot [The Cinematographic Principle and the Ideogram]”, Braudy and Cohen 13-23
Eisenstein, Sergei. “The Dramaturgy of Film Form [The Dialectical Approach to Film Form]”, Braudy and Cohen 23-40
Arnheim, Rudolf. “Film and Reality”, Braudy and Cohen 322-326
Arnheim, Rudolf. “The Making of a Film”, Braudy and Cohen 326-331
Carroll, Noël. “Philosophical Problems of Classical Film Theory: The Specificity Theory”, Braudy and Cohen 332-338
September 18: Classical Film Theory: The Ontology of Film
Screening:
Il Deserto rosso / Red Desert (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964)
Readings:
Bazin, André. “The Ontology of the Photographic Image”, Braudy and Cohen 166-170
Bazin, André. “The Evolution of the Language of Cinema”, Braudy and Cohen 41-53
September 25: Questions of Realism
Screening:
The Lumière Brothers’ first films (selections):
Sortie des usines Lumière (Lumière bros., France, 1895)
Démolition d’un mur (Lumière bros., France, 1895)
Déjeuner de bébé (Lumière bros., France, 1895)
Enfants aux jouets (Lumière bros., France, 1895)
Partie d’écarté (Lumière bros., France, 1895)
Arroseur arrosé (Lumière bros., France, 1895)
Umberto D. (Vittorio De Sica, 1952)
Readings:
Kracauer, Siegfried. “The Establishment of Physical Existence”, Braudy and Cohen 303-314
Panofsky, Erwin. “Style and Medium in the Motion Pictures”, Braudy and Cohen 289-302
Prince, Stephen. “True Lies: Perceptual Realism, Digital Images, and Film Theory”, Braudy and Cohen 270-282
October 2: Film and the Other Arts
DUE: Short Essay
Screening:
Beckett on Film, 2001
Not I / directed by Neil Jordan
Ohio impromptu / directed by Charles Sturridge
Play / directed by Anthony Minghella
Act without words I / directed by Karel Reisz
Breath / directed by Damien Hirst
Une partie de campange / A Day in the Country (Jean Renoir, 1936)
Readings:
Münsterberg, Hugo. “The Means of the Photoplay”, Braudy and Cohen 411-418
Arnheim, Rudolf. “The Complete Film”, Braudy and Cohen 183-186
Bazin, André. “Theater and Cinema”, Braudy and Cohen 418-429
Sontag, Susan. “Theater and Film”, Styles of Radical Will 99-123 (reserve)
Chatman, Seymour. “What Novels Can Do That Films Can’t (and Vice Versa)”, Braudy and Cohen 445-461
October 9 Yom Kippur. No class.
October 16: Authorship and Auteur Theory
Screening:
Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
Readings:
Sarris, Andrew. “Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962”, Braudy and Cohen 561-565
Wollen, Peter. “The Auteur Theory,” Braudy and Cohen 565-581
Barthes, Roland. “The Death of the Author” in Authorship: From Plato to the Postmodern (reserve)
Andrew, Dudley. “The Unauthorized Auteur Today” in Film Theory Goes to the Movies, 77-86 (reserve)
October 23: Genre Theory
Screening:
Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)
Readings:
Altman, Rick. A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre”, Braudy and Cohen 680-691
Krutnik, Frank. “Genre and the Problem of Film Noir”, In a Lonely Street: Film Noir, Genre, Masculinity, 15-29 (reserve)
Borde, Raymond and Etienne Chaumeton. “Toward a Definition of Film Noir” (pp. 5-13) and “The Sources of Film Noir” (pp.15-28) in Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton, A Panorama of American Film Noir (San Francisco: City Lights Books, 2002) (reserve)
February 5: Cinema and Ideology
Screening:
Rambo: First Blood, part II (George Cosmatos, 1985)
Readings:
Althusser, Louis. “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses” in Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays (reserve)
Comolli, Jean-Luc and Jean Narboni, “Cinema/Ideology/Criticism”, Braudy and Cohen 812-820
February 12: Structuralism
Screening:
High Noon (Fred Zinnemann, 1952)
Readings:
Barthes, Roland. “Myth Today,” Mythologies, 109-159 (reserve)
February 19: Semiotics TAKE HOME EXAMS DISTRIBUTED
Screening:
Two or Three Things I Know About Her (Jean-Luc Godard, 1966)
Readings:
Rosen, Philip. “Introduction: The Saussurian Impulse and Cinema Semiotics” in Narrative, Apparatus, Ideology, Philip Rosen, ed. (reserve)
Metz, Christian. “Some Points in the Semiotics of the Cinema”, Braudy and Cohen 65-72
Metz, Christian. “Problems of Denotation in the Fiction Film”, Braudy and Cohen 72-87
Wollen, Peter. “Godard and Counter Cinema: Vent d’Est”, Braudy and Cohen 525-533
WINTER TERM
Evaluation
Tutorial attendance and participation: 10%
Tutorial quizzes (best 5 of 6): 10%
Short essay II (4 pages, due April 9): 20%
Exam II (April 16): 30%
Essay II (7-10 pages, Due May 25): 30%
March 5: Spectatorship
Screening:
Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 1960)
Readings:
Metz, Christian. “From The Imaginary Signifier”, Baudry and Cohen 820-836
Baudry, Jean-Louis. “The Apparatus: Metapsychological Approaches to the Impression of Reality in Cinema”, Baudry and Cohen 206-223
Carroll, Noël. “Jan-Louis Baudry and ‘The Apparatus’”, Baudry and Cohen 224-239
Heath, Stephen. “On Suture” in Questions of Cinema, 76-113 (reserve)
Pribram, E. Diedre. “Spectatorship and Subjectivity” in Toby Miller and Robert Stam, eds. A Companion to Film Theory (optional)
MARCH 6: Thomas Elsaesser IN PERSON at Cinematheque Ontario
March 12: Cinematic Excess
Screening:
Ichi the Killer (Takashi Miike, 2001)
Readings:
Thompson, Kristin. “The Concept of Cinematic Excess”, Braudy and Cohen 513-525
Williams, Linda. “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess”, Braudy and Cohen 727-742
Sconce, Jeffrey. “‘Trashing’ the Academy: Taste, Excess, and an Emerging Politics of Cinematic Style,” Braudy and Cohen 534-553
March 19: Stars and Performance
Screening:
Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945)
Reading:
Ellis, John. “Stars as a Cinematic Phenomenon”, Braudy and Cohen 598-606
Allen, Robert. “The Role of the Star in Film History [Joan Crawford]”, Braudy and Cohen 606-620
Haskell, Molly. “Female Stars of the 1940s”, Braudy and Cohen 620-634
Heath, Stephen. “Film Performance” in Questions of Cinema, 113-131 (reserve)
Miriam Hansen, “Valentino and Female Spectatorship,” 634-652 (optional)
March 26: NO CLASS (I am away at a conference)
April 2: Feminist Theory
Screening:
Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)
Reading:
Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”, Braudy and Cohen 837-848
de Lauretis, Teresa. “Rethinking Women’s Cinema: Aesthetics and Feminist Theory” in
Stam, Robert and Toby Miller, eds. Film & Theory: An Anthology (reserve)
Doane, Mary Ann. “Film and the Masquerade: Theorizing the Female Spectator” in The Film Studies Reader, J. Hollows, P. Hutchings & Mark Jancovich, eds. (reserve)
Modleski, Tania. “The Master’s Dollhouse: Rear Window”, Braudy and Cohen 849-862
April 9: Reception Theory SHORT ESSAY DUE
Screening:
All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955)
Reading:
Thomas Elsaesser, “Tales of Sound and Fury: Observations on the Family Melodrama” in Home is Where the Heart Is (ed. Christine Gledhill) (reserve)
King, Noel. “Hermeneutics, Reception Aesthetics, and Film Interpretation” in John Hill & Pamela Church Gibson, eds. The Oxford Guide to Film Studies
Staiger, Janet. “Modes of Reception” and “The Perversity of Spectators: Expanding the History of the Classical Hollywood Cinema” in Perverse Spectators: The Practices of Film Reception
Pribram, E. Diedre. “Spectatorship and Subjectivity” in Toby Miller and Robert Stam, eds. A Companion to Film Theory
April 16: The Cinematic Avant-Garde IN CLASS EXAM
Screening:
The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes (Stan Brakhage, 1971)
Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, US, 1943)
Readings:
Deren, Maya. “Cinematography: The Creative Use of Reality”, Braudy and Cohen 187-198
Brakhage, Stan. “From Metaphors of Vision”, Braudy and Cohen 199-205
Gunning, Tom. “An Aesthetics of Astonishment: Early Film and the (In)Credulous Spectator,” Braudy and Cohen 862-877
April 23: Post-Structuralism, Deconstruction and Post Modernism
Screening:
Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999)
Reading:
Brunette, Peter. “Post-Structuralism and Deconstruction” in John Hill & Pamela Church Gibson, eds. The Oxford Guide to Film Studies (reserve)
Hill, John. “Film and Postmodernism” in John Hill & Pamela Church Gibson, eds. The Oxford Guide to Film Studies (reserve)
Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” in Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. eds., 6th ed. Film Theory and Criticism, 791-812
April 30: Queer Theory
Screening:
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953)
Reading:
“Everyone’s Here for Love: Bisexuality and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” 131-155 in Alexander Doty, Flaming Classics: Queering the Film Canon (reserve)
Smelik, Anneke. “Gay and Lesbian Criticism” in John Hill & Pamela Church Gibson, eds. The Oxford Guide to Film Studies (reserve)
Doty, Alexander. “There’s Something Queer Here” in The Film Studies Reader, J. Hollows, P. Hutchings & Mark Jancovich, eds. (reserve)
Erhart, Julia. “Laura Mulvey Meets Catherine Tramell Meets the She-Man: Counter History, Reclamation, and Incongruity in Lesbian, Gay, Queer Film and Media Criticism” in Toby Miller and Robert Stam, eds., A Companion to Film Theory (reserve)
May 7: Cognitive and Analytic Theory
Screening:
Un Chien Andalou (Luis Bunuel, 1929) and Following (Christopher Nolan, 1998)
Readings:
Prince, Stephen. “The Discourse of Pictures: Iconicity and Film Studies”, Braudy and Cohen 87-105
Bordwell, David. “Contemporary Film Studies and the Vicissitudes of Grand Theory” in Post Theory: Reconstructing Film Studies (reserve)
Bordwell, David. “Making Films Mean” (1-18) and “Routines and Practices” (19-40) in Making Meaning: Inference and Rhetoric in the Interpretation of Cinema (reserve)
May 14: Postcolonial theory
Screening:
How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (Nelson Pereira dos Santos, 1971)
Readings:
Stam, Robert and Louise Spence. “Colonialism, Racism, and Representation: An Introduction,” Braudy and Cohen 877-892
Teshome Gabriel, “Toward a Critical Theory of Third World Films” in Cinemas of the Black Diaspora, 70-90 (reserve)
Shohat, Ella and Robert Stam, “The Third Worldist Film” in Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media, 248-292 (reserve)
May 21: Film and Philosophy
Screening:
Eclipse (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962)
Readings:
Deleuze, Gilles. “Beyond the Movement Image,” Braudy and Cohen 250-270
Hanson, Karen. “Minerva in the Movies: Relations between Philosophy and Film” in Philosophy of Film and Motion Pictures: An Anthology, Noël Carroll and Jinhee Choi, eds. (reserve)
Russell, Bruce. “The Philosophical Limits of Film” in Philosophy of Film and Motion Pictures: An Anthology, Noël Carroll and Jinhee Choi, eds. (reserve)
Monday, February 2, 2009
A Return to Ideology
Hi Everyone,
I'm not going to post the Ideology powerpoint because we'll be reviewing it in Thursday's tutorial.
I wanted to share a link to an article, which may help us understand the ideological elements of Rambo: First Blood Part 2 especially in the context of the Reagan Presidency in the US and the Cold War.
Eli
I'm not going to post the Ideology powerpoint because we'll be reviewing it in Thursday's tutorial.
I wanted to share a link to an article, which may help us understand the ideological elements of Rambo: First Blood Part 2 especially in the context of the Reagan Presidency in the US and the Cold War.
Eli
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
