Introduction to Film Studies

Catalog description

The function of this course is to provide students with the tools to be in a position to respond fully to the movies they see. Responding fully to movies requires knowledge of how they are made, so the course will cover all the basic elements involved in the filmmaking process. We will talk some about the film industry, comparing various models of film production. We will talk at length about film technique and film structure; and students will acquire, over the course of the semester, a fairly extensive vocabulary for describing the ways filmed narratives unfold and the ways filmed images are constructed, arranged, and deployed. In the course of working their way through the reading (that is, the interpretation) of a dozen or so movies--both classical and contemporary, from both Hollywood and abroad--students will gain an understanding of such central film features as cinematography, editing, production design, sound design, and performance style. They will learn what critics and scholars mean when they talk about mise-en-scene and montage and the tension between the two. They will learn to identify different modes of screen reality. Most importantly, they will learn that responding fully to movies requires active critical engagement with films as purposive texts. Fulfills Core requirement(s): VPA.