Tentative Course Schedule
(subject to change as the needs of our class evolve)
Week One: Introduction
W 5 Jan. Introduction to course
F 7 Jan. The Beginnings of The Cinema
Section I: Narrative
Week Two: Defining Narrative
M 10 Jan. Read: Film: A Critical Introduction p. 60-76
W 12 Jan. (online reading)/ Discuss The Classical Paradigm and Alternative Narrative Structures
Screening: Full Metal Jacket (USA, Stanley Kubrick, 1987)
F 14 Jan. Analysis of Full Metal Jacket/ set up personal blogs
Week Three: Enigma and Delays
M 17 Jan. **University Holiday**
W 19 Jan. Discuss Roland Barthes’ “5 Codes of Meaning”
Screening: Psycho (USA, Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
F 21 Jan. Read: Film p.76-83/ Blog Assignment 1: Scene Analysis of Psycho
Week Four: Disrupting Conventions
M 24 Jan. Read: Laura Mulvey’s “Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho” (online)
W 26 Jan. Discuss Variations on Narrative Conventions
(Clips: L’aaventura, Blow Up)
Screening: Memento (USA, Christopher Nolan, 2000)
F 28 Jan. Read: V.F. Perkins’ “Moments of Choice” (online)
Section II: Mise-en-scène
Week Five: Expressive Use of Setting
M 31 Jan. Read: Film p.87-96/ Discuss Setting in Full Metal Jacket
W 2 Feb. German Expressionism (Clip: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)
Screening: Shark in the Head (Czech Republic, Maria Procházková, 2004)
F 4 Feb. Blog Assignment 2: Moments of Choice in Shark in the Head
Week Six: Film Noir and French Poetic Realism
M 7 Feb. Read: Film p.107-119/ Discuss Composition and Lighting
(Clips: Laura, The Man Who Wasn’t There)
W 9 Feb. Read: Film p.119-124/ Discuss French Poetic Realism
Screening: The Rules of the Game (French = La Règle de jeu) (France, Jean
Renoir, 1939)
F 11 Feb. Vocabulary Quiz #1
Section III: Cinematography
Week Seven: Camera Position and Movement
M 14 Feb. Paper #1 Due
W 16 Feb. Read: Film p. 129-151/ Discuss Camera Position and Movement
Screening: Late Spring (Japan, Yasujirō Ozu, 1949)
F 18 Feb. Blog Assignment 3: Camera Position (film of your choice)
Week Eight: Alternative Approaches
M 21 Feb. Read: Film p. 184-189/ (Clips: Triumph of the Will; Night and Fog)
W 23 Feb. Read: Film p. 151-159/ Discuss Depth of Field
Screening: Citizen Kane (USA, Orson Welles, 1941)
F 25 Feb. Vocabulary Quiz #2
Section IV: Editing
Week Nine: Shot Composition
M 28 Feb. Read: Film p. 191-212; 221-232/ Discuss Shot Transitions and Continuity Editing
W 2 March Discuss Space and Pace in Editing Choices/ Soviet Montage Influence
(Clip: The Battleship Potemkin)
Screening: The Hurt Locker (USA, Kathryn Bigelow, 2009)
F 4 March Blog Assignment 4: Scene Analysis of The Hurt Locker
***Spring Break Week à 7 March – 11 March***
Week Ten: Disrupting Conventions
M 14 March Discuss Continuity Editing
W 16 March Read: Film p.213-221
Screening: Breathless (French = À bout de souffle) (France, Jean-Luc Godard,
1960)
F 18 March Vocabulary Quiz #3
Week Eleven: Editing Choices
M 21 March Read: Stanley Cavell’s “A Capra Moment” (online)
W 23 March Discuss Editing and Narrative Structure
Screening: Atonement (USA, Joe Wright, 2007)
F 25 March Blog Assignment 5: Scene Analysis of Atonement
Section V: Sound
Week Twelve: Diegetic and Nondiegetic Sound
M 28 March Paper #2 Due
Read: Film p. 233-245; 261-271/ Introduction to sound
W 30 March Discuss use of sound in Atonement
Screening: Rear Window (USA, Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)
F 1 April Extra Credit: Screen Disturbia (2007) and write a 500 word blog entry that
compares Rear Window and Disturbia
Section VI: Avant-garde and Experimental Cinemas
Week Thirteen: Alternate Forms
M 4 April Read: Film p. 279-283; 293-303/ Distinguishing between Avant-garde, Experimental, and
Abstract Films
W 6 April Analyze Short Films: Un Chein andalou; Entr’acte, Black Ice, Rhythmus 21; Scorpio Rising
F 8 April Blog Assignment 6: Alternative Film Form Analysis
Section VII: International Cinema
Week Fourteen: Hollywood Isn’t the Only Cinema!
M 11 April Read: Film p. 310-326/ Overview of National Cinemas
W 13 April No Class à Student/Instructor Conferences
Screening: The Battle of Algiers (Italian = La battaglia di Algeri) (Italy, Gillo
Pontecorvo, 1966)
F 15 April No Class à Student/Instructor Conferences
Week Fifteen: Film and Ideology
M 18 April Read: Film p. 331-354
W 20 April Discuss American Ideologies in Film
Screening: The Wave (German = Die Welle) (Germany, Denis Gansel, 2009)
F 22 April University Reading Day
Week Sixteen:
M 25 April Final Film Analysis Paper Due
