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ANTHROPOLOGY
ANTH 106 CULTURE THROUGH FILM
Krystal Harper
Lecture Tu 18:30-22:30
Discussion W 10:10;12:20;2:30; Th W 10:10;12:20;2:30;
4:40; 19:00; F 9:05; 10:10; 11:15; 12:20
Films, lectures, discussion. Exploration of different
societies and cultures, and theories of cultural anthropology through the
medium of film. Ethnographic, documentary, and feature films are
used to focus on a wide array of cultures and to examine such topics as
ecological adaptations, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, politics,
and social change. Cinema as a medium of communication and cross-cultural
understanding.
ART Check with department for course enrollment eligibility.
ART 230 PHOTOGRAPHY I
TuTh 8:00-10:45 Bart 51 or TuTh 11:15-2:00 Bart
51
Introduction to photographic tools and methods.
The balance between self-inquiry and the importance of process and materials
as vehicles of meaning. Theory explored through class critiques and
slide presentations. Photography examined and discussed both from
a personal point of view and in its wider context.
ART 297Q ANIMATION FUNDAMENTALS
P. Galvis-Assmus
WF 9:05-11:50 FAC 447
With studio. Introduction to methods and techniques
of animation, as well as history of experimental film. Hands-on work
with object, sand, line, and clay animation among others. Basic audio
and video skills. Students develop projects of their own design resulting
in a fully-edited videotape of their work. Pre-requisite: ART
271 or consent of the instructor.
ART 375 INTRO TO ELECTRONIC STILL PHOTOGRAPHY
G. Gerbracht
TuTh 8:00-10:45 FAC 444
With studio. Aspects of image processing in the
context of electronic still photography. Topics include: image acquisition,
image enhancement, image analysis, spatial and color transformation, image
display and recording. Students develop images and algorithms for
display on various devices. Pre-requisites: ART 271 and 230
or consent of instructor.
ART 397J ST: COMPUTER ANIMATION II
J. Benn
MW 12:30-3:15 FAC 440
With studio. Continuation of ART 374 (prerequisite).
CHINESE
CHINESE 136 INTRO TO CHINESE CINEMA
Y. Shi, 6 Thompson Hall
lecture TuTh 9:30-10:45, screening W 18:00-22:00
Hert 231
Conducted in English; no other language required.
Chinese Cinema (broadly defined to include films from Hong Kong and Taiwan)
from its inception at the turn of the century to the present. Chinese
film as an art form, as an instrument of political propaganda, and as a
medium of mass entertainment. No background is required for this
course. Films may be in Chinese with English subtitles.
COMMUNICATION
COMM 297D: SPECIAL TOPIC-FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCTION
CONCEPTS
Geisler 411 Machmer
MW 3:35-4:50 Hert 227
Lecture, discussion. This class provides an overview
of film and television production principles and processes from script
to screen and also prepares students for later hands-on production courses.
We will explore both the art and craft of film and video production, including
the roles and functions of the major creative and technical personnel in
the scripting/ pre-production, production and post-production phases. Technical
aspects such as digital vs. analog media, lighting, lenses, types of film
and videotape, crew organization and function, editing concepts, sound
recording, etc. will be discussed, as well as creative functions such as
dramatic and documentary structure, creating characters, acting for the
screen, visualization and composition for the camera and more.
(Course capacity is 125)
COMM 331: PROGRAM PROCESS IN TELEVISION
Staff
Course Director: David Maxcy, 120 South College
TuTh 9-12 or TuTh 2-5 or WF 9-12 SC120
Lecture, studio. Intellectual and practical aspects
of communication through the television production process. Theoretical
and practical application as integrated in the creation of television content.
Prerequisite: COMM Junior or Senior status. (Course capacity is 36 Total/3
sections @12)
COMM 341: PRINCIPLES AND TECHNIQUES OF FILMMAKING
Geisler 411 Machmer
MW 10:10-11:25 SC 108
Lecture, studio. Introduction to Basic 16mm b/w Filmmaking:
Using non-synch Bolex cameras, we learn the concepts of preproduction,
composition, lighting, visual storytelling, and continuity editing. Each
student shoots and edits two individual exercises plus two short films
as part of a two-person crew (we do not have sync sound capability for
this course). Emphasis is on developing a sense of visual storytelling
and applying fundamental technical skills to produce interesting work.
COMM Seniors only. (Capacity 12)
COMM 342: HISTORY OF FILM II
Stromgren 412 Machmer
Lect Th 1-2:15 Hasa 20, screening Th 5:30-17:30 Thom
102, disc F 9:05;10:10; 11:15; 12:20; 1:25 SC 108
Lecture, screening, discussion. A survey of key
events and representative films that mark the history of motion pictures
since 1950 world-wide. In addition to identifying and providing access
to major works, the course is designed to facilitate the study of the various
influences-- industrial, technological, aesthetic, social, cultural, and
political--that have shaped the evolution of the medium, with a particular
emphasis on film in the United States. Three unit exams; short papers
and one research project. (Course capacity is 125 Total/5
sections @ 25)
COMM 397T: SPECIAL TOPIC-CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
Ciecko 306 Machmer
MW 3:35-5:30 Thom 106
Lecture. This course will offer an overview of
recent narrative feature filmmaking from Asia, Africa, the Middle East,
Latin America, and indigenous/diasporic cinemas in the United States, Canada,
New Zealand, and Australia. The central critical questions considered
will include the following: What is the history and current status
of feature filmmaking in a specific country? What social-political-economic
circumstances impact the production, exhibition, and marketing/distribution
of films? When and why are films deemed “art,” and when are they
considered entertainment for the masses? What are the ways in which
contemporary films construct images of a nation and its cultures?
How can we describe the visual style and technical elements of film?
What kinds of representations are used, and how are the stories told?
What sorts of languages are used? What kinds of cultural and linguistic
exchanges occur within and between films? How do these films reach
and how are they received by different audiences—the local and international
market for popular films, the arthouse and film festival circuit, the videostore?
How do film stars, auteurs, and genres emerge? (Course capacity is
150)
COMM H04 Honors Colloq for COMM 397T optional.
COMM 433: ADVANCED TELEVISION PRODUCTION/DIRECTION
Maxcy 120 South College
Lect M 12:20-4:25 SC 120, lab F 2-4 SC120
Lecture, studio. Creating television content as
a means of communication; concepts in practical television content production.
Limited to COMM majors. Prerequisites: COMM 331 or consent of the instructor.
(Course capacity is 10)
COMM 493E: SEMINAR-SCREENWRITING
Norden 409 Machmer
TuTh 11:15-12:30 SC 108
Lecture, discussion. An examination of the art,
craft, and business of screenwriting from theoretical and practical perspectives.
Topics included: the nature of screenplay formats and structures;
creation and development of premise, plot, character, and action; scene
writing; adaptation issues; place of the screenwriter in the collaborative
process of filmmaking; and marketing strategies. The focus will be
on scriptwriting for storytelling movies and, to a limited extent, TV programs.
In-class activities will include exercises in visual thinking, scene analyses,
and staged readings. Written work will include several screenwriting
projects. Prerequisite: Any COMM film course. (Course capacity
is 20)
COMM 493I: SEMINAR-AMERICAN CINEMA IN THE 60'S
Anderson 308 Machmer
MW 3:35-5:30 SC 108
Lecture, discussion, lab. This course will explore
the relationship between cinema and social life in America in the tumultuous
era know as "the sixties" (roughly between 1963-1973). We will trace several
themes (institutional authority, notions of sanity and power, gender politics,
issues of war and peace, civil rights) across films of various genres made
in that period and also look at recent films (both narrative and documentary)
set in the sixties to consider the politics of historical representation.
Individual research projects; class reports; take-home exams. Prerequisite:
COMM 342 or permission of the instructor. (Course capacity is 20)
COMM 497J: SPECIAL TOPIC-ADV VIDEO PRODUCTION &COMMUNITY
ENGAGEMENT
Miller (5-College)
W 1:25-5:25 Mach E30D
Lecture, studio. Community media when linked to various
trends in cultural theory provides an opportunity for artists and educators
to make connections between their work and critical issues such as identity,
power, agency and democracy within a specific community. By analyzing concrete
examples of media activism, media literacy, and community art practice
and referencing the work of theorists such as Paulo Freire, bell hooks,
and Stuart Hall, this course will strengthen the praxis of theory and practice
within a framework of critical pedagogy. In addition to readings, class
assignments will focus on collaborations with local community organizations.
The objectives of the class are to: 1. Familiarize students with models
of community media projects both past and the present. 2. Introduce theoretical
readings on critical pedagogy to inform participation and methodology in
carrying out community media projects. 3. Facilitate an applied experience
to work with a community on a specific project. 4. Teach technical skills
such as digital video editing, and web design. Class will meet on
Wednesdays from 1:25 to 5:25 and Fridays from 1:25 to 3:20. Three
credits of Service Learning. Students will be selected from applications
which are available in the Film Studies Office, 101 South College (Tel:
545-3659) UMASS. The application deadline is Wed., November 15, 2001..
Prerequisites: COMM 331 or consent of instructor. (Course capacity
for COMM students is 6)
COMM 497U: SPECIAL TOPIC-FILM AND SOCIETY
Norden 409 Machmer
TuTh 2:30-4:25 SC 108
Lecture, discussion. In this course we will investigate
the ways that movies function in other than aesthetic contexts and will
doubtlessly "visit" such cognate fields as economics, politics, sociology,
and psychology along the way. The semester will be divided into four
overlapping units: Development & Structure, Function, Representation,
and Audience. The first unit will cover the emergence and maturation
of the American film industry and its connections with other cultural institutions
and society in general. The second unit will examine the various
roles that filmmakers have assumed, such as entertainers, historians, and
propagandists. The third unit will examine film and society's mutually
causal relationship with special attention paid to film's role as a socio-cultural
document. Finally, the fourth unit will investigate spectatorship
issues. Requirements will likely include research reviews, in-class
presentations, and original research projects. Prerequisites: 6 hours
in COMM film courses. (Course capacity is 25)
COMM 593C: SEMINAR-GENDER AND INTERCULTURAL FILM
AND VIDEO
Ciecko 306 Machmer
M 18:00-21:00 SC 108
Lecture, discussion. This course will examine representations
of gender and cultural boundary-crossings in film and video. There will
be a special focus on (mostly contemporary) experimental, documentary,
and fiction shorts and features about personal experiences of diaspora
and exile, memory and nostalgia, and intercultural encounters. Short work
and clips will be screened in class each week, but students will also be
responsible for atching films outside of class on a regular basis. Readings
for the course will include recent books by film scholars Hamid Naficy
(An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking) and Laura Marks (The
Skin of the Film: Intercultural Cinema, Embodiment, and the Senses); as
well as diverse essays informed by cultural studies, postcolonial theory,
feminist/gender studies, queer theory, and media criticism/theory.
(Course capacity is 20)
COMM 597C: SPECIAL TOPICS-FILM & VIDEO EDUC
(Cross-listed with EDUC 539)
Brandon 2A Furcolo
Th 4:00- 18:30 Furc 21B
Lecture, discussion. This course is designed to
explore and encourage the use of creative and relevant films and videos
in educational settings and to examine the visual, psychological and technical
methods used by filmmakers to convey their messages. A wide variety of
films and videos will be shown, and their potential for use in many settings
will be explored. Emphasis will be on developing critical, aesthetic,
and social media awareness, examining stereotyping and sex roles in the
cinema and facilitating productive and open-ended discussions. Students
will be expected to attend all screenings and participate in discussions.
Two papers and one research project will be assigned. (Course capacity
for COMM students is 8)
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
COMLIT 381 SELF-REFLEXIVE AVANT-GARDE FILM
Levine 305 South College
Lecture M 3:35-19:00, disc Tu 2:30; 2:30; 4:00; 19:00
Hert 231
Lecture, discussion. Explores modern origin of
film experimentation in avant-garde modes such as Expressionism, Surrealism
and contemporary results of this heritage. Trying to determine if
film is the most resolutely modern of the media, we'll look at cinema as
the result of two obsessive concerns: 1) the poetic, dreamlike and
fantastic, 2) the factual, realistic and socially critical or anarchistic.
Thus, we'll
attempt to discover how modern culture deals with avant-garde
imperatives to always "make it new". Films and filmmakers such as
Breathless (Godard), Lang, My Own Private Idaho, The American Soldier
(Fassbinder), others. Requirements: one 5
page paper for midterm, 10 page final paper or project; attendance.
COMLIT 381H SELF-REFLEXIVE AVANT-GARDE FILM
(4 credits)
Levine 305 South College
Lecture M 3:35-19:00, disc Tu 2:30-5:30
We will apply ourselves to the problem of vision itself
as an acquired skill, learning to distinguish the various ways in which
Hollywood normative cinema has constructed a code both visual and narrative
which we accept, uncritically, as the standard by which reality gets transposed
to the screen. This code is examined – how it differs from what we
actually see (what we can see, what we look for) in the world. Various
forms of avant-garde film are examined so that we come to imagine how it
might be otherwise (films by directors such as Dreyer, Lang, Man Ray, Buñuel,
Vertov, Godard, Fassbinder, Egoyan, and Van Sant).
Students will attend a large lecture and film screening
(once per week) and, the next day, an intensive seminar-style section of
2-3 hours. Here we present and discuss new material, some from readings,
and occasionally, screenings of additional films and film clips.
The course is incremental and there is thus an absolute attendance requirement.
There will be a take-home mid-term essay (5 pages) and final essay (10
pages), two 2-page analyses of specific shots or scenes, and an approved
self-directed project. This course differs from COMLIT 381 in the length
of the section (2-3 hrs/week instead of 75 min.), extra work-load and additional
readings. Recommended only for students (at all levels) who have
a keen interest in film. There is an optional hands-on colloquium
for 1 extra credit.
H01 HONORS COLLOQ TO COMLIT 381H
(1 credit)
Levine
Th 2:30-5:30
Students must also be enrolled in COMLIT 381H.
In this 1-credit, optional, hands-on studio component to COMLIT 381H, the
aim is to investigate aspects of film (such as shot formation, camera movement,
editing approaches). Students will collaboratively explore a range
of expressive possibilities on video. Working in groups of four, students
will alternate roles of creator/writer, camera person, editor, etc. in
constructing brief scenes. No experience necessary. Note: Students
who take CL 381H & H01 get a total of 5 credits.
COMLIT 382 CINEMA AND PSYCHE
Portuges 311 South College
Lecture M 3:35-18:35, disc Tu 2:30; 2:30; 4:00; 4:00
Lecture, Discussion. An exploration of the intersections
between cinema and psychological interpretation, the course concerns the
psychodynamics of reading visual texts produced in different cultures,
languages, and national traditions. This semester's focus is on comparative
representations of childhood, family, gender, and war in Africa, Asia,
Eastern Europe, and the West. Among our considerations are the following:
how do individual directors represent history and national identity? In
what ways do spectators from different cultural milieus and historical
moments understand those representations? What are the
psychological consequences of encountering powerful images
from cultures other than one's own? How do psychoanalytic perspectives
enable us to 'read' the cinematic constructions of childhood experience,
especially when portrayed in situations of trauma and wartime upheaval?
Based on close reading of films, theoretical and critical essays, and interviews,
our work aims to examine the often-unconscious resistances and 'mis-readings'
that accompany the increasingly international world of cinema. Requirements:
attendance; a brief oral exercise; mid-term paper, final paper.
COMLIT 391A - SPIRITUAL CINEMA EAST AND WEST (TARKOVSKY
AND OTHERS)
Dienes, 402 South College
Lecture Tu 4:00-20:00, disc Th 4:00
An introduction to spiritual cinema, its themes and characteristics,
from early to modern masters. In the context of a brief look at the
cinematic achievements of such filmmakers as Bergman, Bresson, Kurosawa,
Mizoguchi, Pasolini, Fellini and their philosophy of
film as a spiritual art. We will focus on the art and times of the
Russian film director, Audrey Tarkovsky. Of interest to students
in Comparative Literature,
Film, English, Art, Philosophy, History, Religion, and
Russian Studies. No prerequisites, other than an open mind and a
genuine interest in filmmaking that is unlike any other. No prior familiarity
with the work
of these directors is required. CompLit and Russian
majors and graduate students will be expected to do some research in a
foreign language.
COMLIT 391B ITALIAN FILM
Stone Herter Hall
Lecture Tu 19:30-22:00, disc Th 1:00-2:15 or 2:30-3:45
Hert 231
Lecture, discussion. An examination of the problems of
neo-realism and filmic representation. A discussion of how film produces
its meanings and its meanings and its pleasures, through the use
of critical tools
like psychoanalysis and semeiotics. An understanding
of the history of Italian cinema and cultural politics and an investigation
of questions of repetition in postmodern aesthetics. The course will include
the following subjects: comic history and neorealist patrimony: fascism
and seduction; virgin film texts; subjective revolt and the film process;
exile and americanophilia; the end of love; the postmodern end as
post-media beginning. Directors include Jarmusch, Rossellini,
Antonioni, Visconti, Pasolini, Allen, Coppola, Scorsese, Bertolucci, Bellocchio,
Olmi, Taviani etc. Special topic: Italo-American avante-garde film (Scorsese).
Non-Italian directors included for a framework of difference and to satisfy
GenEd requirements. Prerequisites: none but a desire to become literate
in film critical discourse.
COMLIT 491A AUTUER AND FILM THEORY
Stone 316 Herter
Tu 2:30-5:30 Hert 227
Lecture. Aim to acquire an advanced knowledge of
contemporary film theory and cultural debates in semiotics, psychoanalysis,
and politics. There will be the opportunity to read and discuss the
“two fundamental concepts”: structure and the gaze. The directors
Godard and Bertolucci will provide material for discussion of the anxiety
of auteur influence (Bertolucci, via Moravia, after Truffaut and Godard);
the aesthetics of political filmwork; shot and frame analysis of experimental
and coded film construction; the cinematic semiotics of apparatus and spectator-effects.
Texts: 1.) Repeated viewings of video and films to include:
Godard: Breathless, My Life to Live, Contempt, Band of Outsiders, A Married
Woman, Alphaville, Masculine-Feminine, The Oldest Profession (“Anticipation”
episode); Bertolucci: Before the Revolution, The Conformist,
Last Tango in Paris, among others. (Supplementary viewing of Vertov,
Renoir, and Truffaut); 2.) Moravia: The Conformist, A
Ghost at Noon; Barthes: Camera Lucida, Godard on Godard (including
extracts from 1985 expanded French version).
COMLIT 694A FASSBINDER & GODARD
Levine
W 2:30-18:30
Lecture. What were Godard’s early films for Fassbinder?
Instead of rejecting the most influential avant-garde filmmaker of the
sixties, Fassbinder adopted Godard as father. Yet this fathering
was a highly selective progeneration. What does the juxtaposition
of these filmmakers reveal and conceal – and not only about Fassbinder’s
films, since we cannot now see those of Godard without having our past
viewings of Fassbinder films in our heads. Fassbinder sets us on
track with two remarks: “Godard believes that film is the truth 24 frames
per second, while I believe film is the lie 25 frames per second,” and
“Both Godard and I despise our characters.” The course will raise
theoretical issues of spectatorship, tone (irony, distanciation, citation),
gender, genre, while being firmly grounded in the formal analysis of filmic
text; the construction of the filmic text and its “meaning”, and the destruction
of subject by means of abyssal structures (mise-en-abyme, structural or
metaphoric infinite regresses); Fassbinder’s ideological fatigue and complex
sexual politics, Godard’s political innocence (which is not the same as
naivete), his cinematic energy amidst his films’ increasing cultural despair.
Prerequisites: familiarity with film theory and discourse, preferably by
at least two courses in film analysis. Course meets as intensive
seminar, once a week for 4 hours. Films selected from: Why Does Herr
R. Run Amok; Breathless; American Soldier; Les Carabiners; The Bitter Tears
of Petra Von Kant; Une Femme Mariee; Effie Briest; Vivre sa Vie; Beware
of the Holy Whore; Contempt. Open to qualified undergraduates.
See instructor for permission.
COMLIT 697P ST IN GERMAN FILM: LITERATURE
AND FILM/FILM AND LITERATURE
Cross-listed with GERMAN 697F
Seminar TuTh 1:00 - 2:15, Screenings W 18:00
See GERMAN 697F for description.
EDUCATION
EDUC 505 DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING FOR EDUCATION
Liane Brandon
W 4-18:30 Furcolo 21B
This is an introductory course providing practical filmmaking
experience for educators and others who wish to document their research,
interests, programs, and educational endeavors. Emphasis will be
on making super-8mm films using live-action photography and film editing
techniques. Students complete two shor t documentary projects during
the semester.
EDUC 539 USING FILM AND VIDEO IN EDUCATION
Liane Brandon
T 4:00-18:30 Furcolo 21B
This course is designed to examine the visual, psychological,
and technical methods used by filmmakers to convey their messages, to explore
and encourage the use of creative and relevant films and videos in educational
and other settings, and to suggest a variety of techniques for structuring
and integrating film and video in education. A wide variety of films
and videos will be shown and their potential for use will be explored.
Emphasis will be on developing critical, aesthetic, and social media awareness,
examining stereotyping and sex roles in the cinema, facilitating productive
and open-ended discussions, and evaluating, scheduling, and screening films
and videos.
ENGLISH
ENGL 330 FILM AND LITERATURE:
EVER AFTERLIVES: FASHIONING THE RENAISSANCE ON FILM AND
VIDEO
Burt
TTh 11:15-12:30
We will consider the Renaissance on film by considering
the ways in which film and fashion are identified as relatively trivial
and secondary to authentic history. In the process, we will also
rethink heterosexual romance in relation to debates among feminists, historians,
and queer theorists over the romance genre, historical/period films, stardom,
eroticism, and (gay) camp. Our focus will be primarily on the late
20th-century films of the lives of women writers, artists, and rulers,
but some attention will be paid to biopics about male writers and artists
and about the ways in which masculinity is constructed in them. Additionally,
we will read several novels, ranging from the 18th-century Gothic novel,
to the 19th-century historical novel, to the 20th- century mass-market
romance novel. We will view period films and biopics about Renaissance
writers and artists in relation both to their writings and paintings and
to academic criticism about them. We will not be engaged, however,
in viewing films or reading novels in terms of their historical accuracy
and authenticity. Rather we will explore the ways in which history
too is a fictional construct, as a number of historians have pointed out.
And we will examine our own cultural investments in fashion and authenticity.
Films include Artemisia, Dangerous Beauty, Marquise, Caravaggio, Vatel,
Elizabeth, Queen Christina, The Return of Martin Guerre, and Ever After,
among others. Course website at http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~everaft/.
Prerequisite: EnglWP 112 or equivalent.
FRENCH & ITALIAN
FRENCH 353 AFRICAN FILM
Mensah, 327 Herter
lecture T 4-19:00; disc Th 1-2:15 or 2:30-3:45 Hert 231
Theory and Practice. We will study the history and development
of Francophone African and Caribbean film, from its "inception" to the
present day, examining not only the aesthetics and the theoretical relevance
of this art, but also the social, cultural, economical and political forces
and imperative that have helped to define its forms and directions, and
which it has, and is, in turn, helping to shape. Through patient analysis
of specific films, we shall consider the extent to which each reflects
the realities and/or aspirations of the individual country from which it
originates, as well as those of Francophone third world countries as a
whole, and finally reflect on the questions each raises in film theory.
We will explore such diverse issues as the colonial experience, modernization
and the destruction/resuscitation of traditions, (loss of) cultural identity,
hybridity, creolization, and problems of language representation, democratization
and governance, human rights urbanization and rural (under) development,
economic dependency, decolonization and so forth. Focus on works by directors
such as: Ousmane Sembène, David Achkar, Gaston Kaboré, Ngangura
Mweze, Souleyman Cissé, Jean-Pierre Bekolo, Amadou Seck, Jean-Marie
Teno, Raoul Peck, Adama Drabo, Bassek ba Kobhio, Euzhan Palcy, Christian
Lara, Rassoul Labuchin, and Elsie Haas. The course will be taught in English;
no other language required.
FRENCH 353O AFRICAN FILM
P. Mensah
Tu 19:30-22:00; disc Th 4:15-5:30pm Emily 104
For Orchard Hill residents only. See course description
above.
ITALIAN 350 ITALIAN FILM: POLITICS OF PLEASURE
J. Stone, 305 Herter
lecture Tu 19-22:00, disc W 10:10; 11:15; 12:20; 3:35
Hert 227
Lecture, film and video screening, discussion, supplementary
video viewing (optional). Examines the history of Italian cinema and relocates
the origins of neorealism by means of filmic, literary, and theoretical
texts. Questions explored through psychoanalysis – "the politics of pleasure."
Studies problems of cultural politics with focus on writings of directors.
Contemporary Italian and Italian-American filmmaking is contrasted with
the Hollywood code. Directors include Antonioni, Bellocchio, Bertolucci,
Cavani, Fellini, Moretti, Nichetti, Olmi, Pasolini, Rossellini, Rubini,
Scola, Scorsese, Taviani, Tornatore, Visconti and Wertmuller. Cross-references:
Godard. Theorists include Chion, Deleuze, Freud and Lacan. Requirements:
Regular attendance, mid-term definition of neorealism in preparation of
final, well-researched paper, which shows knowledge of several Directors'
work. Write a critical review of surprise screening! Note: Most films are
Italian dialogue with English subtitles. Course taught in English; no other
language required
ITALIAN 491A AUTEUR AND FILM THEORY – also
listed as COMLIT 491A or JUDAIC 491A J. Stone,
305 Herter
Meets: Tu 2:30-5:30 Hert 227
Lecture. Aim to acquire an advanced knowledge of contemporary
film theory and cultural debates in semiotics, psychoanalysis and politics.
There will be the opportunity to read and discuss the "two fundamental
concepts": structure and the gaze. The directors Godard and Bertolucci
will provide material for discussion of the anxiety of Auteur influence
(Bertolucci, via Moravia, after Truffaut and Godard); the aesthetics of
political film work; shot and frame analysis of experimental and doded
film construction; the cinematic semiotics of apparatus and spectator effects.
There is a special study made of the German-Jewish filmmaker, Max Ophuls;
Chantal Ackerman; Sontag; Polonsky; and the way the Auteur Pabst used Freud.
Renais' record of the Shoah receives special attention. Requirements: Regular
attendance; seminar contribution; one long and well-researched paper. For
further bibliography and course requirements, see the cinefiles and booklists
pages at http://www.javari.com/auteur.html. Prerequisite: one of the following
courses: Avante-Garde Film (Levine); Italian Film: The Politics of Pleasure
(Stone); Italian-American Cinema (Stone); or instructor permission.
GERMAN
For information contact: Barton Byg 545-6671. E-mail
byg@german.umass.edu
GERMAN 697F ST IN GERMAN FILM: LITERATURE
AND FILM/FILM AND LITERATURE
Cross-listed with COMLIT 697F
Seminar TuTh 1:00 - 2:15, Screenings W 18:00
The course will deal with the theories and criticism
relating to adaptation from literature to film as
well as the influence the cinema has had on 20th century
literature ?? both in form and content. Examples will be mainly, but not
exclusively, from German film and literature, e.g. Kleist, Böll, Kafka,
Christa Wolf
and more "popular" authors such as Douglas Sirk’s remake
of Fanny Hursts’ Imitation of Life.. Course will treat such directors as
Lang, Murnau, Sagan, Fassbinder, von Trotta, Straub/Huillet, Kluge and
Wenders. Language of the course will be in English but some texts may exist
only in German. Students of German are expected to use the original in
the case of German literature. Requirements: journal and final paper.
LEGAL STUDIES
LEGAL 397F CRIME ON FILM: AESTHETICS OF MURDER
Brooks, 204 Hampshire House
Lect TuTh 1:00-2:15 Hert 113, screening M
17:00-20:00 Hert 227
With lab. How does the law translate to film?
For what purposes are law narratives used? This course will consider
both the aesthetic and ideological constructions of law and legal issues
in both feature and documentary films. The course will combine textual
theoretical approaches to cinema as well as cultural studies and critical
legal theory. Films will be screened during class each week with
discussion to follow and will include classic, art and independent, and
some contemporary popular film. Grades will be based on written work
and class participation.
LEGAL 397Y LAW AS MELODRAMA
Brooks
TTh 11:15-12:30
This course will examine the myriad ways in which law
functions both as melodrama as well as in melodramatic genres of literature,
film and television. We will examine discourses surrounding "real
cases" as well as constructions of law within fictional texts. Examples
of melodramatic genres we will examine include, Hollywood film melodrama,
19th and early 20th century novels, television soap opera and reality docudrama.
Extensive reading, short papers and exams will be required for this course.
MUSIC
MUSIC 190H MUSIC IN FILM HONORS
Rideout, FAC 261
TuTh 1:00-2:15 FAC 154
The aesthetics and dramatic techniques of film music
since 1895. Excerpts from commercial silent era and sound films viewed
and studied as examples of film music development and the composer's art.
Students will construct two soundtracks for specific scenes. No special
skills or prerequisities required. Two weeks of the course devoted
specifically to the music and film innovations of one feature film.
Students will complete 5-10 page paper on some technical aspect of that
film.
POLITICAL SCIENCE
POLSCI 293A THE POLITICS OF EUROPEAN FILM
Xenos, 306 Thompson
Lecture Tu 1:00-2:15, screening 19:00-21:30
The emergent spectacle of mass politics at the core of
the struggle between revolution and reaction in twentieth-century Europe
has its counterpart in the emergence of film as a key element in mass culture.
The logic of revolution and reaction also played a role in the development
of film as a cultural form. This course presents a series of films
for discussion and analysis of revolution and reaction as political and
aesthetic phenomena. Among the films that will be included are: Sergei
Eisenstein's Potemkin, Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game, Leni Riefenstahl's
The Triumph of the Will, Roberto Rossellini's Open City, Gillo Pontecorvo's
The Battle of Algiers, Jean-Luc Godard's Weekend, Bernardo Bertolucci's
The Conformist, and Alain Tanner's La Salamandre and Jonah Who Will Be
25 in the Year 2000. Readings will be focused on the theoretical
issues involved in interpreting these films. Assignments include
short analyses of each film and two 1,500-1,800 (5-6 page) essays.
POLSCI 297E AND 297F AMERICAN POLITICS THROUGH FILM
Mileur, 316 Thompson
POLSCI 297E Lecture MW 12:20 HERT 231; disc F 9:05;10:10;11:15;
12:20; 12:20, 1:25
POLSCI 297F screening W 19:00-22:00 HAS 134
This course uses movies to explore the development of
American politics in the twentieth century. It begins with the forces
that shaped our politics early in the century (immigration, reform, religion),
moves to the rise of ``big" government in the depression and World War
II years (the new roles of the federal government, the enhanced presidency,
internationalism and anti-communism as issues), and concludes with an examination
of selected issues (race, gender, modern campaigns) prominent in our politics
since the 1960s. Throughout, it asks what political democracy in
America means and how our understanding of it has adapted to changing times
and conditions. The course will be conducted on a lecture/discussion
basis, with a film shown each week. Students should register for
four credits, three credits for POLSCI 297E and one credit for POLSCI 297F.
RUSSIAN
RUSS 391A S- SPIRITUAL CINEMA: EAST/WEST
L. Dienes
Tu 16:00-20:00, disc. Th 4:00
See description for COMLIT 391A
| AMHERST COLLEGE |
ENGLISH 19S FILM AND WRITING
Senior Lecturer von Schmidt.
TTh 11:30+
A first course in reading films and writing about them.
A varied selection of films for study and criticism, partly to illustrate
the main elements of film language and partly to pose challenging texts
for reading and writing. Frequent short papers. Two 90-minute
class meetings and two screenings per week.
ENGLISH 80S HISTORY OF VIDEO ART AND NEW MEDIA
Professor Subrin.
Tuesdays 2-5pm, Monday night screening (mandatory) 7-10pm
This seminar will survey the past thirty years of artist
and filmmaker¹s explorations in the electronic media art field. Examining
a wide range of historical/theoretical influences and visual strategies,
the course will chronologically chart the broad cultural implications of
video art and new media through selected screenings, critical writing and
visiting artists. In addition, we will study relationships between video
and television, the rise of gallery and installation art, grassroots collectives,
and the impact of the Internet. Prerequisite: One film studies
or production course, no first year students.
Please note: this is not a production course. Limited
to 25.
ENGLISH 84 TOPICS IN FILM STUDY: BIG FILMS
Professor Barr.
MW 2+
The philosopher Stanley Cavell once described the film-going
experience as “one hundred minutes of speculative solitude.” What
do we make of films that drastically exceed this time limit? Could
one describe a film-going experience as “450 minutes of speculative solitude”?
Or, after 200 or 300 minutes has “speculative solitude” been transformed
into something else? In this class we will explore the unique possibilities
and difficulties posed by very long films. What can a long film accomplish
that a shorter work cannot? We will look at fiction and non-fiction
films from different historical periods, in different languages, and with
varying sensibilities and ambitions. Film works may include Shoah,
Divine Horsemen, Andrei Rublyov, José Rizal, Jeanne Dielman, and
others. One or two screenings per week.
LJST 25S FILM, MYTH, AND THE LAW
Professors Sarat and Umphrey.
TTh 2+
The proliferation of law in film and on television has
expanded the sphere of legal life itself. Law lives in images which
today saturate our culture and have a power all their own, and the moving
image provides a domain in which legal power operates independently of
law’s formal institutions. This course will consider what happens
when legal events are re-narrated in film, and examine film’s treatment
of legal officials, events, and institutions (e.g., police, lawyers, judges,
trials, executions, prisons). Does film open up new possibilities
of judgment, model new modes of interpretation, and provide new insights
into law’s violence? We will discuss ways in which myths about law
are reproduced and contested in film. Moreover, attending to the
visual dimensions of law’s imagined lives, we ask whether law provides
a template for film spectatorship, positioning viewers as detectives and
as jurors, and whether film, in turn, sponsors a distinctive visual aesthetics
of law. Among the films we may consider are Inherit the Wind, Northside
777, Judgment at Nuremberg, Rear Window, Psycho, Silence of the Lambs,
A Question of Silence, The Sweet Hereafter, Dead Man Walking, Anatomy of
a Murder, Erin Brockovich, Basic Instinct, The Shawshank Redemption, Unforgiven,
and A Civil Action. Throughout we will draw upon film theory and
criticism as well as the scholarly literature on law, myth, and film.
THEATER AND DANCE 50 PERFORMANCE AND VIDEO
Professor Woodson.
TTh 2-4
This course will give students an opportunity to explore
various relationships between live performance and video. Experiments
will include: creating short performance pieces and choreography
specifically designed for the video medium; creating short pieces that
include both live performance and projected video; and creating short experimental
video pieces that emphasize a sense of motion, music and improvisation/choreography
in their conceptualization and realization. Techniques and languages
from dance and theater composition will be used to expand and inform approaches
to video production and vice-versa, emphasizing a sense of reciprocity
between the different media. Class sessions will include a studio
practice (with hands-on exercises with video camcorders and editing as
well as composition and rehearsal techniques) and regular viewing and critiques.
Students will work both independently and in collaborative teams according
to interest and expertise. Requisite: previous experience in
either theater, dance, or music composition and/or video production or
by consent of the instructor. Limited to 10 students.
| HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE |
HACU109 INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA PRODUCTION
Matthew Soar
T 2:30-5:20, LIB B3
This course is an introductory media production course
that will focus primarily on photography and video. Over the course of
the semester students will learn to think about and look critically at
the still and moving image, to explore each medium in challenging and imaginative
ways, and to gain experience in pre-production, production and post-production
techniques. Projects are designed to develop basic technical proficiency
in video and photography, to explore the principles, possibilities and
limitations of each medium, and to develop the necessary working skills
and mental discipline so important to a successful working process. Final
production projects will experiment with established media genres. Writing
assignments, in class critiques and discussion will focus on media analysis
and image/sound relationships. Students will be required to keep a visual
journal, to conduct field assignments, and to attend film screenings outside
of class. A $50 lab fee provides access to equipment and editing facilities.
Students are responsible for providing their own film, tape, processing
and supplies.
HACU 110 FILM/VIDEO WORKSHOP I
Baba Hillman
T 9-11:50, PFB class
This course teaches the basic skills of film production,
including camera work, editing, sound recording, and preparation and completion
of a finished work in film or video. Students will have weekly assignments,
and will also produce a finished film for the class. There will be weekly
screenings of student work, as well as screening of films and videotapes
which represent a variety of aesthetic approaches to the moving image.
Finally, the development of personal vision will be stressed. The bulk
of the work in the class will be produced in 16mm format. Video formats
plus digital image processing and non-linear editing will also be introduced.
A $50 lab fee provides access to equipment and editing facilities. Students
are responsible for providing their own film, tape, processing and supplies.
There are weekly evening screenings or workshops.
HACU 210 SOUND AND MUSIC FOR THE MOVING IMAGE
Bill Brand
TH 9-11:50, PFB
The course is for students who have completed Film/Video
Workshop I and are prepared to continue developing their own individual
projects in film. The course will emphasize working with sound and
will cover the basics of 16mm sound-synch filmmaking including pre-planning
(scripting or story boarding), cinematography, sound recording, editing
and post-production finishing. Students will learn to make sound
tracks for film and video using digital technologies and have a chance
to become conversant in computer imaging and audio manipulation software.
Readings and writing about critical issues is also an important part of
the course. Workshops that give software training will occur outside
regularly scheduled class and students who are already familiar with the
software are welcome in the course. Students must purchase their own film
and pay their own processing fees. Required screenings and workshops sometimes
occur in the evening. There will be a $50 lab fee.
HACU 212 VIDEO II
Jack Waters
F 1-3:50 Library B3 Studio
This course is designed for students who have had at
least basic experience with film and video production and criticism and
are interested in more advanced production. Students are encouraged
to work independently and in groups on video projects. The major
emphasis of the course will be on the theoretical and technical questions
surrounding the production of contemporary video art and documentary.
Students are expected to attend all screenings, keep up with reading assignments,
and to complete a video project for public screening. Video I, Film/Video
Workshop I or an equivalent college level course is a pre-requisite. A
$50 lab fee provides access to equipment and editing facilities. Students
are responsible for providing their own film, tape, processing and supplies.
HACU 211 STILL PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP II
Robert Seydel
M 2:30-5:20, PFB
This class is a forum in which students can develop their
creative vision in photography through the acquisition of skills with larger
format cameras, color and digital technologies. Knowledge of the
aesthetic and social context of photographic practice will be emphasized.
Students can expect bi-weekly to monthly assignments, reading relevant
texts in the history and theory of photography and digital imaging and
writing short papers. Additionally, this course will be enhanced
through attending visiting artist lectures and exhibitions as well as film
and video screenings. The lab fee of $50 entitles the student
to darkroom facilities, lab supplies, and chemicals. Students must
supply their own film and paper. Prior photographic experience is required.
HACU 213 DIGITAL IMAGING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
Course Cancelled
Jacqueline Hayden
HACU/IA 218 LIVING NOW/LIFE IN THE VALLEY
Jacqueline Hayden and Michael Lesy
T 9-11:50, FPH 102
A course for intermediate non fiction writers and documentary
photographers. Writers and photographers will learn from each other by:
(1) attending writing and photo critiques together (2) reading such texts
as THE HEART OF THE WORLD (3) studying the work of such photographers as
Walker Evans (4) working in pairs to produce articles. These articles will
be posted monthly on a magazine website to be maintained by members of
the class. The course's online magazine will chronicle the lives
of people who live and work in the Valley, from Greenfield to Hartford.
Every kind of scene and situation, every kind of person in every kind of
circumstance may be portrayed. Limited Enrollment is 32. Instructor
Permission: photographers, by portfolio review, on the first day
of class; writers, by writing exercise given on the first day of class.
HACU 254 THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY BY WOMEN
Sandra Matthews
TTH 10:30-11:50 FPH ELH
Since the invention of photography in 1839, women have
played an active role in every stage of the medium's history. While
early historic accounts did not acknowledge their contributions, several
recent books have begun to remedy the situation. In this course,
we will survey the major periods of photographic history, concentrating
on the work of women photographers worldwide. We will examine women's
role primarily in art photography, but also in commercial and vernacular
venue. Students will complete individual research projects and dependent
on funding, we hope to produce a collaborative CD ROM based on interviews
with contemporary photographers and critics. Instructor permission required.
HACU 293 THE DESIGN OF DISSENT: VISUAL RESPONSES
TO CULTURAL AND POLITICAL CRISIS
Matthew Soar
M 2:30-5:20, ASH 126
This new course is concerned with the visual communications
created by activists and/or artists on behalf of alternative, disenfranchised
and marginalized constituencies. Historically, these have included poster
series, buttons and T-shirts, “subvertisements”, billboard “liberation”,
logo modification, art installations, video, and web animation. The course
begins with an intense survey of recent media and cultural studies perspectives
on issues of power and agency, representation and reception. Case studies
will include ongoing critiques of globalization and over-consumption (culture
jamming, Adbusters magazine, the First Things First Manifesto); the gay
community’s response to the AIDS crisis (ACT-UP; Gran Fury); and, popular
interpretations of the symbol of the American flag in times of war. Students
will then conceive and develop their own individual projects that identify
and engage with a current political and/or cultural crisis, culminating
in a creative visual response that is appropriate, memorable and cost-efficient.
Instructor permission required. In general, a combination
of an introductory class in media production (e.g. Video I, Film/Video
I, Introduction to Digital Imaging) and an introductory class in cultural
and/or media studies will be considered prerequisites.
HACU 318 EXPLORING SOUND AND SOUND AS ART
Ann Steuernagel
T 7-10 PM, LIB B3
This course will focus on the exploration of sound and
the creation of sound art as a stand-alone entity as well as an accompaniment
to moving images and live performance. Each week students will be
asked to complete one of a variety of aural experiments that may include
creating instruments, performances, installations, and videos. Students
will also be asked to listen to and record or recreate various soundscapes;
natural, plastic, and imagined. Classes will also include weekly
“listenings” and screenings. These will be supplemented by readings
that offer a theoretical and historical context in which to think about
sound and sound as art. Pre-requisite: video production I and
II or the equivalent and permission of the instructor. An advanced
course for all Five College students with appropriate prerequisites.
Limit 15.
HACU 399a ADV VIDEO PROD SEM III: VIDEO/FILM/CULTURAL
STUDIES
Baba Hillman
W 2:30-5:20, FPH 102
This is an advanced seminar in production and criticism
for video concentrators. The priority of the course is screening works-in-progress
for critique. Students will produce their own work, construct a distribution
plan for their work, crew for other class members, and do advanced critical
reading in the field. We will discuss all aspects of production.
Critique will be grounded in an exploration of historical, conceptual,
technical and aesthetic issues that inform contemporary videomaking. The
class is designed so that students will benefit from varied insights, ideas,
and images from video, film, and photography as artistic practices that
share many of the same constraints and possibilities. Collaboratively we
will generate an exciting context for making new work. A series of guest
lectures and advanced workshops in Final Cut Pro, Avid, After Effects,
and pro-tools will be offered. Prerequisite: Division III students
and if there is space, advanced Division II students. Instructor Permission
required.
HACU 399b FILM/PHOTO STUDIES: INDIVIDUAL PROBLEMS IN FILMMAKING,
PHOTOGRAPHY, VIDEO AND RELATED MEDIA
William Brand and Jacqueline Hayden
W 2:30-5:20, PFB Classroom
This course is open to film and photography concentrators
in Division III and others by consent of the instructor. The class will
attempt to integrate the procedural and formal concentration requirements
of the College with the creative work produced by each student. It will
offer a forum for meaningful criticism, exchange, and exposure to each
other. In addition, various specific kinds of group experience will be
offered: field trips to museums, galleries, and other environments; a guest
lecture and workshop series; and encounters with student concentrators,
teachers, and professionals who are in the other visual arts or related
endeavors. There will be a $50 lab fee. Enrollment is unlimited to
Division III concentrators; contracts must have been filed prior to enrollment.
All others must have permission of the instructor.
| MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE |
ART 360 SEMINAR IN ASIAN ART: INDIAN FILMS
A. Sinha
MW 1-3:50
The seminar will examine a selection of films in relation
to India's urban culture in the twentieth century. We will screen old and
new films, those belonging to the commercial industry--the Bollywood--and
those made by directors who remain outside that industry. Our challenge
will be to develop possible ways to understand the many facets of film
culture in India. Using critical essays, class discussions, and research,
we will explore the relationship of film to national politics, examine
the global circulation of Indian films, analyze how films reflect the desires
and fantasies of their audiences, and evaluate India's place in the history
of world cinema. Prereq. jr, sr, or permission of instructor; 8 credits
in art history or film studies, including Film Studies 201, Introduction
to Film or permission of instructor; 4 credits; enrollment limited to 15;
1 meeting (3 hours), 1 screening (2 1/2 hours)
FILM STUDIES 201 INTRODUCTION TO FILM
R. Blaetz
TTH 11-12:15, T 7-9pm (screening)
This course teaches the basic concepts and critical skills
involved in interpreting film. Through lecture, reading, discussion, and
screening of films both in and outside of class, the student will become
a more informed and sophisticated observer of the cinema. During the first
half of the semester, the class will study form and style in narrative
film as well as in nonnarrative practices such as avant-garde and documentary
filmmaking. For the remainder of the course, the class will examine some
of the major critical approaches in the field. 4 credits; 2 meetings
(75 minutes), 1 screening (2 1/2 hours); enrollment may be limited
FILM STUDIES 230 DOCUMENTARY FILM
R. Blaetz
TTH 1:15-2:30, W 7-9pm (screening)
This course examines the principles, methods, and styles
of nonfiction film. Beginning with the "actualités" of film history's
first practitioners and ending with contemporary self-reflexive films,
such as Errol Morris's The Thin Blue Line, the class studies films that
strive to represent some aspect of the real world as opposed to the fictional
worlds of narrative cinema. Prereq. Film Studies 201 or permission of instructor;
4 credits; 2 meetings (75 min.) plus 1 screening (2 1/2 hours)
FILM STUDIES 310 PRODUCTION SEMINAR
A. Steuernagel
TU 1-3:50, M 7-9pm (screening)
An advanced course in the theory and practice of film/video
production as an art form. Topics for the seminar will vary from year to
year. Continues to explore the moving image as an art form, focusing
on three specific components: structure, sound, vision. The first segment
of the course will explore films whose structure makes them most memorable.
The second segment will examine innovative ways in which sound is used
in film. The final segment of the course will focus on films in which the
visual element predominates. Emphasis will be placed on the technical/aesthetic
aspects of media art production. Students will be expected to create their
own video/audio work. Weekly screenings will be supplemented with readings
offering a theoretical/historical context in which to think about independent
cinema and video art. Prereq. Film Studies 210, equivalent, or permission
of instructor; 4 credits; enrollment limited to 15; 1 meeting (3 hours),
1 screening (2 1/2 hours); a lab fee may be charged
FILM STUDIES 320 FEMINIST AVANT-GARDE FILM
R. Blaetz
W 1-3:50, T 7-9pm (screening)
Film Studies 320 provides advanced instruction in an
aspect of film history, theory, or criticism. Students are expected to
bring substantial background in the study of film to this course; enrollment
may be limited. This seminar examines contemporary experimental cinema
made by women. Although the course begins with a review of the work of
Germaine Dulac (1920s) and Maya Deren (1940s), the class concentrates on
films that were made or received in relation to feminist film theory written
after 1970. Some of the filmmakers to be studied are Yvonne Rainer, Leslie
Thornton, Su Friedrich, and Trinh T. Minh-ha. The class meets for one extended
session per week in which several films are screened and discussed in relation
to outside reading. There are occasional screenings of longer films. Prereq.
8 credits in Film Studies or permission of instructor; 4 credits; 1 3-hr
meeting + 1 2-1/2 hour screening
FRENCH 331 THE SORROW AND THE PITY
N. Vaget
TH 1-3:50
These courses examine a definable phenomenon — an idea,
a movement, an event, a mentality, a cultural structure or system, an historical
problem, a critical mode — relevant to the civilization of France or of
French-speaking countries. Readings from a variety of disciplines shed
light on the particular aspect of thought or culture being studied.
This multimedia course on film, literature, and technology deals with France
during World War II: defeat, collaboration, resistance, liberation, and
the emergence of a new European identity. Historians, filmmakers, novelists,
and poets have attempted to revive and analyze the circumstances that led
some French people to collaborate with the Nazis while others heroically
resisted. We will examine the historical context using documentary videos,
literary works by Aragon, Marcel Aymé, and Jean-Paul Sartre, and
films by Chabrol, Louis Malle, Marcel Ophuls, Alain Resnais, and François
Truffaut. Technological training will be provided for students who wish
to create a multimedia project. Prereq. two of the following courses: French
215, 219, 225, or 230; 4 credits; 1 meeting (2 hours, 50 minutes)
PHILOSOPHY 275 PHILOSOPHY AND FILM
T. Wartenberg
MW 1:15-2:30, M 3-4:30 (screening)
An exploration of philosophical issues encountered in
the study of film. Are films art or entertainment? Do films have
"authors"? Can popular films be socially critical? These are examples of
the topics to be discussed in this course as we investigate the nature
of film and its relation to philosophy. Readings will be drawn from a variety
of sources: philosophy, film and cultural theory, film criticism. There
will be weekly film screenings. Prereq. 4 credits in department or in Film
Studies, or permission of instructor; 4 credits; 2 meetings (75 minutes),
1 screening (3 hours)
HACU318 (@ HAMPSHIRE) EXPLORING SOUND AND
SOUND AS ART
A. Steuernagel
TU 7-10pm
See Hampshire College course description for HACU 318.
Film Related Courses at MOUNT HOLYOKE:
ENGLISH 317 ELIZABETHAN THEATRE AND HOLLYWOOD MOVIES
P. Berek
TU 1-3:50
How does genre respond to, or shape, audience expectation,
and what links are there among generic forms, the business of theatre or
movies, and social or political issues? This seminar will study the theatre
of Shakespeare and his contemporaries and Hollywood films from the 1930s
through the 1960s. Genres may include (in the Elizabethan theatre) history,
revenge, tragedy, comedy, and tragicomedy; (in the movies) screwball comedy,
horror films, "women's pictures," science fiction, and westerns. The course
will include substantial readings in critical theory. Prereq. 8 credits
in department beyond English 101, including at least one of the following:
English 210, 211, or permission of the instructor; 4 credits; enrollment
limited to 18; 1 meeting (3 hours)
ENGLISH 320 JANE AUSTEN: READINGS IN FICTION AND
FILM
J. Lemly
M 1-3:50
A study of Austen's six novels through the lenses of
Regency culture and of twenthieth century filmmakers. How do these modest
volumes reflect and speak to England at the end of world war, on the troubled
verge of Pax Britannica? What do the recent films say to and about Anglo-American
culture at the millennium? What visions of women's lives, romance, and
English society are constructed through the prose and the cinema? Prereq.
jr, sr, 8 cr. in English/film studies beyond 101; prior work in eighteenth-
to nineteenth-century literature, history or film strongly recommended;
students should have read at least two Austen novels; 4 credits; enrollment
limited to 20; l meeting (3 hours) plus screenings
GERMAN STUDIES 241 BLACK, WHITE AND GERMAN
W. Sutherland (01)TUTH 11-12:15(GER)
W. Sutherland (02)MW 11-12:15 (TR)
Introduces cultural, social, economic, and political
developments in the German-speaking countries from the Middle Ages to the
present. Topics include German regional culture and language; art, architecture,
and music; women, gender, and family relations; the experience of work
and leisure time; contemporary East-West relations; and film studies. Labs
help students express themselves in culturally and situationally appropriate
ways, and develop contextual reading comprehension skills. Requires oral
reports, short papers, and exams.
(Speaking & Writing intensive course) Examines history,
literature, and culture of Afro-Germans in Germany from nineteenth-century
German colonization of Africa to the present. Special focus is given to
the issues of colonization, citizenship and race, blacks in the Weimar
Republic and in the Third Reich, perception of black occupation forces
and of biracial children/adults in Germany after both World Wars, emergence
of Afro-German identity in postwar Germany, visual and literary representations
of blacks by Germans and Afro-Germans, and current political issues of
Afro-Germans in Germany. Along with historical and autobiographical works,
films will also be shown and discussed. Prereq. German L201 or permission
of department; 4 credits
HISTORY 241 AFRICAN POPULAR CULTURE
H. Hanson
M 7-9:50pm
This class uses popular music, dance, fiction, film,
street art, bus slogans, newspapers, and other sources to document African
interpretations of the decades since "flag independence" in 1960. We will
let African musicians, writers, filmmakers, and artists direct our investigation
of the big questions of the class: Why is the gap between rich and poor
in African societies increasing? What is happening to gender relations?
What do African people think of their political leaders and how do they
imagine political situations might improve? 4 credits; 1 meeting (3 hours)
plus 4th hour
HISTORY 257 FRANKENSTEIN MEETS MULTIMEDIA
R. Schwartz
TUTH 2:40-3:55, plus 2-hr lab
Speaking intensive course) This course introduces multimedia
computing as a tool for carrying out a cultural history of Mary Shelley's
Frankenstein (1818)--a wonderfully rich source for understanding the varied
and shifting views of nature, gender, human development, and science during
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It also provides hands-on practical
experience using instructional technology to design and produce a significant
multimedia study on CD-ROM or the Web. 4 credits; 2 meetings (2 hours)
PHILOSOPHY 273 PHILOSOPHY OF ART
A. Curran
TTH 2:40-3:55
Speaking intensive course) (Community-based learning
course) Could a pile of bricks be art? Does life imitate art or does art
imitate life? How can we know the real meaning of a work of art? Can art
be a bad moral influence? Is "activist art" art? This class draws on a
variety of media, including visual art, literature, film, dance, and music,
to examine these questions. The class will also study the creation of a
local "public art" statue in honor of onetime resident Sojourner Truth.
4 credits; 2 meetings (75 minutes)
| SMITH COLLEGE |
ENG 120 COLLOQUIA IN LITERATURE: SHAKESPEARE
AND FILM
Gillian Kendall
TTh 10:30-11:50
Each colloquium is conducted by means of directed discussion,
with emphasis on close reading and the writing of short analytical essays.
Priority will be given to incoming students in the fall-semester sections
of the colloquia. Other students should consult the course director about
possible openings.: A study of the way filmmakers edit, distort, clarify,
and otherwise interpret Shakespeare's plays; the process of metamorphosing
theatre into film, imagery into image. Works to be studied include Henry
V, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest,
and Hamlet or King Lear.
FLS 241 GENRE/PERIOD TOPIC: THE WESTERN AND
AMERICAN IDENTITY
Alexandra Keller
TTh 10:30-11:50, screening W 7:30-9:30
This class examines the relation of perhaps the defining
American Film genre to questions of both American Cinema and American Identity.
How are Westerns reflective and symptomatic of vital
issues in United States history and culture? How
does the genre help shape and define how Americans think of themselves?
How did the genre change over the post-war period, and what does this tell
us about the changing needs, ideas, and ideologies of both American filmmaking
and the United States itself?
FLS 245 BRITISH FILM AND TELEVISION 4 CREDITS
Jefferson Hunter
MWF 11:00-12:10
A survey of the British cinema from the thirties to the
present day, with some attention to literary parallels and literary adaptations,
and with a look at recent television drama. Works by Alfred Hitchcock,
the documentarists Humphrey Jennings and Michael Apted, “the Archers” (Michael
Powell and Emeric Pressburger), Mike Leigh, Tony Richardson, the Boulting
brothers, Carol Reed; Ealing comedy; film by and about multicultural Britain;
the “heritage cinema” of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory; versions of Shakespeare;
Alan Bennett’s spy thriller A Question of Attribution and Dennis Potter’s
gangster miniseries The Singing Dectective. Readings in George Orwell,
Graham Greene, Shakespeare, and Kazuo Ishiguro. Prerequisite:
a college course in English literature or in film, or permission of the
instructor.
FLS 280 INTRO TO VIDEO PRODUCTION AND THE
HISTORY OF VIDEO ART 4 credits
Liz Miller
T 1-5, W 7:30-9:30
Video I is an introductory video production course.
This class will introduce you to the history and contemporary practice
of video art/documentary video and will provide you with the technical
and conceptual skills to complete creative video projects in small groups
and individually. Over the course of the semester, students will
gain experience in pre-production, production and post-production techniques.
Projects are designed to develop basic technical proficiency in the video
medium as well as practical skills for the completion of the creative project.
Prerequisite: FLS 200 (which may be taken concurrently).
Enrollment limited to 13.
FLS 282 ADVANCED VIDEO SEMINAR
Justin West
TTh 7:30-9:30
This course is designed to explore video as a creative
medium of cinematic expression. Students with a solid understanding
of basic video production will have an opportunity to work intensively
with video in a seminar environment to explore advanced aspects of the
medium. The course will make use of critique and the viewing and
discussion of film and video works to give students an expanded understanding
of the technical demands and creative potential of the medium. Students
in the course will work on an individual production over the course of
the semester as well as participating in shorter group problem-solving
projects. Some alternative media may be explored. Prerequisite:
FLS281 or equivalent.
FLS 351 FILM THEORY 4 credits
Alexandra Keller
T 1-4:50
This seminar explores main currents in film theory, including
formalist, realist, structuralist, psychoanalytic, feminist, poststructuralist,
cognitivist, and cultural-contextualist approaches to questions regarding
the nature, function, and possibilities of cinema. The course is
designed as an advanced introduction and assumes no prior exposure to film
theory. Fulfills film theory requirement for the minor. Prerequisite:
200 or the equivalent.
FRN 244 FRENCH CINEMA
Martine Gantrel-Ford
TTh 1:10-2:30, screening M 7:30
From the 1930’s to the 1990’s: Sixty Years of French
Cinema. A survey of French cinema from the beginning of the "parlant" through
the New Wave to the revival of the film "à la française."
Films by such directors as René Clair, Marcel Carné, Jean-Luc
Godard, Agnès Varda and Claude Sautet. Given in French. Prerequisite:
FRN 220, 230, or permission of the instructor.
GER 230 TOPICS IN GERMAN CINEMA: NAZI CINEMA
Hans Vaget
TTh 9-10:20
A study of German cinema during the Third Reich: the
legacy of Weimar cinema; popular and high culture in Nazi ideology; the
political function of entertainment; the question of fascist esthetics;
constructions of masculinity and femininity; imaginations of the Other.
With special focus on the films of Leni Riefenstahl. For comparison we
will draw on some American examples (F. Capra, C. Chaplin, F. Zinnemann).
Films to be studied: Hitler Youth Quex; Triumph of the Will; Olympia; Jew
Suess, Muenchhausen, and others.
WINTER 2002 UMASS FILM COURSES
Note: Winter session courses are offered through UMASS
Continuing Education. For more info visit their website at http://www.umass.edu/contined
Registration begins November 5, 2001.
Classes run Wednesday, January 2-Thursday, January 24, 2002
ART
ART 230 Photography I
Introduction to photographic tools and methods. The balance between
self-inquiry and the importance of process and materials as vehicles of
meaning. Theory explored through class critiques and slide presentations.
Photography examined and discussed both from a personal point of view and
in its wider cultural context. A 35mm camera is required for the course.
Materials average $100 and a substantial time commitment is required. Capacity
limited. 3 credits. $150 per credit.
150310, lec 1, M-F 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. -- BART 51
COMMUNICATION
COMM 342 History of Film II
Key events and representative films that mark the history of motion
pictures since 1950 worldwide. Emphasis on films made in the United States,
with particular attention to notions of family and "Americanism" as demonstrated
in films produced within the mainstream and at the margins during the last
five decades. 3 credits. $150 per credit.
150947, lec 1, M-F 12:30-3 p.m. -- SC 108
ENGLISH
ENGL 339 Film and Literature
Matt Kashorek
Film-works as extensions, continuations, syntheses, and reconstitutions
of cultural and artistic traditions. The historical, formal, and aesthetic
relationships between literature and the cinema. Emphasis on problems raised
in literary aesthetics as a result of film. Prerequisite: ENGLWP 112 or
equivalent. 3 credits. $150 per credit.
151759, lec 1, M-F 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. -- DKSN 112
