Undergraduate Courses: Fall 2020
UMASS FILM COURSE GUIDE – FALL 2020
UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
FILM STUDIES
FILM-ST 170 – Introduction to film Analysis: Cinematic Time Travel
Barry Spence Cap 30, 4 Credits
Screening/Lec: TH 4:00-6:45PM
Discussion: Friday 2:30-3:45
Friday 2:30-3:45
Monday 2:30-3:45
LOCATION: ILC S240
Gen Ed: AT
This is an introduction to film studies and to the analysis of film. The course explores the complex nature and cultural function of cinema by focusing on time travel as both a central theme of a wide range of films and as a way of understanding how cinema works as a time-based medium. By studying films from various points in the global history of cinema - including films from nine countries and five continents - this course performs a transcultural introduction to the formal and stylistic aspects of cinematic storytelling. (Gen. Ed. AT)
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: I, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: I
FILM-ST - 320 – Jewish Humor
Olga Gershenson, Cap 30, 4 Credits
Screenings: TBA
What part does humor play in Jewish culture? This course examines Jewish humor in literature, folklore, film, TV, and stand-up comedy. Topics include: the origins of modern Jewish humor, Yiddish satire and comedy, Jewish role in popular culture in the US, Europe, and Israel, and the relationship of Jewish humor to antisemitism.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
FILM ST-330 Film Auteurs: Akira Kurosawa
Barry Spence Cap 25, 4 Credits
Screenings: W 4:00 PM- 7:00 PM ILC S404
This class will focus on one or two specific filmmakers and will aim to highlight their cinematic models, distinctive style and recurrent themes, within the theoretical framework of the “auteur theory," thus offering students an introductory and comprehensive view of perhaps the most central concept in film studies. This iteration of the course will focus on the films of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
FILM-ST - 383-01 Narrative Avant Garde Film
Don Levine, Cap 30 4 Credits
Screening/Lecture: Monday 4:00 pm- 7:30 pm
Discussions: Tuesday 2:30 pm- 3:45 pm
Tuesday 4:00 pm- 5:15 pm
Focus on narrative problems of love, desire, sexual identity, daily life, and death. These films' investigations of how we might gain distance on our life fictions by questioning and undermining viewer identification with narrative. (Gen.Ed. AT)
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: II, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: H2
FILM-ST-397E Film at the End of the World
Daniel Pope, Cap 25, 3 Credits
Screenings/Lecture: T 4:00 PM- 7:00 PM
What insights do films with end-of-the-world scenarios, dystopian futures, and post-apocalyptic themes offer into the cultural moment that produces them? From alien invasions and planetary collisions to cataclysmic war and totalitarian dystopias, from the zombie apocalypse and the rise of machines, to human extinction and the end of civilization, what do these films tell us about contemporary realities? How do they speak to our anxieties and fears about the future as well as our hopes and aspirations? In what ways do these films pose and explore questions of the "human"? End-of-the-world films often intersect with other genres (thriller, action film, neo-noir, comedy, art-house, romance, drama, experimental, etc.) In this course we will study the cinema of eschatology, of ultimate endings, and analyze a range of filmic approaches to the philosophical, psychological, and aesthetic questions raised in end-of-the-world narratives. UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
FILM-ST- 397G ST-Contemporary Hispanic Cinema
Daniel Pope Cap 15, 3 Credits
Screenings/Lecture: TH 4:00 PM– 7:00 PM
This course gathers together an array of recent Latin American, Spanish, Caribbean, and Latinx films with an emphasis on addressing the experiences of marginalized people. We will explore the historical and cultural contexts in which these films are made and seen, in many cases reaching vast audiences across the world, and we will push at the boundaries of the category "Hispanic" in cinema. Analysis and discussions will also draw on insights from film theory, such as approaches to world cinema, "Third Cinema," national and transnational cinemas, and Hamid Naficy's concept of "accented cinema." Taught in English with films subtitled in English.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
FILM-ST- 397Z ST- Classical Hollywood Cinema
Barry Spence Cap 25, 3 Credits
Screenings: 1:00 PM- 3:45 PM
Discussion: Fridays 1:25 PM- 2:15 PM
This is a history of film course focusing on what is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age" of Hollywood. An examination of classical Hollywood cinema, this course will concentrate on the period from the 1920s to the 1960s. We will look at the production and distribution practices of the Hollywood studio system, and pay special attention to the way this preeminent form of cinema established many of the norms of the immersive film experience. Among other subjects, we will consider the construction of classical continuity by studying the narrative structures and devices, stylistic techniques, and approaches to editing of a wide range of exemplary films. Weekly in-class screenings, with separate discussion. This course fulfills the Film History I (H1) requirement of the film studies major through BDIC.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: II, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: H1
FILM-ST - 493L – S-Experimental Film & Video
Kevin Anderson Cap: 25, 3 Credits
Seminar: TH 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Open to Senior and Junior Communication majors only
Requirements: One of the following: COMM 331, COMM 441, COMM446
This course explores the genre of Experimental Film and Video with a critical eye toward the history and current articulations of this form of production in both feature film and short form movies; videos. The course begins with an introduction to the genre, then explores Experimental Film; Video according to three different categories: Experimentation with Narrative, Experimentation with Structure; Form, and Experimentation with the line between Fact and Fiction. Students will emerge from this course with a solid foundation in the history and theory of experimental film; video as evidenced by writing projects, research papers, and student-produced experimental media projects.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
FILM-ST- 497WC Film Writing and Criticism in the Age of New Media
Daniel Pope Cap 16, 3 Credits
Screenings/Lecture: M 2:30 PM- 5:30 PM
This is both a writing class for movie-lovers and a film class for writers interested in new media. With cinema touching nearly every corner of popular and intellectual culture, new varieties of film writing have flourished along with it. From thinking about what cinema is (and what it can be) to personal explorations of cinema, we will dive into the exciting new opportunities for film criticism, from the force of the critical essay and the art of the film review to the rapidly evolving landscape of new media/video essays, podcasts, websites, social media, blogs, and other engagements with film. The core work of this class focuses on discovering our own compelling insights into films and film art from around the world and from different eras of cinema and then expressing those discoveries effectively in moving images, written words, and audio experiences for diverse audiences.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
ART
ART 230 – Image Capturing (TENTATIVE)
Susan Jahoda Cap: 10, 3 Credits
Lecture: T/Th 1:00PM-3:45PM OR M/W1:25PM -4:00PM
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.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: V
ART 275- Digital Imaging
Copper Giloth, 3 Credits
LECTURE: M/W 9:05AM – 11:50 AM
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: V
COMMUNICATION
COMM 140 – Introduction to Film Studies
Instructor TBA Cap. 125, 3 Credits
Lecture: T/Th 2:30PM-3:45PM; Screening: Tue 4:00PM-6:00PM
Open to Sophomores & Freshmen Only
This course offers an introduction to the study of film as a distinct medium. It introduces the ways in which film style, form, and genre contribute to the meaning and the experience of movies. Topics include film as industrial commodity, narrative and non-narrative form, aspects of style (e.g. composition, cinematography, editing, and sound), and the role of film as a cultural practice. Examples are drawn from new and classic films, from Hollywood and from around the world. This course is intended to serve as a basis for film studies courses you might take in the future.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: I, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: I
COMM 231 - Film & TV Production Concepts
Kevin Anderson, Cap. 125, 3 Credits
Lecture T/Th 11:30 am- 12:45pm
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 digital motion picture 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 and color, cinematography, production design, editing concepts, sound recording, and storytelling and script-writing will be covered. In addition, students are given three options for producing a creative project for the course.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: I, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: I
COMM 296F – Independent Study-Film Festival
Anne Ciecko, 1 credit
Film Screening. This is a 1-credit Mandatory Pass/Fail course. Film screening. This festival colloquium will be held in conjunction with one or more semester-long film festivals.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: not applicable
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: not applicable
COMM 340 – History of Film 1
Martin Norden, Cap. 50, 3 Credits
Lecture M/W 2:30 PM – 3:40 PM
Screening: Mon 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
A survey of key events and representative films that mark the history of motion pictures in the United States and other countries to 1950. 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 to the advent of television.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: II, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: H1
COMM 441 – Principles and Techniques of Film Style Production
Kevin Anderson Cap: 12, 3 Credits
Lecture: Tu 2:30PM-6:30PM
Open to Senior and Junior Communication majors only. Prerequisites: COMM 231 and 331
A hands-on introduction to single-camera filmmaking using digital video camcorders and non-linear editing. Production assignments will foster student skills in the art of visual storytelling: from pre-production, shot composition and lighting to continuity editing and post production audio.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: E
COMM 445 – Screenwriting
Bruce Geisler & Martin Norden Cap: 20, 3 Credits
Lecture Section 01: T/TH 11:30 AM - 12:45PM
Lecture Section 02: M/W 10:10 AM -11:25 AM
Open to Senior and Junior Communication majors only.
Prerequisites: One of the following: COMM 140, COMM 240, COMM 340
An examination of the art, craft, and business of screenwriting from theoretical and practical perspectives. Topics include screenplay format and structure, story, plot and character development, dialog and scene description, visual storytelling, pace and rhythm, analysis of professional and student scripts and films.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: E
COMM 446 – Film Documentary
Bruce Geisler, Cap: 25, 3 Credits
Screening: Tu 2:30 PM- 4:30 PM
Lecture: Tu 4:45 PM – 5:35 PM
We will view, analyze, and discuss films by modern documentary masters such as Michael Moore ("Sicko"), Chris Paine, ("Revenge of the Electric Car"), Seth Gordon ("The King of Kong - A fistful of Quarters"), Pamela Yates ("Granito") and many others to further the understanding of the documentary craft and art from a filmmaker's perspective. Students will also do preproduction (research and treatment) for their own short documentary, along with shorter hands-on exercises in writing narration, interview techniques, etc.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
COMM 493L – S-Experimental Film & Video
Kevin Anderson, Cap: 25, 3 Credits
Seminar: TH 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Open to Senior and Junior Communication majors only
Requirements: One of the following: COMM 331, COMM 441, COMM446
This course explores the genre of Experimental Film and Video with a critical eye toward the history and current articulations of this form of production in both feature film and short form movies; videos. The course begins with an introduction to the genre, then explores Experimental Film; Video according to three different categories: Experimentation with Narrative, Experimentation with Structure; Form, and Experimentation with the line between Fact and Fiction. Students will emerge from this course with a solid foundation in the history and theory of experimental film; video as evidenced by writing projects, research papers, and student-produced experimental media projects.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
COMM 494BI – Countercultural Films
Bruce Geisler, Cap: 25, 3 Credits
Seminar: We 2:30PM - 4:30PM; Seminar:
Discussion: We 4: 45PM - 5:45PM
An exploration of the counter-cultural movements of the 1960s and 70s and later, hosted by someone who was there and lived to tell the tale. Through the medium of documentary and fiction films, we will delve into the musical, sexual, artistic, political and spiritual upheavals that rocked America and Europe back then and that continue to reverberate today. This course satisfies the Integrative Experience requirement for BA-Comm majors.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
COMP-LIT 170 – Introduction to film Analysis: Cinematic Time Travel
Barry Spence Cap 45, 4 Credits
Screening/Lec: TH 4:00-6:45PM
Discussion: Friday 2:30-3:45
Friday 2:30-3:45
Monday 2:30-3:45
LOCATION: ILC S240
Gen Ed: AT
This is an introduction to film studies and to the analysis of film. The course explores the complex nature and cultural function of cinema by focusing on time travel as both a central theme of a wide range of films and as a way of understanding how cinema works as a time-based medium. By studying films from various points in the global history of cinema - including films from nine countries and five continents - this course performs a transcultural introduction to the formal and stylistic aspects of cinematic storytelling. (Gen. Ed. AT)
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: I, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: I
COMP-LIT 383-01 Narrative Avant Garde Film
Don Levine, Cap 30 4 Credits
Screening/Lecture: Monday 4:00 pm- 7:30 pm
Discussions: Tuesday 2:30 pm- 3:45 pm
Tuesday 4:00 pm- 5:15 pm
Focus on narrative problems of love, desire, sexual identity, daily life, and death. These films' investigations of how we might gain distance on our life fictions by questioning and undermining viewer identification with narrative. (Gen.Ed. AT)
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: II, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: H2
FRENCH
FRENCH- 350- French Film
Emmanual Buzay Cap, 4 Credits
Lecture: T/TH 2:30 pm- 3:45 pm
Food matters in many French movies, when it comes to meals or simply cooking culture.
Indeed, food speaks about French identity. We will focus on how food and meals reflect economic realities, national obsessions, behavioral conventions, and societal transformations.
At the end of this course that will introduce a variety of French food films of different genres dating from the 1930s to the present, you will be able analyze films and their different genres as cultural products, identify the values transmitted within these works of art, and critically discuss films with the technical vocabulary of film analysis.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
FRENCH- 397SC- Sci Fi French
Emmanuel Buzay, 3 Credits
Lecture: T/TH 1:00 pm- 2:15 pm
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
ITALIAN
ITALIAN- 350 Italian Film
Andrea Malaguti, Cap, 3 Credits
Lecture; T/TH 4:00 pm- 5:15 pm
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
JAPANESE
JAPANESE- 391T – Tokyo Through Literature and Film
Amanda Seaman, Cap. 15, 3 Credits
Lecture: T/TH 1:00 pm- 2:15 pm
PREREQ: NONE
In this course we will explore the transformation of Tokyo from Edo into one of the most vibrant, cosmopolitan cities of the world. Taking the themes of maps, disaster, and rebirth, and the role of space in identity formation, we will look at how the city has been transformed and reborn. Our materials will include film, photos, literature, and history in order to delve into the nooks and crannies of the city and the city spaces.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
JUDAIC
JUD 320 – Jewish Humor
Olga Gershenson, Cap 30, 4 Credits
What part does humor play in Jewish culture? This course examines Jewish humor in literature, folklore, film, TV, and stand-up comedy. Topics include: the origins of modern Jewish humor, Yiddish satire and comedy, Jewish role in popular culture in the US, Europe, and Israel, and the relationship of Jewish humor to antisemitism.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
SPANISH & PORTUGUESE
SPAN- 397B ST-Contemporary Hispanic Cinema
Daniel Pope, Cap 15, 3 Credits
Screenings/Lecture: TH 4:00 PM– 7:00 PM
This course gathers together an array of recent Latin American, Spanish, Caribbean, and Latinx films with an emphasis on addressing the experiences of marginalized people. We will explore the historical and cultural contexts in which these films are made and seen, in many cases reaching vast audiences across the world, and we will push at the boundaries of the category "Hispanic" in cinema. Analysis and discussions will also draw on insights from film theory, such as approaches to world cinema, "Third Cinema," national and transnational cinemas, and Hamid Naficy's concept of "accented cinema." Taught in English with films subtitled in English.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
PORTUG- 408 Brazil in Film and Fiction
Luiz Amaral, Cap (?), 4 Credits
Screenings/Lecture: TH 4-6:30 PM
The principal aim of this course is to introduce students to Brazilian history and culture through film and selected readings, by focusing on how filmmakers, writers, and artists represent key aspects of Brazilian society past and present: the colonization process; culture contact between Europeans and native Brazilians; slavery and race relations; economic development; immigration and internal migration; life in the backlands; urban problems; the dictatorship and its aftermath; contemporary Brazil. A second aim is to develop analytical skills and writing abilities. Course and readings are in Portuguese; films have subtitles in English. (Gen. Ed. AL, DG)
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: D&G&N
ONLINE COURSES
FILM-ST- 397K ST- Screenwriting: Film & Video
Tom Benedek, Cap 5, 3 Credits
ONLINE
In this class students will learn character and plot creation techniques in feature films, TV, short films, online media and develop their own stories and scripts for selected formats. This course is an elective for the film studies major through BDIC.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: E
FILM-ST- 397Z ST- Classical Hollywood Cinema
Barry Spence, Cap 5, 3 Credits
Online
This is a history of film course focusing on what is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age" of Hollywood. An examination of classical Hollywood cinema, this course will concentrate on the period from the 1920s to the 1960s. We will look at the production and distribution practices of the Hollywood studio system, and pay special attention to the way this preeminent form of cinema established many of the norms of the immersive film experience. Among other subjects, we will consider the construction of classical continuity by studying the narrative structures and devices, stylistic techniques, and approaches to editing of a wide range of exemplary films. Weekly in-class screenings, with separate discussion. This course fulfills the Film History I (H1) requirement of the film studies major through BDIC.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: II, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR IN BDIC CATEGORY: H1