Spring 2025
Film Studies Spring 2025 Course List
Film Studies
FILM-ST 284 - The Undead Souths
Instructor: Patrick Mensah
Credits: 4
Meeting: Tu & Th 75 10:00 am-11:15 am also available online through U+
This course will explore themes of the Southern Gothic in works of Cinema and popular Televisual narratives. We will study the development of the lurid motifs of the Gothic that works affiliated with this genre often deploy to invoke a sense of horror and dread, moral corruption, and psychological abjection, all seemingly meant to assimilate the South and its citizens to the category of a degenerate and menacing otherness. The imagery of dismal landscapes, dark swamps, decaying architecture, fanatical and occult religious practices, and the often grotesque or monstrous figures and cultural tropes that aspire to associate the South with an imaginary medieval past, will be examined mostly as marks of an ambivalent ideological struggle surrounding the self-identity of America. Thanks to this regime of gothic tropes and insignia, America, on the one hand, heralds its own self-identity as culturally rich and historically continuous, and yet, it is, at least partly thanks to this same regimen of gothic tropes (understood as figures of otherness), on the other hand, that America also typically (or stereotypically) deals with anxieties arising from its attempts to define its own modern identity, and its identity as modern and exceptional. Such anxieties give rise to instances of negative stereotyping, and practices of cultural exclusion that the course critically interrogates. We also study several important ways in which the Gothic serves as an important voice for the marginalized, while enabling critical reflections on the social and cultural practices of exclusion we have alluded to. The history of slavery, the civil war, and its aftermath, as well as literature produced by certain Southern writers (such as William Faulkner, Thomas Wolfe, Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Katherine Anne Porter, and others) since the late 19th century, will be identified as important defining contexts of emergence for the Southern gothic, and as the indispensable conditions that have made its deployment into 20th century film and television possible. Due attention will also be paid to the influence of French colonial adventures and interventions in shaping cultures and "gothic" mythologies of the American South, and the Caribbean, as well as the role played by America's own efforts to secure and maintain hegemonic influences on the region.
The course is conducted in English, and requires no prior knowledge of the field. All films are streamed to your computer from the UMass library on demand. Required readings are provided online, and no book purchases are necessary. (Gen. Ed. AT, DU)
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: N/A
FILM-ST 291F – Film Festival Undergrad Lab
Instructor: Barbara Zecchi
Credits: 3
Meeting: Wednesday 6:30 pm-10:30 pm
Students will learn the essentials of film festival organization by using the Massachusetts Multicultural Film Festival (MMFF) as a detailed case study. Through close study of MMFF's planning and execution, students will learn about each stage of festival creation, from programming to marketing and audience outreach. Additionally, they will actively participate in the festival through discussions of the films.
This hands-on approach provides students with valuable skills in both event planning and public discourse around cinema.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY:
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY:
FILM-ST 353 – African Film
Instructor: Patrick Mensah
Credits: 4
Meeting: Tuesday 4:00 pm-6:50 pm also available online through U+
Discussion: Thursday 2:30 pm-3:45 pm and Thursday 4:00 pm-5:15 pm
This course offers an introduction to African film as an aesthetic and cultural practice. Students should expect to be familiarized with the key ideas and objectives that have inspired and driven that practice since the early 1960s, and be furnished with the technical tools and methodological skills that would permit them to understand, analyze, and think critically about the artistic and thematic aspects of the films that are screened. They should also expect the course to provide
them with a critical peek into several cardinal issues of social and cultural relevance in contemporary Africa and its history. Issues of interest typically include, the nationstate and its declining status, imperatives of decolonization, economic dependency and structural adjustment programs, orality and changing traditional cultures, diasporic migrations, urbanization and its problems, gender relations, civil wars, child soldiers, gangs, and related themes. Filmmakers studied include, but are not limited to, Abderrahmane Sissako, Gillo Pontecorvo, Ousmane Sembene, Raoul Peck, Jean-Marie Teno, Dani Kouyate, Mweze Ngangura, Gavin Hood, Neill Blomkamp, Moufida Tlatli, Djibril Diop Mambety (please note that this list is subject to change, and shall be updated as future changes are made). The course is conducted in English, and requires no prior knowledge of the field. All films are streamed to your computer from the UMass library on demand. Required readings are provided online, and no book purchases are necessary. (Gen.Ed. AT, DG)
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: N, E
FILM-ST 360 – Music, Culture, Moving Image
Instructor: Kevin Anderson
Credits: 4
Meeting: Monday 10:10 am-1:10 pm
This course explores the relationship between music and the moving image across multiple forms of media, including Film and Television, Documentaries, Music Videos, Video Games, Commercials, Broadcasts (e.g. news, sports), and Social Media (e.g. TikTok). The scope of the material studied includes examples from multiple cultures and points in the history of the moving image, paying particular attention to hybrid and cross-cultural blends of image and music, and the ways in which this marriage of image and sound service cultural and emotional meanings.
Students will be exposed to a wide variety of international, cultural, and historic pairings of music with moving images, and will emerge from the course with a thorough foundation in the following: how and why music pairs with the moving image; how and why the relationship between music and images has varied across time and culture; and the ways in which psychological states, cultural-historical markers, and emotional appeal are targeted through the pairing of sonic and visual stimuli. (Gen. Ed. SB, DU)
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: II, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
FILM-ST 373 – Weimar Cinema
Instructor: Mariana Ivanova
Credits: 4
Meeting: M & W 75 2:30 pm-3:45 pm
This course introduces students to key film genres, directors and artistic debates in Weimar Germany (1918-1933). Focusing primarily on German Jewish, women, and LGBTQIA+ film professionals, students will critically engage with significant political, historical, social and cultural events in Weimar cinema. Conducted in English. (Gen. Ed. AT, DG)
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: H1, E
FILM-ST 386 – Latin American Cinemas
Instructor: Celia Sainz
Credits 3
Meeting: Thursday 4:00 pm - 6:30 pm
This course is an introduction to the rich and diverse cinemas of Latin America. We will explore the historical, cultural, and political contexts in which these films were produced, and analyze how they reflect and shape the social and political realities of their respective countries. Through screenings, readings, and discussions, we will examine the unique aesthetic and narrative strategies employed by Latin American filmmakers, and consider the ways in which they challenge dominant cinematic conventions. The course will trace the emergence of cinema in Latin America in the early 20th century, by exploring the ways in which film was used as a tool for propaganda, education, and nation-building. It will examine the various movements and genres that have emerged throughout Latin America's cinematic history, including the New Latin American Cinema, the Third Cinema, and the contemporary Latin American film industry. Through the analysis of key films, we will consider how these movements have engaged with questions of identity, history, memory, and social justice.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY:
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY:
FILM-ST 385 – Psycho Thrillers
Instructor: Daniel Pope
Credits: 3
Meeting: Tuesday 4:00 pm-6:30 pm
Discussion: Wednesday 1:25 pm-2:15 pm
Thrillers compel audiences even as they repel with their narratives of dark secrets and cryptic menace. How can we understand the appeal of thriller movies? Is it their suspense, which lures us with its promise of mysteries that might be revealed? Is it their tales of transgression and violence, which horrify, tantalize, or spur catharsis? This class explores the psychological thriller in (mostly contemporary) international cinema, the roots and characteristics of the genre as well as the ways these films offer critical portraits of hidden truths of the mind, of history, and of the inner workings of the social worlds around us. How is the thriller uniquely suited for critical treatments of issues such as gender inequality, race relations, wealth and class divides, sexuality, and age or ability? We will also examine intersections between the psychological thriller and other thriller subgenres (political, erotic, action, supernatural, social, legal) as well as with such genres as horror and film noir.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: D&G, E
FILM-ST 412 – Advanced 16MM Filmmaking and Technology
Instructor: David Bendiksen
Credits: 3
Meeting: Friday 1:00 pm - 3:45 pm
Building on FILM-ST 411, this course is an advanced workshop in 16mm single-camera filmmaking, emphasizing experimental formal approaches, hand-processing, eco- friendly film chemistry, printing, color film, tinting and toning techniques, sound technologies, telecine and digitalization techniques, and digital-analog hybrid processes, with the goal of presenting a final work in a curated screening at the end of the semester. A previous 16mm course (FILM-ST 411, HACU-0249, or FAMS-335) or instructor permission are prerequisite. This course is intended for students interested in pursuing upper-level creative production and advanced coursework in analog film, especially toward completion of the Certificate or Major in Film Studies.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
FILM-ST 416 Untold Screenwriting
Instructor: Daniel Pope
Credits: 3
Meeting: Tu & Th 75 1:00 pm-2:15 pm
This is a course in writing unconventional screenplays, singular film scripts that not only take innovative forms but also tell stories not often found in established film and media production. We will read from an international selection of screenplays, examine clips from unconventional films, and address questions of representation, inclusion, and the work of writing underrepresented characters and untold narratives for the screen. ?Untold? signifies in two ways?it can mean boundless or limitless, and it can refer to a narrative that is not yet recounted. We are witnessing the beginnings of a film and media renaissance, with new works emerging and evolving that tell stories not commonly told and take innovative forms that can surprise, edify, delight, and enrich us. We will write screenplays for such works, starting with an appreciation for established forms and conventions of screenwriting, and pushing to expand the boundaries of what stories films can tell, and how.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
FILM-ST 417 – Short documentary Filmmaking
Instructor: David Casals Roma
Credits: 3
Meeting: Online
In the same way that fiction films are the mirror of our imagination, documentaries are the mirror of our surrounding reality. But making a documentary requires a creative point of view by the director and the knowledge of some filmmaking techniques. In this course, you will learn how to develop your ideas for documentary, how to write a script, how to plan the production, how to shoot interviews and how to structure your movie in the editing room. Moreover, you will write, shoot and edit a 5-minute documentary during the course. It is important that you can have access to a camera, a computer and editing software to edit your documentary.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
FILM-ST 425 – Greek Tragedy/Stage & Screen
Instructor: Barry Spence
Credits: 3
Meeting: Thursday 4:00 pm-7:00 pm
Discussion: Friday 12:20-2:15
This course explores classical Greek Tragedy and modern cinema's relationship with Greek tragedy. We will study ten plays in translation to examine the structure and aesthetics of tragedy and its historical, social, cultural, religious, and political function in fifth-century BCE Athens. The reading of each tragedy will be paired with the screening of at least one film. This course will proceed, not by privileging each classical tragedy as a source text and each film as the target text, but rather by viewing them as two autonomous texts that bear a relationship. It is this intermedial relationship that we will primarily investigate and explore. In this process, we will consider various theories and practices of adaptation and reception, deepen our understanding of the expressive nature of cinema, especially its changed nature in the aftermath of World War II, and gain greater competence in the formal analysis of film.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: N, E
FILM-ST 446 – Film Documentary
Instructor: Bruce Geisler
Credits: 3
Meeting: Tuesday 2:30 pm-4:30 pm
Discussion: Tuesday 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 CATEGORY: D&G, E
FILM-ST 550 – Arthouse Cinema
Instructor: Barry Spence
Credits: 3
Meeting: Wednesday 2:30 pm-6:00 pm
This seminar will examine the cultural phenomenon of the "art film" during the first three decades of the postwar period (1950s, 60s, 70s). The nature and characteristics of, as well as the relationships connecting and distinguishing, modernist cinema, art cinema, and avant-garde film during this vital period in film history will be one of the course's concerns. We will examine the notion of the auteur and consider its usefulness for thinking about this multiform, innovative cinema. What is the relationship between cinematic modernism and the core principles and representational strategies of modern art? Does modern cinema, as Gilles Deleuze suggests, function as a mental substitute for the lost connection between the individual and the world? Can it restore our belief in the world? The course will pay particular attention to distinctive stylistic attributes but will also look at dominant patterns of narrative form as well as persistent thematic concerns. Most weeks we will watch and analyze two films.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: II, IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: H2, E
FILM-ST 691F – Film Festival Lab: Creation, Curation, and Conversation
Instructor: Barbara Zecchi
Credits: 1
Meeting: Wednesday 6:30 pm-10:30 pm
Students will learn the essentials of film festival organization by using the Massachusetts Multicultural Film Festival (MMFF) as a detailed case study. Through close study of MMFF's planning and execution, students will learn about each stage of festival creation, from programming to marketing and audience outreach. Additionally, they will actively participate in the festival by co-leading discussions on selected films, fostering an environment of critical engagement and multicultural awareness. This hands-on approach provides students with valuable skills in both event planning and public discourse around cinema.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY:
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY:
FILM-ST 691R – Documenting the Real in Cont. Spain
Instructor: David rodriguez Solas
Credits: 3
Meeting: Wednesday 2:30 pm-6:00 pm
and analyze two films.UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: N, E
Art
Art 230- - Image Capturing
Instructor: Susan Jahoda & Adeyemi Adebayo
Credits: 3
Meeting: see multiple schedules in SPIRE
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
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: N/A
Art 231 - Photography II
Instructor: Ruthie Baker
Credits: 3
Meeting: see multiple schedules in SPIRE
In-depth exploration of techniques and materials including zone system, large format, and non-silver processes. Slide lectures, discussions, and readings. Prerequisite: ART 230 or consent of instructor.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: N/A
Art 275 - Digital Imaging
Instructor: Jason Kotoch
Credits: 3
Meeting: MoWe 9:05AM - 11:50AM
This course explores the creative possibilities of digital image creation and manipulation. Through demonstrations, creative technical assignments, students explore the digital workflow in independent projects involving sustained inquiry into self selected theme.
Prerequisite: Art 104, 110, 120, or 131
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: N/A
Art 276 - Introduction to Animation
Credits: 3
Instructor: Melissa McClung
Meeting: TuTh 1:00PM - 3:45PM
Through short, hand-drawn 2D animation projects, students are introduced to primary animation skills such as timing and spacing, the 12 Principles of Animation, believable acting, and various professional workflows. Students gain experience working in a variety of animation and video editing programs and practice all parts of the animation pipeline, including pre-production, post-production, and project management.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: N/A
ART 375 Moving Image
Credits: 3
Instructor: Jenny Vogel
Meeting: TuTh 1:00PM - 3:45PM
This course explores digital video and sound within the context of contemporary art practices. Students learn basic skills and concepts used in experimental digital video production through small-scale projects
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
ART 376 - Stop Motion Animation
Credits: 3
Instructor: Melissa McClung
Meeting: TuTh 4:00PM - 6:45PM
In this course, students are introduced to a variety of techniques and forms of stop motion animation as used in fine art animation and experimental film/video. Through short exercises and longer projects, students gain hands-on experience with frame-by-frame stop motion animation, set design, armature fabrication, lighting, practical effects, basic cinematography, sound design, and audio & visual editing. Emphasis is placed on creativity, conceptual development, and dynamic movement.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
Communication
COMM-140 - Introduction to Film Studies
Credits: 3
Instructor: Brendan McCauley
Meeting: TuTh 2:30PM - 3:45PM
Discussion: Tu 4:00PM - 6:00PM
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
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: n/a
COMM 284 - Possible Futures: Science Fiction in Global Cinemas
Credits: 3
Instructor: Kevin Anderson
Meeting: Fr 1:25PM - 4:25PM
There are multiple growing concerns regarding issues of climate, class, race, gender identity, and the nature of democracy in our contemporary world. Science fiction has proven to be a thought-provoking genre to help raise awareness to many of these social and environmental issues. This course takes a global perspective on such pressing issues by examining science fiction films from around the world. As such, the course uses science fiction films as primary texts, accompanied by weekly readings. Students will engage in a critical analysis of the assigned films and readings in order to better appreciate what we can begin to anticipate regarding our future. (Gen. Ed. SB, DG)
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: n/a
COMM 331 - Program Process in TV
Credits: 3
Instructor: Jason May
Meeting: We 10:10AM - 11:00AM plus lab
Open to Senior, Junior and Sophomore Communication majors only.
Prerequisite: COMM 231
This course will require students to use camera equipment during their lab meetings. Students must have their own SD card to use with the camera. While students will be able to submit their video assignments digitally, it would be beneficial to have an external storage device as well to keep their project work in order.
Journalism Majors and Film Certificate Students by permission of the instructor, jasonmay@umass.edu.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
COMM 342 - History of Film II
Credits: 3
Instructor: Shawn Shimpach
Meeting: TuTh 2:30PM - 3:45PM
A survey of key events and representative films that mark the history of worldwide cinema since 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.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: II, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: H2, E
COMM-345 - Contemporary World Cinema
Credits: 3
Instructor Anne Ciecko
Meeting: MoWe 4:00PM - 6:00PM
This course offers an overview of recent filmmaking from around the world including narrative fiction feature films, documentary, short-form work, and other digital/audiovisual media. Developing tools of film analysis and criticism, we will explore representational strategies and issues of context: current events, cultural, political, social, historical, and economic circumstances that impact the production, exhibition, marketing, distribution, and reception of films. All undergraduates are welcome. No prior background in film studies is required, only an openness to diverse cultures and representations.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
COMM 346 - Introduction to Studio Directing
Credits: 3
Instructor: Jason May
Meeting: Th 10:00AM - 2:00PM
Open to Senior, Junior and Sophomore Communication majors only.
Prerequisite: COMM 331
Journalism Majors and Film Certificate Students by permission of the instructor, jasonmay@umass.edu. If you have taken COMM 433, you cannot take this course.
Students will learn the process of directing programs in a studio environment, as well as practice principles of set design, lighting design; sound design, pickup & mixing; graphic design in the TV studio environment. The course will be a combination of analytics, technical understanding, and a hands-on learning experience. We will analyze various programs and their corresponding formats. Then, we will work on a long show format project as a class.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
COMM 360 - Music, Culture, and the Moving Image
Credits: 4
Instructor: Kevin Anderson
Meeting: Mo 10:10AM - 1:10PM
This course explores the relationship between music and the moving image across multiple forms of media, including Film and Television, Documentaries, Music Videos, Video Games, Commercials, Broadcasts (e.g. news, sports), and Social Media (e.g. TikTok). The scope of the material studied includes examples from multiple cultures and points in the history of the moving image, paying particular attention to hybrid and cross-cultural blends of image and music, and the ways in which this marriage of image and sound service cultural and emotional meanings.
Students will be exposed to a wide variety of international, cultural, and historic pairings of music with moving images, and will emerge from the course with a thorough foundation in the following: how and why music pairs with the moving image; how and why the relationship between music and images has varied across time and culture; and the ways in which psychological states, cultural-historical markers, and emotional appeal are targeted through the pairing of sonic and visual stimuli. (Gen. Ed. SB, DU)
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: II, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
COMM-393B - S-Intermediate Video Art Production
Credits: 3
Instructor: Ayanna Dozier
Meeting: MoWe 2:30PM - 3:45PM
This is an intermediate video production/theory course for students interested in exploring a wide range of approaches to narrative, documentary and experimental videomaking. Students will gain experience in production and postproduction techniques and will learn to think about and look critically at the moving and still image. The class will concentrate on the development of individual approaches to directing, performance, text, sound and image. Students will complete several collaborative and individual projects for the course and will also write responses to critical readings and weekly screenings. The course will include workshops in non-linear editing, cinematography, and lighting. Enrollment with permission of instructor by application only.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
COMM 433 - Advanced Television Production and Direction
Credits: 3
Instructor: Jason May
Meeting: Tu 10:00AM - 2:00PM
Intensive workshop course in advanced concepts and techniques of studio-based television production, with a focus on the direction of live programs. Under the supervision of the instructor, each student will produce individual projects in a variety of genres, which will be streamed digitally. Some post-production editing and field camera work will be involved.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
COMM 441 - Intermediate Digital Filmmaking
Credits: 3
Instructor:
Meeting: Tu 12:45PM - 3:45PM
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.
Prerequisite: COMM 231 and 331
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
COMM 444 - Film Styles & Genres
Credits: 3
Instructor: Shawn Shimpach
Meeting: Mo 1:25PM - 2:15PM
Lab: Mo 2:30PM - 5:15PM
Why do we put certain films into categories? What constitutes a film genre, how do we recognize it, and what do we do with it? This course examines these questions and more by considering a specific genre over the course of the semester. We will learn to think of genre as a way of comparing and contrasting different films. Genre will also be thought of as a way of creating expectations and measuring experience and meaning. The power of film genre is that it allows us to understand film as a text and film as a social practice at the very same time.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: D&G, E
COMM 446 - Film Documentary
Instructor: Bruce Geisler
Credits: 3
Meeting: Tuesday 2:30 pm-4:30 pm
Discussion: Tuesday 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 CATEGORY: D&G, E
COMM 447 - Advanced Documentary Production
Credits: 3
Instructor: Robbie Leppzer
Meeting: Th 3:00PM - 6:00PM
This course is a workshop-style class in digital film production, in which we will take a deep dive into advanced techniques and aesthetics of cinematography, lighting, sound recording and editing. Through hands-on exercises and production of two short films, students will develop a solid practice in the technical skills needed to create visually and aurally compelling moving images and sound. Students will learn how to manage and organize large amounts of raw footage, edit sequences and create engaging story structures using Adobe Premiere.
Prerequisites: At least one hands-on production course from among the following: COMM 331, 346, 347, 441, 493L, or 493Z
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
COMM 490STA - Advanced Digital Cinematography
Credits: 3
Instructor: Robbie Leppzer
Meeting: Th 11:30AM - 2:30PM
This course is a workshop-style “hands-on” class in digital film production, in which we will take a deep dive into advanced techniques and aesthetics of cinematography. Utilizing a state-of-the-art high-end professional 4K camera, students will learn how to master technical settings, including exposure, aperture, shutter speed, focus, ISO, depth of field, white balance, gamma assist, recording formats and codecs. Visual composition, lenses, camera support and various filming techniques will be examined, along with workshops on lighting and basic audio recording and editing in Adobe Premiere. Through hands-on exercises and production of two short films, students will develop a solid practice in the technical skills needed to create visually compelling moving images. With an emphasis on documentary techniques, students with an interest in all film genres will be welcome. Prerequisite: COMM 331
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
COMM 494BI - Countercultural Films
Credits: 3
Instructor: Bruce Geisler
Meeting: We 12:20PM - 2:20PM, 2:30-4:30
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 CATEGORY: E, can count as I.E.
COMM 544 - Advanced Digital Filmmaking
Credits: 3
Instructor: Kevin Anderson
Meeting: Tu 3:30PM - 6:30PM
Students work individually or in small groups to devote the entire semester's class time to the creation and completion of a substantial media project: e.g. short narrative film, documentary, music videos, TV or Web series, etc. Students are required to have a script or outline of the project prior to the start of the semester so that projects will commence production shortly into the semester and move on to completion of post-production, including creation of a soundtrack; run test screenings; develop marketing strategies for distribution and/or festival exhibitions.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
COMM 593D - S-Advanced Screenwriting
Credits: 3
Instructor: Bruce Geisler
Meeting: TuTh 11:30AM - 12:45PM
Building on the introductory course (COMM 445: Seminar-Screenwriting), 593D is an intensive workshop where students receive continuing, in-depth feedback on their work in progress, as they strive for professional competence in feature-length theatrical screenwriting or writing for episodic television. Included is an analysis of two professional screenplays and the films or shows produced from them, as students delve into the writer's art and craft. Students will complete either the first 60 pages of a feature film screenplay or a complete episode for a dramatic television show, or two episodes for a sitcom.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
Comparative Literature
COMP-LIT 382 - Cinema And Psyche
Credits: 4
Instructor: Kathryn Lachman
Meeting: TuTh 10:00AM - 11:15AM
Exploration of contemporary international cinema. Focus on comparative representations of nationality, childhood, and social dislocation. Topics addressed: inscriptions of the autobiographical; trans-cultural readings of visual texts; cinematic constructions of gender and subjectivity; dreams, fantasy, and memory; the "family romance." (Gen.Ed. AT)
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: II, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
COMP-LIT 391SF - S-International Science Fiction Cinema
Credits: 3
Instructor: N. C. Couch
Meeting: Tu 7:00PM - 10:00PM
This course provides an introduction to science fiction cinema from the end of the nineteenth century to today. Beginning with the experiments of the Melies Brothers and the importance of German Expressionist films like Fritz Lang's Metropolis, the course considers technological prognostication from Destination Moon to 2001: A Space Odyssey, adventure and science fiction in films like Forbidden Planet and Star Wars, and the dystopian imagination from Invasion of the Body Snatchers to District 9. The course will also highlight the roles of women writers and directors from Thea von Harbou to Kathryn Bigelow, and technological cinematic advances from matte painting and process shots to CGI.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: D&G, E
COMP-LIT 425 – Greek Tragedy/Stage & Screen
Instructor: Barry Spence
Credits: 3
Meeting: Thursday 4:00 pm-7:00 pm
Discussion: Friday 12:20-2:15
This course explores classical Greek Tragedy and modern cinema's relationship with Greek tragedy. We will study ten plays in translation to examine the structure and aesthetics of tragedy and its historical, social, cultural, religious, and political function in fifth-century BCE Athens. The reading of each tragedy will be paired with the screening of at least one film. This course will proceed, not by privileging each classical tragedy as a source text and each film as the target text, but rather by viewing them as two autonomous texts that bear a relationship. It is this intermedial relationship that we will primarily investigate and explore. In this process, we will consider various theories and practices of adaptation and reception, deepen our understanding of the expressive nature of cinema, especially its changed nature in the aftermath of World War II, and gain greater competence in the formal analysis of film.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: N, E
French
FRENCH-ST 284 - The Undead Souths
Instructor: Patrick Mensah
Credits: 4
Meeting: Tu & Th 75 10:00 am-11:15 am also available online through U+
This course will explore themes of the Southern Gothic in works of Cinema and popular Televisual narratives. We will study the development of the lurid motifs of the Gothic that works affiliated with this genre often deploy to invoke a sense of horror and dread, moral corruption, and psychological abjection, all seemingly meant to assimilate the South and its citizens to the category of a degenerate and menacing otherness. The imagery of dismal landscapes, dark swamps, decaying architecture, fanatical and occult religious practices, and the often grotesque or monstrous figures and cultural tropes that aspire to associate the South with an imaginary medieval past, will be examined mostly as marks of an ambivalent ideological struggle surrounding the self-identity of America. Thanks to this regime of gothic tropes and insignia, America, on the one hand, heralds its own self-identity as culturally rich and historically continuous, and yet, it is, at least partly thanks to this same regimen of gothic tropes (understood as figures of otherness), on the other hand, that America also typically (or stereotypically) deals with anxieties arising from its attempts to define its own modern identity, and its identity as modern and exceptional. Such anxieties give rise to instances of negative stereotyping, and practices of cultural exclusion that the course critically interrogates. We also study several important ways in which the Gothic serves as an important voice for the marginalized, while enabling critical reflections on the social and cultural practices of exclusion we have alluded to. The history of slavery, the civil war, and its aftermath, as well as literature produced by certain Southern writers (such as William Faulkner, Thomas Wolfe, Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Katherine Anne Porter, and others) since the late 19th century, will be identified as important defining contexts of emergence for the Southern gothic, and as the indispensable conditions that have made its deployment into 20th century film and television possible. Due attention will also be paid to the influence of French colonial adventures and interventions in shaping cultures and "gothic" mythologies of the American South, and the Caribbean, as well as the role played by America's own efforts to secure and maintain hegemonic influences on the region.
The course is conducted in English, and requires no prior knowledge of the field. All films are streamed to your computer from the UMass library on demand. Required readings are provided online, and no book purchases are necessary. (Gen. Ed. AT, DU)
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: N/A
FRENCH-ST 353 – African Film
Instructor: Patrick Mensah
Credits: 4
Meeting: Tuesday 4:00 pm-6:50 pm also available online through U+
Discussion: Thursday 2:30 pm-3:45 pm and Thursday 4:00 pm-5:15 pm
This course offers an introduction to African film as an aesthetic and cultural practice. Students should expect to be familiarized with the key ideas and objectives that have inspired and driven that practice since the early 1960s, and be furnished with the technical tools and methodological skills that would permit them to understand, analyze, and think critically about the artistic and thematic aspects of the films that are screened. They should also expect the course to provide
them with a critical peek into several cardinal issues of social and cultural relevance in contemporary Africa and its history. Issues of interest typically include, the nationstate and its declining status, imperatives of decolonization, economic dependency and structural adjustment programs, orality and changing traditional cultures, diasporic migrations, urbanization and its problems, gender relations, civil wars, child soldiers, gangs, and related themes. Filmmakers studied include, but are not limited to, Abderrahmane Sissako, Gillo Pontecorvo, Ousmane Sembene, Raoul Peck, Jean-Marie Teno, Dani Kouyate, Mweze Ngangura, Gavin Hood, Neill Blomkamp, Moufida Tlatli, Djibril Diop Mambety (please note that this list is subject to change, and shall be updated as future changes are made). The course is conducted in English, and requires no prior knowledge of the field. All films are streamed to your computer from the UMass library on demand. Required readings are provided online, and no book purchases are necessary. (Gen.Ed. AT, DG)
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: N, E
Italian
ITALIAN 531 - Fellini: Film as Veritable Lie
Credits: 3
Instructor: Andrea Malaguti
Meeting: TuTh 2:30PM - 3:45PM
The works of Italy?s most influential filmmaker in the most crucial years of Italy?s recent history (1953-1973) are examined to understand the persuasive power of the mise-en-scene that, while presenting itself as totally false, induces a powerful sense of experiential truth in the audience. By understanding how Fellini persuade us with his stories, we understand how we are made of stories ourselves.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: D&G, E
Journalism
JOURNAL 333 - Introduction to Visual Storytelling
Credits: 4
Instructor: Brian Mcdermott
Meeting: MoWeFr 11:15AM - 12:05PM
In introduction to Visual Storytelling, students will become better producers and consumers of visual media. Students will develop a deeper visual literacy by studying topics like visual ethics, aesthetics, agency, and the currents of the modern visual journalism ecosystem. By reporting their own video, photography and data visualization projects, students will learn how to control exposure with a DSLR camera, how to capture quality video and how to use different editing and production software. (Gen. Ed. AT)
Open to Senior, Junior and Sophomore Journalism majors only.
Non-majors may ask for an override by the Journalism advisors after the registration period ends.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: II, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
JOURNAL 433 - Photojournalism
Credits: 3
Instructor: Brian Mcdermott
Meeting: MoWe 2:30PM - 3:45PM
This course will cover the theory and practice of photojournalism and documentary photography. Students will photograph a diverse range of community events, including news, sports, portrait and photo essay assignments. They will also learn about the history, philosophy, ethics, aesthetics and contemporary multimedia practice of photojournalism.
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: IV, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
JOURNAL 444 - Short-Form Documentary
Credits: 4
Instructor: Greeley Kyle
Meeting: TuTh 10:00AM - 12:00PM
This class is where documentary filmmaking and traditional journalism meet. People often look at news for the headlines and see little bits of the news. Here, we give them more depth, alternate perspectives, ask deeper questions and look to the future with long form storytelling. David Wilson, a co-founder of the True/False Film Festival calls this a "new era of journalism" and says, "We are getting away from the 'voice of God' narration. Primary sources still rule, but viewers also want stories to help triangulate a topic." The challenge of modern day videos is to tell enrapturing stories in a short period of time. This course will teach you how to produce short, sharp, strong micro-documentaries.
Prerequisite: JOURNAL 300
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: E
Judaic Studies
JUDAIC 364 - Cinema of the Holocaust
Credits: 4
Instructor: Olga Gershenson
Meeting: TuTh 1:00PM - 2:15PM
Cinema today constitutes an important source of popular historical knowledge of the Holocaust. Fiction films in particular have come to occupy a central place in our understanding and memorialization of the Jewish catastrophe. Given their importance, this course will provide a cultural history of cinematic treatments of the Holocaust, trace major trends and changes in Holocaust representations, and raise questions concerning historical memory of the Holocaust in national cinemas. The main emphasis will be on narrative cinema, but several significant documentaries will also be considered. (Gen. Ed. HS, DG)
UNDERGRADUATE FILM STUDIES CERTIFICATE CATEGORY: III, V
FILM STUDIES MAJOR CATEGORY: N, E