INTRODUCTION TO FILM STUDIES
Comm 150 (Course Information)
Texts & Course Description
Text: Timothy Corrigan and Patricia White's The Film Experience: An Introduction. I will also distribute and have you read a few supplemental essays and stories.
One of our main goals this semester is to examine attitudes and assumptions about film. For example, since film is so familiar to us, it is often labeled "entertainment." We often assume that it is easier to understand than literature (which is often regarded as "serious" or as "art"). In fact, film really is entertaining, and it really is complex. It employs two channels--sound and image--and it is culturally ambiguous, blurring distinctions between art, entertainment, and mass communication. It poses major problems for--but it offers new possibilities to--traditional categories of cultural criticism.
COMM 150 is an introduction to the "reading" and the comprehension of film as a language and to cinema as an institution. It satisfies a baccalaureate degree requirement in the Arts. This section of Comm 150 is not a special summer version of a "regular" Penn State course. It is a regular Penn State course offered during the summer. As such, it upholds University standards of academic quality. Your work load is the same as it would be during the fall or spring term. You have to work faster and, perhaps, harder. Do not expect early dismissals. Thecourse schedule is divided into three broad units. These units are, in turn, divided into smaller sections. We will read Chapters 1-6 in order. I will guide the class through a quick tour of Chapter 7. In Unit One, we look at film as a medium: both what is specific to it (e.g., editing/montage) and what it shares with other media (such as theater and photography). In Unit Two, we direct our attention to the ways people organize filmic materials into formal systems (e.g., into arguments, explanations, and stories). We pay particular attention to story or narrative form. In Unit Three, we explore how cinema functions as an institution: how it reinforces and, occasionally, resists cultural values.
Since this is an introductory course and since I am well aware that certain movies--and types of movies-- are extremely popular, I assume that you have seen plenty of movies but that you lack a conceptual understanding of cinema. In other words, I assume that your awareness of films far exceeds your vocabulary for describing them. Hence, I hope that you will regard this course as (1) an opportunity to experience a broader range of movies than you are, perhaps, used to seeing, and (2) as an occasion to learn and practice a more analytical--precise and elaborated--language for thinking about, talking about, and writing about film.
Although we shall attend to historical issues associated with cinema, this course is not organized as a history of the movies (that's another Penn State course). Neither is it a production course: a guide to filmmaking (that too is another Penn State coures). For although we will not shy away from the technical aspects of film production or resist situating movies in their historical context, our ultimate goal is to learn something about the construction of movies and the role cinema--and, especially, narrative film--plays in relating individuals to the values and assumptions of their culture.
Requirements
Note: Keep all materials returned to you. Points earned at semester's end divided by 500-points possible (X 100) yields your final grade as a percentage. Here is some important information on assignments:
- Multiple-Choice Exams:
- To demonstrate mastery of concepts examined in Unit I, students take two objective (primarily multiple-choice) exams. These are take-home exams. Students view clips snipped from several films (dubbed onto CD) and then they answer questions about techniques employed in these clips. Both tests use the same CD and film clips. Test One covers Chapters 1-3. Test Two covers Chapters 4-5. Students are encouraged to collaborate with classmates in the completion of these exams. 200 possible points (100 points for each exam).
- Short-Answer Exams
- To demonstrate mastery of narrative form (Chapter 7, plus supplements), students complete an exam composed of short-answer, matching, and true/false questions. All questions are based on a film (or a section of a film) assigned in class. This exam is traditional, to be completed during class. 150 possible points.
- Journal Assignments:
- Students submit seven journal entries in which they apply course materials (most often) to a film of their choosing. Two of these entries count double. A final journal score reflects on-time completion of the course's four exams (2.5 journal points per exam). 100 possible total points; each single entry earns a maximum score of 10 points. Late entries earn no more than 6 points. Entries submitted a week or more after a due date earn zero points. Although students are encouraged to talk with classmates about journal entries, these assignments are not collaborative projects.
- Class Participation:
- Responding to readings, film clips, and assignments is an explicit part of this course, crucial for making it successful and enjoyable. Class attendance and participation are very important. They are measured objectively by short quizzes. A quiz is administered toward the beginning of most classes; a second quiz is administered after the break. It is not possible to "make up" daily quizzes. 50 possible points.
House Keeping
I will show little to no toleration in dealing with late work. Late work is, by definition, below average; deadlines are a normal and necessary component of all scholarly and real-world production.
There are good reasons to miss class. But in this class there is no such thing as an “excused” or "unexcused" absence. A missed class means missed material. Any missed notes should be copied from another student. If you have to be absent, do not ask me, “What did I miss?” Ask a classmate. Do not email me about missed or late work. Do not email me telling me why you missed class. Speak to me, if you wish, after class. Do not present me with excuse slips written by physicians. Such slips may explain why you were absent; they cannot excuse an absence.
It is Penn State University’s policy and it is my policy not to discriminate against students with disabilities. If you have a documented disability that requires modifications of this course, contact me early in the semester. It is the student’s responsibility to obtain a University letter confirming the disability and suggesting appropriate accommodation. This letter can be requested from Dr. Cora Dzubak. Her office is located in the Learning Center (basement of the Library).
As part of a learning community, students need to share ideas—ideas documented in speech, in writing, or as a creative product—with their teacher and their classmates. Academic responsibility means that students labor to produce and to document ideas. They do their own work. Academic integrity means being clear—in institutionally defined and approved ways—about the origin and ownership of ideas. Taking credit for ideas that one did not generate—whether in the form of speech, writing, or a product—is academic dishonesty, and it will be dealt with in accordance with university policy. Typically, in this course the student who is caught cheating earns a failing grade for the course.
In the summer I do not have scheduled office hours, but if the need arises, I am happy to meet with students. I am in my office most Mondays from 9:00-6:00. Feel free to stop by (227 ISTC) or to give me a call (771-4157). No appointment is necessary. I regularly check my email. My address isjmj3@psu.edu.
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Lessons in Film Studies
Topics listed below form links to the exercises that structure our discussion this semester. We will address these topics in order, one at a time. Due dates are as indicatedI. UNIT ONE: FILM AS A MEDIUM
- A. Journal 1: Preparing Viewers and Views (Due: Class 2)
- B. Journal 2: Film as Theater (Mise-en-Scene) (Due: Class 3)
- C. Journal 3: Film as Photography (Due: Class 5)
- D. Journal 4-5: Film as Collage (Editing) (Due: Class 7)
- E. Journal 6: Film as Collage (Sound) (Due: Class 8)
III. UNIT THREE: FILM MEANING
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Resources for Film Studies
Here are a few web sites of interest to the student of film.Information on employing copyrighted material in your hypertexts.Northwestern University's Guide to Resources on Radio/TV/Film
Film scholar, Bert Deivert has, with Dan Harries, written a book titled, Film and Video on the Internet (Michael Wiese Productions).
Yahoo's list of film resources
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Comm150: Course Outline and
Schedule
I. UNIT ONE: FILM AS A MEDIUM
A. Film as Theater
Class 1 (May 8) Course Intro;
C&W, Chapter One, "Preparing Viewers and Views"
Class 2 (May 10) C&W, Chapter
Two, "Exploring a Material World: Mise-en-Scene"; Journal 1 Due: Film
Production
Class 3 (May 15) Mise-en-Scene
continued; Journal 2 Due: Mise-en-Scene
B. Film as Photography
Class 4 (May 17) C&W, Chapter
Three, "Seeing through the Image: Cinematography"
Class 5 (May 22) Cinematography
continued; Journal 3 Due: Cinematography
C. Film as Collage
Class 6 (May 24) EXAM #1 DUE;
C&W, Chapter Four, "Relating Images: Editing"
University Holiday, May 29,
Memorial Day
Class 7 (May 31) Editing continued;
C&W, Chapter Five, "Listening to Cinema: Film Sound"; Journal 4-5
Due: Editing
II. UNIT TWO: FILM FORM
A. Film as Exposition, Argument,
& Experiment
Class 8 (June 5) C&W, Chapter
Seven, "Other Cinematic Shapes: Documentary and Experimental Films"
(do not need to read chapter); Journal 6 Due: Sound
B. Film as Story Telling
Class 9 (June 7) EXAM #2 DUE;
C&W, Chapter Six, "Telling Stories about Time: Narrative Films";
Journal 7 Due: Nonnarratives
Class 10 (June 12) Narrative
continued; William Labov on Narrative; Chopin, "The Kiss"; Journal
8-9 Due: Narrative Form
III. UNIT THREE: CINEMA AS AN
INSTITUTION
Film as Communication
(Reinforcement or Resistance)
Class 11 (June 14) Comolli and
Narboni on form/theme; EXAM #3
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Keeping a Journal: Film Studies
During the course of this semester, you are expected to view and write journal entries on at least 15 films. Follow these steps to receive maximum credit for your work.
1. View a film on your own or with friends or family.Our library offers a fine collection of videotapes which you may borrow for overnight viewing.
You are required to view at least one silent, one pre-World War II, and one non-narrative film. Thus, all of the other films you view are a matter of personal choice. The goal here is to expose you to a wide variety of material but, also, to demonstrate that course topics can be applied to any film.
Writing about a film which you haven't seen in its entirety is academic dishonesty.2. Compose (type or write legibly) a short journal entry in which you discuss the film you have viewed in terms taken from current course readings and class discussions. For example, when you come to class for our second meeting, you should have read our text on the topic of editing. That means, your journal entry should explain how a particular scene from a movie was constructed from clips of film.
Your discussion should be 500 words, more or less. Remember, journal entries are, in effect, take-home quizzes designed to test how well you are applying course materials to films that you view. You may submit a journal entry on a film that you plan to discuss at greater length in a paper, and you may submit a journal entry on the film that our class chooses to focus on during its final exam.
Unless your comments demand that you discuss an entire film, focus on how course topics can be used to illuminate a scene from the film you have viewed. (Be careful not to put cart before horse by showing how a movie illustrates points made in class or in your text.) Avoid diffuseness.
Your analysis should follow a three-beat structure (which you may modify to suit your own aims). First, identify a topic noticed in your reading or reviewed in class. Second, show how that topic can be used to describe (a scene from) the film you have viewed. Third, suggest how (or whether) your observations might be generalized across film studies. Through your particular analysis, have you uncovered some sort of rule?3. Here are some fine points (or ways to stay out of trouble).
To receive maximum credit, you must submit at least 15 journal entries: one every class meeting (except for the first and final nights of class). Late entries will receive a maximum score of five points. Extra journal entries must be submitted on or before the regular term ends.
You are not to write movie reviews (whether or not you like a film is, on one level, immaterial), you are not to write about the same topic or the same film more than once, and you are not to write about a film that I have screened (in its entirety) during our regular class time.
If you watch a movie with friends, your insights (or the particular section of film examined) should differ from theirs.
If you view a film discussed in our text, do not recapitulate its discussion. Single out a scene or a topic that Bordwell and Thompson left unexplored.4. This assignment is worth 150 total points; 10 points maximum for each journal entry written. Note, however, that you can write extra journal entries and be assured of receiving 150 points. But there is no extra credit. You cannot score--I will not record--more than 150 points on this assignment.
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Film Studies: Paper Options
Introduction
In this unit we have learned that film is a medium capable of organizing sounds and images to produce narrative (story-telling), expository (explanatory or demonstrative), or poetic (artistic) effects. And we have identified the anecdote as a simple narrative form, useful in helping us analyze longer and more complex stories. Any classic narrative--told, written, or filmed--may be understood either as an anecdote writ large or as a long chain of actions or embedded anecdotes. Finally, we have learned that narratives function as arguments. Each part of an anecdote or a classic narrative contributes to this potential rhetorical effect.- 1. Abstract -- Sets up expectations
- 2. Orientation -- Evokes stereotypes
- 3. Complicating Action -- Establishes or posits cause
- 4. Evaluation -- Plot forces reader to imagine alternative story
- 5. Result or Resolution -- Suggests an effect
- 6. Coda -- Closes off further discussion
Assignment Options
Work with a film of your choice (but with one that you feel merits our attention). Employ the essays provided in our textbook as models for your own work. Write for a general audience not enrolled in a film course. (Length, 4-6 pp.)1. Compose an essay in which you describe--show your reader--how a popular film creates the effect of an explanation or argument by manipulating the basic parts of an anecdote/narrative. Suggest that the argument advanced by this film does much to account for the film's popularity.
2. Identify the type of narration employed in a film of your choice. Is it restricted or unrestricted? Is our knowledge of the film's characters objective or does it have a subjective dimension? Next, and in some detail, explain how the range and depth of this film--how hierarchy of knowledge--controls our response to (our attitudes toward) the film's protagonist.
3. After describing the difference between plot and story, explain how the plot of a particular mystery or detective film (or an exemplary scene from a mystery or detective film) cues viewers to create and to compare what are, in fact, multiple stories. Suggest how the "correct" story--the answer to the enigma that drives the story forward--reinforces (or less likely, opposes) underlying cultural assumptions.
Suggestions/Observations
In every one of these options you are asked to show how the "message" of a film is rhetorically produced by the formal structure of the film. Ultimately, you want to demonstrate that meaning is actually a result, an effect, of the selection and arrangement of narrative materials. Concentrate on what and how the film argues, not on what you think or feel certain the director wanted to argue.Remember to focus your discussion and be concrete. You should concentrate on specific scenes and specific techniques (narrative manipulations) in the film you are describing. This will enable you to write the required number of pages. Do not attempt to talk about everything we've covered in this unit.
In film, as with any sort of text, meaning doesn't arise "naturally"; it is made -- manufactured by culture.
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Analytical Studies of Film Technique and Form
These papers--which were all were written by freshman and sophomore students at Penn State York--make good models for writing formal analysis.
- Quin Sorenson, Not The Usual Movie (Range & Depth)
- Katherine Allison, Plot and Story in The Usual Suspects (Plot & Story)
- Bill McClintock, Sheep in Wolf's Clothing (Plot & Story)
- Kuen Lee, Seven (Range & Depth)
- Paul Smith, JFK: Myth vs. Myth (Evaluation)
- Erin Heiliger, Just Cause (Range & Depth)
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