FA/FILM 1401 6.0
Introduction to Film (For Non-Majors)
Fall/Winter 09-10
Course Director: John McCullough, Department of Film, Faculty of Fine Arts
Email: johnmccu@yorku.ca
Phone: 416-736-2100 ext. 88686 (Department of Film Telephone: 416-736-5149)
Office: Centre for Film and Theatre (CFT) 216 - Office hours: By appointment
Assignment Drop Box: beside CFT 223
Lecture: ACE 102, Mondays, 2.30-5.30
Tutorials: Various times/locations - check York’s Lecture Schedule & your Registration Information
Course Description: This course introduces students to the fundamentals of film analysis. We begin by looking at the history of film and its various aesthetic forms. Throughout the year, the course will consider specific features of cinematic structure and aesthetic meaning: narration, mise-en-scène, montage, cinematography, and sound. We will look at, and discuss, a range of artifacts including narrative films, documentaries, “art cinema,” experimental films, animated films, Hollywood films, independent filmmaking, world cinema, and Canadian cinema. Through lectures, tutorials, readings, and assignments, students will be given an opportunity to investigate the medium and to understand it in analytical, historical and practical ways.
Please note that, because this course is considered an equivalent prerequisite for upper-level film courses, the material will be dealt with in a rigorous fashion – you will be required to engage with film analysis, history, and theory in a complex and committed manner. The assignments will challenge your ability to assimilate the themes of the lectures, readings & screenings. You should take extensive notes during the lecture as well as during the screenings. If you miss a lecture, you should contact fellow students, your tutorial leader, or the course director to find out what was covered during the lecture and what material was screened. If you are absent from a screening, you should visit the Sound and Moving Image Library (SMIL) (on the main level of Scott Library) to borrow or view the material you have missed. Also, not all the films scheduled in the course are available for re-screening, so you should consider the impact that a missed lecture may have on your performance in the course.
Tutorials: Tutorials begin on Sept. 22 and 23. Tutorials are small group sessions that are held in conjunction with the lectures and screenings. You will already be assigned to a tutorial and you should familiarize yourself with the number, room, and time of your tutorial, and, when you meet for the first time, record your tutorial leader’s name and contact information. Tutorial leaders are your principle contact for evaluation, discussion, and guidance in the course. Your attendance and participation in tutorial is worth 20% of your final grade.
Required Texts:
Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson. Film Art: An Introduction. 8th ed. Toronto: McGraw-Hill, 2007 (~$109)
Course Kit from York University Bookstore (~$20)
** All readings are also available on short-term loan from the Reserve Desk at Scott Library
Evaluation: Tutorial Attendance and Participation (20%)
Response Paper – Due Oct. 27/28, in tutorials (10%)
Mid-term Take Home Exam – Due Dec. 14, 4pm (15%)
Essay Proposal – Due Jan. 19/20, in tutorials (5%)
Critical Essay – Due March 30/31, in tutorials (25%)
Final Exam – Held during the exam period, April 07 – 23 (25%)
** Late penalty is 5% per day late (not counting weekends)
Assignment sheets, describing the assignments, will be distributed approximately one month prior to the assignment due date. These will include instructions and information about general requirements, form, style, as well as specific regulations regarding the assignment.
Note: If you miss handing in work at a tutorial, you should submit the work to the assignment drop box, which is located on the wall beside CFT 223. Please put the course number, your name and your tutorial leader’s name clearly on the cover page. Due to the large number of students in the course, no email submissions of assignments are accepted. Retain all returned graded assignments as proof of your work in the course; these are required for grade re-appraisal and cases relating to academic honesty.
Academic Honesty: Any thesis or research which you borrow from another writer should be cited in a footnote, endnote or by other acceptable form of reference to source material. Theft of intellectual property is dealt with harshly by the university and can lead to academic penalty. For rules about plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty please refer to the Senate Policy on Academic Honesty. In this document there is ample discussion of the issue, including definitions of breach of academic honesty. Among other things the senate policy discusses offences such as cheating; submission of one piece of work in satisfaction of two assignments without prior consent; impersonation; plagiarism and other misappropriation of the work of another; abuse of confidentiality; falsification or forgery of documents; obstruction of the academic activities of another; and aiding or abetting academic misconduct. If you are unclear about these definitions, please consult the course director or visit this location: http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/legislation/senate/acadhone.htm
Academic Support at York:
Centre for Academic Writing: 416-736-5134
Sound and Moving Image Library: 416-736-5508
York University English Language Institute: 416-7365353
Office for Persons with Disabilities: 416-736-5140
Counselling and Development Centre: 416-736-5297
Office of Student Affairs & University Complaint Center: 416-736-5144
Race and Ethnic Relations: 416-736-5682
Sexual Harassment Education and Complaint Center: 416-736-5500
Security Services: 416-650-8000
York University Cooperative Daycare Services: 416-736-5190
York’s Women’s Centre: 416-736-2100 ext.33484
Ethics Review Process: York students are subject to the York University Policy for the Ethics Review Process for Research Involving Human Participants. In particular, students proposing to undertake research involving human participants (e.g., interviewing the director of a company or government agency, having students complete a questionnaire, etc.) are required to submit an Application for Ethical Approval of Research Involving Human Participants at least one month before you plan to begin the research.
Religious Observance Accommodation: York University is committed to respecting the religious beliefs and practices of all members of the community, and making accommodations for observances of special significance to adherents. Should any of the dates specified in this syllabus for an in-class test or examination pose such a conflict for you, contact the Course Director within the first three weeks of class. Similarly, should an assignment to be completed in a lab, practicum placement, workshop, etc., scheduled later in the term pose such a conflict, contact the Course director immediately. Please note that to arrange an alternative date or time for an examination scheduled in the formal examination periods (December and April/May), students must complete an Examination Accommodation Form, which can be obtained from Student Client Services, Student Services Centre or online at http://www.registrar.yorku.ca/pdf/exam_accommodation.pdf
Student Conduct: Students and instructors are expected to maintain a professional relationship characterized by courtesy and mutual respect and to refrain from actions disruptive to such a relationship. A statement of the policy and procedures involving disruptive and/or harassing behaviour by students in academic situations is available on the York website http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/legislation/senate/harass.htm
Schedule of Lectures, Readings, Screenings, Tutorials, Assignments, and Important Dates:
NOTE: Readings should be completed in advance of Monday’s lectures; screenings are subject to change.
FALL TERM 2009
Sept. 09: Courses begin - No tutorials today (tutorials meet for the first time Sept. 22/23)
Sept. 14: Introduction - The “invention” of cinema
Reading: Bordwell &Thompson (hereafter referred to as B&T), Ch. 1 and 440-444; Screening: Eadward Muybridge, “Animal Motion Studies”; Films by the Edison Manufacturing Company - The Kiss (1896), Serpentine Dances (1895), Sandow (Strong Man) (1894), Glenroy Brothers (Comic Boxing) (1894), Cock Fight (1896), The Barber Shop (1894), Feeding the Doves (1896), Seminary Girls (1897); Films by Frères Lumière (1895-96): Swimming in the Sea, Children Digging for Clams, Loading a Boiler, Dragoons Crossing the Sâone, Promenade of Ostriches, Childish Quarrel, Lion, London Zoological Garden, Photograph, Transformation by Hats, Carmaux: Drawing out the Coke, Poultry-yard, Arab Cortege, Geneva, New York: Brooklyn Bridge, New York: Broadway and Union Sq., Policemen's Parade, Chicago; Various Actualities - President Mckinley at Home (1897); Packtrain on Chilkoot Pass (1898); Skyscrapers of New York City (1903); The Georgetown Loop (1903); San Francisco: Aftermath of Earthquake (1906)
Sept. 21: Science, Photography, Ethnography
Reading: Bazin, “The Ontology of the Photographic Image” (kit); Screening: Nanook of the North (US, 1922, Robert Flaherty)
Sept. 22/23: Tutorials meet for the first time
**Sept. 24: Last day to enrol without permission of the course director
Sept. 28: The Development of Story Films
Reading: B&T, 444-447; Gunning, “Cinema of Attraction” (kit); Screening: Trip to the Moon (France, 1902, George Méliès); The Great Train Robbery (US, 1903, Edwin S. Porter); The Lonedale Operator (US, 1911, D. W. Griffith); Cops (US, 1922, Buster Keaton)
**Sept. 29/30: Tutorials - Response Paper Assignment (worth 10%) Distributed (Due Oct. 27/28)
Oct. 05: Form and Meaning in Narrative Film
Reading: B&T, Ch. 2; Screening: Wizard of Oz (US, 1939, Victor Fleming)
Oct. 06/07: Tutorials
Oct. 10-16: FALL READING WEEK - No Lecture or Tutorials
Oct. 19: The Design Principles of Classical Narrative Film Form:
Reading: B&T, Ch. 3 and 456-459; Screening: Citizen Kane (US, 1940, Orson Welles)
Oct. 20/21: Tutorials
**Oct. 23: Last day to enrol with permission of the course director
Oct. 26: Aspects of Mise-en-scène - The Case of German Expressionism (1919-1926)
Reading: B&T, Ch. 4 and 447-450; Screening: Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Germany, 1919, Robert Wiene)
**Oct. 27/28 Tutorials - Response Paper (worth 10%) Due - 5%/day late penalty
Nov. 02: The Radical Poetics of Modernism and European Avant Garde Cinema
Reading: Freud, from “On Dreams” (kit); Breton, from “First Manifesto on Surrealism” (kit); Léger, “Ballet mécanique” (kit); B&T, 450-453 and 355-363; Screening: Ballet mécanique (France, 1924, Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy); Ghosts Before Breakfast (Ger., 1927, Hans Richter); Un chien andalou (France, 1928, Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel)
Nov. 03/04: Tutorials
Nov. 09: Film Form and Theories of Revolutionary Cinema - The Case of Soviet Montage (1924-1930)
Reading: B&T, 453-456; Andrew, “Sergei Eisenstein” (kit); Screening: Battleship Potemkin (USSR, 1925, Sergei Eisenstein)
Nov. 10/11: Tutorials
Nov. 16: Realism as a “Progressive” Film Style - The Case of Italian Neorealism (1942-1951)
Reading: B&T, 459-461; Bazin, “Bicycle Thief[sic]” (kit); Screening: Bicycle Thieves (Italy, 1948, Vittorio De Sica)
Nov. 17/18: Tutorials
Nov. 23: Documentary Form, Nationalism and Propaganda
Reading: Nichols, “How Did Documentary Filmmaking Get Started?” and “Figure 6.1, Documentary Modes”; B&T, 338-355; Screening: A Job in a Million (Great Britain, 1937, General Post Office Film Unit/Evelyn Spice); The River (US, 1937, Pare Lorentz); Drug Addict (Can., 1948, NFB/Robert Anderson)
Nov. 24/25: Tutorials
Nov. 30: Genre Films, Ideology, and Mass Entertainment
Reading: B&T, Chapter 9 and 419-426; Screening: Meet Me in St. Louis (US, 1944, Vincente Minnelli)
Dec. 01/02: Last tutorials of the term
Dec. 07: Genre Films and Social Criticism
Screening: Across the Universe (US, 2007, Julie Taymor)
Take Home Exam (worth 15%) Distributed at the End of the Lecture (Due Dec. 14, 4pm)
**Dec. 14: Take Home Exam (worth 15%) Due, 4pm - Assignment Drop Box, CFT 223 - 5%/day late penalty
WINTER TERM 2010
Jan. 04: Preparing to Write a Critical Film Essay
Reading: B&T, 426-438 and 463-468; Screening: Raging Bull (US, 1980, Martin Scorsese)
Jan. 11: Cinematography - Framing and Shot Duration
Reading: B&T, Chapter 5 and 401-405; Screening: Tokyo Story (Japan, 1953, Yasujiro Ozu)
Jan. 12/13: Tutorials resume
Jan. 18: Cinematography - Qualities of Light
Reading: Place and Peterson, “Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir” (kit); Screening: Meshes of the Afternoon (US, 1943-59, Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid); Out of the Past (US, 1947, Jacques Tourneur)
**Jan. 19/20: Tutorials - Essay Proposal (worth 5%) Due - 5%/day late penalty
Jan. 25: Sound and Meaning
Reading: B&T, 413-419; Chapter 7; Screening: Lessons of Darkness (Fr./UK/Ger., 1992, Werner Herzog)
Jan. 26/37: Tutorials
Feb. 01: Sound and Characterization
Reading: B&T, Ch. 8; Screening: Daughters of the Dust (US, 1992, Julie Dash)
Feb. 02/03: Tutorials
**Feb. 06: Last day to drop the course without receiving a grade
Feb. 08: Continuity Style Editing and the Construction of Coherent Screen Spaces:
Reading: B&T, 218-251; 392-396 and 463-468; Screening: Do the Right Thing (US, 1989, Spike Lee)
Feb. 09/10: Tutorials
**Feb. 13- 19: WINTER READING WEEK - No lecture or tutorials
Feb. 22: Alternatives to Continuity Style Editing - The Case of the French New Wave (1959-1964)
Reading: B&T, 251-261; 397-401 and 461-463; Screening: Breathless (Fr, 1960, Jean-Luc Godard)
Feb. 23/24: Tutorials
March 01: Alternatives to Classical Narrative Film Form:
Reading: B&T, 405-410 and 468-471; Screening: Chungking Express (HK, 1994, Wong Kar-wai)
March 02/03: Tutorials
March 08: Alternative Nonfiction Films and the Concept of Documentary Voice
Reading: Nichols, “Figure 6.1, Documentary Modes” and “Beyond Nationalism: New Forms of Identity” (kit); Screening: Jour après jour / Day after day (Can., 1962, Clément Perron); You Are on Indian Land (Can., 1969, NFB/George Stoney, Mort Ransen, Noel Starblanket, Mike Mitchell, and the Indian Film Crew of the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation); Reassemblage: from the firelight to the screen (US, 1982, Trinh T. Minh-Ha)
March 09/10: Tutorials
March 15: Associational and “Intellectual” Editing Styles in Experimental Films
Reading: B&T, 363-370; A Movie (US, 1958, Bruce Conner); Very Nice, Very Nice (Can., 1961, Arthur Lipsett); Scorpio Rising (US, 1964, Kenneth Anger); Handtinting (Can., 1967, Joyce Wieland); From Alex to Alex (Can., 2006, Alison Kobayashi)
March 16/17: Tutorials
March 22: Animated Films
Reading: B&T, 370-377; Screening: Walking (Can., 1968, Ryan Larkin); La planète sauvage / Fantastic Planet (Fr./Czech, 1973, Roland Topor and René Laloux)
**March 23/24: Tutorials
March 29: Film in Canada
Screening: Ginger Snaps (Can., John Fawcett, 2001)
March 30/31: Last tutorials of the year - Critical Essays (worth 25%) Due - 5%/day late penalty
April 05: Review Session in Preparation for Final Exam (F/W term ends & last day to submit coursework)
Screening: TBA
**April 07- 23: Final Exam (worth 25%) - During Exam Period - Date & Place TBA
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