Skip to main content area Skip to block navigation Skip to institutional navigation Skip to sub-navigation

Film Studies

Professors BUTTE, HASKELL, NELSON, SARCHETT, SEWARD, SIMONS

Film studies is a program administered by the English department. The program offers a minor to students with an interest in film and video in addition to their major. The orientation is eclectic and aesthetic, the study of cinema as an art, whatever the genre (narrative, documentary, animation, experimental) or mode of presentation (theater, television, internet). Senior film projects by students in any discipline are encouraged and supported. The curriculum is enriched further by the availability of courses in acting, directing, photography, and video art offered by other departments.

THE MINOR (6 UNITS):
The minor in film studies requires the successful completion of six units of coursework including:

  • Two core courses: 212 Basic Filmmaking and 215 Introduction to Film Studies
  • One additional unit in film history/criticism: 315 Film History and Theory, 205 Topics in Cinema, 220 Blacks and the Cinema, 232 Films of Alfred Hitchcock, 244 American Film Comedy, or 305 Advanced Topics in Cinema.
  • One additional unit in filmmaking: 312 Advanced Filmmaking, 218 Topics in Filmmaking, 284 Beginning Screenwriting, or 318 Advanced Topics in Filmmaking.

Any two additional film studies units, not to include more than one unit of independent study. (Two half-block courses equal one unit.)

Film Studies Courses

205 Topics in Cinema:

Detailed examination of some specific aspect of film: a genre (the Western, Film Noir, the slapstick comedy, the documentary); the work of an individual director; the films of a particular country, etc.

Also listed as Comparative Literature 200 and Comparative Literature 220 and Dance Theory 200 and Drama 200 and Feminist & Gender Studies 206 and Italian 320 and Philosophy 203 and Russian & Eurasian Studies 200.

.5 or 1 unit — Simons, Seward, Lee, Butte

212 Basic Filmmaking

An introduction to the art and craft of making films. This course provides an opportunity to produce a short video worthy of becoming a part of your artistic or professional portfolio. The first two assignments are warm-ups for the final and will give you a chance to get used to the equipment and refine your skills in cinematography, editing, and project planning.

1 unit — Nelson, Haskell

215 Introduction to Film Studies

Film in its formal dimensions, narrative and non-narrative (documentary, experimental). How meaning and pleasure are created visually. Emphasis on film style: the shot, mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing (montage) and sound. 218: Topics in Filmmaking. Introductory course in specific filmmaking techniques and genres, such as Stagecraft for Film and Film and Video Animation.

1 unit — Sarchett, Miller

218 Topics in Filmmaking:

Introductory course in specific film making techniques and genres, such as Stagecraft for Film, Documentary Film making, Film and Video Animation. (Not offered 2011-12.)

1 unit

220 Blacks & the Cinema

An introduction to the relationships Blacks have had to the American cinema: as filmmakers, performers, audiences and as 'characters' whose image have formed a critical vocabulary for American race relations. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Diverse Cultures and Critiques requirement.

Also listed as Race and Ethnic Studies 220.

1 unit — Seward

232 The Films of Alfred Hitchcock

Study of the major periods, forms and themes of the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Included are comedies (To Catch a Thief) and tragedies (Vertigo), early British period films (The Lady Vanishes), classics of the 1940's (Notorious) and 1950's (Rear Window), and late masterpieces like The Birds or Marnie.

1 unit — Butte

244 American Film Comedy

A study of the major directors of comedy in American film, from Chaplin and Keaton through Capra, Hawks, and Sturges to more recent masters like Woody Allen the Coen Brothers and Wes Anderson. Includes important works in theory of comedy as context, from Freud to Cornford, Bakhtin and Frye. (Not offered 2011-12.)

1 unit

284 Beginning Screenwriting

Practice in writing screenplays.

Also listed as Drama 225.

1 unit — Nelson

305 Advanced Topics in Cinema:

Studies in a wide array of topics related to film history, theory, and genres.

Prerequisite: Film Studies 215 or consent of instructor.

1 unit —

312 Advanced Filmmaking

A course designed to prepare students for doing advanced independent projects in film or video. The course is a prerequisite for doing senior projects and deals with the creative and practical disciplines required to do festival-quality work. Activities include hands-on experience shooting and editing 16 mm film and digital video.

Prerequisite: Film Studies 212.

1 unit — Haskell

315 Film History & Theory

Film in its material, historical and theoretical dimensions, from its beginnings to the present. Growth of the film industry; the American studio system; European avant-garde cinema; world cinema; auteurism; film and popular culture; problems of genre. Film theory: the nature of the medium; its major theorists - Griffith, Eisenstein, Arnheim, Bazin, Kracauer, Metz, Mulvey, etc.

1 unit — Simons

318 Advanced Topics in Filmmaking:

Work is specific genres or with specific techniques of film and video making for advanced students.

Prerequisite: Film Studies 212 or equivalent.

1 unit — Nelson

485 Senior Film Project

Capstone film or video making project for Film Track English majors and majors in other fields working on a senior project in film or video. (Not offered 2011-12.)

Prerequisite: Senior status & Film Studies 312 or its equivalent.

1 to 2 units

486 Senior Project: Film

Advanced study of film through film-making on a subject chosen by the student, approved by the department, in which the student completes a film in a workshop setting. Required of all Film Track seniors who are making a film.

Prerequisite: English 221, English 250, Film Studies 312.

2 units — Nelson, Haskell