Cinema 10 The Art of the Cinema Dr. Daniel Smith-Rowsey Fall 2016

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to analyze and evaluate the impact of cinema on culture; assess the historical, artistic, social, business, and philosophical environments in which cinema exists; apply critical viewing methods for motion pictures; evaluate and critique elements of the motion picture production process, including different aspects of screen writing, acting, directing, design, artisanal and technical skills. Students will be able to critically assess any given film’s place in film history, its socio-cultural impact, its effectiveness as a means of communication, the filmmaker’s mastery of aesthetic and theoretical principles, and the film’s utilization of production techniques.

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HOUSEKEEPING:

Course Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30-10:45, Room 308

Communication: Email me at Daniel.smith-rowsey@solano.edu, leave me a voice mail at x5747

Office Hours: Tuesdays 11:00-11:30, Adjunct Office, 100 Bldg (next to Graphics)

Required textbooks: Looking at Movies, Richard Barsam and Dave Monahan. (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.) Fourth Edition. (Third Edition is acceptable); A Brief History of the Movies, Gerald Mast and Bruce Kawin

CLASS BLOG: https://introductiontocinema.wordpress.com/ (All articles/PowerPoints are there under a tab called “Course Content: Docs and Links”)

This class requires regular internet access, a DVD player (a computer that plays DVDs is fine), and the two textbooks. The library can help you with the first two. You also have to pay to see one movie in theaters this fall. Consider the $10 a lab fee. The movie is called The Birth of a Nation (2016).

Failure to complete any of the below assignments is grounds for failing the course. Let’s not let it come to that. BETTER LATE THAN NEVER. Never is an F; late is almost always graded higher than that. Also, non-cited plagiarism = failure. Your attendance is regularly monitored. Repeated absences, late arrivals, and/or early departures can negatively affect your grade.

Your grade is:

Class participation – 20% (I like people who contribute to discussions)

Midterm – 10% (on 10/13 during regular class time)

Essay #1 – 10% (DUE 10/27) – bring physical copy (don’t put it on the blog)

Essay #2 – 10% (DUE 11/17) – bring physical copy (don’t put it on the blog)

Final Exam – 20% (on 12/15 at 8:00am. YES. 8 A.M. NO, REALLY. Not my idea)

Quizzes – 15% (Dates vary; there are 11 quizzes, all online, no time limits)

TILs/Reflections – 15% (every week starting Week 2)

Keep reading for elaboration about these criteria.

MIDTERM (10/13, 50 multiple-choice questions, bring Scantron 0882-E and a pencil):

The plan is 40 questions from the online quizzes, and 10 extremely easy questions related to the films/reading/discussions. You will be given a Midterm Study Guide with all the questions (just not the answers).

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FINAL EXAM (12/15, 100 multiple-choice questions, bring Scantron 0882-E and a pencil):

The plan is 85 questions from the online quizzes, and about 15 questions on genre from the PowerPoints. In advance, you will be given a Final Exam Study Guide with all the questions (just not the answers).

Essay #1 – Formal Analyses, Compare and Contrast (10% of grade, 1500+ words, Due 10/27) How does form affect content? How do filmmakers draw our attention to explicit and implicit meanings? You are to show how style (formal choices) supports content (themes, meanings, story ideas). You will demonstrate your mastery of the terms used by the book – for example, narrative, cinematography, performance, and montage – as you provide evidence of how filmmakers decided to tell their stories a certain way (instead of some other way). Extra points awarded for historical context. For this paper, you are marshalling all the knowledge acquired thus far in support of formal analyses of two of the films on the syllabus. By now, you have seen numerous, numerous examples of formal analysis in the textbook; try to write as if you were contributing part of one of their chapters. Why include this scene and not another type of scene? Why put the camera here and not there? Why cut at that frame and not at another time? Why does the actor do this and not that? You are showing how the filmmakers’ choices helped the film say or examine something.

Paper #2 – (10% of grade, 1500+ words, Due 11/17) How does form affect content? How do filmmakers draw our attention to explicit and implicit meanings? For this paper, you are writing something much like the first paper, but you’re comparing the text “The Confessions of Nat Turner” to the 2016 movie The Birth of a Nation. The idea is to show me choices: cinematography, editing, acting, music – why did director Nate Parker choose this and not that? Extra points awarded for historical context, and that’s where you might bring in D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation or DJ Spooky’s “remix” The Rebirth of a Nation.

***********************Guide to my shorthand comments on your papers: awk = awkward; r/p = rephrase; w/c = word choice (or, why choose this word?), vtc = verb tense consistency (for example, you use past and present tense interchangeably) …Spelling counts, grammar counts, coherence counts. Be careful when using an actor’s name and a character’s name in the same paragraph. (Inevitably, someone will discuss a scene between, as an example, Bruce Wayne and Heath Ledger. That makes you look like you’re not taking the class seriously.) You cannot write about films that aren’t on the syllabus, so don’t ask. Imagine if you were in a literature class and you were assigned people like Isabel Allende and Richard Wright and you told the instructor you’d be writing about Harry Potter instead. How do you think that would go over?

QUIZZES – Not half as scary as they sound. First read the relevant chapter. Then go here: http://www.wwnorton.com/college/film/movies4/ Click the relevant chapter number on the toolbar (it has 1 through 11). The next link has a menu at left that includes “Review Quiz.” Click that, go through it. The quiz will ask you how many questions; use this syllabus as reference (sometimes I ask for 10, other times 15). Every quiz is exclusively multiple-choice questions. At the end, if you don’t like your score, take it again! (Though they do change up the questions.) After you are finished, the interface will make it very easy for you to post the results of the quiz to the class blog. Do this. We will do the first two together, in class. Doesn’t sound so hard now, does it? Grades are solid (no minuses or pluses) and figured as in math and science classes; 90% and above = A; 80% and above = B, etc.

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BLOG POSTS (every week starting Week 2) – We will spend Weeks 1 and 2 getting acquainted with the class blog, introductiontocinema.wordpress.com. (In the past, we’ve made the blog private and password-protected, but we’ve found that students generally prefer to have it public and easy to access. You can withhold your last name, but make sure I know who you are for full credit.) Your weekly blog entry must be dated sometime before the start of Thursday class (before 9:30am Thursday). Your blog entry includes some or all of the following three things (please regularly check Schedule at the end of this syllabus; each week is a little different):

1. A distinct TIL for each chapter of the Mast/Kawin book (affectionately called M/K). TIL is short for “Today I learned.” The word distinct means that I don’t want you to write what one of your classmates has already written. So there’s an incentive for you to answer early, and another incentive for you to read your other classmates’ entries (respond to them if you feel so moved). I can see the time-date stamp, and so there’s a measure of flexibility; you’re not going to be punished for writing the same TIL as someone who posted five minutes before. One complete sentence is sufficient for the TIL.

2. Your summarized quiz results, directly cut and pasted from your email from Norton. You may wonder why I ask for results on a public blog; we can discuss the many reasons verbally in class.

3. Your paragraph of reflections on one of the films screened during the previous week’s classes. Your paragraph of reflections adheres to the SLO as defined on the first page of this syllabus: you may critically assess the film’s place in film history, its socio-cultural impact, its effectivesness as a means of communication, the filmmaker’s mastery of aesthetic and theoretical principles, and thefilm’sutilizationofproductiontechniques. Your minimal requirement for the paragraph is to note how the film communicates its themes and/or messages (themes ≠ messages, as we will discuss) via no less than (3) categories of techniques. Most of the Barsam/Monahan chapters are about a category of technique: writing, camerawork, editing, music, acting, and so on. In other words, your paragraph will include a minimum of three sentences that each reference one of these, for example, “Citizen Kane’s use of deep focus (camera) helped to bring out themes of isolation and a once-nimble playfulness turned to despair.” Or something. You must write in complete sentences, because these can be seen as draftwork for your papers. You may wait until the last minute and you may echo your classmates, but if I feel you’ve plagiarized anyone, you’ll be interrogated and potentially downgraded or worse. (In other words, to avoid appearing imitative, you may want to post early.)

For extra credit, feel free to comment on your classmates’ posts. Do not expect extra credit for commenting on week-old or older posts. Another way to obtain extra credit is to arrive early for class and help me summarize the first 10 minutes of a given film. (I will explain this further in class.)

You will not receive written grades for your blog posts; if your post is on time and if you have fulfilled all the requirements as stated here, you can assume you received an A for that post.

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SCHEDULE

Week 1: Introduction to Movies

Tue 8/16: From Chauvet Cave to Mad Max: Fury Road (2015); Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Thu 8/18: Mad Max: Fury Road, discussing cinema

HOMEWORK: Read Barsam/Monahan (B/M) Chapter 1

Week 2: The Current Cinema: indies, blockbusters, #oscarssowhite, and more

Tue 8/23: Fruitvale Station (2013)

DUE: Reflections on Mad Max: Fury Road

Thu 8/25: Current cinema; working online in this class – B/M Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 Quizzes

HOMEWORK: Read Mast/Kawin (M/K) Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4

Week 3: Foundations of Cinema

Tue 8/30: Workers Leaving a Factory (1895), A Trip to the Moon (1902), The Great Train Robbery (1903), The Consequences of Feminism (1906), A Corner in Wheat (1909), DJ Spooky’s Rebirth of a Nation (2007)

DUE: TILs from M/K 1, 2, 3, 4; B/M Chapter 1 Quizzes (10 questions); reflections on Fruitvale Station

Thu 9/1: The Kid (1921)

HOMEWORK: Read M/K Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8; B/M Chapter 2

Week 4: German Expressionism, Russian Montage Cinema

Tue 9/6: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), stills from other notable German Expressionist films

DUE: TILs from M/K 5, 6, 7, 8; B/M Chapter 2 Quizzes (10 questions); reflections on The Kid

Thu 9/8: The Man With a Movie Camera (1929), stills from other notable Russian Montage films

HOMEWORK: Read M/K Chapters 9, 10; B/M Chapter 3

Week 5: Surrealism, Impressionism, Sound, and the Anarchic Pre-Code 1930s

Tue 9/13: Un Chien Andalou (1929); clips from The Passion of Joan of Arc, The Rules of the Game

DUE: TILs from M/K 9, 10; B/M Chapter 3 Quizzes (10 questions); reflections on The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari OR Man with a Movie Camera

Thu 9/15: Duck Soup (1933)

HOMEWORK: Read M/K Chapter 11; B/M Chapter 4

Week 6: Classical Fordist Hollywood 1934-1948

Tue 9/20: Various clips; Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)

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DUE: TILs from M/K Chapter 11; B/M Chapter 4 Quiz; reflections on Un Chien Andalou OR Duck Soup

Thu 9/22: Detour (1945)

HOMEWORK: Read M/K Chapter 13; B/M Chapter 5

Week 7: The 1940s in Italy, the UK, and Japan

Tue 9/27: Rashomon (1950)

DUE: TILs from M/K Chapter 13; B/M Chapter 5 Quizzes (15 questions); reflections on Meshes OR Detour

Thu 9/29: clips from Rome Open City, The Bicycle Thief, Late Spring

HOMEWORK: Read M/K Chapter 12; B/M Chapter 6

Week 8: The 1950s in America; the blacklist, Kazan, Hitchcock

Tue 10/4: High Noon (1952)

DUE: TILs from M/K Chapter 12; B/M Chapter 6 Quizzes (15 questions); reflections on Rashomon

Thu 10/6: clips from A Streetcar Named Desire, Rear Window, Vertigo, others

MIDTERM STUDY GUIDE PROVIDED

HOMEWORK: Study for midterm

Week 9: Kane, Donald Trump, and the midterm

Tue 10/11: Citizen Kane (1941)

DUE: nothing

Thu 10/13: Finish Citizen Kane; Midterm

HOMEWORK: Read M/K Chapter 14; B/M Chapter 8

Week 10: The 1950s around the world

Tue 10/18: The Seventh Seal (1957); midterms returned

DUE: TILs from M/K Chapter 14; B/M Chapter 8 Quizzes (15 questions); reflections on High Noon OR Citizen Kane

Thu 10/20: clips from Pather Panchali, La Strada, Breathless, others

HOMEWORK: Read B/M Chapter 9, DO ESSAY #1

Week 11: The 1960s around the world

Tue 10/25: Black Girl (1966)

DUE: B/M Chapter 9 Quizzes (10 questions); reflections on The Seventh Seal; ESSAY #1 on paper, not online

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Thu 10/27: Psycho shower scene with music and without; Battle of Algiers, Lucia, others

HOMEWORK: Read M/K Chapter 15; B/M Chapter 7, “Representing Rough Rebels”

Week 12: The 1960s and early 1970s in America; the Hollywood Renaissance

Tue 11/1: Midnight Cowboy (1969)

DUE: TILs from M/K Chapter 15 OR “Rough Rebels”; Chapter 7 Quizzes (15 Questions); reflections on Black Girl

Thu 11/3: clips/stills from Bonnie and Clyde, The Godfather, Taxi Driver, others

HOMEWORK: Read M/K Chapter 16, and “The Confessions of Nat Turner” (on class site)

Week 13: The 1970s and 1980s around the world (election week special)

Tue 11/8: The Battle of Chile Part III: Popular Power (1979)

DUE: TILs from M/K Chapter 16 AND “The Confessions of Nat Turner”; reflections on Midnight Cowboy

Thu 11/10: Clips from around the world, including Totoro

HOMEWORK: Read M/K Chapter 17, VIEW Birth of a Nation (2016) (must go to theaters), DO ESSAY #2

Week 14: Blockbuster revival; the late 1970s and 1980s in the USA

Tue 11/15: Airplane! (1980)

DUE: TILs for M/K 17; reflections on Popular Power; ESSAY #2 on paper, not online

Thu 11/17: Discussion of Lucas, Spielberg, and their discontents

HOMEWORK: None

Week 15: A Better Tomorrow

Tue 11/22: A Better Tomorrow (1986)

DUE: Nothing

Thu 11/24: No class; HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

HOMEWORK: Read M/K Chapters 18 and 19

Week 16: The 1990s, the 2000s, and Digital Cinema

Tue 11/29: Toy Story (1995)

DUE: TILs for M/K Chapters 18, 19; reflections on Airplane! OR A Better Tomorrow

Thu 12/1: Discussion of tech changes; “Indiewood”

HOMEWORK: Read B/M Chapter 11, and Genre PowerPoint (on class site)

Tue 12/6: Viva Cuba (2005)

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DUE: B/M Chapter 11 Quizzes; reflections on Toy Story OR Viva Cuba

Thu 12/8: Around the world today: Bollywood, Chinese state films, Mexican New Wave, more

HOMEWORK: None

FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE PROVIDED

THE FINAL EXAM IS ON THURSDAY, DEC 15TH, FROM 8:00am to 10:00am IN OUR USUAL ROOM.THE FINAL EXAM IS ON THURSDAY, DEC 15TH, FROM 8:00am to 10:00am IN OUR USUAL ROOM.THE FINAL EXAM IS ON THURSDAY, DEC 15TH, FROM 8:00am to 10:00am IN OUR USUAL ROOM.

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