Film Studies Minor

Study and analysis of the elements basic to a critical understanding of film: story elements; visual design; cinematography and color; editing and special effects; functions of sound and music; styles of acting and directing; and functions of genre and social beliefs.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06

The course is designed to give students a foundation in film history. The course focuses on major directors, genres, and periods in film history with an emphasis on social, technological and critical contexts in order to provide an analytical framework that will support subsequent work.

Prerequisites: none

Trends in film theory and criticism. Practice in critical analysis. Pre-req: 329 or permission of instructor.

Prerequisites: FILM 329 or permission of instructor

Study and analysis of the techniques, thematic conventions, and cultural and historical contexts of major film genres including the western, the musical, crime, melodrama, science fiction, and gangster. Films will include a mix of classic and contemporary examples.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06

Course will explore specialized topics in film; may be repeated under a different topic.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06

Studies analytical film language in several different film writing forms, including short and long-form reviews, collaborative analysis, and formal critical essays. Emphasizes social and critical contexts needed for film analysis and practice of writing in these film forms.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06

Introduces fundamentals of film production: writing, producing, directing, lighting, shooting, and editing, through lecture, critiquing the work of other filmmakers, and hands on production. By the end of this course students will be ready to puruse their own film projects.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06, GE-11

Designed for students who have prior experience and want to make an experimental, narrative and/or documentary film. Students will move from screenplay/proposal to production and post production of short films. Pre-req: ENG 217 or permission of instructor. May be repeated.

Prerequisites: FILM 217 or permission of instructor

Introduces students to film from a variety of world cultures. Designed to increase knowledge of world cultures and appreciation and understanding of cultural differences in representation. Emphasizes history of national cinemas, film analysis, and writing.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06, GE-08

Diverse Cultures: Purple

This course introduces students to the close study of performance in the cinema. Through close analysis, we will challenge ourselves to think carefully about the creative contributions of actors to film narratives. Students will be taught how to closely describe, read, and interpret film performances, and will be introduced to critical frameworks for analyzing film acting in its various historical, aesthetic, and socio-cultural contexts. The focus in the course will be primarily on performance in U.S. cinema, although some case studies will also look at performance in international film.

Prerequisites: none

Topic-oriented course in film studies. May be repeated with change of topic.

Prerequisites: none

The course explores 20th and 21st century German film in historical, social, cultural contexts and events. Topics may be a survey, or concentration on Weimar Cinema, New German Cinema, East German Cinema, transnational cinema. Topics vary. Course may be repeated.

Prerequisites: none

This course investigates some of the central philosophical issues in our thinking about film, including questions about narrative, ontology, ethical criticism of film, the role of artistic intentions in interpretation, artistic medium, and the art/entertainment distinction.

Prerequisites: none