Entrance card: Why did the film industry move to California?
1. Discuss short film screenings from Thursday
2. Griffith and his Contemporaries: 1908-1920 and American Cinema in the 1920s
lecture and discussion.
3. Introduction to and clips from major filmmakers, women directors and screenwriters,
rise of documentary and genre film.
4. Introduce paper 1, a short film analysis.
Read chapters 4 and 5, Flashback for Tuesday, September 3, bring in ideas for paper 1, and prepare for entrance card on the reading.
A. Introductions:
1. Fill out cards: name, email, phone number, last film/favorite film, something unique about yourself.
2. Share information on cards with neighbor and introduce each other (interview further, too)
B. Film Narrative and Style overview
C. Class Wiki page: Beginnings: http://cinema-his.wikispaces.com/Film+Beginnings+Technologies%2C+Language%2C+and+Early+Filmmakers
D. Discuss Syllabus
Read chapters 2 and 3, Flashback for Tuesday, August 27 and prepare for entrance card on the reading.
Film 3759G Section 001, History of Cinema
Dr. Robin L. Murray Fall 2013: TR 3:30-5:30
Office: CH 3351 Phone: 549-0199 before 10
Office Hours: TR Office Hours: T/R2-3:30, W 1-3, & by appointment
Course Description:
The course offers a comprehensive yet selective overview of the history of cinema, integrating the basic tools for analyzing film as art. It will examine how the uses of camera, editing, lighting, sound, and acting contribute to the construction of meaning for audiences, as well as consider how meaning is filtered through various cultural contexts.
Texts:
Giannetti, Louis and Eyman, Scott. Flashback: A Brief History of Film. Sixth Edition. Boston: Allyn and
Bacon, 2010. Print.
Course Requirements:
Entrance Card: Once a week you will complete an entrance card answering a question about the film(s) screened and/or text read for that class. I will provide you with 3 x 5 cards for this quick write.
Midterm: This exam will provide an opportunity to internalize material all students read for class and to carefully read the films in the class till midterm.
Group Presentations: Members of groups of four or five will present the cinema history of a particular region. Your group’s Wiki page will serve as your visual presentation of your group’s work.
Final Exam: This exam will not be cumulative. It will provide an opportunity to internalize material read for class as a group and as a class from Midterm forward and carefully to read the last films in the class.
Two Papers:You will also write two papers, one due at midterm and one due by the final class session:
- The first paper will give you the opportunity to review one of the films on the course calendar through a blog entry or approximately 1000 words.
- The second paper will allow you to look beyond films screened for class to examine a particular historical period in a paper of approximately 1500 words.
Film Log: This Log will offer a place for you to write brief responses to the films we watch for class. These should be informal and approximately 150 words. Respond to them in relation to Film Narrative and Style or our class theme (women authors/auteurs).
Grades: Grades will be determined as follows for a total of 100%:
Entrance Cards and Participation--------------------------------------------------- 20%
Midterm--------------------------------------------------------------------------------15%
Group Presentation-------------------------------------------------------------------10%
Final Exam----------------------------------------------------------------------------20%
Paper I----------------------------------------------------------------------------------10 %
Final Paper----------------------------------------------------------------------------15%
Film Log-------------------------------------------------------------------------------10%
Grading of Entrance Cards, Presentations, and Papers:
Entrance Card grades will be based on analytical complexity. Each will be worth twenty points
Paper grades will be based on the following areas: Audience awareness, organization, development, sentence structure, word choice, grammar/usage/mechanics. The first three areas will be weighted more heavily than the second three (60% vs. 40%). I will also distribute the English Department’s grade analysis in class and a paper rubric in class.
Presentations will be evaluated according to a rubric I will distribute in class. Groups should also turn in any class handouts or visuals.
Students with Disabilities: If you have a documented disability and wish to receive academic accommodations, please contact the Coordinator of the Office of Disability Services (581-6583) as soon as possible.
Plagiarism: The English Department states, "Any teacher who discovers an act of plagiarism -- `The appropriation or imitation of the language, ideas, and/or thoughts of another author, and representation of them as one's original work' -- has the right and the responsibility to impose upon the guilty student an appropriate penalty, up to and including immediate assignment of a grade of "F" in the course."
Electronic Writing Portfolio: This class is a writing intensive class, so you may submit your paper as a writing portfolio sample, following the instructions on the CASL Website. Submissions must be made during the course of the class to receive my approval. Please note that the Writing Center is available for help with all writing assignments, as well. Take advantage of this free service.
Writing Center: Ambitious students can also seek help from the Writing Center. Call for an appointment (581-5920) or visit ((CH3110) at any point in the writing process, from brainstorming, planning and drafting, to final editing. Bring your assignment sheet and any written work and/or sources with you. The Writing Center is open Monday-Thursday, 9-3 and 6-9, and Friday from 9-1.
Please Note: Students seeking Teacher Certification in English Language Arts should provide each of their English department professors with the yellow form, “Application for English department Approval to Student Teach.” These are available on a rack outside the office of Dr. Donna Binns (CH 3851).
Also Note: You must complete all major assignments to complete this course.
