2005-06 Cinema Studies Courses

2005-06 Cinema Studies Courses

Fall 2005

Spring 2006

First-Year Seminars
First-year seminars do not count toward the Cinema Studies major, but are recommended as an introduction to deeper-level skills in reading, viewing, analysis, writing and discussion. The successful completion of a first-year seminar will serve as one of the ways to satisfy the prerequisite for Cinematic Traditions courses.

FYSP 150 ( 12380) Contemporary East Asian Cinema, 4 hours/ 4HU, Wri
MWF 1:30-2:20 + F 7:00-9:00 pm, H-C. Deppman

This course compares the emergence of "New Cinema" in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea since the 1980s. We will examine the major cultural and socio-political contexts in which each cinematic movement is produced, and pay attention to the specific issues raised in individual films. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment limit: 14 first-year students only.

Introductory Elective Courses

100-01 (12635 - module 1) & 100B-01 (12636 - module 2) Introduction to Digital Video Production, 1 hour / 1HU

Th 7:30-9:30 pm Modules 1 & 2, Mr. Pence & Mr. Witmer

An introduction to digital video production. Students will become familiar with the basics of camera, sound, and lighting equipment, and with iMovie editing software. Students will collaborate on focused production exercises and a larger final class project. This course will fulfill the prerequisite for advanced production courses in Cinema Studies, though it does not guarantee admission, which will remain at the instructor's consent. Enrollment Limit: 16. [Cr/NE or P/NP]

242-01 (13192) Masters of World Cinema: Focus On Bergman, 2 hours/ 2HU

Module 1. MW 3:30-4:20 + Tu 3:00-5:00, Mr. Goulding

A selected viewing and close analysis of Ingmar Bergman's most acclaimed films from his earlier comedies to his epic Fanny and Alexander. The evolution of Bergman’s central thematic concerns and the development of his distinctive cinematic style is traced out in Smiles of a Summer Night, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, The Silence, Persona, and Fanny and Alexander. Enrollment Limit: 40.

243-01 (13193) Masters of World Cinema: Focus On Polanski, 2 hours/ 2HU

Module 2. MW 3:30-4:20 + Tu 3:00-5:00, Mr. Goulding

A focused discussion and critical analysis of Polanski's most significant films from his earliest works in his native Poland, his British, Hollywood, and French periods, to his recent award-winning international co-productions Death and the Maiden and The Pianist. Emphasis will be placed on continuities and discontinuities of artistic influences, thematic treatment, sociocultural content, and aesthetic form and imagery as Polanski moved from the political East to the political West and from one film culture to another. Enrollment Limit: 40.

Introductory Core Courses
Cinema Studies majors are required to take as Introductory Core Courses: Cinema Studies 101 (Form, Style, and Meaning in Cinema) and at least one of the Cinematic Traditions courses taught by the Cinema Studies faculty.

Prerequisite: Cinema Studies 101 and 221 are open to students who have completed any Writing Intensive course, or have gained Writing Certification in any course in the Humanities. They are also open to those who have achieved a 5 on the AP exam in English Language/Composition or English Literature/Composition, or a score of 710 or better on the SAT II writing test. Other students may be admitted by consent of the instructor, with the understanding that students should be able to demonstrate the ability to handle writing, discussion, and analysis in ways typically taught in Writing Intensive classes.

101-01 (11163) Form, Style, and Meaning in Cinema, 4 hours / 4HU: TuTh 11:00-12:15 + W 7:00-10:00 pm, Ms. Gordon
This course considers the cinema as a particular media form and explores issues and methods in cinema studies. The class focuses on questions of film form and style (narrative, editing, sound, framing, mise-en-scène) and introduces students to concepts in film history and theory (industry, auteurism, spectatorship, the star system, ideology, genre). Students develop a basic critical vocabulary for examining the cinema as an art form, an industry, and a system of culturally meaningful representation. Identical to ENGL 173. Enrollment Limit: 60.

Cinematic Traditions Courses

222-01 (13189) Chicano(a)/Latino(a) Film, 4 hours / 4HU, CD, WR: TuTh 3:00-4:15 + M 7:00-10:00 pm, Ms. Gordon
: This course examines "Chicano/Latino Cinema" and its connections to particular historical, cultural, and political movements in the U.S. and Latin America. In the first section, we will review and critique Latino/a representations in Hollywood films. We will focus on 1930s-1950s constructions of Latinos/as and the ways in which some early stereotypes are still part of recently released mainstream movies. In the second section, we will discuss the "origins" and development of Latino video and film. In this section we will analyze particular films in relation to the Civil Rights Movement, the Chicano/a Movement, the New Latin American Cinema, the Feminist Movement and the Gay Rights Movement. In the last part of this course, we will examine films directed, written, or produced by Latinos/as which were co-produced by Hollywood studios. We will compare Hollywood/Latino films to understand the ways in which Latino-ness has been represented in the U.S. cultural landscape. Prerequisite: See headnote above. Enrollment limit: 30.

272-01 (register as ENGL 272, crn 12889) American Cinema: The Possibilities of Art in the Entertainment Business, 4 hours/ 4HU, WR: MWF 11:00-11:50 + Sun 7:00-10:00 pm, Mr. Day

This course deals with how the art of American cinema is shaped by demands of business and technology. We will also explore how filmmakers used strong genres and stars, focusing on two eras of American cinema, 1939-1942 and 1966-73. Identical to ENGL 272. Prerequisite: See headnote above. Enrollment Limit: 30.

Advanced Cinema Courses
These 300- and 400-level courses taught by Cinema Studies core faculty require as prerequisites CINE 101 and a Cinematic Traditions course or two 200-level English courses including at least one Gateway course, or consent of the instructor.

350-01 (13185) Framing French Non-Fiction Film, 3 hours / 3HU, WR: MWF 1:30-2:20 + Tu 7:00-9:30 pm, Ms. An
This course addresses "documentary" and "ethnographic" trajectories in French cinema, from the invention of the Lumière cinématographe in 1896 to digital filmmaking at the beginning of the 21st century. We will investigate the structures, techniques, and ideologies that identify these practices as non-fictional, and eventually uncover their poeticity and artifice, particularly in narrative films which play with these forms and test the limits of their claims to truth. Filmmakers to be studied will include Vigo, Grémillon, Ophuls, Rouch, Resnais, Marker, and Varda. This course will be taught in English. Identical to FREN 350. Prerequisite: FREN 250 or CINE 101. Enrollment limit: 25.

373-01 (12953) American Literature and Culture in the 1930s, 4 hours / 4HU, WR: MWF 10:00-10:50 + Tu 7:00-10:00 + Sun 1:00-4:00 pm , Mr. Day
This course focuses on American culture in the 1930s with particular reference to the relation between the novel and cinema, though other arts and media such as photography, painting, and music will also be addressed. We will consider not only the relation of these arts to each other but to the social crisis of the Great Depression. Identical to ENGL 373. Prerequisite: See headnote above. Enrollment limit: 25.

376-01 (12954) Screening Spirituality, 4 hours / 4HU, WR: MWF 1:30-2:20 + Sun 4:00-7:00 pm + W 7:00-10:00 pm, Mr. Pence

Cinema is perennially concerned with the challenge of representing extraordinary experiences. Filmmakers and critics return repeatedly to the medium's capacity to evoke a profound sense of reality despite reason's doubts regarding the status of the represented world. We'll investigate selected treatments of the extraordinary and the challenges they present to critical theory and practice. Identical to ENGL 376. Prerequisite: See headnote above. Enrollment limit: 25.

415-01 (13221) Seminar: Spectatorship Across Media, 4 hours / 4HU, WR: W 7:00-9:30 pm + Sun 7:00-10:00 pm + Tu 7:00-10:00 pm, Ms. Gordon
The study of cinema spectatorship has exploded over the past two decades, in part because of the growth of television studies and new media studies. This course examines the major theoretical approaches to spectatorship across media. It is organized around three distinctive and sometimes incompatible theoretical and methodological traditions: psychoanalytic film theory; cognitive film theory; and reception studies. Though our initial focus in the course will be film spectatorship, we will also explore how television spectatorship and the "immersive" experience of the Internet and digital media have been theorized and debated. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment limit: 12.

498 Senior Tutorial, 1-4 hours / 1-4HU, WR: 498-01 (11719) MWF 1:30-2:20, Mr. Day
498-02 (12955) TBA, Ms. Hamilton
498-03 (12956) TBA, Mr. Pence
498-04 (12957) TBA, Ms. An; Students should consult with the Director of the Program about arranging a Senior Tutorial. Consent of instructor required.

499-01 (11351) Honors Project, 1-4 hours / 1-4HU, WR: To be arranged, Mr. Pence
Students interested in pursuing Honors should consult with the Director of the Program. Consent of instructor required.

995 Private Reading, .5-3 hours / .5-3HU: 995-02 (11040) TBA, Mr. Pence
995-03 (11041) TBA, Mr. Day
995-04 (12958) TBA, Ms. Hamilton
995-05 (12959) TBA, Ms. An; Consent of instructor required.

Cross-Referenced Courses

Art
ARTS 059-01 (register in "Art," crn 10445) Visual Concepts and Processes: Digital Video, 3 hours/ 3HU
MW 1:30-4:30, Ms. Brown-Orso

This is an introductory "hands-on" technical course in digital video production and editing with a history and history component. This course is designed to provide an overview of the history and practice of the time-based media. The goal is to outline the various terrain of the art of the moving image, and to examine the vocabulary of constructing sequences, and editing, otherwise known as "sculpting in time." Enrollment limit: 15.

ARTS 067-01 (register in "Art," 12929) Problems in: The Moving Image, 3 hours/3HU
TuTh 1:30-4:30, Ms. Brown-Orso

This is a studio production course in multimedia performance This workshop will incorporate of video, sound, music, movement and installation. We will examine closely themes of myth and ritual through the art making practice. We will look closely at the work of Meredith Monk, Bill Viola, John Cage, Maya Deren and others. We will be engaging in a variety of high and low-tech media, both analog and digital will be employed in the development of series of projects and performances. Public presentations of the various stages of development will take place throughout the semester including the premiere of a final public presentation at the end of the semester. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment Limit: 12.

German
GERM 306 (register in "German," crn 11860) Advanced German Conversation & Composition, 3 hours/ 3HU, CD
MWF 11:00-11:50, Ms. Hamilton

This course will focus on reading, viewing, writing about and discussion of seminal writings and films from German cinema and literary history. It is aimed at expanding the students' command of spoken and written German and their ability to analyze German culture. Notable filmmakers, authors, and intellectuals to be considered are Murnau, Pabst, Brecht, Kracauer, Eisner, Sander, Baser, and Akin, and others. Prerequisite: GERM 204 or equivalent. Enrollment limit: 20 .

Fall 2005

Faced with the daunting task of creating new myths and symbols for the "New Russia," how do contemporary filmmakers contribute to ongoing ideological and spiritual debates? This course focuses on post-Soviet cinema as a projection of and reflection upon such controversial issues as the divide between the center and the periphery, the wars in Chechnya, the rise of the nouveau riche, and the legacy of the Soviet past. Enrollment limit: 14 first-year students only.: MWF 10:00-10:50, Mr. Pence
Beyond offering different sorts of content and engagement for their audiences, various artistic forms and techniques can be understood to provide alternative models for individuals and groups to filter and process experience in general. This course will look at multiple artistic forms (e.g., painting, photography, film, literature), in light of their own technical developments and contrasts with each other across time, in order to develop a greater sense of the many ways medium matters. Enrollment Limit: 14 first-year students only.

Introductory Elective Courses

100-01 & 100-02 Introduction to Digital Video Production, 1 hour / 1HU: 100-01 (6734): Th 7:00-9:00 pm, Mr. Pingree, Mr. Witmer
100-02 (6735): Th 8:00-10:00 pm, Mr. Pingree, Mr. Witmer

First semester, module 2: An introduction to digital video production. Students will become familiar with the basics of camera, sound, and lighting equipment, and with iMovie editing software. Students will collaborate on focused production exercises and a larger final class project. This course will fulfill the prerequisite for advanced production courses in Cinema Studies, though it does not guarantee admission, which will remain at the instructor's consent. Enrollment Limit: 16. [Cr/NE or P/NP].

101-01 (4729) Form, Style, and Meaning in Cinema, 4 hours / 4HU: TuTh 11:00-12:15 + W 7:00-10:00 pm, Ms. Gordon
This course considers the cinema as a particular media form and explores issues and methods in cinema studies. The class focuses on questions of film form and style (narrative, editing, sound, framing, mise-en-scène) and introduces students to concepts in film history and theory (industry, auteurism, spectatorship, the star system, ideology, genre). Students develop a basic critical vocabulary for examining the cinema as an art form, an industry, and a system of culturally meaningful representation. Identical to ENGL 173. Enrollment Limit: 60.

Cinematic Traditions Courses

250-01 (6365) French Cinematic Experiences, 3 hours / 3HU, CD, WR: MWF 2:30-3:20 + Tu 7:00-9:30, Ms. An
: This course will provide a historical survey of French cinema, starting with Méliès and the Lumière Brothers, and working through 1930s Poetic Realism, the Occupation, the New Wave, the 1990s, and the beginning of the digital age. Historical contextualization will be balanced with close film analysis and studies of cinematic technique and structure. We will also discuss cinema's relationship to the other arts (literature, photography, theatre, and painting). Taught in English. Identical to FREN 250. No prerequisite. Enrollment Limit: 30.

Advanced Cinema Courses
These 300- and 400-level courses taught by Cinema Studies core faculty require as prerequisites CINE 101 and a Cinematic Traditions course or two 200-level English courses including at least one Gateway course, or consent of the instructor.

~~320-01 (12324) Documentary Production, 4 hours / 4HU, WR~~: ~~TuTh 3:00-4:15 + M 7:00-10:00 pm, Mr. Pingree~~
Cancelled.

330-01 (6598) Hollywood and Writers, 4 hours / 4HU, WR: TuTh 3:00-4:15 pm + M 7:00-10:00 pm, Ms. Gordon
This course examines the complex relationship writers have had with Hollywood. We will read the work of writers who contemplated the fate of their craft, themselves caught between the temptation to make money and the desire to create art. We will also consider the politics of writing in Hollywood, as well as look at how Hollywood films have portrayed writers, the process of writing, and the problems incumbent upon being a creator in a business run along industrial lines. Prerequisite: See headnote above. Enrollment limit: 25.
333-01 (Register for GERM 333, crn 6368) Special Topics in English Translation: The Deviant Body in German Literature and Film , 3 hours / 3HU, WR: MWF 11:00-11:50 + M 7:00-9:30 pm, Ms. Hamilton
This course examines fictional representations of the human body in order to study changing concepts of normalcy and difference. Discussions will cover German prose, drama, and film (subtitled) from the mid-19th century to the present, including works by Büchner, Kafka, Dürrenmatt, Herzog, Duden, and Jelinek. Lectures and discussions in English. Readings may be done either in English or the German original. Identical to GERM 333. Prerequisite: CINE 101 or the equivalent of one German course. Enrollment Limit: 30.
368-01 (6372) Movies & Melodrama, 4 hours / 4HU, WR: MWF 1:30-2:20 + Tu 7:00-10:00 pm & Sun 4:00-7:00 pm, Mr. Pence
This course explores the history, cultural contexts, and critical challenges of melodramatic narrative cinema. We'll study the genre's origins, the rise and fall of its prestige, its identification as a "feminine" form, its adaptation to different historical and cultural contexts, and its contemporary challenges to cultural analysis. Identical to ENGL 368. Prerequisite: See headnote above. Enrollment limit: 25.

399-01 (6719) Cinema Studies Practicum, 1-3 hours / 1-3HU, WR: TBA, Mr. Pingree
This course allows qualified students to pursue independent projects in documentary work and other types of production within the collaborative context of a practicum. In order to be admitted to the practicum, students must demonstrate previous production training and experience (through Oberlin College production courses, Ex-co courses, or independent internships or employment experiences), submit specific and feasible project proposals, and receive permission from the instructor. Students will develop projects in consultation with the instructor and work in small groups to provide each other critical and technical support. The Practicum can count for one, two, or three hours of credit (depending on the nature of the proposed project) and may be counted towards
the College's humanities requirement. Students must gain consent of the instructor to be enrolled in the course.
433-01 (6370) Seminar: Imagining History in Film, 4 hours / 4HU, WR: MWF 10:00-10:50 + Tu 7:00-10:00 & Sun 7:00-10:00 pm, Mr. Day; This course will explore the ways history and our relation to it is defined and represented in film, in short, how history is imagined. The emphasis will be primarily, but not exclusively, on American cinema. We will be equally concerned with what films do with history and what focusing on subject of history reveals about film as art. Identical to ENGL 433. Prerequisite: See headnote above. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment limit: 12.

498-01 (4736); 498-02 (6374), 498-03 (6375), 498-05 (6534) Senior Tutorial, 1-4 hours / 1-4HU, WR: MWF 1:30-2:20, Mr. Day; TBA, Ms. Hamilton, Mr. Pence, Ms. An
Students should consult with the Director of the Program about arranging a Senior Tutorial. Consent of instructor required.

499-01 (5783) Honors Project, 1-4 hours / 1-4HU, WR: To be arranged, Staff
Students interested in pursuing Honors should consult with the Director of the Program. Consent of instructor required.

995-01 (4737) & 995-02 (4738) & 995-03 (5776) 995-05 (6377) Private Reading, .5-3 hours / .5-3HU: To be arranged, Mr. Day, Ms. Hamilton, Mr. Pence, Ms. An
Consent of instructor required.

Cross-Referenced Courses

Art
ARTS 059-01 (register in "Art," crn 4837) Visual Concepts and Processes: Digital Video, 3 hours/ 3HU
WF 9:00 am-noon, Ms. Brown-Orso

This is an introductory "hands-on" technical course in digital video production and editing with a history and history component. This course is designed to provide an overview of the history and practice of the time-based media. The goal is to outline the various terrain of the art of the moving image, and to examine the vocabulary of constructing sequences, and editing, otherwise known as "sculpting in time." Enrollment limit: 15.

Chinese (East Asian Studies)
CHIN 109 (register in "Chinese," crn 5248) Topics in Chinese Film 3 hours/ 3HU
MWF 1:30-2:20 + Sun 7:00-10:00 pm, Ms. Deppman

This course will survey important films of the Chinese-speaking world. Attention will be paid to Western influence on Chinese film, and to the influence of political, social, and cultural developments of twentieth-century China. Enrollment limit: 50.

Creative Writing
CRWR 360 (register in "Creative Writing," crn 6378) Screenwriting Workshop, 3 hours/ 3HU
Th 7:00-10:00 pm, Mr. Chaon

The elements of translating written work into a visual medium. Students will examine the art and craft of film scripting from a writer's perspective, focusing on both adaptation and original work. Admission based on completed application and writing sample (due in Program office by Friday, June 10, 2005). Recommended preparation: CRWR 201. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment Limit: 12.

Music History
MHST 332 (register in "Music History," crn 6550) History of Film Music, 3 hours/ 3HU
M 7:00-9:30 pm + Sun 7:00-10:00pm, Mr. McGuire

A comprehensive survey of film music history from the silent era through the present day. Issues discussed will include compositional developments (growth of instrumentation; use of Leitmotivic structure; expansion of diegetic versus non-diegetic music); music as narrative aid (generating continuity; providing momentum; subliminal commentary); and using music as an iconographic character or plot device. Films viewed will include those with soundtracks by major 20th-century composers as well as specialized soundtrack composers. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment Limit:20.