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Film Studies Course Offerings: Spring 2008

 

To Students: The film courses listed below will earn credits toward either the major or minor in Film Studies. All students are responsible for checking the Queens College course bulletin to determine what prerequisites, if any, they need to enroll in any particular course.

Students seeking advisement on enrollments for Film Studies courses offered should contact:

Professor Stuart Liebman, Coordinator, Film Studies Program
Office: “G” 202B         Phone: 718-997-2952 or 997-2962
Office hours: (Spring 08) W 10:00--12:00 PM and by appointment.

R  =  required course for Film Studies major and minor          E  =  elective course

ARTH 200: "The Film Art of Akira Kurosawa"	(E) 3 hr, 3 cr
Thursday 6:30-9:20 PM	Prof. Xiaoping Lin

This course is an introduction to the work of Akira Kurosawa, one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of world cinema. We will examine the major films of Kurosawa in the social and cultural context of postwar Japan and analyze the Japanese master's cinematic and narrative style. All the Kurosawa films will be screened with English subtitles, and no prior knowledge of Japanese language and arts is expected. Text: Donald Richie, The Films of Kurosawa, third edition, 1996.

CMAL: Asian Studies 250    (previously Chinese 240): "Contemporary Chinese Film" (under the title Modern Chinese Fiction)	(E) 3hr, 3cr
Tuesday 1:40-4:30 PM  OR Friday 6:30-9:15 PM	Prof. Jia-xuan Zhang

NOTE: This is given under the auspices of the Weekend College.

Prereq:Sophomore standing. Focus on major social and cultural developments in modern China through cinematic representations of themes including ritual, family, gender, state, ideology, and revolution. Course will provide students with a foundation in the visual literacy of Chinese film through screenings, readings, and analysis. No Chinese required. (Satisfies Humanities I, Tier 2 and Pre-Industrial and/or Non-Western Civilization).

CMAL: Hebrew 190: “Modern Israeli Cinema”	(E) 3hr, 3 cr
Thursday 3:30-6:20 PM	Prof. Safit

                      
NOTE: This is a section of Hebrew 190 which is generally titled “Topics in Hebrew Literature and Culture in Translation.“

From its very first steps, Israeli cinema has been, for the most part, engaged with national narratives and themes: the causes of Zionism, the effects of the Holocaust, the conflict with Israel's Arab neighbors, war and its outcome, internal ethnic tensions, etc. Even with the recent growth in the number of films that deal with more personal issues, one can learn much about Israeli society and culture through its cinema, just as the notion of a national cinema can be better understood through this special case. This course offers a peek into Israeli cinema placed in the context of Israeli history, politics, and broader cultural spheres. Screenings of a dozen or so films will be accompanied by readings of theoretical and literary texts with the aim of providing a context to and the tools for understanding the cinematic works and the culture that has provided them.

CMAL: MES 240 : “Images of the Middle East ”	(E) 3 hr, 3 cr
Monday 9:25 AM-12:15 PM	Prof. Ahmad Diab

See course bulletin for description.

CMLIT 241: "Third Cinema and the Transition to Postcolonialism" (Cross-listed with MEDST 381)	(E) 4 hr, 3 cr
Tuesday 9:15 AM-1:05 PM	Profs. Andrea Khalil & Jonathan Buchsbaum

First conceived in the heady struggles of decolonization, "third cinema" followed the paths of post-colonial struggles to include how issues of national identity, gender, and tradition impact the forces of nation-building in the postcolonial period. Decolonization inevitably entails confronting constructions of identity, and third cinema grapples with competing discourses of national identity. Third cinema now includes politically engaged filmmaking consciously made in opposition to the dominant Hollywood model, of "first cinema." The course will consider how films from different countries (Argentina, Cuba, Algeria, Egypt, etc.) express this opposition as they fashion and reflect visions of national identity in an increasingly multicultural post-colonial environment.

History 370 “Hollywood and Labor”	(E) 3 hr, 3 cr
Tuesday 4:30 to 7:00 PM	Prof. Harriet Davis-Kram

Film became a major cultural, social and economic phenomenon at the beginning of the 20th century America and continues to exert great influence on the American cultural scene as well as portraying real life events and ideas and people's attitudes toward them on screen. This course will examine the way that the film industry portrayed working people's lives, ideas, behaviors, etc. throughout the 20th century and how valid and influential its images and ideas have been.
The readings and films to be screened will explore the way politics and social values were influenced by the medium and how real-life pressures impacted in it. Some of the films to be screened include Modern Times, I'm Alright, Jack, Norma Rae, Swing Shift, and 9 to 5.

MEDST 144: “Film History, 1930-1970”	(R) 4 hr, 3 cr
Thursday 9:15 AM-1:05 PM	Prof. Amy Herzog

This course will survey film history from the 1930s through the 1960s, examining institutional and aesthetic shifts in the film industry, as well as significant movements and genres in world cinema (musicals, melodramas, film noir, Neorealism, the French New Wave, Direct Cinema). Readings and class discussions will consider the historical, political, aesthetic, and cultural contexts of these cinematic trends, and will present an overview of the development of film criticism and theory during this period.

MEDST 200: ‘Principles of Sound and Image’	(E) 4 hr, 3 cr
Monday/Wednesday 10:15 AM--12:05 PM	Prof. Buchsbaum

An examination of the dominant visual and sound conventions characteristic of most film, television and video production. Lectures illustrated with a wide range of media examples present the basic principles of sound and image combinations, including technological principles, shot language, composition, editing, and storytelling. Students apply these principles in the production of two short video projects. Students are also introduced to the fundamentals of the FINAL CUT PRO editing software program, which they will use to edit their second video project. Readings cover both practical material and theoretical discussions of visual and audio parameters.

MEDST 240: “Styles of Cinema”	(R) 4 hr, 3 cr
Tuesday 1:40--5:20 PM	Prof.Julian Cornell

The course will introduce students to the systematic "formalist" analysis of film stylistics in both non-narrative and narrative modes. We will focus on the way filmmakers use the film medium's techniques and strategies to develop constructions of and reflections about aspects of human lives and their societies. The major course text will be David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson's Film Art: An Introduction, 8th ed. and it will be supplemented by other readings. Films of widely differing types will be screened, including A wide variety of films will be screened including Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock); Citizen Kane (Orson Welles); 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick); Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard); All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk) and The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel) among others.

MEDST 245: “Screenwriting”	(E) 3 hr, 3 cr
Friday 1:40-4:30 PM	Prof. Richard Vetere

This class will help students develop a screenplay from an original idea to the first act of a finished script. In a simulation of Hollywood's story development process, students will begin with a pitch, move to a treatment of their screen story, then act one of their scripts. Special attention will be paid to the fundamentals of storytelling, including creating memorable characters; three-act structure; and story points, such as the "inciting action" and the "climax." This will be achieved through an in-class writing workshop and exercises; screening mainstream, foreign, and independent films; reading film and TV scripts from accomplished writers such as Ted Tally and Larry David; and studying excerpts from screenwriting bibles, including Robert McKee's Story and William Goldman's Adventures in the Screen Trade.

MEDST 263: “The American Film Industry”	(E) 4 hr, 3 cr
Tuesday 5:20-9:10 PM	Prof. Juan Monroy

After World War I, the American film industry became the dominant cinema throughout the world, dwarfing national cinemas in number of productions and in box office revenues. Since then, the industry vertically integrated into the Hollywood studio system, was broken up by the US courts, challenged by television and new media, acquired by global conglomerates, and surpassed by emerging cinemas in East and South Asia. By most measures, however, the American film industry remains a dominant force in the culture industries of the world. This course examines the history of the American film industry since 1918 in a global context. We will focus on the cultural and economic changes of the industry, and pay special attention to how film produced inside (and outside) of this system have responded to those changes.

MEDST 265: “Producing Independent Media"	(E) 3hr, 3cr
Thursday 5:30-8:20 PM	Prof.Andrea Swift

The course presents an overview of the current media landscape and of all aspects of independent production: from development and fundraising through pre-production, production, post-production and distribution. Students will also explore the various roles that independent producers play: from small business owner and project developer to line-producer, amateur legal expert and distribution manager. Applicable to all kinds of programming, including feature films, documentaries, TV, cyber programming and other media, the course will focus most on project development, presentation, and funding. Students emerge from the course with one project "presentation packaged" and ready for further development, funding, and pre-production. Required reading: Film & Video Budgets, 4th Updated Editionby Deke Simon and Michael Wiese and a course packet.

MEDST 311: “Film Culture, New York”	(E) 3 hr, 1 cr
Thursday 6:00-9:00PM DATES TBA	Profs. Beloff, Herzog, Liebman

Students are introduced to five of the premier venues for film screenings in New York City on five evenings, TBA. Venues include the Museum of Modern Art, Anthology Film Archives, the Walter Reade Theatre, and Film Forum, among others. Students are required to attend all five sessions. One or more articles will be assigned for each film and discussed with the professor who accompanies the students to each screening. A short final paper surveying what students learned about non-commercial programming and exhibition practices will also be required.

MEDST 326W: “Media & Activism”	(E) 3hr, 3 cr
Friday 1:40 PM to 4:30 PM	Prof. Roopali Mukherjee

It is the mark of a democratic society that its citizens have the right to organize and bring dissenting opinions to the attention of those in political and economic power. Over its history, the United States has witnessed a range of social movements addressing the relations between government and citizens, between so-called powerful and powerless groups in society. From the earliest influences of Thomas Paine's revolutionary pamphlets to student anti-war efforts and civil rights struggles during the sixties and seventies, American society has been shaped by a long and vibrant history of social activism, and the media have played a key part in these efforts.

In this course, we consider the role of the media-print, television, and film-in activist efforts past and present. Highlighting questions of human and civil rights, state power and dissent, and the activist potential of mainstream and alternative film and television, the course explores the relations between media and social action in the United States.

MEDST 342W: “Genre: Children's Film”	(E) 4hr, 3cr
Monday 1:40-5:20 PM	Prof. Julian Cornell

This course is concerned with the under theorized genre of movies for children. Interrogating children's films reveals that there are a number of critical issues at stake: How does a society define childhood and children? What is the purpose of entertainment designed for them? How can we characterize a children's film? What makes them desirable commodities? What movies are considered 'appropriate' viewing for young children? We will explore the intersection of entertainment, pedagogy and ideology to determine how mainstream Hollywood films construct and maintain childhood and circumscribe children's fantasy, play and pleasure.

MEDST 343W:  Non-Fiction Forms"	(E) 4hr, 3cr
Friday 1:40-5:20 PM	Prof.Joy Fuqua

As a W-course, "Nonfiction Forms" will focus on reading, writing, and viewing nonfiction media forms from historical and contemporary documentary films and videos to current "reality TV" and "celebrity" biography. We will examine a diverse array of nonfiction forms including but not limited to examples of documentary filmmaking (from Edison's early films to the "cinema verite" approaches of Frederick Wiseman and the nature or wildlife films) and non-fiction television such as news, weather, talk shows, interview programs, and "instructional" programs such as those found on The Food Network, The Learning Channel, the Travel Channel, Discovery Health, to current fascination with "the biographical" aspects of celebrity culture (ordinary and "famous" figures). Students will engage in writing projects based upon their reading and viewing of these course materials. As part of the writing component, students will learn how to write film and television reviews and a feature article, based upon an interview. They will also write formal essays in response to primary texts and secondary scholarly texts. Students will engage in substantial revision of essays. The emphasis will be on studying how film, television, and written texts like biographies construct ideas of "reality" and "truth" - of the self or of certain historical events. The course will be based upon the questioning of sets of oppositional terms such as but not limited to: authentic/fake; truth/fiction; real/representation; self/other; nature/culture; science/society; ordinary/celebrity; documentary/mockumentary; entertainment/information; nature/culture. Some films, "primary texts," may include: Electrocuting an Elephant (Edison, 1903); Louisiana Story (Flaherty, 1948); Hospital (Wiseman, 1970); Grey Gardens (Maysles, 1975); Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (Broomfield, 1994); Bowling for Columbine; The Brandon Teena Story (1998, Muska and Olafsdottir); Boys Don't Cry (1999); Devil's Playground (Walker, 2002); An Inconvenient Truth (Guggenheim, 2006); Blair Witch Project (Myrick and Sanchez, 1999); Watermelon Woman (Dunye, 1997); When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (Lee, 2006); Kamp Katrina (Redmon, 2007); South of 10 (Liza Johnson, 2007); United 93 (Greengrass, 2006). Television programs may include: Inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton; American Idol; Survivor; Project Runway, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,The Colbert Report, Meerkat Manor; No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain, and other reality-based programming. Readings will be drawn from a variety of sources such as Documentary: A Very Short Introduction (Aufderheide, 2007); F is for Phony: Fake Documentary and Truth's Undoing (Juhasz and Lener, eds.); Watching Wildlife (Chris, 2006); Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture (Murray and Ouellette, eds); Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation (Truss, Lynne), MLA Handbook.

MEDST 381: SEE CMLIT 241

 

PHIL 105: “Film/Philosophy/Politics: Childhood and Adolescence in Film”	(E) 3 hr, 3 cr
Tuesdays, 1:40 - 5:20	Prof. John Matturri

This course will examine childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood as portrayed in fictional films by examining those through the lens of philosophical ideas about human nature and development. The films viewed will include Jean Vigo's Zero for Conduct, Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures, Terry Zwieger's Ghost World, Richard Linkletter's Dazed and Confused, Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without a Cause, Larry Cohen's It's Alive, and Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets. Special emphasis will be placed on the Francois Truffaut's Antoine Doinel cycle, a series of films that will allow us to trace the development of a single character from childhood over the course of several films. The philosophical readings by Rousseau, Augustine, Hobbes, Locke, and others will be used to consider within the films such issues as the importance of nature and nurture, education, the development of character, sexuality, and the transition between adolescence and adulthood.