SyllabusSummer

=Schedule of Readings, Screenings, and Assignments= LM = //Looking at Movies// DVD = //Looking at Movies// DVD

Week One

 * Mon, 6/20:** Introduction to course; What is a movie?

Before we watch the movie, read the Screening Checklist questions in LM on pp. 23-24. On Wednesday, we will be analyzing formal elements and discussing the movie in broader cultural terms. I don't expect you to know the formal elements yet, of course, but you should be able to respond to the movie's themes. What does //Juno// suggest about motherhood, family, relationships, youth, and individuality? Does the film reaffirm or challenge cultural values related to these themes? What about your values?
 * Tues, 6/21:** Screening: //[|Juno]// (dir. Jason Reitman, 2007)


 * Wed, 6/22:** READ LM Ch. 1, "Looking at Movies" (1-25); Watch DVD "Film Analysis" and "Form and Content"


 * Thurs, 6/23:** Screening: //[|Stagecoach]// (John Ford, 1939)


 * Fri, 6/24:** READ LM Ch. 3, "Elements of Narrative" (113-153); Watch DVD "Genre: The Western" and "Narrators, Narration, and Narrative"

Week Two

 * Mon, 6/27:** READ LM Ch. 2, "Principles of Film Form"; Watch DVD "Diegetic and Nondiegetic Elements" and "Suspense and Surprise"; READ [|Sample student analysis of scene from V for Vendetta](pdf download from Dropbox) and [|Sample student analysis of scene from Road to Perdition] (pdf download from Dropbox)


 * Tues, 6/28**: Screening: //[|The Apartment]// (Billy Wilder, 1960)

Discussion Part 1: Design; Part 2 Composition; Expect a quiz over the reading Watch DVD: all videos for Ch. 5, "Mise-en-Scene"
 * Wed, 6/29**: READ LM Ch. 5, "Mise-en-Scene" (156-205);


 * Thurs, 6/30:** Screening: //[|Days of Heaven]// (Terrence Malick, 1978)

READ LM Ch. 6, "Cinematography"(208-229); Watch DVD, Ch. 6: "Lighting," "Focal Length"
 * Fri, 7/1: DUE: Response to //Days of Heaven//** (In what ways does the film follow or not follow the rules for a mainstream Hollywood narrative? Also take notes on moments in the film in which images convey information or emotion not conveyed by the characters actions or dialogue.)

Week Three

 * Mon, 7/4:** NO CLASS; DUE: Proposal for sequence analysis

READ LM Ch. 6, "Cinematography" (229-261) Watch DVD, all remaining videos from Ch. 6
 * Tues, 7/5: DUE: Take-home Quiz over Ch. 6**


 * Wed, 7/6: Exam 1**


 * Thurs, 7/7:** Screening: //[|Notorious]// (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)

READ LM Ch.8, "Editing" (319-365) Watch DVD, Ch. 8: "The Evolution of Editing," "The 180-Degree Rule,"
 * Fri, 7/8: DUE: Response to //Notorious//** (Pay attention to the use of POV shots in the film, noting some specific examples. Whose POV do we experience? Are there places where you notice switches in POV? Whose POV is favored the most? Whose consciousness do we enter the most deeply? What might be the effect or significance of any of this?)

Week Four

 * Mon, 7/11:** Watch DVD, Ch. 8: "Editing Techniques in Snapshot" (Disc 1) and Snapshot (Disc 2)


 * Tues, 7/12:** Screening: //[|Citizen Kane]// (Orson Welles, 1941)


 * Wed, 7/13: DUE: Sequence analysis essay**; READ LM Ch. 9, "Sound" (367-408)


 * Thurs, 7/14:** Screening: //[|Do the Right Thing]// (Spike Lee, 1989)


 * Fri, 7/15:** Discussion of //Do the Right Thing// and review for exam
 * DUE:** Reponse to Do the Right Thing: 1) What is your personal response to the issues raised and conflicts presented in the film? 2) How is music used in the film overall? Do image and sound complement one another in this movie, or are there times when one dominates the other? Is silence used expressively?

Week Five

 * Mon, 7/18:** **Exam 2**


 * Tues, 7/19:** Screening: //[|How To Train Your Dragon]// (Dreamworks, Dean DuBlois and Chris Sanders, 2010)


 * Wed, 7/20:** **Group Presentation** and Discussion


 * Thurs, 7/21:** Screening: //[|Lost in Translation]// (Sophia Coppola, 2003)


 * Fri, 7/22:** **Group Presentation** and Discussion