Courses

Fall 2009 Courses


Film Studies 1: Introduction to Film Studies (4 units)
Liz Constable, Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies
elconstable@ucdavis.edu

Lecture: TR 9:00 - 10:20, 2205 Haring
Film Viewing: T 6:10 - 9:00, 1001 Giedt (evening)

Discussion Sections:

  • Section 1 (W 9:00 - 9:50, 290 Hickey Gym) CRN 24824
  • Section 2 (F 10:00 - 10:50, 267 Olson) CRN 24825
  • Section 3 (W 3:10 - 4:00, 101 Wellman) CRN 24826
  • Section 4 (W 4:10 - 5:00, 1020 Wickson) CRN 24827
  • Section 5 (W 5:10 - 6:00, 1020 Wickson) CRN 24828
  • Section 6 (W 6:10 - 7:00, 209 Wellman) CRN 24829
  • Section 7 (R 2:10 - 3:00, 267 Olson) CRN 24830
  • Section 8 (R 3:10 - 4:00, 267 Olson) CRN 24831

Course Description:
The course aims to introduce students to various aspects of film studies, including film analysis, film history, as well as, film (especially genre and auteur) theory. The main focus of the course, however, is on film analysis, particularly on the technical and narrative analysis of feature films that will entail a close viewing of the films. The course introduces students to the technical aspects of film, including cinematography, editing, mise-en-scene, and sound; it also offers a survey to film history as well as important international movements, including early cinema, Soviet Montage, German Weimar Cinema, neo-realism around the world (including India), the U.S. film noir, and "New Asian" cinema. We shall be examining, among other topics, the social, cultural, and political contexts of film as a medium as well as of particular films. The main objective for the course is for students to be able to view films critically, to develop a systematic and convincing interpretation of the film out of this critical viewing, and to articulate this analysis in a well-constructed and persuasive essay. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.

Course Format: Lecture - 3 hours; Film viewing - 3 hours; Discussion - 1 hour.

Prerequisite: None.

Textbook:

  • David Bordwell & Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction with Tutorial CD-ROM

Film Studies 121: Contemporary Italian Cinema (4 Units)
(Cross-listed with Italian 121)
CRN 43403

Margherita Heyer-Caput, Professor of Italian
mheyercaput@ucdavis.edu

Lecture/Discussion: TR 1:40-3:00, 1204 Haring
Film Viewing: W 6:10-9:00, 6 Wellman (evening)

Course Description:
This course will explore the thriving Italian cinema of the twenty-first century in relationship with the deep cultural and social changes that Italy has experienced in the last two decades. We will witness how a young generation of Italian filmmakers, from Marco Tullio Giordana to Gabriele Muccino, has overcome a paralyzing sense of “afterness” and infused Italian cinema with a new vitality. These directors-writers-producers-lead actors have successfully coped with the inspiring but also challenging legacy of the great auteurs of Italian Neorealism of the ‘40s and ‘50s (Rossellini, De Sica, etc.) and of the art cinema of the ‘60s and ‘70s (Antonioni, Fellini, etc.), and with the disillusions suffered by the political cinema of the ‘80s and ‘90s (Rosi, Petri, the Tavianis, etc.). The movies analyzed revisit classic genres of Italian cinema, from the commedia all’italiana to historical productions, and reinvent film as a powerful art form with a social reference and a moral accountability. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.

Note:

  • This course is NOT OPEN to those students who took FMS 189 in Spring 2008 or Fall 2008.
  • Knowledge of Italian is NOT required.
  • This course counts toward the Film Studies major/minor.
  • This course counts toward the Italian major/minor as an elective course.
  • This course counts toward the International Relations major, under the Area Studies Requirement (Western Europe).

Textbooks:

  • A Course Reader
  • Timothy Corrigan, A Short Guide to Writing about Film
  • Recommended: Carlo Celli, A New Guide to Italian Cinema

Film Studies 124: Topics in US Film History - 1934 (4 Units)
CRN 43518
 
Eric Smoodin, Professor of American Studies
esmoodin@ucdavis.edu

Lecture/Discussion: TR 9:00-10:20, 216 Wellman
Film Viewing: T 6:10-9:00, 216 Wellman (evening)

Course Description:
This quarter we will engage in an intensive examination of a single year in US film history: 1934. The year was marked by a number of significant films, several of which we will be seeing in class. But concentrating on this year alone also lets us study important developments in the film industry, in relations between the industry and the audience, and in the development of a number of institutional practices related to film (in government, journalism, education, etc.). So, we will use a single year to understand issues related to film style, censorship, audience, modes of production, and business practices. In almost every class, we will be reading contemporary scholarship about the period and also primary materials from the era under discussion. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.

Textbook:

  • A Course Reader

Classics 102: Film and the Classical World (4 Units)
CRN 43313

Emily Albu, Associate Professor of Classics
emalbu@ucdavis.edu

Lecture/Discussion: TR 4:40-6:00, 106 Olson
Film Viewing: T 7:10-10:00, 146 Olson (evening)

Course Description:
The classical world as portrayed in films. Screenings and discussions of modern versions of ancient comedy and drama, films set in the ancient Mediterranean world, and films imbued with classical themes and allusions. Readings in ancient literature and film criticism. Some of these films have attempted to capture the personalities and spirit of the ancient past. How do these films force us to reconsider our assumptions about antiquity? What do these films reveal about the times that produced them? We also study films with allusions to ancient mythology, history, philosophy, or literature. How do classical allusions or symbols enrich the (modern) story? Click HERE for the course flyer. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.

Notes:

  • This course counts toward the Film Studies major, under Cinematic Traditions and Movements.
  • This course counts toward the Film Studies minor, under Problems and Themes in Cinema.

Textbooks:

  • A Course Reader
  • Euripides and Alan Shapiro (trans.), The Trojan Women
  • Plautus, Pot of Gold and Other Plays
  • Homer, Odyssey