Syllabus and Schedule Spring 2001
Instructor: James Shokoff Office: Fenton 264
Office hours: W 1:30-5:30 & Th 10:00-11:00 Phone: 673 3858
Class meets: Tu. & Th. 11:00-12:20, Fenton 105 E-Mail: James.Shokoff@fredonia.edu
Text: Giannetti, Understanding Movies, 8th ed.
The Course: The course will be developed mainly through
lectures, but you are encouraged to contribute comments and questions. As much
as possible, we will try to involve everyone in the process of reading the signs
and codes that are the foundations of film as a medium of art and communication.
The lectures will be supplemented with discussions, screenings of films,
videotapes, or slides. You might want to read another description of the course
on the World Wide Web or to access the Fredonia Film Page:
<http://www.fredonia.edu/department/english/shokoff/>.
General College Program: This course fulfills part of the
GCP requirements for Arts and Humanities (Part IIB). It is an historically
based, formalistic introduction to the study of basic concepts and problems in
analyzing films.
Requirements:
1. Ten times during the semester, there will be short quizzes in which you
will have to explain or define a concept or term discussed in class on the day
the quiz is given or a concept discussed in Giannetti in chapters assigned
through the date of the quiz. You must turn in your quizzes on a white, lined
sheet of paper, 8 by 11, and not torn from a ringed notebook.
Each quiz will be rated on a scale of 4 to 0, corresponding with the numerical
values of grades (i.e. 4=A; 2.3=C+). A cumulative grade at the end of the
semester will be based on 32 points, with your two lowest scores (or two missed
quizzes) dropped. The dates for these quizzes will not usually be announced;
quizzes will follow the rhythm of the course. You must answer in complete
sentences unless directed otherwise at the start of the quiz. Legible
handwriting is required. Quizzes that need to be deciphered will be regarded as
blank pages. [The cumulative grade is worth 20% of your grade for the course.]
2. Four one-page (about 250 words) analyses, each of a film sequence. You may
use a sequence from any film shown this spring at the Fredonia Opera House or a
sequence from any of the films screened on Tuesday evenings from 6-8 in Fenton
105 for the Narrative Film course. You are welcome to attend these film
screenings. For a schedule, see the EN 380, Narrative Film, syllabus linked to
my home page on the Internet. You may also choose from among several films
easily available on videotape. A list of these films will also be posted in a
link to my home page.
The first of these four one-page essays must discuss the function of shots in
the sequence (due no later than Thursday, Feb. 15). The second
must discuss the function of mise-en-scene (due no later than Thursday,
March 8). The third must discuss the function of editing (due no later
than Tuesday, April 10). The fourth must discuss the function
of sound in the sequence (due no later than Thursday, April
19). [Each one-page essay is worth 10% of your grade for the course.]
Please note that students in EN 280 will be admitted to the films at the
Fredonia Opera House at a discounted price. Seeing films on a big screen, with
good projection and sound equipment, is a great advantage. I urge you to attend
as many films as you can at the Opera House. You can check the schedule by going
to the Fredonia Film Page on the Internet (see address above) and then clicking
on the 1891 Fredonia Opera House film schedule.
4. Your have the option of doing either A or B [40% of your grade for the
course]:
A. A storyboard project, due no later than Tuesday, May 1.
Your job here is to create a storyboard (see pp. 172-197 of Giannetti) for a
unified sequence for a film that you plan in your imagination. (Giannetti also
prints a reading version of the storyboard sequence [pp..374-79]). This
assignment will be discussed in class on Tuesday, April 4 ,
when specific instructions will be distributed or posted on the internet. You
may turn in the work earlier but not later than May 1. If you
do not turn in the storyboard by our class meeting on that date, you must take
the final examination.
B. A final, essay examination in which you will respond to specific questions
about Michael Curtiz's Casablanca, which we will view during
the last week of classes and, in part, at the examination. The final examination
will be held on Thursday, May 10 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. in
Fenton 105. The film is available for rental at local outlets or for
borrowing from public libraries. It may be purchased inexpensively. You can
order the videotapes by phone from several distributors including these: Facets:
1 800 331 6197, or Critics' Choice, 1 800 367 7765. You can save money on either
a rental or a purchase by pooling resources with others in the class. In any
case, you will be responsible for seeing this film and being able to write about
it. You will be given a plot summary and cast list for the film.
6. All work must be completed. Missing an essay or the storyboard or final
examination will result in failing the course. Follow the Guidelines for Papers
and Examinations sheet that is part of this document.
7. Attendance is important. The films, videotapes, and slides we see are
texts that often cannot be read at any other time than class meetings. Quizzes
will not usually be announced. If you miss more than two, your grade will
suffer.
8. Clear, thoughtful writing is a basic requirement in all written work. How
you express yourself will have an effect on the grades you receive on the
quizzes, the essays, the storyboard, and the final examination.
9. Adhere to the Guidelines for Papers and Examinations
sheet that is attached to this syllabus. If you do not follow these Guidelines,
your work may be penalized.
10. You must also join the listserv for the course. To join,
send an e-mail message to <listserv@listserv.fredonia.edu> Leave SUBJECT
blank. In the body write: JOIN EN28001. You are responsible for information
given on the listserv. Directions for assignments will be posted on the
listserv. You may also post questions and comments on film on the listserv or
you may respond to anything anyone else has written. After you have joined, you
may send messages to <EN28001@listserv.fredonia.edu>. Be aware that any
message you send to the listserv will be sent to all subscribers. If you want to
contact me only, use my e-mail address <James.Shokoff@fredonia.edu>.
Schedule: You are responsible for changes announced in
class. Readings are in Giannetti, 8th edition.
1/18 Introduction to the course. Film: sequence from Orson Welles's
Citizen Kane. This film is readily available on videotape for
purchase or rental. Two or three copies are on reserve in Reed Library. You
should screen this film early in the semester. It will be referred to
frequently.
1/23 Film screening and analysis. Film: Edward Secan's One-Eyed Men Are Kings.
1/25 Continue from last class.
1/30 Origins and mechanics of cinema. Read Chapter 1.
2/1 Realism and expressionism (formalism). Videotapes: the Lumiere brothers,
selections, and Georges Melies, A Trip to the Moon.
2/6 Shots. Chapter 3.
2/8 Shots.
2/13 Shots. Film: Basic Film Terms. Chapter 7.
2/15 In-class analysis of selected film sequences. First one-page
analysis is due.
2/20 Mise-en-scene. Chapter 2.
2/22 Mise-en-scene. Film sequence: Carol Reed's The Third
Man.
2/27 Mise-en-scene. Chapter 12, with special attention to pp. 473-475. In class, we will view and discuss the sequence described on these pages. Film: the Boarding House sequence from Citizen Kane.
3/1 Mise-en-scene. Chapter 6.
3/6 Mise-en-scene. Film sequence: Zhang Yimou's Raise the Red Lantern. Chapter 10.
3/8 Mise-en-scene. Film sequence: F. W. Murnau's The Last Laugh. Second one-page analysis is due.
3/13 Editing/montage. Chapter 4. Edwin S. Porter's The Great Train Robbery (1903) and D.W. Griffith's The Girl and Her Trust (1912).
3/15 Editing/montage.
3/20 and 3/22 No class. Spring break.
3/27 Editing/montage. Chapter 9. Films: Odessa Steps sequence from Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin (1926).
3/29 Editing. Verloc's death from Alfred Hitchcock's
Sabotage (1936), which is discussed and depicted on pp. 243-45,
Giannetti.
4/3 Storyboard will be assigned. The Crop-dusting sequence from Hitchcock's North by Northwest. Chapter 8.
4/5 Editing/montage. Film: the shower sequence from Hitchcock's
Psycho (1960).
4/10 Editing. Film sequence: D. W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation or Intolerance. Third one-page analysis is due.
4/12 Editing.
4/17 Sound. Film: To be announced. Chapter 5.
4/19 Sound. Film sequence: Chaplin's Modern Times.
Fourth one-page analysis is due today.
4/24 Sound. Film sequence: Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen's Singin' in the Rain.
4/26 Sound. Film sequences: Mel Brooks's High Anxiety and
Federico Fellini's La Strada. Required evaluation of the
course.
5/1 Screening of Casablanca for those who have opted to take the final examination. Those opting to do a storyboard may also attend. Storyboards are due in class today. Storyboards will be returned at the final examination (or at our final class meeting on 5/3 if they are turned in by 4/26).
5/3 Conclusion of Casablanca.
5/10 Thursday, 1:30-3:30 p.m. Final examination: an essay on
Casablanca. You must respond in your own words to questions
that will require you to discuss the development of specific elements of
mise-en-scene/shots, editing, and sound in film. You may have with you the
synopsis and cast list of Casablanca, but it must be clean and
free of notes.