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A dramatic scene from Bergman's The Seventh Seal Humanities 140, Approaches to Film, is an elective course designed to count for Humanities credit in the Arts and Sciences Core of the University Studies Program.  The program is designed to provide a broad base of skills and knowledge to equip students for informed, responsible citizenship in a changing world.  The purpose of the Humanities requirement in the University Studies program is to provide a framework for understanding the nature and scope of human experience.  Humanities courses explore the search for meaning and value in human life by examining its expression in cultural forms and texts, literature and the arts. 

The goal of the course is to help you become a skilled and sophisticated interpreter of film art — someone who can both enjoy the aesthetic, visceral appeals of narrative film and interpret its themes. Over the next four months, we’ll study a variety of films from different directors, eras, origins, and sources. What they have in common are not only provocative cinematic techniques, but also challenging thematic meanings. Throughout the course, you can expect to develop a knowledge of theoretical approaches to understanding film; to consider technical issues in producing and viewing film; to study the various sources of film narrative (fiction, fables, fairy tales, factual events, etc.); and to become acquainted with some important Hollywood, foreign, and independent visions. As a course fulfilling the objectives for the Humanities requirement in the Arts and Science core, then, Humanities 140, Approaches to Film, includes requirements and learning activities that promote students' abilities to …

TEXTS

DATE

FOR CLASS

DURING CLASS

        1       

8.27

 

Syllabus and introductions. On the Waterfront (vc5146).

enjoy your Labor Day holiday!

        2       

9.10

Boggs chs. 1 & 2. Reserve: “Dramatic Elements in On the Waterfront.”

Thematic and narrative elements. The Purple Rose of Cairo (vc5148); Sherlock Jr.

        3       

9.17

Boggs ch. 3. Reserve: “The Purple Rose of Keaton.”

Fictional and dramatic elements. The Piano (vc5152).

        4       

9.24

Boggs chs. 4 & 5.

Cinematography, design, and mise-en-scène. The Seventh Seal (vc2100).

        5       

10.1

Reserve: “Analysis of The Seventh Seal”; excerpts from Chaplin’s Biography. Boggs ch. 6.

Editing and effects; from silents to talkies. Modern Times (vc1489).

        6       

10.8

Study for exam; write take-home essays.

6 p.m.: first exam. 7 p.m. screening: Do the Right Thing (vc2773).

        7       

10.15

Boggs chs. 7-9. Reserve: “Polyphony and Cultural Expression.”

Color and sound: effects, dialogue, and music. M (vc3931).

        8       

10.22

Reserve: “Analysis of M.” Boggs ch. 10.

Acting and directing; auteurs, canons, and the indie scene. Boys Don’t Cry (vc6798).

        9       

10.29

Collaborative projects due (draft). Boggs ch. 11 & ch. 15 (pp. 446-54). 

Reflexive cinema; the contemporary foreign cinema. Cinema Paradiso (vc2907).

     10     

11.5

Study for exam; write take-home essays.

6 p.m.: second exam. 7 p.m. screening: Beauty and the Beast (dvd16).

enjoy your Veterans’ Day  holiday!

     11     

11.19

Cocteau, Diary of a Film.

The early cinema: Méliès & the Lumières, Edison & Porter, D.W. Griffith. A Trip to the Moon and other silent films.

     12     

11.26

Collaborative projects due (final). Boggs ch. 12 & 13.

Interpretive approaches. Synthesis: Citizen Kane (vc1376).

     13     

12.3

Boggs chs. 14, 15 (pp. 454-81), & 16.

A short history of animation. Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs.

     14     

12.10

Study for final exam. Write take-home essay(s).

6 p.m.: screening TBA; 7:30 p.m.: final exam.