FILM THEORY/COM 476

	FILM THEORY
COM 476 Fall 2007				Hugh McCarney B 213 837-8254 mccarneyh@wcsu.edu

ERes Discussion
PW=COM356

Texts:

Lapsley and Westlake. Film Theory: An Introduction, latest ed. [L&W]

On-line materials are linked to the syllabus.
Also check Cinetext Annotated Bibliography

SCHEDULE

Week Of:	Reading	Work due
9/3	Read "Introduction to the First Edition," p. vi "Introduction to the Second Edition," p. ix

9/10	Read Chapter 1, "Politics," p. 1.

9/17	Read Chapter 2, "Semiotics," p. 32.

9/24	FILM SEMIOTICS (members.tripod.com/~afronord/theory.html)		Paper Topic

10/1	Read Chapter 3, "Psychoanalysis," p. 67.

10/8	Read Chapter 4, "Authorship," p. 105.	Working Bibliography

10/15	Read Chapter 5, "Narrative," p. 129.

10/22	Read Chapter 6, "Realism," p. 156.

10/29	Read Chapter 7, "The avant-garde," p. 181.

11/5	Read "Afterword," p. 214.	Outline

11/12

11/19	Polan, Dana (1987). "Film Theory Re-Assessed", Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture,1 (wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/1.2/Polan.html) B&C, p. 791: Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction."

11/26	Freeland, Cynthia A. "Feminist Film Theory: Draft for the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics" (www.uh.edu/~cfreelan/aesth/femfilm.html) Smelik , Anneke. "Feminist Film Theory" (http://www.let.uu.nl/womens_studies/anneke/filmtheory.html)	*Papers Due*

12/3	Miller, Blair. "The Work of Interpretation: A Theoretical Defence of Film Theory and Criticism" (www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/FINE/juhde/miler991.htm)

12/10	Reports

ERes Board Discussion:

The Web Board discussion centers around the topic "Problems I'm having making sense of this stuff." All theories are abstract; some have a specialized vocabulary and others assume you have background information that you may be missing. This discussion is designed to help us fill the gaps so these theories do make sense to us. While the discussion is informal, proofreading is recommended. The link to the discussion is at the top of this page.

Formal Paper:

The major paper for the course will be due the week of November 26. You are asked to choose a film in the Haas Library holdings and examine it from two theoretical perspective (For example,"The Gaze in Jezebeland Its Hegemonic Implications" or "The Semiotics of Clothing in Young and Innocent as a Reflection of its Structure").You will be asked to identify the major question(s) the theories attempts to answer, and answer them in terms of this film. You are welcome to use outside sources in preparing the paper, however you are cautioned to cite all sources, whether the information is directly quoted, paraphrased, or summarized. All reference material must be credited using the form presented in The Publication Manual of the APA. Failure to document sources is plagiarism, and will not be tolerated.

Conventions Followed in Writing about Film:

Film titles are italicized, not put in "quotes".
The year of the film is put in parenthesis following the film the first time the film is mentioned. Subsequent mentions do not include the date.
Characters are referred to by the character's name, not the name of the actor playing the part.

Grades:

Grades will be based on the Major Paper, the oral presentation, class participation, and the Web Board discussion. Late work will not be accepted without a physician's statement.

Course page