Courses of Study
Sections
An interdepartmental program in Film, Television and Interactive Media
Last updated: September 30, 2009 at 5:55 p.m.
The film, television and interactive media major exemplifies interdepartmental inquiry and multi-cultural exploration. The course of study is not a pre-professional one, but rather a liberal arts field of scholarly inquiry. In the program, the study of film and video arts offers interdisciplinary insight into motion picture media. Broadly understood to encompass inquiry into the aesthetics, history, and cultural meanings of the moving image, the major has two primary goals: to provide an informed background in motion picture history and to develop a critical appreciation of the cultural meanings of film.
This humanities-driven course of study stresses analysis of film style and content, film history, and the relationships between cinema and culture. The curriculum is designed to provide a broad overview of the history of the moving image, to promote expertise in cinematic style and cultural meaning, to lend theoretical sophistication to an understanding of the moving image, and to ensure some appreciation of the practical and technical side of motion picture production. Students develop an awareness of cinema as a complex narrative form and as an art. They learn the rhetorical and syntactical conventions of moving images and how this language has developed historically. No more than three courses in production can count towards the nine classes required.
Alice Kelikian, Chair
(History)
Steven Burg
(Politics)
Scott Edmiston, Director, Office of the Arts
(Office of the Provost)
Matthew Fraleigh
(German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literature)
Timothy Hickey
(Computer Science)
Paul Morrison
(English and American Literature)
Sabine von Mering
(German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literature)
A. FILM 100a (Introduction to the Moving Image)
B. One course in non-American Cinema (see course list below).
C. One course in the creative aspects of film production (see course list below).
D. Six courses selected from the non-American Cinema, creative aspects of film production, and elective course lists (see below); however only two courses may be from the creative aspects of film production list.
D. Candidates for departmental honor considerator must satisfactorily complete FILM 99d (Senior Thesis) in addition to the nine required courses for the major.
Students may double-count no more than four courses used to fulfill the major in film and visual media studies with another major or minor.
No course with a final grade below C can count toward the major nor any course graded on a pass/fail basis.
A. FILM 100a (Introduction to the Moving Image)
B. One course in non-American Cinema (see course list below).
C. One course in the creative aspects of film production (see course list below).
D. Three courses selected from the non-American Cinema, creative aspects of film production, and elective course lists (see below); however only two courses may be from the creative aspects of film production list.
No course with a final grade below C can count toward the minor nor any course graded on a pass/fail basis.
Courses of Instruction
(1-99) Primarily for Undergraduate Students
FILM
92a
Internship in Film Studies
Usually offered every year.
Staff
FILM
98a
Independent Study
Usually offered every year.
Staff
FILM
98b
Independent Study
Usually offered every year.
Staff
FILM
99d
Senior Thesis
Students who are candidates for degrees with honors in film and visual media studies must register for this full-year course. Usually offered every year.
Staff
(100-199) For Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students
FILM
100a
Introduction to the Moving Image
[
ca
hum
]
An interdisciplinary course surveying the history of moving image media from 1895 to the present, from the earliest silent cinema to the age of the 500-channel cable television. Open to all undergraduates as an elective, it is the introductory course for the major and minor in film and visual media studies. Usually offered every year.
Staff
FILM
110a
Film Production I
[
ca
ss
]
Preference given to film and visual media studies majors and minors.
An introduction to the basic principles and techniques of fictional narrative motion picture production. Each student will produce three short films. The films will emphasize dramatic development and creative storytelling through image composition, camera movement, editing, and sound. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Weinberg
FILM
110b
Motion Picture Editing
[
ss
]
Preference given to film and visual media studies majors and minors.
Students will develop visual literacy through a study of the editor's role in cinematic storytelling. The course provides an overview of the craft's history and theory and offers practical training in editing digital video with Final Cut Pro. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Dellelo
FILM
115a
Storytelling for Film, TV and New Media
[
ss
]
Prerequisite: FILM 100a. Priority given to film and visual media studies majors and minors. May be repeated once for credit.
Provides hands-on experience in developing narratives for television and cinema. Students explore the process of developing story ideas for the moving image and for digital media. They learn to think creatively within formats that invite the participation of other collaborators, including actors, designers, and directors. Usually offered every year.
Staff
Film, Television and Interactive Media Electives
The following courses are approved for the program. Not all are given in any one year. Please consult the Schedule of Classes each semester.
AMST
111a
Images of the American West in Film and Culture
[
ss
]
Explores how motion picture images of the West have reflected and shaped American identities, ideologies, and mythologies. Through a variety of films--silent, "classic," and "revisionist"--and supplementary readings, examines the intertwined themes of progress, civilization, region, nation, democracy, race, gender, and violence. Usually offered every fourth year.
Staff
AMST
112b
American Film and Culture of the 1950s
[
ss
]
Traces the decline of classical Hollywood cinema and the impact of motion pictures on American culture in the 1950s, especially Hollywood's representations of the Cold War. Students learn methods of cinematic analysis to conduct cultural historical inquiry. Usually offered every fourth year.
Staff
AMST
113a
American Film and Culture of the 1940s
[
ss
]
Examines the nature of classical Hollywood cinema and the impact of motion pictures on American culture in the 1940s, especially Hollywood's representations of World War II. Students learn methods of cinematic analysis to conduct cultural historical inquiry. Usually offered every fourth year.
Staff
AMST
113b
American Film and Culture of the 1930s
[
ss
]
Traces the rise of Hollywood sound cinema and the impact of motion pictures on American culture in the 1930s, especially Hollywood's representations of the Great Depression. Students learn methods of cinematic analysis to conduct cultural historical inquiry. Usually offered every fourth year.
Staff
AMST
114a
American Film and Culture of the 1920s
[
ss
]
Traces the rise and fall of silent Hollywood cinema and the impact of motion pictures on American culture in the 1920s, especially Hollywood's role in the revolution in morals and manners. Students learn methods of cinematic analysis to conduct cultural historical inquiry. All films are screened with a music score or live piano accompaniment. Usually offered every fourth year.
Staff
AMST
116b
Race and American Cinema
[
hum
]
From its earliest beginnings, the history of American cinema has been inextricably--and controversially--tied to the racial politics of the United States. This course explores how images of racial and ethnic minorities such as African Americans, Jews, Asians, Native Americans, and Latino/as are reflected on the screen, as well as the ways that minorities in the entertainment industry have responded to often limiting representations. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Dave
AMST
130b
Television and American Culture
[
ss
]
An interdisciplinary course with three main lines of discussion and investigation: an aesthetic inquiry into the meaning of television style and genre; a historical consideration of the medium and its role in American life; and a technological study of televisual communication. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Doherty
AMST
131b
News on Screen
[
ss
]
An interdisciplinary course exploring how journalistic practice is mediated by the moving image--cinematic, televisual, and digital. The historical survey will span material from the late-nineteenth-century "actualities" of Thomas Edison and the Lumiere Brothers to the viral environment of the World Wide Web, a rich tradition that includes newsreels, expeditionary films, screen magazines, combat reports, government information films, news broadcasts, live telecasts, television documentaries, amateur video, and the myriad blogs, vlogs, and webcasts of the digital age. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Doherty
ANTH
26a
Communication and Media
[
ss
]
An exploration of human communication and mass media from a cross-cultural perspective. Examines communication codes based on language and visual signs. The global impact of revolutions in media technology, including theories of cultural imperialism and indigenous uses of media is discussed. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. McIntosh
ENG
27a
Page, Stage, and Screen
[
hum
]
Addresses the relation of form to content, or medium to message, within and among three different genres: novel, drama, and film. Investigates: What modes of human subjectivity and sensory perception does each genre presuppose and promote? Why? What values can and cannot be expressed in any given genre? Why do certain genres achieve cultural dominance while others become residual? Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Morrison
ENG
27b
Classic Hollywood Cinema
[
hum
]
A critical examination of the history of mainstream U.S. cinema from the 1930s to the present. Focuses on major developments in film content and form, the rise and fall of the studio and star system, the changing nature of spectatorship, and the social context of film production and reception. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Morrison
ENG
30b
New American Cinema of the 1960s and 70s
[
hum
]
Survey of the "new Hollywood" of the late 1960s and early 1970s (e.g., Nicholas, Hopper, Scorcese, Polanski, Altman). Explores underground and international influences on this group;s aesthetic. Investigates filmic responses to the dying studio system and the ideals of the counterculture. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Irr
ENG
49a
Scriptwriting for the Short Film
[
hum
]
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing, preferably four to seven pages. Samples should be submitted to the department office (Rabb 144) no later than two days before the first class meeting.
Addressed many facets of writing screenplays for short films (under eight pages). Students develop two to three scripts through creative exercises, rewriting, and critiques. Supplementary screenings and reading focuses on the particulars of short fiction and cinematic writing. Special one-time offering, fall 2008.
Ms. Salzer
ENG
50b
American Independent Film
[
hum
]
Explores non-studio filmmaking in the United States. Defines an indie aesthetic and alternative methods of financing, producing, and distributing films. Special attention given to adaptations of major film genres, such as noir thrillers, domestic comedy, and horror. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Irr
ENG
60a
Documentary Prose and Film
[
hum
]
An introduction to documentary, covering major works of nonfiction prose and film. Focuses on the variety of documentary techniques in both media and controversies surrounding efforts to represent the real. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Irr
ENG
70a
Magic Lanterns to Movies: The Origins of Narrative Film
[
hum
]
Explores the birth of moving pictures, from Edison and Lumiere's experiments to "Birth of a Nation" and "The Jazz Singer". Traces film's roots in the photographic experiments, visual spectacles and magical lanterns of late nineteenth-century France, England, and America, and its relationship to the era's literary experiments. Filmmakers include: Georges Melies, Abel Ganz, Sergei Eisentein, D W Griffiths, Charlie Chaplin. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Plotz
ENG
147a
Film Noir
[
hum
]
A study of classics of the genre (The Killers, The Maltese Falcon, Touch of Evil) as well as more recent variations (Chinatown, Bladerunner). Readings include source fiction (Hemingway, Hammett) and essays in criticism and theory. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Flesch or Ms. Quinney
ENG
177a
Hitchcock's Movies
[
hum
]
A study of thirteen films covering the whole trajectory of Hitchcock's career, as well as interviews and critical responses. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Flesch
HISP
193b
Topics in Cinema
[
hum
wi
]
Course may be repeated for credit.
Topics vary from year to year, but might include consideration of a specific director, an outline of the history of a national cinema, a particular moment in film history, or Hollywood cinema in Spanish. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Mandrell or Mr. Rosenberg
NEJS
181a
Jews on Screen
[
hum
]
Open to all students.
Survey course focusing on moving images of Jews and Jewish life in fiction and factual films. Includes early Russian and American silents, home movies of European Jews, Yiddish feature films, Israeli cinema, independent films, and Hollywood classics. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Rivo
NEJS
181b
Film and the Holocaust
[
hum
]
Open to all students.
Examines the medium of film, propaganda, documentary, and narrative fiction relevant to the history of the Holocaust. The use of film to shape, justify, document, interpret, and imagine the Holocaust. Beginning with the films produced by the Third Reich, the course includes films produced immediately after the events, as well as contemporary feature films. The focus will be how the film medium, as a medium, works to (re)present meaning(s). Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Rivo
NEJS
182a
Jewish Life in Film and Fiction
[
hum
]
Film and fiction are windows through which we can view transformations in American Jewish life. This course concentrates on cinematic and literary depictions of religious, socioeconomic, and cultural change over the past half-century. It does this through films and fiction, which reflect and help to shape shifting definitions of the American Jew. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Fishman
THA
155a
Icons of Masculinity
[
ca
]
Using icons from movies, fiction, theater, and television who represent manhood, this course explores how American men have defined and performed their masculinity. Various archetypes, including the cowboy, the gangster, the rogue cop, the athlete, the buddy, the lover, and Woody Allen are examined. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Holmberg
Electives: Courses in Non-American Cinema
CHIN
130b
China on Film: The Changes of Chinese Culture
[
hum
nw
]
Open to all students. Conducted in English and all films viewed have English subtitles.
Focuses on the enormous changes under way in Chinese society, politics, and culture. Helps students to identify and understand these fundamental transformations through a representative, exciting selection of readings and films. Usually offered every second spring.
Staff
COML
135a
Before the Law: Justice in Literature and Film
[
hum
]
Examines works of fiction and film as a means of addressing the problem of justice, highlighting by the same token the symbolic fabric of the law and the performative elements of legal institutions. We will focus on cultural expressions from Europe and Latin America that address the problem of the state and its subjects in a context of modernity broadly defined. Usually offered every fourth year.
Mr. Rosenberg
ENG
20a
Bollywood: Popular Film, Genre, and Society
[
hum
nw
]
An introduction to popular Hindi cinema through a survey of the most important Bollywood films from the 1950s until today. Topics include melodrama, song and dance, love and sex, stardom, nationalism, religion, diasporic migration, and globalization. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Anjaria
ENG
22a
Filmi Fictions: From Page to Screen in India
[
hum
nw
]
An introduction to filmic adaptations of Indian novels from Bollywood, Indian art cinema, and Hollywood. Readings include novels as well as theoretical approaches to adaptation. Films include Slumdog Millionaire, Pather Panchali, Devdas, Guide, Umrao Jaan, and others. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Anjaria
ENG
77a
Screening the Tropics
[
hum
]
How territories and modes of life are designated as "tropical," and how this is celebrated or "screened out" in film, photography, national policy, travelogues, and fiction. Films by Cozier, Cuaron, Duigan, Denis, Fung, Henzell, Ousmane, and Sissako. Usually offered every fourth year.
Ms. Smith
GECS
167a
German Cinema: Vamps and Angels
[
hum
]
Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in English translation.
From silent film to Leni Riefenstahl and Nazi cinema, from postwar cinema in the East and West to new German film after unification, this course traces aesthetic strategies, reflections on history, memory, subjectivity, and political, cultural, and film-historical contexts with an emphasis on gender issues. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. von Mering
HBRW
170a
Take I: Hebrew through Israeli Cinema
[
fl
hum
wi
]
Prerequisite: Five semesters of Hebrew or permission of the instructor. Four class hours per week.
An advanced culture course that focuses on the various aspects of Israeli society as they are portrayed in Israeli films and television. In addition to viewing films, the students will be asked to read Hebrew background materials, to participate in class discussions, and to write in Hebrew about the films. Usually offered every spring.
Ms. Azoulay
HISP
192b
Latin American Global Film
[
hum
]
May not be repeated by students who took SPAN 193b in fall 2007. Conducted in Spanish.
An examination of films from Latin American or about Latin American topics. Considering film production and circulation, the class focuses on how images travel, how local stories and images are projected globally, and how Latin American and its "local" cultures are processed outside of their borders. Close analysis of visual representation complemented by a historically and culturally informed background. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Rosenberg
HIST
170a
Italian Films, Italian Histories
[
ss
wi
]
Explores the relationship between Italian history and Italian film from unification to 1975. Topics include socialism, fascism, the deportation of Jews, the Resistance, the Mafia, and the emergence of an American-style star fixation in the 1960s. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Kelikian
JAPN
135a
Screening National Images: Japanese Film and Anime in Global Context
[
hum
nw
]
All films and readings are in English.
An introduction to some major directors and works of postwar Japanese film and anime with special attention to such issues as genre, medium, adaptation, narrative, and the circulation of national images in the global setting. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Fraleigh
NEJS
178b
Masculinity and Femininity in Israeli Film, Literature, and Culture
[
hum
]
Taught in English.
Focuses on Israeli film, literature, and culture, exploring how film and literature represent and establish masculinity and femininity. Examines the ways in which film and literature reflect the politics, religions, conflicts, and ideologies of Israeli society. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Szobel
RECS
149b
The Rise and Fall of Russian Modernism: Cultural and Political Revolutions, 1900-1934
[
hum
]
Open to all students. Conducted in English. Students may choose to do readings either in English translation or in Russian.
An interdisciplinary immersion in the period, emphasizing the connections between historical and artistic trends and employing prominent theories of culture. Focuses on major figures, works, and events in film, literature, the performing and visual arts, and political, philosophical, and religious thought. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Powelstock
SAS
150b
Indian Film: The Three-Hour Dream
[
hum
nw
]
A study of Hindi films made in India since 1947 with a few notable exceptions from regional film, as well as some recent films made in English. Students will read Hindi films as texts/narratives of the nation to probe the occurrence of cultural, religious, historical, political, and social themes. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Singh
Electives: Courses in Creative Aspects of Film Production
COSI
65a
Introduction to 3-D Animation
[
sn
]
Covers the fundamental concepts of 3-D animation and teaches both the theory underlying 3-D animation as well as the skills needed to create 3-D movies. Students demonstrate their understanding of the concepts by creating several short animated movies. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Hickey
ENG
67a
Art of the Screenplay
[
hum
]
Examines the screenplay as a unique literary genre and illustrates how it has evolved, from early silents to the contemporary feature. Delves into the mythology of plot and character, breaks down the structure of scripts, and explores how novels are adapted to the screen. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Weinberg
ENG
79a
Directed Writing: Beginning Screenplay
[
hum
wi
]
This course may not be repeated by students who have taken ENG 129b in previous years. Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing of no more than five pages. Samples should be e-mailed to the instructor no later than two weeks before the first class meeting.
Fundamentals of screenwriting: structure, plot, conflict, character, and dialogue. Students read screenwriting theory, scripts, analyze files, and produce an outline and the first act of an original screenplay. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Weinberg
ENG
129b
Understanding the Screenplay: A Workshop
[
hum
wi
]
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing of no more than five pages. Samples should be e-mailed to the instructor no later than one week before the first class meeting.
Covers the fundamentals of screenwriting: structure, plot, conflict, character, and dialogue. Students are required to read scripts and a book on screenwriting, analyze films, and produce an outline and the first act of an original screenplay. Usually offered every fourth year.
Mr. Coroniti or Mr. Weinberg
ENG
139b
Intermediate Screenwriting
[
hum
wi
]
Prerequisites: ENG 129b or ENG 79a. Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing of no more than five pages. Samples should be emailed to the instructor no later than one week before the first class meeting.
In this writing-intensive course, students build on screenwriting basics and delve more deeply into the creative process. Participants read and critique each other's work, study screenplays and view films, and submit original written material on a biweekly basis. At the conclusion of the course each student will have completed the first draft of a screenplay (100-120 pages). Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Weinberg
FILM
110a
Film Production I
[
ca
ss
]
Preference given to film and visual media studies majors and minors.
An introduction to the basic principles and techniques of fictional narrative motion picture production. Each student will produce three short films. The films will emphasize dramatic development and creative storytelling through image composition, camera movement, editing, and sound. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Weinberg
FILM
110b
Motion Picture Editing
[
ss
]
Preference given to film and visual media studies majors and minors.
Students will develop visual literacy through a study of the editor's role in cinematic storytelling. The course provides an overview of the craft's history and theory and offers practical training in editing digital video with Final Cut Pro. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Dellelo
FILM
115a
Storytelling for Film, TV and New Media
[
ss
]
Prerequisite: FILM 100a. Priority given to film and visual media studies majors and minors. May be repeated once for credit.
Provides hands-on experience in developing narratives for television and cinema. Students explore the process of developing story ideas for the moving image and for digital media. They learn to think creatively within formats that invite the participation of other collaborators, including actors, designers, and directors. Usually offered every year.
Staff
MUS
107a
Introduction to Electro-Acoustic Music
[
ca
]
Prerequisite: Any music course or permission of the instructor.
A course designed to give students basic studio skills and a context for listening to and working in electronic music. Topics include basic acoustics, sound design, digital and analog recording techniques, and assignments on the pioneers and current practitioners of electro-acoustic music. Involves hands-on experience in the use of MIDI-controlled synthesizers, samplers, production equipment, and includes individual studio projects based on individual studio time. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Chasalow
THA
40a
Production Design and the Art of the Visual Narrative for Theater, Television, and Film
[
ca
]
A core production design course for theater, television, and film. Of interest to designers, actors, directors, film makers, and anyone interested in process and development of the visual story line. The class will focus on the creative process of the visual narrative. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Booth
THA
50b
Sound Design
[
ca
]
Prerequisite: THA 2a or permission of the instructor. Laboratory fee: $10 per semester.
Explores the process of modern sound design from concept to execution. Hands-on sound lab instruction provides a foundation for creative expression in the aural arts. Projects include creating aural images and soundscapes based on selected readings, static and moving images. This class provides a solid foundation in audio editing and MIDI sequencing. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Wilson
THA
52b
Fundamentals of Lighting
[
ca
]
Prerequisite: THA 2a or permission of the instructor. Laboratory fee: $15 per semester.
A hands-on investigation of the hardware and software of lighting design, the functions and use of stage lighting equipment, computer lighting consoles, design software, and production paperwork. Basic electrical theory and safety considerations concerning rigging, focusing, and power distribution will also be discussed. Usually offered every year.
Staff
THA
64a
Costumes: From Script to Stage
[
ca
]
Prerequisite: THA 2a or permission of the instructor. Laboratory fee: $10 per semester.
An introduction to the challenges facing the costume designer during the process of a play production. Topics include script and character analysis and how to research a variety of historical periods. Students design for two to three plays over the course of the semester. Usually offered every second year.
Staff
THA
125a
Acting for the Camera
[
ca
]
Prerequisite: THA 2a or permission of the instructor.
A process-based acting class. Emphasis is on developing the actor's ability to work honestly and creatively in front of the camera. All work is videotaped. Students regularly review their performances in order to advance their critical understanding of the work. Usually offered two consecutive years with a third-year hiatus.
Ms. Doyle
THA
140a
Adapting and Revising: A Collaborative Process for Prose Writers, Playwrights, and Screenwriters
[
ca
]
Prerequisite: THA 104a, ENG 129b, or permission of the instructor.
This seminar places prose writers (both fiction and nonfiction) with playwrights and screenwriters. Playwrights and screenwriters will learn the process of adapting prose, while fiction/nonfiction writers will learn about revising their work through the visual world of the stage/screen. Special one-time offering, spring 2010.
Ms. Hyland