Courses for Spring 2013

Mus 228 / Film Music
Neil Lerner
T/R 1:40 - 2:55
Sloan B011
Film screenings Wednesday evenings at 7pm in Tyler-Tallman Hall
Music mediates and manipulates our perceptions of the visual. This course will develop both the eye and ear, using a number of (mostly) "Hollywood films as our principal texts," as we carefully consider the role music plays in cinematic narratives. The first part of the semester will be spent learning a critical vocabulary for both music and cinema. We will then give careful scrutiny to a number of complex films and film scores that span the history of sound film and that cover a number of different twentieth-century musical styles, all in the service of tracing the numerous musical codes found in Hollywood film. Assignments will include weekly film screenings, weekly postings, two tests, and a writing project where you think and write about how the music affects a film scene. No previous musical training is necessary for this class.

English 292 / History, Theory, and Production of Documentary
Paul Miller
MWF 10:30 - 11:20
Chambers 3106
Film screenings Wednesday evenings at 7pm in Hance
The course will first examine the modes of the documentary genre, often described as expository, observational, interactive, and reflexive. For each mode we will read relevant history and theory, and watch representative documentaries. Students will then make a short documentary as a means of understanding how the modes affect both the production and reception of a documentary. We then consider more specific sub-genres of documentary: science/nature, politics/protest, and mockumentary.

COM 315/SOC 315 / Media Effects
Amanda R. Martinez
M 1:30-4:20
Chambers 2146

This course explores relevant theories and practices of conducting media effects research in communication, particularly in the mass mediated/disseminated contexts including television, radio, print, popular culture artifacts, internet, and other forms of new media. Society tends to ascribe great power to the media so we will move beyond the simple (and unrealistic) cause-and-effect approach to the study of media and human behavior. We will strive towards a deeper understanding of media processes and effects and how to properly assess such impacts by employing various communication theories and methodologies. A wide range of media effects topic areas will be covered including health, advertising, edutainment, (race, ethnic, gender, and sex) stereotypes, violence, pornography, music videos, video games, TV news, and politics. Students' experiences, insights, questions, and ideas are a key part of this course.


CIS 323 / Topics in Digital Media and Film (Narrative Filmmaking)
Darren Floyd
T 1:40-4:20
Chambers LRC
Film screenings Mondays at 9pm in Hance
CIS 323 will be a production-intensive narrative filmmaking class. The course will be divided in thirds to include pre-production, production and post-production. Each student will write a short script, play a major role on a film production crew, and edit a short narrative film. Weekly screenings will include American Independent films considered together as "mumblecore." Readings will consider independent filmmaking theory and practice. Software utilized will include Adobe Story, Prelude, Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Encore. Projects will be shot on the Sony NEX FS700 camera package. 

 French 366 / Africa Shoots Back (in translation)
Caroline Beschea-Fache
T/R 9:40 - 10:55
Film screenings Tuesday evenings from 7 - 10pm in Hance
This course is designed to foster cultural awareness and literacy about post-colonial French speaking Africa. The course is designed for both French and non-French speaking students.
Tuesdays will be a lecture in English and Thursdays, the class will be divided into 2 discussion sections: section A in French and section B in English. The course will explore sub-Saharan French-speaking cinema, which, since its advent after the independence from France in the early Sixties, has been extremely dynamic and daring and yet remains unknown to most Westerners. We will thus discuss and analyze the issues from decolonization to post-colonial cultural economy and from traditional African narrative strategies to new and unconventional images. The selection of movies (weekly showings) for the course exposes students to new voices, perspectives and representations.
All films are subtitled in English and will be screened on Tuesday evenings as part of the
class. No previous training in Film studies is required.
This course fulfills Ethnic Studies, Film Studies, French, International Studies and
Cultural Diversity requirements.

CIS322 / Ger 346 Memory on Film (in translation)
Maggie McCarthy
T/R 9:40 - 10:55
Chambers 3198
Film screenings Sundays at 7pm in Hance
This course will examine memory as a frequent theme in film, how filmic structures represent memory, and the extent to which memory counters the official stories of history and nation. Besides attending weekly film screenings, students will write short essays and create a larger memory project which can take written or filmic form. Films include Memento, Blade Runner, Inglorious Bastards, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Winter Sleepers, Gods and Monsters, Mein Krieg, Good Bye, Lenin, After Life, The Baader-Meinhof Complex, Cherry Blossoms, and Downfall.