Fine Arts 110--Film Aesthetics

Class: TTH 1:10-2:25, SFH 22           Instructor: James Plath

Office: CLA 143    Phone: 556-3352

Office Hours: MWF  9-10 a.m.  & by appointment

URL: http://sun.iwu.edu/~jplath        Email: jplath@iwu.edu

Text: Anatomy of Film, Sixth Edition, by Bernard F. Dick, and assigned online readings.

Course Description: Film is an art form, a cultural indicator, and a shaper of culture. The goal of this class is to acquaint students with the aesthetics and language of film, en route to their developing an appreciation for the medium along with being able to critically evaluate and write about films. Cinema is a huge field, and it is impossible to cover world cinema, or even every aspect of American filmmaking. Nonetheless, this course will attempt to cover a range of classic films, popular films, and indie films from different countries in order to give students a broad range of aesthetic tastes. The adult subject matter and profanity in the films we view may be offensive to some students, but that's the nature of cinema. Discussions will also be frank. If that makes you uncomfortable, perhaps you should find a different Gen Ed course. You will be tested on the reading, but because our textbook is self-explanatory, we will not spend class time repeating material. But we will talk about questions students have on the reading.

Course Requirements:  Despite the 100 rubric, this a demanding course insomuch as students will be expected to do whatever it takes to view and write about films on the syllabus. Class time will be used to watch and discuss films, and sometimes students will be required to come to class at 1pm instead of 1:10.  For any films missed, it will be students' responsibility to watch them on their own. No laptops or phones allowed during movie screenings; aside from that, students may use laptops or phones IF their text is online or if they need a laptop to take notes.

Students will be required to take a midterm and final and to write:

--A 1000-1500 word review of a film (audience: popular)

--A 1500-word detailed analysis of a scene (audience: academic)

--A 6-8 page essay on film, whether a single film or several (audience: academic)

All assignments must be typed in 12 pt. Times New Roman and double-spaced. Hard copy only.

Deadlines: Must be met. Period. Late papers will be downgraded one-half grade for every class day that they're late. Failure to participate in the small group presentation will result in an F for the activity. I reserve the right to quiz you if I suspect people haven't read the material, and quizes will count toward your class participation grade. Some of the reading assignments are quite long, so plan ahead to stay on top of things.

Tentative Syllabus:

Week of Aug 27, 29--Introduction; READ Ch. 1 by Sep 3

Week of Sept 3, 5--Classic film: Stagecoach (1939, Western, dir. John Ford, 96 min.); READ Ch. 2 by Sept 5

Week of Sept 10, 12--Classic film: Citizen Kane (1941, roman-a-clef drama, dir. Orson Welles, 119 min.); READ Ch. 3 by Sept 12

Week of Sept 17, 19--Classic film: Casablanca (1942, film noir drama, dir. Michael Curtiz, 102 min.); READ Ch. 4 by Sept 19

Week of Sept 24, 26--Popular film: Psycho (1960, thriller, dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 109 min.); READ Ch. 5 by Sept 26

Week of Oct 1, 3--Popular film: Annie Hall (1977, highbrow comedy, dir. Woody Allen, 93 min.); READ Ch. 6 by Oct 3

Week of Oct 8, 10--Popular film: The Naked Gun (1988, lowbrow comedy, dir. David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, 85 min.); READ Ch. 7 by Oct 10

Week of Oct 15, 17--Small group discussions/presentations on auteurism; Due Oct 17: 1000-1500 word film review of any of the first five films we saw in class

Week of Oct 22, 24--Small group presentations; MIDTERM:  Oct 24

Week of Oct 29, 31--Indie film (Iranian): Persepolis (2007, animation, dir. Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, 96 min.); READ: Ch. 9 by Oct 31

Week of Nov 5, 7--Indie film (U.S.):  Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010, horror-comedy, dir. Eli Craig, 89 min.)

Week of Nov 12, 14--Indie film (U.S.): Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012, drama-fantasy, dir. Benh Zeitlin, 93 min.); Due Nov 14: 1500-word detailed analysis of a scene from any of the second 4 films

Week of Nov 19, 21--Indie film (Jordanian): Theeb (2014 drama, dir. Naji Abu Nowar, 100 min.)

Week of Nov 26 (Thanksgiving)--Writing the critical paper

Week of Dec 3, 5--Indie film (Philippine): Apocalypse Child (2015, drama, dir. Mario Cornejo, 96 min.); DRAFT of critical paper on any of the films we've seen, due Dec 5; sign-ups for "revision" conferences

FINAL DRAFT of the critical paper is due at the start of the final exam period.

FINAL EXAM:  Thursday, Dec 12, 3:30-5:30 p.m. in SFH 22

Grades will be based on the following:

Attendance and participation (including small groups and quizzes)------------------------20 percent

1000-word review---------------------------------------------------------------------------------10 percent

1500-word detailed scene analysis--------------------------------------------------------------10 percent

Midterm---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20 percent

6-8 page critical paper-----------------------------------------------------------------------------20 percent

Final exam-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20 percent

James Plath--Rotten Tomatoes Critic         Plath PopMatters Reviews