Film Minor

This course offers an introduction to methods and approaches for the study of film. Students will learn film terminology and its effective application in film analysis. Students also will develop, maintain, and improve strategies for close-reading individual shots and sequences, interpreting cinematic narrative and technique, and for negotiating various critical and theoretical paradigms of film study.

This course studies the development of film history from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century up to the present day. As the growth of cinema has been a global phenomenon, we will look at major films, filmmakers, and film movements in the United States and around the world.

This course introduces students to the major areas and concepts of film theory and criticism, from their inception in the early twentieth century to the present. It examines how various film theories, as part of a long-standing tradition of critical reflections on life and the arts in general, evolve and interact with one another and with neighboring discourses, nationally and internationally. Knowledge and skills gained in this class will prepare students for further upper-division film courses, in which film theory and criticism will function as important analytical tools.

An introduction to the production of visual storytelling content. Each student will write, direct, and edit a series of exploratory production exercises. The primary emphasis is on telling a compelling story by employing basic cinematography, lighting, editing, sound, and on-camera talent to involve an audience emotionally with the characters on screen. This course is restricted to Film majors and minors only.

National Cinema is an advanced course focusing on the most significant films and filmmakers of one country. It looks at cinematic history and practice in the nation being covered and may include a consideration of popular, independent, and/or art film. The course may cover the entire history of cinema in one nation or focus on a particular type of film or cinematic movement in one country. Special attention will be paid to the socio-historical contexts of the films assigned during the course.

This course is an introduction to the basic principles of writing for the screen. The elements of theme, plot, character, and dialogue in dramatic writing for cinema will be studied. Students will learn how to construct screenplays by closely examining produced films, reading film scripts, and writing their own short screenplays. The course will provide a foundation in the basics of the three-act act structure, dramatic action, character arc, the revision process, and an introduction to the business of screenwriting. By the end of the semester, students will have produced and polished a twenty- to thirty-page screenplay for a short film suitable for production.

This course is an intermediate level treatment of the principles of writing for the screen. It expands on the concepts covered in FLM 301 - Basic Screenwriting, deepening the students' knowledge of the elements of theme, plot, character, and dialogue in dramatic writing for cinema while building the students' skills in the development of these elements in their own writing. By the end of the semester, students will have produced and polished screenplay for a one-hour film.

This survey course offers a unique opportunity to screen and study technically innovative and culturally significant feature films from China, India, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Special attention will be given to the diverse genres in Asian cinema and the dynamic interactions between filmmaking and socio-historical transformation. An East-West comparative approach will be encouraged.

This course centers on the close reading of both religious and secular filmic texts in order to better understand the ideology that is wrapped within these artifacts of culture. Students will describe and analyze how these cinematic texts communicate both Christian and anti-Christian philosophical and theological arguments, which have the power to shape the horizons of the mind and impact culture.

With attention to theories about authorship and the auteur, this course surveys the work of one or two major directors. This course may treat a canonical auteur, such as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, or Akira Kurosawa, or may focus upon figures historically marginalized within cinema studies, such Oscar Micheaux, Ida Lupino, or Sam Fuller.

This course addresses the adaptation of literature to film. It examines diverse concepts and theories that have been applied to cinematic adaptations of literary texts as part of a larger constellation of issues, including the development of cinematic language, approaches to genre studies, and an appreciation for cinematic visions in literary texts. In addition to film screenings, course readings will include prose fiction and film criticism.

This course is an introduction to the basic principles of writing for streaming media. Students will be immersed in what makes for a successful series comedy or drama script: premise, character, story, scene writing, and dialogue. Several past and current series from broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms will be analyzed throughout the semester. The course will provide a foundation in the basics of writing the scripted series and an introduction to the business of scripted series writing and production. By the end of the semester, students will have written a polished pilot episode script suitable for production.

This course introduces students to an overview of the film industry broadly and examines the evolving structures of development, production, and distribution for a worldwide market.

This course focuses on a different subject in the field of cinema studies each time it is offered. Designed to reflect both our rapidly changing culture and the technologically progressive nature of the film industry, this course is devoted to a critical examination of film with regard to, for example, time period, genre, theme, etc.

This is a course in the art of writing a feature-length film script based on a piece of literature or other literary material. Contemporary feature film structure paradigms will be reviewed as the student (individually or in pairs) crafts their own feature-length screenplay from a self-selected literary source. The art of the studio "pitch" used to sell a screenplay also will be reviewed and practiced.

Independent Film and Counter-cinema is an advanced course that studies diverse film texts considered "independent" while examining the varied and constantly evolving definition of independent film. In addition, the course investigates counter-cinema -- film that actively opposes mainstream cinema, offering alternative discourses -- and explores the complex relationship between independent film and counter-cinema.

Thoughtfully addressing the importance of film's auditory component, which is often ignored or taken for granted by visually-dominated studies of the moving pictures, this course critically engages the importance of sound to cinema, from a theoretical as well as a historical perspective.

World Cinema is an advanced course focusing on films made outside of North America and their socio-historical contexts. It looks at cinematic history and practice in diverse nations and introduces students to a range of non-Hollywood film styles and forms, including popular and art cinemas, from across the globe.

This advanced course focuses on diverse texts and theories regarding adaptation and intertextuality as they impact film and other media. The course explores the ways in which texts are adapted from one medium into other media and the ways in which texts intersect and communicate with one another. The complex manner in which adaptation and intertextuality function in our media-saturated, global culture is investigated. Texts that might be examined in this course include films, video games, television shows, novels, comics/graphic novels, operas, and musicals. Course content will vary.

Students participate in an internship experience in some aspect of the Hollywood film or television industry. These are non-paying positions that may be part of an actual Hollywood film or television production, or similar entertainment industry experience with development companies, agencies, producers, etc. Unit value will vary in relation to time commitment and the individual's learning contract. Students will be supervised by a member of the Film Studies faculty.

This class will approach film production from prep to post from the perspective of the independent film creative producer, with each student producing and directing two short films in addition to introductory workshops on all the different departments, including technical areas such as grip, electric, and camera. Students will learn how to break down and budget a script, schedule a shoot, create and fill out paperwork, such as deal memos, call sheets, contracts, location scouting, and holding auditions.

An introduction to the fundamental tools and principles used by cinematographers to create digital or film images generated from the context of the story. Curriculum covers visualization, digital manipulation, sensitometry, filters and lenses, lighting, color, processing procedures, camera systems, special effects, and image control.

Provides students with an intensive hands-on experience editing under the supervision of the professor while further developing their skills and techniques of cinematic storytelling via the editing and post production processes, with an emphasis on the role of editing on cinematic and artistic masterpieces from every genre while students work on creating their own film festival ready short film from already existing film and sound elements.

This course explores a range of ideas, methods, and theories of narrative film directing. While helping students understand the director's complex functions in the creative process of directing, the course mainly focuses on the study of and practice in two areas: directing the camera and directing actors. Significant time is devoted to the understanding of acting and working with actors (casting, rehearsal, character development, and performing for the camera). Students will work in groups on a series of focused short projects to build the creative experience step by step.