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Mission Statement:
Our mission is to serve as a leading center of Christian thought and action providing an excellent
education from a biblical perspective and global context in pivotal professions to equip Christian
leaders to change the world.
COURSE SYLLABUS
SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION & THE ARTS
DEPARTMENT OF CINEMA-TELEVISION
CTV 600-MAD
THEORY & CRITICISM OF CINEMA-TV
SPRING 2012
ON LINE COURSE
POSTINGS ON WEDNESDAYS
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
Instructor: J. Dennis Bounds, Ph.D.
Phone: 757-352-4134
Fax: 757-352-4275
Skype: jdennbou
Twitter: @jdennbou
E-mail: [email protected]
Office Hours: Mondays 1 – 4 PM, Thursdays 1 – 4 PM
Office Location: COM 260
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All students are required to read and have a thorough understanding of the syllabus. Any
questions or concerns need to be addressed to the instructor.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course involves the analysis of cinema and television from the early realists-formalist to
auteur, genre, reception, semiotic, feminist, psycho-analytic, Marxist and deconstructive theories
as they apply to both film and television research. Students will complete the course with the
understanding of how to apply these theories to all types of television and cinematic texts.
RATIONALE/COURSE OVERVIEW
If you want to direct, you study the directors. If you want to write, you study the writers. If you
want to produce, you study the producers. But to know these things without grounding in the
theoretical underpinnings of how film form "works" on both the production and receptive levels,
is to disregard decades of media study and analysis. You need to consider the various theoretical
schools that influenced and continue to influence what is being created and how an audience
interprets it. Whether your field is film or television, you still can benefit from study of theory
& criticism. Contemporary media criticism draws from film criticism and theory. Go to the
source.
In this course we will explore the ways film and television are studied. We will proceed, topic
by topic, to identify and examine the film theories of Eisenstein and Kracauer through the tide of
auteur, genre, and semiotic movements. We will consider the work of feminist, Marxist, and
psychoanalytic theorists, considering their draws and drawbacks.
We will further compare and contrast film and television critical approaches. We will examine
the ways film theory has impacted television criticism through the works of such writers as
Newcomb, Thorburn and Hartley.
We will end with what can be termed a "critique of criticism." The student will be expected to
understand these theories and be able to discuss them cogently with the professor and the class.
The aim of this course will be to examine each of these theories in comparison or contrast within
the Christian worldview that demands of us that we come to Him and reason. Throughout this
course we will progress toward the concept of Christian film theory.
This as all courses in the College of Communication and the Arts is ultimately concerned with
how the committed Christian can blend his/her faith with what they learn here. Especially of
concern is how the issues raised by this course are to be considered in comparison to your own a
priori world view. You will be urged to consider all readings, screenings and discussions in light
of your own Christian faith.
PREREQUISITES
None
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DEPARTMENTAL (CINEMA-TV) PROGRAM OUTCOMES
To reclaim the power of "Story" and to weave Christian values and enduring truths in
infinitely fresh and relevant ways.
To allow students to explore and refine their craft through observation, intense study
and practice.
To grow artists who can create media infused with the Light to those with eyes to see
and ears to hear.
COURSE THEORY & CRITICISM OF CINEMA-TV OUTCOMES
To examine the various theories and trends in film and television criticism dating
from their inception to the current trends at work today
o This will be done through reading the original texts of the most important
theorists in the field and passing two written essay exams on those writers.
To become well versed in these theories and their practical application.
o This will be demonstrated through a comprehensive presentation to the
instructor and the class of a theory and its importance and impact.
To demonstrate the ability to master and apply a theory to a film or filmmaker.
o This is demonstrated through the writing of a journal-quality final research
paper that applies one or more of the theories we examine.
COURSE MATERIALS
Required Materials:
Braudy, Leo, and Marshall Cohen, eds. Film Theory and Criticism. 7th
ed. New
York: Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN: 9780195365627.
Newcomb, Horace. Television: A Critical View. 7th
ed. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780195301168.
Stam, Robert. Film Theory: An Introduction. New York: Blackwell Press, 2000.
ISBN: 9780631206545
Recommended Resources:
For those of you to whom reading a great deal of material and comprehending it really fast is a
problem or at least a challenge, I urge you to take advantage of the Speed Reading workshop
available through the CTL. Here's the link:
https://www.regent.edu/admin/stusrv/student_dev/training/?view=CSD#csd_training_event_511
It is also available as an on-line module. Here’s the link:
http://www.regent.edu/admin/stusrv/student_dev/online_workshops/speedreading/
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Also, I’m available for face-to-face conversation during my office hours via Skype.com. I
recommend that you consider downloading this application. The deal will be that, if you skype
me (that’s a verb, right?) during office hours, and I don’t respond, I have someone in my office
or by phone. The best way to set up a Skype session is to email me a request and I will do my
best to set up a Skype session in the time you request. If you are in the area, definitely schedule a
drop-by at my office.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Each week I will present an opening topic introduction On Monday in the
ANNOUNCEMENTS section of Blackboard – which will also be emailed to you. You will be
urged to then go read and explore the topic in the WEEK BY WEEK section based on the week
we are in. This will initiate that week’s discussions which will take place in the DISCUSSION
section. Each of you will respond to my question and begin commenting on my and your other
classmates’ comments through “threaded discussions.”
All assignments should be emailed directly to me, not posted on-line. I will be available for
face-to-face discussion through Skype.com or, for those in the area, office visits.
All submitted assignments should be in MS Word Document (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text File
(.rtf) formats. Further, in posting material, each student should label their assignments with
something that includes their last name and the type of assignment. For example, Jim Smith
would submit his presentation on semiotics as JSmith-semiotics.doc (or JSmith-semiotics.rtf).
A file called “semiotics.doc” will get lost when I copy it to my class file. Plus, any assignment
will be returned in like kind (that is, I will return an attached Word file that is marked up with the
Word Comment function).
And tragic it may be on many levels, losing computer access, a crashed computer or hard drive
or anything of this sort will not excuse lack of participation in the course. Also, all monetary
burdens for computer access are borne by the student.
Screenings:
We are all adults in this school. Any film or video I encourage you to study is purely for
educational and instructive purposes to develop critical abilities -- rather than for entertainment.
In the case that the film or video recommended is at the R rated level, I will offer a substitute at
the PG-13 or lighter rating. All screenings are accessible by internet through Blackboard. In the
Course Materials section, I’ll have a folder labeled Course Videos. By the first week of class I
should have all videos and films available for you to watch by simply clicking on the video file.
Just to warn you, these videos and films are not the best quality if viewed through blackboard.
You are free to set up a Netflix account and get the films delivered to your home for a clearer
viewing.
Assignments:
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A. Participation: (10%) Each student will be graded on how well they participate in
the class discussions. This will be a way of gauging how well a student is grasping
the material. This will be determined by my evaluation of your discussion with me on
Skype and your participation on the Discussion Board (required).
B. Mid-Term Exam: (20%) At about midpoint in the semester, the class will be given
an essay exam that will cover the readings and class discussions-to-date.
C. Presentation: (10%) At some time during the course each student will give a
presentation to be posted on the Discussion Board on any theoretical position.
Ideally, this would be the position the student will take for his/her term paper.
D. Final Exam: (20%) On the last day of class, the class will get a second essay exam
that will cover the readings and discussions since the first exam.
E. Term Paper: (35%) Each person will write a journal-quality Term Paper (20-25
pages) that applies a theory (or theories) to an artifact (or actor, studio, director,
producer, etc.). The topic and theory will need to be approved in advance after
conversation with me.
F. Regent/Hollywood Speaker Series: (5%) At times during the semester we will have
guest speakers coming to the Virginia Beach campus representing the film and
television industries. Those who live in the area are expected to attend these
presentations and write a one-page reaction paper to turn in one week after each
presentation. Those distance students who are unable to come to the campus may
instead write a one-page reaction paper based on viewing any “Making of”
documentary on filmmaking. Note: before you submit the paper, make sure you clear
the artifact with me.
EVALUATION AND GRADING
Assignments will be graded as follows:
Assignment Weight
Participation 10%
Mid-Term Exam 20%
Presentation 10%
Final Exam 20%
Term Paper 35%
Regent/Hollywood Speaker Series 5%
TOTAL: 100%
The grading scale: GRADE PERCENTAGE
SCORE QUALITY POINTS
A 94-100 4.0
A- 90-93.9 3.67
B+ 87-89.9 3.33
B 83-86.9 3.00
B- 80-82.9 2.67
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C+ 77-79.9 2.33
C 73-76.9 2.00
C- 70-72.9 1.67
D+ 67-69.9 1.33
D 63-66.9 1.00
D- 60-62.9 0.67
F 00-59.9 0.00
COURSE SCHEDULE (WEEK-BY-WEEK)
LEGEND: TCV = Television: The Critical View
FTAI = Film Theory: An Introduction
FTC = Film Theory & Criticism
HAND = Handout from professor
1. Aug 23
Read the Syllabus – comment on your background and interest in Film or TV Introduction to
Theory and Criticism:
Why study this in the first place?
Christian Film and Television Theory:
Is there or, better yet, should there be such a thing?
READINGS
None
SCREEN [COURSE VIDEOS]
Episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents-- “Dip in the Pool”
2. Aug 30
Expressionist vs. Realist; Expressionist Approach to Film and Television
READINGS
FTAI: viii-47
FTC: Kracaur, “Basic Concepts” 147
Arnheim, “The Complete Film" 167
“Film and Reality” 282
“The Making of a Film” 286
Eisenstein, “Beyond the Shot” 13
“The Dramaturgy of Film Form” 24
Panofsky, “Style and Medium in the Motion Pictures” 247
Mast, “Projection”
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Balasz, “The Close-Up” 273
“The Face of Man” 275
Cavell, “Photograph and Screen” 304
“Audience, Actor, and Star” 305
“Types, Cycles as Genres” 307
“Ideas of Origin” 312
TCV: Newcomb, “Television and the Present Climate of Criticism” 1
“Part 1: History” 11
“Part 2: The Production Context” 129
Levine, “Toward a Paradigm for Media Production Research: Behind the Scenes at
General Hospital.” 133
Bodroghkozy, “Negotiating Civil Rights in Prime Time: A Production and Reception
History of CBS’s East Side/West Side.” 37
Lotz, “Textual (Im)Possibilites in the U.S. Post-Network Era: Negotiating Production and
Promotion Processes on Lifetime’s Any Day Now.” 273
SCREEN [COURSE VIDEOS]
Weapon of Choice (music video)
Clips from Waking Life (2002 - Richard Linklater)
3. Sep 6
NO CLASS – IN LINE WITH ON-CAMPUS
READINGS: Just read ahead – get caught up or get ahead
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Sep13
Realist Film & Television
READINGS
FTC: Bazin, “The Evolution of the Language of Cinema” 41
“The Ontology of the Photographic Image” 159
“The Myth of Total Cinema” 163
“Theatre and Cinema” 345
Kracaur, “The Establishment of Physical Existence” 262
Perez, [On Keaton and Chaplin] 474
TCV: Rivero, “Erasing Blackness: The Media Construction of ‘Race’ in Mi Familia, the First
Puerto Rican Situation Comedy with a Black Family” 207
Corner, “Sounds Real: Music and Documentary” 397
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SCREEN [COURSE VIDEOS]
Sherlock, Jr. (1924 by Buster Keaton)
5. Sep 20
The Rise of the Film Auteur; The Television Auteur
Presentation: _________________________
READINGS
FTAI: 83-92
FTC: Wood, “Ideology, Genre, Auteur” 592
Sarris, “Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962” 451
Wollen, “The Auteur Theory” 455
TCV: “Part 3: The Programming Context”
Newcomb, “’This is Not Al Dente’: The Sopranos and the New Meaning of Television”
561
Jaramillo, “The Family Racket: AOL, Time Warner, HBO, The Sopranos, and the
Construction of a Quality Brand” 579
SCREEN [COURSE VIDEOS]
An episode of The Sopranos
6. Sep 27
Narrative Studies in Film; Narrative Studies in Television
Presentation: _________________________
READINGS
FTAI: 92-153
FTC: Braudy, “Acting: Stage vs. Screen 356
Andrew, “Adaptation” 372
McFarlane, “Backgrounds” 381
Gunning, “Narrative Discourse and the Narrator System” 390
Bordwell, “Cognition and Comprehension: Viewing and Forgetting in Mildred Pierce.”
427
TCV: Alvey, “’Too Many Kids and Old Ladies’: Quality Demographics and 1960s U.S.
Television” 15
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Parry-Giles & Parry-Giles, “The West Wing’s Presidency: Mimesis and Catharsis in a
Postmodern Romance” 292
SCREEN [COURSE VIDEOS]
House, M.D. “Three Stories”
7. Oct 4
Genre Theory vs. the concept of Auteur; Genre Theory in Film; Narrative and Genre;
Genre Theory in Television
Presentation: _________________________
FTC: Film Genres
Braudy, “Genre: The Conventions of Connection” 535
Schatz, “Film Genre and the Genre Film” 564
Altman, “A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre” 552
Bordwell, “The Art of Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice” 649
Carroll, “The Specificity Thesis” 292
Warshow, “the Gangster as Tragic Hero” 576
Schrader, “Notes on Film Noir,” 581
FTAI: 47- 55
TCV: Mittell, “Cartoon Realism: Genre Mixing and the Cultural Life of The Simpsons” 272
Waisbord, “McTV: Understanding the Global Popularity of Television Formats” 375
Thorburn, “Television Melodrama” 438
SCREEN [COURSE VIDEOS]
An episode of The Simpsons
8. Oct 11
EXAM #1
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Oct 18
Modular Week
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_____________________________________________________________________________
10. Oct 25
The Saussurian Impulse: Semiotics in Film; Signs and Meaning in Film and Television;
Semiotics in Ideology
Presentation: _________________________
FTAI: 185-229
FTC: Metz, “Some Points in the Semiotics of the Cinema” 65
“Problems of Denotation in the Fiction Film” 71
Harman, “Semiotics and the Cinema: Metz and Wollen” 78
Dayan, “The Tutor-Code of Classical Cinema” 106
Rothman, “Against “The System of the Suture.” 118
Barthes, “The Face of Garbo” 471
Dyer, from Stars. 480
Browne, “The Spectator-In-The-Text: The Rhetoric of Stagecoach” 125
TCV: Spigel, “Entertainment Wars: Television Culture after 9/11” 625
Silverstone, “Regulation, Media Literacy, and Media Civics” 654
SCREEN [COURSE VIDEOS]
Stagecoach (1939, John Ford, director)
11. Nov 1
Reception Studies
Presentation: _________________________
FTAI: 229-262
FTC: L. Williams, “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre and Excess” 602
Gunning, “An Aesthetic of Astonishment: Early Film and the (In)Credulous
Spectator” 736
Deleuze, “Preface to the English Edition,” 216
“The Origin of the Crisis: Italian Neo-Realism and the French New Wave,” 218
“Beyond the Movement-Image,” 227
TVC: “Part 4: Audiences, Viewers, Users” 451
Caron, “Translating Trek: Rewriting an American Icon in a Francophone Context” 150
Siegel, “Double Vision: Large Screen Video Display and Live Sports Spectacle” 185
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Lembo, "Components of a Viewing Culture" 455
Hill, "Big Brother: The Real Audience" 471
La Pastina, "Telanovela Reception in Rural Brazil: Gendered Readings and Sexual
Mores" 486
Bjarkman, "To Have and to Hold: A Video Collector's Relationship with and Etherial
Medium" 530
SCREEN [COURSE VIDEOS]
Mystery Science Theatre 3000 - “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die”
12. Nov 8
Marxist Film & Television Theories
Presentation: _________________________
ABSTRACTS DUE TODAY
FTAI: 55-83
FTC: Henderson, “Towards a Non-Bourgeois Camera Style” 54
Comolli & Narboni, “Cinema/Ideology/ Criticism” 686
Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” 665
TVC: Godfried, “Identity, Power, and Local Television: African Americans, Organized Labor,
and UHF-TV in Chicago” 106
Jones, "From Insiders to Outsiders: The Advent of New Political Television" 408
Jacka, " 'Democracy as Defeat': The Importance of Arguments for Public Service
Broadcasting" 605
Garnham, "A Response to Elizabeth Jacka's 'Democracy as Defeat' " 618
SCREEN [COURSE VIDEOS]
Street of Crocodiles
13. Nov 15
Psychoanalytic Film & Television Theory
Presentation: _________________________
FTAI: 153-169
FTC: Baudry, “The Apparatus: Metapsychological Approaches to the Impression of Reality in
Cinema” 171
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Carroll, “Jean-Louis Baudry and ‘The Apparatus’” 189
Metz, “Identification, Mirror” 694
“The Passion for Perceiving” 701
“Disavowel, Fetishism” 705
SCREEN [COURSE VIDEOS]
Spellbound (1945, Alfred Hitchcock, director)
14. Nov 22
Open Discussion – No Readings – Just catch-up on what you haven’t finished. Also, schedule
time with your instructor to discuss your final paper.
15. Nov 29
Feminist Theories of Film & Television
Presentation: _________________________
FTAI: 169-185
FTC: Haskell, “Female Stars of the 1940s”
Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” 711
Diawara, “Black Spectatorship: Problems of Identification and Resistance” 767
Doane, “The Voice in Cinema: The Articulation of Body and Space” 318
Modleski, “The Master’s Dollhouse: Rear Window” 723
Freeland, “Feminist Frameworks for Horror Films” 627
TCV: Cassidy & White, “Innovating Women’s Television in Local and National Networks: Ruth
Lyons and Arlene Francis” 60
Murray, “Ethnic, Masculinity and Early Television’s Vaudeo Star” 85
Arthurs, "Sex and the City and Consumer Culture: Remediating Postfeminist Drama" 315
Banet-Weiser, "Girls Rule! Gender, Feminism, and Nickelodeon" 332
Lu, "Soap Opera in China: The Transnational Politics of Visuality, Sexuality, and
Masculinity" 353
Cullity & Younger, "Sex Appeal and Cultural Liberty: A Feminist Inquiry into MTV
India" 507
Handout: Studlar, “Masochism and the Perverse Pleasures of the Cinema”
SCREEN [COURSE VIDEOS]
The Women (1939, George Cukor, dir.)
and
I Dream of Jeanie (pilot)
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16. Dec 6
The Postmodern theories; The cultural approach and a discussion of Christian film and television
theory
Presentation: ____________________________
FTAI: 262-330
FTC: Modleski, “The Terror of Pleasure: The Contemporary Horror Film and Postmodern
Theory,” 617
Stam & Spence, “Colonialism, Racism, and Representation: An Introduction,” 751
Allen, “The Impact of Digital Technologies on Film Aesthetics,” 824
Yoshimoto, “The Difficulty of Being Radical: The Discipline of Film Studies and the
Postcolonial World Order,” 865
TCV: Castiglia & Reed, “’Ah, Yes, I Remember It Well’: Memory and Queer Culture in Will
and Grace ” 249
Newcomb, “Part 5: Considering Television” 557
Hartley, "Television as Transmodern Teaching" 595
SCREEN [COURSE VIDEOS]
Episode of Will & Grace
17. Dec 13
EXAM #2
Dec 19 (Sunday)
FINAL PAPERS DUE BY 12 midnight - Eastern Time Zone
UNIVERSITY POLICIES AND RESOURCES
Please review the following links for important information on University policies:
Academic Calendar/Registrar Information
Bookstore
Honor/Plagiarism Policy
Regent Library
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Student Services (includes links to student handbook, disability services,
University calendar, University Writing Center, etc.)
Technical Support – University Helpdesk
Grading Policies (incompletes, extensions, IPs, etc.)
Extensions
Unless stated by the instructor in class, all assignments are due on the date stated in the
syllabus at the beginning of that class period. Late assignments will be graded down one
letter grade for each day they are late without an approved extension. Except in cases of
emergency, requests for extensions must be made to the instructor, at least twenty-four hours
before the assignment is due. Be prepared to defend your reason why you need the extension.
Remember, deadlines in the film business are taken very seriously. This class, in preparing
students to work professionally will take the same attitude.
Incomplete Grades
Students desiring an incomplete must submit their request to the course instructor and
academic dean prior to the end of the term. An incomplete grade will be given in a regular
course only for legitimate deficiencies due to illness, emergencies or extraordinary reasons
acceptable to the professor, including equipment breakdown and shortages, and not because of
neglect on the student’s part. Incompletes require the final approval of the school dean or his/her
authorized representative. A regular grade will be given by the instructor if all requirements for
the course are submitted by the end of the following academic term. The instructor will submit
the new grade to the Registrar’s Office no later than two weeks after the beginning of the
subsequent term. If all work is not submitted by the end of the term following the granting of the
incomplete, a grade of FX (NP on pass/fail courses) will be posted automatically unless a
Request for Extension of Incomplete has been approved and submitted to the Registrar’s Office.
The FX shall be counted as an F in the computation of the GPA. Any student desiring
reinstatement to the course after an FX or NP has been posted must register for the course in a
subsequent term and pay the full current tuition for the course. In progress grades can only be
given for independent studies, internships, practica, portfolios, theses and dissertations.
Student Course Evaluations
Also, at the end of the course, you will have to fill out a Course Evaluation. You will get an email
to tell you when the module is open. Please complete it before the module closes. That date will
be included in the email.
After you have read the syllabus, please go to the Discussion Board, follow the thread titled I
Have Read and Understand the Syllabus, and tell me, yes, you’ve read and understand the
syllabus.
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Last Updated: 10/31/2011
At times, due to unforeseen circumstances, course content may be subject to change. Please
check with your professor to insure you have the most recently updated Syllabus for this course.
Regent University 1000 Regent University Drive, Virginia Beach, VA, 23464
Phone (888) 718-1222 © 2010 Regent University, All Rights Reserved.