Active Outline

General Information

Course ID (CB01A and CB01B)
F/TVD001.
Course Title (CB02)
Introduction to Cinematic Arts
Course Credit Status
Credit - Degree Applicable
Effective Term
Fall 2023
Course Description
This is an introduction to the close analysis of film and television texts. The course will examine broad questions of form and content, aesthetics and meaning, and history and culture. Covering a wide variety of media, filmmakers, and film movements, the course will explore the diverse possibilities presented by the cinematic art form. Topics include modes of production, narrative and non-narrative forms, visual design, editing, sound, genre, ideology, and critical analysis.
Faculty Requirements
Course Family
Not Applicable

Course Justification

This course is transferable to CSU and UC and belongs on the A.S.-T. in Film, Television, and Electronic Media degree program. This course meets a general education requirement for ý, CSU GE, and IGETC and provides students with essential aesthetic foundations for media studies and production.

Foothill Equivalency

Does the course have a Foothill equivalent?
No
Foothill Course ID

Course Philosophy

Formerly Statement

Course Development Options

Basic Skill Status (CB08)
Course is not a basic skills course.
Grade Options
  • Letter Grade
  • Pass/No Pass
Repeat Limit
0

Transferability & Gen. Ed. Options

Transferability
Transferable to both UC and CSU
ý GEArea(s)StatusDetails
2GC1ý GE Area C1 - ArtsApproved
CSU GEArea(s)StatusDetails
CGC1CSU GE Area C1 - ArtsApproved
CGC2CSU GE Area C2 - HumanitiesApproved
IGETCArea(s)StatusDetails
IG3AIGETC Area 3A - ArtsApproved

Units and Hours

Summary

Minimum Credit Units
4.0
Maximum Credit Units
4.0

Weekly Student Hours

TypeIn ClassOut of Class
Lecture Hours4.08.0
Laboratory Hours0.00.0

Course Student Hours

Course Duration (Weeks)
12.0
Hours per unit divisor
36.0
Course In-Class (Contact) Hours
Lecture
48.0
Laboratory
0.0
Total
48.0
Course Out-of-Class Hours
Lecture
96.0
Laboratory
0.0
NA
0.0
Total
96.0

Prerequisite(s)

Corequisite(s)

Advisory(ies)

EWRT D001A or EWRT D01AH or ESL D005.

Limitation(s) on Enrollment

(Not open to students with credit in the Honors Program related course.)

Entrance Skill(s)

General Course Statement(s)

(See general education pages for the requirements this course meets.)

Methods of Instruction

Lecture and visual aids

Film screenings and facilitated group discussions

In-class essays

Quiz and examination review performed in class

Homework and extended projects

Discussion of assigned reading

In-class exploration of Internet sites

Guest speakers

Collaborative learning and small group exercises

Assignments

  1. Assigned reading
    1. Required textbook
    2. Periodicals, journals, and scholarly articles on Internet sites
    3. Class handouts
  2. Viewing of film, television and electronic media texts
  3. Writing
    1. Written critical analysis of an outside screening synthesizing lecture and textbook readings and demonstrating a critical approach to cinematic arts and an understanding of the technical, aesthetic, and cultural aspects. May also include independent research using primary and secondary materials and proper documentation.
    2. In-class written critical analyses of media screened during class
    3. Midterm and final essay exams requiring students to demonstrate some achievement of course objectives

Methods of Evaluation

  1. Midterm and two-hour final examination using a combination of objective, short answer and essay questions to evaluate the student's grasp of the film-specific terminology, theories, core concepts, and methods of analysis that comprise the course content. The essay component will require critical thinking and analysis.
  2. Instructor evaluation of the quality of student participation in classroom discussions and in-class collaborative work, including analyses of media screened in class.
  3. Demonstration of the student's visual literacy and ability to analyze critically, interpret, and write about film, television, and electronic media using film-specific language and the application of the analytical tools learned in class.

Essential Student Materials/Essential College Facilities

Essential Student Materials: 
  • None.
Essential College Facilities:
  • Lecture room with 16mm film projection equipment in the control booth, DVD/Blu-ray deck, 1/2-inch VHS tape deck, document camera, computer with Internet access, and video projection system

Examples of Primary Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisherDate/EditionISBN
*Monahan, Dave. "Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film." 6th ed. W. W. Norton and Co., Inc., 2018.
Bordwell, David, et al. "Film Art: An Introduction." 12th ed. McGraw-Hill, 2019.
Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia White. "The Film Experience: An Introduction." 5th ed. Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 2018.
Giannetti, Louis. "Understanding Movies." 14th ed. Pearson, 2017.
Pramaggiore, Maria, and Tom Wallis. "Film: A Critical Introduction." 4th ed. Pearson, 2020.

Examples of Supporting Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisher
Bordwell, David. "Poetics of Cinema." Routledge, 2007.
Bordwell, David. "Reinventing Hollywood: How 1940s Filmmakers Changed Movie Storytelling." U of Chicago Pr, 2017.
Bordwell, David, and Kristin Thompson. "Minding Movies: Observations on the Art, Craft, and Business of Filmmaking." U of Chicago Pr, 2011.
Corrigan, Timothy. "A Short Guide to Writing about Film." 9th ed. Pearson, 2014.
Diawara, Manthia. "African Cinema: New Forms of Aesthetics and Politics." Prestel, 2010.
Kolker, Robert. "Film, Form, and Culture." 4th ed. Routledge, 2015.
Lacey, Nick. "Image and Representation: Key Concepts in Media Studies." 2nd ed. Palgrave, 2009
Lowenstein, Adam. "Dreaming of Cinema: Spectatorship, Surrealism, and the Age of Digital Media." Columbia UP, 2014.
Modleski, Tania. "The Women Who Knew Too Much: Hitchcock and Feminist Theory." 3rd ed. Routledge, 2015.
Monaco, James. "How To Read a Film: Movies, Media and Beyond." 4th ed. Harbor Electronic Publishing, 2013.
Nannicelli, Ted, ed. "Cognitive Media Theory." Routledge, 2015.
Noriega, Chon, et al., eds. "The Chicano Studies Reader: An Anthology of Aztlan, 1970-2015." 3rd ed. UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Press, 2016.
Prince, Stephen R. "Movies and Meaning: An Introduction to Film." 6th ed. Pearson, 2012.
Rutsky, R. L., and Jeffrey Geiger, eds. "Film Analysis: A Norton Reader." 2nd ed. W. W. Norton
Ryan, Michael, and Melissa Lenos. "An Introduction to Film Analysis: Technique and Meaning in Narrative Films." 2nd ed. Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.
Stam, Robert. "Film Theory: An Introduction." Blackwell Publishers, 2000.
White, Patricia. "Women's Cinema, World Cinema: Projecting Contemporary Feminisms." Duke UP, 2015.
Xing, Jun, and Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, eds. "Reversing the Lens: Ethnicity, Race, Gender and Sexuality Through Film." UP of Colorado, 2003.
Zettl, Herbert. "Sight, Sound, Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics." 8th ed. Wadsworth Publishing, 2016.

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Course Objectives

  • Analyze critically film and television as a technology, business, cultural production/cultural artifact, entertainment medium and art form.
  • Identify and appraise the constituent techniques of the cinematic arts, including producing, screenwriting, directing, acting, cinematography, visual and special effects, editing and sound design.
  • Analyze the formal properties of the cinematic arts, including narrative and narrative systems, film language, and style as formal system.
  • Analyze and interpret works of the cinematic arts through the application of analytical tools, critical and theoretical approaches, and film-specific language.

CSLOs

  • Demonstrate the ability to critically analyze, interpret, and write about film and electronic media using film-specific language.

  • Demonstrate visual literacy through the application of the analytical tools of categories, theories, and ideologies to understand the complex role and function of the cinematic arts in society, including representations of class, race/ethnicity, gender, ability, and sexuality.

  • Demonstrate the ability to critically analyze film and television as a technology, business, cultural production/cultural artifact, entertainment medium and art form.

  • Demonstrate recognition, description and analysis of formal aesthetics elements of the cinematic arts (ie: narrative, mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, sound).

Outline

  1. Analyze critically film and television as a technology, business, cultural production/cultural artifact, entertainment medium and art form.
    1. Creativity, technology, business and entertainment issues
      1. Film, video and digital technologies
      2. The Hollywood studio system and studio modes of production in other national cinemas
      3. Independent financing, production, and distribution
    2. Cognitive/contextual issues, such as the relationships between cinematic arts and society
      1. Cinematic arts as an aspect of culture: institutions that transmit forms and values
      2. Psychological issues: adult situations, drug use, language and violence in media and their effects
      3. Economic issues: entertainment as mass commodity, funding and economic control of content, commercial versus non-commercial cinematic arts
      4. Ideological issues: cinematic arts as reflection of cultural values in the depiction of class, race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality and ability
      5. Mythic issues: shared narratives or stories within and across cultures throughout the world
      6. Issues of mass media and popular culture in modern industrial and digital eras, including regulation, censorship, and ratings; majority versus niche audiences; media access and net neutrality
    3. Affective/aesthetic issues, including film form; methods, techniques, and phases of production; and evaluating a highly collaborative process and art form.
      1. Film form and types of cinematic arts
        1. Narrative fiction
        2. Documentary and nonfiction work
        3. Experimental forms
        4. Animation arts
      2. Production phases: the making of the cinematic arts project
        1. Pre-production: development, designing, planning, and logistics
        2. Production: the recording of principal images and sounds, the performance of the script
        3. Post-production: editing, mixing, augmenting images and sounds, and special effects
      3. Distribution in domestic and international markets: conveying and promoting the project to the audience
      4. Exhibition: the place and manner in which the audience experiences the project
      5. Marketing and coverage of the cinematic arts
        1. Advertising campaigns including budgets, publicity strategies, posters and ancillary markets
        2. Press reviews, journal commentary, television, radio and Internet coverage
      6. Film, television and electronic media as a highly collaborative process and art form
  2. Identify and appraise the constituent techniques of the cinematic arts, including producing, screenwriting, directing, acting, cinematography, visual and special effects, editing and sound design.
    1. Evaluate the individual roles of key contributors such as the producer, screenwriter, director, production designer, cinematographer, actor, editor, sound designer and special effects team
    2. Producing: financing, developing and acquiring the package (script, director, actors), supervising the production process (schedule, budget) and negotiating distribution deals
    3. Screenwriting: crafting characters, setting, point of view, dialogue, story and plot, structure, suspense and/or surprise
    4. Directing: the interpretation of the script to other creative and performing collaborators, the visualization of the materials, the blocking of scenes into actions and shots
    5. Acting: the use of imagination, vocal technique, facial expressions, body language, and an overall knowledge of the filmmaking process to realize, under the director's guidelines, the character created by the screenwriter
    6. Cinematography: the manipulation of light and space and their record on film, video, or digital technology
    7. Visual and special effects: any technique or device that creates an illusion of reality in a situation where conventional cinematography cannot achieve the same result convincingly, economically or safely
    8. Editing: the selection and arrangement of images and sounds into a unified experience
    9. Sound design: the creation, recording, editing and mixing of aural elements
  3. Analyze the formal properties of the cinematic arts, including narrative and narrative systems, film language, and style as formal system.
    1. Narrative and narrative systems
      1. Narrative elements including theme, point of view, characterization, setting, dialogue, dramatic structure, and symbolism
      2. The Classic Narrative System
      3. Alternate Narrative Systems, including countercinema
    2. Film language
      1. Mise-en-scene: the director's total visualization of the shot, including production design, setting, decor and properties; lighting; costume, make-up and hairstyle; composition, framing and blocking for the camera
      2. Cinematography: film stock, video or digital properties; lighting; lenses and filters; composition and framing, camera proxemics, point of view, depth, camera angle, scale, camera movement, camera speed, visual and special effects
      3. Editing: the graphic, rhythmic, spatial, and temporal relationships between shots; conventions of continuity editing; and montage editing
      4. Sound: design of dialogue, music, and effects; diegetic and nondiegetic sources
    3. Style as formal system
      1. Soviet montage and formalist styles
      2. Deep-focus and realist styles
      3. Expressionism
      4. Experimental styles
      5. Modernist and postmodernist styles
  4. Analyze and interpret works of the cinematic arts through the application of analytical tools, critical and theoretical approaches, and film-specific language.
    1. Survey of critical and theoretical approaches to film, television and media analysis
      1. Film historiography
        1. Aesthetic, technological, economic and social history approaches
        2. Introduction to major historical movements such as the first movies, the silent era, German Expressionism, the Soviet Montage Movement, among others
      2. Neoformalism and close textual analysis
      3. Genre study
        1. Genre conventions such as story formulas, theme, character types, setting, presentation and stars
        2. Major American genres such as Film Noir, science fiction, horror, the Western and musical
        3. Evolution and transformation of genre
      4. Authorship/auteur theory
      5. Psychological and ideological criticism
        1. Freudian, Jungian and mythic approaches
        2. Marxist, feminist, queer and cultural studies approaches
    2. Viewer expectations and the impact of gender, class, race/ethnicity, ability, sexuality, and cultural issues on reception/spectator theory
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