Analyzing Media Texts (220-0-20)

Instructors

Scott Curtis

Meeting Info

Helmerich Auditorium: Mon, Wed 1:00PM - 2:50PM

Overview of class

This course is an introduction to the study and structure of film and other moving-image media. We will define and examine the expressive and aesthetic power of the basic elements of the moving image. Specifically, the course will investigate—across a variety of different media, modes and genres, and historical periods—the fundamentals of production design; cinematography, especially the shot and its com-position; editing; sound; and narrative structure. The first half of the course examines the separate elements of the moving image; the second half explores how those elements can be organized in various narrative and non-narrative structures.

The goals of the course are (1) to acquaint students with a vocabulary specific to film and other moving-image media; (2) to provide students with the critical tools required for analysis of the moving image; and (3) to develop student skills in writing and argument for humanistic inquiry.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be able to: (1) identify the elements of the moving image (e.g., kinds of camera movement) and of the soundtrack according to a standard glossary of technical terms; (2) describe patterns of similarity, repetition, difference, and variation in the image and sound tracks; (3) propose connections between those patterns and narrative structure, character psychology, or larger themes and ideas; and (4) explain those connections in a written argument about how patterns in the most salient visual and/or aural elements of a film or program help us to understand its structure, characters, or themes.

Class Materials (Required)

Film Art: An Introduction, Thirteenth Edition, by David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson, and Jeff Smith (ISBN13: 9781265762452): $75 (McGraw Hill GO 180 Days Access)

Class Notes

Film screening attendance is mandatory. Students are also required to attend discussion sections, scheduled on Friday.

Class Attributes

SoC Humanities and Fine Arts Distro

Associated Classes

DIS - 555 Clark 230: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - 555 Clark 230: Fri 2:00PM - 2:50PM

DIS - University Library 5746: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - University Library 5746: Fri 2:00PM - 2:50PM

DIS - University Library 5322: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - University Library 5322: Fri 2:00PM - 2:50PM

DIS - University Library 3622: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - University Library 3622: Fri 2:00PM - 2:50PM