Visual Cultures (Film Studies) Course Descriptions

1000 Level Courses

FILM 1000Introduction to Film Studies3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Basic film theory, stylistics, and genre analysis in Western dominant and avant-garde cinema. Themes include social, political and gender critique, surrealism, semiotics, metafilm, neorealism, and postmodernism. Approved for LAS Humanities area requirement. GT-AH1.

2000 Level Courses

FILM 2000Narrative Film3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)A continuation of basic film study and analysis from FILM 1000. This course explores international cinema history and trends in cinema's aesthetic forms as well as the significant personalities and cultural impact of narrative genres. Approved for LAS Humanities area and Global Awareness requirements. Prer., FILM 1000, or consent of instructor.
FILM 2000Film and Fiction3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Examines the "Transformational" process by which a novel (or short story) is adapted to film. What is gained, lost, and/or altered in that process is then used as a means of coming to understand that novel or short story. Most typically what will not really "Transform" itself to film is used as the basis of critical analysis.

3000 Level Courses

FILM 3330Film, Video and the Avant-Garde3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)An examination of the relationship between avant-garde film and video, and the history of modern and contemporary art. Meets with AH 3330.
FILM 3350Surrealism's Influences in the 21st Century3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)The word Surrealism was coined by writer Guillaume Apollinaire in 1917. Surrealism was truth beyond realism. In the 21st century, how do we embrace Surrealism in cinema, art and literature? How do we discover its artistic significance in light of imagination and digital technologies? Prer., Students must complete FILM 1000 or have permission from the instructor.
FILM 3400Hollywood’s Germany: The German and Austrian Image in American Film3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)The course will examine products of American cinema from post-WWI through the ?Golden Age? studio era into the present that deal with Germany and Austria or with characters that represent these two nationalities. Study will focus on ways in which stereotypes and the formal structure of film create their own parallel history and cultural imprints. Meets with GER 3400 and FCS 3400.
FILM 3450German Film3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Screenings, lecture, discussion; knowledge of German not required. German film in a cultural context from beginnings to the present featuring such directors as Lang, Von Sternberg, Riefenstahl, Sagan, Thiele, Fassbinder, Schlondorff, Wenders, Adlon, and Tykwer. Meets with FCS 3450 and GER 3450.
FILM 3500The Hollywood Musical3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Historical and critical/analytical approach to the Hollywood musical film from its inception in early sound to the present. Influences, trends, styles, trans-genre and cross-genre forms as well as key performers and filmmakers are examined and culturally contextualized. Prer., FILM 1000 and FILM 2000 or department permission.
FILM 3510Comedy Film3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Analytical survey of the American comedy film genre from silent era to contemporary dominant and independent cinema. Social and cultural contextualization of sub-genres, trends, influences, styles, as well as examination of key performers and filmmakers. Prer., FILM 1000 and FILM 2000 or department permission.
FILM 3520Horror Film3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Analytical survey of the international horror film genre from silent era to contemporary dominant, independent and experimental cinema. Social and cultural contextualization of periods, trends, influences, styles, national variants, as well as an examination of key performers and filmmakers. Prer., FILM 1000 and FILM 2000 or department permission.
FILM 3530Gangster Film3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Analytical survey of the international gangster film genre from silent era to contemporary dominant and independent cinemas. Social, cultural and political contextualization of periods, trends, influences, national and countercinema styles, as well as an examination of key filmmakers. Prer., FILM 1000 and FILM 2000 or department permission.
FILM 3540The Western3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)The western is often described as the quintessential American genre if not the quintessential American art form. In this course we look at the Western as it grows from, produces and is embedded in film culture, but more broadly in the founding myths and conflicts of the United States. Prer., FILM 1000 and FILM 2000 or department permission.
FILM 3550Hollywood History3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)A chronological examination of Hollywood film from early beginning to the present. Specific focus is given to important film artists, genres and styles, and their influence on world cinema and American reception.
FILM 3690Topics in Hispanic Film3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)The cinematic manifestations of the richness and the variety of Hispanic culture as expressed through an artistic and humanistic vision. May be repeated once for credit if the topic is different. Approved for LAS Humanities area and Global Awareness requirements. Approved for Compass Curriculum requirement: Explore-Arts, Humanities, and Cultures. Meets with FCS 3690 and SPAN 3690.
FILM 3700Film Scoring and Music Composition3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)This course will provide students with an understanding of the tools, crafts, methods and history of the art of film music scoring and composition. Prer., FILM 1000 and FILM 2000. Meets with MUS 3700.
FILM 3750Production for Art Film3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)A practicum of film production in the live-action art and experimental short form, based in the theoretical and historical aspects of the Film Studies program. Course will include a survey of short film styles and modes, introduction to camera equipment, storyboarding, on-location photography, Mac OSX/Final Cut Pro editing, color, post-production details.
FILM 3760New Models in Documentary3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Understand the challenges that we face in documentary, the distinctions between fiction versus non-fiction and abstraction and/or representational documentation. How this art form is expansive in light of a technologically simulated world and how important it is to find the stories yet to be told. Prer., Students must complete FILM 1000 or have permission from the instructor.
FILM 3850Austrian and Central European Film3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Screening, lecture and discussion are included in this course. Knowledge of German is not required for non-German minors. This is a survey of Austrian cinema in a cultural context from the beginning to the present and its relationship with Hungarian and Czechoslovakian film. Directors such as Kolm-Fleck, Korda, Forst, Hartl, Marischka, Corti, Ruzowitzky, Albert and Haneke are featured. Meets with FCS 3850 and GER 3850.
FILM 3900Special Topics in Film Studies3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Selected topics in the theory, history and aesthetics of film. Approved for Compass Curriculum requirement: Explore: Society, Institutions, and Health. Prer., FILM 1000 or FILM 2000, or consent of instructor.
FILM 3950Women in Film3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Selected topics dealing with the various roles of women in international cinema history. Meets with WEST 3950.
FILM 3990European Film - European History3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)The study of European film in conjunction with major developments in 20th century European society, including war, genocide, and dictatorship. Focus on both historical commentary and film form. Meets with HIST 3990.

4000 Level Courses

FILM 4000Italian Film3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)An examination of Italian film from its beginnings to the contemporary era, with special emphasis on neorealism and post-neorealist styles. The course approaches ideological, discursive, gender, and social issues articulated in works by Blasetti, DeSica, Visconti, Fellini, Pasolini, Antonioni, Wertmuller, Scola, and other directors. Prer., FILM 1000, FILM 2000, or instructor consent. Meets with FCS 4000 and ITA.
FILM 4030Internship in Film Studies1 Credit (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Supervised opportunities for advanced film studies students to apply their knowledge and obtain experience in the film industry and at film festivals. Prer., FILM 1000 and FILM 2000 and advanced standing. For VAPA majors and Film minors, or by consent of instructor.
FILM 4110French Film3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)The evolution of French cinema from its origins to the present, viewed and analyzed as cultural product, but also in terms of its history as art, commerce, technique and the intersections thereof. Considers the work of directors such as Melies, Renoir, Godard, Varda, Jeunet and Colin. Taught in English. Meets with FR 4110.
FILM 4250Directors in Focus3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)A survey of the work of a single director or a group of related directors. Course content varies with topic and semester. Prer., FILM 1000 and FILM 2000, or instructor consent. Maybe be taken up to 3 times with different topics.
FILM 4251Hitchcock3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)An in-depth study of the cinema of Alfred Hitchcock from early sound onward. Emphasis will be on the critical ideology of the director and the specific psychological, sociopolitical, and gender messages that propel Hitchcock's art beyond the influential and often emulated style.
FILM 4252Kubrick3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)An in-depth study of the cinema of Stanley Kubrick from his early experiments and brief Hollywood period to his classics. Examination of the director's specific philosophical and literary influences will underpin reception of his critical messages regarding history, culture, gender, and society that shape his revolutionary visual imprint and inform postmodernism.
FILM 4253Almodovar3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Course focuses on the evolution of the films of Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar. The manner in which this innovative auteur has treated a variety of conceptual and formal issues will be examined, as will his vision of the cultural and social transformation of Spanish society from the early 1980s to the present. Meets with SPAN 4253 and FCS 4253.
FILM 4500Film Theory3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Explores various theoretical approaches to film including the Bakhtin and Frankfurt schools, auteur theory, structuralism, feminism, semiotics, textual analysis, postcolonial and digital theories. Prer., FILM 1000, FILM 2000 and permission the instructor.
FILM 4980Film Capstone: Film Studies Practice3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)This course engages students in the scholarship and practice of film studies, from academic scholarship to public critique and the application of theoretical concepts to creative efforts. At this state of study, self-reflectivity is paramount. In this culminating experience, students will be asked to integrate their previous study and experience into reflection upon and critique of practice in both scholarship and production. Approved for Compass Curriculum requirement: Capstone Experience. Prer., Junior or Senior standing.
FILM 9400Independent Study3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Independent work for undergraduates only. By special arrangement with the faculty. Prer., FILM 1000 and FILM 2000 and advanced standing. For VAPA majors and Film minors, or by consent of instructor.
FILM 9499Independent Research in Film Studies3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)Provides an opportunity to conduct research with Visual and Performing Arts faculty by one or more students on topics determined by a faculty member. Prer., Consent of instructor required.