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An historical and critical study of genre in Hollywood film. Students will analyse the evolution and transformation of the conventions of key genres, such as the Science Fiction film, the Musical, Film Noir and Horror.
This course will provide an in-depth study of film genre from within an historical and critical context. We will look closely at four key film genres and trace their historical trajectory. In the first term, the class will focus on the definition of genre, as it has been conceptualized by both American and French film critics. Students will consider the established generic conventions of the American Film Musical and the Horror Film by analyzing the films screened in class. In the second term, the class will study Film Noir, considering the intersection of genre and auteur criticism, as defined by the Cahiers du Cinéma film critics. The course ends with the Melodrama, moving from its origins in the Depression era to its contemporary reincarnation.
By the end of this course, students will have developed:Specific knowledge of a range of national cinemas, movements, genres and formsKnowledge of the major theoretical debates and discourses in Cinema StudiesAn ability to confidently use and understand a range of conceptual and theoretical terms of the disciplineA growing ability to test and question ideas and interpretations offered in classAn ability to produce a detailed, coherent and persuasive argument in the form of an academic essayIncreasing confidence in interpretation, analysis and assessment of a range of films
This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:
Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award
Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.
Globally aware
Students will comprehend the influence of global conditions on their discipline and will be competent in engaging with global and multi-cultural contexts.
30 points of CINE at 100 level, orany 45 points at 100 level, orequivalent preparation with the approval of the Programme Coordinator. RP: CINE101 and CINE102
CINE101 and CINE102
Mary Wiles
Recommended Reading: Cook, Pam; The cinema book; 3rd ed; BFI, 2007.Course readings will still be accessible through LEARN.(Image: Elsa Lanchester in 'Bride of Frankenstein', Universal Pictures, 1935.)
Film list for 2018: Week One: The Backstage MusicalThe Band Wagon (Minnelli, 1953)Week Two: The Hip-Hop Musical Wild Style (Ahearn, 1983)Week Three: Pastiche and the Postmodern MusicalLa La Land (Chazelle, 2016) Week Four: Horror GenreThe Bride of Frankenstein (Whale, 1935) Week Five: The Supernatural and SpooksNight of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968) Week Six: Horror and the Other Get Out (Peele, 2017) Week Seven: Film Noir Scarlet Street (Lang, 1945)Week Eight: Genre Mash-Up and the Neo-Noir Seconds (Frankenheimer, 1966) Week Nine: Neo-Noir: The Femme Fatale Chinatown (Polanski 1974) Week Ten: The Maternal MelodramaStella Dallas (King Vidor, 1937) Week Eleven: 1950s Melodrama: Class and RaceImitation of Life (Sirk, 1959) Week Twelve: Rethinking Gender Roles: Contemporary MelodramaCarol (Haynes, 2015)
Domestic fee $746.00
International fee $3,038.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Humanities .