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An introduction to the fundamental principles of film form and style. Each class focuses upon a specific filmmaking technique in order to analyse its cinematic function and effect.
This course will provide an introduction to the fundamental principles of film, focusing on the significance of specific filmmaking techniques (shot construction, cinematography, editing, sound, lighting, colour and acting) which contribute to our overall experience of film art. Class discussions will be devoted to broad questions of film form, production, distribution, ideology, gender, and authorship. Students will learn to apply concepts from the assigned readings to specific films drawn from a spectrum of different national cinemas (New Zealand, Japan, Britain, Germany and the US) and historical periods that range from early sound cinema to the present. Through careful analysis of individual films, students will acquire mastery of the critical and technical language of the discipline. Beyond the acquisition of essential and basic critical tools, students will also be introduced to political, modernist, and other alternatives to the commercial conventions of Classical Hollywood Cinema. Classroom explanations and tutorial sessions during the semester will guide students through the screening, reading, and writing assessments. Topics will include: • Classical Hollywood continuity style (alternatives to continuity style)• the critical and technological language of Film Studies• the cinematographic apparatus and ideological effects, including such concepts as ‘the gaze’ and male voyeurism• national film industries and film production• sound design and sound editing• cinematography (framing, lighting, camerawork)• the notion of authorship• the remake and ‘the original’• the notion of ‘art cinema’• gender roles; feminist discourse; the body
Mary Wiles
Alan Wright
Bordwell, David. , Thompson, Kristin; Film art : an introduction ; 9th ed; McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Corrigan, Timothy; A Short Guide to Writing About Film ; 7th edition;
Hayward, Susan; Cinema studies : the key concepts ; 3rd ed; Routledge, 2006.
Term OneWeek One: IntroductionDo the Right Thing (Lee, 1989) Week Two: Classical Hollywood Cinema Casablanca (Curtiz, 1942) Week Three: The ShotVigil (Ward, 1984) Week Four: Mise-en-ScèneA Clockwork Orange (Kubrick, 1971) Week Five: Acting and Lighting Rebel Without a Cause (Ray, 1955) Week Six: Colour and SpaceHero (Yimou, 2002) Term TwoWeek Seven: Editing Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954) Week Eight: Editing: Alternatives to Continuity Editing Rashomon (Kurosawa, 1950) Week Nine: Early Sound Style M (Lang, 1931) Week Ten: Sound: Walter Murch Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979) Week Eleven: Style as a Formal SystemNight of the Hunter (Laughton, 1955) Week Twelve: Contemporary Genre: The Crime ThrillerA History of Violence (Cronenberg, 2005)
Domestic fee $672.00
International fee $2,835.00
* 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 .