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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
Alan Wright
Christian Long
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.
ScheduleWeek One: IntroductionDo the Right Thing (Lee, 1989)Week Two: Classical Hollywood CinemaCasablanca (Curtiz, 1942)Week Three: The ShotVigil (Ward, 1984) Week Four: Mise-en-ScèneA Clockwork Orange (Kubrick, 1971)Week Five: Acting and the StarSome Like it Hot (Wilder, 1959)Week Six: Colour and SpaceHero (Yimou, 2002)Week Seven: Editing IRear Window (Hitchcock, 1954)Term 2Week Eight: Editing IIElephant (van Sant, 2003)Week Nine: Sound IM (Lang, 1931)Week Ten: Sound IIApocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979)Week Eleven: Style and LightingNight of the Hunter (Laughton, 1955)Week Twelve: Contemporary Genre: The Biopic The Social Network (Fincher, 2010)
Domestic fee $595.00
International fee $2,588.00
* 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 .