Spring 2001 (3 credit hours)

Course Objectives:

TCF 112 aims to introduce the student to the history of film and to explore some of the major conceptual models (e.g., formalism, genre theory, auteurism, and so on) that have been applied to that history.

In a sense, there are three "texts" for this course:

1. The course readings:
   Louis Giannetti, Scott Eyman, Flashback: A Brief History of Film, 4th edition (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001). If you can't find it locally, then buy it online in the textbook section of www.barnesandnoble.com .
   
2. The course lectures
3. The course films

Giannetti & Eyman will supply the student with the basic facts of film history. The lectures augment those facts with specific interpretations of them. The films themselves illustrate both the readings and the lectures.

1. There will be three objective (multiple choice, true/false) readings tests over the course of the semester. These closed-book tests will consist of questions drawn from the readings and the films, but not the lectures. They will be worth 15 points each.
   
   
2. Additionally, mid-term (25 points) and final (30 points) exams will be given. These exams will consist of open-note, open-book essay questions drawn from the lectures and referring to the films. Photocopied notes may not be used during these exams; any other notes or books are permissible.
   
   Dates of the tests/exams are indicated below. Make-up test/exams will be given at the discretion of the instructor. No tests/exams will be given before their scheduled dates.

    A+  97-100    C+  77-79
    A   93-96     C   73-76
    A-  90-92     C-  70-72
    B+  87-89     D+  67-69
    B   83-86     D   63-66
    B-  80-82     D-  60-62
                  F   59 and below		

If you give us written permission to do so, your grades will be posted by the last four digits of your student ID number in the hallway outside room 216. They may also be found on the TCF Website:

http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/jbutler/t112/s01/grades.htm

Absence Policy:

The tests/exams' questions assume the student has attended all lectures and film screenings.

All acts of dishonesty in any work constitute academic misconduct. The Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Policy will be followed in the event of academic misconduct.

To request disability accommodations, please contact Disabilities Services (348-4285). After initial arrangements are made with Disabilities Services, contact Jeremy Butler.

There will be no other opportunity to see the films other than the in-class screenings. Most are not available for rental on videocassette/DVD. These films serve as our texts. Ringing cel phones, talking or other disturbances will not be tolerated during screenings.

The best source for film credits is the Internet Movie Database: us.imdb.com . Click on the film titles below to access their credits on the IMDb.

Subject to revisions announced in class.
= lecture notes
= illustrations

Date	Lecture/Film		Readings
1/10	Introduction to the Course
	Lumière & Edison Shorts (1890's)
	Impossible Voyage (Méliès, 1904)
1/15	No Class: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Why not read King's "I Have a Dream" or "Letter from the Birmingham Jail" today?
1/17	The Evolution of Narrative Film
	The Docks of New York (von Sternberg, 1928)		Chs. 1, 2
1/22	German Silent Film: Expressionism & Kammerspielfilm
1/24	The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Wiene, 1920)		Ch. 4
1/29	Silent Film Comedy: Buster Keaton
1/31	Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Keaton, 1928)		Ch. 3
2/5	Russian Formalism: Sergei Eisenstein
2/7	The Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein, 1925)		Review ch. 4 (pp. 84-92)
	*Readings Test 1: Chs. 1, 2, 3, 4*
2/12	Classical Hollywood Cinema
2/14	Tarzan and His Mate (Gibbons, 1934)		Ch. 5, 6
2/19	Bazinian Realism: Jean Renoir
2/21	The Crime of M. Lange (Renoir, 1936)		Ch. 7
2/26	**MID-TERM EXAM**
2/28	Documentary Form
	Nanook of the North (Flaherty, 1922) Congorilla (Johnson, 1932) Don't Look Back (Pennebaker, 1967) Taxicab Confessions (Gantz & Gantz, 1995)
3/5	Auteur Theory: Alfred Hitchcock
3/7	Notorious (Hitchcock, 1946)		Ch. 8
3/12	Italian Neorealism: Vittorio DeSica
3/14	The Bicycle Thief (DeSica, 1948)		Ch. 9
3/19	Feminism and Film
3/21	The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (Maggenti, 1995)
	*Readings Test 2: Chs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9*
3/24-4/1	SPRING BREAK
4/2	French New Wave: Jean-Luc Godard
4/4	Vivre Sa Vie (Godard, 1962)		Chs. 11, 13
4/9	Genre Study I: Screwball Comedy
4/11	My Man Godfrey (La Cava, 1936)		Review ch. 6 (pp. 149-52)
4/16	New German Cinema: Werner Herzog
4/18	Aguirre, Wrath of God (Herzog, 1972)		Ch. 15
4/23	Genre Study II: Film Noir
4/25	Double Indemnity (Wilder, 1944)
4/30	The Breakdown of Hollywood Classicism
	Course Summary
5/2	Friday (Gray, 1995)		Chs. 10, 12, 14 (optional: 16-18)
5/9, Wed., 2:00	**Readings Test 3: Chs. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15**
	**FINAL EXAM**