Instructor: Jeremy Butler
Office: 430C Phifer Hall, 348-6350,
jbutler@ua.edu
GTA: Megan McDonald,
mmcdonal@tcf.ua.edu
Office hours: TT 2-3:00, MW 3-4:00
WWW: http://www.tcf.ua.edu
Grades Online: Current Grades
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.
Texts:
In a sense, there are three "texts" for this course:
1. The course readings:
Douglas Gomery, Movie History: A Survey (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1991).
2. The course lectures
3. The course films
Gomery 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.
Assignments:
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.
Grading Summary:
Readings Tests (3 @ 15) 45
Mid-Term Exam 25
Final Exam 30
100 TOTAL
Grading scale:
A 93-100 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 C+ 77-79 F 59 and below
Posting of Grades:
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 here on the TCF Department's World Wide Web site: Current Grades
Absence Policy:
The tests/exams' questions assume the student has attended all lectures and film screenings.
Academic Misconduct Policy:
All acts of dishonesty in any work constitute academic misconduct. The Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Policy will be followed in the event of academic misconduct.
Disabilities Accommodation Policy:
Every effort will be made to accommodate students with disabilities. Please notify Jeremy Butler or Megan McDonald at the start of the semester if you require such accommodations.
Film Screenings:
There will be no other opportunity to see the films other than the in-class screenings. Most are not available on videocassette.
(subject to revisions announced in class):
Date Lecture/Film Readings
1/13 Introduction to the Course/Modes of Film
1/15 LUMIÉRE SHORTS
A TRIP TO THE MOON (Méliès, 1902)
SO THIS IS PARIS (Lubitsch, 1926) Chs. 1, 2
1/20 No Class: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
1/22 German Silent Film: Expressionism & Kammerspielfilm
THE LAST LAUGH (Murnau, 1924) Ch. 4
1/27 Silent Film Comedy: Buster Keaton
1/29 SHERLOCK, JR (Keaton, 1924) Ch. 3
*Readings Test 1: Chs. 1, 2, 3, 4*
2/3 Russian Formalism: Dziga Vertov
2/5 MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA (Vertov, 1929) Ch. 5
2/10 Classical Hollywood Cinema: Frank Borzage
2/12 A MAN'S CASTLE (Borzage, 1933) Ch. 6
2/17 Bazinian Realism: Jean Renoir
2/19 RULES OF THE GAME (Renoir, 1939) Ch. 8
2/24 **MID-TERM EXAM**
2/26 Documentary Form
NANOOK OF THE NORTH (Flaherty, 1922)
HIGH SCHOOL II (Wiseman, 1994)
3/3 Auteur Theory: Alfred Hitchcock
3/5 FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (Hitchcock, 1940)
3/10 Italian Neorealism: Roberto Rossellini
3/12 OPEN CITY (Rossellini, 1945) Ch. 9
3/17 Genre Study I: Screwball Comedy
3/19 MY MAN GODFREY (LaCava, 1936)
*Readings Test 2: Chs. 5, 6, 8, 9*
3/24 French New Wave: Jean-Luc Godard
3/26 THE MARRIED WOMAN (Godard, 1962) Ch. 12
3/29-3/30 SPRING BREAK
4/7 Feminism and Film
4/9 Sadie Benning Videotapes
THE INCREDIBLY TRUE ADVENTURE OF
TWO GIRLS IN LOVE (Maria Maggenti, 1995)
4/14 New German Cinema: Werner Herzog
4/16 STROSZEK (Herzog, 1977) Ch. 13
4/21 Genre Study II: Film Noir
4/23 THE BIG HEAT (Lang, 1953)
4/28 The Breakdown of Hollywood Classicism
Course Summary
4/30 TBA (recent release on videotape) Chs. 10, 11, 14
5/5 **Monday, 2-4:30 p.m.**
**Readings Test 3: Chs. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14**
**FINAL EXAM**