Intro to Flim
English 225 – "Introduction to Film" - 3 credits
The study of film drama, concentrating on appreciation and evaluation of motion pictures.
Class Description
This is a general film appreciation class. It will introduce you to the basics of film production, narrative, style, editing, performance, sound, theory, and analysis, among other things. It will also expose you to a variety of films produced in the U. S. and other countries from the very beginnings of the medium in the 1890s, through the so-called "silent era" of the 1910s-20s and the "golden age" of Hollywood in the 1930s-50s, up to the present, including some films in foreign languages with English subtitles. Students interested only in recent Hollywood hits are in the wrong class (that's what video stores, premium cable TV services, and online streaming are for!) and should drop immediately to make room for serious film students. We will be viewing a wide range of films to see how they function as commercial/entertainment/artistic artifacts. This entails examining how we might place them within certain historical/cultural perspectives, and why certain ways of seeing films might be more or less important to us as viewers. By the end of the semester you will become adept at viewing films with an eye toward how they affect you as a person. True film enthusiasts will want to keep the textbook and online notes for future reference and as a guide for key films to search out for viewing on your own. DVDs and BluRay discs with audio commentaries and other bonus materials are especially helpful for independent study, and well-chosen titles may provide the equivalent of an official film school education. (You don't have to take a formal, accredited class to learn something!) Students who find the class interesting but too challenging to maintain a good grade may wish to consider auditing or taking the class pass/fail.
Essential Studies
This class will help students satisfy their distribution requirements in Humanities. Over the course of the term, you will have the opportunity to develop your skills in critical and analytical thinking. We will address this learning goal in a variety of ways, including identifying, synthesizing, and analyzing elements of a film's story, plot, and basic cinematic techniques. You will learn to come to reasoned conclusions on how not only the obvious story but also how filmmakers' stylistic choices affect the way you might interpret possible meanings and attitudes the creators intend for you to have about the material. You will learn to evaluate a cinematic story from a variety of approaches that may suggest alternative interpretations, some of which involve recognizing how certain aspects of a film may have broader implications affected by elements outside of the work itself. These can include historical, cultural, and socio-political influences, biographical and ideological influences, aesthetic and artistic influences, scientific and technological influences, and financial and commercial influences, among others.