FA - Film Appreciation / Studies

FA257 Films and Society (Course offered online) (Cultural Literacy course)

Credits 4Fall/Winter/Spring

Registration Requirement: RD090 and WR090, or IECC201R and IECC201W; each with a grade of "C" or better; or placement above stated course levels. Recommended requisite: FA258.

Using works from the silent era through the present, including fiction, documentary and propaganda films, this course explores how filmmakers have observed and commented upon social issues past, present and future and how films reflect the times in which they were made and remain relevant as times change.

This course fulfills: Cultural Literacy; Arts & Letters; Human Relations

View Course Outcomes:

  1. Demonstrate, through in-class discussion and writing assignments, critical thinking about the social relevance of filmsand their ideological messages
  2. Explain a film's ability to both reflect and shape a culture's ideology
  3. Explain historical and contemporary dynamics and business elements of the film industry, especially the Hollywoodstudio system
  4. Explain the need for insightful cultural criticism of film as something more than pure entertainment
  5. Explain the ways in which films have shaped a society's perceptions of its past, present and future, based onextensive viewings and criticism of movies dealing with a number of diverse socio-political issues

FA258 Understanding the Film (Course offered online) (Cultural Literacy course)

Credits 4Summer/Fall/Winter/Spring

Registration Requirement: RD090 and WR090, or IECC201R and IECC201W; each with a grade of "C" or better; or placement above stated course levels. Recommended requisite: WR115 or placement into WR121.

This course examines the ways in which filmmakers combine elements such as cinematography, editing, screenwriting, acting and musical scoring in their craft. It does not involve any film production. Students watch and analyze a variety of movies from film history with the intent of developing their comprehension of cinema technique.

This course fulfills: Cultural Literacy; Arts & Letters; Human Relations

View Course Outcomes:

  1. Demonstrate ability to communicate ideas about film effectively through the spoken and written word
  2. Demonstrate cineliteracy skills through detailed analyses of films and readings
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of the ideological forces at work in films based on their cultural and historical contexts
  4. Describe film as a product of an industry rather than simply as a form of entertainment
  5. Use the language systems of film, such as photography, acting, cinematography, sound and editing to discuss and write essays on specific films.

FA266 Film Directors (Cultural Literacy course)

Credits 4Fall/Winter/Spring

Registration Requirement: RD090 and WR090, or IECC201R and IECC201W; each with a grade of "C" or better; or placement above stated course levels. Recommended requisite: FA258 and WR115 or placement into WR121.

A course in which a number of films by selected directors are chosen to explore the way these important and influential artists create works that maintain an individual stamp while attempting to balance the demands of popular entertainment and personal statement. Attention is given to the stylistic and thematic consistencies in a director's body of work, the qualities that establish the filmmaker's identity and secure a place in the medium's history.

This course fulfills: Cultural Literacy; Arts & Letters; Human Relations

View Course Outcomes:

  1. Demonstrate general cine-literacy and analytical skills, including a basic understanding of lighting, editing, sound,cinematography and mise-en-scène within a specific work
  2. Demonstrate the benefits and limitations of seeing films as solely, or chiefly, the production of the director inrelationship to appreciating and critiquing films
  3. Describe various production methods, including the Hollywood studio system, and the director's role in thesemethods
  4. Explain how directorial decisions affect a particular film and audience
  5. Situate a particular film within the director's body of work and within cinema history generally, describing thematic orstylistic consistencies

FA270 Film Genres (Course offered online)

Credits 4Fall/Spring

Registration Requirement: RD090 and WR090, or IECC201R and IECC201W, each with a grade of "C" or better; or placement above stated levels. Recommended WR121/WR121Z.

Films are analyzed in terms of their generic conventions, narrative, cinematography, target audience, and how they may reinforce and/or break the traditions of their respective genre. Further examination will include how cultural, social, historical, and political contexts shaped and continue to shape the development of film genres. Students will be introduced to film criticism and theory relevant to the genre. Genres that may be covered are: horror, sci-fi/fantasy, western, cult, or a collection of genres.

This course fulfills: Arts & Letters; Human Relations

View Course Outcomes:

  1. Describe how film genres (e.g. horror, sci-fi/fantasy, western) emerged within the history of film
  2. Identify the common generic conventions (both technical and socio-cultural) and explain their role in sustaining a film genre
  3. Understand and employ formal cinematic vocabulary and genre-specific terms when analyzing and discussing film
  4. Synthesize representations of race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, ability, and class within genre cinema
  5. Employ various film theories when analyzing film and genre conventions

Course fees are subject to change. Additional section fees (web, hybrid, etc.) may apply.

Online option regularly offered

Cultural Literacy course