Film and Media Culture

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Middlebury College Catalog 2009-2010

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Professors: Ted Perry (on leave in Spring), Leger Grindon; Associate Professors: Jason Mittell (chair), Christian Keathley; Assistant Professor: Hope Tucker; Visiting Assistant Professor: Edward Smith; Visiting Instructor: Nikolina Dobreva; Media Production Specialist: Ethan Murphy; Department Coordinator: Francisca Drexel

Department Description for Film and Media Culture
Film and media culture explores film, video, television, and other electronic media (such as the internet, videogames, and radio) as a facet of a liberal arts education, embracing a broad range of perspectives and disciplines. Courses consider film and media as aesthetic works, social phenomena, technological transformations, sites of cultural expression, and avenues of creativity, in both an American and international context. As an interdisciplinary field, students will focus on film studies as an academic tradition, integrating history, criticism, theory, and practice, while forging curricular connections with other disciplines including American studies, history of art, English & American literatures, sociology & anthropology, and numerous foreign languages, as well as additional interdepartmental collaborations across campus. The program melds critical analysis with creative practice throughout its curriculum, integrating media production and screenwriting with the analytical study of film and media, often within individual courses. For both majors and non-majors alike, courses in film and media culture seek to improve students' critical awareness and appreciation of the centrally important artistic and cultural media of the 20th and 21st centuries.
    The major is structured both to introduce students to the breadth of film and media studies and to explore specific facets in depth, often in conjunction with individualized creative and/or scholarly work. Majors are required to begin with a core curriculum surveying film and television. Electives cover a broad range of topics, including film & media genres, various national cinemas, media and screenplay creation, artistic movements, digital technologies, and individual filmmakers. Although not required, many students conclude their studies with independent projects that culminate in creative works (as videos, screenplays, or digital media projects) or critical essays.
    For up-to-date information on courses, application forms for independent projects, guidelines, faculty office hours, and other information, consult the film & media culture program's Web site or see below.
    Application Forms: Please go to the Film and Media Department website for course application forms.

    FILM AND MEDIA CULTURE COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Students must complete ten courses to satisfy the requirements for a major in Film and Media Culture. Before declaring a Film and Media Culture major, the student must have completed or be currently enrolled in one of the basic core courses. Those courses are as follows:
    Basic Core Course Requirements: FMMC 0101 Aesthetics of the Moving Image, FMMC 0102 Film History, FMMC 0104 TV and American Culture, one production course - either FMMC 0105 Sight and Sound or FMMC 0106 Writing for the Screen I. The basic core courses must be completed by the end of the junior year.
Required Advanced Courses:
One 0300 level course in theory - either FMMC 0354, FMMC 0355 or FMMC 0357.
FMMC 0431 Senior Seminar in Film and Media Culture.
    Electives: Four additional FMMC courses with no more than one of these being a production or screenwriting course. With the prior permission of a student's academic advisor, one winter term FMMC course may be counted as an elective. Students taking courses focused on film and media taught in a foreign language, either at Middlebury or abroad, may request major elective credit from the FMMC chair. Note that courses may not count toward both FMMC and another department's major or minor. Courses transferred from other institutions typically will normally count only as an elective toward the FMMC major, not to fulfill core requirements.
    Independent Project/Honors Thesis: In order to be eligible to do an independent project or an honors thesis project, the following courses would be required: for a video project - FMMC 0105, FMMC 0335, FMMC/ENAM 0106; for a screenwriting project - FMMC 0105, FMMC/ENAM 0106, FMMC/ENAM 0341; for a research essay-demonstrated knowledge in the topic of the essay, as determined in consultation with the project advisor, and coursework relevant to the topic as available. Students may only take one independent project, normally during senior year. The independent project does not count as an elective, but is in addition to the ten required courses.
    Minor: Three required courses - FMMC 0101 Aesthetics of the Moving Image, FMMC 0102 Film History, FMMC 0104 TV and American Culture. In addition, minors must take three additional courses that are listed or cross-listed as FMMC. At least one of the three electives must be at the 0300 or 0400-level. Only one of the three electives may be from the production/screenwriting area.
    Joint Major: The joint major with FMMC is a combination of two disciplines, culminating in a joint senior project; the plan for joint majors is negotiated between the student and the two departments in which the joint program of study is pursued at the time of declaring the joint major. An independent project (typically FMMC 0507 or as determined by both advisors) must combine aspects of both majors and in most cases will require approval, supervision, and evaluation from both departments or programs. The film and media culture part of the joint major requires a minimum of seven courses, including the film and media culture core requirements, as well as the courses required to be completed prior to an independent project. The guidelines, expectations, and forms for applying to do an independent project are detailed on the film & media culture website.
Honors: During the first term of their senior year, students may apply to undertake a senior project (FMMC 0707) for honors, with the project to be completed the last term of the senior year. To undertake such a project the student must have an A- average on courses in the major, have taken the courses necessary to do the FMMC 0707, and also present an acceptable proposal to the faculty in film and media culture. The honors project requires supervision and evaluation by three members of the faculty. Students are encouraged to seek one evaluator from outside the Film and Media Culture Department. Honors will be awarded by the faculty of film and media culture based on merit of the project and overall excellence in film and media culture coursework.

Screenings: Most FMMC courses have separate screening sections scheduled during the evening. These are required components of these courses. In case of conflicts between competing screenings or course meetings, faculty will sometimes grant waivers, allowing students to register for two simultaneous screenings, with the understanding that they will make up the viewing in the library on their own time. Contact faculty prior to Banner registration.

FMMC 0101 Aesthetics of the Moving Image (Fall, Spring)
How do films convey meaning, generate emotions, and work as an art form? What aspects of film are shared by television and videogames? This course is designed to improve your ability to watch, reflect on, and write about moving images. The course will be grounded in the analysis of cinema (feature films, documentaries, avant-garde, and animation) with special focus on film style and storytelling techniques. Study will extend to new audio-visual media as well, and will be considered from formal, cultural, and theoretical perspectives. 2 hrs. lect./3 hrs. screen/1 hour disc. ART (Fall: T. Perry, Spring: C. Keathley)

FMMC 0102 Film History (Fall)
This course will survey the development of the cinema from 1895 to present. Our study will emphasize film as an evolving art, while bearing in mind the influence of technology, economic institutions, and the political and social contexts in which the films were produced and received. Screenings will include celebrated works from Hollywood, international cinema, documentary, and the avant garde. (Formerly FMMC 0131 and FMMC 0231) 2 hrs. lect./3 hrs. screen/1 hr. discussion. ART (L. Grindon)

FMMC/AMST 0104 Television and American Culture (Fall)
This course explores American life in the last six decades through an analysis of our central medium: television. Spanning a history of television from its origins in radio to its future in digital convergence, we will consider television's role in both reflecting and constituting American society through a variety of approaches. Our topical exploration will consider the economics of the television industry, television's role within American democracy, the formal attributes of a variety of television genres, television as a site of gender and racial identity formation, television's role in everyday life, and the medium's technological and social impacts. (Formerly FMMC 0236) 2 hrs. lect./3 hrs. screen./1 hr. disc. SOC NOR (J. Mittell)

FMMC 0105 Sight and Sound I (Spring)
The purpose of the course is to gain a theoretical and practical understanding of how moving images and sounds (film, video, television) communicate. Participants study texts on the theory of moving images, examine examples of this process, and then, using digital cameras and non-linear editing equipment, produce and edit a number of short projects which require learning techniques for organizing images and sounds in ways that convey information and express feelings. (FMMC 0101 or approval of instructor). (Formerly FMMC 0135) 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. lab ART (H. Tucker)

FMMC/ENAM 0106 Writing for the Screen I (CW) (Fall)
This course will introduce the fundamental elements of dramatic narrative as they relate to visual storytelling. Special emphasis will be placed on the process of generating original story material and learning the craft of screenwriting-including (but not limited to) topics such as treatments, step-outlines, act structure, beat sheets, character biographies, back-story, formatting standards, and narrative strategies. Students will be required to write both short scripts and to author the first half of an original feature-length screenplay. The course will also feature close study of selected screenplays and films. (FMMC 0101 OR ENAM 0170 or approval of instructor) Formerly FMMC/ENGL 0240 and FMMC/ENAM 0240) 3 hrs. sem./3 hrs. screen. ART (E. Smith)

FMMC/AMST 0110 Masterworks in American Cinema (Not offered 2009-10)
If cinema is to be considered an art form, then there must be films that justify this claim. In this course we will study a select group of such films and make the argument for them as works of art. Ford, Wyler, Scorsese, Welles, Coppola, Chaplin, Keaton, Wilder, Hawks, and Hitchcock are among the directors whose films will be studied. Screenings, readings, and written reports. (Formerly FMMC /AMCV 0233 and FMMC/AMST 0233) 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. screen./1 hr. disc. ART NOR

FMMC/JAPN 0175 Anime: Japanese Animation (Spring)
See Department of Japanese for course description. ART AAL (C. Cavanaugh)

FMMC/AMST 0225 Gothic and Horror (Not offered 2009-10)
See Program in American Studies for course description. HIS NOR

FMMC 0232 Documentary: Art of the Nonfiction Film (Not offered 2009-10)
Documentary film combines nonfiction with an aesthetic aspiration. This course will explore the achievement in the documentary, raising issues about the influence of documentary upon political persuasion, historical memory, the status of film as evidence, and its utility as a means of investigation. Questions will be posed, such as: Can documentary achieve a distinctive understanding of a phenomenon? How does nonfiction address/guide the relationship between sound, image, and subject? The course will offer a historical perspective, as well as study contemporary works, with the aim of preparing students to both understand and produce documentary films. (FMMC 0101 or FMMC 0102 or approval of the instructor) 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. screen. ART

FMMC/AMST 0234 American Film Genres (Not offered 2009-10)
The course will study the form and development of Hollywood film genres such as the science fiction film, the gangster film, the musical, and the romantic comedy, in order to determine what we can learn from these texts about ourselves and our culture. The conventions, archetypes, and common plots of various genres will be outlined and their meaning analyzed. The historical transformation of genres will be highlighted. Screenings, readings, and written reports. (Formerly FMMC/AMCV 0134 and FMMC/AMST 0134) (FMMC 0101 or FMMC 0102) 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. screen./1 hr. disc. ART NOR

FMMC/JAPN 0237 Japanese Film (Spring)
See Department of Japanese for course description. ART AAL (C. Cavanaugh)

FMMC/AMST 0238 Film Noir (Spring)
A series of urban crime films and melodramas made in Hollywood between 1940-1960, but concentrated in the decade immediately after World War II, have been understood by critics to constitute the movement of film noir. This course will study prominent films from this group as well as contemporary films influenced by them, and the critical literature they have elicited in order to understand the cultural sources, the stylistic attributes, the social significance, and the long-term influence attributed to film noir. 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. screen. (FMMC 0101 or FMMC 0102) ART NOR (L. Grindon)

FMMC/ENAM 0239 The Cinema of Alfred Hitchcock (Not offered 2009-10)
See Department of English and American Literatures for course description. ART NOR

FMMC 0241 French Cinema (Not offered 2009-10)
This course proposes to study the major trends of French film history and the evolution of French filmmaking. Directors studied may include Renoir, Truffaut, Godard, Rohmer, and Besson. 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. screen.(FMMC 0101 or FMMC 0102) ART EUR

FMMC/AMST 0242 Film Comedy (Not offered 2009-10)
A survey of American film comedy from the silent era to contemporary productions. The course will focus on various approaches such as clown comedy, romantic comedy, and satirical comedy. In addition, the course will explore screen comedy in the context of various theories of comedy, including the narrative design, the social dynamics, and the psychological understanding of humor. The filmmakers will include: Chaplin, Keaton, Lubitsch, Wilder, Woody Allen, among others. Screenings, readings and written assignments. (FMMC 0101 or FMMC 0102 or permission of the instructor) 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. screen. NOR

FMMC 0243 Internet Art (Spring)
New media art has interdisciplinary ties to video, sound, performance, and literature. This course considers the web as a venue of production, exhibition, and distribution, and examines how technology influences concepts of narrative, aesthetics, identity, community, and culture. Students will design and implement a series of interactive internet based projects. (FMMC 0101, FMMC 0105. FMMC 0135 or ART 0160 or approval of the instructor) 3 hrs. lect./disc. ART (H. Tucker)

FMMC 0244 International Cinema: Central and East European Cinema Since World War II (Fall)
In this course we will study the esthetic, ideological, and social concerns of the cinema of Central and Eastern Europe from the late 1940s to the present. We will examine a variety of films representative of the countries in the region, including the work of renowned auteurs (Andrzej Wajda, Istvan Szabo, Milos Forman, Emir Kusturica). We will then analyze the changes in film production after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the expansion of the European Union in the past four years, focusing on issues currently pertinent to the region, e.g. emigration, ethnic tensions, and learning to live without borders. (FMMC 0101 or FMMC 0102 or FMMC 0131 or FMMC 0231) ART EUR (N. Dobreva)

FMMC/RUSS 0245 Russian-Soviet Film: Illusion and Reality (Not offered 2009-10)
See Department of Russian for course description. ART EUR

FMMC 0246 Media Technology and Cultural Change (Spring)
This course will explore how new media technologies impact society and change cultural practices. The course will consider new media of today and yesterday, including printing, comics, audio and digital media, focusing on the social construction of technology, how media technologies help foster our sense of identity and social reality, and how media technologies can be understood across a range of disciplines. We will use new media as both a topic of analysis and as a mode of expression, with ongoing lab projects exploring course concepts via the creation of digital media. No previous media technology skills required. (FMMC 0101 or FMMC 0104) 3 hrs. lect./disc./2 hrs. lab SOC (J. Mittell)

FMMC/CHNS 0250 Chinese Cinema (Fall)
See Department of Chinese for course description. ART AAL (T. Moran)

FMMC 0252 Authorship and Cinema: David Lynch (Fall)
David Lynch is a "maker", one whose work as a painter, composer, writer/director for television (Twin Peaks) and films (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway), has positioned him as one of the most unique and important artists of his generation. In this course we will concentrate on his films, but will examine some of his other work, particularly for television. (FMMC 0101 or FMMC 0102 or approval of the instructor). (Formerly FMMC 0342) 3 hrs. lect./3hrs. screen. ART (T. Perry)

FMMC 0255 French New Wave (Not offered 2009-10)
Beginning in 1959 and continuing through the 1960s, dozens of young French cinéastes, thrilled by Hollywood genre movies and European art films, but disgusted with their own national cinema's stodgy productions, took up cameras and began making films. This movement, known as the Nouvelle Vague, remains one of the most exciting, inventive periods in cinema history. This course focuses on the major films and directors (Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Alain Resnais) of the period and also gives consideration to the cultural, technological, and economic factors that shaped this movement. 3 hrs. sem./3 hrs. screen. (Formerly FMMC 0345) (FMMC 0101 or FMMC 0102) ART EUR

FMMC/JAPN 0260 Kurosawa (Fall)
See Department of Japanese for course description.
ART AAL (C. Cavanaugh)

FMMC/JAPN 0262 Documentary Animation (Fall)
See Department of Japanese for course description.
ART CMP (C. Cavanaugh)

FMMC/AMST 0277 Urban American & Serial Television: Watching The Wire (Spring)
See Program in American Studies for course description. SOC NOR (J. Mittell)

FMMC/AMST 0305 Hollywood Unbound: The Pre-Code Era, 1930-34 (Spring)
Film historian Thomas Doherty has characterized the films produced in the early "talkie" years, 1930-34, as "the raw stuff of American culture, unvarnished and unveiled." In this course we will explore the cinematic product of that era, by viewing representative films about gender identiy and sexual freedom, equality, and "inversion," political corruption, vice, crime, violence, racial and religious transgressions, and how those films reflect the social and cultural realities of Depression America. An understanding of how this period of creative innovation enhanced by sound aroused social and religious indignation leading to Joseph Breen's 1934 enforcement of the Production Code will emerge from our study. ART HIS NOR (A. Wentink)

FMMC/HIST 0310 Film and History (Not offered 2009-10)
See Department of History for course description. HIS

FMMC 0335 Sight and Sound II (Fall)
In this course students explore documentary, experimental, and narrative modes of production. Emphasis will be placed upon thorough preproduction planning, expanded understanding of cameras and audio, and digital editing. The critical dialogue established in Sight and Sound I will be extended and augmented with readings and screenings of outstanding, independently produced work. (Approval-required; FMMC 0101 or FMMC 0105 or FMMC 0135). Obtain application in FMMC office (Axinn 210) or online and submit by April 18; priority given to FMMC majors. (Formerly FMMC 0235) 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. lab. (H. Tucker)

FMMC/HARC 0340 Film and Modernism (Not Offered 2009-10)
In this course, we will examine the development of cinema in relation to the major aesthetic movements in this century. We will look at the influence of Expressionism, Constructivism, Futurism, Surrealism, Dada, Cubism, Minimalism, and other theoretical movements on film theory and filmmaking. As a seminar this course will be based on the discussion, reports, and research of the participants. Screenings, readings, reports. Research paper required. (HARC 0202 or FMMC  0101 or FMMC 0102 or approval of instructor) 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. screen ART

FMMC/ENAM 0341 Writing for the Screen II (Spring)
Building on the skills acquired in Writing for the Screen I, students will complete the first draft of their feature-length screenplays. Class discussion will explore the links between conventional notions of visual storytelling and alternative modes and media of writing for the screen, such as television (including sitcoms, one-hour dramas, and long form serials), non-linear and experimental forms, gaming, documentaries, etc. Students will also be required to write either one 'spec script' of a television show of their choosing, or a short-form work in their choice of medium. (Approval required, obtain application in FMMC office (Axinn 210), or obtain online and submit by April 17.) (Formerly FMMC 0106) 3 hrs. sem/3 hrs. screen. ART (E. Smith)

FMMC 0346 Special Topics in Media Production: Animation (Fall)
Animation is a strategy for documenting the unseen, illustrating the fantastic, and interpreting the real of the everyday. This course is an introduction to traditional, hand-crafted methods of creating animation. Students will experiment with various approaches to working with images in sequence; explore a variety of techniques, such as collage, rotoscope, cut out, and stop motion; and study international, independently produced works of animation, old and new. The course culminates in the completion of a short work. Application required, available on the FMMC website. (Approval required; FMMC 0105 or FMMC 0135) 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. screen. (H. Tucker)

FMMC/WAGS 0347 Remote Control: Global TV Culture (Not offered 2009-10)
In this course we will critically analyze the role television plays in the formation of national and global cultures. Our examination of television industries in the U.K., Brazil, India, and Nigeria will underscore variations in broadcasting practices and the multiple ways in which television is deployed to enact social change. In this course we will introduce students to women's participation in the four countries as audience members, program producers and subjects of television programming. Case studies will help illuminate the transformations that are entailed as television programs cross national and cultural borders. 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. screen.

FMMC 0354 Film Theory (Spring)
This course surveys the issues that have sparked the greatest curiosity among film scholars throughout cinema's first century, such as: What is the specificity of the film image? What constitutes cinema as an art? How is authorship in the cinema to be accounted for? Is the cinema a language, or does it depart significantly from linguistic coordinates? How does one begin to construct a history of the cinema? What constitutes valid or useful film research? Readings will include Epstein, Eisenstein, Bazin, Truffaut, Wollen, Mulvey, Benjamin, Kracauer, and others. (Formerly FMMC 0344) (FMMC 0101 or FMMC 0102 or FMMC 0131 or FMMC 0231 or instructor approval) 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. screen. ART (C. Keathley)

FMMC/AMST 0355 Theories of Popular Culture (Not offered 2009-10)
See Program of American Studies for course description.(Formerly FMMC/AMST 0275) 3 hrs. lect./disc./3 hrs. screen. SOC

FMMC 0357 Narration Across Media (Fall)
All artistic and popular media feature their own particular techniques of storytelling. This course explores how narrative structures and models operate differently between film television, and digital media such as video games. Drawing on various theories of narratology developed to understand the structures, techniques, and impacts of narration for literature and film we will consider how different media offer possibilities to creators and viewers to tap into the central human practice of storytelling. Students will read theoretical materials and view narrative examples, culminating in a final research project, to better our understanding of narrative as a cultural practice. (FMMC 0101 or FMMC 0104 or FMMC 0236) 3 hrs. sem./ 3 hrs. screen. ART (J. Mittell)

FMMC 0431 Film and Media Culture Senior Seminar: "Surfaces of Cinema" (Fall)
In recent decades, close analysis of films has often focused on interpretation and subtext. Armed with a theory, the critic looks past a text's manifest content to reveal its latent, often pernicious, subtext. This "top down" approach brackets individual response as the starting point for critical reflection, foregrounding instead the "objectivity" of theory. In this seminar we will reverse this trajectory. Starting with individual response, critical investigation in this seminar will focus not on symptomatic interpretation--not on what films mean--but instead on the various ways in which they create meaning, and the ways also in which films create equally important effects that exceed meaning, such as tone, texture, rhythm, and atmosphere. Readings will include works by Roland Barthes, Andre Bazin, Stanley Cavell, Manny Farber, Laura Mulvey, Victor Perkins, Susan Sontag, Peter Wollen, and others.
(Open to Senior FMMC majors and minors or by consent of instructor) 3 hrs. sem./3 hrs. screen. (C. Keathley)

FMMC 0431 Film and Media Culture Senior Seminar: "Hollywood Renaissance" (Spring)
The transition in American film from the classical studio based production system to contemporary practice, what has come to be known as "New Hollywood," will be the subject of this seminar, approximately 1967-1976. Some have called this era, "the Hollywood Renaissance" This seminar will explore that claim along with the numerous other changes marking the transition including the influence of the European "art" cinema, the documentary, and the avant-garde film, the shift from the Production Code to the current ratings system, the impact of a young generation of filmmakers trained in the academy, the takeover of the old Hollywood studios by larger corporate conglomerates, and the social and political changes influencing American culture during this era. As a seminar this course will be based on the discussions, reports, and research of the participants. Research paper required. (Open to Senior FMMC majors and minors or by consent of instructor). 3 hrs. sem./3 hrs. screen. (L. Grindon).

FMMC 0507 Advanced Independent work in Film and Media Culture (Fall, Winter, Spring)
Guidelines for submitting proposals are available in the FMMC office, and on the Film & Media Culture Web site along with a list of prerequisites. (Staff)

FMMC 0707 Senior Honors Project in Film and Media Culture (Fall, Winter, Spring)
During the first term of their senior year, students with a GPA of A- in film and media culture courses may apply to undertake a senior project (FMMC 0707) for honors, with the project to be completed the last term of the senior year. (Staff)

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