Jeremy Butler (jbutler@bamanet.ua.edu), Telecommunication and Film Department, P.O. Box 870152, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.
Spring 1994
Instructor: Jeremy Butler Office: 430C Phifer Hall
Teaching Assistant:
Office hours: TBA
E-mail: jbutler@bamanet.ua.edu
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.
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 and Bogle 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:
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.
Additionally, mid-term (25 points) and final (30 points)
exams will be given. These exams will consist of open-note essay
questions drawn from the lectures and referring to the films.
(Photo-copied 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
POSTING OF GRADES:
Grades will be posted by your ID number. If you do not wish
your grade to be posted in this manner, please notify me in
writing.
ABSENCE POLICY:
The tests/exams' questions assume the student has attended
all lectures and film screenings.
FILM SCREENINGS:
There will be no other opportunity to see the films other
than the in-class screenings. Most are not available on
videocassette.
COURSE SCHEDULE
DATE LECTURE/FILM READINGS
1/11 Introduction to the Course/Modes of Film
LUMIERE SHORTS
A TRIP TO THE MOON (Melies, 1902)
PATHS TO PARADISE (Badger, 1925) Chs. 1, 2
1/18 German Silent Film: Expressionism & Kammerspielfilm
THE LAST LAUGH (Murnau, 1924) Ch. 4
1/25 Silent Film Comedy: Buster Keaton
SHERLOCK, JR (Keaton, 1924) Ch. 3
*Readings Test 1: Chs. 1, 2, 3, 4*
2/1 Russian Formalism: Dziga Vertov
MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA (Vertov, 1929) Ch. 5
2/8 Classicism and the Auteur Theory: Frank Borzage
A MAN'S CASTLE (Borzage, 1933) Ch. 6
2/15 Bazinian Realism: Jean Renoir
RULES OF THE GAME (Renoir, 1939) Ch. 8
2/22 **MID-TERM EXAM**
Documentary Form
NANOOK OF THE NORTH (Flaherty, 1922)
NIGHT AND FOG (Resnais, 1955)
3/1 Auteur Theory II: Howard Hawks
ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS (Hawks, 1939)
3/8 Italian Neorealism: Roberto Rossellini
OPEN CITY (Rossellini, 1945) Ch. 9
3/15 Genre Study I: Screwball Comedy
MY MAN GODFREY (LaCava, 1936)
*Readings Test 2: Chs. 5, 6, 8, 9*
3/22 French New Wave: Jean-Luc Godard
THE MARRIED WOMAN (Godard, 1962) Ch. 12
3/29 SPRING BREAK
4/5 Feminism and Film
REASSAMBLAGE (Trinh, 1982)
4/12 New German Cinema: Werner Herzog
STROSZEK (Herzog, 1977) Ch. 13
4/19 Genre Study II: Film Noir
BIG HEAT (Lang, 1953)
4/26 The Breakdown of Hollywood Classicism
Course Summary
TBA (recent release on videotape) Chs. 10, 11, 14
5/3 **Tuesday, 7:00-9:30 p.m.**
**Readings Test 3: Chs. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14**
**FINAL EXAM**
Jeremy Butler, jbutler@bamanet.ua.edu