COM 3410 Film Modes and
Genres Dr. Steve Lipkin
Spring 2008 217 Sprau Tower
387-3153; steven.lipkin@wmich.edu
TR 8:30-9:30; W 1:30-2:30
(or
by appointment)
http://homepages.wmich.edu/lipkin
username: kubrick
password: camera
This
course focuses on representative films from various modes of film communication
(narrative vs. nonnarrative, fiction vs. nonfiction),
film movements, and film genres. This
semester the particular emphasis will be on docudrama in film and television.
TEXTS:
Coursepack #WMSP08-111
(readings noted below)
Steven N. Lipkin, Real
Emotional Logic
REQUIREMENTS:
--Quizzes
(in class writing assignments): 10 pts. each
--Midterm (50 points): February 19
--Film
Analysis Paper: 50 points (due Thursday,
Apr. 10)
--Final
Exam: 100 points: Monday, April 21, 2:45-4:45
GRADING: QUIZ
AND EXAM POLICY:
1. The
grading scale for this course (both for individual assignments and for your
final grades) is based on the following percentages:
94-100 A 70-75 C
88-
93 BA 64-69 DC
82-
87 B 58-63 D
76-
81 CB
2. I will
drop your lowest 10 point quiz grade in computing final grades for the course.
3.
Unannounced quizzes may not be "made up."
4. Due to the
nature of exams in this course (they may involve screenings) the mid-term and
the final exam must be taken on the days they are assigned. I will allow make-up exams in the most
extreme cases, such as severe illness or a death in the immediate family.
5. #4 also
applies for "Incomplete" course grades.
6. Final
exam date and time is non-negotiable.
Attendance:
Since much of the work of this class is impossible
to make up (e.g. screenings and discussions) your attendance is extremely
important. After one (1) unexcused
absence, your final grade will be lowered ten (10) points for each subsequent
unexcused absence.
There will be a sign-in sheet on the desk in front
of the room---make sure you initial it when you come in. Failure to sign in will, without exception
count as an absence.
You must document excused absences upon your return
to class with a note from parents or doctor, explaining the nature of your
illness or family emergency.
COURSE OVERVIEW:
1/8: Introduction
1/10: Narrative: Screen:
“La Jetee”
Thomas Schatz (1981).
Steve Neale
(2000). Genre and
1/15: Melodrama: Screen: "Little Match Girl"
Reading
(in coursepack):
John Belton (2005). American Cinema American
Culture. “Silent Film
Melodrama,” pp. 131-139.
1/17: Documentary: Screen:
“City of
Reading (in coursepack):
Bill Nichols (1991). Representing Reality. “Telling Stories With
Evidence and Argument,” pp. 107-133.
1/22: Drama
documentary: Screen: Target For Tonight
Reading (in coursepack):
Carl Plantinga
(1997). Rhetoric and
Representation in the Nonfiction Film. “What is Nonfiction Film?” pp. 7-25.
1/24: Documentary
drama and Italian Neorealism: Screen:
Rome Open City
Lipkin, Chapt. 1, “Defining Docudrama”
1/29: Post-war
social problem film
1/31: Twentieth
Century-Fox and Semi-documentary:
Screen: 13 Rue Madeleine
Lipkin, Chapt. 3, “Dramatic Evidence”
2/5;
2/7: Docudrama
as argument: Screen: Call Northside
777
Lipkin, Chapt. 2, “All The Good Reasons”
2/12;
2/14: Docudrama
and Ethics: Screen: JFK
Lipkin, Chapt. 4, “Docudrama Ethics”
Robert A. Rosenstone (1995). Visions of the Past.
“The Historical Film,” pp. 45-79. (in coursepack)
George F. Custen (1992). Bio/Pics. “Making History,” pp.
32-80. (in coursepack)
2/19: MIDTERM
2/21: Movie
of the Week Docudrama: Screen: The Positively True Adventures of the
Alleged
Lipkin, Chapt. 5, “Rootable, Relatable, Promotable Docudrama”
2/26;
2/28: Screen: The Pirates of
3/11;
3/13: Screen: Strange Justice
Steve Neale
(2000). Genre and
3/18;
3/20: Issues
of Race and Justice: Screen one
of: Rosewood, Amistad,
Ghosts of
Lipkin, Chapt. 6, “Recent Feature Film Docudrama”
Rick Altman, “A
Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre” in Braudy,
Film Theory and Criticism, pp. 680-690.
(in
coursepack)
3/25;
3/27: Issues
of Health and the Environment:
Consider: A Civil Action; The Insider; Erin Brockovich
Events
docudrama: Screen United 93
4/1;
4/3: Biography
of Inspiration: Screen one of: Donnie Brasco,
Hilary and Jackie; Shine; A Perfect Storm; A Beautiful Mind; Seabiscuit; Ray; Walk The Line; Good Night, and Good Luck
Rick
Altman, “Generic Products and the Recycling Process,” in Browne, Refiguring
American Film Genres, pp. 1-41.
(in
coursepack)
4/8: Recent
film and TV war docudrama: Screen
selections from: Black Hawk Down, We
Were Soldiers; Uprising;
4/10:
Screen: Band of Brothers, Chapt. 1
4/15;
4/17:
Screen: Saving Jessica Lynch