EA8007 FILM STUDIES L T P C

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OBJECTIVES:

To understand the functions of films as an institution for production and distribution of
social knowledge and entertainment.
To expose students to a variety of film styles, genres and analyze the dominant forms of
popular cinema.
To develop a critically informed sense of the history and development of film
conventions, both mainstream and alternative.

OUTCOMES:

At the end of the course, students will be able to critically appreciate films from an
historical perspective.
Students will be able to apply various theories of film for studying films.
Students will be able to identify various genres in films.

UNIT I INTRODUCTION TO FILMS 9
Origins and evolution of films Films as an institution Nature of films Critical and technical
terms used in film production and practice Industrial and economic basis of commercial
cinema Production, distribution and exhibition of films Censorship and regulation of films
Understanding audiences Trends in the film industry.

UNIT II FILM NARRATIVES 9
Film genres Story archetypes Structure of a narrative Story, plot and screen duration,
beginnings, middles and end, open and closed narratives, single and multistrand narratives,
characters, narrative forms Mise-en-scene Film techniques Film form and conventions
Mainstream and alternative narratives and film forms.

UNIT III FILM THEORIES 9
Ideology in films Authorship in films Auteurs film theory Director as Author
structuralist film theory Marxist film theories Feminist film theories Genre theory
Psychoanalytical film theory Formalist film theory and other theories.

UNIT IV WORLD CINEMA 9
Introduction to world cinema Rise of American films Predominant films in silent era in
Germany, Art and dialectic in Soviet film French cinema Impressionism, avant-garde, new
wave Italian neorealism Japanese style British cinema Recent national movements Iran,
Korea, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and digital future Documentary films and its new life
in digital era.

UNIT V INDIAN CINEMA 9
Introduction to Indian films Films as a source material for history, nationalism and Indian films
Rise of the Indian film industry Structure of Indian films Popular and award winning
Directorsand their works National award winning films Influence of films on social, cultural
economic, political milieu in India.

TOTAL: 45 PERIODS

TEXTBOOKS
1. Bruce Mamer. Film Production Techniques: Creating Accomplished Images, Wadsworth
Cengage Learning, Belmont, USA, 2009.
2. Gaston Roberge. Film Appreciation, Chitrabani, Calcutta, 1974.

REFERENCES
1. Hertbert Zettle. Sight, Sound and Motion, Wadsworth Cengage Learning, Belmont, USA,
2011.
2. Margaret Mehring. The Screen Play: A Blend of Film Form and Content. Focal Press, Boston,
1990.
3. David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson. Film Art: An Introduction, McGraw-Hilll, New York,
2010.
4. William. H. Philips. Film: An Introduction, Bedford/St.Martins, Boston, 2009.