CP 101: Introduction to Film History and Analysis

Lecture T 2-2.50, Screening Th. 2-4:15, Parkinson Auditorium.

Discussions according to sections, Fridays, Communications 1021

Instructor: Simone Becque (sdbecque@siu.edu)

TAs: Matt Crowell (mcrowell@siu.edu); Natalie Smith (natalie.m.smith@siu.edu)
Office: Communications 1121J
Office hours: Monday and Tuesday 10AM-12PM
Course Websites: online.siu.edu (Desire2Learn or D2L) and tophat.com (Top Hat)

Course Description
The cinema shapes the way we experience culture and the world around us. Movies entertain us, but they
also enlighten, challenge, and move us emotionally and physically. This course is an introduction to the
history, form, and critical concepts necessary for understanding cinema as the major art form of the 20th
century. Throughout the semester, you will be invited to see cinema as a dynamic art form that has
evolved globally in response to historical, political, technological, economic, and aesthetic contexts that
have defined our world since the late 19th century. You will watch, read about, hear lectures on, and
discuss a wide range of films in order to engage the cinema with an enhanced appreciation and a more
fine-tuned understanding of your position in a global, mediated culture.

Course Objectives
Offered as part of the fine arts core curriculum, students will learn:
Critical thinking skills which can be applied across fields of study,
Analytical writing skills which can also be applied across fields of study,
Skills to think historically and critically about culture,
Effective means of forming opinions after considering conflicting points of view,
Methods for interpreting specific film texts within broader cinematic, historical, and social
contexts.

Required Texts
Kolker, Robert. (2006). Film, Form, and Culture. Boston, Mass. (3rd Edition). ISBN: 0073123617

Other selected readings available in PDF format from D2L.

A student login to Top Hat Monocle. (www.tophat.com/e/253306).

Recommended Texts
Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012). On DVD, Blu-Ray, or streaming.

Policies and Procedures

Academic Dishonesty: Academic dishonesty and plagiarism of any assignment will not be tolerated
in this class. For the universitys definition of academic dishonesty, please see the SIUC Student
Conduct Code, page 8, available at
http://policies.siu.edu/documents/StudentConductCodeFINALMay32011.pdf . Any act of plagiarism will
result in a minimum of an unforgiveable F on the plagiarized assignment. You also wont get much out of
the assignment if you plagiarize it. Remember, this is YOUR class, and if you dont put anything into it,
you wont get anything out of it. If you take shortcuts like letting someone else do your work or using
someone elses work without crediting that person, youre just wasting your own time and brainpower.
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Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. More than three unexcused absences in lecture and discussion
section or more than three missed screening notes will result in lowering your final grade by a whole
letter, e.g., an A will drop to a B. If you know in advance that you wont be able to make it to class or will
be late, please e-mail your TA at least an hour before class starts. As Woody Allen says, 90% of life is
showing up. Be here.

Because of the size of the class, attendance will be taken during Tuesday and Thursday sections via Top
Hat Monocle (www.tophat.com), which allows students to respond to questions via Internet enabled
devices or via SMS text message. A question will be posed at the beginning and end of Tuesday and
Thursday lectures, and your response will count as your attendance.

Electronic Gadgets: For the sake of the environment, youre welcome to use your laptop or tablet device
for taking notes during lectures and screenings. HOWEVER, if your mind isnt in class, your body may
as well not be in class, either. Texting, checking your e-mail, reading the internet, staring at Facebook,
watching videos, or doing anything else that takes your attention away from the classroom space during
class, distracts other students, is disrespectful and a waste of everyones time and energy. If theres an
emergency text/call/e-mail that desperately needs your attention, please, step outside, deal with it, and
come back. Otherwise, use electronic devices ONLY for class-related purposes. Otherwise, the TAs may
ask you to leave.

Assignments
NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED. NO MAKE-UP EXAMS WILL BE OFFERED.
You may always turn in your work early, but you may not take exams early.

Reading: You MUST have the readings completed before coming to class so that you can fully engage
with the lectures, screenings, quizzes, and/or discussions. Further, reading is an active process. You
cant just pass your eyes over words and expect to get anything out of it. You must highlight/underline
important passages, write questions and notes in the margins, and summarize key points in the margins.
You might not like everything you read, but you should be able to respond to and discuss it in a clear,
critical fashion.

Participation: YOU MUST PARTICIPATE IN CLASS DISCUSSIONS! This is YOUR class, and
whatever effort you put into it equals the amount of knowledge (and the grade) you will get out of it.
Participation includes providing thoughtful questions and comments in discussion, asking pertinent
questions about the readings, lectures, or screenings, and listening attentively when others are speaking.

Weekly Screening Quizzes: From weeks 2-14, you will be required to respond to a brief question on our
D2L coursepage through the quiz module about the film(s) screened each week in class. Responses
should be a few sentences to a paragraph in length, answer the question in full using what you have
learned in class and the textbook, using standard English grammar, spelling, and syntax. You may answer
the questions ONLY between 4:15 PM Thursday and 8:00AM Friday after the screening, so budget your
time wisely. Failure to do 3 or more screening quizzes will result in the loss of a full letter from your final
grade.

Exams: You will take 4 multiple-choice exams, consisting of 20 questions each. Exams will cover ALL
course material, including lectures, readings, and screenings. Your best 3 exam scores will count towards
your final grade. Exams will be available online through D2L, and they will be available from 4:30PM
Thursday until 8AM Friday so plan accordingly. They will take no more than half an hour to complete.
You must complete the exam online during the assigned time, no make-up exams will be offered.

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Technology: Much of your work for this course will be turned in online via D2L. If you are not familiar
with D2L, you should spend some time exploring the site. You are not required to use Microsoft products
for this course if you do not want to good, free alternatives exist such as LibreOffice
(http://www.libreoffice.org/), and Google Docs, both are able to save files in different formats. Whatever
program you use, you should familiarize yourself with ways of saving files in common formats such as
.rtf, .doc, or .docx, as these are what you are required to submit to your TAs. Files submitted in a
format other than .rtf, .doc or .docx will not be read and will not be counted as turned in on time.
The file format is your responsibility.

Additionally, it is your responsibility to make sure that your work is uploaded to D2L correctly. After
submitting to the D2L Dropbox you will receive a confirmation email, confirming that the system has
received your submission. Additionally, you should look at the D2L Dropbox page, where you will be
able to see your submissions. Procrastination and technology do not mix; do not be surprised if you have
trouble uploading something to D2L three minutes before the Dropbox closes.

Film Analysis: This assignment consists of 2 parts. In both parts, you will analyze an assigned clip from
Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941). The clip can be found on our D2L page.
1. Shot-by-shot description: a shot-by-shot description is a written (bullet-pointed list) account
of each shot in a particular scene. It should demonstrate that you understand and can identify the
various elements of film form. In other words, you should list all the basic visual elements you
see during a shot (e.g. straight cut, long take, tracking shot, etc.), without using analytic terms
(e.g. creepy, angry, bored, etc.). During weeks 4-7, you will create a different part of your
description (shot count/narrative description; mise-en-scene; cinematography; editing), until the
entire description is complete. Each version must be uploaded to turnitin.com by the date and
time due (see schedule below). The completed and revised shot-by-shot description must also be
submitted to D2L with your interpretation/analysis on the date/time listed in the schedule.
2. Interpretation/Analysis: a film analysis is an essay in which you will use the formal elements
from your shot-by-shot description to figure out what a scene means, metaphorically speaking.
You should choose 1-2 overarching themes of the assigned scene and thoroughly explore how
those themes are visually presented through film form in the scene; then briefly discuss how the
theme(s) in the scene relate to the context of the entire film. For each claim you make (e.g. the
scene is about Kanes power over Susan), you should use as many elements of film form to back
up your claim as is necessary to create an effective argument. Your essay will be graded on
clarity, strength of argument, and originality. Since this is an exercise in interpretation, it is
perfectly legitimate to highlight the subjective nature of your argument. However, this does not
mean that you should offer opinions/conclusions that are not backed by evidence and argument
based in the film. You will lose points for vague, generalized descriptions such as good,
interesting, etc. Instead, your challenge is to find words that do justice to the wealth of visual
cues in film and their possible interpretations. You should also NOT focus too much on dialogue
to locate meaning in the scene; instead, pay attention to the metaphorical uses of mise-en-scene--
the gargoyles, statues, and puzzles; the cinematographic elements such as the long take and the
close-up; and dissolves in visually constructing the themes you highlight in your essay. Your
interpretation/analysis. The analysis should be submitted along with your complete shot-by-shot
description to D2L on the date/time listed on the syllabus, hard copies may be required according
to your TAs discretion.

If you earn a D or F on the Film Analysis, you have the option of revising it and resubmitting it for a
better grade. In order to be eligible for regarding, you MUST visit the Writing Center and meet with a
tutor about revising your essay. Since the Writing Center is quite busy, be sure to make an appointment
either online or by phone. A revised essay is NOT guaranteed a better grade; however, if you show
significant improvement, you may receive up to a B+ on the revised essay. You may not revise your shot-

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by-shot description because you will have already written multiple drafts of it. The revised version will be
due on the date listed in the schedule, in hard copy to your TA. Please be sure to submit both your
original copy (with comments from your TA) and the revised copy.

Film Review: The point of a film review is to let your readers know whether a film is worth watching and
why; a smart film review will not only state an opinion of the film but also discuss its thematic and
historical relevance. Thus, your final writing project will be a film review of Argo (Affleck, 2012) in
which you will evaluate the films form and themes and discuss its relevance to both film history and our
current historical moment. The film review should be 3-4 pages, double-spaced, typed, 12 point Times
New Roman font, with a creative title (something more creative than Film Review, please!), 1
margins, proper header, grammar, syntax, and spelling.

A first draft will be due on D2L (and run through a plagiarism detector) the week after we screen the film.
Your TA will provide electronic comments on the draft that will help you revise. The final draft will be
due on D2L. Your review will be graded based on originality, clarity, and your ability to use the material
learned in the course in order to thoroughly and intelligently discuss the film.

Here is a basic structure for a strong film review:

1. Provide a BRIEF (1-2 sentences) plot synopsis. DO NOT GIVE AWAY THE ENDING! Also be
sure to mention the names of actors in parentheses after the first mention of their characters
name, for example, Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck). The first time you mention the title of any film
it should be cited as follows: Name of Film (Name of Director, Year Released).
2. Next, tell your readers what you thought of the film. Because this is a review, you should clearly
indicate your opinion of the film, whether you liked it, hated it, or were ambivalent about it;
however, for each opinion you offer, you should clearly back it up with specific instances from
the film, using the vocabulary youve learned in this course. For example, if you thought it was
visually striking, you should talk about the elements of mise-en-scene and cinematography that
made it so.
3. Discuss how the film engages history and whether/why its relevant to todays society. How is
history represented in the film? What about the themes of the film make it important (or
unimportant) for todays audiences?

Final Exam: The final exam will be cumulative and consist of 50 multiple-choice questions.

Final Grade Calculation:

Exams: 30% (best 3 of 4 exam scores10% each)

Film Review: 25% (5% for first draft; 20% for final draft)
Film Analysis: 25%
Screening notes/participation/attendance: 10%
Final Exam: 10%

Extra credit, up to 5 points (1/2 letter) added to final grade: The Department of Cinema and Photography
organizes a series of film screenings known as Film Fridays. It is a film series at the Varsity held on
certain Fridays at 4 PM. The schedule for each series will be available on D2L and announced in class, as
they are prepared. You may earn extra credit by attending one event in any one of these screenings and
writing a 1-2 page review/response of the film/s screened there. All extra credit should be submitted to
the instructor or your TA in hard copy before or on November 26. You may only do one extra credit
assignment.

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Building Emergency Response Protocols for Syllabus:

Universitys Emergency Procedure Clause:

Southern Illinois University Carbondale is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for
study and work. Because some health and safety circumstances are beyond our control, we ask that you
become familiar with the SIUC Emergency Response Plan and Building Emergency Response Team
(BERT) program. Emergency response information is available on posters in buildings on campus,
available on BERTs website at www.bert.siu.edu, Department of Public Safetys website
www.dps.siu.edu (disaster drop down) and in the Emergency Response Guideline pamphlet. Know how
to respond to each type of emergency.

Instructors will provide guidance and direction to students in the classroom in the event of an emergency
affecting your location. It is important that you follow these instructions and stay with your
instructor during an evacuation or sheltering emergency. The Building Emergency Response Team
will provide assistance to your instructor in evacuating the building or sheltering within the facility.

Disabled Students:

Instructors and students in the class will work together as a team to assist disabled students out of the
building safely. Disabled students will stay with the instructor and communicate with the instructor what
is the safest way to assist them.

Tornado:

During the spring semester we have a Storm Drill.

Pick up your belongings and your instructor will lead you to a safe area of the basement. No one will
be allowed to stay upstairs. Stay away from windows. The drill should not last more than 10
minutes. You must stay with your instructor so he/she can take roll calls. Students need to be quiet
in the basement as the BERT members are listening to emergency instructions on handheld radios
and cannot hear well in the basement.

Fire:

During the fall semester we have a Fire Drill.

Pick up your belongings and your instructor will lead you to either the North or South parking lot
depending on what part of the building your class is in. You must stay with your instructor so he/she
can take roll calls. As soon as the building is all clear, you will be allowed to return to class.

These drills are to train instructors and the Building Emergency Response Team to get everyone to a safe
place during an emergency.

Bomb Threat:

If someone calls in a bomb threat, class will be suspended and students will be asked to pick up their
belongings, evacuate the building and leave the premises. Do not leave anything that is yours behind.
We will not allow anyone back into the building until the police and bomb squad give us an all clear. DO
NOT USE YOUR CELL PHONES. Some bombs are triggered by a cell phone signal.

Shooter in the Building:

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When it is safe to leave, move to a safe area far from the building where the shooter is located. If you
have any information about the shooter, please contact the police after you return home. If you cannot
leave, go into a room, lock the door, turn out the lights, and if possible, cover the glass on the door.
Silence all cell phones after one person in the room you are in calls the police and informs them of your
location and how many are in the room. Be quiet and wait for the police to arrive. The police are looking
for one or more shooters, and they have no way of knowing if the shooter is in the room with you. For
that reason, when the police enter the room, no one should have anything in his/her hands and each person
MUST raise his/her hands above his/her head.

Earthquake:

In the event of an earthquake you are advised to take cover quickly under heavy furniture or near an
interior wall, a corner, to avoid falling debris. Outside the building are trees and power lines and debris
from the building itself that you will need to stay away from. In the building, large open areas like
auditoriums are the most dangerous. Do not try to escape on a stairway or elevator. Do not hide under a
stairway. We do not recommend that you stand in a doorway because the door could shut from the
vibrations and crush your fingers trapping you there.

Womens Self-Defense Class:

For interested female students and female faculty and staff, the SIU Public Safety Department sets up free
self-defense classes. The SIU Public Safety Department will be teaching this class. They teach a free
class in the fall and spring at the Rec Center. In the fall you would register at the Rec Center for the
Womens Self-Defense Class or RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) as it is sometimes called. If you have
questions about registering for the class, you can send an email to lavong@siu.edu. LaVon is the contact
in the Deans Office in the Communications building that will assist you to try to find the class you need.