> I would be very interested, therefore (and most grateful!), to hear any and all > suggestions about texts to use, approaches to take (historical? genre? > director?), and films to show. The books I used this semester - ordered by the > previous instructor - were "Understanding Movies" by Giannetti and "A History of > Narrative Film" by Cook. While I learned a lot, as I said, I wonder if these > are the best available. What else is out there? I would be especially > interested in books particularly about film analysis. I taught Close Analysis last Spring and these are my suggestions. I put together a reading packet of close analysis articles rather than assigning a general book on film. The students should come to a class like close analysis with the background of an intro, course. The seminar I taught was junior level and a requirement for the major. I see Close Analysis situated between Intro. to FilmSt and Film Theory--assuming knowledge coming from one class and looking ahead to the other. It;s a kind of hand-on theory workshop, to enable students to *think* theoretically, so that they weill be better equipped to read the big girls&guys in Film Theory. My selection of films was dictated by the close analysis essays available--therefore the films took a second turn to the readings, or if you will, the films became the visual space to address the readings. I recommend: *Psycho* with Bellour's "Psychosis, Neurosis, Perversion" *La Chinoise* with Aumont's "This Is not a Textual Analysis" *The Birds* with Bergstrom's "Enunciation and Sexual Difference" (Alternatives with their respective readings: *The Pirate,* *Touch of Evil.*) I also chose a director to study closely as a case study; I picked Godard (5 weeks). Then I branched out into films that were not "classical" close analysis texts but that came with an acceptable close analysis literature. *Il Conformista* with Wagstaff's "Forty-Seven Shots of Bertolucci's Il Conformista" *Blow-Up* with Eberwein's "The Master Text of *Blow-Up*" and Linderman's "Narrative Surplus: The 'Blow-Up as Metarepresentation and Ideology" *Banshun,* with Thompson's "*Late Spring,* and Ozu's Unreasonable Style" Lastly, each week I would assign a theoretical piece that would discuss the issue of close readings of film texts. Some examples: Bellour, "The Obvious and the Code" Barthes, "The Death of the Author" Staiger, "Reception Studies: The Death of the Reader" Bordwell, "Why Not to Read a Film" Thompson, "Neoformalist Film Analysis: One Approach, Many Methods" Bordwell, "Towards Intrinsic Norms" Metz, "Story/Discourse" I will make my syllabus available, if you are interested in this further. Gloria Monti ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]