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January 2006, Week 2

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Subject:
From:
Caitlin Manning <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 13 Jan 2006 09:16:18 -0800
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I teach at a department which includes  film/video/performance/new media.  We have been heavily   production oriented but are working on balancing this out with more studies classes.   I have developed  a core class in "storytelling" which is
basically a class in screen/time-based narrative analysis.  We develop concepts and tools of narrative analysis and apply them to examples of fiction film, documentary, television, video games, and networked performance.   I don't cover semiotics or
cutlural theory much as these are done in other classes.  For "classical "Hollywood narrative,  I use chapters 2&3 Bordwell & Thompsons Film as Art.  I have learned that I have to really scaffold the concepts: I introduce the most important ideas,
then have them read, then we discuss and apply the ideas to films/clips we watch class. One of my most successful classes has been to apply Bordwell's concepts to Fight Club, and see where the classical structures break down.  The students love this
film and know it well, so it really helps them get into the not-so-popular activity of anaylsis. And it's a stepping off point for discussing changes in narrative structure in contemporary fiction films. 





,  To those who can relate:
I am making an effort to "retool" my undergraduate film theory course this
semester.  I am once again using Braudy & Cohen's FILM THEORY & CRITICISM
(though I am planning to move on to another text in the fall because I
have finally faced the fact that it is not an appropriate undergraduate
text for my students).

My question is this: I would like to devote a class to semiotics and
structuralism prior to discussing genre and would appreciate your
recommendations.  Ideally, I would like to screen a film and have my
students read semiotic/structuralist analysis of the text, but one that
they will actually be able to understand.  I have found examples for
television--but few for film.

I know this sounds like a very basic request, but I have decided to get
back to the "basics" for my undergraduate theory class.  I would also
appreciate other films that you feel have worked in regards to genre, film
narrative, ideology, and feminism.

Yours in the struggle,
Stephen Tropiano
[log in to unmask] and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]> on Wednesday, January 11, 2006 at 11:47 PM -0800 wrote:
>[log in to unmask]






Caitlin Manning
Assistant Professor 
Film/Video Production, Film History
Teledramatic Art and Technology Department 

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