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June 2007, Week 2

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From:
Pearson Roberta <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 12 Jun 2007 13:13:26 +0100
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As long as we're having this discussion, I wonder if I might ask for
similar advice on introductory television studies textbooks?  I used the
Bignell book this year and both I and the students found it
unsatisfactory.

Many thanks,
Roberta Pearson
University of Nottingham

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From: Film and TV Studies Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of SCREEN-L automatic digest system
Sent: 12 June 2007 06:00
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Subject: SCREEN-L Digest - 9 Jun 2007 to 11 Jun 2007 (#2007-87)

There are 4 messages totalling 206 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. textbook query (2)
  2. SCREEN-L Digest - 7 Jun 2007 to 9 Jun 2007 (#2007-86)
  3. call for papers - Receptions

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Date:    Sat, 9 Jun 2007 09:48:22 -0500
From:    "Larsson, Donald F" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: textbook query

I piloted the Barsam text for a summer class just before its initial
release and the student reaction seemed pretty favorable at the time.
This year, I used it as my main text instead of FILM ART, in both fall
and spring semesters.  It does have particular strengths, and its
ancillaries (CD-ROM, website) both have some very good features, if your
students can access them.  However, in the longer 15-week space of a
full semester, I found it increasingly difficult for own way of dealing
with film concepts, mainly in its discussion of "mise-en-scene," which
has a more inclusive definition than Bordwell & Thompson.  While there
are good precedents for that definition, it dilutes and confuses the
topic (for me, and I think for my students as well).  For example,
acting has a separate chapter and the main discussion of lighting is
reserved for the chapter on cinematography.  Some of the discussions and
definitions tend to be more abstract than I care for.  I expect that
it's largely a matter of personal preference and training in the use of
these terms, but I was planning to switch back to B&T this year while
continuing to look at other options.  I haven't done a close comparison
of the new second edition of Barsam, however.
 
Don Larsson
 
-----------------------------------------------
"Nothing is ever the same as they said it was.  It's what I've never
seen before that I recognize."  --Diane Arbus

 
Donald F. Larsson
Department of English, AH 230
Minnesota State University
Mankato, MN  56001
[log in to unmask] 
Office Phone: 507-389-2368
 

________________________________

From: Film and TV Studies Discussion List on behalf of Frank, Michael
Sent: Thu 6/7/2007 6:52 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [SCREEN-L] textbook query



after an extended hiatus, i will be teaching "into to cinema studies"
again in the fall, and hope to enlist screen-L's help in reconsidering
textbook options . . . i assume that bordwell & thompson' SCREEN ART is
still the gold standard, but i suspect it's a bit much for
non-specialist beginning students who will be taking the course simply
to fulfill distribution requirements

i've been examining  richard barsam's LOOKING AT MOVIES;  at first
glance it seems to have a number of things going for it . . .
unfortunately i don't have time to give it a careful reading before i
need to place my book orders . . . so i'm wondering if anyone has had
any experience with this book that they can share -- or, for that
matter, other strong recommendations

thanks in advance

mike

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Date:    Sun, 10 Jun 2007 08:45:28 -0400
From:    Jason Mittell <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: textbook query

Mike,

I'd recommend taking a look at Chris Cagle's blog post comparing various
intro books - you may not agree with his opinions, but he provides good
info:
http://categoryd.blogspot.com/2006/11/intro-textbook-comparison.html

I'd ask what is the goal of the course - if it's understanding the
formal
system of film, then FILM ART is probably the best option (especially if
you
plan on using a global assortment of examples rather than Euro/US
focus). If
it's introducing a broader range of theoretical approaches to film,
Corrigan
& White's FILM EXPERIENCE is excellent.

My other comment is not to undersell students with a textbook. I always
prefer teaching books that err on the challenging side, encouraging
students
to rise to the material. The vast majority of textbooks I've looked at
across fields talk down to readers & try to keep them entertained rather
than actually conveying information & ideas. If you assign a challenging
textbook, lectures avoid redundancy & build on the material, rather than
just echo the book.

Good luck!
-Jason

On 6/10/07 1:00 AM, "SCREEN-L automatic digest system"
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Date:    Thu, 7 Jun 2007 19:52:22 -0400
> From:    "Frank, Michael" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: textbook query
> 
> after an extended hiatus, i will be teaching "into to cinema studies"
> again in the fall, and hope to enlist screen-L's help in reconsidering
> textbook options . . . i assume that bordwell & thompson' SCREEN ART
is
> still the gold standard, but i suspect it's a bit much for
> non-specialist beginning students who will be taking the course simply
> to fulfill distribution requirements
> 
> i've been examining  richard barsam's LOOKING AT MOVIES;  at first
> glance it seems to have a number of things going for it . . .
> unfortunately i don't have time to give it a careful reading before i
> need to place my book orders . . . so i'm wondering if anyone has had
> any experience with this book that they can share -- or, for that
> matter, other strong recommendations
> 
> thanks in advance
> 
> mike

-- 
Jason Mittell, Assistant Professor of American Studies and Film & Media
Culture
Middlebury College
204 Adirondack House
Middlebury, Vermont 05753
(802) 443-3435 / fax: (802) 443-5123
Homepage: http://seguecommunity.middlebury.edu/sites/jmittell
Blog: http://justtv.wordpress.com

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Date:    Sun, 10 Jun 2007 10:18:18 -0500
From:    "Darnell, Amy L." <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: SCREEN-L Digest - 7 Jun 2007 to 9 Jun 2007 (#2007-86)

In response to Professor Frank's question about textbooks, I have found
=
that Mast and Kawain's "Short History of the Movies" is more than up to
=
the task of teaching an introductory course.  Combining it with =
Corrigan's "Short Guide to Writing about Film" I find that students are
=
more than challenged with the level of insight and information.  The =
publishers have even created a 'shorter' history of the movies that =
still comes in at well over 300 pages if you're trying to find a =
streamlined, yet substantive history for an introductory class.

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Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
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Date:    Sun, 10 Jun 2007 11:08:27 -0500
From:    Janet Staiger <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: call for papers - Receptions

Call for papers: Receptions (11/01/2007: journal issue)

The editors of Reception: Texts, Readers, Audiences, History, which is
the 
journal of the Reception Study Society, invites submissions for its 
inaugural issue, which will appear in the spring 2008. This journal
seeks 
to promote dialog and discussion among scholars in several related
fields: 
reader-response criticism and pedagogy, reception study, history of
reading 
and the book, audience and communication studies, and institutional
studies 
and histories, as well as interpretive strategies related to feminism,
race 
and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and postcolonial studies. The
journal 
will publish theoretical and practical analyses in these fields,
focusing 
mainly but not exclusively on the literature, culture, and media of
England 
and the United States. The journal will be refereed and will appear once

each year both on line and in paper. Essays submitted for publication
will 
be evaluated by at least two members of the editorial board.
Contributors 
can expect a response in a timely fashion.

The deadline for proposed papers is November 1, 2007. Please submit 
proposals of 250-500 words to Philip Goldstein at 
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask] or at the University of Delaware,
333 
Shipley St., Wilmington, DE 19801. For more information, visit the RSS 
webpage: 
<http://copland.udel.edu/~pgold/webpage/RSSsite/index.html>http://coplan
d.udel.edu/~pgold/webpage/RSSsite/index.html

Editorial Board:
Tony Bennett, The Open University
Temma Berg, Gettysburg University
Amy Blair, Marquette University
Barbara Hochman, Ben Gurion University
Charles Johanningsmeier, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Jim Machor, Kansas State U.
Walter Metz, U of Montana
Rhonda Petit, University of Cincinnati.
Emily Satterwhite, Virginia Tech
Patsy Schweikart, Purdue University
Janet Staiger, University of Texas at Austen
Charlotte Templin, University of Indianapolis.
Gary Walton, Northern Kentucky University



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End of SCREEN-L Digest - 9 Jun 2007 to 11 Jun 2007 (#2007-87)
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