Syllabus query



Academic Year/course: 2017/18

416 - Degree in English

27854 - Films in Context II


Syllabus Information

Academic Year:
2017/18
Subject:
27854 - Films in Context II
Faculty / School:
103 - Facultad de Filosofía y Letras
Degree:
416 - Degree in English
ECTS:
6.0
Year:
4 and 3
Semester:
Second semester
Subject Type:
Optional
Module:
---

5.1. Methodological overview

This unit will follow the methodology inspired by the European Higher Education Area. Its advanced level of film analysis requires knowledge of both formal and cultural approaches to film texts. Material is made available to students through a page on the Moodle platform.

5.2. Learning tasks

THEORY AND PRACTICE

a) Lectures: 1,2 credits (30 hours). Theory: formal, historical and cultural approaches to film.

b) Practical sessions: 1,2 credits (30 hours). Practice: analysis of individual films.

 

SUPERVISED ACTIVITIES

a) Individual or group tutorials: 0,1 credits (2,5 hours). Assessment on how to write critical analyses of film.

 

INDIVIDUAL WORK

a) Essay writing: 2,2 credits (55 hours). Viewing of film texts and writing of essays.

b) Individual study: 1,2 credits (30 hours). Individual work, reading of compulsory critical texts.

 

ASSESSMENT

a) Written exam on theory and practice: 0,1 credits (2,5 hours).

5.3. Syllabus

(27854) Trends and Contexts of English-Language Cinema II

 

1.        Hollywood in transition in the 1970s: the New Hollywood.

                  Films: Saturday Night Fever (John Badham, 1977) (class)

                             Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975) (essay)

                  Reading: Thomas Schatz. "The New Hollywood". In Jim Collins et al. eds. 8-36

 2.        Reaganism and the male rampage film of the 1980s.

                  Films: Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988) (class)

                             Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987) (essay)

                  Reading: Fred Pfeil. "From Pillar to Postmodern: Race, Class, and Gender in the Male Rampage Film". In White Guys. 1-36.

 3.       US American independent cinema in the 1990s.

                   Film: Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)

                   Reading: Justin Wyatt. "The Formation of the 'Major Independent': Miramax, New Line and the New Hollywood". In Neale and Smith eds. 74-90.

 4.       Genericity in the 1990s.

                   Films: The Bridges of Madison County (Clint Eastwood, 1995) (class)

                              There's Something about Mary (Bobby & Peter Farrelly, 1998) (essay)

                   Reading: Jim Collins. "Genericity in the 1990s: Eclectic Irony and the New Sincerity". In Jim Collins et al. eds. 242-263

 5.       The return of the political film in the 2000s.

                   Films: In the Valley of Elah (Paul Haggis, 2007) (class)

                              A Mighty Heart (Michael Winterbottom, 2007) (essay)

                   Reading: Douglas Kellner. "The Hollywood Political Thriller Against the Bush-Cheney Regime". In Cinema Wars. 165-172.

 6.        New realisms and new technologies in the 2000s.

                  Film: Super Size Me (Morgan Spurlock, 2004)

                  Reading: Michael Renov. "The Subject in History". In The Subject of Documentary. 104-119.

5.4. Course planning and calendar

See the academic calendar of the University of Zaragoza:

http://academico.unizar.es/calendario-academico/calendario

and the website of the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts:

- Schedule of classes:

https://fyl.unizar.es/horario-de-clases#overlaycontext=horario-de-clases

-Examination schedule:

https://fyl.unizar.es/calendario-de-examenes#overlay-context=

More information will be provided on the first day of class.

5.5. Bibliography and recommended resources

BB  Collins, Jim. “Genericity in the 90s: Eclectic Irony and the New Sincerity”. En: Film theory goes to the movies / edited by Jim Collins, Hilary Radner and Ava Preacher Collins New York [etc.] ; London : Routledge, 1993
BB Film theory goes to the movies / edited by Jim Collins, Hilary Radner and Ava Preacher Collins . New York [etc.] ; London : Routledge, 1993
BB Hill, John. “Film and Postmodernism”. En: The Oxford guide to film studies / edited by John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson ; consultant editors, Richard Dyer, E. Ann Kaplan, Paul Willemen Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 96-105
BB Kellner, Douglas. “Conclusion. Hollywood Cinema Wars in the 2000s”. En: Cinema wars : Hollywood film and politics in the Bush- Cheney era Chichester, West Sussex, U.K. ; Malden, MA : Wiley- Blackwell, 2010, p. 239-261
BB Kellner, Douglas. Cinema wars : Hollywood film and politics in the Bush- Cheney era . Chichester, West Sussex, U.K. ; Malden, MA : Wiley- Blackwell, 2010
BB Krämer, Peter. “It’s aimed at kids - the kid in everybody”: George Lucas, Star Wars and Children’s Entertainment”, In James Burton ed. 21st Century Film Studies: A Scope Reader. [Online journal. http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/reader/chapter.php?id=9]
BB The Oxford guide to film studies / edited by John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson ; consultant editors, Richard Dyer, E. Ann Kaplan, Paul Willemen . Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1998
BC Barsam, Richard. Looking at movies : an introduction to film / Richard Barsam . - 2nd. ed. New York : W.W. Norton, 2007
BC Bordwell, David. Narration in the fiction film / David Bordwell Madison, Wis : University of Wisconsin Press, 1985
BC Contemporary Hollywood cinema / edited by Steve Neale and Murray Smith London : Routledge, 2000
BC Denzin, Norman K.. Images of postmodern society : social theory and contemporary cinema / Norman K. Denzin London : Sage, 1998
BC Ray, Robert B.. A certain tendency of the Hollywood cinema, 1930-1980 / Robert B. Ray Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, cop. 1985
BC Renov, Michael. The subject of documentary / Michael Renov . Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 2004
BC Schatz, Thomas. “The New Hollywood” . En: Film theory goes to the movies / edited by Jim Collins, Hilary Radner and Ava Preacher Collins . New York [etc.] ; London : Routledge, 1993
BC Screening the male : exploring masculinities in Hollywood cinema / edited by Steven Cohan and Ina Rae Hark . - 1st. ed., reimp. London ; New York : Routledge, 1996
BC The End of cinema as we know it : American film in the nineties / edited by Jon Lewis . New York : New York University Press, 2001
BC Thompson, Kristin. Film history : an introduction / Kristin Thompson ; David Bordwell New York ; Madrid[etc.] : McGraw-Hill, cop.1994
BC Williams, Linda. “Film bodies: gender, genre and excess”. En: Barry Keith Grant ed. Film Genre Reader II. Austin : University of Texas Press., 1995, p. 141-158
BC Wood, Robin. Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan / Robin Wood. New York : Columbia UP, 1986
LISTADO DE URLs:
  Scope : film and television history, theory and criticism - [http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/rader/chapter.php?id=9]