Course Description
Course Name
Film Theory
Session: VRMF3124
Hours & Credits
3 Credits
Prerequisites & Language Level
Taught In English
- There is no language prerequisite for courses at this language level.
Overview
Course description
This course addresses film in its aesthetic specificity and foregrounds some of the ideological issues regarding the medium, especially the conventions of realism. Through various
theoretical perspectives (text analysis and semiotics, psychoanalysis, feminism, post‐colonial theory) different films will be critically analyzed in order to locate and understand their underlying ideologies.
Required Textbook (subject to change)
Stam, Film Theory An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2000
Recommended Readings (subject to change)
Miller & Stam, A Companion to Film Theory. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2004
Course Learning Objectives
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Develop a command of course content and the ability to answer in an articulate manner the following questions
2. Develop analytical and intellectual capacities tied to the specifics of the course
3.Research and present projects that apply film theories in practice: Students are expected to introduce one specific week’s readings AND write two papers that will allow them to apply a particular theory or approach to film to a specific filmic text
Course Learning Activities
- Students are expected to complete the assigned readings before they are discussed in class and are required to participate in class discusions and debates and apply/relate each reading to a specific film discussed in class. (LO 1 & 2)
- Students will take turns in introduce the week’s reading to the class and bring an example of a film that they deem relevant to the issues raised. (LO 2 & 3)
- Students are required to write 2 papers (6‐8 pages each)
*Course content subject to change