Professional Documents
Culture Documents
* Students will become adept at a form of visual literacy and gain understanding of the non-verbal language of an
art form.
* Students will be able to understand and articulate the strengths and issues of popular films from different eras.
SLO-2 Thinking Skills
*Students will develop critical thinking skills
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SLO-4 Artistic Discernment
* Students will be able to articulate verbal and written responses to visual phenomena. Also, to organize
perception and conceptualizations, both rationally and intuitively.
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For the take-home assignments, students must turn them in on the due date. If not, they must see me and explain
their reasons for not turning in an assignment before I consider allowing the student to turn in that assignment
late.
Grading Scale:
Disabilities Accommodations: The Ringling College of Art and Design makes reasonable accommodations for
qualified people with documented disabilities. If you have a learning disability, a chronic illness, or a physical or
psychiatric disability that may have some impact on your work for this class and for which you may need
accommodations, please notify the Director of the Academic Resource Center (Room 227 Ulla Searing Student
Center; 359-7627) preferably before the end of the drop/add period so that appropriate adjustments can be
made.
Health and Safety: Ringling College of Art and Design is committed to providing students, faculty, and staff with a
safe and healthful learning and work environment and to comply with all applicable safety laws and regulations
and safe work practices.
Academic Integrity Policy: Your instructors are responsible not only for the quality of your education, but also for
the value of a degree from Ringling. Academic integrity is a key component of both of these things. Simply stated,
academic integrity means doing your own work and giving credit to others for the work they have done.
Presenting someone elses ideas, arguments, words or images as your own is called plagiarism, and is prohibited
by the Ringling Academic Integrity Policy. The following expanded definition is provided by www.plagiarism.org:
"According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to "plagiarize" means:
to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own
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to use (another's production) without crediting the source
to commit literary theft
to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source
In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it
afterward. The expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property and is protected by copyright laws,
just like original inventions.
Project or assignment-specific instructions will be provided to you. If you have further questions about how to
properly acknowledge sources, see your instructor. You may also work with a Writing Consultant, or one of the
Research Librarians in Kimbrough Library.
Professional Behavior in the Classroom: Students are expected to cultivate a sense of professionalism as part of
their experience at Ringling, because professionalism is an essential part of the work world that students are
preparing to enter. In order to assure that all students have the opportunity to gain from time spent in class,
unless otherwise approved by the instructor, students are prohibited from using cellular phones, laptops, or other
electronic devices. Electronic devices (MP3s, cellphones, laptops etc.) are to be turned OFF during class not
VIBRATE, but OFF. Text messaging during class will result in a deduction from your point total for the course,
depending on the nature of the infraction. In a professional environment, workers and employees do not text
constantly, play on their laptops, or use other electronic devices for personal reasons. Ringling students should
practice professional behavior as part of their student experience.
Incompletes are granted only by the discretion of the instructor.
Course Calendar/Schedule: Students will watch films each week that are selected on the basis of illustrating
specific points in film technique or narrative. Films are preceded by a lecture and followed by discussion. At key
points in the course, students will apply what they have learned to films shown in class through worksheets or
other in-class assignments.
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I. MISE-EN-SCENE
WEEK ONE
Aug. 17 Introduction to the Course: The Language of Film
Film: VISIONS OF LIGHT (1992, American Film Institute)
WEEK TWO
Aug. 24 Mise-en-Scene: Cinematography
Reading: Giannetti, Chap. 1; Chap. 7, pp. 302- 326
WEEK THREE
Aug. 31 Mise-en-Scene: Blocking, Framing, Composition
Reading: Giannetti, Chap 2
Film: TOUCH OF EVIL (1958, Orson Welles)
WEEK FOUR
Sept. 7 Reinforcing Weeks Two & Three; Adding Color
Film: REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955, Nicholas Ray)
WEEK FIVE
Sept. 14 Putting It All Together
Film: SHUTTER ISLAND (2010, Martin Scorsese)
Quiz 1: On Mise-en-Scene
II. CAMERA MOVEMENT
WEEK SIX
Sept. 21 The Moving Camera
Reading: Giannetti, Chap. 3
FILM: HERO (2002, Zhang Yimou)
Assignment: Take-home Assignment on Mise-en-Scene Due
III. EDITING
WEEK SEVEN
Sept. 28 Classical Continuity Editing
Reading: Giannetti, Chap. 4, pp. 135 161
FILM: SHERLOCK, JR. (Buster Keaton, 1922)
WEEK EIGHT
Oct. 5 Classical Continuity Editing in Modern Film
Reading: Chap. 4, pp. 135 -161 still applies
FILM: STAR WARS (1977, George Lucas)
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WEEK NINE
Oct. 12 Alternatives to Continuity Editing
Reading: Giannetti, Chap. 4, pp. 162 -171
FILM: RUN, LOLA, RUN (1998, Tom Twyker)
WEEK TEN
Oct. 19 Putting It All Together: How Does Editing Enhance This Film?
FILM: HOT FUZZ (2007, Edgar Wright)
Quiz 2: On Editing
IV. SOUND
WEEK ELEVEN
Oct. 26 Sound
Reading: Giannetti, Chap. 5
FILMS: BARTON FINK (1991, Joel and Ethan Coen)
Assignment: Take-home Assignment on Editing Due
V. NARRATIVE
WEEK TWELVE
Nov. 2 What is a Classical Narrative? What is a Heroic Protagonist?
Reading: Chap. 8, pp. 327 - 348
FILM: HIGH NOON (1952, Fred Zinnemann)
WEEK THIRTEEN
Nov. 9 Deeper Into Narrative: Structure, Point of View, & Symbolism
Reading: Giannetti, Chap. 9, pp. 387 - 398
FILM: J.S.A. (2000, Park Chan-Wook)
WEEK FOURTEEN
Nov. 16 Ideology
Reading: Giannetti, Chap. 10
FILM: IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967, Norman Jewison)
Assignment: Take-Home Analysis of Contemporary Film Due
WEEK FIFTEEN:
Nov. 23 No Class; Thanksgiving
WEEK SIXTEEN
Nov. 30 Putting It All Together: What Was the Director Trying to Tell Us?
FILM: THE LIMEY (1999, Steven Soderbergh)
Quiz #3: On Narrative
FINAL:
TBA Final Exam