MTA 101 ("Film in America")
Instructor: Walter Metz
Summer 2005
Meeting Times
The course meets three times a week: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8:45am until 12:20pm in VCB 182. Attendance is required at all class meetings; it will be taken at the beginning of each class session for purposes of determining the final grade.
Information About the Instructor
Dr. Walter Metz, Associate Professor
Office Location: VCB 224
Office Phone: (406) 994-6403 [with voice mail]
E-mail address: metz@montana.edu
Office Hours: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 12:20 until 1:20pm in VCB 224
Course Goals
This course serves as the introductory film class in the Media and Theater Arts Department. As such, it has two purposes. First, it serves as the introductory course for students interested in pursuing a major in film production. The course introduces film history, criticism, and aesthetics to these students. Even though it is a studies course, it is required for production students because these students need to learn the history and practices of the medium in which they intend to work, as well as to understand how people talk about the kind of work they one day hope to produce. Secondly, as a course featuring intensive content in history, aesthetics, and criticism, it serves to introduce the exciting work prominent in the contemporary humanities.
The course intends to combine work in three relatively separate sub-disciplines within film studies. First, we will explore how American films have developed from the late 19th century to the present. Even though this is not a history course per se, students will emerge with a generalist knowledge of American film history. Secondly, the course will teach students the academic language of analyzing film practices in three areas: aesthetic, narrative, and ideological. That is, students will learn to discuss how films are put together in terms of stylistic practices (aesthetics) and story structure (narrative), as well as what they mean socio‑politically (ideology). Finally, the course will grapple with the similarities and differences between three distinct modes of filmmaking: narrative, documentary, and avant‑garde.
Students will learn from this course how to analyze films using academic methods. You should also emerge from this experience with a greater ability and inclination to think critically about the media environment surrounding you. You will develop a broad understanding of American culture and history of the 20th century, at least as it is applicable to the cinema.
Film Screenings
During many class meetings, a film will be screened in its entirety. It is important to attend carefully to these films, taking copious notes on them: the films play a similar role in a film studies class that novels do in a literature class. That is, you must study the films to understand most of the other material of the course. The exams will require you to possess a significant amount of knowledge about these films.
Reading Material
I have ordered seven books for this course, all available at the MSU Bookstore (located in the Strand Union Building) and on reserve at the Renne Library.
Rushdie, Salman. The Wizard of Oz. London: BFI, 1992. ISBN 0851703003.
Mulvey, Laura. Citizen Kane. London: BFI, 1992. ISBN 0851703399.
Bukatman, Scott. Blade Runner. London: BFI, 1997. ISBN 0851706231.
Chion, Michel. Eyes Wide Shut. London: BFI, 2002. ISBN 085170932X.
Sitney, P. Adams. Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde, 1943-2000. New York and Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. 3rd Ed. ISBN 019514886X.
Barnouw, Eric. Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film. New York and Oxford: Oxford UP, 1993. 2nd Rev. Ed. ISBN 0195078985.
Note Taking
To do well, you must take notes in this class, on lecture material, the readings, and the screenings. In lecture, I'll be throwing a lot of complicated information at you, so you'll need to write it down, reflect on it, and work to understand its relevance to the "Big Picture." This is not the sort of class where if you just come and pay attention, you are guaranteed a good grade. There is a great deal of reading material, and in order to learn what is contained therein, you need to take notes on it and study it. People learn by processing material repeatedly. Reading something once without going back over it a few times (taking notes facilitates this) does not encourage remembering it later.
Grading Policy
Sometimes, students enter a film studies class expecting it to be a "gut" class (we're watching movies--how hard can it be?!!). This is not an easy class. The readings are heavy and the information I'll be presenting and we'll be discussing is often theoretical, and thus difficult and challenging. That said, however, I want to re-assure you that I'll keep this in mind while determining grades. Don't be afraid if you're confused early on. Use our discussions and office hours to work through this new material. That confusion is invigorating and is the fuel that will drive your education. No one who masters the material of this course will receive a grade of less than C. If you receive a D or F on either exam, I will be glad to work with you on study strategies so that you will do better on a re-take exam.
Graded Course Activities
Exam #1 (Monday, July 18) is worth 50%
Exam #2 (Friday, August 5) is worth 50%
Attendance (see below)
Description of Exams
My exams are rather challenging. However, I grade on a curve, and most students who study hard throughout the semester will do well on them. You'll be given short format yet open-ended questions (identifications, identify and analyze a quotation, and short essay) about the material presented in class and in the readings, and its applicability to the screenings. The material for these questions will be culled from lectures (including clips shown in class), the reading, and the films themselves. Please write down immediately the date of the exams. If you do not take an exam, you will receive a grade of F for the course (except in cases of extreme personal emergency). Make-up exams for reasons of extreme personal emergency must be arranged in advance.
Attendance Policy
If you don't come to lecture regularly, there's no way you'll pass the course. I'll be presenting complicated information in class, and be showing clips from films that won't be available later on. Since so much of the learning will be going on during lecture, you won't be able to fully understand the lecture by looking at someone else's notes later on. Also, there are no professional course notes available for this course. I will keep track of attendance, as a criteria for borderline students caught between one grade and another. Since the course is difficult, I always give a break to students who have demonstrated their interest by coming to class diligently (and also coming to office hours, etc.). However, students who miss a great number of classes do not help their cause any. At the instructor's discretion, if you miss 2 or more lectures (as un-excused absences, according to university definitions), expect to receive no better than a C in the course; 4 or more un-excused absences without explanation will probably result in a grade of F for the course.
How to do well in this class
Come to class prepared (having done the reading, having thought about the films, being prepared with questions, etc.). Take good notes on every facet of the class (screenings, lectures, readings). This will prove invaluable in preparing for the exams. Do the reading. Many students fall behind, and then complain that they're having trouble in the class. The reading is vital because it frames issues of the class in different words than mine in lecture. This gives you a second voice to help you understand difficult ideas. Keep up with the reading. Set aside a few hours on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights (the nights before the class periods) to read, take notes, and ponder the significance of the readings for the class.
Course Syllabus
Monday, June 27
Topic New Directions in American Film Studies
Case Study #1: Post-Feminism and The Stepford Wives
Wednesday, June 29
Topic American Silent Cinema
Reading Oxford History: "Silent Cinema" (pp 3-111)
Reading Oxford History: "The Introduction of Sound" (pp 211-219)
Monday, July 4
Wednesday, July 6
Screening Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941, 119 min)
Reading Salman Rushdie, The Wizard of Oz
Reading Laura Mulvey, Citizen Kane
Topic Classical Hollywood Cinema After World War II (cont'd)
Reading Oxford History: "The Post-War World" (pp 436-460)
Topic The New Hollywood
Reading Oxford History: "The Modern Cinema" (pp 463-575)
Exam #1
Screening Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982, 117 min)
Topic Genre: Science-Fiction
Reading Scott Bukatman, Blade Runner
Screening Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999, 159 min)
Topic Auteurism: Stanley Kubrick
Reading Michel Chion, Eyes Wide Shut
Part Two: Non-Narrative American Film History
Monday, July 25
Reading P. Adams Sitney, Visionary Film
Wednesday, July 27
Topic American Experimental Cinema (cont'd)
Topic American Experimental Cinema (cont'd)
Reading Eric Barnouw, Documentary
Monday, August 1
Topic American Film Documentary (cont'd)
Wednesday, August 3
Topic American Film Documentary (cont'd)
Course Evaluations
Friday, August 5
Old Lecture Notes
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This page was last updated on June 27, 2005
Questions or Comments? Please send e-mail to: metz@montana.edu
Walter Metz, Department of Media and Theater Arts, Montana State University--Bozeman