Course Offerings 2011-2012

Note for students entering second year:

• FILM Majors and Medials going into second year should take 250 and four of 206*, 216*, 226*, 236* or 240*, to complete a degree.
• FILM Minors should take 250 and two of 206*, 216*, 226*, 236*, or 240*, to complete a degree.
• Stage & Screen (STSC) Majors should take 250 and two of 206*, 216*, 226*, 236* or 240*.
• Ideally, you'd take all of your required 200-level courses in second year. However, you may not be able to schedule all of them in one academic year. If that's the case, you may take them in any order. However, you do need to complete 250 and two of the other 200-level courses marked with a star, by the end of second year in order to be admitted to 300-level courses in your third year.

Note regarding production courses:

• Students are permitted to register in only one of the following courses: FILM 355, FILM 375, FILM 385.

Notes: See the Faculty of Arts and Science Calendar for required courses, prerequisites and enrolment priorities.

IDIS 210*, STSC 300*, INTS 326*, and IDIS 410* may be used as Optional Film units.

Legend: 110/6.0/FW = Film Course Number / Credits / (F)all (W)inter Session.
Course number with * indicates a 3.0 credit course.
 
 
 

FILM 110/6.0/ FW: Film, Culture and Communication Introduction to analysis of film, television, advertising, and other related forms of contemporary culture. Includes classical and contemporary Hollywood cinema, Canadian film and television, and alternatives in international cinema. Course requirements include both written work and elementary projects on videotape. Instructors: Peter Baxter, Dorit Naaman, Gary Kibbins, Sidneyeve Matrix
 
 
 

IDIS 210*/3.0/W: Arts in Society Interested in Art? Music? Drama? Film? Looking for a course that breaks out of that same-old same-old lecture format? Want to learn about contemporary arts and get out of the classroom? IDIS 210 will provide a broad-ranging introduction to a range of intellectual and social functions the arts continue to play in the early 21st century. Through a series of guest speakers and performers, students will explore topics as wide-ranging as aesthetics, politics, race, representation, critical theory, and identity formation. Attendance at local arts activities such as film screenings, dramatic performances, musical performances, and gallery exhibitions will form part of the course activities. Instructors: Donato Santeramo (Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures) and Gary Kibbins (Department of Film and Media)

FILM 206*/3.0/F: Research, Writing and Presentation Methods A series of interactive presentations and lectures instructing students in research methods, argumentative writing and the design of effective audio-visual presentations. PREREQUISITE FILM 104* and 106*, or 110. Instructor: Frank Burke

FILM 216*/3.0/W: Historical Inquiry Introduction to historical research and analysis of narrative and other films. Examines works, from a range of periods and settings, and the conditions that shaped their production, distribution and reception. In 2011, the course will focus on films of the silent era. PREREQUISITE FILM 104* and 106*, or 110 .EXCLUSIONS FILM 211*, 212*, 215*. Instructor: Peter Baxter

FILM-226*/3.0 /W: Critical Inquiry Textual analysis of narrative and other films, including examination of formal, aesthetic, and narrative techniques and conventions, and their production of meaning in social and political contexts. PREREQUISITE FILM 104* and FILM 106*, or FILM 110. EXCLUSION FILM 225. Instructor: TBA

FILM 236*/3.0/F: Media Studies Introduction to cultural and social theory of film and other media as it relates to the tensions between citizenship and consumerism. Examines roles, functions, and impact of mass media technologies, institutions, and practices in both scholarly and practical forms. PREREQUISITE FILM 104* and 106*, or 110. EXCLUSIONS FILM 221*, 231*, 232* Instructor: Susan Lord

FILM 240*/3.0/F: Media and Popular Culture Includes lectures on a variety of media and genres (including cinema, TV, radio, gaming, music video, romance novels, magazines, advertising, broadcast and print news media, digital communications & information technologies). Students will study popculture productions, consumptions, and representations in order to better understand the importance of mass media in shaping our identities, choices, imaginations, and cultural dynamics. Instructor: Sidneyeve Matrix

FILM 250/6.0/ FW: Fundamentals of Production This course provides a grounding in basic filmmaking concepts and techniques, including directing, lighting, sound recording, and editing. It is structured around a series of short narrative and documentary video exercises, done by small groups of students. Each student also writes a script for a short film in the Fall Term, and produces or directs a film in the Winter Term. PREREQUISITE FILM 104* and 106*, or 110. Instructor: Derek Redmond
 
 
 

STSC 300*/3.0/W: Stage and Screen Practical course for Stage and Screen students which compares the production process of live theatre with that of film and television. Through a series of exercises, students will learn the fundamentals for writing, directing, acting and editing dramatic words for stage and screen. Enrolment is limited. PREREQUISITE FILM 250, DRAM 237* or 238* and 251* Instructor: T.B.A.

INTS 326/3.0/F: Labours of Film in the New Europe In this course, European film is our starting point for investigating the connections between work and art. Topics will include: urban space; (post- and para-) socialist societies; border crossings, especially gendered labour and cultural flows. The new Europe and its film shape each other; in what ways does this matter? Delimiting and unsettling national borders, they also shape and are shaped by the global; why should we care? PREREQUISITE Second year standing or permission of the Department. Instructor: Jennifer Hosek

FILM 301*/3.0/F: American Film in Historical Perspective This course studies the production and reception of film in the United States from the turn of the 20th century to the present day. It traces the aesthetic, technological and organizational changes in various film practices, and places those changes in the context of American social history. Example films are chosen from feature filmmaking as well as from documentary and experimental traditions. Instructor: Blaine Allan.

FILM 303*/3.0/W: National and International Cinema Intermediate examination of a national cinema or the cinemas of more than one nation. Recently this course has looked at Bollywood films from India. Instructor: T.B.A.

FILM 305*/3.0/F: European Narrative This course will focus on postwar Italian cinema, seeking to use that cinema to explore issues of Italian nationhood and identity over the past fifty plus years. The course has been organized in terms of six crucial moments in postwar Italy: the immediate postwar period; the 1950s, rapid modernization, and the "economic miracle"; the 1960s and unrealized dreams of radical social change; the 1970s as critique of the 1960s (and revisionist critique of Italian history); the 1980s and the entry into late capitalism and postmodernity; 1990s to the present and globalization, immigration to Italy, the death of communism, the era of Silvio Berlusconi, and Italy's crises en route to joining the European Union. Instructor: Frank Burke

FILM 312*/3.0/F: Screenwriting Students will analyze examples from existing works and prepare a ten-minute original screenplay. Assignments include proposal, outline, treatment, dialogue scene, first draft and final manuscript. Each assignment in the screenwriting process will be presented and workshopped by the class. PREREQUISITE FILM 250 unless waived by the instructor. Instructor: Frances Leeming

FILM 312*/3.0/W: Screenwriting see above Instructor: Frances Leeming

FILM 322*/3.0/W: Canadian Film and Television to 1980 Intermediate study in history and critical analysis, from early cinema to the tax-shelter boom and the institution of Telefilm Canada. Areas to be considered include the National Film Board of Canada during and after World War II; First Nations peoples on film; CBC drama and current affairs broadcasts; the rise of feature filmmaking in QuŽbec and English Canada; and such filmmakers as Nell Shipman, Norman McLaren, Alanis Obomsawin, and Jean Pierre Lefebvre. Instructor: Blaine Allan

FILM 340*/3.0/W: Advertising and Consumer Culture Historical and critical examination of advertising especially television and related print materials, as cultural, economic, and political practices within a continuously changing consumer society. While theories and critiques of advertising will be strongly emphasized, so will the nature and consequences of consumer society. Whereas the former are principally first world phenomena, the latter provoke analysis of globalization and the effects of consumerism on developing nations and on the environment. Assignments will include several group presentations; a final essay; and a final group media project. Instructor: T.B.A.

FILM 355*/6.0/FW: Documentary Theory and Practice What is a documentary: facts? art? reality reproduced digitally? This course is aimed at both producing a documentary, as well as understanding it in its historical and critical context. The course will work on two tracks concurrently: In the first track students will produce a short documentary film (5-6min.) on HD. The course will progress from conceptualizing an idea, through proposals, production, post-production and festival submission. The process of filmmaking is at once lengthy, requires many resources (financial/artistic/resourcefulness) and communal in nature. To facilitate the successful completion of a project over two terms, you are encouraged to work in a team of two. At the same time we will watch and analyze a range of documentaries raising questions with regards to voice, image, and the power to represent others. Alternative and traditional documentaries will be viewed and analyzed in short paper form. Instructor: Dorit Naaman

FILM 375/6.0/FW: Experimental Theory and Practice A course which combines study of the history and theory of experimental film with the production of experimental works. Requirements will include both research essays as well as the conceptualization and production of an experimental video or film. PREREQUISITE FILM 250 EXCLUSIONS FILM 353*, 370*. Instructor: Gary Kibbins

FILM 385/6.0/FW: Animation Theory and Practice A course which combines study of the history and theory of film animation with the production of animated films. Requirements will include both research essays as well as the conceptualization and production of an animated film PREREQUISITE FILM 250 EXCLUSION: FILM 441* (2006-07), 451* (2004 Ð 2007) Instructor: Frances Leeming

FILM 395*/3.0: Internship Film concentrators entering their third year many apply to undertake a practical internship in media production, criticism or curatorship. All internships are approved in advance by application to the Undergraduate Coordinator on a case by case basis. Note: Credit for this course must be arranged prior to your employment. Course credit will NOT be granted for work already completed. Your completed application form must be submitted to the Chair of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of Film and Media on or before the first day of classes in the term for which credit will be granted.
 
 
 

IDIS 410*/3.0/F: Contemporary Cultural Performance in Practice Students in film, visual art, drama and music explore new modes of interdisciplinary performance practice through the creation of a collective work performed for the public. Students will work in at least two disciplines through a series of practical group assignments: visual art, movement, audio, moving images, new media, performance art, etc. Particularly well suited for students in the Stage and Screen program. Prerequisite: Fourth year standing in your own concentration. Instructors: Dorit Naaman, Kim Renders, Matt Rogalsky

FILM 415*/3.0/F:Contemporary Theory: Special Topic: Cinema and the Phenomenological Tradition This course is designed to introduce students to the phenomenological tradition within film studies.Ê Phenomenology is a unique methodological approach toward understanding the structures of the lifeworld (Lebenswelt), a term Edmond Husserl coined to characterize our shared, everyday, pre-reflective experience. ÊWe will focus on historically significant cinematic examples that attempt to mirror and interrogate our lifeworld, with particular attention paid to cinemaÕs ability to embody lived temporal experience.Ê Guiding us in our examination of the intertwining of cinema and the lifeworld are the phenomenological findings of philosophers such as Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, approaches to cinematic ontology put forth by thinkers such as AndrŽ Bazin, Siegfried Kracauer and Stanley Cavell, as well as contemporary phenomenological approaches offered by film scholars such as Vivian Sobchack and Dudley Andrew. Instructor: Glen Norton

FILM 422*/3.0/F: Canadian Cinema: Special Topic A concentrated study in Canadian film and television authorship. Allan King (1930Ð2009) had a rich creative career as a filmmaker that spanned over fifty years. It started with a documentary encounter with the disadvantaged, Skidrow, and ended with another, EMPz 4 Life, in a significantly transformed Canadian society. Between them, King made films and television broadcasts that could be challenging, popular, and both, including the direct-cinema documentary Warrendale, commissioned by the CBC but famously banned from the public air; the observational chronicle A Married Couple; an adaptation of W. O. MitchellÕs Who Has Seen the Wind, a box-office hit; the ethical challenge of WhoÕs in Charge?, an exercise in power, decision-making, and group dynamics; such innovative television dramas as Maria and Ready for Slaughter, as well as episodes of Danger Bay and Road to Avonlea that paid the bills; and the later documentaries, Memory, for Max, Claire, Ida, and Company and Dying at Grace, which unblinkingly confront infirmity and mortality. By examining KingÕs career and the productions it yielded, we also examine a half-century of engaged Canadian cinema and television. Instructor: Blaine Allan

FILM 425*/3.0/W: Advanced Film Criticism Research seminar that draws on studentsÕ previous work to enhance advanced writing and research in film criticism. Topics from theory, criticism, and history will be addressed to suit individual studentsÕ projects. Prerequisite: Fourth year standing, or permission from the instructor. Instructor: Frank Burke

FILM 430*/3.0/W: Authorship Advanced seminar on film authorship and analysis. Orson Welles, with the legendary Citizen Kane, and Nicholas Ray, with the highly acclaimed They Live By Night, both started their careers as film directors in the Hollywood studio system, and both ended as maverick independents, shut out of the mainstream. Examining them through their lives and careers, this comparative discussion draws on the work that each undertook over four decades. Instructor: Blaine Allan

FILM 436*/3.0/W: Culture and Representation Special Topic II Research seminar on mobile and social media communication strategies and politics concerning reputation management for brands, individuals, celebrities, companies, and organizations. Theoretical and practical investigation into how communications platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, and You Tube are impacting communities, interpersonal relationships, real-time news flow, branding, human resources, consumer practices, public relations, and social media marketing. PREREQUISITE Fourth-year standing, or permission of the Department. Instructor: Sidneyeve Matrix

FILM 445*/3.0/W: Narrative Film: Special Topic I This course will explore"sword-and-sandal" films of the 1950s and early 1960s, focusing both on schlock Italian products such as the Steve Reeves Hercules ÒHerculesÓ films that enjoyed surprising economic success and the more "serious" Hollywood epics of the same period, many of which were shot in Italy. Neither the Hollywood nor the Italian versions would have been possible without the strong interpenetration of Hollywood and Italian film, practically and economically, during the 1950s. The focus will not be so much on the history of a genre as on the analysis of a significant moment in the postwar history of media and representation. The western world was, in the late 1950s, beginning to undergo the transformation in capitalism, media (with the emergence of television), and cultural signification that has now acquired the label "postmodernity." The sword-and-sandal epic in terms of both production modes and signification provides a great deal of insight into this transformation. In relation to the Italian films, we will also examine the "seriousness" of seemingly airhead cinema, exploring how mass entertainment, seemingly empty of serious intent or meaning, and intended only to reap profit can become, through its popularity and "timeliness," a bearer of major social meaning. Other issues to be discussed in relation to the sword and sandal film will be melodrama, spectacle vs. narrative, camp, and kitsch. Assignments will include group presentations, brief bi-weekly individual assignments on screenings and readings, a group Mystery Science Theatre 3000 overdub, and a 15-page final essay. Instructor: Frank Burke

FILM 450*/3.0/F: Production: Special Topic I: The Business of Media Covers the major financial aspects of media production: budgeting, raising money - private and public, production management, distribution and marketing. Course also looks at how emerging technologies are rapidly changing how things are done, and how media producers will be working in the future. Instructor: T.B.A.

FILM 451*/3.0/F: Production: Special Topic II: Advanced Screenwriting Advanced course in writing medium-length dramatic narratives. The course involves intensive analysis of existing screenplays. Students will write scripts in stages: outline, treatment, first draft and several revisions. Instructor: T.B.A.
 
 
 

FILM 500/ 6.0, 501*/3.0 Honours Thesis Open to students completing an honours concentration in Film Studies or Stage and Screen Studies. May be an essay or a film or video project. Apply for FILM 500 or 501*, but not both, to the Undergraduate Chair by May 1 of your third year. Prerequisites: an average of at least 75 per cent in Film Studies courses.

FILM 510/6.0, 511*/3.0, 512*/3.0 Directed Studies Open to students completing an honours concentration in film Studies or Stage and Screen Studies. Enables a student to pursue an area of study not covered in regularly offered courses. Applicants must obtain approval of the Undergraduate Coordinator and supervising instructor. Prerequisites: an average of at least 75 per cent in Film Studies courses.
 
 
 

For further information on preregistration, course timetable, marks and deadlines, see the University Registrar.

See the Faculty of Arts and Science Calendar for a full listing of courses, regulations and requirements.

Students with questions or problems regarding courses, registration or timetables should contact the Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies, at (613) 533-2178.