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Lewis University English Department

 

Film Studies at Lewis University
 

Fall 2017

81500ENGL-22700.001

Stories into Film

Dr. Christopher Wielgos

TR 6:00 PM-9:45 PM

Prerequisite: ENGL-111000

This course explores the multi-faceted relationship between literary texts and their film adaptations. To this end, students will learn a specialized vocabulary, employ "reading" strategies specific to film, and consider a selected body of film criticism. In our course of study, we will focus on several broad areas of inquiry:

·         the difference between literary conventions/techniques and cinematic ones

·         the influence of cultural and historical conditions on the process of adaptation

·         various theories of adaptation: What are the different approaches a filmmaker can take to a literary text? How much does "fidelity" to the source really matter?

·         the consequences of adaptation: What meaningful changes result when a particular work is made into a film? How do the ideological implications of the two texts (literary and cinematic) differ, and why?

·         questions of interpretation: How do the text and the reader (viewer) "make" meaning?

 

81605 ENGL-27000.001

Introduction to Film Studies

Dr. Simone Muench

W 5:00 PM-9:00 PM

Prerequisite: ENGL-111000

This course will cover over 100 years of cinema from its primitive beginnings to the contemporary blockbuster era of such mega-hits as Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. We will examine various genres such as sexy screwball comedy, horror, and nightmarish film noir. We will view documentary, stop motion animation, and Dogme 95 films. Throughout, we will explore the elements of film form and style, while attempting to teach you how to re-see films in an active and critical manner, instead of merely letting them wash over you in the dark in an act of passive consumption. The class aims to provide you with an understanding of film as an artistic medium and to equip you with the vocabulary for discussing it. The primary methodology of the first half of the course is to break films down into the components of photography (writing in light), mise-en-scene, acting, editing, and sound with the understanding that all of these elements overlap. By analyzing the operation of each of these constituent parts in detail, and finally fusing these parts into a whole, we hope to come to understand how visual and auditory images create meaning and embody ideas worthy of careful analysis and discussion. The second half of the course will consider classical narrative structures, alternative structures, genre, and ideology with a continuing effort to synthesize everything you've learned over the course of the class. Possible films for the course include The Mascot, Some Like It Hot, The Celebration, Double Indemnity, The Thing, Once Were Warriors, Casablanca, Fallen Angels, The Exorcist, Run Lola Run, and It Happened One Night.

Possible texts for the course include Timothy Corrigan's A Short Guide to Writing About Film and Louis Giannetti's Understanding Movies. Assignments are designed to sharpen your analytic and critical skills as well as to develop your proficiency in written and oral communication.

 


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URL: http://www2.lewisu.edu/~wielgoch/film/
This site was created and is maintained by Dr. Christopher Wielgos, Professor of English, Lewis University.
This site was last updated September 25, 2017.
 
Any questions, comments, or suggestions may be sent to: wielgoch@lewisu.edu.

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This document Copyright © 2011 by Christopher Wielgos, PhD. All Rights Reserved.