HUAS 6373: Film Theory

Tuesday 1:00pm—3:45pm, Fall 2010

JO 4.312

Instructor: Dr. Jonathan Frome

Email: jonathan.frome@utdallas.edu

Description: This course will explore theories of film from the 1930s to today. Topics covered
will include: the nature of film, film's status as art, realism in film, how film compares to other
media, how to evaluate and interpret films, how we relate to film characters, and how film
structure and style can elicit emotion from the viewer.

Required texts:
 Rudolph Arnheim, Film as Art, Univ of California Press, 1957
 Victor Perkins, Film as Film, De Capo Press, 1972
 Carl Plantinga, Moving Viewers, Univ of California Press, 2009
 Berys Gaut, A Philosophy of Cinematic Art, Cambridge Univ Press, 2010
 Amazon Prime is currently free for students. If you sign up, you can have the
books within two days.
 All other readings on electronic reserve. Password is “montage.”
 Assigned films are required viewing.
 All films available on reserve at UTD McDermott Library media center.
 Recommended films are optional, but if you have seen the assigned film recently,
please see a recommended film.

Grading:

Reading questions 10%

Class participation 10%
First short paper 15%
Second short paper 20%
Paper topic submission 5%
Paper topic approval 5%
Paper thesis and outline 5%
Final paper 30%
Total 100%
Final grade scale: A (94-100), A- (90-93), B+ (87-89), B (84-86), B- (80-83), C+ (77-79), C
(70-76), D (60-69), F (0-59)

Grading policies:
 For the final grade, no incompletes will be given except in documented extraordinary
circumstances.

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  You must complete all assignments to earn a passing grade for the course.

 Any concerns about grades must be discussed in person, not over email, telephone, or
Twitter.
If you miss more than two classes you cannot get an A in the course. If you miss more than three
classes, you cannot pass the course. Arrivals more than one hour late count as misses. Exceptions
will be made only in extreme cases or with prior approval.
Please review UTD official academic policies, which apply to this class, here:
http://go.utdallas.edu/syllabus-policies

Course Schedule:
Note: always bring readings to class. For e-reserves, bring a printout or copy to class. You can
bring a copy electronically on a laptop, if you wish.
All films are on media reserve (or will be shortly). All readings not in the required books are on
e-reserves.
Week 1: Introduction (Aug 24)
Week 2 : Orthodox theorists: Arnheim (Aug 31)
Read: Arnheim, Film as Art, “Selections Adapted from Film” (parts 1-4)
Watch: The Gold Rush (Chaplin, 1925), The Immigrant (Chaplin, 1917)
Week 3 : Is film art? (Sep 7)
Read: Gaut, A Philosophy of Cinematic Art (hereafter PCA), chp. 1
Watch: Twelve Angry Men (Lumet, 1957)
Week 4 : Orthodox theorists: Eisenstein (Sep 14)
Read: Eisenstein, “The Montage of Film Attractions,” “Beyond the Shot,” and “The Dramaturgy
of Film Form”; Perkins, Film as Film (hereafter FAF), chp. 1
Watch: October (Eisenstein, 1928)
Recommended: Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein, 1925)
Week 5: Realist theorists: Bazin (Sep 21)
Read: Bazin, “The Ontology of the Photographic Image” and “The Evolution of the Language of
Cinema”; Perkins, FAF, chp. 2
Watch: Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)
Recommended: Rules of the Game (Renoir, 1939); The Magnificent Ambersons (Welles, 1942)
First short paper due Friday, Sep 24.
Week 6: Realism
Read: Gaut, PCA, 60-78; Grodal, Embodied Visions, “The Experience of Audiovisual Realism”
Watch: a “realistic” film—pick at least on of the following that you have not seen:
 City of God (Meirelles & Lund, 2002)

 The Idiots (von Trier, 1998) (warning—explicit content)

 You Can Count on Me (Lonergan, 2000)

 Generation Kill (HBO mini-series, see an episode or two)

Week 7: Film criticism: Perkins (Oct 5)
Read: Perkins FAF, chp. 4, 5, 6

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Watch: Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960)
Recommended: Rope (Hitchcock, 1948), Marnie (Hitchcock, 1964)
Week 8: Medium specificity (Oct 12)
Read: Carroll, The Philosophy of Motion Pictures, “Medium Specificity”; Gaut, PCA, chp. 7
Watch: either My Dinner with Andre (Malle, 1981) or The Man From Earth (Schenkman, 2007)
Recommended: the other one
Week 9: Film interpretation (Oct 19)
Read: Gaut, PCA, chp. 4
Watch: Rashomon (Kurosawa, 1950)
Recommended: Starship Troopers (Verhoven, 1997)
Week 10: Film emotions (Oct 26)
Read: Carroll, The Philosophy of Motion Pictures, “Affect and the Moving Image” (147
160); Plantinga, Moving Viewers (hereafter MV), chp. 2
Watch: Unforgiven (Eastwood, 1992)
Recommended: Stella Dallas (Vidor, 1937)
Second short paper due Friday, Oct 29.
Week 11: Smith’s structure of sympathy (Nov 2)
Read: Smith, Engaging Characters, pp. 73-109, 142-149, 187-197; Carroll, The Philosophy of
Motion Pictures, “Sympathy” and “Solidarity” (177-184)
Watch: The Man Who Knew Too Much (Hitchcock, 1956)
Recommended: Rosemary’s Baby (Polanski, 1968)
Week 12: Identification (Nov 9)
Carroll, The Philosophy of Motion Pictures, “Some Affective Relations…”, 161-170; Gaut,
PCA, chp. 6
Watch: Letter from an Unknown Woman (Ophuls, 1948)
Recommended: The Crying Game (Jordan, 1992)
Three paper topics due Friday, Nov. 12.
Week 13: Character engagement (Nov 16)
Read: Plantinga, MV, chp. 3
Watch: The Royal Tenenbaums (Anderson, 2001)
Recommended: Witness (Weir, 1985)
Approved paper topic due Friday, Nov. 19.
Week 14: Creating film emotions (Nov 23)
Read: Plantinga, MV, chp. 5
Watch: Strangers on a Train (Hitchcock, 1951)
Recommended: The Piano (Campion, 1993)
Specific thesis statement and very brief paper outline due Friday, Nov 26.
Week 15: Negative emotions (Nov 30)
Read: Plantinga, MV, chp. 6; Smuts, “Art and Negative Emotions”
Watch: Titanic (Cameron, 1997)
Recommended: Grave of the Fireflies (Takahata, 1988), The Elephant Man (Lynch, 1980)
Final paper due Friday, Dec 3. It will be returned with comments and may be re-written one
time. The rewrite grade replaces the initial grade.
Rewrites are due Monday, Dec 13.
Always feel free to come to me with any questions!