ENG 2300: Home

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Peer review sheets for projects 3,4 are now available.
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Extra credit assignments have now been posted.
Check out this website about the paramedic method.
Check out this website for MLA citation info: http://webster.commnet.edu/mla/index.shtml
Check the Work page for examples of discussion handouts.

Introduction

In 1878 Eadward Muybridge photographs a horse with all four feet off the ground. He does so by making innovations in film and shutter speed. Muybridge's photographs, taken on a California horse ranch to solve a simple problem, mark a significant moment in cinema's prehistory. This course builds on the spirit of exploration embodied in Muybridge's experiment with the racehorse. During the semester, students will approach problems, learn about technologies, offer answers and explanations, and perform critical experiments.

ENG 2300: Film Analysis introduces students to the field of film studies, and to the process of academic film analysis. We will cover, among other things: film terms, film technology, strategies for analyzing film, strategies for writing about film, and a brief history of cinema.

We will also engage in a variety of film analysis activities, including a scene analysis, a traditional hermeneutic essay, and experimental approaches to cinema. Students will work both individually and collaboratively throughout the semester. Since this course meets the "Gordon Rule," students will be expected to write at least 6000 words for grading during the semester.

This is not a course in film appreciation. It is a rigorous study that seeks to understand cinema thoroughly and theoretically. It will also provide an enjoyable introduction to the field of film studies.

Course Overview

This course will be divided into units, spread out over the semester; each will culminate in a large project. Specific details of the projects are available on the course project page.

Unit One: Terms and Technologies
The first section of the course will involve an introduction to the basic vocabulary and strategies needed for students to engage in film analysis. We will discuss a variety of issues and conduct a range of in-class experiments to learn to use these terms and ideas in our own work. In particular, we will explore how scenes relate to movies and how one can explain such a relationship.

Unit Two: Realism and Montage
In the second unit of the course, students will begin to conducting film analyses themselves. We will explore the two opposing viewpoints held by Andre Bazin and Sergei Eisenstein, and what such viewpoints reflect about cinema of the 20s, 30s and 40s. We will discuss the ramifications of the two ideas and the ways that both have affected recent cinematic trends. We will also discuss other "Approaches to Writing About Film" such as Genre criticism, Auteurism, and Film History.

Unit Three: The Archive
The third unit of the course might aptly be dubbed "experimental," as students will engage in an experimental/ aesthetic critical project using methods similar to those discussed in The Avant Garde Finds Andy Hardy. After dividing into film crews, students will create an academic, historical, aesthetic "archive." The process for constructing this archive will be drawn from chapters 3 and 5 of Andy Hardy, and will be inspired by The Doll Games (a hypertext by Shelly and Pamela Jackson). The process of constructing this archive will, ideally, lead the students in unexpected directions for their research.

Unit Four: Alphabet paper
The final project for this course is another experimental project, this time organized around the alphabet, as explained in Chapter Six of Andy Hardy. Crews will divide the letters of the alphabet among them, each student being responsible for writing entries for some of the letters about the crew's film. As in unit three, this is an experimental process that allows for a wide range of responses and entries.