Registry

Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2012 - 2013
Please note that this information is subject to change.

Module Title Film, History and Theory
Module Code CM286
School School of Communications
Online Module Resources

Module Co-ordinatorSemester 1: Pat Brereton
Semester 2: Pat Brereton
Autumn: Pat Brereton
NFQ level 8 Credit Rating 5
Pre-requisite None
Co-requisite None
Compatibles None
Incompatibles None
Description
This module documents and analyses the major developments in the evolution of cinema in a socio-historical context. It explores the key theoretical tools used to understand film and demonstrates how to apply these in order to critically analyse a broad range of films.

Learning Outcomes
1. 1. Identify and describe the major technological and artistic milestones in the history and pre-history of cinema
2. 2. Explain and socially contextualise the core cinematic traditions that emerged out of America, Europe and the Soviet Union
3. 3. Master the key theoretical frameworks used to analyse cinema such as genre, narrative, semiotics, feminist analysis, auteur theory and audience studies
4. 4. Synthesise and apply the theoretical material in order to critically analyse a film or a body of filmic work
5. 5. Advance original arguments regarding cinema s role in society using the relevant literature and original examples



Workload Full-time hours per semester
Type Hours Description
Lecture22Lectute / Screening
Seminars22Discussion / Screening
Independent learning81Reading / Viewing
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities
The pre-history of cinema..
Early experiments in cinema, technological versus cultural determinsim..

Basic codes and techniques of cinema..
Realism versus artifice, The Lumières and George Mélies..

Griffith and the rise of Hollywood..
The Birth of a Nation and editing..

Montage and modernism..
Eisenstein and Soviet cinema..

German Expressionism..
Kracauer's From Caligari to Hitler, the 'optical unconscious'..

Auteur Theory..
Cahiers du Cinéma and the 'politique des auteurs'..

Genre and society..
The western, the gangster film, film noir, horror, musical, melodrama..

The woman's film..
The male gaze, gender and the voice..

Sound and the voice..
Narration, the voice and the psychological functioning of sound in cinema..

'Alternative', experimental and counter-cinema..
Challenging Hollywood, queer cinema, art film / film art..

New cinemas in a globalised, digital age..
Bollywood and Nollywood, film in the digital age, realism and special effects..

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment100% Examination Weight0%
Course Work Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
AssignmentDetails will be circulated in class100%n/a
Reassessment Requirement
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories;
1 = A resit is available for all components of the module
2 = No resit is available for 100% continuous assessment module
3 = No resit is available for the continuous assessment component
This module is category 1
Indicative Reading List
  • Graeme Turner: 2002, The Film Cultures Reader, Routledge,,
  • Wheeler Winston Dixon and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster: 2002, Experimental Cinema: the Film Reader, Routledge,
  • Brian Michael Goss: 2009, Global Auteurs: Politics in the Films of Almodovar, Von Trier and Winterbottom, Peter Lang Publishing,
  • Jill Nelmes: 2007, An Introduction to Film Studies, Routledge,
  • David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson: 2003, Film Art: An Introduction, McGraw-Hill,
  • Yvonne Tasker: 2004, Action and Adventure Cinema, Routledge,
  • Pam Cook: 2007, The Cinema Book, British Film Institute,
  • Yvonne Tasker: 1998, Working Girls: Gender and Sexuality in Popular Cinema, Routledge,
  • David Cook: 2004, A History of Narrative Film, Norton & Co,
  • Martin Barker and Thomas Austin: 2000, From Ants to Titanic: Reinventing Film Analysis, Pluto Press,
  • Vito Russo: 1987, The Celluloid Closet, Harper and Row,
  • David Gerstner and Janet Staiger: 2002, Authorship and Film, Routledge,
Other Resources
6751, Online Journal, 0, http://www.ejumpcut.org, 6752, Online Journal, 0, http://www.sensesofcinema.com, 6753, Online Journal, 0, http://www.cineaste.com, 6754, Online Journal, 0, http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/,
Array
Programme or List of Programmes
MMABSc in Multimedia
Timetable this semester: Timetable for CM286
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