Course Schedule
Below is a comprehensive list of topics, activities, readings, screenings, and assignments for this course. This schedule can also be found on our Course Homepage.
Modules or assignments may be hyperlinked here but remain locked until the module opens.
All assignments, unless otherwise stated, are due by 11:59pm on Monday night, one week after they were assigned.
*Screenings and materials are subject to change. You will receive advanced notice if a change occurs.
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Date |
Module, Topics, Films |
Assignments |
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Week 1 January 10-16 |
Getting Started Module
Unit 1: The Frame
Module 1: Introduction to Film Viewership in Film Theory and Criticism I
Watch: Sherlock Jr. (1924) Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan 17th) |
Complete: Free-Write Activity due by 5pm January 14th for financial aid
Watch “Every Frame a Painting: Buster Keaton – The Art of the Gag”
Read: Filmish Chapter 1: The Eye
Complete: Sherlock Jr. Discussion on motifs from the film Assignment due January 16th due to federal holiday. |
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Week 2 January 18-24
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Unit 1: The Frame
Module 2: Film Analysis Terms
Watch: Her (2013) |
Complete: Discussion post on Her and the Yale Film Analysis Guide
Complete: Sherlock Jr. Scene Analysis: Off-Screen Space
Assignment due January 24th at 11:59pm |
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Week 3 January 24th to January 31st |
Unit 2: Cinematic Space: spectacle, story, movement
Module 3: Apparatus Theory and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
Introduction to Apparatus Theory and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
Watch: L'arrivée (1999) and The Truman Show (1998) or The Conformist (1970) |
Read: Routledge, Apparatus Theory (Plato) (p. 21-33)
Practice: Label Plato's Cave
Complete: Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Discussion
Complete: Quiz #1 due by 11:59 p.m. on January 31st |
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Week 4 January 31st to February 7th |
Unit 2: Cinematic Space: spectacle, story, movement
Module 4: Cinematic Space Plato’s allegory of the cave in Brazil
Watch: Brazil (1985)
Mid-term essay instructions released
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Read: Filmish Chapters 2 & 3: The Body; Sets and Architecture
Complete: Brazil Scene Analysis: Set Design and Architecture |
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Week 5 February 7th to February 14th |
Unit 3: Silence and Sound Module 5: Sound Design and Movement Watch: M (1931) |
Watch: “Every Frame a Painting” Akira Kurosawa– Composing Movement
Complete: M Discussion
Complete: Quiz #2 due by 11:59 p.m. on February 14th |
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Week 6 February 14th to February 21st |
Unit 3: Silence and Sound
Module 6: Silence is Sound
Theories of sound in film
Watch: A Man Escaped (1956) |
Read: Filmish, Chapter 5: Voice and Language
Complete: A Man Escaped Discussion
Work on Mid-term Essay Exam |
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Week 7 February 21st to February 28th |
Unit 4: What is cinema?
Module 7: The Ontology of the Photographic Image
Watch: La Jette (1962) or The Witch (2015) |
Read: “Ontology of the Photographic Image,” Andre Bazin (Webcourses)
Read Filmish, Chapter 4: Time
Complete: Discussion Ontology of the Photographic Image along with La Jetee or The Witch
Work on Mid-term Essay Exam |
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Week 8 February 28th to March 4th |
Module 8: Mid-Term Essay Exam
Use the week to complete the Mid-Term Essay Exam |
Mid-term due by 11:59pm March 4th |
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Week 9 March 14th to March 21st
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Unit 4: What is Cinema?
Module 9: Subjective Camera and Research Methods for Film Analysis
Final Project Instructions
Research Methods for Film Analysis
Camera and Rhetoric
Watch: Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) |
Read: Routledge, Camera (p. 69-74)
Complete: Analyzing Film Criticism Assignment
Complete: Quiz #3 due by 11:59 p.m. on March 21st
Complete: Cleo from 5 to 7 Writing Assignment |
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Week 10 March 21st to March 28th
Withdrawal deadline: March 25th at 11:59pm |
Unit 5: Time & Sequence
Module 10: Video Essay Criticism and Power and Ideology
Video Essay Criticism
Power and Ideology, Technology and Technophobia
Watch: Meek's Cutoff (2010) or I Am Not Your Negro (2016) |
Read: Filmish Chapters 6 & 7: Power and Ideology; Technology and Technophobia
Watch: “Every Frame a Painting” on F for Fake
Complete: Diversity in Film Criticism Assignment
Complete: Final project proposal due by 11:59pm March 28th |
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Week 11 March 28th to April 4th
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Unit 5: Time & Sequence
Module 11: Point of View, Emotion and Illusion in Stories We Tell
Emotion in film and illusion
Watch: Stories We Tell (2012)
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Read: Routledge, Emotion, Film and (p. 151-156) + Illusion (p.247-252) + Point of View (pg. 371-375)
Complete: Stories We Tell Discussion
Complete: Quiz #4 due by 11:59 p.m. on April 4th
Work on Final Project |
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Week 12 April 4th to April 11th |
Module 12: Work-In-Progress Presentations |
Complete: Post your work-in-progress presentation by 11:59 pm on April 11th
Work on Final Project |
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Week 13 April 11th to April 18th
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Module 13: Peer Review of Final Project & Rough Draft Delivery
Module 14: Rough Draft Delivery |
Complete: Work-in-Progress Discussion
Complete: Peer Evaluation of Final Project by 11:59 p.m. April 18th
Complete: Rough Draft due by 11:59 April 18th |
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Week 14 Nov 29-Dec 3 Grade Forgiveness Deadline: April 25th
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Module 15: Revise Rough Draft |
Revise Rough Draft |
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Final Exam Week April 27th to May 3rd |
Module 16: Delivery of Final Project and Optional Final Project Discussion |
Complete: Final Project due by 11:59p, Tuesday, May 3rd Extra Credit (optional): post your final project in the Final Project Discussion by 11:59pm Tuesday, May 3rd
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