Faculty of Creative Arts, Humanities and Education

Topics in Film History UPCPRJ-30-1

Module Handbook 2011-2012

Module Leader Office Email address Drop-in hour

Humberto Prez-Blanco 3CK6 Humberto2.Perez-Blanco@uwe.ac.uk

PLEASE NOTE: STUDENTS SHOULD REFER TO THE FACULTY STUDENT HANDBOOK, FILM STUDIES AWARD HANDBOOK AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HANDBOOK FOR MORE GENERAL INFORMATION

Contents
1. INTRODUCTION AND MODULE AIMS ............................................ 1 3. LEARNING OUTCOMES .................................................................. 1 4. MODULE CURRICULUM SUMMARY ................................................ 2 5. MODULE CURRICULUM: WEEK-BY-WEEK.. 3 5.1. SEMESTER ONE ..................................................................................... 3 5.2. SEMESTER TWO .................................................................................... 8 6. ORGANISATION OF THE MODULE ............................................... 13 6.1. TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODS ......................................................... 13 6.2. READING STRATEGIES ........................................................................... 13 6.3. FACILITIES AND RESOURCES ................................................................... 13 7. ASSESSMENT .............................................................................. 15

7.1. SUMMARY.......................................................................................... 15 7.2. ASSESSMENT COMPONENT DETAILS ........................................................... 16 8. MODULE SPECIFICATION DOCUMENT ....................................... 20

1. Introduction and Module Aims

Topics in Film History will introduce you to the global historic development of film and help
you think about questions of technology, audience, exhibition and industrial organisation. It explores how filmmaking can be understood as both part of and as a representation of wider historical, artistic and social issues and developments. It will also help you gain, develop and practice the key skills in reading, researching, discussion and writing necessary to your development as undergraduates as well as offering you a strong foundation for your future critical and theoretical investigation of film. Part One of the module begins by examining the development of film as a medium. We shall consider such topics as the origins of cinema, the emergence of the mainstream shape of movie entertainmentin both the USA and Europe and the development of synchronised sound and colour In Part Two we will consider a range of national and international film movements, including German Expressionism, Soviet Montage, the British documentary movement in the 30s, Italian Neo-realism, the French New Wave, surrealism and Dogme 95. We shall examine the relationship these film movements had to the historic period and place in which they developed and ask how and why did these specific types of filmmaking arise in these particular countries and times, as well as consider their continuing legacy and influence. Part Three builds on this historical understanding of the international range of filmmaking to open up debates around the representation of history on film. We shall examine how films can be seen as contributing to our understanding of history today, in terms of films ability to document actual events, as a way to evoke a more general sense of the past, or as representations that can never be more than a partial or biased version of history. To this end we shall consider a selection of films which look at recent conflict(s) in the Gulf, the events of September 11th 2001 and the subsequent War on Terror.

2. Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module, students will have developed an understanding of the general outline of the history of cinema globally, a detailed understanding of several specific conjunctures in film history, and an awareness of debates surrounding the cinematic representation of history and historical moments. They should be able to demonstrate: 1. an ability to relate critical analysis of specific films to the wider cultural and historical circumstances of their production and initial consumption (assessed through Component A, Component B, Element 1); 2. knowledge of key phases in the development of cinema globally and of specific national cinemas (Component A, Component B, Element 1); 3. the ability to develop a small scale project on a specific film movement (Component B, Element 1); 4. knowledge of debates about the cinematic representations of history and period (Component B, Elements 1 and 2)

3. Organisation of the Module

3.1. Teaching and Learning Methods This module will be delivered through a programme of screenings, set reading, lectures, and seminars. In order to succeed in this module you must participate actively in all of these elements. In addition to the set readings and screening there are also recommended further readings and recommended further viewings that will help develop your knowledge of film
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history. While in the first instance you should concentrate on the set readings and screenings, these further recommendations will be of particular use when you are researching for assignments for both this and future modules. 3.2. Reading Strategies You must read the set reading in advance of the screening, lecture and seminar, and bring it with you to your seminar. Set readings are found in the Module Reader and are also available electronically via the relevant folder in Blackboard. Further readings can mostly be located either as hard copies in the UWE library (but not necessarily at St. Matts library) or via the elibrary. Some others will be made available electronically and accessible on the modules blackboard website throughout the year. In addition to the Module reader, the listed websites and the week by week further readings as listed below, the following books are recommended as of use throughout the year. All of them are available in the library: David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film History: An Introduction 2nd edition (Boston: McGraw Hill, 2003) Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen (eds), Film Theory and Criticism, 6th Edition (Oxford: OUP, 2004) Paul Grainge (ed.) Memory and Popular Film (Manchester: MUP, 2003) Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, (ed.), The Oxford History of World Cinema (Oxford: OUP, 1996). Robert Stam, Film Theory: An Introduction (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000) Robert Stam and Toby Miller (eds) Film and Theory: An Anthology (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000) The following also have some useful sections: David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction 7th Edition (Boston: McGraw Hill, 2004) Susan Hayward, Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts 2nd Edition (London: Routledge, 2000) John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson (eds) The Oxford Guide to Film Studies (Oxford: OUP, 1998) Pam Cook (ed.), The Cinema Book 2nd edition (London: BFI, 1999) Also, all of the following can be recommended as trustworthy and worth investigating: BFI. The web site of the British Film Institute offering a wealth of useful and accurate information on a wide range of films. While the focus is on British Cinema and much of the information is a little basic, it can be a good starting point and they also offer information and links on a wide range of films. Available at www.bfi.org

Bright Lights Film Journal. A popular-academic hybrid journal of film analysis, history
and commentary. Can be a bit over excited but often interesting. Available at www.brightlightsfilm.com

The Internet Movie Database. Lists almost every film ever made, giving cast and crew credits, details about box-office business and production companies involved, publicity materials and some additional links. Available at www.imdb.co.uk

Scope. The online journal of the Institute of Film Studies based at Nottingham
University. Available at http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/ ScreenSite. Academic database, giving links to additional resources (listed under headings, such as Research). Available at www.screensite.org

Senses of Cinema. An online journal that tends to focus on art, independent and
experimental cinema. Available at www.sensesofcinema.com

There are also some excellent specific on-line film history sources. See The History of the Discovery of Cinematography http://www.precinemahistory.net/

Early Cinema Gateway http://www.charlesurban.com/gateway.htm Silent Film Sources http://www.cinemaweb.com/silentfilm/

3.3. Facilities and Resources Library You are expected to use the full potential of the UWE library system. As a multi-campus institution, resources are scattered. Books, periodicals, videos and DVDs may be housed on a different site to St Matthias. So be prepared, especially when working on assignments, to use the inter-site loan system or travel to the other sites to obtain relevant material. St Matthias Library has a good collection of books, articles and movies relevant to this module. Additional holdings at Bower Ashton and Frenchay campuses can be transferred via intercampus loans. Further information on the library and its services is available online: http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/ Audio visual resources It is a minimum requirement that you attend screenings, but you should also expand your knowledge of cinema by exploring the Librarys holdings. Video and DVD players are available in the library; you will need to borrow a set of headphones from the issue desk in order to use the equipment. There is also a group viewing room available where groups of up to twelve students can watch videos and DVDs.

Module Curriculum: Summary

SEMESTER ONE Week Lecture 1 PART ONE: TECHNOLOGY AND PRODUCTION Early Cinema 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Slapstick and Shock Hollywood in the 20s: stories, stars and studios The Coming of Synchronised Sound Europe in the 30s No lecture. Mock Exam exercise and tutorial week Hollywood and the Second World War Living Colour

Screening and

Paul Merton's Weird and Wonderful World of Early Cinema The Lost World of Mitchell and Kenyon
(extract)

City Lights (Charles Chaplin, US, 1931) Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, US, 1927) M (Fritz Lang, Germany, 1931) Quai des Brumes/Port of Shadows
(Marcel Carn, France, 1938) No screening USA, 1944)

To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, A Matter of Life and Death (UK, 1946) or
Douglas Sirk if not used in Film Cultures

PART TWO: MOVEMENTS, MOMENTS AND MANIFESTOS German Expressionism 10 Soviet Montage 11 British documentary in the 30s: 12 Italian Neo-realism CHRISTMAS BREAK

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert

Wiene, Germany, 1920) Strike (Serguei Eisenstein, USSR, 1925) Various Umberto D (Vittorio de Sica, Italy, 1952)

ASSESSMENT COMPONENT A, EXAM: JANUARY 2012 DATE TO BE CONFIRMED SEMESTER TWO Week Lecture 13 French New Wave 14 15 16 17 18 Direct Cinema and Cinema Vrit Third Cinema Surrealism and Cinema Dogme 95 No lecture. Portfolio preparation Tutorials Screening

Les 400 Coups/400 Blows (Francois

Truffaut, France, 1959) High School (Frederick Wiseman, USA, 1969) Memories of Underdevelopment (Toms Gutirrez Alea, Cuba, 1968)

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

(Luis Buuel, France, 1972) The Idiots (Lars Von Trier, Denmark, 1998) No screening

ASSESSMENT COMPONENT B, ELEMENT 1: PORTFOLIO DUE THURSDAY 23/02/12

19 20 21 22 23 24

PART THREE: HISTORY AND FILM True Lies: Narrative and Documentary 1 True Stories: Narrative and Documentary 2 Victims, Survivors and Consequences Hollywood Fights Back Other voices Module recap Lecture. Essay preparation tutorials

Farenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore, USA, 2004) Battle for Haditha (Nick Broomfield, UK,
2008) 2008)

Stray Dogs (Marzieh Meshkini, Iran, 2004) The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, US, 11'09''01 (various, 2002)
No screening

ASSESSMENT COMPONENT B, ELEMENT 2: ESSAY DUE TUESDAY 01/05/12

4. Module Curriculum: Week-by-Week

4.1 SEMESTER ONE Part One: Technology and Production
Week 1. Early cinema Week commencing 26/9/11

Screening: Paul Merton's Weird and Wonderful World of Early Cinema (Paul Merton, BBC, 2010) and Electric Edwardians : The Films of Mitchell & Kenyon (BFI, 2005 ) extract Reading: Chanan, Michael (1990) Economic Conditions of Early Cinema in Thomas Elsaesser, (ed.), Early Cinema: Space, Frame, Narrative. London: BFI, 174-189. Seminar: Introduction to seminar program. Thinking historically about film: Technology, Audience, Industry and moving pictures Further Reading: Chanan, Michael (1996) The Dream that Kicks. The Prehistory and Early Years of Cinema in Britain (2nd edition). London: Routledge Gunning, Tom (2004) An Aesthetic of Astonishment: Early Film and the (In)credulous Spectator in Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen (eds), Film Theory and Criticism, 6th Edition. Oxford: OUP, 862-876. Stam, Robert (2000) The antecedents of film theory, Film and Film Theory: The beginnings, Early Silent Film Theory in Robert Stam, Film Theory: An Introduction . Oxford: Blackwell, 10-32. Toulmin, Vanessa (2004) The Lost World of Mitchell and Kenyon : Edwardian Britain on Film. London: BFI Toulmin, Vanessa (2006) Electric Edwardians : The Story of the Mitchell & Kenyon Collection. London: BFI There are also some excellent on-line histories and sources for early cinema. See The Complete History of the Discovery of Cinematography http://www.yesic. com/-fool/, Early Cinema Gateway http://wesite.lineone.net/- lukemckeman/Links.htm and Silent Film Sources http://www.cinemaweb.com/silentfilm Further Viewing: The BBC produced a three part series directed by Dan Cruickshank called The Lost World of Mitchell and Kenyon. It contains many of the films included in the BFIs DVD plus interviews and commentaries. An excellent collection of early films can be found in Early Cinema: Primitives and Pioneers (two volumes) available from St. Matts library

Also, there are a number of downloadable early films available from sites like Youtube or Vimeo where you can find almost all of the films mentioned in Paul Mertons programme. For a more specialist site see http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/magic/movies/movieindex.htm. Also, Any films made before around 1914 would be appropriate. Week 2. Slapstick and Shock Week commencing 3/10/11

Screening: City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931, US) Reading: Singer, Ben (1995) Modernity, Hyperstimulus, and the Rise of Popular Sensationalism, in Leo Charney and Vanessa R. Schwartz, (eds.), Cinema and the Invention of Modern Life. Berkeley: Univ of California Press, 72-99 Seminar: Comedy, shock, and modern life Further Reading: Bazin, Andr [1948] (1967) Charlie Chaplin in What is Cinema? Vol.I. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 144-154 Elsaesser, Thomas,ed. (1990), Early Cinema: Space, Frame, Narrative. London: BFI Hodsdon, Barrett (1996) Reframing Early Cinema, in The Dawn of Cinema: 1894-1915 . Sydney: Museum of Contemporary Art King, Rob (2007) Uproarious Inventions: The Keystone Film Company, Modernity and the Art of the Motor, Film History 19, 271-291 Further Viewing: Any films by Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Fatty Arbuckle, the Keystone cops series, early Laurel and Hardy silent films, and lots more up to the late 1920s. A number of them are available in the library but many of them are also available online through Youtube and other similar sites. Week 3. Hollywood in the 20s: stories, stars and studios Week commencing 10/10/11

Screening: Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, 1927, USA) Reading: Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey (1997) The Heyday of the Silents in Nowell-Smith, ed., The Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford: OUP, 192-204 Seminar: Organising production and consumption Further Reading: Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson (1994) Film History: An Introduction . New York: McGraw-Hill, 52-82 and 156-182 Bordwell, David, Janet Staiger and Kristin Thompson (1985) The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style and Mode of Production to 1960 (London: Routledge) 85-240 Butler, Jeremy G. (1998) The Star System and Hollywood in John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson, eds, The Oxford Guide to Film Studies. Oxford: OUP, 342-353 Cook, David A (2004) Hollywood in the Twenties, A History of Narrative Film, fourth edition. New York: WW Norton, 169-204 Gomery, Douglas (1998) Hollywood as Industry in John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson, eds, The Oxford Guide to Film Studies. Oxford: OUP, 245-254 Grainge, Paul, Mark Jancovich and Sharon Monteith, eds (2007) Film Histories: An Introduction and Reader. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press 67-119 Further Viewing: Traffic in Souls (George Loane Tucker, 1913,USA) is a good example of an earlier style of popular narrative film. To appreciate the cristalization of the move to the Hollywood classic narrative form see the films of D.W. Griffith like Birth of a Nation (D.W. Griffith, 1915, USA); Intolerance (D.W.Griffith, 1916, USA); in relation to the establishment of the star system you could study the figure of Rudolph Valention in films like: The Sheik (George Melford, 1921, USA); The Son of the Sheik (George Fitzmaurice, 1926, USA); Blood and Sand (Fred Niblo, 1922, USA). Other important stars of the silent period whose films will be very interesting to study are Greta Garbo, Mary Pickford, John Gilbert or Douglas

Fairbanks. Other great films of the slient period coming from Hollywood, among many others, are: The Crowd (King Vidor, 1928, USA) or Greed (Erich Von Stroheim, 1924, USA) Week 4. Talking (and Whistling) Pictures: The Coming of Synchronised Sound Week commencing 17/10/11

Screening: M (Fritz Lang, Germany 1931) Reading: Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson (2003), The Introduction of Sound in Film History: An Introduction: London: McGraw Hil, 193-204. Seminar: Listening to film: Sound, speech, music, noise and vision Further Reading: S. Eisenstein, V. Pudovkin, and G. Alexandrov, Statement on Sound in Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen,eds, (2004) Film Theory and Criticism, 6th Edition. Oxford: OUP, 360-362 Karel Dibbets, The Introduction of Sound, in Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, (ed.), The Oxford History of World Cinema (Oxford: OUP, 1996), 211-219. C. Metz, Aural Objects in Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen (eds), Film Theory and Criticism, 6th Edition (Oxford: OUP, 2004), 356-359 M.A. Doane, The Voice in the Cinema: The Articulation of Body and Space in Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen (eds), Film Theory and Criticism, 6th Edition (Oxford: OUP, 2004), 363-375 Philip Drake, Mortgage to Music: New Retro Movies in the 1990s Hollywood Cinema, in Paul Grainge (ed.) Memory and Popular Film (Manchester: MUP, 2003), 183-201 Stam, Robert (2000) The Debate After Sound, in Robert Stam, Film Theory: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell, 58-64. Further Viewing: For other interesting early uses of sound see Blackmail (Alfred Hitchcock UK 1929), Dracula (Tod Browning USA 1931), Sous Les Tois de Paris/Under the Roofs of Paris (Ren Clair, France, 1930) the first (partially) sound film made in France; Le Million (Ren Clair France, 1931); nous la libert (Ren Clair France 1931); for more contemporary examples, watch any of the films of Jacques Tati, a French director notable for the use of sound for comic effect in films virtually without dialogue like Mon Oncle/My Uncle (Jacques Tati, 1958, France) and particularly in his masterpiece Play Time (Jacques Tati, 1967, France). Week 5. France in the 30s Week commencing 24/10/12

Screening: Quai des Brumes/Port of Shadows (Marcel Carn, France, 1938) Reading: Wagner, Jamie Marie (2010) Quai des brumes: An American Appeal in Film Matters, Vol 1; Issue: 1; Spring 2010,14 -19 and Vincendeau, Ginette (1996) The Popular Art of French Cinema in Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, (ed.), The Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford: OUP, 344-353. Seminar: Romance, love and realism Further Reading: Driskell, Jonathan (2008) The Female Metaphysical Body in Poetic Realist Film in Studies in French Cinema Vol. 8, Issue 1; 57 - 73 McCann, Ben (2011) Marcel Carn in Senses of Cinema available online at http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2011/great-directors/marcel-carne/ McCann, Ben (2004) A Discreet Character? Action Spaces and Architectural Specificity in French Poetic Realist Cinema in Screen) Vol.45, No.4: 375-382 Turk, Edward Baron (1989) Child of Paradise : Marcel Carn and the Golden Age of French Cinema. Cambridge, Mass. and London : Harvard University Press. Further Viewing: Hotel du Nord (Marcel Carn, France, 1938), Le Jour Se Leve/Daybreak (Marcel Carn, France, 1939), Les Enfants du Paradis/Children of Paradise (Marcel Carn, France, 1945), La Belle quipe/They Were Five (Julien Duvivier, France, 1936), Pp Le Moko

(Julien Duvivier, France, 1937), la Bete Humaine (Jean Renoir, France, 1938), La Grande Illusion (Jean Renoir, France, 1937) Week 6. No lecture: Mock exam exercise Week commencing 31/10/11

Screening: No screening Reading: No reading Seminar:Use this week to catch up with readings and watching films. I will be available for tutorials by appointment only to discuss the mock exam exercise or any other issues you want to discuss after your first six weeks at university. Week 7. Hollywood in the 40s Cinema and the Second World War Week commencing 7/11/11

Screening: To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, US, 1944) Reading: Seminar: Further Reading: Further Viewing: Week 8. Living Color Week commencing 14/11/11 Screening: A Matter of Live and Death (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1946, UK) Reading: Neale, Steve (2002) Colour and Film Aesthetics in Graeme Turner (ed.) The Film Cultures Reader. London: Routledge, 85-94. Seminar: The meaning of color and the relation of color to realism Further Reading: Belton, John (1996) Technology and Innovation: Colour in Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, (ed.), The Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford: OUP, 260-263. Dalle Vacche, Angela and Brian Price (2006) Color, the film reader.New York and London: Routledge Grainge, Paul (2003) Colouring the Past: Pleasantville and the Textuality of Media Memory, in Paul Grainge (ed.) Memory and Popular Film. Manchester: MUP, 202-219. Leslie, Esther (2002) Techne-colour in Hollywood Flatlands: Animation, Critical Theory and the avant-garde. London: Verso, 251-288 Further Viewing: The most famous film to mix monochrome and colour is of course, The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939, USA). A surprising use of a scene in color within a black and white film thus, adding an extra meaning to the sequence and the film is The Women (George Cukor, 1939, USA). A more recent example is Pleasantville (Gary Ross, 1998, USA). In its early years colour was seen very much as a novelty but probably the most successful early use of colour was by Walt Disney. Between 1932 - 1935 he enjoyed exclusive rights to use Technicolor in his animated short films. One of the most dramatic early uses of colour in live action cinema is still Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939, USA). The director Douglas Sirk is also famous for his expressionistic use of colour, see for example Magnificent Obsession (Douglas Sirk, 1954, USA); Written in the Wind (Dougrals Sirk, 1956, USA) and All that Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1959, USA). Another director famous for his expressionistic use of color is Vincente Minelli in films like Some Came Running (Vincente Minelli, 1958, USA) and in many of his musicals. Nowadays, the digital manipulation of colour is becoming far more common, see for example, Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001, France/Germany) and Sin City (Frank Miller and Roberto Rodriguez, 2005, USA).

Part Two: Movements, Moments and Manifestos

8

Week 9. German Expressionism

Week commencing 21/11/11

Screening: Das Kabinet des Dr Caligari/The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1919, Germany) Reading: Roberts, Ian (2008) Authority Overblown, or, Lunatics in the Asylum: Robert Weines Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari, in German Expressionist Cinema: The World of Light and Shadow. London: Wallflower, 23-34. Seminar: Subjective, irrational and psychological realism Hand in mock exam Further Reading: Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson (2003) Genre and Styles of German Postwar Cinema Film History: An Introduction . London: McGraw Hill, 102118. Elsaesser, Thomas (1996) Germany: The Weimar Years in Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, (ed.), The Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford: OUP, 136-151. Eisner, Lotte H. (1973) The Haunted Screen: Expressionism in the German Cinema and the Influence of Max Reinhardt. London: Secker & Warburg Kracauer, Siegfried The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari in Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, eds (2004) Film Theory and Criticism, 6th Edition. Oxford: OUP, 183-194. Further Viewing: Der Golem/The Golem (Paul Wegener Germany 1920), Nosferatu (F.W.Murnau Germany 1922), Dr Mabuse, der Spieler/Dr Mabuse, the Gambler (Fritz Lang Germany 1922), Der Letzte Mann/The Last Laugh (F.W. Murnau Germany 1924), Faust (F.W. Murnau Germany 1926), Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau USA 1927), Asphalt (Joe May Germany 1929) Week 10. Soviet Montage Week commenicing 28/11/11

Screening: Stachka/Strike (Sergei Eisenstein USSR 1925) Reading: Robert Stam The Soviet Montage-Theorists in Film Theory: An Introduction (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000), 37-47. Seminar: Montage, politics and film form. Further Reading: Pudovkin, V. On Editing, and Sergei Eisenstein, The Cinematographic Principle and the Ideogram, in Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, eds (2004) Film Theory and Criticism, 6th Edition. Oxford: OUP, 9-14 Eisenstein, S. The Dramaturgy of Film Form and Dickens, Griffith and Ourselves in Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, eds (2004) Film Theory and Criticism, 6th Edition. Oxford: OUP, 15-24 and 426-435. Further Viewing: Bronyenosyets Potyomkin/Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein USSR 1925), Oktyabr/October (Sergei Eisenstein USSR 1928), Konyets Sankt- Peterburga/The End of St Petersburg (Vsevolod Pudovkin USSR 1926), Mat/Mother Vsevolod Pudovkin, USSR, 1926); Chelovek s kino-apparatom/Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov USSR 1929) Week 11. British documentary in the 30s: Grierson and the GPO unit Week commencing 5/12/11

Screening: Reading: Seminar: Further Reading: Further Viewing: St. Matts library holds an excellent collection of some key GPO unit films in a double DVD released by the BFI entitled Addressing the nation : the GPO film unit collection, vol I. Another excellent collection of films is included in another BFI releases:

Britain in the Thirties and Britain in the Forties. Both contain some excellent examples of
British documentary filmmaking during both decades and not all from the GPO unit. Week 12. Italian Neo-realism Week commencing 12/12/11

Screening: Umberto D (Vittorio de Sica, 1952, Italy) Reading: Bazin, Andre [1952] (1972) Umberto D: A Great Work in What is Cinema Volume II . London: University of California Press, 79-83 and Cook, Pam ed, (1985) Italy and Neo-Realism in The Cinema Book . London: BFI, 36-39. Seminar: Social responsibility and social realism Further Reading: Bazin, Andre [1951] (1972) De Sica: Metteur en Scene in What is Cinema Volume II . London: University of California Press, 61-79. Marcus, Millicent (1986) Introduction in Italian Film in the Light of Neorealism . Princeton: Princeton University Press, 3-30. Marcus, Millicent (1986) De Sicas Bicycle Thief: Casting Shadows on the Visionary City, in Italian Film in the Light of Neorealism . Princeton: Princeton University Press, 54-75. Monticelli, Simona (1998) Italian Post-War Cinema and Neo-Realism in John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson, eds The Oxford Guide to Film Studies. Oxford: OUP, 455-460. Morandini, Morando (1998) Italy from Fascism to Neo-Realism, in Geoffrey Nowell-Smith (ed.) Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford, OUP, 353-360. Further Viewing: Ladri di Bicliclette/Bycicle Thieves (Vittorio de Sica, 1948, Italy), Sciuscia/Shoeshine (Vittorio de Sica, 1946, Italy), Miracolo a Milano/Miracle in Milan (Vittorio de Sica, 1951, Italy)Roma Citta Aperta/Rome Open City (Roberto Rossellini Italy 1945), Pais (Roberto Rossellini, 1946 Italy), Germania anno zero/Germany Year Zero (Roberto Rossellini, 1948, Italy), Stromboli (Roberto Rossellini Italy1948) Ossessione (Luchino Visconti, 1943, Italy), La Terra Trema/The Earth Shakes (Luchino Visconti, Italy, 1948), Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949, Italy), Christmas Break Assessment Component A, Exam: January 2012 - exact date to be confirmed

5.2 SEMESTER TWO Part Two: Continued

Week 13. La Nouvelle Vague (French New Wave) Week commencing 16/01/12

Screening: Les Quatre Cent Coups/The 400 Blows (Franois Truffaut, France 1959), Reading: Hillier, Jim, ed (1985) Introduction in Cahiers du Cinma, The 1950s: Neorealism, Hollywood, The New Wave . London: BFI, 1-17 Seminar: Cahiers du Cinma and the nouvelle vague Further reading: Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson (2003) New Waves and Young Cinema, 1958-1967 in Film History: An Introduction . Boston: McGraw Hill, 439-450. David Bordwell, Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice in Film Criticism. Vol.4. No 1. Fall, 1979. Comonos, John (2000) Truffauts The 400 Blows, or the Sea, Antoine, the Sean in Senses of Cinema, Issue 6, May 2000 available online at: http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2000/6/francois-truffaut/blows/
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Graham, Peter (1996), New Directions in French Cinema in Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, ed. The Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford: OUP, 576- 582. Mills, Jane (2009) The French New Wave, in Loving and Hating Hollywood . Sydney: Allen & Unwin) Wollen, Peter (2004) The Auteur Theory in Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, eds, Film Theory and Criticism, 6th Edition. Oxford: OUP, 565-580. Further viewing: Jules et Jim (Franois Truffaut, 1962, France), Tirez sur le Pianiste/Shoot the Piano Player (Franois Truffaut, 1960, France), Breathless/A bout de souffle (Jean-Luc Godard, France 1960), A Les Bonne Femmes/The Good Girls (Claude Chabrol, France 1960), LAnn Dernire Marienbad/Last Year at Marienbad (Alain Resnais, France 1961), Clo de 5 7/Cleo from 5 to 7 (Agns Varda, France 1962), Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard, France/Italy 1965). Week 14. Cinma Vrit Week commencing 23/01/12 and Direct Cinema Screening: High School (Fred Wiseman, USA, 1969) Reading: Nichols, Bill (2001) What Types of Documentary Are There? in Introduction to Documentary. Bloomington: Indiana Univ Press, 99-131. Seminar: Rethinking the truth Further Reading: Brink, Joram Ten (2007) Building Bridges : the Cinema of Jean Rouch. London: Wallflower Bruzzi, Stella (2000) New Documentary: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge Chanan, Michael (2007) The Politics of Documentary. London: BFI Grant, Barry and J. Slonioski, eds (1998) Documenting the Documentary. Detroit: Wayne State Univ Press Grant, Barry (1992) Voyages of Discovery: The Cinema of Frederick Wiseman . Urbana: The Univ of Illinois Press Musser, Charles (2006) Cinma Vrit and the New Documentary in Geoffrey Nowell-Smith (ed.) Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford, 527-537 Nichols, Bill (1994) Blurred Boundaries: Questions of Meaning in Contemporary Culture. Bloomington: Indiana Univ Press Saunders, Dave (2007) Direct Cinema: Observational Documentary and the Politics of the 1960s. London: Wallflower Vaughan, Dai (1999) For Documentary. Berkeley: Univ of California Press Further Viewing: Most films by Wiseman are near impossible to get perhaps with the exception of Titicut Follies (Frederick Wiseman, 1967, USA) and High School II (Frederick Wiseman, 1994, USA). For examples of Cinma Vrit, see the films of Jean Rouch. Again, for the most part they are difficult to get but online you may be able to find with subtitles Les Maitres Fous/The Mad Masters (Jean Rouch, 1955, France), Moi, Un Noir/I, A Black (Jean Rouch, 1958, France). St. Matts library does have a copy of Rouchs masterpiece Cronique Dun t/Chronicle of a Summer (Jean Rouch, 1961, France). Direct cinema is much more accessible. See for example Primary (Robert Drew, 1960, USA). Dont Look Back (D. A. Pennebaker, 1967, USA) follows Bob Dylans first British tour and it is a must for his fans. Gimme Shelter (Mayles Brothers, 1970, USA) is another famous documentary on the Rolling Stones and a murder that took place during one of his concerts. Finally, Barbara Kopples Harlan County (USA, 1976) is another brilliant example. If interested, contact the module leader if you cannot get hold of some of these films. I do have copies of most of them and many more. Week 15. Third Cinema Week commencing 30/01/12

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Screening: Memorias del subdesarollo/Memories of Underdevelopment (Tomas Gutierrez Alea, Cuba 1968) Reading: Chanan, Michael (2004) Cuban Cinema. Minneapolis: Univ of Minnesota Press, 288304 Seminar: Cinema and Revolution Further Reading: Burton-Carvajal, Julianne (1985) Marginal Cinemas and Mainstream Critical Theory in Screen, Vol. 26, Nos. 3-4 Chanan, Michael (1983) Introduction to Twenty-Five Years of the New Latin American Cinema, BFI Dossier 2-8; Chanan, Michael (1977) The Changing Geography of Third Cinema in Screen, 38.4, 1997 Chanan, Michael (1996) Cinema in Latin America in Geoffrey Nowell-Smith (ed.), The Oxford History of World Cinema . Oxford: OUP, 427-435. Martin, Michael T. (1997) New Cinema of Latin America (vol. I): Theory, Practices and Transcontinental Articulations. Detroit: Wayne University Press. The first volume contains an excellent introduction to the topic and an excellent collection of almost all the third cinema manifestos written in the 60s and 70s. Pick, Zuzana M. (1993) The New Latin American Cinema : a Continental Project. Austin: University of Texas Press Wayne, Mike (2001) Third Cinema as Critical Practice: A Case Study of The Battle of Algiers, in Political Film: The Dialectics of Third Cinema. London: Pluto Press, 5-24. Further Viewing: Please beware that Thid Cinema has nothing to do with geography: not all Latin American films are Third Cinema. Because of its very anti-commercial nature, it is very difficult to see old Thrid cinema films since most releases do not have English subtitles. Among the very few you can find are: La Battaglia di Algeri/The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, Italy/Algeria 1965) available on DVD at UWE. Online via Youtube or vimeo or similar sites you can find with subtitles the complete first part La Hora de Los Hornos/Hour of the Furnaces (Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino, 1968, Argentina) and the first part of Patricio Guzmns La Batalla de Chile/Battle of Chile (1975, Cuba/France). You are strongly recommended to watch both since even if you do not agree with the ideological content of the films, they are two brilliant examples of documentary techniques. Other examples of Third Cinema films include The Harder They Come (Henzell, Jamaica 1973). Easier to get are European and US examples of third cinema like: Tout va bien (Godard/Gorin, 1972, Italy/France), Coup Par Coup (Marin Karmitz, 1973, France), Sweet Sweetbacks Baadasssss Song (Mario Van Peebles, 1971, US). An extraordinary antecedent for Third Cinema is The Salt of the Earth (Herbert J. Biberman, 1954, USA). See also any of the films directed by the British director Peter Warkins. Week 16. Surrealism and cinema Week commencing 06/02/12

Screening: Belle de Jour (Luis Buuel,France/Italy 1967) Reading: Mills, Jane (2009) Avant-garde Cinema in Loving and Hating Hollywood . Sydney: Allen & Unwin, extract, 84-89 Seminar: Rethinking the truth Further Reading: Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson (1993) Non-narrative Formal Systems in Film Art: An Introduction . Boston: McGraw Hill, 102-143 Drummond, Phil (1994) Surrealism and Un Chien Andalou in Un Chien Andalou . London: Faber and Faber, v-xxiii. Edwards, Gwynne (1982) Belle de Jour in The Discreet Charme of Luis Buuel. A Reading of His Films. London and Boston: Marion Boyars Evans, Peter William (1994) Phantom Projection in Tate: The Art Magazine , Issue 26, Autumn 2001, 32-33

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Hughes, Robert (1980) The Threshold of Liberty in The Shock of the New : Art and the Century of Change. London: Thames and Hudson, 212-268 Martin, Adrian (1993) The Artificial Night: Surrealism and Cinema, in Michael Lloyd, ed., Surrealism: Revolution by Night . Canberra: National Gallery of Australia Rees, A.L. (1996). Avant-Garde Film: The Second Wave in G. Nowell-Smith, ed., The Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford: Oxford Univ Press Sabaddini, Andrea (2003) Of Objects, Peepholes and Other Perverse Objects. A Psychoanlityc Look at Luis Buuels Belle de Jour in Peter William Evans and Isabel Santaolalla, eds., Luis Buuel. Key Readings. London: BFI. The article draws heavily on Freudian theories and you may find it difficult if you are not familiar with them despite the excellent explanations provided. If you struggle, just ask for help. The whole of Evans and Santaolallas book is a highly interesting account of many of Buuels films and main themes in his films. Vigo, Jean. (1994) Foreword in Un Chien Andalou. London: Faber and Faber, xxv-xxvi Williams, Linda (1981) The Prologue to Un Chien Andalou: A Surrealist Metaphor in Figures of Desire: A Theory and Analysis of Surrealist Film . Berkeley: University of California Press Further Viewing: During the lecture we will watch parts of Un Chien Andalou/An Andalucian Dog (Luis Buuel and Salvador Dali, France, 1929). You are encourage to wath the entire film on your own as well as his second and explicitly surrealist film LAge DOr/The Golden Age (Luis Buuel, France, 1930). However, all of his films have elements or surrealist moments in them, in particular The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buuel, Mexico, 1962) The Discreet Charme of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Buuel, France, 1972) and Cet Obscur Object du Dsir/That Obscure Object of Desire (Luis Buuel, France 1977) For examples of early American avant-garde see Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren USA 1943) and Fireworks (Kenneth Anger USA 1947). For the more abstract or formalist experimental film see Paul Sharits, Stan Brakhage, Michael Snow or the British Structuralist-materialist movement. For more contemporary examples of the avant-garde and surrealism see David Lynch, especially, Eraserhead (USA 1976) and Lost Highway (USA 1996) and Tsukamoto Shinyas Tetsuo: The Iron Man (Japan 1991) and Tetsuo II: Bodyhammer (Japan 1991). Week 17. The Cinema of truth? Dogme 95 Week commencing 13/02/12

Screening: Idiotern/The Idiots (Lars von Trier Denmark 1998) Reading: Richard Kelly, Its all too painful: Lars von Trier and The Idiots, in The Name of this Book is Dogme 95 (London: Faber and Faber, 2000), 135-150. Seminar: Purity, Simplicity and Shock: Following a Manifesto Further Reading : Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson (2003) Back to Basics: Dogme 95, in Film History: An Introduction . London: McGraw Hill, 713-714. Simons, Jan (2007). Playing the Waves: Lars von Triers Game Cinema. Amsterdam: Amsterdam Univ Press Further Viewing: Festen/Celebration (Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark, 1998), Mifune Sidste Sang/Mifune (Sren Kragh-Jacobsen, Denmark,1999) and Julien Donkey-Boy (Harmony Korine, USA, 1999), Italiensk for begyndere/Italian for Beginners (Lone Scherfig, Denmark/Sweden, 2000) Week 18. No Lecture:

Exam feedback and Portfolio preparation tutorials

Week commencing 20/02/12

No Screening
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No Seminar Make an appointment for a tutorial on your exam result and/or Portfolio development. Assessment Component B, Element 1, Portfolio due: 2 pm Thursday 23th February, 2012

Part Three: History on Film

Week 19. True Lies: Narrative and Documentary 1 Week commencing 27/02/12

Screening: Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore USA 2004) Reading: Cynthia Weber, Who we might become, in Imagining America at War: Morality, politics, and film (London and New York: Routledge 2006), 117-150. Seminar: Taking sides: The impossibility of neutrality and the presentation of facts Further Reading: Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson (2003), Documentary Cinema in Film History: An Introduction . London: McGraw Hill, 579-588. Downing, John D.H. (2001) Film and Video in Radical Media: Rebellious Communication and Social Movements. London: Sage, 192-200 Izod, John and Richard Kilborn (1998), The Documentary in John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson, eds. The Oxford Guide to Film Studies. Oxford: OUP, 426-434. Musser, Charles (1998) Cinma Vrit and the New Documentary in Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, ed. Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford, OUP, 527-537. Further Viewing: Other documentaries by Michael Moore include Roger and Me (USA, 1989) and Bowling for Columbine (USA, 2002). Another recent successful example of self-reflexive documentary is Super Size Me (Morgan Spurlock USA 2004). Also well worth a look is any of the work of Nick Broomfield including Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (UK/USA 2003), Biggie and Tupac (UK, 2002) and Tracking Down Maggie: The Unofficial Biography of Margaret Thatcher (UK, 1994). For other alternative takes on the Iraq work see the video made by the Stop the War Coalition Not in My Name (Platform Films and Video UK, 2002) or any of the alternative news video produced by the radical media group Undercurrents (http://www.undercurrents.org) Week 20. True stories: Narrative and Documentary 2 Week commencing 05/03/12

Screening: Battle for Haditha (Nick Broomfield, UK 2008) Reading: Paul Ward, Drama-documentary, Ethics and Notions of Performance: The Flight 93 Films, in Thomas Austin and Wilma de Jong, eds, Rethinking Documentary: New Perspectives, New Practices (Maidenhead: Open Univ Press, 2008), 191-203. Seminar: The Event and Reenactment Further Reading: Bazin, Andre (1967) The Ontology of the Photographic Image in What is Cinema? Volume 1. Berkeley: Univ of California Press Bruzzi, Stella (2006); New Documentary 2nd Edition. London: Routledge Nichols, Bill (1994) Blurred Boundaries: Questions of Meaning in Contemporary Culture. Bloomington: Indiana Univ Press Further Viewing: Other documentaries by Nick Broomfield are more in the observational or interventionist modes, like Kurt and Coutney (1998), Biggie and Tupac (2002) and Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003), Biggie and Tupac (UK 2002). For other alternative takes on the Iraq war see the video made by the Stop the War Coalition Not in My Name (Platform

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Films and Video UK 2002) or any of the alternative news video produced by the radical media group Undercurrents (http://www.undercurrents.org) Week 21. Untold War Stories: Victims, Survivors and Consequences Week commencing 12/03/12

Screening: Sag-haye velgard/Stray Dogs (Marzieh Meshkini, Iran/France/Afghanistan, 2004) Reading: Egan, Eric (2011) Stray Dogs: Cruelty and Humanity among hardship in Afghanistan in Joseph Gugler, ed., Film in the Middle East and North Africa: Creative Dissidence. Austin: University of Texas Press. available online at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=UQ9zsiRnQQMC&oi=fnd&pg=PA95&d q=iranian+film+stray+dogs&ots=BS_H0bjNE2&sig=h5OhU7LIqV0sx8fHyp2x_cBPJUI# v=onepage&q=iranian%20film%20stray%20dogs&f=true Seminar: Class, race, gender and the multiplicity of histories Further Reading: Interview with Marzieh Meshkini available at http://www.makhmalbaf.com/articles.php?a=401 Danks, Adrian, The House that Mohsen Built: The Films of Samira Makhmalbaf and Marzieh Meshkini. Senses of Cinema available at http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents.02/22makhmalbaf.html Iranian Cinema and the Amazing Makhmalbaf Family. Available at http://cinema.cornell.edu/series/iraniancinema.html The Makhmalbaf Film House website, http://www.makhmalbaf.com Further viewing: The Makhmalbaf family has directed and produced a number of highly interesting films dealing with the human cost of the invasion of Afghanistan, among them: Safar e Ghandehar/Kandahar (Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Iran/France, 2001), Lezate divanegi/Joy of Madness (Hana Makhmalbaf, Afghanistan/Iran, 2003), Panj asr/At Five in the Afternoon (Samira Makhmalbaf, Iran/France, 2003) Buda as sharm foru rikht/Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame (Hana Makhmalbaf, Iran, 2007). Another film about the victims of war (in this case the Kurdish population after the Iran-Iraq war) is the brilliant Takhte Siah/Blackboards (Samira Makhmalbaf, Iran 2000). For another alternative view on a group of people who we rarely get to see on screen see In This World (Michel Winterbottom UK 2002) which tells the story of a couple of Afghani refugees perilous journey to the UK. Other interesting films are The Kite Runner (Marc Forster, US/China, 2007), Afghan Star (Havana Marking, UK, 2009). Week 22. Hollywood Fights Back Week commencing 19/03/12

Screening: The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, USA, 2008) Reading: Cunningham, D.A. (2010) Explosive Structure: Fragmentin the new modernist War Narrative in the Hurt Locker in CineAction, Issue 81, 2010, 2-10 available at: http://cineaction.ca/issue81sample.htm Seminar: The War Film genre Further Reading: Benson-Allott, C. (2010) Undoing Violence: Politics, Genre and Duration in Kathryn Bigelows cinema in Film Quarterly 64 (2): 32-43, Winter 2010. Available through UWEs elibrary. Kamalipour, Yahya R. and Nancy Snow, eds, (2004) War, Media and Propaganda: A Global Perspective. Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield Schubart, Rikke (2009) War isn't Hell, It's Entertainment: Essays on Visual Media and the Representation of Conflict . London: McFarland & Company Stahl, Roger (2009)Militainment, Inc: War, Media and Popular Culture. London: Routledge Thussu, Daya Kishan and Des Freedman, eds, (2003)War and the Media. London: Sage Westerwall, Guy (2006) War Cinema: Hollywood on the Front Line. London: Wallflower

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Further Viewing: Three Kings (David O. Russel, USA, 1999), Black Hawk Down (Ridley Scott, 2001, USA), Jarhead (Sam Mendes, 2005, USA)Inglorious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, USA 2009), Generation Kill (HBO Miniseries, David Simon 2008), Greenzone (Paul Greengrass, USA 2010), The Messenger (Oren Moverman, USA 2009), and numerous other films about conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the War on Terror Week 23. Module recap Screening: 11901 (Various, France, 2002) Seminar: Reading: Week 24. No Lecture: Week commencing 02/04/12 Essay preparation tutorials by appointment No Screening No Seminar Easter break Assessment Component B, Element 2, Essay due: 2 pm Tuesday 1st May, 2012 Week commencing 26/03/12

. Assessment
7.1. Summary

Type
Assessment Component A: 30% Examination: 90 minutes (seen paper) Portfolio: 1500 words Essay: 2000 words

Due Date
January 2012 Assessment Period TBA 2 pm, Thursday 23th February, 2012 2 pm, Monday 1st May, 2012

Assessment Component B, Element 1: 30% Assessment Component B, Element 2: 40%

7.2. Assessment Component Details The assessment for this module is split into Component A, which has one element, and Component B, which has two elements. Component A is an exam that you will sit in January 2012 and is worth 30% of the modules overall mark. Component B, Element One is a written Portfolio exercise also worth 30% of the modules overall mark and is due in on 9th March 2009; and Component B, Element Two is an essay worth 40% of the modules overall grade which is due in on 11th May 2009. To pass the module you must pass both Components. Pass grade is 40% overall for the
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component, so in Component B the combined pass grade of the two elements must be at least 40%. Before you undertake any real assessments, there will be a mock assessment exercise in Week 8. You will be expected to write one mock exam question answer (45 minutes) in your own time in preparation for your January exam. Almost noone who completes this exercise fails the January exam. The question will be made available during seminars in Week 7 and will also be made available on the MyUWE module site giving you time to prepare your answer. It will be up to you to time your mock answer and you are strongly encouraged to spend no more than 45 minutes on your answer. These mock assessments should be handed in during seminars in Week 9 and will be returned with a feedback sheet before the Christmas break, giving you the opportunity to discuss any points with your seminar tutors. Preparation and advice about the written assignments in Semester Two will be given in the course of seminars. There is time in the schedule for you to make a time to meet with your seminar tutor and you are strongly encouraged to do this when you need some advice about assignments or other issues about the module. All essays must be word-processed and you must use double spacing between lines. Work must be properly punctuated using standard English, with spelling carefully checked. All essays must reference sources (including page numbers) and include a bibliography and filmography; marks will be deducted if you fail to do so. Essays and Portfolio assignments should include the full question as the title at the top of page one of the assignment. You MUST give a word count at the end of your essays and portfolios. You should be within 10% either way of the required word length. In other words, 1500 word portfolio should be between 1350 and 1650 words (excluding the bibliography and filmography): the 2000 word essay should be between 1800 and 2200 words. Essays or portfolios significantly outside these 10% limits will be penalised.

7.2.1 Details of Assignments Component A: Exam During the examination period in January 2011 (you will be informed of the exact date nearer the time) you will sit a 90 minute exam. The exam will represent 30% of your final mark. The exam will be in two parts and you will need to answer one question from part A and one question from part B. The exam will be a seen paper and copies of the exam will be distributed in Week 11 and will be available on the MyUWE module site. The purpose of a seen exam is to allow you to research and prepare your answers. However, you will not be allowed to take in any notes. This does not mean you should try to pre-write and memorise two essays that you simply try to regurgitate on the day. Instead, you should construct an essay plan that will allow you to write a relevant and well-structured answer. The exam aims to assess your knowledge and understanding of the first 12 weeks of the module. The main emphasis will be on issues and ideas from Part One of the module. There will also be the opportunity to demonstrate some of your knowledge and understanding of the first five weeks of Part Two of the module.

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The exam will have a single compulsory question which will ask you to discuss the development of film as a medium in relation to wider historical circumstances. The second part of the exam will have a choice of six questions and you will be required to select one of these to answer. In addition to the general criteria given in the Faculty and University Student Handbooks, the exam will be assessed in relation to the following elements: Knowledge of key phases in the historical development of film Ability to pay close and accurate attention to the film texts Awareness of the wider historic context in which films are produced and consumed Ability to structure and substantiate responses to the questions Use of critical concepts and theories introduced in the module to back up your arguments Clarity of expression and clear use of English. Results The results of the exam will be available by 4 weeks from the exam date and students will receive feedback in seminars and via tutorial by appointment. Component B, Element 1: Portfolio The Portfolio exercise aims to assess your knowledge of a specific national cinema/film movement. The hand-in date is 2 pm, Thursday 24th February 2011. The Portfolio will represent 30% of your final mark. Portfolio assessment guidance will be given during the seminars for this part of the module. You can also make an appointment for a tutorial with your tutor. This assessment requires you to construct a Portfolio on one of the film movements studied in part Two of the module. These are: German Expressionism, Soviet Montage, Surrealism and the Avant-Garde, Propaganda and Documentary filmmaking in the 1930s, Italian Neo-Realism, The French New Wave, Third Cinema, Direct Cinema/Cinema Verit and Dogme 95. The choice of film movement is up to you and you are more than welcome to discuss your choice with your seminar tutor. The portfolio will have five sections: Section Section Section words) Section Section One Two Three Four Five Description and Historical/Social context (500 words) Film Analysis I - Set Text/Set Reading (500 words) Film Analysis II - Further Text/Further Reading (500 Filmography Bibliography

Please remember you only have 500 words for each of the first three sections so you should write clearly and concisely and concentrate on the main points. We are not looking for obscure or controversial readings of the movement, just a clear demonstration that you know the key ideas in the scholarship on your movement as indicated in lecture, listed readings and in seminar discussion. Regular attendance at

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lectures and seminars will ensure that you will be more than equipped to write your portfolio.

Section One: Description and Historical/Social Context (500 words) In this section you should outline what you think the film movement in question is, what are its key themes and issues, who was/are the main filmmakers and/or theorists of this movement, where it developed and why. Your emphasis should be on

placing the development of your chosen type of filmmaking into the wider cultural and historical circumstances of their production and initial consumption. Please note that to do this you may well have to briefly refer to other film movements which your particular movement can be understood as a reaction to or further developing.

Section Two: Film Analysis I Set Text/Set Reading (500 words)

In this section you should offer an analysis of the film shown on the module as an example of this film movement. Your reading should focus on how the film reflects the ideas and concepts described in section one of your portfolio. General plot descriptions are not necessary and you are instead encouraged to focus in depth on individual scenes, formal elements and/or themes rather than the entire film. You should make use of the set reading that accompanied the film that week and include at least one properly referenced quote from that reading to back up and support your argument. The quote/s should specifically help explain your analysis of a particular moment or aspect of the film.

Section Three: Film Analysis II Further Text/Further Reading (500 words)

In this section you should offer an analysis of a film not shown on the module as another example of this film movement. While there are plenty of examples listed under further viewing you may choose a different film if you feel it is an appropriate example of this type of filmmaking. If you wish to use a film not listed under further viewing check with your seminar tutor that it is appropriate. As with section two, your analysis should focus on how the film reflects the ideas and concepts described in section one of your portfolio. In addition to this you should also compare and contrast this film analysis with your analysis of the set film. On this occasion you should make use of a different theoretical reading than the main set reading. Once again there are plenty of examples listed under further reading, but you can also use other appropriate articles and books from the library. If you are unsure what counts as appropriate sources, speak to your tutor. Please note that general Internet sources and introductory material on sites like Wikipedia and Filmsite.org are not acceptable.

Section Four: Filmography

In this section, you should offer a filmography that properly references as many suitable examples of your chosen film movement as seems sensible. Obviously this list will vary in length from movement to movement, but generally it should at least be longer than the one you have been provided with under further viewing in the lecture programme details. Once again, paying close attention in and active note taking during lectures and seminars will undoubtedly help with this process. At the same time you dont need to make the list ridiculously long. While there is no word count as such for these two sections of the portfolio, 8 to12 entries should suffice. Your
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filmography should include the earliest and latest example of your chosen film movement. Although filmographies are usually organised alphabetically by title, in this instance, you may wish to list these films chronologically, by director, or by themes. If you do this you must briefly justify your decision and in particular give a reason for the start and (if appropriate) end date you suggest for your film movement.

Section Five: Bibliography

This final section of your portfolio should offer a bibliography of academic sources of information on your chosen film movement. As well as the actual set and further readings you have used to construct your portfolio answers it is expected that it should include (and exceed) the additional references already provided in the module handbook. Entries should be listed alphabetically by author. However, this is not simply an exercise in listing, but in gathering information and demonstrating your familiarity with the library systems. We would expect the bibliography to have around 8 to 10 entries. These may include whole books, chapters in books, papers in journals and Internet sources if you feel they are from a reliable scholarly source. Please make sure you have referenced all these different sources correctly. You will be assessed on the accuracy, quality and relevance of your chosen sources. In addition to the general criteria given in the Faculty Student Handbook, the portfolio will be assessed in relation to the following elements: Knowledge of key movements in the historical development of film Ability to pay close and accurate attention to the film texts Awareness of the wider historic, geographic and cultural context in which these film movements arose both in terms of their production and consumption Use of critical concepts and theories introduced in the module lectures, seminars and materials and relevant quotations to back up your arguments Ability to gather and structure a range of types of information Clarity of expression, attention to detail and clear use of English. Results The marks for the portfolio will be available by Thursday 24th March 2011 and students will receive general feedback in seminars. Component B, Element 2: Essay (2,000 words) The essay aims to assess your knowledge of debates about the cinematic representations of history and period. The hand-in date is 2 pm, Friday 8th April, 2011. The essay will represent 40% of your final mark. While this assessment will focus on your knowledge and understanding of Part 3 of the module you should use information from and draw comparisons with films, readings and concepts encountered throughout the module, when appropriate. The questions are as follows: Answer one of the following questions:

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1. Is Battle for Haditha a documentary? Answer this question by analysing its representation of the historical events it depicts and assessing it in relation to theories of documentary representation. In particular, you should address the films use of reenactment, narrative structure, character development, and its claims to historical verifiability and objectivity. 2. How does Fahrenheit 9/11 use particular narrative and cinematic techniques to make its political points about the Bush Jnr Presidency? Compare and contrast the use of these techniques to earlier forms of documentary and/or propaganda examined in the module. State your view on the legitimacy of the film as a documentary and justify it through your analysis of the film, and reference to criticism of it and to documentary theory. 3. Compare and contrast Takhte Siah/Blackboards representation of personal experience and national history with ONE other film shown on the module. In your comparative analysis, discuss and analyse both content (such as narrative structure, themes, character development etc.) and form (such as point of view, camera setups/placement/movement, image and sound relations, editing, etc.). Through your discussion of the two films, describe and evaluate what is significant about Blackboards as a representation of the consequences of war for people living through it. 4. Ridley Scotts Black Hawk Down is about the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia in 1993 involving US troops. It was released in 2001. Analyse and evaluate the films representation of historical events. In your answer consider how it uses war film genre conventions (plot, key characters, perspective, moral and political themes, depiction of combat, etc), and how the post-9/11 context of its release might have affected its reception or significance. 5. Compare and contrast ONE film from Part Two of the module (Movements, Moments and Manifestos) with any ONE film from Part Three and discuss how the more recent film demonstrates the influence of or responds to this earlier form of filmmaking. Assessment Criteria In addition to the criteria given in the Faculty Student Handbook, the essays will be assessed in relation to the following criteria: Critical engagement with relevant sources, including evidence of independent research knowledge of debates, concepts and ideas introduced in the module lectures, seminars and materials about the cinematic representations of history and period Ability to pay close and accurate attention to film texts and to relate this textual analysis to the wider historical contexts in which the films are set, produced and consumed Ability to structure and substantiate an argument in response to the question

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 Clarity of expression and accuracy in spelling, grammar and punctuation, including correct referencing, bibliography and filmography. Preparation Assessment guidance will be given in seminars for this part of the module. This will include suggestions about which films and readings are most relevant to which questions, as well as advice on how to research and write critical essays. Essays should include: An introduction and conclusion which present your arguments clearly and concisely A clear rationale for the choice of film/s and a clear specification of the ways in which you will approach the question Close analysis of elements from your chosen film/s, to support your arguments Sustained engagement with a range of critical concepts and theories introduced in the module lectures, seminars and materials and scholarly research relevant to the question A full and accurate bibliography and filmography Finally, remember that what most clearly distinguishes an academic essay from other forms of writing is that it must reference its sources and include a bibliography and filmography. You will lose marks if you fail to do so. Referencing guidelines are available on the modules MyUWE site. Results The 2000 word essay, with comments and marks, will be made available for collection following the Academic Field Board meeting in June 2011. The University will notify you when your results are available. Note: Information about module resits will be posted on the modules MyUWE website.

8. Module Specification Document

This can be found on the University website at http://info.uwe.ac.uk/modules/displayentry.asp?code=UACPRJ-30-1&rp=listEntry.asp

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