30475 - CRITICAL APPROACHES TO THE ARTS II - MODULE II (CINEMA)
Department of Social and Political Sciences
Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 31
Course Director:
JOSEPH EDWARD ROZZO
JOSEPH EDWARD ROZZO
Suggested background knowledge
There are no formal prerequisites for this course. You may or may not already be a cinema follower. Anyone can take this course. This is an introductory course both for those already cinema followers as well as those who have not followed cinema before. All films will be shown either in English or with English sub-titles. No previous knowledge of social theory is necessary.
Mission & Content Summary
MISSION
The role of cinema in our society is a complex one starting with the factor of entertainment as popular expression. On a deeper analysis, cinema represents the expression of social mores, collective anxieties and cultural paradigms. The course has three principal objectives:
- Provide the students with a comprehensive understanding of how cinema works both technically and culturally.
- Help the student develop a personal understanding of major social theories as well as the capacity for expressing and analyzing cinematic narrative.
- Teach structural, cultural, semiotic and linguistic theories which help the student identify significant social-cultural themes within cinematic narrative.
CONTENT SUMMARY
This course offers the student a complex understanding of cinema, its structure and its meaning.
- Analysis of the cinematic language and its relation to social theories and Consumer Culture Theory.
- Theoretical basis of the cultural questions represented through cinema and their relationship to social and psychological needs.
- How story structure guides our emotional response.
- The vision of key films or streaming episodes in order to understand their lingustic development and social significance.
The course is based on the vision and subsequent in-class or on-line discussion of specific films or streaming episodes which have attracted the public's attention for various motives.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
- Analyze the semiotic meaning of any scene in any film.
- Understand the social theories at the basis of a film's narrative and the protagonist's relation to society.
- Identify the cinematographic elements utilzed in a film's narration.
- Appreciate various genres of film from various cultures.
- Distinguish the anthropological as well as cultural values expressed in a film's narrative.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
- Evaluate the sociological and psychological basis for a films cultural appeal.
- Understand and evaluate the professional roles connected to the production of a film.
- Relate a film's theme to a larger understanding of contemporary culture and social theory.
- Recognize a story's potential appeal relating to the psychological and social treatment of the protagonist.
Teaching methods
- Face-to-face lectures
- Online lectures
- Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
- Individual assignments
- Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)
DETAILS
- The in-class or on-line vision of films or episodes followed by group discussion.
- In-class and on-line lectures.
- Flash quizzes asking to relate cinematographic themes to social theories.
- An analysis of a Video Clip as a mid-term exercise.
Assessment methods
| Continuous assessment | Partial exams | General exam | |
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ATTENDING STUDENTS
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The required Mid-term Paper is a semiotic, cinematographic and sociological analysis of a musical video clip chosen by the student. In the paper, the student uses his or her understanding of semiotics in order to analyze the cinematographic elements of a video clip and how they reveal the underlying social theories discussed in class and in readings. The same approach is used in the Final Exam where the student must elaborate on the structure of the clip seen and how their understanding of social theory and cinematic language are braided into a significant narrative with social, emotional and psychological consequences.
The Mid-Term Paper is worth 40% of your Final Grade. The Final Exam is worth the remaining 60%. |
NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
There is no partial paper for non-attending students. In the Final Exam the student must elaborate on the structure of the clip seen during the exam and how their understanding of social theory and cinematic language are braided into a significant narrative with social, emotional and psychological consequences.
The Final Exam is 100% of your Final Grade.
Teaching materials
ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
Cod. 30475 Class Dispensa: Cinema & Social Theory, edited by Edward Rozzo - Pelican Editions, EGEA
Introducing Social Theory, Third Edition, Pip Jones and Liz Bradbury, Polity Press
Last change 22/12/2021 17:36