ENG/FST317: Writing About Film
Course Schedule, Spring 08

Week One
R 1.10: First Day

Week Two
Introduction to Writing About Film
T 1.15: Corrigan, Chapter 1 & 2
R 1.17: Corrigan, Chapter 3
Discussion: How do we begin to write about film? Where and for whom do we do it? Also: Style, Grammar, Mechanics
Journal 1: Exercise 1 on pg. 35 in Corrigan (using Naked City)

Week Three
Naked City (1948)
T 1.22: Film Noir: An Introduction, filmsite.org essay on film noir, Sante, "New York Plays Itself"
R 1.24: New York Times Review (1948), Kozloff, "Humanizing 'The Voice of God': Narration in The Naked City
Discussion: Text and context in film writing; What is a "critical review"?
Journal 2: Exercise 2 on pg. 35 in Corrigan

Week Four:
T 1.29: Corrigan, Chapter 4, Orvell, "Weegee's Voyeurism and the Mastery of Urban Disorder"
R 1.31: Critical Review 1 Due

Week Five
Wattstax (1973)
T 2.5: Village Voice Review, Pitchfork Album Review
R 2.7: Sides "Straight in to Compton", "Writing About Music"
Discussion: Cultural Studies and Film Studies, Race and American Film, Music and Film
Journal 3: Write about another music documentary (see me for suggestions) and how it compares to Wattstax. Be specific.

Week Six:
T 2.12: Writing about Music, In-Class Assignment
R 2.14: Context Paper Due, In Class Discussion

Week Seven
Jaws (1976)
T 2.19: Quirke, Jaws (1-57)
R 2.21: Quirke, Jaws (58-95), Jaws' legacy (video interviews)
Discussion:The rise of the blockbuster, high art vs. low art, economic forces and film form.
Journal 4: Thesis and rough outline of critical essay.

Week Eight:
T 2.26: Corrigan, Chapters 5 & 6, Draft of Paper Due, In-Class Peer Review
R 2.28: First Critical Essay Due.

Week Nine
T 3.4, R 3.6: No Class.

Week Ten
Magnolia (2000)
T 3.11: "The Epic Obsessions of Paul Thomas Anderson", "Paul Thomas Anderson: Tracking Through a Fantastic Reality"
R 3.13: Dillman, "Twelve Characters in Search of a Televisual Text", Salon Review, Cigarettes and Red Vines Site
Discussion: Auteurs/directors, media studies, ensemble films, writing negative reviews.
Journal 5:

Week Eleven
T 3.18: Chion, from AudioVision, Draft of Close Reading Article/Scene Analysis Due
R 3.20: No Class

Week Twelve
T 3.25: In class assignment: film and the arts/writing about music.
R 3.27: Close Reading/Short Essay Due

Week Thirteen
Carnival of Souls (1962)
T 4.1: Clifford "Introduction to Carnival of Souls", Kawin, "Carnival of Souls"
R 4.3: "How to Write a Horror Movie Review", Ebert Review, Wikipedia Article on Cult Film
Journal 6: Bring in chart based on the "How To" model using Carnival of Souls

Week Fourteen
Horror (Genre) Studies
T 4.8: Research: History of Horror/Genre Study, Wikipedia Article on Horror
R 4.10: Hawkins "Sleaze Mania, Euro-trash"
Discussion: What is Genre? Horror, History, Style, Substance.
Journal 7

Week Fifteen
Experimental Films/Music Video/End of Story
T 4.15: "Maya Deren" at senses of cinema, Research: "What is Experimental Film?"
R 4.17: Allan, "Musical Cinema, Music Video, Music Television", Banks, "Video in the Machine"
Discussion: Non-narrative film, Music Video, Experimental cinema, Film futures?
Journal 8

Week Sixteen
T 4.22: Bring draft of final essay to class.
R 4.24: Last Class, Final Paper Due.