CINE 450 Introduction to Film Theory

3 Credit(s)

An advanced upper-level introduction to film theory. This course explores some of the foundational questions that have shaped the discipline: What is cinema? How is it distinct from other art forms? What is the relationship between film and photography, painting, and the “real” world that a film may capture? What is a good film? What are its unique aesthetic properties? What is the cinematic apparatus? How does a film affect, construct, or delimit a spectator? What is a film spectator? How does cinema enable us to better understand ourselves as perceiving, emotional, and political subjects? Students examine three major theoretical movements: classical film theory, semiotic and apparatus approaches, and politically grounded identity-based film theory. Students also consider films in their own right as theoretical experiments in perception, aesthetics, and politics. Students will read theoretical texts and contemporary reflections on them, as well as watch films and portions of films, in order to explore the issues that have driven cinema studies since its inception.

Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite: CINE 101 or 201 or 202.