Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
This course is designed to familiarize students with the history of film as a medium of
artistic and ideological expression and help them develop a vocabulary for discussing and
analyzing film texts in an informed, sophisticated, and meaningful way. Roughly six
weeks will be spent outlining the formal and stylistic elements of film as an art and
commercial mass medium (mise-en-scene, cinematography, narrative, editing, and
sound). The remainder of the course will be spent exploring the ways filmmakers
working in both Hollywood and international cinemas have employed these formal and
stylistic elements; this will involve an analysis of the meaning and theoretical basis of
film genre, documentary, European modes of production (including Italian Neo-Realism
and the French New Wave), and avant-garde and experimental filmmaking. Each class
session will consist of lecture, screenings of relevant clips, and discussion of weekly
readings and screenings. Students’ achievement of the learning objectives will be
assessed through three examinations that utilize multiple-choice, matching and/or short
answer responses.
To increase students’ understanding of how film is made, to help students develop visual
literacy and a vocabulary for analyzing films in terms of form and style, and to increase
students’ awareness of film as an art, mass medium, and cultural artifact.
Course Policies
Students are expected to attend all classes, to be punctual, attentive, and considerate, and
to keep up with the assignments listed on the syllabus. All required readings and full-
length screenings are to be completed outside of class before the regular class session.
For example, the readings and screenings listed for Week 2 should be completed before
the class meets for that session. Students who must miss a class remain responsible for
Cell phones should be turned off upon entering class. Use of laptops is permitted, but
with the warning that the display must be completely darkened or closed during
screenings of clips. Because clips will be shown intermittently throughout each class (i.e.
not all at the beginning or end), students may find it more convenient to take notes in a
notebook rather than on a laptop. If the use of laptops becomes disruptive to the
classroom environment, they will no longer be permitted.
David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson. Film Art: An Introduction, 7th edition (New
York: McGraw-Hill, 2004)
There will be a few additional reserve readings (RR) that will also be considered
required texts for the course. These readings are available as electronic reserves through
the library website. Search by instructor name (Kretschmar) and enter the following
password to access these readings: genre
The full-length screenings to be completed outside of class are required texts. All are on
reserve at the McDermott Library, but are available in a number of other venues as well.
Grading Policy
Exams 1 and 2 are weighted, with the highest score given the greater percentage in the
calculation of the overall course grade.
NOTE: There will be no incompletes given in the course, all course requirements must be
met (including attendance; if a student misses more than five classes, he/she will generate
an automatic failing grade for the course), all exams must be completed, and make-up
exams will be permitted only in the most serious circumstances (family emergency or
illness) which must be documented to my satisfaction.
Please note that the Rules on Student Services and Activities of the University of Texas
System will be strictly adhered to. For information on the administration’s rules and
policies regarding student conduct and discipline, academic integrity, e-mail use,
withdrawal from class, student grievance procedures, incomplete grade policies,
disability services, and religious holy days, consult the material, generated by the
administration, available in the university catalogue.