English 237 Intro to Film Studies & Aesthetics

Spring 2015 // Cuesta College

#50753 T 8:00-11:10 a.m.

3 units
Room 6304

Instructor: Prof. Steve Leone

Phone: 546-3100, ext. 2745

Office: 6222

Email: sleone@cuesta.edu
Office Hours: By appt.

English 237Intro to Film Studies & Aesthetics

COURSE DESCRIPTION: You already know how to watch and enjoy movies. This course will introduce a
methodology for how to read films and identify the filmmaking techniques used to provoke emotional and
intellectual responses and determine why some films have so far stood the test of time. The films that we will
screen have been chosen because of their artistic and cultural value, especially how they have contributed or
influenced the art of filmmaking. We will screen a representative sample of films in world cinema history that merit
scrutiny due to their critical contributions to the art form and to their particular film genre (drama, comedy, science
fiction, fantasy, silent, gangster, romance, western, film noir, horror, and suspense). We will have discussions about
these films to see how they have made such an emotional, intellectual, and aesthetic impact on film history by
analyzing them from historical, psychoanalytical, feminist, sociopolitical, and aesthetic angles of interpretation. We
will witness how visual design, cinematography, editing, sound, genre forms, and use of character produce an
emotional, intellectual, and/or aesthetic impact on the viewer. Prerequisite: Engl. 201A.
METHODS: This is a lecture and discussion-based course with each class session dedicated to interactive lecture,
film screening(s), and discussion. Lectures on film language, history, and technique will provide the basis for
student analysis of these film texts, and other lectures will provide instruction on how to write brief responses and
one long-form critical analysis paper on the themes of these film texts. Be forewarned that we will screen adultlevel films with imagery and language that may be offensive to some viewers. A number of our discussions will
also focus on such thematic topics as sexuality, gender, ethnicity, secular treatment of religion, and other topics
provoked by the films.
REQUIRED MATERIALS:
Nichols, Bill. Engaging Cinema: An Introduction to Film Studies. New York: Norton, 2010.
ISBN-13: 978-0-393-93491-5.
GRADING CRITERIA*:
Course Requirements:

Course Grade Percentage

Short Quizzes

25%

Midterm Exam

20%

Final Exam

25%

Final Paper or Project

20%

Class Participation & Attendance

10%
100%

*Please be advised the instructor reserves the right to change the weighting & scheduling of assignments during the course of the semester.
GRADING No final or individual assignment grades will be given to students by phone or email. The following is the point spread
for each possible final course grade: A = 925-1000 pts.; A- = 897-924 pts.; B+ = 876-896; B = 825-875 pts.; B- = 800-824 pts.; C+ = 775-799
pts.; C = 721-774; D = 600-720 pts.; F = 599 pts. or below. The following percentages are used for individual assignment grades: A+ = 1.00; A
= 0.95; A- = 0.92; A-/B+ = 0.9; B+ = 0.88; B = 0.85; B- = 0.82; B-/C+ = 0.8; C+ = 0.78; C = 0.75; C- = 0.72; C-/D+ = 0.7; D+ = 0.68; D = 0.65;
D- = 0.60. F grade percentages depend on the severity of the failed assignment (i.e. a plagiarized paper earns 0 pts.)

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon completing this course, students will be able to
1. identify and analyze the formal and aesthetic elements of film across various genres.
2. analyze and interpret films using close analysis and film theory.
3. analyze the historical contexts and influences of significant films.

PAPER GRADING: Your written work will be graded holistically on two principles:
1) [Validity] Content development and support with evidencewhether or not the paper or written response has
a depth of purpose and thought, a workable and visible thesis, and/or adequate development and support of
main ideas with use and analysis of the text and/or research.
2) [Soundness] Strategy of organization and stylewhether or not the paper or written response is structurally
sound with a clear focus on a controlling idea and a strategy utilized to prove the claims stated at the
paragraph and/or essay level. In addition, soundness can be affected by style, particularly whether or not
there are errors in MLA style, sentence structure, punctuation, word choice, etc.
MINIMUM PAPER REQUIREMENTS: The final paper turned in to me must be 5-10 pages typed or wordprocessed, double-spaced, with 1 1.25 margins all around, with a title page, with MLA format, and with a 12 pt.
basic font like Times New Roman. All outside sources also must be cited with a Works Cited page using MLA Style.
Papers that do not meet the above minimum paper criteria will not receive a C grade or above.
PLAGIARISM: Plagiarism is the act of presenting or illegally paraphrasing someone elses words, writing, or ideas
as your own. It is also misrepresenting someone elses written work as your own or presenting the writing of others
as your own, including excessive help from tutors, friends, or family members. The college has a written policy
statement concerning cheating and plagiarism, which includes specific steps that will be taken to punish the
student(s) involved. If cheating, plagiarism, or excessive help is suspected, the paper involved will not be accepted
or graded, and the student involved will be reported to the proper campus authorities. Any paper suspected to have
elements of someone elses writing without proper credit or copied or purchased from an online source will not be
accepted and will earn zero points. Always give credit where credit is due with use of MLA style of documentation
and with appropriate parenthetical citations and quotation marks around any term, phrase, sentence, or long passage
from an outside source. The instructor reserves the right to request that students turn work in to Turn-it-in.com
PARTICIPATION: Participation grades will be assessed from your contributions to whole class discussions. Class
participation is your way to learn and discover the power of film, so please speak your mind whenever possible. Your
perspectives are unique to you and valuable to generate multiple interpretations of the films we screen.
ATTENDANCE: You are only allowed the equivalent of two weeks of free absences (2 absences), but each excessive
non-excused absence beyond this may amount to a 10% loss to your attendance/participation grade depending on the
circumstances. In addition, each unexcused excessive tardy or early departure will amount to a third of one absence,
depending upon the severity and frequency (i.e. three excessive tardies and/or departures = one absence.) Students with
two consecutive absences will be dropped unless they notify me in person or with a note in my box or email. It is the
students responsibility to drop the course administratively before the drop deadline if that is his or her intention. If
youre thinking of dropping, please do me the courtesy of letting me know. Besides, if youre not doing well in the class,
dropping may not be the best solution. Please see me; I may be able to help you get caught up or reorganized.
LATE WORK & DEADLINE EXTENSIONS: If you need a deadline extension for a paper or journal, for whatever
reason, contact me at least a day in advance of a due date by email or in person, and an extension will be granted, no
points off, no questions asked. Extensions are granted until the next class session unless we arrange otherwise. If you
do not contact me a day in advance, you will receive 5 % off for each weekday late or a whole grade off (10%) for each
weekend late. However, take-home exams will not be accepted late with very few exceptionsyou will have only
until the end of the deadline day to turn in take-home exams to my box or by email. If work is emailed, it must be resubmitted to me in hard copy form by the next class session for the work to be graded.
MAKE-UP WORK: There are no make-ups for in-class quizzes if not in attendance with very few exceptions. If you
miss a class for any reason, you will be expected to screen the film and complete the reading as scheduled for that day.
The most recent schedule will always be posted on our MyCuesta course site under Files.
STUDENT BEHAVIOR: Students who use class time to text, surf the internet, sleep, or behave in a manner that may
be distracting to the instructor (or others) will be called out and may be asked to leave. Such behavior will negatively
affect the students participation grade and may be reported to the Office of Student Services for disciplinary purposes.