Spring

This course will primarily consider the historical and theoretical questions that the Hollywood film musical invites, although it will also make room to explore some related issues by looking at versions of musicals/dance films outside of Hollywood and beyond the studio era. Some of the questions the course will consider center on the following issues: the particular nature of the diegesis in Hollywood musicals (how the "numbers" relate to the narrative); the apparent boundaries of the genre; the generation of excess and affect; and ideological and feminist interpretations. Films will include The Smiling Lieutenant (Ernst Lubitsch, 1931), Le Million (Rene Clair, 1931), Jolly Fellows (Grigori Alexandrov, 1934), Top Hat (Mark Sandrich, 1935), The Gang's All Here (Busby Berkeley, 1943), Meet Me in St. Louis (Minnelli, 1944), Singin' in the Rain (Gene Kelly/Stanley Donen, 1952), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953), and Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (Jacques Demy, 1967).

This course will explore the relationship between cultural production and gender identity. We will read a broad range of texts from contemporary cultural, performance, and film theory (e.g. Judith Butler, Catherine Clement, Mary Ann Doane, Susan McClary, Laura Mulvey, Slavoj Zizek) and examine a number of symptomatic films and operas where gender norms become apparent through their exaggeration, violation, or suspension. All readings in English. Films by Josef von Sternberg (The Blue Angel, 1930), Busby Berkeley (The Gang's All Here, 1943), King Vidor (Gilda, 1946), Werner Schroeter (Death of Maria Malibran, 1972) Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Lili Marleen, 1980), and Jean-Jacques Beineix (Diva, 1982); operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Marriage of Figaro), Gaetano Donizetti (Lucia di Lammermoor), and Giacomo Puccini (Turandot).

This course introduces basic concepts of film analysis, which are discussed through examples from different national cinemas, genres, and directorial oeuvres. Along with questions of film technique and style, we consider the notion of the cinema as an institution that comprises an industrial system of production, social and aesthetic norms and codes, and particular modes of reception. Films discussed include works by Hitchcock, Porter, Griffith, Eisenstein, Lang, Renoir, Sternberg, and Welles.

This course examines selected themes in 20th-century American political history through both the literature written by historians, and filmic representations by Hollywood and documentary filmmakers. We will read one historical interpretation and view one film on themes like the following: Woodrow Wilson and WW I, the emergence of Pacific Rim cities like Los Angeles, Roosevelt's New Deal, the Japanese-American experience in World War II, McCarthyism and the Korean War, the cold war and the nuclear balance of terror, the radical movements of the 1960s, and multiculturalism in the 1990s.

COVA 23901 or consent of instructor This course focuses on the shaping and crafting of a nonfiction video. Sutdents are expected to write a treatment detailing their project. Production techniques concentrate on the handheld camera versus tripod, interviewing and microphone placement, and lighting for the interview. Post-production covers editing techniques and distribution strategies. Students then screen final projects in a public space.

Course work is directed towards the investigation of color photographic materials, specifically with color negative film to make chromagenic prints. Students focus on a set of issues and ideas that expand upon their experience and knowledge. An investigation of contemporary and historic photographic issues informs the students exploration, as does extensive darkroom work, gallery visits, and class and individual critiques. Visits to local exhibitions and darkroom work required. Lab fee $60.

Background in film theory or at least one course in cinema studies In this seminar, we will consider debates on film and mass culture in the tradition of the Frankfurt School (or, more precisely, Critical Theory), focusing mainly on Siegfried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin, and Theodor W. Adorno. Discussions will revolve around the following issues: the impact of technology on artistic practices as well as the institution of art; consumerism and new forms of subjectivity and reception; ideology and the "culture industry"; the transformation of the "public sphere" and the democratization of culture; the role of gender and sexuality. We will consider these debates both in their historical, political, and philosophical contexts and in their relevance to current debates in film theory and cultural studies. Texts will be read in translation, but reading knowledge of German would be highly useful.

COVA 10100 or 10200; or consent of instructor. Camera and light meter required. Using photographic materials, black & white or color, students focus on a set of issues and ideas that expand upon their experience and knowledge, and that have particular relevance to them. All course work is directed toward the production of a cohesive body of photographic work. An investigation of contemporary and historic art issues informs the students' exploration as does extensive darkroom work, gallery visits,critical readings, group and individual critiques, and presentations. Course can be taken several times as color and/or black and white, with series of projects developing and changing. Lab fee $60.

Consent of Instructor Although frequently described as the art form of the twentieth century, cinema was in fact invented at the end of the nineteenth century and is in many ways the product of that century in terms of technology, narrative and visual forms, social and political contexts, and philosophical and aesthetic preoccupations. This seminar will explore the nineteenth century visual forms that contributed to the cinema (photography, panoramas, dioramas, stereoscopy, magic lantern shows); its mechanical invention and institutional origins; its place within Nineteenth century amusements (vaudeville, melodrama, dance, comic strips). The place of the earliest cinema within what Walter Benjamin terms the "topoi of modernity" (the modern urban streets, the department store, the world expositions, ) will also be explored. Screening of the first films will be undertaken to determine aesthetic strategies, genres, and relations to other forms. Students should have some background in nineteenth century culture and some idea of aspects they would like to research in relation to cinema. Works by Simmel, Benjamin, Crary, Hansen, Singer, and others will be read.

COVA 10100COVA 10100 or 10200, and 24000 or 24100, or consent of instructor. Camera and light meter required. Throughout the quarter, students concentrate on a set of issues and ideas that expand upon their experience and knowledge, and that have particular relevance to them. All course work is directed towards the production of a cohesive body of black-and-white photographs. An investigation of contemporary and historic photographic issues informs the students' photographic practice and includes visits to local exhibitions, critical readings, darkroom techniques, and class and individual critiques. Visits to local exhibitions and darkroom work required. Lab fee $60.