Keywords in US Film Studies

elective courses

Classroom

The course focuses on key terms and concepts that shaped American cinema and US film studies. It also emphasizes the cultural and political contexts influencing American movies throughout the XXth century. An analysis of theoretical essays and historical sources will be complemented by the discussion of selected works. The course is designed to give students the necessary theoretical background and the tools that would allow them to study film in academic context.

The course focuses on key terms and concepts that shaped American cinema and US film studies. Star and studio systems, male gaze, vernacular modernism, genres, classical Hollywood, the Production Code, Cold War, New Hollywood, blockbusters, African American cinema, feminist filmmaking and the rise of independent productions are some examples of the problems and subjects that we are going to tackle. The course emphasizes the cultural and political contexts shaping American movies throughout the XXth century. An analysis of theoretical essays and historical sources will be complemented by the discussion of selected movies (e.g. Scarface, Force of Evil, Dance, Girl, Dance, Medium Cool, The Wild Bunch, Dawn of the Dead, Apocalypse Now, Daughters of the Dust, My Own Private Idaho – the list may be subject to change). “Keywords in US Film Studies” is designed to give students the necessary theoretical background and the tools that would allow them to study film in academic context.

Belton, John. American Cinema/American Culture. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012.

Corrigan, Timothy, Patricia White and Meta Mazaj, eds. Critical Visions in Film Theory: Classic and Contemporary Readings. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011.

Doherty, Thomas. Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930–1934. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.

Dyer, Richard. Only Entertainment. London: Routledge, 2005.

Grant, Barry Keith, ed. Film Genre Reader IV. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012.

Lewis, Jon. Hollywood v. Hard Core: How the Struggle Over Censorship Created the Modern Film Industry. NYU Press, 2002.

Mulvey, Laura. Visual and Other Pleasures. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire and New York: Palgrave, 1989.

Rich, B. Ruby. New Queer Cinema: The Director’s Cut. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2013.

Ray, Robert B. A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, 1930-1980. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985.

Shohat, Ella and Robert Stam. Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media. London and New York: Routledge, 2014.

Smyth, Jennifer E. Nobody's Girl Friday: The Women Who Ran Hollywood. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.

Upon completing this course a student:

1. KNOWLEDGE

- has advanced knowledge of 20th century American cinema, history and culture;

- understands the language of film – can recognize the key techniques and elements of the "grammar" of American cinema as a narrative art developing in a multicultural society;

- understands the specifics of the American film industry as a branch of the national economy and knows the basic principles of copyright law;

- is familiar with the key terms and theories from the field of US film studies;

- is familiar with the major Hollywood films and their interpretations.

2. SKILLS

- is able to use critical tools correctly and apply them to film analysis;

- is able to formulate critical arguments in relation to American cinema;

- is able to relate Hollywood cinema to social and cultural processes taking place in the US and to normative systems dominant in the society;

- is able to prepare and deliver a presentation on the history of American cinema using advanced information and communication techniques and film terminology in English;

- is able to research, plan and write an academic paper in the field of American film studies.

3. COMPETENCES

- is able to cooperate in a group and take active part in discussions;

- is open to conflicting, critical readings of particular films supported by arguments, as well as to different visions of American culture and society;

- is able to utilize the knowledge acquired during the course to formulate his/her own opinions in a coherent and articulate manner and with respect of other views.

Students are required to prepare regularly for classes (watch films, read the assigned materials), attend classes and participate in discussions (two absences are allowed), prepare a group presentation and write a final essay.

Final grade depends on the partial grades for:

1) active participation in classes - 20%

2) group presentation - 30%

3) final essay (analysis of a selected film; 5-6 pages) - 50%

Final grade (consisting of the above components):

• more than 95% - 5!

• 86-95% - 5

• 81-85% - 4+

• 76-80% - 4

• 70-75% - 3+

• 60-69% - 3