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Introduction to Cinema


Course Description

Film aesthetics and film as an art form, including critical viewing of selected films in laboratory, and papers on topics in film and audience values.


Athena Title

Introduction to Cinema


Semester Course Offered

Offered fall, spring and summer


Grading System

A - F (Traditional)


Course Objectives

Introduction to Cinema introduces students to Film Studies, including film vocabulary, narrative analysis, and critical methods. We see and discuss a wide variety of films, including silent, subtitled foreign, and recent films. The class includes a required weekly film screening and one analytical paper, in addition to quizzes, midterms, and a final exam. Students learn to evaluate artistic and critical aspects of the cinema.


Topical Outline

I. Film and its Modes of Production II. Narration in Cinema III. Visual Style: Mise-en-scene (Lighting, Acting, Setting, Costume) IV. Film Style: Editing V. Film Style: Sound Strategies VI. Classical Hollywood vs. Art Cinema VII. African-American Cinema VIII. Women and Film IX. Genre and Authorship X. Animation: Pure Cinema


General Education Core

CORE IV: Humanities and the Arts

Syllabus