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FILM AS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE
Film studies is something of an academic nomad. There are more freestanding film departments in
colleges and universities every year, but it is important to acknowledge up front that introductory film
studies courses may be found in a number of different departments and disciplines—English, languages,
history, communications, cultural studies, ethnic/gender studies, film studies—and even in lifelong learning
offerings aimed at retirees.
In addition to having many homes, introductory film courses can have many names: “Introduction to
Course Challenges
Teaching introductory film courses presents a wide range of challenges. The more difficult include
• teaching the vocabulary of the discipline
• helping students identify film form and techniques in the context of a film seen in class or online
at LaunchPad for The Film Experience
• working with a mixed student demographic
• exposing students to films with which they may not be familiar and helping them to appreciate
their value
• keeping up with changing exhibition spaces
Teaching the Vocabulary of the Discipline
We can safely assume that everyone enrolled in the introductory film course has seen movies and is
able to articulate what they like and don’t like about them in broad terms, but they don’t yet have the
vocabulary to isolate and name which specific elements contributed to their experience of a movie as good
or bad. As with any academic discipline, film studies has its own set of terms that students must be
persuaded to master in order for them to be able to communicate their ideas and observations articulately in
class and in their written work. It is useful to suggest to students that they think about the course as an
introductory foreign language class. This approach helps them consider film studies as an academic
discipline, rather than as a course in which they can simply watch movies for credit. It also reminds them
that learning to express oneself articulately in any new language is a cumulative process that requires
diligence, practice, and patience.
To that end, consider giving in-class vocabulary quizzes at the beginning of the course. Select only a
few of the boldface terms from each section, perhaps emphasizing those that most closely relate to the film
Working with a Mixed Student Demographic
Film studies attract students and instructors with various degrees of preparedness. Success for
instructors—as for studios and exhibitors—can come from knowing the audience and how far they might
stretch.
A sense of the students’ backgrounds can help prepare the instructor for the course. Student
demographics are changing. One may have to foreground the relevance of film studies to traditional-age
college students, who don’t watch movies the way they have been seen for the majority of film’s short
history. Older undergraduates and returning students can bring a different experience of films and film
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Exposing Students to Unfamiliar Films
The primary student learning challenges also can vary depending on the geographical region or the
type of institution in which the course is taught. An introductory film class might be an elective at a liberal
arts college or it might satisfy a general education requirement for undergraduates from every major at a
land-grant institution. A student attending a school in a rural area or one that does not offer a separate film
studies major may not always experience the same type of rich, diverse film culture as a student attending
school in movie hubs like New York City and Los Angeles. An instructor’s role may involve achieving a
balance between screening accessible and familiar films and exposing students to titles they might not
otherwise see. Again, conducting a survey at the beginning of the semester or quarter that asks students to
name their favorite movie and preferred genres or stars, as well as the movie they have seen most often, can
help the instructor decide which films to screen.
Keeping Up with Changing Exhibition Spaces
Screenings may be mandatory or optional, but scheduling screenings alone presents its own set of
challenges. Introductory film courses are taught in all types of physical spaces, from big lecture halls to
“smart,” that is, “wired,” classrooms. The ways in which movies are viewed and consumed inside and
outside the classroom are changing almost too rapidly. Some instructors may be able to project 8mm or
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TEACHING FROM THE FILM EXPERIENCE
The Film Experience situates film within the social contexts of how and where and why people watch
movies. From this viewer-centric approach to film studies, the text offers clear explications of composition,
narrative, history, and theory without preferring one approach over another. Supplementing these
discussions are high-quality color and black-and-white frames selected from films throughout the
medium’s history. Using this textbook and the resources on its accompanying Web site, an instructor can
readily create a syllabus for a course that takes, for example, a generic, chronological, or close-reading
approach to film studies.
The Film Experience is organized into four parts. Part 1 discusses how movies are made, watched, and
studied. Part 2 deals with the formal and technical aspects of film form: mise-en-scène, cinematography,
editing, and sound. Part 3 addresses storytelling in chapters on narrative, documentary films, experimental
films, and movie genres. Finally, Part 4 focuses on film histories, critical theories of studying film, and
guidance for writing film essays. There are twelve chapters in all, which works nicely with the length of
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HOW TO USE THIS INSTRUCTOR’S RESOURCE MANUAL
A great deal of revision, thought, and creativity has gone into the development of the fourth edition of
The Film Experience. A strong text deserves an equally strong Instructor’s Resource Manual (IRM) that
can supplement that text and train instructors how to teach their course using The Film Experience. This
manual aims to accommodate different approaches to introductory film courses, to offer strategies for
building syllabi that cover the various ways the course can be taught, and to appeal to instructors with
backgrounds in film studies or in other disciplines.
In addition to satisfying these three goals, the manual includes the standard teaching aids, such as
sample syllabi, chapter overviews, questions to generate class discussion, ideas for encouraging critical and
active viewing among students, sample student answers to the questions that accompany the clips on
LaunchPad, and a test bank. The manual also recognizes that non-majors may be enrolled in the
introductory film course for the sole purpose of satisfying a graduation requirement and includes helpful
ideas for engaging and sustaining their interests.
Each chapter in the Instructor’s Resource Manual corresponds to the title and organization of each
chapter in the parent text and includes the following:
• Key Objectives. Each chapter begins with a list of key objectives, drawn from the textbook, that
gives an overview of the chapter’s contents.
• Chapter Overview. The overview provides a summary of the topics covered, explains how the
chapter fits within its part of the textbook, and suggests areas of emphasis to convey to students.
• Teaching the Opening Vignette. Each chapter of The Film Experience opens with a vignette
drawn from a specific movie scene. The IRM suggests ways in which this vignette can be used by
the instructor to launch and guide the class in a discussion of the chapter’s primary concepts.
• Teaching the Chapter. The formal chapters of the book (Chapters 2–9) are organized into three
primary sections—Short History, Elements, and Making Sense of—that correspond respectively to
historical, formal, and contextualized approaches to the chapter topic. Specific advice for teaching
• Teaching the Viewing Cues. The Viewing Cues that appear throughout each chapter of the
textbook serve multiple purposes. In the IRM, they have been identified either as prompts for
essays, in-class exams, and take-home assignments, or as springboards for generating class
discussion and for encouraging critical and active viewing among students. Every chapter also
includes at least one Viewing Cue enhanced with online film clips that bring the ideas to life. The
Viewing Cues can also be used in conjunction with whatever film an instructor chooses to show to
illustrate a chapter’s topic and in concert with additional readings the instructor may assign.
• Teaching the Form in Action. These illustrated sequences, which appear in Chapters 1 through 9
of the textbook, with relevant clips available on LaunchPad, explain particular film practices in
detail. Tips for teaching these features and identifying their significance in relation to the larger
chapter discussion appear in each chapter of the Instructor’s Resource Manual. Every Form in
Action box now includes a video clip online with discussion questions.
• Teaching the Films in Focus. Each chapter offers two to three detailed analyses of how a specific
form or concept works in a film. Every Film in Focus box now includes a video clip online with
discussion questions. The films in these sections can be assigned for optional viewing or used as
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alphabetical list of all the movies cited in the chapter. Among the many titles in this list are films
that could be included on syllabi based on film history, national cinemas, genre, appreciation, or
theory. This list is meant to be deployed in a variety of ways. Instructors can choose alternatives—
based on their research interests, degree of familiarity with a particular movie, orientation of the
course, or availability—to the Films in Focus. In addition, they can cross-reference the list with a
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SAMPLE SYLLABI
Sample Syllabus 1
Film: An Introduction
Clemson University
Course Description
This course examines the art, economy, and politics of film. Using case studies, we will learn how to
recognize, read, and analyze cinematic representation within a particular social, cultural, or political
context, touching upon such important issues as race, gender, class, ideology, and censorship. The films
that will be screened in this class range from examples of classical Hollywood cinema to the most recent
world cinema. They include typical narrative films as well as avant-garde films. Our reading of film will be
accompanied by the key texts in screen theory.
Required Texts
Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia White. The Film Experience: An Introduction. 5th ed.
Reading Packet—available at the Campus Copy Shop
Evaluation
1. Attendance (see below)
20% 2. Class Participation (discussion)
20% 3. Midterm Exam
30% 4. Tests
30% 5. Final Exam
Course Requirements
1. Attendance. Any student who misses more than four sessions, with or without excuse, will not
pass this class. Students are allowed two (2) unexcused absences. Three absences will jeopardize
2. Class Participation. You must bring the appropriate reading material to each session, after having
read it carefully at home. Your active and creative participation (asking well-informed questions,
3. Film Labs. Attendance is absolutely required at the film labs. At some of the film labs, you will
be asked to complete a brief film lab response sheet designed to assess your understanding of the
4. Exams. There is a midterm and a final exam in this class. The exams will take place as scheduled
5. Tests. Five unannounced tests will be administered to motivate you to read the texts and watch the
films in a timely fashion. No make-up tests will be administered, but one (lowest) score will be
dropped from your record.
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COURSE CALENDAR
WEEK 1
WEEK 4
M CINEMATOGRAPHY. Reading: Corrigan Chapter 4
Case Study: Vertigo
W PRESENCE & REPRESENTATION. Reading: Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno,
“The Culture Industry as Mass Deception”
Film Lab: Bamboozled (Dir. Spike Lee, 2000)
WEEK 5
M RACE. Reading: Robert Stam and Louise Spence, “Colonialism, Racism, and
Representation: An Introduction”
W EDITING. Reading: Corrigan Chapter 5
Film Lab: Man with a Movie Camera (Dir. Dziga Vertov, 1929), Meshes of the
Afternoon (Dir. Maya Deren, 1943)
WEEK 6
M EXPERIMENTAL FILM. Reading: Corrigan Chapter 9
W NARRATIVE FILM. Reading: Corrigan Chapter 10
Film Lab: Gilda (Dir. Charles Vidor, 1946)
WEEK 7
M GAZE. Reading: Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative
Cinema”; and Richard Dyer, “Resistance through Charisma: Rita Hayworth and Gilda”
W CAMP. Reading: Susan Sontag, “Notes on Camp”; and Moe Meyer, “Reclaiming the
Film Lab: All About My Mother (Dir. Pedro Almodóvar, 1999)
WEEK 10
M QUEER CINEMA. Reading: Judith Butler, “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution”
W QUEER CINEMA. Reading: Daniel Mudie Cunningham, “Queer Cinema since 1997”
Film Lab: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Dir. John Cameron Mitchell, 2001)
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W THE OTHER EUROPE. Reading: Anikó Imre, “East European Cinemas in New
Perspectives”
Film Lab: Taxidermia (Dir. György Pálfi, 2006)
WEEK 14
M UNPACKING TAXIDERMIA
Sample Syllabus 2
Film: An Introduction
Clemson University
This course offers an introduction to the language and aesthetics of cinema. In the first part, we will
study the basic elements of film grammar, from shot construction to editing to sound. In the second part, we
will examine how that grammar is used to create different kinds of narratives, including documentaries, and
how certain values of storytelling style have been privileged over others. In the third and final part, we will
consider the question of narrative variations, from Orson Welles to the DVD era. Throughout the semester,
we will focus on detailed analysis of films, looking closely at the ways in which the elements of cinema
come together to make, or unmake, meaning.
Required Text
Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia White. The Film Experience: An Introduction. 5th ed.
Recommended Text
Kamp, David, and Lawrence Levi. The Film Snob’s Dictionary. New York: Broadway Books, 2006.
Note: There will be additional readings on Blackboard.
Grading Breakdown
Scene description and analysis: 15%
Midterm exam: 20%
First paper: 20%
Final paper: 25%
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coming week and beyond. You are responsible for the assignments and expectations outlined here. Please
contact me with any questions.
The Classroom
Attendance (Class and Screenings)
Class participation and thoughtful responses to the readings are essential to the successful completion
Clemson’s schedule allows time between classes for students to get to their next class, so please do not
start gathering up your belongings before class has ended. If you have a class immediately before or after
this one at a great distance, please let me know, and we can try to find a solution. Turn off any cellular
telephones or similar devices (do not set to vibrate) and put away before class starts. As a group, you get
one free pass: any phone creating noise or a distraction after the first infraction will count as an unexcused
You are welcome to bring your laptop to class, but unless I ask a specific student to look up a specific
piece of information, laptops should remain closed during class. I encourage you to take notes using a paper
and pen—it keeps you focused and helps with your written work. Transcribing notes is an excellent way to
review material for examinations.
Office Hours
I encourage you to meet with me during office hours. If you can’t make my office hours, I am happy to
arrange another time. I prefer email for questions. I will respond to email promptly, but any questions you
have about a written assignment should be sent to me at least thirty-six hours before an assignment is due.
Emailing me the night before a paper is due with a question or problem will not exempt you from turning it
in on time.
Assignments
Readings
The reading schedule is meant to be flexible. As the class develops, I may add or drop readings to
respond to the direction of the course. These additions or subtractions should not greatly reduce or increase
the amount of reading you will be expected to complete.
As a rule, you should do the assigned reading from the textbook (The Film Experience) before the
Monday meeting, and you should complete the Blackboard/reserve reading by the Wednesday meeting.
This order may change from week to week, according to the materials in question.
Ideally, you should bring your textbook to class every day, since it may well be integral to our
discussion. You are responsible for photocopying or downloading/printing the Blackboard/reserve readings
complete an assignment on time, I will be much more understanding if you contact me before, rather than
after, it is due. For your protection, keep both a digital and a printed copy of all the work you turn in for
this class at least until you have received your final grade.
Southern Circuit
Southern Circuit, currently in its thirty-third year, is an annual touring program showcasing and
Schedule of Assignments
Note! Additional readings are TBA, and readings, assignments, and screenings may be revised in
updated versions of this syllabus. You will be informed of any changes in class and via email. Updated
syllabi versions will be available via Blackboard.
I. The Grammar of Cinema
Week 4: Combining Images: Continuity Editing
Reading: The Film Experience, Chapter 4
Screening: Casablanca (US: Michael Curtiz, 1942. B/W, 102 min.)
Week 5: The World Viewed: Mise-en-Scène
Reading: The Film Experience, Chapter 2; Astruc (Blackboard)
Reading: Smith; Brophy; Sisario (Blackboard)
Screening: Once (Ireland: John Carney, 2006. Color, 85 min.)
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II. Storytelling
Week 9: Documentary I
Reading: The Film Experience, Chapter 7
1969. Color, 110 min.)
Week 13: Southern Circuit, McKissick Theater, 7:30 P.M.
FIRST PAPER DUE
III. Narrative Alternatives
Week 12: Star Theory
Week 16: Film and Spectatorship
Reading: Modleski (Blackboard)
Screening: The Purple Rose of Cairo (US: Woody Allen, 1985. Color,
82 min.)
Week 17: Film and Fantasy
Reading: Bordwell (Blackboard)
Screening: Paprika (Japan: Satoshi Kon, 2006. Color, 90 min.)
FINAL PAPER DUE
Sample Syllabus 3
Introduction to Film and Visual Literacy
Fayetteville State University
Course Description
This course will introduce students to basic concepts in film and other visual media such as video and
Internet imaging. This course introduces students to formal vocabulary and methodology for developing the
ability to consider visual texts critically. Through understanding and application of the basic concepts of
film language, students will learn how elements such as editing, lighting, composition within the frame,
cinematography, and sound combine to constitute filmic discourse. In order to understand development in
these categories, consideration will be given to film history.
Textbook
The following textbook is available at the university bookstore. It is required. You should also make
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the Media Center for two-hour checkout. You might also plan to watch films using subscription services
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to
• gain an understanding of the ways in which films are produced, distributed, and exhibited
• learn the formal techniques by which films and other media make meaning
• cultivate the ability to perform close readings and clear, specific analyses of films
• develop a greater understanding of the social and technological history of film
• learn what it means to think about moviegoing as an “experience” and how that experience has
changed over the course of cinema’s history
• develop writing and visual analysis skills through critical papers analyzing films
A 90–100 B 80–90 C 70–80 D 60–70 F 59 and under
Academic Honesty
Because this course involves a significant amount of writing, absolutely every word, phrase, sentence,
and paragraph that you submit for credit must be your own work. Because you have all graduated from
high school or the equivalent, you obviously understand the difference between your words and the work of
others. This course’s instructor has adopted a “zero tolerance” policy on plagiarism. This means that any
student who turns in another writer’s work pretending that it is his or her own will earn an “F” for the entire
course.
Attendance/Film Screenings
Students in English 332 will benefit from attending class regularly and participating in class
discussion. To that end, the university’s policy on attendance is in effect in this class. The FSU policy on
tardiness is also in effect: “Students are required to arrive at each class on time and remain in class until
Cell Phone/Behavior Policy
I allow cell phones in class, but I require them to be in a pocket and on vibrate. If your cell “rings,”
you are to leave the room quietly to answer it. I do not want them out on a desk or in view at any time. Do
not text message in my class. In general, you should behave respectfully toward your peers and toward the
instructor in order to contribute to the best possible learning environment for yourself and your classmates.
If you have any questions, be sure to consult the university’s guide on recommended student behavior.
Academic Support Resources
Because we will be writing a number of papers in this course, you may consider using the Writing
Center as a resource for assistance in writing your papers.
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Course Outline and Assignment Schedule
Tentative Schedule
All reading and writing assignments will be due by the date they are listed. If a reading assignment is
listed as due on Friday, then you should read it no later than Thursday night. Please note that TFE=The
Film Experience, CW=Course Web site, and ER=Electronic Reserves.
WEEK 1:
Film: Thomas Edison shorts available on Library of Congress American Memory Web site
(memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edhome.html)
Reading: CW, Hays Code and MPAA ratings system
WEEK 2:
Film: North by Northwest (1959), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Reading: TFE, Chapter 7 “Narrative Films: Telling Stories”
Writing: One- to two-page review of a film of your choice
WEEK 3:
Monday is Labor Day: No class
Film: Do the Right Thing (1989), dir. Spike Lee
Reading: TFE, Chapter 3 “Mise-en-Scène: Exploring a Material World”
WEEK 4:
Film: The Third Man (1949), dir. Carol Reed
Reading: TFE, Chapter 4 “Cinematography: Framing What We See”
WEEK 5:
Film: Bonnie and Clyde (1967), dir. Arthur Penn
Reading: TFE, Chapter 5 “Editing: Relating Images”
WEEK 6:
Film: The Conversation (1974), dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Reading: TFE, Chapter 6 “Film Sound: Listening to the Cinema”
Storyboard: Group storyboard project due
WEEK 7:
Film: All About Eve (1950), dir. Joseph Mankiewicz
Reading: TFE, Chapter 1 “Encountering Film: From Preproduction to Exhibition”
Paper I: Using Mise-en-scène and cinematography to analyze a film due
WEEK 8:
WEEK 11:
Film: The Thin Blue Line (1988), dir. Errol Morris
Reading: Chapter 8 “Documentary Films: Representing the Real”
WEEK 12:
Film: Blade Runner (1982), dir. Ridley Scott
Reading: ER, Rick Instrell, “Blade Runner: The Economic Shaping of a Film”
ER, Peter Ruppert, “Blade Runner: The Utopian Dialectics of Science
Fiction Films”
WEEK 13:
Film: I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987), dir. Patricia Rozema
Reading: ER, Karen Jaehne, “I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing: Interview with
Patricia Rozema”
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ER, George Godwin, “Reclaiming the Subject: A Feminist Reading of
I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing”
ER, Marion Harrison, “Mermaids: Singing Off Key?”
Paper 2: Meaningfully comparing two films due
WEEK 14:
Film: Daughters of the Dust (1991), dir. Julie Dash
Reading: ER, Jacqueline Bobo, “Black Women Reading Daughters of the Dust”
WEEK 15:
Bibliography (Some selected readings in film and media studies)
Acland, Charles. Screen Traffic: Movies, Multiplexes, and Global Culture. Durham, NC: Duke University
Press, 2003.
Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” In Illuminations, edited by
Hannah Arendt. New York: Schocken, 1968.
Bordwell, David, Janet Staiger, and Kristin Thompson. The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style and
Mode of Production to 1960. London: Routledge, 1985.
Clover, Carol J. Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1992.
Doane, Mary Ann. The Desire to Desire: The Woman’s Film of the 1940s. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 1987.
Friedberg, Anne. “The End of Cinema: Multimedia and Technological Change.” In Reinventing Film
Studies, edited by Christine Gledhill and Linda Williams, 438–52. London: Arnold, 2000.
Gunning, Tom. “An Aesthetic of Astonishment: Early Film and the (In) Credulous Spectator.” In Viewing
University Press, 1995.
A Note on Assignments
I will provide handouts for all major papers well in advance of the due dates. I will also provide a
study guide several days before the midterm and final, including the text of all of the possible essay
questions.
For the writing journal, you will be required to post ten responses of 250–300 words to the assigned
movies. I will provide questions that you can use as guides to direct your responses.