Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Upon successful completion students should be able to:

1 Use understanding of film technique and film as an art medium as tools to analyze film.
2 Articulate a position, orally and in writing, by situating a film in a cultural context, and substantiating observations with examples taken from that tradition and from the film itself.
3 Use reflective visual reading, writing listening and speaking skills to recognize, develop and articulate personal standards, predispositions and theories regarding film and critical responses to film.
4 Recognize individual films as representative of the contemporary culture and historical moment that produced them.

Assessment tools may include informal responses to study questions;  evaluation of small- and full-group discussion; in-class and out-of-class writing, including informal responses to study questions and other forms of informal writing; analysis of film reviews; frame and/or sequence analyses; presentations by individuals and groups; storyboards; screenplays; and short- and long-essay exams. Both instructor and peer evaluation may be incorporated in the assessment process.

Themes, Concepts and Issues:
history of film as an art form
silent film
mise en scene
cinematography
editing
sound
film sources
censorship
film production
film distribution
types and functions of settings
characters
acting
frame composition
symmetrical and asymmetrical composition
lighting
use of space
color and colorization
camera distances
perspective
angles and point-of-view
shots
frame/the world outside the frame
moving camera
early film editing
scenes
sequences
superimpositions
juxtapositions
action and reaction
parallel editing
fast and slow cutting
montage
slow motion
early film sound
sound effects
music
silence
classical Hollywood cinema
Italian neorealism
French New Wave
independent films
avant-garde films
conflicts
plot
storyboard
screenplay
chronological and nonchronological time
narrative and nonnarrative techniques
documentary films
horror
Westerns
war films
thrillers
hybrid films
animation
Production Code of the Motion Picture Producers and Directors of America, Inc. -- 1930-4
explicit and implicit meaning
auteur theory
marxist film criticism
feminist film criticism
cinema verite
viewer-response criticism
reception theory
genre criticism
psychoanalytic criticism
special effects
gender issues
stereotyping
Competencies and Skills:
analysis
synthesis
understanding films through contexts, such as society and politics; artistic conventions; financial constraints; multiple interpretations
of a director; etc.
writing about films
visual "reading"
critical reading (for instance, of reviews and critical essays)
understanding roles of cinematographer, director, etc.
speaking and listening reflectively
small-group collaboration