FAMS 101: Introduction to Film & Media Studies
This course introduces students to basic concepts, theories and methods central to the study of film and media studies, with the main goal of developing critical media literacy. We will study important films, histories, contexts, and formal techniques, with an emphasis on properties such as cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing and sound. Our focus will be on film, but the class will also engage other forms of electronic media to gain a better understanding of emerging technologies and forms of distribution. Through required screenings, readings, writings and regular discussion, we will analyze a variety of screen media to understand how they work, what they mean, and how they influence our world. (H). Andy Smith. TR 1:15-4:00 PM, Landis Cinema (101) Buck Hall.
FAMS 102: Integrated Practice I
This course introduces students to the creative, theoretical, and practical aspects of media production and is designed to provide a foundational understanding of audio-visual storytelling. Students will learn the technical fundamentals of composition, lighting, audio recording, digital video cameras, and non-linear editing. The class will be grounded in discussions of theory, ethical media-making and responsible practices that move between past, present, and future. Drew Swedberg. TR 1:15-4:00 PM, Media 1 (102) 248 N. 3rd St.
FAMS 150: DOC Storymaking
Whatever your major or scholarly area of interest, everyone needs good media content—but how do you acquire the skills to become an effective visual communicator? This course is intended for students across all disciplines and majors who want to do just that. It merges a critical study of non-fiction media with the hands-on construction of their own documentary stories. Working with tools of the documentary arts—video, still images, audio, writing—students will acquire foundational strengths in documentary production and effective visual storytelling, analyze a variety of notable media examples and forms, grapple with the ethics of documentary practice, learn to work collaboratively in teams, and produce and share original works of documentary media. Students will be encouraged to create works that advance their unique study in their majors or areas of interest. Drew Swedberg. T 7:00-9:45 PM, Media 2 (121) 248 N. 3rd St.
FAMS 202: Integrated Practice II
This course is a research-based study and hands-on workshop of cinematography, with students moving through an array of creative exercises with attention to light, composition, and movement. Students will closely watch films, write detailed analysis, and collaboratively produce short films in conversation with an expansive global tradition of image-making. Drew Swedberg. TR 9:30 AM-12:15 PM, Landis Cinema (101) Buck Hall.
FAMS 240: Philosophy of Art
What is art? And how should art be interpreted and evaluated? What is the nature of artistic representation? What is the connection between art and emotion? What role does form play in art? Can art ever be a source of knowledge or of moral growth? This course examines these and other fundamental questions by looking at the classical theories of art as well as contemporary philosophical writings. Examples are drawn especially from painting, photography, and cinema. (H,V). Alessandro Giovannelli. TR 9:30-10:45 AM, Pardee 320A.
FAMS 252: Writing for Television
In this class, we will be exploring the craft of writing for television. We will learn the essentials of script formatting and practice how to develop an original idea into a show with intriguing characters and storylines. Through in-class screenings, discussion, and play-acting, we will analyze characters and plot, the structure of both half-hour comedic and hour-long dramatic episodes, series-long story planning, and strategies for writing compelling dialogue. We will develop a vocabulary for discussing TV productions while also examining the industry’s history and evolution to streaming. Writing assignments will build from one-sentence loglines to revised scripts. Particular emphasis will be placed on drafting, group work (“writers rooms”), and revision. (W). Mikael Awake. MW 11:40 AM-12:55 PM, Studio Theater (123) 248 N. 3rd St.
FAMS 255: Women Make Movies/Movies Make Women
This course examines the work of women filmmakers and how women have historically been constructed, and erased in cinematic representations. We study issues of gender, spectatorship, sexuality, race, representation and authorship as they intersect with images of women such as savior, victim, femme fatale, mother and artist. (GM1, W). Nandini Sikand. TR 1:15-4:00 PM, Media 2 (121) 248 N. 3rd St.
FAMS 264: Screendance
Also known as cinedance, dance on film or dance-film, screendance is a hybrid, mediated form, a duet between choreography and cinema situated at the nexus of “fleeting” movement and the careful curation of sound, images and effects delivered on screen. This course will help students deepen their understanding of the history, theory and production of screendance, a relatively new term used to describe a genre that draws on cinema studies and performance theory. Using personal media devices, students combine the kinesthetic energy of choreographic movement and technologies of film form such as greenscreen, cinematography, editing and lighting specific for moving bodies to make several short studies and collaboratively produce a movement piece for a final project. (H) Nandini Sikand. W 1:15-4:00 PM, Media 1 (102) and Studio Theatre 248 N. 3rd St.
FAMS 270: National and Transnational Cinemas
Film offers unique ways of accessing and representing trauma and of giving testimony to unacknowledged and unprocessed memories. This course explores German and transnational films about the Third Reich and its aftermath. By discussing Nazi and colonial propaganda, Rubble Film, Holocaust representation, and cultures of commemoration, we will examine how cinema works through traumatic experiences, revealing unheard voices and unseen perspectives on past, present, and future. (GM1,GM2,H). Dennis Johannßen. MW 1:15-2:30 PM, SIM 109.
FAMS 382: 1970’s American Cinema
Called a “Decade Under the Influence,” and the “Last Golden Era of American Film,” the 1970s were a cultural pivot point and an astonishingly rich extended moment in the history of American Cinema. This course examines American film production in the window between the Hollywood studio system’s collapse and before the rise of the corporate-driven blockbuster. We will investigate the cultural contexts from which these films emerged as well as their extended artistic, technological and economic legacies. Through regular screenings, readings, writings, and discussions students will treat films as complex texts, conduct original research, and interpret cinema as a potent cultural force. As a writing-intensive course, students will participate in draft revision workshops and produce a portfolio of revised “finished” writing. (W). Prerequisite: FAMS 101 or permission. Andy Smith. TR 9:30 AM- 12:15 PM, Media 2 (121) 248 N. 3rd St.
FAMS 420: Capstone
This final requirement for FAMS majors is a chance for students to synthesize their previous course of study into a major individual project. FAMS seniors collaborate in a workshop-based setting where everyone develops, researches, and completes a significant film and media project that results in a public presentation of their most advanced work.(W). Open to senior FAMS majors. Andy Smith. M 1:15-4:00 PM, Media 2 (12) 248 N. 3rd St.