MFA FILM ANALYSIS
FALL 2017
Syllabus (updated August 27th)
D.C. Library Card Gives You Access to Stream the Criterion Collection (as well as other films)
Assignment Repository:
- In Class Presentation (variable due date depending on film chosen) --
- Seen / Heard Filmmaker Diary (due Dec. 8th)
- Final Essay (video essay or paper) (due Dec. 8th)
Please Note: viewings are password protected for students of the class only. Portions will be screened in class, and the instructor owns these films. Once the course completes, the films will be deactivated.
WEEK 14 / 15
WEEK 13
Viewing
WANDA, dir. Barbara Loden, 1970
"A Woman Under the Influence" (1974)
Readings:
- A Woman Under the Influence: The War at Home
- The Great Recession: American Movie Acting Today
- Supplemental Listening: Podcast on the above article
- Supplemental Reading: Cassavetes on A Woman Under the Influence (see particularly pg. 322-342)
WEEK 11
Supplemental Viewing -- we will screen "Quest" in class.
Let the Fire Burn (2013)
WEEK 10
Viewing:
"Los Angeles Plays Itself" (2003)
Close-Up (1990)
About Elly (2009)
WEEK 07
Reading: TRUFFAUT/HITCHCOCK, HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT, and the Big Reveal
Hitchcock / Truffaut (2015)
PSYCO, Hitchcock, 1960
WEEK 06
Reading: Notes on the Cinematographer (Bresson); ‘Hella LA’ Is Insecure’s Boldest Episode Yet; A Man Escaped: Quintessential Bresson; Functions of Film Sound: A Man Escaped
Supplemental Reading: Excerpt from "Audio-Vision" by Michel Chion
Viewing:
"A Man Escaped" (1956)
Supplemental Viewing:
L'Argent (1983)
WEEK 05
Viewing:
Girl 6 (1996)
Reading: Black American Cinema: The New Realism
Supplemental Reading: Hitchcock / Truffaut on "Rear Window"
Supplemental Viewing (Klute):
Klute (1971)
WEEK 04
Reading: Mulvey, Visual Pleasure ; Principles of Narration (only req to read between red arrows)
Viewing:
REAR WINDOW, Hitcock, 1954
WEEK 03
Assignment: In Class Presentation
Reading: Blood Flows Without Quick Cuts, Hands (and faces) Across a Table, Watching You Watch THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Viewing:
An Autumn Afternoon, 1962
Supplemental Reading: Jane Espenson's Blog on TV Writing; a fan's Interpretative Analysis of "Pine Barrens"
Supplemental Viewing (Related to the Reading):
Sopranos, Season 3, Episode 11: "Pine Barrens"
WEEK 01—Intro
