Cinematography Theory 1_2

Display Schedule

Subject guarantor

Petra DOMINKOVÁ

Name of lecturer(s)

Petra DOMINKOVÁ

Department

The subject provides Department of Cinematography

Contents

Course Learning Objectives:

By the end of the course the student will be able to:

• analyze the cinematography in various films

• understand how the specific DP’s choices influence spectators’ response

• adopt the vocabulary used within film theory concerning the cinematography

Course Requirements:

Class Attendance and Participation: I expect students to attend all classes. Students will read the texts required for each lesson and discuss them in class. Also, students will watch the films assigned (they will all be available). Lively discussion is expected. Students should ask anything that is not clear enough, bring their own ideas, and participate actively in the program of course. Participation and contribution to class discussion will be taken significantly into account in the final grade. Excessive unexcused absences result in a lowering of the final grade! If a student cannot attend the class because of a school-related duty (shooting of film, post-production etc.), s/he needs to inform the professor ahead.

Presentation: Around half of the class time (i.e. approximately 45 minutes) will be devoted to discussion. We will discuss the film and the reading(s) that are assigned for that very day. While all the students will be familiar with the film and the reading(s), one student (or more) will have a special task to be a “leader of discussion”. S/he will prepare a presentation that will include a close analysis of the film based on the reading (not exclusively, the student may add whatever else s/he will find important for understanding the film) using PowerPoint, Prezi, Google Slides, or any other tools. The handout/presentation will include AT LEAST 5 questions for class. Those questions should be rather complicated, can be even controversial, encouraging the students to think about the film more intensively (not “Did you like the film?). Since everybody in class will be prepared, the “leader” will encourage all students to talk. The student's presentation will last around 45 minutes.

The presentation should NOT include the factual information, such as the names of the cast and crew (with exception of the director and DP when relevant), the number of awards and prizes the film got, the names of the production/distribution companies associated with the film, the titles of the director’s other films, etc, unless it is particularly relevant. You should instead focus on YOUR OWN analysis and/or interpretation of the film (with the help of readings assigned) and perhaps also on the additional reviews/analysis of that film available on the Internet. The goal is to get us talking about certain traits of film style and how it demonstrates itself in the particular film.

Send me the presentation at least 24 hours before the class begins, that is, by Monday evening!

Final Essay: Students themselves will choose the topic for the paper, while the focus should be on the cinematography. Students may choose any film they wish, just need to inform me ahead of time, in case the film chosen is not the one we have seen in class. Papers have to be typed and may be sent via email. The due date is not negotiable. If a student needs to request an extension, they must do so before the paper is due. All sources (films, books, articles, interviews, websites etc) have to be cited: any time student quotes or paraphrases someone else’s work she/he has to give her/him credit, otherwise it is understood as plagiarism, that is unacceptable and will cause student‘s failing from the assignment and may lead to failing from the overall course as well.

The in-class presentations (Dec 2nd + Dec 9th) are part of the assignment and make each 10% of a grade. The essay will have a minimum of 1,400 words (approximately 5 pages, double-spaced). Plagiarism is unacceptable, and if any part of the assignment is plagiarized, you will receive a failing grade for the essay and may fail the overall course. Late submission of the essay will result in an automatic fail on the assignment. Due: Dec 21th

A student will not write an essay on film s/he has a presentation on.

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to discuss the specifics of cinematography from the theoretical and historical point of vies. Students will discuss the films from the different epochs and different regions and will examine the significance of various choices that directors of photography needs to make (e.g. deep space, long takes, close-ups, POV).

Prerequisites and other requirements

No

Literature

Antunes, Luis Rocha. “The Vestibular in Film: Orientation and Balance in Gus Van Sant’s Cinema of Walking,” Essays in Philosophy 13. 2 (August 2012): 522 – 549. URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7710/1526-0569.1436 Accessed September 12, 2017.

Branigan, Edward. Approaches to Semiotics (AS): Point of View in the Cinema. Tubingen, DEU: Walter de Gruyter, 2012. 103–121. Print. (Chapter 5. The Point-of-view Shot.)

Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson. Film Art. An Introduction. McGraw-Hill 2010, pp. 186 – 212.

Brown, Blain. Cinematography: Theory and Practice : Imagemaking for Cinematographers and Directors. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Focal Press, 2012. 69-76. Print. (Chapter Lighting as Storytelling.)

Burch, Noel. Theory of Film Practice. Princeton University Press 1981, pp. 17 – 31.

Cossar, Harper. Letterboxed: The Evolution of Widescreen Cinema. Lexington, Ky. : University Press of Kentucky, 2011. 185–224. Print. (Chapter Experiments, 1968, and the Fractured Screen.)

Dole, Jake Ivan. “The Author’s Gesture: The Camera as a Body in Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love.“ The Cine-Files 10 (Spring 2016): 1 – 12.

Everett, Wendy. “Mapping Colour. An Introduction to the Theories and Practices of Colour.” In Colour in Cinema: From Paintbrush to Pixel, ed. by Wendy Everett, Peter Lang. Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften 2012, pp. 7 – 34.

Gibbs, John & Pye, Douglas. The Long Take: Critical Approaches. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.

Hanich, Julian. “Complex Staging. The Hidden Dimensions of Roy Andersson’s Aesthetics,” Movie – A Journal of Film Criticism 5 (2014): 37 – 50.

Henderson, Brian. “Toward a non-bourgeois camera style.” Movies and Methods (vol. 1). Ed. Bill Nichols. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1976. 422–438. Print.

Paulus, Tom. “The view across the courtyard: Bazin and the evolution of depth style.” Film International 5.6 (2007): 62-75. Print.

Persson, Per. “Towards a Psychological Theory of Close-ups: Experiencing Intimacy and Threat.” Kinema undated: n. pag. Web. 18 September 2014

Place, Janey, and Lowell Peterson. “Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir.” Movies and Methods (vol. 1). Ed. Bill Nichols. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1976. 325–338. Print.

Evaluation methods and criteria

The course grade will be calculated as follows:

Participation in discussions and presence (33.3%) = 333 points

Presentation (33.3%) = 333 points

Final Essay (33.3%) = 333 points

Course web page

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gb2cNGliPtVxSFQi1Pha9M40LUS4o02J?usp=sharing

Note

Weekly schedule:

Week 1 [Tue, Oct-7]

Theme: Introduction

• Intro into the class: what we will be doing
• assignments, readings, films
• sign up for the presentations

Week 2 [Tue, Oct-14]

NO CLASS (professor outside Prague)

Week 3 [Tue, Oct-21]

Theme: Point of View

Discussion: Hi, Mom! (Brian de Palma, USA, 1970, 87’, color)

Reading: Branigan, Edward. Approaches to Semiotics (AS): Point of View in the Cinema. Tubingen, DEU: Walter de Gruyter, 2012. 103–121. Print. (Chapter The Point-of-view Shot.)

Week 4 [Tue, Oct-28]

No Class – bank holiday

Week 5 [Tue, Nov-04]

Theme: Close-up

Discussion: Hukkle (György Pálfi, Hungary, 2002, 78‘, color)

Reading: Persson, Per. “Towards a Psychological Theory of Close-ups: Experiencing Intimacy and Threat.” Kinema undated: n. pag. Web. 18 September 2014 <http://www.kinema.uwaterloo.ca/article.php?id=241>.

Week 6 [Tue, Nov-11]

Theme: Off-screen Space

Discussion: Sorry, Baby (Eva Victor, USA, 2025, 103‘, color)

Reading: Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson. Film Art. An Introduction. McGraw-Hill 2010, pp. 186 – 212 + Burch, Noel. Theory of Film Practice. Princeton University Press 1981, pp. 17 – 31.

Week 7 [Tue, Nov-18]

No Class - Camerimage

Week 8[Tue, Nov-25]

Theme: Long Take / Deep Space

Discussion: Atonement (Joe Wright, USA-UK, 2007, 123’, color)

Reading: Gibbs, John & Pye, Douglas. The Long Take: Critical Approaches. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017:1-26. Print. // Recommended: Henderson, Brian. “Toward a non-bourgeois camera style.” Movies and Methods (vol. 1). Ed. Bill Nichols. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1976. 422–438. Print. + Paulus, Tom. “The view across the courtyard: Bazin and the evolution of depth style.” Film International 5.6 (2007): 62-75. Print.

Week 9 [Tue, Dec-2]

Theme: “Slow” Movies / Cinema of Walking / / Presentation of final papers - ideas

Discussion: Elephant (Gus van Sant, USA, 2003, 81’, color)

Reading: Antunes, Luis Rocha. “The Vestibular in Film: Orientation and Balance in Gus Van Sant’s Cinema of Walking,” Essays in Philosophy 13. 2 (August 2012): 522 – 549. URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7710/1526-0569.1436 Accessed September 12, 2017.

Week 11 [Tue, Dec-10]

Theme: Color / Presentation of final papers - PWP

Discussion: Girl America (Amerikánka, Viktor Tauš, Czech Republic, 2024, 108’, color)

Reading: Everett, Wendy. “Mapping Colour. An Introduction to the Theories and Practices of Colour.” In Colour in Cinema: From Paintbrush to Pixel, ed. by Wendy Everett, Peter Lang. Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften 2012, pp. 7 – 34.

Week 12 [Tue, Dec-16]

Theme: Summary + Feedback

Papers are due Dec-20th

Further information

This course is an elective for all students of this school

Schedule for winter semester 2025/2026:

• Week view
• List

Schedule for summer semester 2025/2026:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

The subject is a part of the following study plans

• Cinematography_3_2021 (Required subjects)
• Cinema and Digital Media - Directing (Required elective subjects)