Focus on Film Theory

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Subject guarantor:

Ronald BERGAN

Name of lecturer(s):

Ronald BERGAN

Learning outcomes of the course unit:

The course will be a follow up on Focus on Film History from last semester, expanding on the contextual and intertextual approach, while seeking out the specificity of cinema. Although it is true that film theory and film history run parallel and reflect each other, this course will concentrate more on the analytical than the anecdotal, while not ignoring the social and political aspects. It will also consider the role of film criticism over the years in shaping the aesthetics of the art form. Therefore, students will be required to learn how to ?read? films. The course will be

supplemented and illustrated by the use of clips from films to which the students will be expected to apply critical analyses. As the majority of students are concerned with practical filmmaking, they should also be able to make a connection between an academic approach to filmmaking and a practical one.

Mode of study:

Lecture, seminar.

Prerequisites and co-requisites:

„Focus on Film History“ fulfilment preferably.

Recommended optional programme components:

None

Course contents:

The course will cover the following subjects.

1. Film and the other arts

2. Film genres

3. Types of Montage

4. Sound types and functions

5. Aspects of Cinematography

6. Principals of narrative construction

7. Non-fiction cinema and its modes

8. Ideology

9. Form and content

10 Post-modern cinema

11 Avant-garde conceptions of cinema

Recommended or required reading:

Film: Eye Witness Companion, Ronald Bergan (Dorling Kindersley)

The Oxford history of world cinema (Oxford University Press)

On the History of Film Style: David Bordwell (Harvard University Press)

Film Theory and Criticism: Leo Braudy, Marshall Cohen (Oxford University Press)

What Is Cinema?: André Bazin (University of California Press.)

Film History: An Introduction: David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson

Film Language: Christian Metz (Oxford University Press)

Theory of the film: Bela Balasz.

Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan and Beyond. Robin Wood

How to read a film: James Monaco

Planned learning activities and teaching methods:

None

Assessment methods and criteria:

Attendance:

Students are allowed to have two absences. Barring unforeseen circumstances, students should notify the instructor in advance.

Exceptional circumstances will be considered, but additional work will be required.

Participation:

Students will be expected to contribute to in-class discussions. Each student needs to prepare a brief class topic report once per semester.

Completion policy: To complete the course, a student must comply with the attendance and participation requirements and write 2 to 3 pages on a course-related topic of their choice.

Hand in date: May 22, 2015

Course web page:

Note:

Ronald Bergan (PhD English. Lit), film historian, critic and lecturer, is a regular contributor to The Guardian. He is President of FEDEORA (Federation of European and Mediterranean Critics), Artistic Director of MOFFEM (Montenegro Film Festival of the Mediterranean.) and a former Vice-President of Fipresci for which he has been president of the jury at numerous film festivals and has chaired and participated in many conferences on cinema all over the world. He has lectured on literature, theatre and film at the Sorbonne, the British Institute in Paris, the University of Lille and FAMU in Prague. He has held a Chair at the Florida International University in Miami where he taught Film History and Theory. Among the many books he has written are: Sergei Eisenstein: A Life in Conflict; Jean Renoir: Projections of Paradise; The Coen Brothers; Anthony

Perkins: A Haunted Life; Francis Coppola: The Making of His Movies; The Bloomsbury Foreign Film Guide; The United Artists Story, The Eyewitness Guide To Film (published in 8 languages ), Francois Truffaut Interviews, which he edited and Isms: Understanding Film.

Schedule for winter semester 2014/2015:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

Schedule for summer semester 2014/2015:

	06:00–08:0008:00–10:0010:00–12:0012:00–14:0014:00–16:0016:00–18:0018:00–20:0020:00–22:0022:00–24:00
Mon
Tue	místnost 207 Učebna 2 (Lažanský palác) BERGAN R. 13:10–14:45 (přednášková par. 1)
Wed
Thu
Fri

Date	Day	Time	Tutor	Location	Notes	No. of paralel
	Tue	13:10–14:45	BERGAN R.	Učebna 2 Lažanský palác		přednášková par. 1

The subject is a part of the following study plans:

• Cinema and Digital Media - Screenwriting-2014 (qualification subject, optional subject)
• Cinema and Digital Media - Directing (qualification subject, optional subject)