Movie genres

Display Schedule

Subject guarantor

Petra DOMINKOVÁ

Name of lecturer(s)

Petra DOMINKOVÁ

Learning outcomes of the course unit

Description of the course:

The point of the course is to introduce the students with the various aspects of some specific genres, namely melodrama, musical, western, horror, sci-fi, gangster movies, war films, road films, parody and with their development. One lesson will be devoted to film noir, that is, arguably, sometimes understood as a genre as well. After the Intro into genre theory, each lesson will be focused on one particular genre (the subject of our discussions will be predominantly US films). Students will watch clips of those films in class, as well as 10 feature films on their own. As the course is open for screenwriter students only, the focus will be on the specifics of narration, „iconography“ of the respective genres and on the use of dialogue.

The aim of the course:

Students will understand the specifics of the particular genres, as well as the concept of „genre“ as such. They will be able to define genres and explain their development. The course itself does not teach students how to write a script for a genre film, but should significantly help them if they decide so.

Mode of study

• The course is based on the discussions - we will together analyze the particular films that represent the genres (i.e. melodrama, musical, horror, sci-fi, etc.)
• Short lectures (intro into the specific genres) are also the necessary part of each lesson.
• Students will watch each week one feature in its entirety and will study the obligatory readings.

Prerequisites and co-requisites

There are no specific requirements for this course.

It is open for the students of the first year of scriptwriting at KSD.

Course contents

Week 1

Téma: Intro

Week 2

Topic: What is genre? How the understanding of a genre developed?

Readings: Kučera + Altman (1989).

Week 3

Topic: Melodrama

Discussion: NOW, VOYAGER (Irving Rapper, 1942, 117’)

Readings: Elsaesser + Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey + Kozloff, 235 - 266.

Week 4

Topis: Musical

Discussion: THE BAND WAGON (Vincente Minnelli, 1953, 112’)

Readings: Feuer.

Week 5

Topic: Western

Discussion: JOHNNY GUITAR (Nicholas Ray, 1954, 110’)

Readings: Kozloff, 139 - 169.

Week 6

Topic: Gangster movies

Discussion: GOODFELLAS (Mafiáni, Martin Scorsese, 1990, 146’).

Readings: Kozloff, 201 - 234.

Week 7

Topic: (Not)genre: film noir

Discussion: NIGHT AND THE CITY (Jules Dassin, Great Britain, 1950, 96’)

Readings: Borde-Chometon + Place-Peterson + Schrader.

Week 8

Topic: Road Film

Discussion: BADLANDS (Terrence Malick, 1973, 95’,)

Readings: Creekmur.

Week 9

Topic: War film

Discussion: FULL METAL JACKET (Stanley Kubrick, 1987, 116’,)

Readings: Belton.

Week 10

Topic: Horror

Discussion: CARRIE (Brian de Palma, 1976, 98’)

Readings: Carroll.

Week 11

NO CLASS

Week 12

Topic: Sci-fi

Discussion: ARRIVAL (Denis Villeneuve, 2016, 117’)

Readings: Sontagová.

Week 13

Topic: Genre parody.

Discussion: JOHEUNNOM NABBEUNNOM ISANGHANNOM (Kim Jee-woon, Jižní Korea, 2008, 138’)

Četba: Dentith.

Week 14

Topic: Feedback.

ORAL EXAM

Recommended or required reading

REQUIRED READINGS (all texts will be available to students electronically)

Altman, Rick. „Sémanticko-syntaktický přístup k filmovému žánru.“ Iluminace č. 1, 1989, s. 17–29.

Belton, John. American Cinema/American Culture. Rutgers University, 2012. s. 195–219.

Borde, Raymond a Étienne Chaumeton. „K definici filmu noir.“ Kinoikon č. 1, 2007, s. 31–38.

Carroll, Noel. „Podstata hororu.“ Iluminace č. 3, 1993, s. 53–63.

Creekmur, Corey K. „On the Run and on the Road: Fame and the outlaw couple in American cinema.“ In: The Road Movie Book, ed. by Steven Cohan a Ina Rae Hark. Taylor and Francis 1997, s. 90–109.

Dentith, Simon. Parody, Taylor and Francis 2000, s. 1–38.

Elsaesser, Thomas. „Tales of Sound and Fury: Observations on the Family Melodrama.“ In: Gledhill, Christine (ed.): Home is Where the Heart is. London : BFI, 1994. s. 43–69.

Feuer, Jane. „The Self-Reflexive Musical and the Myth of Entertainment.“ In: Genre Reader IV, ed. by Grant, Barry Keith, s. 543 – 557.

Kozloff, Sarah. Overhearing Film Dialogue. Berkeley, Los Angeles : University of California Press, 2000.

Kučera, Jakub. „Filmový žánr“. Cinepur. Dostupné zde: http://cinepur.cz/article.php?article=942

Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey. „Minnelli and Melodrama.“ In: Nichols, Bill (ed.): Home is Where the Heart is. London : BFI, 1994. S. 190–194.

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

Schrader, Paul. „Notes on Film Noir.“ In: Film Noir Reader, ed. by Silver, Alain, and James Ursini. Limelight Editions, New York 2001, s. 53–64. Též zde: http://i.mtime.com/Noir/blog/1433838/

Sontagová, Susan. „Představa katastrofy.“ Kinoikon č. 1, 2001, s. 47-59.

Assessment methods and criteria

Requirements:

Presence: Students will be present in all classes.

Activity: Students will participate in discussions as those create an important part of each lecture.

Presentation: Each student will have a presentation of a film and/or a theme relevant to the discussed topic.

Oral Exam: The discussion about genre and its specifics. Diskuse o žánru. Students will prove that they gained certain knowledge of the discussed themes, watched the films and read the obligatory readings.

Assessment:

The final assessment consists of three aspects:

• Attendance and activity (33,33%)
• Presentation (33,33 %
• Oral exam (33,33%)

Note

-

Schedule for winter semester 2018/2019:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

Schedule for summer semester 2018/2019:

• Week view
• List

The subject is a part of the following study plans

• Scriptwriting and Dramaturgy - Bachelor-1819 (required subject)