Cinematography Theory 1_2

Display Schedule

Subject guarantor

Petra DOMINKOVÁ

Name of lecturer(s)

Petra DOMINKOVÁ

Learning outcomes of the course unit

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).

Mode of study

Lecture

Prerequisites and co-requisites

No

Course 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

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).

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

Presentation: A presentation based on the film and reading. Each student will lead the discussion about the film we watched. This involves preparing a handout OR presentation (PWP, Prezi, etc.) and creating discussion questions for the group. The goal is to get us talking about the specifics of cinematography.

Final Essay: Students themselves will choose the topic for the paper, while focus should be on the cinematography. Students may choose any film they wish, just need to inform me ahead, in case the films chosen is not the one we have seen in class. Papers have to be typed and may be sent via email. Due date is not negotiable. If a student must request an extension, she/he has to do it 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 unaceptable and will cause student‘s failing from the assignmnet and may lead to failing from the overall course as well.

The in-class presentation (December-14) is the part of the assignment and makes 5 % of a grade. Essay will have 1.400 words (about 5 pages double-spaced) minimum. Plagiarism is unacceptable, and if any part of the assignment is plagiarized you will receive a failing grade for the essay and may fail from the overall course. Late submission of the essay will result in an automatic fail on the assignment. Due: Dec 21

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

Recommended or required reading

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.)

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

Colman, Felicity. Deleuze and Cinema : The Film Concepts. New York, NY, USA: Berg Publishers, 2011. 25-38. Print. (Chapter MOVEMENT: THE MOVEMENT-IMAGE.)

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.)

Elsaesser, Thomas and Warren Buckland. Studying Contemporary American Film: A Guide To Movie Analysis. London: Arnold and New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. 168-194. Print. (Chapter 6. COGNITIVE THEORIES OF NARRATION (LOST HIGHWAY).)

Elsaesser, Thomas and Warren Buckland. Studying Contemporary American Film: A Guide To Movie Analysis. London: Arnold and New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. 80-116. Print. (Chapter 3. MISE-EN-SCÈNE CRITICISM AND STATISTICAL STYLE ANALYSIS (THE ENGLISH PATIENT).)

Galt, Rosalind. Pretty: Film and the Decorative Image. NY: Columbia UP, 2011. 228-235. Print. (Chapter SOY CUBA AND REVOLUTIONARY BEAUTY)

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 <http://www.kinema.uwaterloo.ca/article.php?id=241>.

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.

Turner, George. “The Astonishing Images of I am Cuba.” American Cinematographer July 1995: 77–82. Print.

Vernet, Marc. “The Look at the Camera.” Cinema Journal 28.2 (Winter 1989): 48–63. Print.

Assessment 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://www.dropbox.com/sh/0mul4slop8tz702/AAC_dl1FEQjQv4YYYATZnOQ0a?dl=0

Note

Weekly schedule:

Week 1 [Thu, Oct-4]

Theme: Introduction

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

Week 2 [Thu, Oct-11]

Theme: Aspect Ratio

Discussion: The Boston Strangler (Richard Fleischer, USA, 1968, 116’, color)

Reading: 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.)

Week 3 [Thu, Oct-18]

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 [Thu, Oct-25]

Theme: Self-conscious cinema

Discussion: Hellzapoppin’ (H. C. Potter, USA, 1941, 84’, b&w)

Reading: Brown, Tom. “Breaking the Fourth Wall: Direct Address in the Cinema.” Screens and Stages May 31, 2012, n. pag. URL: https://fttreading.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/breaking-the-fourth-wall-direct-address-in-the-cinema-4/ Accessed September 12, 2017.

Week 5 [Thu, Nov-1]

Theme: Look into the Camera

Discussion: Birds, Orphans and Fools (Vtáčkovia, siroty a blázni; Juraj Jakubisko, Slovak Republic, 1969, 78’, color)

Reading: Vernet, Marc. “The Look at the Camera.” Cinema Journal 28.2 (Winter 1989): 48–63. Print.

Week 6 [Thu, Nov-8]

Theme: Camera Placement

Discussion: I am Cuba (Soy Cuba / Ya Kuba; Mikhail Kalatozov, Soviet Union/Cuba, 1964, 141’, b&w)

Reading: Turner, George. “The Astonishing Images of I am Cuba.” American Cinematographer July 1995: 77–82. Print. + Galt, Rosalind. Pretty: Film and the Decorative Image. NY: Columbia UP, 2011. 228-235. Print. (Chapter Soy Cuba and Revolutionary Beauty)

Week 7 [Thu, Nov-15]

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 8 [Thu, Nov-22]

Theme: Off-screen Space

Discussion: Sunshine in the Net (Slunko v sieti, Štefan Uher, Slovak Republic, 1962, 90’, b&w)

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 9 [Thu, Nov-29]

Theme: Long Take

Discussion: Werckmeister Harmonies (Werckmeister Harmóniák, Béla Tarr, Hungary, 2000, 145’, b&w)

Reading: 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.

Week 10 [Thu, Dec-6]

Theme: Deep Space

Discussion: Songs from the Second Floor (Roy Andersson, Sweden/Norway/Denmark, 2000, 98’. color)

Reading: Paulus, Tom. “The view across the courtyard: Bazin and the evolution of depth style.” Film International 5.6 (2007): 62-75. Print. + Hanich, Julian. “Complex Staging. The Hidden Dimensions of Roy Andersson’s Aesthetics,” Movie – A Journal of Film Criticism 5 (2014): 37 – 50.

Week 11 [Thu, Dec-13]

Theme: Camera as a Body / Presentation of final papers

Discussion: In the Mood for love (Wong Kar-Wai, Hong Kong / China, 2000, 98’, color)

Reading: 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.

Week 12 [Thu, Dec-20]

Theme: Summary + Feedback

Papers are due Dec-22nd

Further information

This course is an elective for all students of this school

Schedule for winter semester 2021/2022:

• Week view
• List

Schedule for summer semester 2021/2022:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

The subject is a part of the following study plans

• Cinematography_3_2021 (required subject)