FI 111 — Introduction to Film
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
This course provides students with the tools to analyze moving image presentations in an academic setting or as a filmmaker. Students examine the uses of camera, editing, sound and elements of the production design as they create meaning in film images and narratives. Examples are drawn from a full range of feature films, documentaries, other forms of entertainment and advertising, whether delivered theatrically, through television or over the Internet. (Formerly LA 141) (G7: Humanities).
FI 221 — HIstory of Film, beginnings to 1959
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
This course presents an overview of cinema history from its beginning to 1959 and provides students with the basic tools for analyzing the art of film. Students view representative films from major movements and study the uses of camera, editing, lighting, and sound. (Formerly EN 255)(G7: Humanities)
Pre-requisite(s): EN121 or equivalent.
FI 222 — History of Film, 1960-present
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
This course presents an overview of cinema history since 1959, with attention to the cultural, political, economic, and technological forces that helped to shape cinema during this time. Significant trends within the U.S. are studied, including new and changing genres, independent and maverick filmmakers, and the dominance of Hollywood blockbusters. Students are introduced to national cinemas in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. (Formerly EN 256)(G7: Humanities)
Pre-requisite(s): EN121 or equivalent.
FI 223 — Women Make Movies: A History of Women’s Filmmaking
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
Students analyze the work of women filmmakers from the earliest days of the silent cinema to the late 1970s. Emphasis is placed upon recuperating women’s historical contributions to the motion picture arts as well as exploring the creative processes of individual artists.
FI 231 — Documentary Film
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
This course provides a historical overview of the documentary form and a critique of ethnographic and propaganda films, social documentaries, cinema verite, and travelogues. Students investigate the issue of truth and/or objectivity, and critique films from the perspective of feminist theory, cultural anthropology, and general film history and theory. (Formerly LA 244).
FI 256 — Screenwriting I
3 credits; 3 lecture hours
This course introduces the practice of writing fiction for the screen, focusing on the short film. In a workshop setting, students explore a range of approaches to the short screenplay, from traditional to innovative, and use examples from a variety of genres and geographical origins. (Formerly EN 266)(G6: Arts)
Pre-requisite(s): EN121 or equivalent.
FI 261 — Introduction to Sound
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
In this production course in sound for digital filmmaking, students explore the phenomena of sound, the art of audio recording, and the function of sound for the screen. Technical topics include digital recording, editing, and mixing; sound wave manipulation; audio processing; microphone technique; preparation for multi-track mixing; and final digital mixing to picture. (Formerly LA 248).
FI 266 — SCREENWRITING I
3 credits; 3 lecture hours
This course introduces the practice of writing fiction for the screen, focusing on the short film. In a workshop setting, students explore a range of approaches to the short screenplay, from traditional to innovative, and use examples from a variety of genres and geographical origins.
FI 271 — Fans and Fandom in the Internet Age
3 credits; 3 lecture hours
This course examines fans and fandom within the context of the history and evolution of mass media and participatory culture. Students explore fan communities as subcultures with their own social structures and cultural practices and engage their origins in cults, celebrity culture, and technological change and innovation.
FI 272 — Introduction to Television Studies
3 credits; 3 lecture hours
This course analyzes the medium of television in terms of its history, narrative, style, technique, editing, sound, and representation. Students view programs from the 1950s to the present, marking and investigating TV’s transformations as it moves with and creates cultural history. Students acquire and use skills for reading television in terms of its production and signification. (Formerly LA 243)(G7: Humanities)
Prerequisite(s): EN 121.
FI 273 — The Other Hollywood: Film in New York
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
This course examines New York’s significance in the history of American film. As the birthplace of the industry, the city has been a seedbed for innovation in documentary, avant-garde and independent film, as well as an icon in Hollywood cinema. (Formerly LA 247).
FI 321 — Film Theory and Criticism, An Introduction
3 credits; 3 lecture hours
Students are introduced to the major issues and movements in film theory and criticism. Examining key issues such as the relationship between film representation and reality and the roles of image, narrative, and the industrial infrastructure, students learn to place critical statements about film into a theoretical discussion that has flourished since the early days of silent film. (Formerly LA 241)(G7: Humanities)
Prerequisite(s): LA 141.
FI 322 — Major Directors: Alfred Hitchcock
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
This course provides an in-depth study of the films of Alfred Hitchcock, which are examined within the context of his life and the Hollywood system. Students learn the concepts of auteur theory by focusing on Hitchcock’s storyboarding method, his stylistic and cinematic technique, and his innovative use of editing and sound. (Formerly LA 443).
FI 323 — Sexuality in Cinema
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
This lecture/screening course examines the representation of sexuality in cinema as it’s been constructed by Hollywood, independent filmmakers and contemporary media artists. Starting with early cinema and moving through the Hays Code era, the radical ‘60s, and into contemporary times, students view works that portray
multiple forms of sexuality and gender identity, while contextualizing it with the politics of its time. (G6: The Arts).
FI 324 — The Romantic Comedy
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
This course surveys romantic comedy from the early sound era to the present, considering how cultural anxieties about gender, class, and marriage influenced the representation of sex, love and courtship rituals; interrelations between stardom and authorship; and the changing nature of cinematic sexuality after World War II. (G7: Humanities).
FI 331 — Film Genres: Crime Stories
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
This course examines interrelationships in film and literature, focusing on “Crime Stories” – novels and cinematic adaptations that tell stories of crimes from differing points of view, starting with the detective, moving toward the criminal, and ending with the victims. Students study a variety of crime genres: the whodunit, the film noir, the docudrama, the neo-noir and the metafiction. (Formerly LA 342)
(G7: Humanities).
FI 332 — The Science Fiction Film
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
This course examines the science fiction film from its beginnings. Students analyze the genre’s merits and flaws, conventional narrative themes and iconography, relevance, and fundamental departures from science fiction literature. They explore how science fiction films mirror the social and political environment of their time. (Formerly LA 246).
FI 333 — Film Genres: Animation
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
In this history of animation course, students gain an understanding of animation as an art form and as a series of ideological texts to be read and interpreted within the context of the cultures that produced them. (Formerly LA 245).
FI 334 — Film Genres: Films of the Supernatural
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
This course examines films that involve the supernatural, frequently a subgenre of the horror film. Students explore story conventions, iconography, and the relationship to cultural and literary foundations from which these films derive.
FI 341 — French Cinema
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
Students are introduced to the rich legacy of French Cinema, from its early days in silent film to Surrealism and Poetic Realism between World War I and World War II to its position of influence with the New Wave in the 1960s. The political cinema of the 1970s is examined, as well as today's new French filmmakers. (Formerly EN 259)(G7: Humanities).
FI 342 — Contemporary Korean Cinema
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
This course is an introduction to South Korean cinema from the late 1980s to the present. Students study the concept of New Korean Cinema, the rise of the domestic film industry and auteurs, and the emergence of blockbusters and their growing regional and international recognition. (Formerly LA 251)
(G7: Humanities; G9: Other World Cultures).
FI 356 — Screenwriting II
3 credits; 3 lecture hours
This course focuses on elements of screenwriting for feature-length films, including story concept, three-act structure, the world of the story, protagonist and antagonist, conflict, characterization, scene development, and dialogue. Students formulate individual projects, from pitching a story to presenting a synopsis, preparing an outline, and writing a screenplay. The business end of screenwriting is discussed and students meet film industry professionals. (Formerly EN 366)(G6: Arts).
FI 361 — Advanced Cinematography Workshop
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
This course focuses on the tools, techniques, and hands-on experiences required for enabling students to become proficient in shooting digital video. Aesthetic, technical topics are addressed, including camera movement, use of filters, and digital workflows, culminating in a final project – shooting a scene lasting three to four minutes. (Formerly LA 341)
Prerequisite(s): PH 283.
FI 362 — Advanced Editing Workshop
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
Students build on their knowledge as editors, through exposure to audio editing, color correction, and outputting. Hands-on exercises, including an action scene, a dialogue scene, a commercial or trailer, a music video, and a scene or short film, help to increase their proficiency as editors. (Formerly LA 343)
Prerequisite(s): PH 284.
FI 371 — Film Art, Film Critic
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
Students are introduced to cinema history and the basic tools for writing about the art of film. They study how meaning in narrative film is elaborated by uses of camera, editing, lighting, sound, and acting. The course emphasizes the contrast between studio and nonstudio films, especially those of Europe, Asia, and third-world countries in contrast to products of the powerful Hollywood system. (Formerly EN 398)(G6: Arts).
FI 461 — Production I
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
In this first of a two-course sequence, students are introduced to the area of production for small- and large-scale films. Through readings, in-class visits, field trips, and lab experiences, students study the four aspects of production – development, pre-production, production, and post-production. (Formerly LA 441)
Prerequisite(s): FI 362 or permission of the department.
FI 462 — Production II
3.5 credits; 2 lecture and 3 lab hours
The second of a two-course sequence in production, this course focuses on the perspective of the producer. Through readings, in-class visits, field trips and lab experiences, students continue their study of the four aspects of production-development, pre-production, production, and post-production. (Formerly LA 442)
Prerequisite(s): FI 461.