Time: Tuesday 2 pm – 5 pm
Place: AS1/03-04
This module will introduce students to some of the basic ideas in cinema analysis that have a relationship with some of the concepts of linguistics and discourse analysis. The students will be exposed to a critical assessment of some of the early associations of cinema with linguistics. They will then learn about the approach to cinema as discourse, and of its relationship to the analysis of linguistic discourse. It is hoped that eventually, students will not only attain a better understanding of cinematic discourse, but also, of the concept of discourse in general.
The linkage of film with linguistic concepts has a long history, from the Russian Formalists, and through the Czech and French Structuralists. Students will be introduced to some of these attempts, but they should also adopt a critical attitude towards them. In addition, they will develop more viable theoretical ideas of cinematic discourse, which can be used for the holistic analysis of films. This will be done either in relation to, or independent from, theories of discourse in language. It is hoped that students will eventually attain a wider understanding of the notion of discourse in non-linguistic or semi-linguistic domains, and of the concept of discourse in general, and this will enrich their understanding of discourse in language.
Some of the topics to be covered will be selected from the following list:
For the likely arrangement of the above topics during the semester, refer to the programme.
| Types of Assessment | Frequency | Percentage of Total Marks |
| Quizzes: | Weekly | 10% |
| Electronic Surveys: | Weekly | 10% |
| Class Participation (Oral): | Depends on individual contributors | 5% |
| Project: Presentation Project; Essay Project, Film Project or Debate: | One-off | 25% |
| IVLE Participation or Other Related Inputs: | Depends on individual contributors | 10% |
| E-Learning | Depends on individual contributors | 10% |
| Final Examination (Closed Book): | One-off | 30% |
| Total: | 100% |
Note: There will be further changes to the above, in light of the move towards e-learning.
There will be one three-hour session per week. All the sessions are highly interactive. You are expected to participate actively in each session. You will be involved in more than just writing notes in class (which is of course useful if done effectively). Your participation will be assessed (30% of the total marks). Other than more open-ended class participation questions (5%), there will be questions in the form of surveys and quizzes (10% each). As there will be at least three e-learning sessions this semester, there will be some revisions of the CA.
Note: there is no ‘compulsory’ reading per se. Of all the books below, Bordwell’s 1985 book is highly recommended, because it is a classic textbook which deals with many, but not all, of the issues to be taught and discussed in the module. Bordwell's 2008 book also covers a lot of the ground for this module, but not as much as his earlier book, and what is covered is usually at a more advanced level. However, the latter book is more up-to-date, and some of its references are to more recent films. Metz's book is important, but it is an original work, not a textbook, and some of his views need to be filtered through later ideas or criticisms, some of which are provided by Bordwell and other scholars below The recommended readings for each lecture are given in a separate document.
*Bordwell, David Narration in the Fiction Film London: Methuen, 1985.
Bordwell, David Poetics of Cinema London: Routledge, 2008.
Buckland, Warren The Cognitive Semiotics of Film Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Caughie, John Theories of Authorship: A Reader London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981.
Ehrat, Johannes Cinema and Semiotic: Peirce and Film Aesthetics, Narration and Representation Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2005.
Heath, Stephen Questions of Cinema Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981.
Metz, Christian Language and Cinema Trans. Donna Jean Umiker-Sebeok, The Hague: Mouton, 1974.
Wexman, Virginia Wright (ed) Film and Authorship New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2003.
Wojcik, Pamela Robertson (ed) Movie Acting, the Film Reader London: Routledge, 2004.
A list of films referred to in the lecture are given in a separate document.
You may find
Chapter 11 of my web-book,
Narrative
Theory useful, as it summarises some of the important issues discussed
in this module. You may also find the hypertext links found in this chapter
quite handy, as they give you further information on some of the details found
in the chapter.
| Seminar hours per week: | 3 |
| No. of hours per week for projects and assignments: | 4 |
| No. of hours per week for preparatory work: | 3 |
| Total hours per week: | 10 |
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Last revised: 09 September 2009.