VSA1050

Contemporary popular film

Leonie Naughton

6 points
* 4 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton

Objectives By the end of this subject students are expected to demonstrate a critical awareness of the conventions of various film genres; an understanding of film form and film language; insight into the operations of classical narrative; an ability to critically analyse film texts and their formal properties; an awareness of concepts raised in prescribed readings and an ability to apply those concepts to relevant films; an understanding of the process of spectatorship and the socio-political significance of popular film.

Synopsis The focus of this introductory subject will be primarily upon contemporary film. Topics to be discussed will include the characteristics and conventions of popular film, which will be considered in relation to alternative film practices. Attention will be paid to the principles of genre (eg melodrama, horror, `teen pics,' detective fiction or comedy) and of Auteur criticism. Students will be encouraged to engage with recent theories of film, including those which address the socio-political significance of the medium and the ways in which it may reinforce conceptions of social and sexual identity. A diverse range of material will be shown and will include New Hollywood film, independent cinema and commercial mainstream cinema.

Assessment Short essay (1200 words): 25%
* Long essay (2300 words): 50%
* Visual test (1 hour): 25%

Prescribed texts

Berger J Ways of seeing Penguin, 1975
Boggs J The art of watching films Mayfield, 1991
Ellis J Visible fictions RKP, 1982
Martin A Phantasms Mcphee Gribble, 1994