The components of this class include readings, film and film clip viewings, exams and activities. You will read online lectures, a textbook and some of the textbook’s online component. You will view at least fifteen feature length films and dozens of film clips. You will write essays and a shot-by-shot analysis of a scene in a movie. You will also participate in online discussions and take three exams.
Your grade in this class is based on the exams and the activities, which include the discussions and the essays and one shot-by-shot analysis. Each activity and exam is worth 50 points. While there is flexibility built into the class for the readings and the viewings as well as for completing the activities early if you choose, you must finish all graded exams and activities by specified dates as noted in the calendar.
Note that you have assignments due most Fridays during the semester. All assignments are due by 11:55 p.m. on the due date. CHECK THE CALENDAR FOR ALL DUE DATES!
In the calendar, if you put your cursor on a date and click, you will often see more detailed information. Try it.
My recommendation to you, as you check the calendar, is to write down all due dates for the entire semester in whatever calendar or planner or palm pilot or organizer that you use to maintain your own schedule. Or in the calendar, go to Printable View, enter the class dates and you can print the entire calendar for the class.
View all the feature films at your convenience at home.
Flagstaff students may view some of the films with an audience at the Cline Library Assembly Hall, Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m.
You have several alternative methods for finding the films for home viewing:
View the movies as you work through the course content. To do this, you must make certain that you have access to films during the stated time period.
All students will write five essays and the shot-by-shot analysis and participate in the second discussion, Citizen Kane, as summarized below.
Students who choose to attend the Tuesday night film series, which begins weekly at 7:00 p.m. in the Cline Library Assembly Hall, have the option of either attending the film series or participating in the other four discussions.
You must let the Teaching Assistant (TA) know if you plan to attend the film series by responding to her/his e-mail, which will be sent to you during the first week of classes. There is some flexibility built into film series attendance, but you MUST always keep the TA informed.
If you choose to attend the film series, you must arrive early enough to hear the introduction to each film and stay through the discussion following each film. Attendance is always taken at the film series.
If you do not attend the film series, you do not have to view the film series movies. Rather see your many film choice options in each of the Discussion descriptions. You will find the Discussion descriptions within the lectures as noted in The Activities in Brief below.
If you want to attend the film series, you can see a complete description of this semester's movies here: Classic Film Series.
Films begin at 7:00 pm in the Cline Library Assembly Hall.
Here are your options if you choose to go to the film series.
1. You may attend three of the first four films of the series or participate in the first online discussion, Introductions, Silent Films and Golden Age.
The first four films of the series are:
August 28 , The Kid (Dir: Charlie Chaplin, 1921, 68 minutes)
September 4, The Public Enemy (Dir: William Wellman, 1931, 83minutes)
September 11, 39 Steps (Dir: Alfred Hitchcock, 1935, 86 minutes)
September 18, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Walt Disney, 1937, 83 minutes)
2. You may attend thee of the next four films or six of the first eight films of the series or participate in the third online discussion, Genres.
The next four films of the series are:
September 25, Citizen Kane (Dir: Orson Welles, 1941, 119 minutes)
October 2, The Best Years of Our Lives (Dir: William Wyler,1946, 172 minutes)
October 9, Rope (Dir: Alfred Hitchcock, 1948, 80 minutes)
October 16, The Third Man (Dir: Carol Reed, 1949, 93 minutes)
3. You may attend three of the next four films or nine of the first twelve films of the series or participate in the fourth online discussion, The Master of Suspense.
The next four films of the series are:
October 23, High Noon (Dir: Fred Zinneman, 1952, 85 minutes)
October 30, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Dir. Don Siegal, 1956, 80 minutes)
November 6, Rebel Without a Cause (Dir: Nicholas Ray, 1955, 111 minutes
November 13, Breathless (Dir: Jean Luc Goddard, 1961, 90 minutes)
4. You may attend two of the next three films or eleven of the fifteen films of the series or participate in the fifth online discussion '67, '68, '69.
The final films in the series are:
November 20, The Manchurian Candidate (Dir: John Frankenheimer, 1962, 126 minutes))
November 27, Bonnie and Clyde (Dir: Arthur Penn, 1967, 111 minutes)
December 4, The Godfather (Dir: Francis Ford Coppola, 1972, 175 minutes)
The following is where to find out detailed information about each activity:
All students
Lecture module: For complete information about this assignment read "Introduction to the Class and Your Instructor" in Part 1, Module 1. For this assignment you may choose to view any movie.
For students who do not attend the film series
Lecture modules: For complete information about this assignment and your movie choices, see lecture modules "How Do You Know What You Know in the Movies" in Part 1, Module 1; "Silent Era Discussion" in Part 1, Module 2; and "The Studio System and the Golden Age" in Part 1, Module 3.
All students
Lecture module: For complete information about this assignment read "Orson Welles and Citizen Kane" in Part 1, Module 3. For this assignment you will view Citizen Kane (the only required movie in the class — no alternative choices)
All students
Lecture module: For complete information about this assignment read "Citizen Kane Essay" in Part 1, Module 3 and view Citizen Kane.
For students who do not attend the film series
Lecture modules: For complete information about this assignment and your movie choices, read "Genres" in Part 1, Module 5; "Musicals" in Part 1, Module 6; and "Film Noir" in Part 2, Module 7, Film Noir.
All students
Lecture module: For complete information about this assignment and your film choices read "Contemporary Native American Portrayals" in Part 1, Module 5.
All students
Lecture module: For complete information about this assignment read "Alfred Hitchcock, Master of Suspense" in Part 2, Module 8. View any movie you'd like but not one that you have viewed or expect to view in this class.
For students who do not attend the film series
Lecture modules: For complete information about this assignment and your movie choices, read "Hitchcock's Notorious" in Part 2, Module 8, and "Hitchcock's Rear Window" in Part 3, Module 10.
All students
Lecture module: For complete information about this assignment and your movie choices, see "Brando and Method Actors of the 1950s" in Part 2, Module 9.
For students who do not attend the film series
Lecture module: For complete information about this assignment read "Another Golden Age" in Part 3, Module 11.
All students
Lecture modules: For complete information about this assignment read "21st Century Trends" in Part 3, Module 12. For this essay you may view any three movies that were made during your lifetime.