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Descriptor Details

  • Descriptor Title
    Introduction to Media Aesthetics and Cinematic Arts
  • C-ID Number
    105
  • Units
    3.0
  • Date of Last Revision
    9/17/2024 09:31:47 AM PDT

General Description

Introduces the close analysis of film and television texts. Examines the broad questions of form and content, aesthetics and meaning, and history and culture. Explores the diverse possibilities presented by the cinematic art form through an examination of a wide variety of productions, national cinemas, and film movements. Topics include modes of production, narrative and non-narrative forms, visual design, editing, sound, genre, ideology and critical analysis.

Prerequisites

No information provided

Corequisites

No information provided

Advisories

Eligible for College Composition (C-ID ENGL 100)

Content

  1. Creativity, Business and Technology
  2. Film Form
  3. Narrative Systems
  4. Film Language I:
    1. Mise-en-scene
    2. Cinematography
  5. Film Language II:
    1. Editing
    2. Sound
  6. Genre
  7. Documentary, Experimental and Animation Arts
  8. Introduction to Major Historical Movements
  9. Style as Formal System
  10. Analyzes representation of race/ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, and ability

Lab Activities

No information provided

Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:

  1. Critically analyze film and television as a technology, business, cultural production/cultural artifact, entertainment medium and art form.
  2. Demonstrate the ability to critically analyze, interpret, and write about film and electronic media using film-specific language.
  3. Demonstrate visual literacy through the application of the analytical tools of categories, theories and ideologies to understand the cinematic arts’ complex role and function in society.
  4. Demonstrate recognition, description and analysis of formal aesthetics elements of the cinematic arts. (i.e.: Cinematography, Editing, Mise-en-scene, Sound)
  5. Prepare analytical essays regarding the technical, aesthetic, and cultural aspects of the cinematic arts.

Evaluation Methods

May include but not limited to:

  1. In-class discussions
  2. Written Critical Analyses
  3. Written or oral quizzes
  4. Objective and subjective exam

Textbooks

Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson. Film Art: An Introduction.

Barsam, Richard and Dave Monahan. Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. W.W. Norton & Company

Corrigan, Tim. A Short Guide of Writing About Film.

Zettl.  Sight, Sound, Motion

Descriptor Administration

  • Public Review Needed
    No
  • Next Descriptor Review
    No information provided
  • Resubmission Requirements for Courses
    Descriptor changes were administrative only
  • Resubmission Deadline
    No information provided
  • Comments

    No information provided

  • Notes

    No information provided

  • Keywords

    No information provided

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