Film and Video Studies

Film and Video Studies

Spring 2017 Course Brochure

(Includes FVS and Related Programs)

CourseTitleInstructor DayTime Room

FVS 261Technical Video ProductionBobby ChastainM/W (lec)2:30-3:20 TBA

F (lab)1:30-3:20

FVS 332 Technical Video ProductionBobby ChastainM/W 1:30-2:20 TBA

Arrange Lab Hours

FVS 337EditingBobby ChastainT 9:30-11:20 STEW B81

Th8:30 -11:20

FVS 442Digital Cinema Production Bobby ChastainW 9:30-11:20 STEWB81

F 8:30 -11:20

FVS 450 Internship in Film and VideoBobby ChastainArrange hours & credit (1-3) (1-4 in summer only)

FVS 491Film & Video CapstoneBobby ChastainTBATBA TBA

AD30400Video ArtFabian Winkler

AD30400Video Art

ENG 387History of Film 1938-PresentLance DuerfahrdWF11:30-12:20 HEAV 102

Lab 6:30-9:30 BRWN 1154

GER330German CinemaBeate AllertT/TH4:30--5:20REC302

TH (lab) 7-9:30pm SC 239

ITAL 335Italian American Cinema Ben LawtonTTH (lec) 10:30-11:20TBA

(Mafia & the Movies meets with ITAL 493L and FVS 491)W (lab) 10:30-12-20 SC 239

W (PSO)12:30-1:20SC 239

ITAL 330Italian CinemaBen LawtonTTH (lec)12:30-1:20 TBA

W (lab) 2:30-4-20 SC 239

W (PSO) 4:30-5:20 SC 239

SPAN 330Film in Spain and Patricia HartONLINE
Hispanic America

THTR 16300Introduction to Sound TBAT3:30-5:20 Pao B185, B187

Design and Technology

THTR 263Introduction to Sound StudiosTBATBA11:30-1:20 Pao B185, 187

HONR 299Music as a ChariotTTh1:30 - 3:20Pao B185

THTR 56900Special Problems in Audio TBA

Production: Techniques of the Recording StudioF1:30 - 3:20 Pao B185

Sat 11:30 - 1:20

Course Descriptions

AD30400 Video Art: An introductory class dedicated to the artistic potential of digital video. The class consists of technical workshops, creative assignment work and the research, screening, analysis and discussion of existing works related to the field. The class starts with an introduction to the digital video camera and the digitizing and editing of video footage. In the next step, students explore the use of light and learn compositing and chroma-keying techniques. After the acquisition of basic techniques in production, post-production and distribution of traditional linear video, students have the opportunity to apply their knowledge toward the creation of non-linear video which includes new artistic forms such as VJing, video loops, installation and non-linear narratives. Each thematic unit will be accompanied by student research presentations on relevant artists, placing works of video art in historical and contemporary American cultural contexts.

ENG 387 History of Film 1938-Present: This is an intensive study of international cinema since 1938. The goal of the class is to develop your capacity to read a film, respond to it more thoroughly, more personally, and more vividly. The class will make you sweat. The films, too. Particular attention will be given to what you do while watching a film: how do you project things onto a movie, how do you remember a film (better), how do you raise questions about it, and what can you do as a viewer to both keep the film living and make it come alive even after the final credits? In weekly readings and screenings we will address Film Noir, the new wave, Direct Cinema, and the Dogme 95 group. Films range from Close-up to Borat. Directors include Fred Wiseman, Nicholas Roeg, Agnes Varda, Abbas Kiarostami, Roman Polanski, KellyReichardt.​

FVS 261Technical Video Production: This introductory course in Film, Video, and Television Production will prepare the student to use the technology of the camera as a basis for the art and visual storytelling of motion pictures. The student will also receive the basic background needed for understanding the skills and processes of a single camera production environment.

FVS 332Technical Video Production: This intermediate to advanced course in Film, Video, and Television Production will prepare the student to participate in a live multi-camera field production environment. Students will act as all members of a production team (Producer, Director, Graphics, Sound, Replay, and Camera) for live productions. Most productions are in collaboration with Intercollegiate Athletics and the Big Ten Network to produce sports television, but other subject matter (such as live music performance) may be pursued as well. FVS 261 pre-req.

FVS 337Editing: This course offers students a general background in motion picture editing history, theory, and technique. The students will begin to learn to use industry standard software AVID Media Composer and will prepare themselves to become certified users of these tools. FVS 261 Pre-req.

FVS 442Digital Cinema Production: This class is designed to gain a working knowledge of how a film is developed in the preproduction stage, executed in the production stage, and completed in the post-production stage. Through lectures, viewings, discussions, and laboratory exercises, the student will be exposed to both the technical and artistic aspects of video production culminating in the production of a complete short narrative motion picture. FVS 337 Pre-req

FVS 450Internship in Film and Video: Instructor permission required. FVS 261 pre-req. Minimum GPA requirement of 2.75 overall

FVS 491Film & Video Capstone: Instructor Permission Only

GER330 German Cinema: Examines German cinema from 1920 to the present. In addition to viewing and carefully studying films, we consider the historical, political, economic, and social backgrounds that shaped these works and their reception. The course will give you a better understanding of German and European history, promote visual literacy, the ability to "read" images and films, and learn new aspects of film theory and cinematography. It will also involve the writing of reviews, essays, a midterm, and a take home final exam. These are all based on the films seen in class and on the readings and regular attendance to all class sessions and the film screenings is expected. All films shown are in German with English subtitles. No German language skill is required. However, for those participants who are majors or minors in German, there is the welcome option to practice their German and also work on improving language and writing skills in that language You can write in English or German as you prefer. Class discussions in English. There will be the option also to make the production of a short film as part of the portfolio and thereby to replace some of the critical essay writing. Each week we see one film and have two shorter sessions for lectures, discussion, and student presentations. The course will further contribute to your writing and communication skills and to a better global understanding.

HONR 299 Music as a Chariot: The purpose of this course is to introduce students to an aesthetic vocabulary of design elements that is useful in both visual and auditory design and music composition. By the end of this semester, students should be able to articulate an individual aesthetic regarding the art of sound, identify elements of color, mass, time, space, and line in sound scores as created for film and theatre, and more effectively use these same elements in their own designs and compositions.

ITAL 335 Italian American Cinema: Americans are fascinated by the "Mafia." Over the years, it has been portrayed in very different ways in Italian, Italian American, and American films. This course will consider these depictions, their frequently questionable historical accuracy, their "intent," and reactions to them among their target audiences. The course will also ask if the “Mafia” really exists as all-powerful criminal organization whose tentacles reach into all aspects of American life. Or, is it the equivalent of the Wild West and the Pony Express, phenomena of relatively brief duration and of marginal importance even in their heyday, occurrences that were immortalized by the media? By extension, are these films about the “Mafia,” whatever it is, or are they a “genre” and, as such, as constrained as are western or musicals.

Films on the “Mafia” present numerous contradictions. Many of these works seem to imply that all Italian Americans are somehow connected to organized crime. Others seem to glorify what is self-evidently unacceptable criminal behavior. Still others condemn the pernicious influence of this allegedly very dangerous "shadow" government. Some would seem to depict the “Mafia’ as metaphor for the U.S. government. There are yet others who suggest that organized crime is simply one means of achieving the American dream, means that has been adopted to a greater or lesser degree by all immigrant groups. Or, finally, are they “circuses” intended to distract the nefarious activities of what, paraphrasing President Eisenhower, has been called the military-industrial-congressional-academic complex? Why these differences? Are any of these depictions more accurate than others? Should the Mafia be depicted at all in fiction films? Are all such depictions inherently “racist?” (And what does that mean???)

ITAL 330 Italian Cinema: What is this course all about? The masterpieces of Italian cinema, like masterpieces in the other arts, attempt to express the many aspects of the human condition such as malice, rage, lust, and love. They also constantly test the limits and capabilities of the medium. This course focuses on the evolving form and content of the films of world-renowned directors such as Michelangelo Antonioni (Red Desert, Blow Up), Bernardo Bertolucci (The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris), Liliana Cavani (The Night Porter, The Skin), Vittorio De Sica (Bicycle Thieves, Miracle in Milan, Two Women, The Garden of the Finzi-Contini), Federico Fellini (La Strada, La Dolce Vita,8 ½, Amarcord), Pietro Germi (Divorce Italian Style, Seduced and Abandoned), Sergio Leone (The Good, The Bad, and tThe Ugly, Once Upon a Time in America), Pier Paolo Pasolini (The Gospel According to Matthew, Decameron,Salo), GilloPontecorvo (Kapò, The Battle of Algiers), Roberto Rossellini (Rome, Open City, Paisan), Ettore Scola (We All Loved Each Other So Much, A Special Day, Macaroni), Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (Padre Padrone, The Night of the Shooting Stars), Luchino Visconti (The Earth Trembles, Osessione, The Leopard, The Damned), Lina Wertmüller (Seduction of Mimi, Love and Anarchy, Seven Beauties), Franco Zeffirelli (The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet), Matteo Garrone Gomorrah, Tale of Tales), Emanuele Crialese (Respiro, Terraferma), Marco TullioGiordana (One Hundred Steps, Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy), Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty, Youth), etc, etc.

This course does not and cannot pretend to encompass all or even a meaningful number of the masterpieces of Italian Cinema, given that the choices offered are dependent on the material currently available commercially in this country. At the same time, it should represent, one hopes, some of the better artistic efforts and some of the major concerns of the major Italian filmmakers from the dawn of the last century to the present.​

THTR 16300 Introduction to Sound Design and Technology: Introduction to theatre sound design and technology for general theatre students.

THTR 263 Introduction to Sound Studios: An introduction to theories and techniques of audio production.

THTR 56900Special Problems in Audio Production: Techniques of the Recording Studio: After students have completed this course they should be able to a. demonstrate that they have attained advanced competence in their ability to record, edit, mix and master a variety of acoustic and electric musical instruments; B. Operate all equipment in the Audio Production Studio more comfortably; implement concepts and solve problems posed in the beginning courses more efficiently and with better results; C. Organize a recording studio session and conduct the session efficiently, and effectively; demonstrate strong interpersonal skills when working with musicians; provide evidence of effective documentation and archiving of studio activities; D. Add high quality recording projects to their portfolio; E. Show a potential employer how their experiences gained from this course help to qualify them for work in a professional audio environment.