ARHT6930 - Film Theory: Art, Industry, Culture (2006)

Postgraduate

 

Department: Art History and Theory School: School of Letters, Art and Media Semester(s): Semester 2 Credit Points: 6 Co-ordinator: Dr. Richard Smith Email: richard.smith@arts.usyd.edu.au Telephone: 9351 4208

UoS Description

The relation of film to industrial modernity is an ongoing issue for film theorists. With the advent of digital image processes and production the relation of art and industry has re-emerged with a new set of problems. How do we conceptualise the new forms? What theoretical and aesthetic language (s) do we draw on? And how best to rethink film in the face of rapid technologica, formal and cultural change? These issues will be investigated via an examination of the history of film theory's attempts to formulate concepts adequate to the age of industrial modernity.

UoS Objectives:

This Unit of study is designed to provide students with an in-depth analysis of the theoretical issues around cinematic realism. Students will be introduced to the history of camera aesthetics from the early twentieth-century to the present, and will be required to consider various canonical theories of the relation of the cinematic image to the ‘real world’. Students will also have to compare different theories of this relation and assess the relative merits of different positions. The topic of electronic and digital realism will be used as a counterpoint to cinematic realism. Students will be encouraged to consider what elements of cinematic realism pertain to the electronic and digital images and what elements of realism need to be discarded or modified.

UoS Outcomes:

By the end of this Unit students will be proficient in recognizing and comprehending the context, history and philosophy of cinematic realism, and will be able to assess the relative merits of realist aesthetics in the context of electronic and digital cinema. Students will also be proficient in researching film history and aesthetics, and will be familiar with a range of research techniques and will be able to assess different modes of cinematic experience and their relation to aesthetic research.

UoS Learning Situations:

Seminars ,  One two hour seminar
One two hour seminar

UoS Assessment:

4000 words-Postgraduate; 5000-6000 words-Honours.

UoS Readings/References:

Recommended Readings:
Manovich, Lev. 'The Language of New Media', Cambridge Massachusetts:MIT Press, 2001

Online Components:

Online components may include:
A listing of Lecture and Tutorial topics
Additional reading references
Assessment topics and assessment criteria

How the Online Components work with the rest of the UoS:

The on line component of this unit is optional. It provides a supplementary guide to information supplied in classes.

Minimum Requirements for Hardware/Software:

WEB BROWSERS:

* for Windows users( Microsoft IE 5.0 or higher, Netscape 6.2 or higher)

* for Macintosh users ( Microsoft IE 5.1 or higher, Netscape 6.2 or higher, Safari 1.2 or higher)

INTERNET CONNECTION: 56k modem