Course Title: Genre Analysis

Part B: Course Detail

Teaching Period: Term1 2007

Course Code: COMM7122

Course Title: Genre Analysis

School: 345T Creative Media

Campus: City Campus

Program: C6045 - Advanced Diploma of Arts Professional Screenwriting (Film,Television and Digital Media)

Course Contact : Brendan Lee

Course Contact Phone: +61 3 9925 4368

Course Contact Email:brendan.lee@rmit.edu.au


Name and Contact Details of All Other Relevant Staff

Boris Trbic

Nominal Hours: 136

Regardless of the mode of delivery, represent a guide to the relative teaching time and student effort required to successfully achieve a particular competency/module. This may include not only scheduled classes or workplace visits but also the amount of effort required to undertake, evaluate and complete all assessment requirements, including any non-classroom activities.

Pre-requisites and Co-requisites

Storytelling
Introduction to Screenwriting
Writing for Film

Course Description

The purpose of this module is to provide students with the skills and techniques necessary to research, analyse and review a wide range of film to identify genre storylines, opening scenes and present the findings in an industry-accepted oral and written form.


National Codes, Titles, Elements and Performance Criteria

National Element Code & Title:

VBM394 Genre Analysis


Learning Outcomes


Students are required to:
- Evaluate the main characteristics of key film genre.
- Construct film reviews in acceptable industry format and style.
- Originate storylines and opening scenes to genre requirements.
- Produce oral and written presentations/papers appropriate to industry forum.


Details of Learning Activities

Lectures, workshops, film screenings, tutorials


Teaching Schedule

1st SEMESTER 2007
Week 1: 12 February
Introduction

Week 2: 19 February 2007
Topic: Film Noir
Film: The Killers (Robert Siodmak, 1944)

Week 3: 26 February 2007
Topic: Film Noir
Film: Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)

Week 4: 5 March 2007.
Topic: Western
Film: The Searchers (John Ford, 1955)

Week 5: Public Holiday (Labour Day) Monday 12 March 2007.

Week 6: 19 March 2007.
Topic: Comedy, Screwball Comedy, Farce
Film: A Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch, 1940)

Week 7: 26 March 2007
Topic: Melodrama
Film: Letter From an Unknown Woman (Max Ophuls, 1948)

Week 8: 2 April 2007.
Topic: Melodrama
Film: Written on the Wind (Douglas Sirk, 1956)

Mid semester/Easter Break 6-11 April 2007.

Week 9: 16 April 2007
Topic: Musicals
Film: Meet Me in St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli, 1944)

Week 10: 23 April 2007
Topic: Science-fiction
Film: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel, 1956)

Week 11: 30 April 2007
Topic: Prison Films
Film: A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson, 1956)

Week 12: 7 May 2007
Topic: Suspense Thriller
Film: Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)

Week 13: 14 May 2007
Topic: Western
Film: The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969)

Week 14: 23 May 2007
Topic: Musicals
Film: Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1964)

Week 15: 28 May 2007
Topic: War Films
Film: Hell is for Heroes (Don Siegel)

Week 16: 4 June 2007
Topic: A nouvelle vague ‘chase film’
Film: Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard)

Week 17: Public Holiday (Queen’s Birthday) Monday 11 June 2007.

Week 18: 18 June 2007
TBA

Mid Year Break

Week 19: 9 July 2007
Topic: Historical Films/Adaptations
Film: Ran (Kurosawa Akira)

Week 20: 16 July 2007
Topic: French ‘Policier’
Film: Le Samourai (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967)

Week 21: 23 July 2007
Topic: ‘Neo-noir’
Film: Driver (Walter Hill, 1978)

Week 22: 30 July 2007
Topic: Social Drama
Film: Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975)

Week 23: 6 August 2007
Topic: Action Film
Film: Assault on Precint 13 (John Carpenter, 1976)

Week 24: 13 August 2007
Topic: Thriller
Film: The Conversation  (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)

Week 25: 20 August 2007
Topic: Con-games
Film: House of Games (David Mamet, 1987)

Week 26: 27 August 2007
Topic: Conservatism in Social Drama
Film: Places in the Heart (Robert Benton, 1984)

Week 27: 3 September 2007
Topic: Thriller: Deliverance and the Noble Savage
Film: Southern Comfort (Walter Hill, 1981)

Week 28: 10 September 2007
A Gangster Saga
Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984)

Week 29: 17 September 2007
Topic: The 1980s Hong Kong action thriller
Film: The Killer (John Woo)

Mid-semester break Monday 24 September – Friday 28 September 2007.

Week 30: 1 October 2007
Topic: The Hong Kong Elegiac Romance
Film: Chunking Express (Wong kar-wai, 1994)

Week 31: 8 October 2007
Topic: Political Documentary
Film: Waco: The Rules of Engagement (William Gazecki, 1997)

Week 32: 15 October 2007
Topic: Music Documentary
Film: DiG! (Ondi Timoner, 2004)

Week 33: 22 October 2007
Topic: The Japanese ‘Policier’  
Film: Hana-Bi (Kitano Takeshi, 2000)

Week 34: 29 October 2007
Topic: New Asian Horror
Film: Dark Water (Hideo Nakata, 2001)

Week 35: 5 November 2007
TBA

Week 36: 12 November 2007
Review
 
This is the last class in Semester 2. By this date all students should complete B2 Assignment: Presentation.

Last Day Semester 2 classes: Friday 16 November 2007.  


Learning Resources

Prescribed Texts


References


Other Resources

 Suggested reading material will be provided in class by teacher.
Handouts provided in class by teacher
Internet access through RMIT Library
Final Draft program on several computers in RMIT Carlton Library and Main Library
Publications & dvds/videos through RMIT Library, community libraries, video libraries and other sources


Overview of Assessment

Written assignment A1 40%
Research assignment A1 10%
Written assignment B1 40%
Research assignment B1 10%


Assessment Tasks

Assessment strategy: Written assignments and class presentations.

A1: Key film genres will be identified and discussed in a major essay (1200-1500 words). 40%

B1: Students will present the outcomes of their research assignment in pairs, focusing on broadening the important aspects of class discussion of particular film genres (10-15 minutes, including presentation, excerpt/s and Q&A). 10%

A2: Exploring, discussing and analysing the context of a particular film genre (historical perspectives, evolution, broadening scopes and cross-genre links) in a major essay (1200-1500 words). 40%

B2: Students will identify variations, repetitions and permutations and stretching the boundaries of film genres studied. (10 minutes, including presentation, excerpt/s, Q&A).   10%
   


Assessment Matrix

Reserved

Course Overview: Access Course Overview