Course Details
Subject {L-T-P / C} : HS5114 : Reading Films { 3-0-0 / 3}
Subject Nature : Theory
Coordinator : Dr. Neha Soman
Syllabus
Module 1: Introduction to film studies, Film as an art, Forms and functions, Genres and their poetics, Language of the cinema, Signs and syntax, Different types of meanings.
Module 2: Films as visual texts, Technology and aesthetics, Aspects of ethics and cultural production, Critical thinking, Global mediascapes and transnationalism
Module 3: Film and society, Representations of historical, cultural, political, and religious facets of the society, Modes of reception and levels of impacts, Construction of identities.
Module 4: Art of story-telling, symbolisms, foreshadowing, tone, and imageries, Character development through narration, sound, music, and image.
Module 5: Postmodernity in films, Reality and paranoia, Creation of the hyperreality, Simulation and simulacra.
Course Objectives
- Encourage students to interpret films as a literary form and understand their pertinent role in the mediascape.
- Understand the representations of various facets of society reflected in films.
- Evaluate and respond to thematic diversity, creativity, and socio-political implications of films.
- Appreciate the visual and linguistic aesthetics of films.
Course Outcomes
CO1: Understand the literary elements embodied in films. <br />CO2: Enrich cultural, social, and linguistic awareness. <br />CO3: Appreciate the aesthetic effects of films and understand their impacts on human emotions. <br />CO4: Enhance critical thinking skills.
Essential Reading
- Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind, Universal Pictures , 2001
- Steven Spielberg, Schindler’s List, Universal Pictures , 1993
Supplementary Reading
- T Wallis, & Pramaggiore, M., Film - A Critical Introduction, Laurence King Publishing , 2020
- James Monaco, How to Read a Film: The Art, Technology, Language, History, and Theory of Film and Media., Oxford University Press , 2000