The one-year sequence, conducted as a lecture course, is designed to give the student a broad introduction to the history and aesthetics of film from a roughly chronological perspective. There are weekly screenings of major films widely acknowledged as central to the evolution of the medium as well as supplementary reading assignments which provide both a narrative history and a strong encounter with the leading critical and theoretical issues of cinema, often within a context of 20th century art and literature. While the student can take either half of the sequence, the program recommends that both parts of the course are taken, especially for any student contemplating film as a concentration. Mid-term and final exams; term paper. Open to First-year students only. The second half of the sequence begins with crucial films in the transition to the technology and aesthetic of the sound film on an international scale, those by Lang, Sternberg, Bunuel, Vertov and Vigo. There follows a study of the evolution of the long-take, deep-focus aesthetic in the films of Renoir, Welles and Mizoguchi; of Hollywood genres in the films of Ford, Hitchcock, Hawks and Sturges; the rise of neo-realism in Rossellini, DeSica and Visconti; the contribution of the American avant-garde in Deren, Peterson, Brakhage, Anger, Smith, Conner and Breer; the French New Wave in Godard, Truffaut and Rohmer; the northern tradition in Dreyer and Bergman; selections of Aian filmic practice in films of Ray, Kurosawa, and Ozu; and finally, further European innovations in Antonioni, Varda, the Taviani Bros., Pasolini, et al. Readings by Bazin, Brakhage, Deren, Bresson, Sontag, et al.

Continuation of the study of basic problems (technical and aesthetical) related to the film medium.

Prerequisite: Film 201

See above.

See above.

This course combines lectures, demonstrations, and in-class exercises to introduce students to a variety of computer applications for media production. Students design and construct desktop video projects which incorporate elements culled from moving-image, graphic, text, and audio sources. These class places media arts in the context of the role played by new technologies in visual exploration and their place in the traditions of film history. The course is open to students with some experience in film and video.

From an idea to plot; from an outline to script. Character development, dramatic/cinematic structure. Continuous analysis of students' work. Students who wish to take the course should have a demonstrable background in film or writing and be willing to share their work with others. Admission by permission of the professor; samples of work (finished or in progress) must be submitted prior to registration.

This seminar provides students with an overview of the theoretical concerns raised in cinema studies and attempts to relate some of these concepts to the area commonly described as experimental filmmaking. In class we will explore contemporary developments in film theory covering a wide spectrum of methodological approaches, ranging from semiotics and psychoanalysis to the study of early cinema. There will be weekly screenings and a strong emphasis on supplementary reading. The course is designed as a workshop, and students should be prepared to participate in discussions and share their writings with classmates.

A course designed to give students an in-depth understanding of a particular period, style or national school of filmmaking. Weekly screenings of acknowledged and influential works and related lectures make up the bulk of the course, with supplementary reading. The course explores the history of the depiction of African-Americans in American film and the history of African-American filmmaking. We will focus on landmark contributions to this history such as D. W. Griffith and "The Birth of a Nation", Oscar Micheaux and theBlack Underground of the 1920-40's, the Hollywood "problem picture," the American New Wave, and the recent emergence of African-American commercial directors and independent film and videomakers such as William Greaves, Melvin Van Peebles, Charles Brunett, Cathleen Collins, Charles Lane, Spike Lee, Julie Dash, Carl Franklin, Marlon Riggs, and Cauleen Smith.

From silent Yiddish slapstick shorts to the golden age of Yiddish theatre-cinema in Vilnius and Warsaw. The seminar will consist of viewing selected Yiddish cinema from 1907 until the end of WW-II, assigned private screenings of additional films, assigned reading and class discussions. Knowledge of Yiddish is good, but not required (most of the films shown will have English sub-titles). Two papers.

This is an intermediate-level workshop for students interested in social issues, reportage, landscape, travelogue and various forms of the "newsreel" and the "actuality" film. Working in small crews or individually and shooting with both film and video, the class will create timely newsreels of the local region and will travel locally to a variety of locations to cover particular events, people and natural phenomena. Permission of the instructor is required.

This class will explore and use materials and processes associated with graphic film production. The course consists of ongoing instruction and experimentation with a variety of image making technologies including animation, optical printing, rotoscoping and cameraless filmmaking (drawing, scratching, and dying film). The class will view and discuss a number of films that are primarily concerned with the visual and students will produce their own film projects using the techniques covered in class.

A hands-on project course in which students explore the technological quandries, practical realities and theoretical concepts broached in the creation of an internet.installation. Issues in history, theory, artistic collaboration and practice are discussed in relation to this emerging medium.

Major Conference provides a forum for Upper College majors to exchange ideas, working methods and artistic strategies prior to Senior Project. This semester will focus on taking a film from start to finish. Students are required to make a film of their own devising and take it through the necessary steps to completion including the final laboratory steps and A&B rolling of the original footage. Works-in-progress will be presented in class on a regular basis. We will screen contemporary and historical works in both film and video, as inspiration and relevance dictates.

See Integrated Arts section for description.

This think-tank styled seminar will consider the shifting boundaries between human and machine. With a specific emphasis on the robot and autonomous, service-oriented, "thinking" machines, we'll consider everything from Poo-Chi the Interactive Pet® to the pesky cyber bots that disabled eToys®. Through discussion, directed readings, presentations and field work, we'l examine individual histories, theories and art practices in pursuit of some of the following queries: How do issues of mastery, control, identity, distance and presence relate to actual histories of war, domination and enslavement? What is the historical and cultural significance of our ambivalence towards the machine? How are artists utilizing electronic devices and digital interfaces to transform how art is coded and experienced? Artists to include: Roy Ascott, Eduardo Kac, Ken Goldberg, Natalie Jeremenjenko, Nam June Paik; Writers to include: Isaac Asimov, Phillip K. Dick; Critics to include: Donna Haraway, Ray Kurzweil, Lev Manovich, Sherry Turkle.

This seminar/workshop will review the history of autobiographical, biographical, diary and other personal cinema. Weekly screenings of selected films/videos. Each student will produce at least one work in the spirit of this class. This course fulfills Major Conference requirement for Film/Video majors. Open to non-majors.