Intro to Film Theory
Revisiting Hitchcock:
Few artists have left such a lasting scar on the American consciousness as Alfred Hitchcock. While the “Master of Suspense” dealt in universal cinematic motifs, such as seeing and being seen, his hyper-psychological approach set him a great distance apart from his contemporaries, and created a style of filmmaking that has infected Hollywood to this day. The themes established in Hitchcock’s works (greatly abbreviated examples: The Man Who Knew Too Much, Notorious, Rear Window, Vertigo, and Psycho) echo strongly throughout both modern moviegoing and the American imagination itself.
This course will focus on Hitchcock’s career in the context of the film industry, as well as the great body of film theory that has been produced concerning his works, with a specific focus on psychoanalytic and feminist film theory. In adopting this focus, we hope to give each student a greater understanding of the movies of Alfred Hitchcock, as well as the study and appreciation of movies more broadly.
No expertise required -- feel free to bring popcorn.
This course will be broken down into 4 sessions. Sessions will open with a lecture on the days material given by the instructors, interspersed with Socratic discussion. We will conclude by screening a Hitchcock film together that will be discussed the following week (if people are more comfortable watching the film at home via their own means, they are more than welcome to check out after the lecture/discussion). No prior experience in film theory is required. Beginners are not only welcome but encouraged.
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Session 1: Intro to film theory // Screening of "Rope"
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Session 2: Nietzsche and Continuous Editing // Screening of "Rear Window"
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Session 3: Voyeurism and Lacan & Freud // Screening of "Rebecca"
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Session 4: Feminist Psychoanalysis // Screening of "Psycho"
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There are no required texts to purchase for the course, although there will be supplemental reading for each film that is to be read at home and discussed in class; we will provide these for free via PDF through a weekly email.
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