Syllabus

jaymcroy
Jan 28
3 min read

Updated: Apr 10

Course Description: This course focuses on film analysis, or the sustained close reading of cinematic texts. Successful students will demonstrate not only an understanding of film form, but also the rhetorical skills necessary to advance a clear and cogent film analysis. Successful students will likewise demonstrate strong critical thinking skills; they will develop questions for research and/or critical inquiry, evaluate external sources pertinent to the work under investigation, and situate their own critique within the context of relevant scholarship.

Who: Prof Jay McRoy

My Office Hours: R 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

My Office: RITA 228

Website: www.thejaymcroy.com

Email: mcroy@uwp.edu

Required Texts:

· A Short Guide to Writing About Film (10th Edition) - Timothy Corrigan

· 10/40/70: Constraint as Liberation in the Era of Digital Film Scholarship - Nicholas

Rombes

Grading:

1. Class Participation & In-Class Presentations - 25%.

2. Essay #1: Formal Analysis (5 pages - not counting images) - 25%

3. Essay #2: 10/40/70 Essay (5 pages - not counting images) - 25%

4. Essay #3: Film Analysis Essay (7-10 pages - not counting images) - 25%

Essay #1: Formal Analysis (5 pages - not counting images) - 25%. Analyze the formal components of a single scene or sequence, ultimately explaining how these details not only impact the scene's or sequence's effectiveness, but also how they inform the film's larger thematics/aesthetics. You can either write about a scene from one of the films we have watched so far this semester, or if you would like to write about a scene from a film of your choosing, you must send me a link to it on YouTube or some other site.

Essay #2: 10/40/70 Essay (5 pages - not counting images) - 25%. Using Nicholas Rhombes' 10/40/70 exercise from 10/40/70: Constraint as Liberation in the Era of Digital Film Scholarship as a model, craft your own 10/40/70 essay. Here, too, you may focus upon any film you wish, but you must provide a screenshot from the film's 10, 40, and 70 minute mark.

Essay #3: Film Analysis Essay (10 pages - not counting images) - 25%. Write a formal or thematic/cultural (or both formal and thematic/cultural) analysis of one of the films we have viewed this semester. As you write, engage critically with the film, exploring at least one scene or sequence through a "close reading" of its formal qualities. Additionally, you must integrate at least one quote from, or reference to, a secondary source.

Plagiarism Warning: The English Department at the University of Wisconsin - Parkside has a very explicit Plagiarism Policy. This policy can be found HERE. It is every student's responsibility to become familiar with the policy. Ignorance, though regrettable, is not an excuse. Of course, if you are unsure whether something you wrote constitutes plagiarism, please speak with me BEFORE (or even AS) you hand in your work.

Week-by-Week Breakdown:

2/6: Introduction & Bird (Andrea Arnold, 2024)

2/13: Festen (Thomas Vinterberg, 1998)

Read for Class: "Winged Victory" by Nathalie Olah & "The Celebration: How Long Can This Go On" by Michael Koresky