Readings

Amazon logo When you click the Amazon logo to the left of any citation and purchase the book (or other media) from Amazon.com, MIT OpenCourseWare will receive up to 10% of this purchase and any other purchases you make during that visit. This will not increase the cost of your purchase. Links provided are to the US Amazon site, but you can also support OCW through Amazon sites in other regions. Learn more.


Recommended Texts

Amazon logo Bordwell, David. Narration in the Fiction Film. University of Wisconsin Press, 1989. ISBN: 0415018773.

Amazon logo Bordwell, David. On the History of Film Style. University of Wisconsin Press, 1992. ISBN: 0674634292.

Amazon logo Katz, Steven. Film Directing Shot by Shot Michael Weise Productions, 1992. ISBN: 0941188108.

Amazon logo Rieser, Martin, ed. New Screen Media: Cinema / Art / Narrative British Film Institute, 1999. ISBN: 0851708641.

Amazon logo Rush, Michael. New Media in Late 20th Century Art. Thames and Hudson, 2001. ISBN: 0500203296.

Amazon logo Van Abbemuseum, Stedelijk. Cinema Cinema: Contemporary Art and the Cinematic Experience. NAi Pubilshers, 1999. ISBN: 9070149710.


SES # TOPICS READINGS
1 The Roots of Narrative: Lumiere vs. Melies
2 Video Narrative vs. Film Narrative
3 Documentary vs. Narrative Amazon logo Rush, Michael. Introduction in New Media in Late 20th Century Art. Thames and Hudson, 2001. ISBN: 0500203296.

Amazon logo Cooper, Pat, and Ken Dancyger. "The Experimental Drama." In Writing the Short Film. Focal Press, 1999. ISBN: 0240803698.  
4 Diaristic Narrative Amazon logo Russell, Catherine. "Autoethnography from Journeys of the Self." Chapter 10 in Experimental Ethnography . Duke University Press, 1999.  ISBN: 0822323192.

Amazon logo Rabiger. "Developing Story Ideas." In Directing – Film Techniques and Aesthetics. Focal Press, 2003. ISBN: 0240805178.
5 Presentations: Assignment #1: Variations on a Scene Amazon logo Bordwell, David. "Art-Cinema Narration." In Narration in the Fiction Film. University of Wisconsin Press, 1989. ISBN: 0415018773.
6 Production In-class / Lighting and Re-staging
7 Oneiric Video (Dream Narrative)

Presentations: Assignment #1a: Re-staging
Amazon logo Bordwell, David. "Parametric Narration." In Narration in the Fiction Film. University of Wisconsin Press, 1989. ISBN: 0415018773.
8 Minimal Narrative

Presentations: Assignment #2: Dream Sequence Assignment Rough Cut
9 Beyond the Rules
10 Alternative Scriptwriting Amazon logo Dancyger, Ken and Jeff Rush. "Beyond the Rules." In Alternative Scriptwriting. Focal Press, 2001. ISBN: 0240804775.
11 Editing

In-class Production: The Kuleshov Effect

Presentations: Assignment #2a: Re-editing of Dream Sequence
Amazon logo Murch, Walter. In the Blink of an Eye. Silman-James Press, 2001. ISBN: 1879505622.
12 Mise en Scene (Production In-class)

Presentations of Assignment #3: Slice of Life Mini-Narrative (Fictionalizing Reality)
Amazon logo Bazin, Andre. What is Cinema? University of California Press, 1967. ISBN: 0520000927.
13 Introduction to Assignment #4: Deconstructing Narrative

In-class Production
14 Individual Meetings
16 Introduction to Assignment #5: Final Project

Narrative Critique
Amazon logo Mulvey, Laura. "Visual Pleasure and the Narrative Cinema." In Issues in Feminist Film Criticism. Edited by Patricia Erens. Indiana University Press, 1991. ISBN: 0253206103.   

Wees, William. "Carrying On: Leslie Thornton, Su Friedrich, Abigail Child and American Avant-Garde Film in the Eighties." Canadian Journal of Film Studies , Volume 10, no. 1 (2002).
17 In-class Production
18 Presentations: Rough Cuts and Assemblies, Dailies, for Final Project
19 Voice-over Narration and Audio Recording

Demo: FCP Voice-over, Miking Techniques

Presentations: Deconstructing Narrative Exercise or Works-in-Progress for Final Project
20 Presentations
21 Narrative Critique
22 The Game of Form

Presentations of Final Project Works-in-Progress
23 Voice-over Narration Kar-Wai, Wong. Excerpt from Chunking Express, DVD. Miramax Home Entertainment, 1994.
24-26 Presentations: Assignment #5: Final Project Presentations