CIS 226 – Independent Film                                      Prof. Maggie McCarthy

Fall 2004                                                                                                Chambers 3150

TR 11:30 – 12:45                                                                                             ext. 2266

Chambers 3068                                                          Office Hours: Fridays, 1 – 4pm

 

 

Dollars & Cineastes: Independent Film

 

 

Course Text:

Emanuel Levy, Cinema of Outsiders.  The Rise of Independent Film.  New York: New York UP, 1999.

 

Course Description

Film critics have both celebrated and scoffed the notion of independent cinema.  From romanticized origins of wannabe auteurs with credit cards, it has evolved into a major force in the film industry. This course will examine the ways that it may or may not differ aesthetically, economically and politically from mainstream Hollywood cinema.  Is it possible to create films untainted by celebrity, commercial compromise and the “dominant codes” of Hollywood? In what ways do many independent films remain within the corporate clasp of Miramax and/or need the artistic imprimatur of Sundance? ?  Is there something uniquely American in the need to designate some films as independent?  After creating a base-line of assumptions about independent film, such questions will structure our analysis over the course of the semester.    

 

Goals

This course will provide an overview of American independent cinema over the last twenty years, focusing on some of its best-known films.  Students will be introduced to basic film terminology and the fundamentals of film analysis.  By the end of the semester, you should be able to recognize and speak intelligently about the deeper structures in the films we watch.

 

Requirements

First and foremost, students are expected to be prepared, engaged participants in class.  This means carefully preparing the readings and watching the films.  I expect each student to contribute at least one idea to our class discussion, so you can expect me to call on you during each class.  Classes will revolve less around formal lectures than analysis of the films, and our goal throughout is to promote good, original thinking and a strong eye and ear for interpreting film. By the end of the semester I hope that your ideas are our primary focus in class. 

 

Written assignments will take three forms:

-  Electronic responses:  you will write a 250 word response to one assigned film and reading, send it to me via email so that I can post it to the entire class.  Your response should raise useful questions, suggest possible issues for class discussion, and offer original analysis.  It will serve as our starting point in class, so please avoid unconsidered editorializing.  Your grade will be a check, check plus or check minus. Electronic responses are due Monday evenings by 6pm. 

 

-  Technical Analysis: You will write one 250 word analysis of each of the following categories: narrative, staging, cinematography, editing and sound.  Over the course of the semester I will assign you each category once for a given film.  Grading will again be check, check plus or check minus.

 

- Analytic Essays: Twice you will write two essays of approximately 3 – 4 pages which offer an original analysis of a film discussed in class. Please refrain from covering material and summarizing ideas already discussed in class. No secondary readings or internet sources should be used for these essays.  Your final research paper of 8 – 10 pages should include a bibliography of at least 5 – 8 sources.  See the course schedule for due dates. 

 

Alternately, anyone with more creative instincts may have other means for absorbing and analyzing class material.  In lieu of the final research paper, you may make a film for instance.  Please confer with me by early November should you choose this option, because it will take some coordinating with the Language Lab. 

 

Grades

Preparation and class participation                    20%

Electronic responses and short analyses 30%

Essays                                                              50%

 

Film screenings and secondary readings

You have two possibilities for watching the film: during a screening on Sundays, 8pm, in Chambers 3068 or on your own time.  (Please don’t take the film for personal viewing on Sunday nights.) All films will be on the “viewing shelf” in the library.  Viewing rooms are on the second floor and in the basement.  No film may leave the library.  I would strongly encourage you to watch each film twice since it is much easier to recognize deeper levels of meaning after repeated viewings.  Take notes on what you see and think about why things are represented as they are.

 

Some course readings will be on electronic reserve. All will focus on independent film in general or offer an interpretation of the film at hand.  Consider them a springboard to develop your own ideas.  Short pop quizzes from time to time will ensure careful preparation of films and reading material and serve as a painless way to boost your grade. 

 

 

 

Attendance

Students are allowed two unexcused absences.  Thereafter your final grade will drop one third of a grade for each absence.  All work should be pledged.

 

Schedule

August 24                                 Discussion of syllabus

 

August 26                                 Introductory lecture on independent film

Reading                                    Levy, 1 – 51

 

August 31 – September 2         Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)

Reading                                    Levy, 405 - 441

Respondents:

 

September 7 - 9                       Sex, Lies and Videotape  (Steven Soderbergh, 1989)

Reading                                    Levy, 52 - 101

Respondents:

 

September 14 - 16                   Slacker  (Richard Linklater, 1991)

Reading                                    Levy, 152 - 183                                  

                                                Respondents:

 

September 21 - 23                   Reservoir Dogs  (Quentin Tarantino, 1992)

Reading                                    Levy, 102 - 151

Respondents:

 

SEPTEMBER 27                   FIRST SHORT ESSAY DUE

 

September 28 - 30                   Clerks  (Kevin Smith, 1994)

Reading                                    Levy, 184 - 217

Respondents:

 

October 5 – 7                         I Shot Andy Warhol  (Mary Harron, 1996)

Reading                                    Levy, 248 - 404

                                                Respondents:

 

October 14                              The Big Lebowski  (Joel Coen, 1998)

Reading                                    Levy, 218 - 248

Respondents:

 

October 19 – 21                      Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1997)

Reading                                    Interview with Gavin Smith (electronic reserve)

                                                Olsen, “Singing in the Rain” (electronic reserve)

                                                Respondents:

 

 

October 26 - 28                       Happiness  (Todd Solondz, 1998)

Reading                                  Levy, 282 - 314

                                                Respondents:

 

OCTOBER 25                        SECOND SHORT ESSAY DUE

 

November 2 - 4                       Being John Malkovich  (Spike Jonze, 1999)

Reading                                  Young, “Otherwise Than Being John Malkovich” (electronic reserve)

                                                Respondents:

 

November 9 - 11                     The Blair Witch Project  (Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez, 1999)

Reading                                  Mallin, “The Blair Witch Project, Macbeth, and the Indeterminate End” (electronic reserve)

                                                Respondents:

 

November 16 - 18                   American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999)

Reading                                  Spiegel, “The Theological Aesthetic of American Beauty” (electronic reserve)

Respondents:

 

 

November 23                           YOUR CHOICE OF FILM

 

November 30 – December 2    Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore, 2004)

                                               

December 7                             Screening of student films; office hours to discuss final papers

 

DECEMBER 16        FINAL PAPERS DUE

 

Selected Bibliography

Biskind, Peter.  Down and Dirty Pictuures. Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film.  New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004.

 

Hiller, Jim.  American Independent Cinema.  A Sight and Sound Reader.  London: Bfi Publishing, 2001.

 

Lewis, John. The End of Cinema as we know it.  American Film in the Nineties.  New York: New York UP, 2001.

 

Pierson, John.  Spike Mike Reloaded.  A Guided Tour Across a Decade of American Independent Cinema.  New York: Hyperion, 2003.