Registration begins May 19th for Cinema Studies Fall Term 2014 courses!

Read below about a few of the exciting courses for Fall Term 2014

For a complete list of Fall Term 2014 Cinema Studies courses, please read the Fall Course List or email shaunar@uoregon.edu for more information.  

Avid Media Composer 7.0 -- Open to All Majors!
Cine 399 / CRN 17113 / 4 credits
Mon & Wed / 10 - 11:50 am
Instructor:  Kevin May, Avid Certified Instructor

Media Composer is one of the most commonly used non-linear editing softwares in both the film and television industries.

In this class students will be trained in the industry standard non-linear editing software, Avid Media Composer 7.0. Our Avid Certified Instructor will use Avid’s curriculum along with our own additional content focusing on editing theory and practice to give students a complete understanding of the software’s workflow and operations. The class will also strengthen students’ overall editing technique and help them to better comprehend the art form of editing.

Beginning Screenwriting
Cine 320 / 4 credits
Mon & Wed / 2:00 - 3:20 pm
Instructor:  Cai Emmons

The class will examine the various elements of a good screenplay, including: visual storytelling, three-act structure, characterization, dramatization, dialogue, screenplay formatting, etc. Writing exercises will be done in preparation for the creation of a final script for a 10-15-minute film. The emphasis in this class is on dramatic screenwriting with an eye towards what Hollywood expects from a good screenplay. Students will not be writing experimental films, art films, television scripts, or documentaries in this class. Students may write comedy, thriller, action-adventure, drama, science fiction, or fantasy, but whatever they choose to write will contain sound dramatic structure and rich characterization.  

Sp St Global Blockbuster – New!
CINE 399 / 4 Credits
Tuesday & Thursday / 10:00-11:50 am
Instructor:  HyeRyoung Ok

This course explores one of the most visible, yet least critically discussed forms of popular culture: the movie blockbuster. We will endeavor to evaluate or re-evaluate the cultural significance of this often easily dismissed cultural phenomenon by positioning it at the intersections of such discourses as globalization, transnationalism, film historiography and genre. This class will survey the global dissemination of the movie blockbuster and focus on blockbusters, spectacles or “event movies” from around the world, including, but not limited to, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and India. In addition to looking into the formal, aesthetic, and industrial elements of blockbusters across nations, the analysis of films will lead us to interrogate cinematic and cultural constructions of history, nation, gender and sexuality.  

Sp St Production Studies -- New!
CINE 399 / 4 credits
Tuesday & Thursday / 2:00-3:50 pm

This course examines the lived realities of film and television production workers. Our particular focus is not on the “production of culture” but rather on the “cultures of production” and the ways that production work itself is a meaningful cultural practice. Special emphasis will be placed on the socio-professional rituals and production narratives through which workers make sense of their labor and creative work. Using various case studies, students will consider not only producers and directors but also “below-the-line” workers, including gaffers, editors, and camera crews. Throughout, we will take up a range of issues that have impacted production work, including the changing dynamics of labor, “runaway” filmmaking, and digital convergence.  

Top Italian Post-War Cinema
CINE 410 / 4 credits
Monday & Wednesday / 5:00-6:50 pm
Instructor:  Sergio Rigoletto

The term Neorealism refers to a set of films made in Italy at the end of WW2. This was a time when the country was in ruins: the main film studios in Rome (Cinecittà) had been expropriated and turned into refuge camps; equipment to shoot films was extremely hard to find and electrical power supply was very limited. Rather than making film production impossible, these obstacles actually instigated the emergence of a new way of making films. The course will provide an overview of Neorealist cinema within its particular social, economic and industrial contexts. Students will learn what particular formal and technical specificities characterized Neorealist filmmaking. They will also explore the aesthetic and ethical significance of Neorealism in the context of world cinema and its particular attitude to reality.  

Top Cine Production — DSLR — New!
CINE 425 / 4 Credits
Tuesday & Thursday / 12:00-1:50 pm
Instructor:  Andre Sirois

Narrative DSLR Filmmaking explores the use and power of DSLR camera for narrative production. This class combines the art and science of filmmaking where we will learn how to employ DSLR cameras and prime lenses to achieve a film look/aesthetic. This class is centered on hands-on learning; topics include exposure, color and lenticular theories, lighting, lensing, shutter, aperture, ISO/ASA, and related hardware use (tripod, shoulder mounts, follow focus, etc.), as well as how a DSLR actually works technologically.  

Top Directing -- New!
CINE 425 / 4 Credits
Monday & Wednesday / 12:00-1:50 pm

This course focuses on the building blocks of directing narrative films: the shot, mise-en-scène, concept, the actor, environment, sound and montage. Assignments are designed to explore aspects of visual expression through the use of composition, rhythm, and point-of view, moving from black and white, silent compositions to the use of color, non-synch sound, and editing. Student work is screened and critiqued by the instructor and the class.