ICINE-UT 12L01 British Cinema NYU London: Fall 2019 Instructor Information ● Dr Emre Çağlayan ● +447502080289 (only emergencies, please) ● Office Hours: Thursdays, 12noon-1pm, Room 301 ● Email: [email protected] Course Information ● Thursdays, 1-2pm (lecture), 2-4pm (screening), 5-7pm (seminar discussion) ○ All activities take place in Room 301, main building. ● No formal prerequisites, though on taking a serious approach to understanding film form, style and history, students are encouraged to consult David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson’s Film Art: An Introduction (any recent edition). Course Overview and Goals This course introduces key themes and issues in the understanding of British cinema in its social, cultural and artistic context. The course will navigate through British film history, interrogating questions of realism, national cinema and cultural identity. We will be looking at landmark periods in British film history and explore a host of trends, traditions and genres, including documentary, comedy, spy thriller, kitchen sink dramas, historical films, horror and art cinema. The films and readings are chosen in order to investigate a wide range of representations of British society, and indeed the notion of Britishness will be explored through varying, sometimes conflicting, approaches. The course will proceed by means of a weekly lecture and film screening, followed by a seminar discussion, during which students are expected to respond to the film and the key readings (available via NYU classes). The precise times of each activity may vary depending on the subject matter (and the length of the films). Upon Completion of this Course, students will be able to: • Understand some of the major features of the broad relationships between cinema and society • Understand some of the major features of the cinematic institution in the United Kingdom; • Understand some of the major theoretical and critical paradigms for academic study of the cinema; • Understand some of the key analytic skills involved in understanding and analyzing film texts. Page 1 Course Requirements Grading of Assignments The grade for this course will be determined according to these assessment components: % of Assignments/ Description of Assignment Final Due Activities Grade Compile a 1,000-word report following your visit to the British Film Institute and the London Film Festival. Your report will comprise what you’ve learnt from the BFI’s vast resources on film and your Field Trip Report impressions from an event or a film you’ve 15% October 17 attended at the festival. The focus of your report should be around the place of cinema in British culture and the kind of institutional support available to the serious study and appreciation of cinema. Produce a 2,000-word case study of one film from the ‘see also’ sections of the syllabus. Your case study should include relevant production data (director, producer, cinematographer, screenwriter, production designer, editor, genre, duration, main cast, year of release), a brief plot synopsis, and a detailed commentary, focusing on the film’s Film Case Study & production history, reception, content and 30% November 25 Textual Analysis stylistic approach (see the entries in the World Cinema Directory for examples). You should also add to your case study a paragraph on how the film relates to the topics explored on that week and focus on the ways in which the subject matter is treated in comparison to the screening film. You are also encouraged to analyze a sequence or scene from the film in detail, focusing on form and style. You will be given a set of questions covering the whole syllabus, to which you Research Essay will respond with a 3,000-word academic 40% December 12 essay. Your essay must include a bibliography and reflect independent research. The argument of your essay Page 2 % of Assignments/ Description of Assignment Final Due Activities Grade should be illustrated in reference to one film from the course and another film of your choice (preferably not in syllabus). All students are expected to attend all sessions and participate in the Class Participation discussions, which means speaking out or 15% N/A responding to a study question at least twice during each seminar discussion. Failure to submit or fulfill any required course component results in failure of the class Grades Letter grades for the entire course will be assigned as follows: Letter Percent Description Grade Grade A will be awarded to work that demonstrates AN OUTSTANDING DEGREE OF COMPETENCE. This work will be distinguished by a very high quality of knowledge and analysis. This category of work will reflect detailed acquaintance with given A Example: 93.5% and higher examples of British Cinema and will demonstrate the relevant familiarity with principles drawn from film criticism and theory. Work at this level will reflect an advanced level of ability in the presentation of an academic case, and in terms of written expression. Grade B will be awarded to work that demonstrates A GOOD DEGREE OF COMPETENCE. This type of work will be distinguished by a good quality of knowledge and analysis. This category of work will reflect acquaintance with given examples of British B Example: 82.5% - 87.49% Cinema and will demonstrate some familiarity with principles drawn from film criticism and theory. Work at this level will reflect a good level of ability in the presentation of an academic case, and in terms of written expression. Grade C will be awarded to work that C Example: 72.5% - 77.49% demonstrates A MODERATE DEGREE OF COMPETENCE. This type of work will be Page 3 Letter Percent Description Grade distinguished by a moderate quality of knowledge and analysis. This category of work will reflect acquaintance with a modicum of given examples of British Cinema and moderate familiarity with principles drawn from film criticism and theory. Work at this level will reflect a moderate level of ability in the presentation of an academic case, and in terms of written expression. Grade D will be awarded to work that demonstrates A BASIC DEGREE OF COMPETENCE. This type of work will be distinguished by a basic quality of knowledge and analysis. This category of work will reflect basic acquaintance with given examples of D Example: 62.5% - 67.49 British Cinema and basic familiarity with principles drawn from film criticism and theory. Work at this level will reflect a basic level of ability in the presentation of academic case, and in terms of written expression. Grade F will be awarded to work that FAILS TO DEMONSTRATE A BASIC DEGREE OF COMPETENCE. This type of work will be distinguished by an inadequate quality of knowledge and analysis. This category of work will reflect inadequate acquaintance with given F Example: 59.99% and lower examples of British Cinema and inadequate familiarity with principles drawn from film criticism and theory. Work at this level will reflect an inadequate level of ability in the presentation of an academic case, and in terms of written expression. Course Materials Required Textbooks & Materials ● There is no required textbook and all key readings will be available electronically via NYU classes. ● BFI Screenonline (http://www.screenonline.org.uk) hosts a range of excellent essays on the topics explored in class (and more). Optional Textbooks & Materials ● Ashby, Justine and Andrew Higson, eds. (2000). British Cinema, Past and Present. London and New York: Routledge. Page 4 ● Barr, Charles (1986). All Our Yesterdays: 90 Years of British Cinema. London: BFI Publishing. ● Brunsdon, Charlotte (2007). London in Cinema: The Cinematic City Since 1945 (London: British Film Institute). ● Higson, Andrew, ed. (1996). Dissolving Views: Key Writings on British Cinema. London: Cassell. ● Higson, Andrew (1997). Waving The Flag: Constructing a National Cinema in Britain. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ● Murphy, Robert (2009). The British Cinema Book, 3rd edition. London: BFI Publishing. ● Richards, Jeffrey (1997). Films and British National Identity: From Dickens to Dad's Army. (Manchester: Manchester University Press). ● Street, Sarah (1997). British National Cinema. London and New York: Routledge. Resources ● Access your course materials: NYU Classes (nyu.edu/its/classes) ● Databases, journal articles, and more: Bobst Library (library.nyu.edu) ● NYUL Library Collection: Senate House Library (catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk) ● Assistance with strengthening your writing: NYU Writing Center (nyu.mywconline.com) ● Obtain 24/7 technology assistance: IT Help Desk (nyu.edu/it/servicedesk) Course Schedule Assignment Session/Date Topic Reading Due Key Readings: • Andrew Higson, “The Concept of National Cinema” Screen 30.4 (1989): 36–47. • James Chapman, “James National Cinema Bond and the End of Empire” and Identity in James Bond Uncovered, ed. Jeremy Strong (Palgrave, Screening: Skyfall 2018), 203–222. (Sam Mendes, 2012, 143min) Further Reading: Session 1: • September 5 James Chapman, See also: Ipcress “Introduction: Taking James File (Furie, 1965); Bond Seriously” in Licence to The Spy Who Thrill: A Cultural History of the Came in from the James Bond Films (London: Cold (Ritt, 1965) I.B. Tauris, 2007), 1–21. • Christoper McMillan, “Broken Bond: Skyfall and the British Identity Crisis” Journal of British Cinema and Television 12.2 (2015): 191–206. Page 5 Assignment Session/Date Topic Reading Due Key Readings • Charles Barr, “Projecting Britain and the British Character: Ealing Studios” Screen 15.1 (1974): 87–121. • Tim O’Sullivan, “Ealing Comedies 1947-1957” in British Film British Comedy Cinema, eds. Culture & Ealing I.Q. Hunter and Lorraine Comedies Porter (London: Routledge, 2012), 66–76. Screening: Passport to Pimlico Further Reading Session 2: (Cornelius, 1949, • September 12 Andrew Higson, “British Film 84min) Culture and the Idea of National Cinema” in Waving See also: The the Flag: Constructing Ladykillers National Cinema in Britain (MacKendrick, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955) 1995), 4–25. • Ian Green, “Ealing: In the Comedy Frame” in British Cinema History, eds. James Curran and Vincent Porter (London: Weidenfield and Nicolson, 1983), 294–302.