<p>CMGT 549 Case Studies in Digital Media Monday 6:30-9:20 Spring 2009</p><p>Professor Jonathan Taplin ASC 301B [email protected] Office Hours: Tuesday 2-4:30 PM Imagining the Future</p><p>Course Description: The revolution in Digital Special Effects has allowed filmmakers to imagine the future in increasingly realistic ways. But the future as depicted in movies has always had a distinctly dystopian feel and movies as recent as Wall-e from Pixar-Disney have shown that science fiction can be used as social commentary on the present. This course will explore the history of science fiction film from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, through the work of Stanley Kubrick (2001, Clockwork Orange) and to film renditions of the work of one of the great science fiction writers of our time, Philip K. Dick (Bladerunner, Minority Report ). The films will be assessed for both their technical sophistication and their thematic views of globalization and democracy.</p><p>Course Requirements: There are four requirements:</p><p>Class Discussion Participation. Students are expected to participate in each of the weekly sessions by making informed critiques of the films studied. They will need to do the required reading for each class and be generally aware of current developments in the Digital special effects world.</p><p>Film Presentations. The Class will be divided into teams of students who will lead the presentation of each film, starting in week 2. The presentation teams will be responsible for presenting a basic historical introduction to the film and the director and then leading the discussion after the film. They should acquaint themselves with the technical innovations of the period in which the film was made.</p><p>Mid Term Exam-There will be a take home mid-term exam handed out in week 7 and due in week 8. It will consist of two questions requiring critical analysis based on the films and reading materials from the first half of the course. Each question will require a three page (double-spaced) answer.</p><p>Final Paper Each student will be required to write a 12 page (double spaced) film treatment for a science fiction film. Grading: Requirements will be weighted as follows:</p><p>Class Participation 10% Film Presentation leadership 20% Mid-term Exam 40% Final Film Treatment 30%</p><p>Course Material. There is one required book available at the USC bookstore: The Science Fiction Reader, edited by Gregg Rickman (Limelight Editions, New York, 2004)</p><p>A brief announcement from the Office of Civil Rights: Students requesting academic accommodations based on a disability are required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from the DSP when adequate documentation is filed. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DPS is open Monday-Friday, 8:30-5:00. The office is in Student Union 301 and their phone number is (213) 740-0776.</p><p>The Annenberg School for Communication is committed to upholding the University's Academic Integrity code as detailed in the Campus Guide. It is the policy of the School of Communication to report all violations of the code. Any serious violation or pattern of violations of the Academic Integrity Code will result in the student's expulsion from the Communication major or minor. Class Schedule</p><p>Week 1-The Analog Age and the Century of the Self Film-Century of the Self parts 1 & 2</p><p>Week 2: Why Science Fiction? Film-Metropolis -Dir. Fritz Lang</p><p>Week 3: The Atomic Bomb Film-The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) –Dir. Robert Wise</p><p>Week 4: The Pod People Film-Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)-Dir. Don Siegel</p><p>Week 5-Disney & H.G. Wells Film-20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)-Dir. Richard Fleischer</p><p>Week 6-A European View Film- Fahrenheit 451 (1966)-Dir-Francois Truffaut</p><p>Week 7-Stanley Kubrick, pt. 1 Film-2001;A Space Odyssey (1968)-Dir. Stanley Kubrick</p><p>Week 8-Stanley Kubrick, pt. 2 Film-Clockwork Orange(1971)-Dir. Stanley Kubrick</p><p>Week 9-Hollywood Returns Film-Planet of The Apes (1968)- Dir. Franklin Schaffner</p><p>Week 10-The Blockbuster Film-Star Wars (1977)-Dir. George Lucas</p><p>Week 11-Comic Relief Film-Sleeper (1973)-Dir. Woody Allen</p><p>Week 12-The Work of Phillip K. Dick, pt. 1 Film-Bladerunner (1982)-Dir. Ridley Scott</p><p>Week 13-The Work of Phillip K. Dick, pt. 2 Film-Minority Report (2002)-Dir. Steven Spielberg</p><p>Week 13-What’s Real? Film-The Matrix (1999)-Dir. The Wachowski Brothers</p><p>Week 14-Animation & Sci Fi Film-Wall-e (2008)-Dir. Andrew Stanton</p>