Summer

FA 346 — Avatars and Information Agents

Doug Jarvis avatar exploring Google Street view in the virtual environment of BlueMars.

FA 346

Avatars and Information Agents
Doug Jarvis

CRN: 30391

Time	Days	Where	Date Range	Schedule
10:30a - 12:20p	MTWRF	Fine Arts Building 103	Jun 07 - Jun 29	Lecture

Create an avatar, explore a virtual world, and then determine its fate!

Social media, online gaming, college and university, all require you to create some form of unique digital profile to participate in a virtual or information space. We create these avatars and information agents to act as our ‘second self’, a collection of identities that represent us in the multiple dimensions of digital culture.

This course is a practice-based lecture that critically engages the role that these virtual entities have in our lives. Through discussions, videos, lectures and computer-lab studio time we will explore and exercise the ongoing relationship we have with technology in the world. Each student will design and create an avatar, explore virtual environments and then, ultimately, determine your avatars fate!

Previous art and computer experience is not required but a curiosity about avatars and how they work will certainly help.

FA 200 — Canadian Films Don’t Suck (And I Can Prove It!)

FA 200

Canadian Films Don’t Suck (And I Can Prove It!)
Michael Giampa

CRN: 31272

Time	Days	Where	Date Range	Schedule
12:30p - 2:20p	MTWRF	Cornett Building B143	May 14 - Jun 06	Lecture Topic

This course aims to shake the stereotype and show there is far more to the films hailing from our Home and Native Land than those about coming of age on the angst-ridden prairies. We are currently at the forefront of many movements – leading in First Nations films (Atanarjuat: Fast Runner), queer cinema (C.R.A.Z.Y.), documentaries, shorts... not to mention festivals, schools and cooperatives. But it’s not all about art and social issues.

Our filmmakers also kick cinematic ass with guilty pleasures like Ginger Snaps, Fido, A History of Violence, Hobo with a Shotgun and Cube. So sign up and see (via lectures, films, clips, guests and creative exercises) that Canadian movies run the gamut from pure exploitation to pure abstraction. And – yes – there are even a few depressing ones in the mix.

HA 363 — The Cinema and Modern Art Movements

HA 363

The Cinema and Modern Art Movements
Mitchell Parry

CRN: 30392

Time	Days	Where	Date Range	Schedule
2:30p - 4:20p	MTWRF	Fine Arts Building 103	May 14 - Jun 06	Lecture

An examination of the history of film in relationship to the major art movements of the 20th century. Students will view and analyze films by such directors as Lang, Eisenstein, Bunuel, Brakhage, and Snow; these films will be discussed in the light of their connection to such influential modern art movements as German Expressionism, Russian Constructivism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and Conceptual Art.

HA 392 — Apocalypse in Film

HA 392 A02

Apocalypse in Film
Mitchell Parry

CRN: 30394

Time	Days	Where	Date Range	Schedule
2:30p - 4:20p	MTWRF	Fine Arts Building 103	Jun 07 - Jun 29	Lecture Topic

One clear virtue of film lies in its ability to depict possible worlds for the spectator.  Audiences are allowed to see their dreams and nightmares projected before their eyes, without needing to undergo the direct risks such experiences would demand in actuality.  One puzzling (though perhaps inevitable) development to grow out of this dynamic is the medium’s fascination with depictions of ultimate catastrophe—with apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic visions of the world.  In this course we will examine some of the recurrent themes and motifs in films that depict “the end of the world,” in an effort to come to an understanding—however partial—of the fears and desires that such films satisfy.

NOTE: May be taken more than once for credit in different topics with permission of the Chair of the department, to a maximum of 6 units. 

WRIT 410 — Lights, Camera, Sketch!

WRIT 410

Lights, Camera, Sketch!
Ryan Harper-Brown

CRN: 31040

Time	Days	Where	Date Range	Schedule
2:30p - 5:20p	MW	MacLaurin Building D111	Jul 04 - Aug 20	Lecture

This course gets students actively involved with writing, producing, and promoting a 45 minute original comedy revue. Participants will take on various roles, get first hand experience putting together a real production, and learn to work with budgets, groups, and time constraints. The revue, performed live in front of an audience, will be taped and edited for internet distribution and DVD. Classes will mix seminar with group work and practical workshops; most rehearsals will take place outside of class time as homework hours.

WRIT 412 — Art of the Action Film

WRIT 412

Art of the Action Film
Michael Giampa

CRN: 30455

Time	Days	Where	Date Range	Schedule
6:00p - 8:50p	TF	Fine Arts Building 103	May 14 - Jun 29	Lecture

What is the body count racked up by Bruce Lee -- or Bruce Willis? And why does it matter? How come hearts race watching Sigourney Weaver wipe out Aliens or Uma Thurman carve up Carradine in Kill Bill? Because there is a raw artistry and cultural impact in actioners. Violence as ballet. Revenge as social catharsis. This course will look into that via lectures, feature films, film clips, film industry guests and fun, creative exercises as it examines the gamut of superheroes and sidekicks (figuratively and literally). From silent star Harold Lloyd balancing atop a train in Shy Girl to Will Smith punching one off the tracks in Hancock, the action genre has kicked and clawed itself into all of the top-20 grossing films of all time. And for bloody good reason.

Fall

ENGL 414A — American Film to 1945

ENGL 414A

American Film to 1945
Lincoln Shensky

A study of major accomplishments in American film concentrating primarily on films to 1945. Considers film as both a narrative form and a means of reflecting social concerns.

EUS 301 — Movie Metropolis: The European City on/as Film

EUS 301

Movie Metropolis: The European City on/as Film

This course will explore the representation of the European city through film from a variety of disciplinary perspectives; the theme of space and national identity is to be explored, as the ancient and modern city is reconstructed, deconstructed and reinvented before our eyes. This course features guest speakers from Slavic, Italian, and Hispanic Studies as well as History in Art.

GMST 353 — Literature and Film of the Holocaust and “Third Reich”

GMST 353

Literature and Film of the Holocaust and “Third Reich”

Focus on Nazi popular culture and entertainment films and an exploration of a variety of Holocaust narratives that emerged during the Second World War and its aftermath.

Note: Credit will be granted for only one of 353, GERS 333. No knowledge of German required.

GMST 410 — Nietzsche Reception: From Hitler to Hollywood

GMST 410

Nietzsche Reception: From Hitler to Hollywood

Friedrich Nietzsche has emerged as one of the most significant and controversial thinkers of the twentieth and twenty-first century. Yet his legend -- the collection of myths and appropriations surrounding his life and work -- lives on as distinct and separate from what he actually wrote. Taking as a starting point his early reception in Europe and referring to literature, journalism, art and film, the course investigates how Nietzsche was perceived and ultimately instrumentalized in the English-speaking world as a culturally constructed embodiment of what “we” fear and loathe the most: the Other as the madman, the anti-Semite, and the proto-Nazi.

Time: Mondays and Thursdays, 11:30 – 1 pm; CRN: 13449

GMST 454 — A Cultural History of Vampires in Literature and Film

GMST 454

A Cultural History of Vampires in Literature and Film

A study of literary and cinematic vampires in historical context. Without focusing exclusively on German literature and film, this course follows the vampire myth and its various guises from classicism to postmodernism in novels and films.

Note: Credit will only be granted for only one of 454, GERS 487. May count towards a Major in Film Studies. No knowledge of German required.

HA 295 — Introduction to Film Studie (Full Year)

HA 295

Introduction to Film Studie (Full Year)

An investigation of film culture and its relationship to social and historical contexts. Focuses on mainstream narrative cinema; documentary and avant-garde practices will also be considered. Particular attention will be placed on analyses of films as forms of social communication. Involves a three hour lecture/screening and a one hour tutorial a week.

HA 312 — Feminism and Film

HA 312

Feminism and Film

Examines representations of women and by women, in a variety of film forms (experimental, documentary, narrative) and within a range of historical periods. Emphasis will be placed on feminist theories of representation, visual pleasure, spectatorship and subjectivity and on analyses of key films.

HA 332A — Bollywood Bound: Popular Visual Culture in India, 1950s ...

HA 332A

Bollywood Bound: Popular Visual Culture in India, 1950s to the Present

Wednesday: 4:30-7:20 pm
CRN: 17113

Through the media of photography and film, popular contemporary visual cultures of India are examined. Against a backdrop of Indian classical, folk, modern and contemporary, rural and urban art histories, select Bollywood films from the 1950s to the present are examined in class lectures, film screenings and readings. Styles featured range from historical, social realist and nationalist to stylized, idealist and moral narratives.

Note: Credit will be granted for only one of 332A, 337 (if taken in the same topic).

HA 364 — Documentary Film

HA 364

Documentary Film

An intensive study of film as document of time, place and action. Influence of social and artistic context will be considered. Attention will be largely directed to Canadian documentary films, a leader in this genre today. Films studied may include works by Flaherty, Grierson, Lorentz, Riefenstahl, Wiseman, National Film Board.

HA 370 — Popular Film and Cultural Theory

HA 370

Popular Film and Cultural Theory

A study of popular film and its social and political function. Special attention will be paid to mainstream films, especially Hollywood genre films, in the interest of exploring the ideological significance of popular film. An exploration of divergent views on the role of popular film within cultural theory will provide the context for the analysis of selected films.

HA 478 — Advanced Seminar in Popular Culture:  Topic TBD

HA 478

Advanced Seminar in Popular Culture:  Topic TBD

A study of popular culture and the critical theories which have emerged to explain the relationships among commercial forms (such as mainstream film and television), the socio-historical context, and audiences.
Note: A combined undergraduate/graduate seminar.

PAAS 202 — Topics in Asian Film: Love

PAAS 202

Topics in Asian Film: Love

All you need is love, but frankly, you need Asian film, too. This is an introduction to the themes, techniques, issues, and styles in Asian cinema; the theme for the coming year is love. Beyond the cliches of the Hollywood romantic comedy, what are some of the features of the love story in Asian cinema? How do films from Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan deal with this fundamental aspect of human life, in terms of interpersonal, familial relations, but also in terms of love of country or respect and responsibility? How does the presentation of this theme interact with social commentary, tradition, ideology, and an analysis of the human situation? How do we analyse film, and what's the relationship between analysis and interpretation? Answers to these and other questions (do they end up together? Should they?) all in a glorious cinematic extravaganza--there will be tears, laughter, and even a little steam.

September, 2012, Wednesdays, 4:30-7:20

• Chocolate and kleenex highly recommended.
• web.uvic.ca/pacificasia

PAAS 357 — Chinese Cinema: From Text To Screen

PAAS 357

Chinese Cinema: From Text To Screen (please note revised course title)
Richard King

Yang Jinshan’s wedding day was late in the autumn of 1944, before the first frost heralded the onset of winter. The date had been fixed by a necromancer after much judicious head-shaking. Indeed the day had dawned gloriously. Yang Jinshan climbed onto his black mule, and accompanied by his sixteen year old nephew Yang Tianqing riding a borrowed donkey, headed up the mountain track to Shijia Village to fetch the bride . …

Fall 2012: Wednesday 4.30 To 7.30

SPAN 485B — Latin American Cinema Since 1985

Spanish 485B

LATIN AMERICAN FILM:
Latin American Cinema Since 1985 (in Spanish)

The course explores some of the most important films produced in Latin America in the last twenty five years. It features representative movies from countries such as Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Cuba, providing the historical and cultural keys for their interpretation.  The subjects the course explores are, among others,  film and the construction of national, religious and class identities, the (re)interpretation of history, women and gender relations, and film as a critique of society.

SLST 364 — Eastern Europe Through Western Eyes

SLST 364

Eastern Europe Through Western Eyes

A study of Western literary and cinematic representations of Eastern Europe, as well as Eastern European cultural reactions to these. Focus on the period from the 18th  century to the present, with special attention to the 20th-century mass culture and the redefinition of the European “East” in the wake of communism’s collapse.

Notes: May count towards a Minor in Film Studies. No knowledge of Russian required.

SLST 450 — Cold War on Film

SLST 450

Cold War on Film

A study of the enemy’s image in Soviet and Western films of the Cold War era. Analysis of films and related literary and political texts tracing the cultural construction of Cold War animosity from 1945 to the recent renewal of geopolitical rivalry between Russia and the West.

Note: May count towards a Minor in Film Studies. No knowledge of Russian required.

WRIT 300 — Lights, Camera, Sketch!

WRIT 300

Lights, Camera, Sketch!
Ryan Harper-Brown

This course gets students actively involved with writing, producing, and promoting a 45 minute original comedy revue. Participants will take on various roles, get first hand experience putting together a real production, and learn to work with budgets, groups, and time constraints. The revue, performed live in front of an audience, will be taped and edited for internet distribution and DVD. Classes will mix seminar with group work and practical workshops; most rehearsals will take place outside of class time as homework hours.

WRIT 320 — Film Writing & Production Workshop

WRIT 320

Film Writing & Production Workshop

Methods of narrative storytelling for film and digital video are introduced in Writing 320. Students will learn basic technical skills in digital filmmaking with a strong emphasis on narrative writing as the foundation for compelling filmmaking. Each student can work on several individual projects and work within a team on the final production.

A major component of the course will be pre-production story selection, editing and story refinement in order to ensure that we create the strongest stories possible before “going to camera”. Group work will be expected in the later half of the class as much learning in the film industry comes from hands on experience. As with all workshop classes, giving and receiving feedback is critical to student learning. Final scripts will be workshopped in the first month of class.

WS 340 — Indigenous Cinema

WS 340

Indigenous Cinema

Intensive analysis of the work of Indigenous filmmakers with emphasis on Canada and the U.S. Topics include: de-colonizing the screen; issues of identity and representation; Indigenous women's filmmaking; Indigenous filmmaking as both an art form and a tool for social change. Examines the development of Indigenous cinema in Canada with special emphasis on documentaries, and looks at new directions in Indigenous cinema including experimental works and drama.

• Prerequisite: Second-year standing, or permission of the department.
• Tuesdays from 2:30-5:30

Spring

ENGL 414B — American Film to 1945

ENGL 414A

American Film to 1945
Lincoln Shensky

A study of major accomplishments in American film concentrating primarily on films to 1945. Considers film as both a narrative form and a means of reflecting social concerns.

FRAN 335 — Studies in Cinema and Literature of the French-Speaking World

FRAN 335

Studies in Cinema and Literature of the French-Speaking World

HA 332B — Bollywood Global: Popular Visual Culture in the Indian Diaspora ...

HA 332B

Bollywood Global: Popular Visual Culture in the Indian, 1980 to the Present

Wednesdays: 4:30-7:20 pm
CRN: 27698

An examination of popular visual culture of India from classical, modern and contemporary art-historical and cultural perspectives. Themes of gender, identity, postcoloniality and national/global dynamics are addressed through screenings of select Bollywood films from the 1980s to today. Films made in India alternate with films which move into diasporic spaces in the UK, Canada and USA.

Note: Credit will be granted for only one of 332B, 337 (if taken in the same topic).

HA 365 — Experimental Film

HA 365

Experimental Film

Film as art. Investigates a wide variety of experimental forms and covers a range of historical periods and contexts. Emphasis will be placed on analyses of key films and on theories of films developed by both artists and critics. Particular attention will be paid to the Canadian experimental tradition.

HA 367 — History in Cinema

HA 367

History in Cinema

Cinema as a product of time and place. Emphasis will be placed on the relationship between particular film movements and genres and their historical contexts and on theories about the role and function of film in society.

HA 392 — Spceial Topics:  Horror Genre

HA 392

Spceial Topics:  Horror Genre

PAAS 393 — Humanism In Japanese Cinema To 1960

PAAS 393

Humanism In Japanese Cinema To 1960
Tim Iles

Postwar Japanese film offered scorching social critiques, engaging in a deeply passionate, deeply sincere debate with its historical moment about the fundamental nature of social structure and individual responsibility. The early 1950s to the 1960s was a time of intense reconstruction as Japan rebuilt itself following the devastation of the war years and its pre-war colonial period. Cinema was at the forefront of this reconstruction, offering vital, honest, and powerful alternative visions to the status quo. This course looks at the roles Humanism and Existentialism played in cinema's discourse, analysing how post-war film offered consistent reaffirmations of the inherent value of the individual, and the right of the individual to choose his or her own form of social interaction. Be ready to be moved, inspired, and changed by what you will see.

W, 1630-1920, CLE C112

SPAN 185 — Introduction to Hispanic Film (In English)

Spanish 185

Introduction to Hispanic Film (In English)

The objective of this course is to offer the student a panoramic vision of contemporary Hispanic cinema.  Participants will be introduced to a variety of cinematic genres (eg. Historical Drama, Comedy, Horror, Social Realism and Documentary) representing four main regions of filmmaking:  Spain, North and Central America, The Caribbean, and South America.  The class is not meant to replace a course on cinematography, history, art or political science, but rather to complement other disciplines by offering a cultural (and not technical) analysis of the selected works.

Pedro Almodóvar (“Volver”), Guillermo del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), Alejandro González Iñárritu (“Amores Perros”), Alfonso Cuarón (“Y tu mamá también”), Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (“Guantanamera”), Andrés Wood (“Machuca”), Pablo Trapero (“Carancho”), and Juan José Campanella (“El secreto de sus ojos”) are just some of the directors and films we will be analyzing. 

Main themes to be explored during the course of the term are:
memory exile and transcontinental issues national, regional and class identity film as social criticism gender relations economy and the art of film	war and its effects on society revolution stereotypes popular culture translation, subtitles and dubbing

SPAN 485A — El cine español bajo la censura franquista (1936-1975)

Spanish 485A

SPANISH FILM:
El cine español bajo la censura franquista 1936-1975
(in Spanish)

In this course, we will examine the work of some of the Spanish film directors who worked under the cinematographic codes of censorship imposed during Franco´s dictatorship.  We will also analyze some of the methods used to censor foreign films, such as dubbing and cutting, comparing the original dialogues in English and the translations created for the Spanish audience, in order to understand the reasons behind these changes.

SPAN 490B — Translation Theory & Practice

Spanish 490B

Translation Theory & Practice

After an introduction to theories of translation, we will explore how to translate movie or documentary scripts for subtitling.

SLST 451 — Stalinist Cinema

SLST 451

Stalinist Cinema

Focuses on the interaction of art, mass entertainment and socialist propaganda in the Stalinist film industry. Major films of the time will be analyzed against the background of contemporary political and social development.

Note: Credit will be granted for only one of 451, RUSS 416.  May count towards a Minor in Film Studies. No knowledge of Russian required.

WRIT 312 — Structure in Cinema & Television Drama

WRIT 312

Moving from the foundations of dramatic structure sketched out by Aristotle and through the era of classic cinema the course will dig into – dwelling largely on contemporary movies and television – the current stuff that forms popular trend and opinion.

The course emphasis will be on deconstructing the formulas used in the scripting process. It is weighted heavily towards theatrical movies – but most film structure principles are directly applicable to television as well. The better you understand them the better you understand why a movie might be considered bad or a TV show good.

Upcoming Events

Latin American and Spanish Film Week

The annual Latin American and Spanish Film Week brings to Victoria a sample of the best films produced today in Latin America and Spain. The event, which takes place over a week in mid-September, is housed in Cinecenta (www.cinecenta.com) and is open to the public. All films are shown with English subtitles.

The event aims to raise consciousness about the social realities of Latin America and Spain, as well as to showcase the rich cultural production of these regions. While the expectation is that students, faculty, staff and public at large will find the films engaging, it also aims to provoke the kind of reflection that good films usually foster.