CMS 272 A Winter 2022 | Cinema & Media Studies

Winter 2022

View in MyPlan View in Time Schedule

Meeting:

TTh 2:30pm - 4:20pm / KNE 120

SLN:

12592

Section Type:

Lecture

Instructor:

Jennifer M. Bean

SCIENCE FICTION AND OTHER SPECULATIONS

Syllabus Description (from Canvas):

THIS COURSE WILL MEET EXCLUSIVELY ON-LINE, A-SYNCHRONICALLY, THE FIRST FOUR WEEKS of the quarter due to the public health crisis. Click on MODULES at the panel to the left to access each week's materials and assignments. You may also click on the title of each Module in the Schedule "At-A-Glance" (below) to access the week's materials and assignments.

CMS 272, led by Professor Jennifer M. Bean, fulfills the pre-requisite for the Cinema and Media Studies (CMS) major.

Course Instructors

Ms. Chiara Benitez: cb645@uw.edu Ms. Diana Bucio: dbucio@uw.edu

Ms. Sarah Choi: snchoi@uw.edu Ms. Yumo Yan: yy2887@uw.edu

Mr. Calac Nogueira: calac@uw.edu Mr. Cain Miller: cainmill@uw.edu

Course instructors are available for office hours by appointment. Please email the respective instructor with a request. You will receive a response within 24 hours between M-F, and within 48 hours over the weekend.

Overview

This course examines the development of science-fiction in American cinema from the early twentieth to the early twenty-first centuries. At the broadest level, science fiction offers an artistic and intellectual space to speculate on what is in relation to what might be. It is a vehicle for expressing and questioning ideas related to technology, history, society, and identity. As Samuel Delany writes, “Science fiction is a tool to help you think.” We can also understand the films and media objects we are studying as “speculative fictions,” meaning they encourage cognitive estrangement from the known world and inspire contemplation of alternative realities and possibilities. Importantly, however, science fiction also always engages our senses, evoking feelings ranging from terror and repulsion to awe, curiosity and wonder.

While the structure of this course will be historical, our focus will be analytical, with special emphasis on genre theory and criticism, critical race studies, theories of gender and sexuality, and environmental studies. To facilitate our engagement with the genre’s artistic-cultural history, students will develop skills for analyzing cinematography, editing, sets, décor, make-up, lighting, narrative structure, and sound design among other audio-visual techniques. Required texts range from films such as A Trip to the Moon (1902) to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), from Bride of Frankenstein (1935) to Ex Machina (2014), from War of the Worlds (1953) to Children of Men (2006), from Alien (1979) to Arrival (2016), and from Blade Runner (1982) to The Watchmen (HBO, 2019) among others.

Weekly Modules

Due to the global health crisis, this course will be held fully on-line during week one, and then partially on-line the remainder of the quarter. Beginning in week two, there will be one lecture held in Kane Hall 120 every Thursday, 2:30-4:20, which you are welcome to attend in person. However, you are not required to come to the lecture hall if you are feeling unwell, or for any other reason. Each week, the Thursday afternoon lecture will be recorded and immediately uploaded to our Canvas site along with related materials that will complete the respective weekly module.

The course is divided into 10 weekly modules. The materials for each module—including mini-lectures, reading materials, documentaries, required films, recommended films, film clips, instructional videos, web links, quizzes and so on—will be published by 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning each week. The only material that will not be published by Monday morning each week is the Thursday lecture and its related quizzes and notes, etc. As mentioned above, the Thursday lecture will be recorded during class and immediately uploaded to Canvas. Each module then closes on Saturday at 11:59 p.m.

Please note: every module contains at least three quizzes, although some modules may include more assignments. Your weekly assignments are due by 11:59 p.m. every Saturday evening. If it’s easier to remember, think of this as one minute before midnight each Saturday.

The class design allows a great deal of flexibility for you to work through each module between Monday morning and Saturday evening every week. If you plan to attend the Thursday lecture in person, you will ideally have worked through the initial components of the module prior to attending class (or prior to watching that lecture once it is uploaded Thursday evening). You should plan to spend approximately 8-10 hours working through each module in its entirely and completing the weekly quizzes. You will need to set aside additional time on the weeks that a formal exercise is due (See Schedule At-A-Glance, below, for due dates of the four formal exercises)

Required Films and Recommended Films

You are responsible for viewing and studying all required films in their entirety. View these films carefully. If you are watching the film on your own and other people are nearby, use headphones. Be comfortable and focused. Try not to interrupt your viewing experience by pausing the film or by multi-tasking, etc. Remember that most every film we will study, except for Watchmen in modules 9 and 10, was designed for a large screen in a public theater. Your engagement with these films will be severely hampered if you view them in a distracted manner.

For that reason, a bonus!!! During modules 5-8, one required film each week will be screened in Kane Hall on Tuesday afternoons. (See Schedule At-A-Glance below for details). Of course, these films will also stream through our course Canvas site. You are not required to attend these in-person screenings. On Canvas, required films will appear as a link in the respective module. Also, ALL REQUIRED FILMS are currently available under "PAGES" should you wish to watch any in advance.

All recommended films also will stream on our Canvas site. The films listed as recommended will likely be discussed during the respective week’s lectures and will be used to provide additional historical or aesthetic context. But you are not responsible for familiarity with the entirety of any recommended film, only for the scenes or elements from those films discussed in lectures. On Canvas, recommended films are located under "Pages" on the left side of the home page. Click on Pages and then click on "View all Pages" at top of the screen.

Optional Discussion Sessions: Tuesdays via Zoom

A 50-minute discussion session will be available via Zoom on Tuesday afternoons from 2:30-3:20 during 5 different modules. Discussion sessions will be offered in modules 2, 3, and 4, as well as 9 and 10 on Tuesday afternoons. (In modules 5, 6, 7 and 8 we will instead offer optional in-person screenings on Tuesday afternoons in Kane Hall).

(***REVISION ADDED after start of quarter: due to public health crisis, all course materials will be on-line until the week of January 28. hence, in modules 2 and 3 the zoom discussion sessions will be held on Thursday 2:30-3:20, since we are not meeting in the lecture hall those weeks).

These zoom discussion sessions are optional. They provide a space for you to talk through course materials and ideas about the films we are watching with your peers and in conversation with different members of the teaching team. Zoom links will be included in the respective module. You are encouraged to attend the discussion meetings as often as you can!

Film Analysis

A central objective of this course will be to familiarize yourself with film analysis. We will learn to name and assess the array of audiovisual techniques used by filmmakers, especially those categorized as “Mise-en-Scène,” “Cinematography,” “Editing,” and “Sound.” The four formal exercises in this class (see list immediately below as well as the Schedule At-A-Glance) require you to understand these techniques and assess their meanings relative to a given film/media text. Course lectures and informational videos will illuminate these terms and concepts. We also encourage you to bookmark this website, the Yale Guide to Film Analysis, for ongoing reference: https://filmanalysis.yale.edu/

Assignments and Evaluation

Quizzes: 60% of final grade (expect at least 3 per week).

Formats include multiple choice, true/false and fill-in-the-blank. Due every week by or before Saturday at 11:59 p.m. All quizzes are closed book. Once you open a quiz you have 2 minutes per question to complete the assignment before the system closes. In other words, if the quiz has 3 questions you will have 6 minutes. If it has 5 questions you will have 10 minutes, and so on.

Formal Exercises: 40% of final grade

There are four formal exercises in this class; each is worth 10 % of your final grade. A detailed description of each exercise will be provided at least a week before it is due. These exercises include:

Exercise 1: Analysis of Mise-en-Scène & Cinematography (1 to 1.5 pp)

Exercise 2: Editing Segmentation (1 to 1.5 pp)

Exercise 3: Sonic Explorations (1 to 1.5 pp)

Exercise 4: Script Treatment for The Watchmen, Season 2, Ep. 1 (2 pp)

Academic Integrity

You must complete all assigned work on your own. You are expected to be familiar with the University’s policies concerning academic misconduct as outlined in the Student Conduct Code.

Evidence of plagiarism or academic dishonesty will result in an automatic failure of the quiz or assignment, and may result in further disciplinary action.

UW Statement on Access and Disability Resources

If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please communicate your approved accommodations to your professor at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course.

If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS at 206-543-8924 or uwdrs@uw.edu or disability.uw.edu. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions.

Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructors, and DRS. It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.

Religious Accommodations

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at UW Religious Accommodations Policy. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request Form.

Schedule At-A-Glance

Details subject to change; all changes announced at least one week in advance

Module I: Introductions and Syllabus, Jan 3-8

Introductory lecture and introductions from all course instructors available on Canvas by Tuesday January 4, 8:00 a.m.

A quiz on the syllabus, a quiz on the video lecture about film form, and your written introduction due Saturday, Jan 8 by 11:59 p.m.

*If you have questions about the class design or related material, you may log on to the zoom link provided in the course canvas site for special-first-week-office hours on Thursday, 3:30-4:20. Please note that we will not meet in the lecture hall on Thursday this week, nor will we hold zoom discussion groups on Tuesday.

Module 2 Early Cinema and Technological Modernity

Required films include: Trip to the Moon (1902, Georges Méliès, 13 min),, assorted Edison and Lumiere films included in lecture, as well as short documentary on Melies. Recommended film: Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang)

NO LECTURE IN KANE HALL THIS WEEK

*Thursday, optional discussion groups offered via Zoom 2:30-3:20

Module 3: Mad Scientists & The Studio System, Jan 17-22

Required films: Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale 1936) and “How to Speak Movies: Cinematography.” Recommended films: Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931), The Hulk (Ang Lee, 2003), The Fly (David Cronenberg, 1986), and Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2015)

NO LECTURE IN KANE HALL THIS WEEK

*Thursday, optional discussion groups offered via Zoom 2:30-3:20

Exercise 1 Due: Analysis of Mise-en-Scène & Cinematography, Sat. Jan 22

Module 4: The Cold War & the Imagination of Disaster, Jan 24-29

Required: War of the Worlds (1953), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), and “How to Speak Movies: Editing” (15 min).

Recommended: War of the Worlds (2005)

*Tuesday, optional discussion groups offered via Zoom 2:30-3:20