CMS 271 A: Perspectives on Film: Great Directors

From Arthouse to Martial Arts Films: Film Director Zhang Yimou

The mastermind behind the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, Zhang Yimou, gained world fame for his martial arts movies, including Hero. Twenty years earlier, Zhang was among the pioneers of the new Chinese cinema, with acclaimed movies such as Raise the Red Lantern. The course follows the trajectory of one of the world’s most fascinating filmmakers and asks, What makes a great director?

Kane Hall (KNE) 110, Tuesday & Thursday 10:30 AM - 12:20 PM

Instructor: Yomi Braester (yomi@). Office hours: Padelford C-504, by appointment 

TAs (Office hours by appointment):

Will Martinez: wtmart02@
Omari Danish: orafiq@
Connor Telford: ct0414@
Runjie Wang: runjiew@
Soo Hee Kang: shk2842@

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING

• Class meets every Tuesday for an interactive lecture.
  An in-class response is due during the lecture.
•  Class meets every Thursday (weeks 1-9) for a film screening.
  The films are also available through Canvas.
  Each movie is accompanied by a short assignment.
• The lectures are pre-recorded and are available online (this is a "flipped class").
  The online lectures should be watched in advance for every Tuesday, Weeks 2-10.
• Also due every Tuesday is a small creative exercise (Week 2-10). 
• There are no other assignments, such as a mid-term or final.

Grading: 
- Film responses: 10% of final grade (9 responses total)
- In-class responses: 15% of final grade (9 responses total; one may be excused)
- Pre-recorded lectures: 60% (9 total)
- Creative exercises: 15% (9 total)

- Late submissions will be docked 25%. No submissions will be allowed after 3/10.
- For in-class responses and late submissions to be excused, students should approach Yomi. Appropriate documentation may be required.
Please do not hesitate to approach Yomi in case of need!
- The course uses the CMS conversion scale to calculate the final grade. 

POLICY STATEMENTS

1. Access and Disability 

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.

2. Religious Accommodations

Washington state law requires that the 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 Religious Accommodations 

SAFETY

Call SafeCampus at 206-685-7233 anytime — no matter where you work or study — to anonymously discuss safety and well-being concerns for yourself or others. SafeCampus’s team of caring professionals will provide individualized support, while discussing short- and long-term solutions and connecting you with additional resources when requested.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

The University takes academic integrity very seriously. Behaving with integrity is part of our responsibility to our shared learning community. If you’re uncertain about if something is academic misconduct, ask me.

Acts of academic misconduct may include but are not limited to:

• Cheating (working collaboratively on quizzes/exams, sharing answers and previewing quizzes/exams).
• Plagiarism (representing the work of others as your own without giving appropriate credit to the original author(s)).

Concerns about these or other behaviors prohibited by the Student Conduct Code will be referred for investigation by the Office of Community Standards & Student Conduct.

USE OF AI

AI can make our lives easier, and how to use AI has become a desirable skill.

Nevertheless, for this class, students are asked to minimize the use of AI-based services for a number of reasons:

• AI cannot replace individual use of critical concepts. The assignments for this course are designed to enhance this skill.
• AI has been proved to entrench social bias. This course is designed to minimize bias.
• This course is designed to enhance students' skills of social interaction (with humans, that is).
• AI-based services consume huge amounts of energy. Let's not use them frivolously.

In case you feel compelled to use AI-based service, for example to check your English style, please follow these guidelines to avoid accusation of plagiarism:

• First, think again. Do you really need this?
• Attach to your final assignment (1) the URL for the AI you used; (2) the prompt you gave to the AI; (3) the AI's response, and (4) a version of your submission that underlines modifications and corrections you have made to the AI's response.

FOR THE COURSE SCHEDULE, GO TO THE "MODULES" PAGE