Introduction to Film is an elective for third- and fourth-year students. This course introduces the basic fundamentals of film study. This includes the historical background from Silent Film to the current advances of the medium. Time permitting, the course will cover both narrative, documentary and avante garde film as well as four major popular genres from diverse cultures. Students will be introduced to basic narrative and film aesthetic theories.

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to 1) understand how stories are told through images in movies as well as how they can be interpreted from cultural and aesthetic perspectives. 2) identify important professional terms and use them to analyze the composition of films. 3) make links between film production and film theory.

Film Art, 6th Edition, by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2001

How to Read a Film: Movies, Media, Multimedia, 3rd Edition, by James Monaco, Oxford University Press, 2000