Choose 3 academic readings from the reading list and critically investigate
their ideas in relation to a film on the Module.
Essay
• An acknowledgement of the type of narrative structure in your chosen film
• Evidence of your engagement with critical analysis of the 3 articles.
• An acknowledgement of the codes and conventions of film – eg editing, lighting, sound, music
etc. (You don’t need to discuss all of these)
• An ability to evaluate the relevance of the 3 articles to your discussion of the workings of the
chosen film
So choose any 3 of these articles from the list:
.Barthes R (2000) Camera Lucida. London: Vintage Press.
.Bazin A (2005) What is cinema? Vol. II foreword by François Truffaut. London: University ofCalifornia Press.
.Bordwell, D and Thompson, K (2010) Film Art: An Introduction. London: Routledge.
.Bordwell, D 1987) Narration in Fiction Film. The University of Wisconsin: Wisconsin Press –particularly the ‘Parametric Narration’ chapter introduction pp. 274-279
.Bordwell, D. & Carroll, N (1996) Post Theory: Reconstructing Film Studies. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
.Branigan, E. (1992) Narrative Comprehension and Film. London: Routledge – particularly the ‘Focalisation’ chapter pp. 100-107
.Buckland, W (Ed) (2008) Puzzle Films: Complex Storytelling in Contemporary Cinema. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
.Burch, N. (1981) Theory of Film Practice. New York: Princeton University Press.
.Cooper, P and K Dancyger (2004) Writing the short Film. London: Focal Press.
.Fabe, M (2005) Closely Watched Films: An Introduction to the Art of Narrative Film Technique. Los Angeles, University of California Press.
.Fuery, P (2000) New Developments in Film Theory. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
.Gibbs J (2002) Mise-En-Scene: Film Style and Interpretation. London: Wallflower.
.Gaines (ed), Classical Hollywood Narrative: The Paradigm Wars (Durham, NC: Duke University Press 1992) – particularly Altman, R. ‘Dickens, Griffith, and Film Theory Today’ pp. 9-47
.Horton, A. (2000) Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay, Updated and Expanded edition. London: University of California Press.
.Johnstone, K (1981) Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre. London: Eyre Methuen.
.Metz, C. (1974) Film Language: A Semiotics of the Cinema. New York: Oxford University Press.
.Metz, Christian. (1986) The Imaginary Signifier: Psychoanalysis and Cinema. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
.Rabiger, M. (2007) Directing Techniques and Aesthetics. London: Focal Press.
.Seger, L (1994) Making A Good Script Great. Hollywood: Samuel French, 2nd edition.
.Snyder, B (2005) Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting That You’ll Ever Need. Studio City, California: Michael Wiese Productions.
.Stam, R and R Burgoyne (1996). New Vocabularies In Film Semiotics: Structuralism,
Poststructuralism And Beyond. London: Routledge.
.Weston, J (1999). Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film and Television. London: Routledge.
And choose a film:
A Warning To The Curious BBC TX Dec 1972
Antichrist (2011) Lars von Trier – Denmark
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
Barry Lyndon (1975) Stanley Kubrick – UK/USA
The Big Sleep (1946) Howard Hawks – USA
The Birds (1963) Alfred Hitchcock– USA
Blue (1993) Derek Jarman – UK
Dancer in the Dark (2001) Lars von Trier- Denmark
Don’t Look Now (1973) Nic Roeg – UK
The Dead (1987) John Huston – USA
The Hurt Locker (2008) Kathryn Bigelow – USA
In Absentia (The Quay Brothers) 2001 USA
Intolerance (D.W. Griffith USA 1916)
The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich USA 1971)
L’année dernière à Marienbad (Last Year at Marienbad) 1961 Alain Resnais France
The Magdalene Sisters (2002) Peter Mullan – UK
Mulholland Drive (2001) David Lynch- USA
Notorious (1946) Alfred Hitchcock – USA
Once Upon A Time In America (1983) Sergio Leone – USA
The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer Denmark 1928)
Procès de Jeanne d’Arc (The Trial of Joan of Arc) (1962) Robert Bresson – France
Red Road (2006) Andrea Arnold – UK
Rosemary’s Baby (1968) Roman Polanski – USA
Rio Bravo (1959) Howard Hawks – USA
The Searchers (1956) John Ford – USA
She’s Gotta Have It (1986) Spike Lee– USA
The Shining (1980) Stanley Kubrick – UK/USA
Sunrise (1927) F.W. Murnau – USA
Timecode (2000) Mike Figgis USA
Vangelo Secondo Matteo (The Gospel According to St. Matthew) (1964) Pier Paolo Pasolini – Italy
Viaggio in Itália (Voyage to Italy) (1953) Roberto Rossellini – Italy
War of the Worlds (2005) Steven Spielberg – USA
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) Lynne Ramsey – UK
Vredens Dag (Day of Wrath) (1943) Carl Theodor Dreyer- Denmark
Whistle And I’ll Come To You BBC TX Dec 1968
The Wrong Man (1956) Alfred Hitchcock -USA
