Dramatic films with historical themes have been produced for over a century, but only in the last generation have historians seriously considered cinema’s capacity to convey a useful or meaningful past. This course will explore how movies’ unique use of color and movement, music and sound effects, compression, fictional or composite characters, and juxtaposition of images can create the impression that we are not just watching but experiencing historical events. Students will be challenged to recognize that, while historians seek truth about the past, there is no single historical truth. As with traditional (written) sources, filmmakers can and perhaps should strive to convey emotional, psychological, and/or symbolic even if not always factual truth.
Our technique will be to choose a range of historical topics, with students assigned specific films which deal with these topics. Students will collect reviews about and choose scenes to share from their films, then offer their own opinions about the film’s value as a historical source. The extent to which the film reflects its own times will be another important point of analysis. For each film reviewed, students will submit a web-ready version of their presentation, with sources of reviews, including links to online criticism. Finally, students will assign two grades for each film reviewed, one for the film’s historical, another for its entertainment value.
Students can secure films on their own, but they are invited to borrow from the instructor’s personal DVD library. Note that the instructor's films can legally be used only for the purposes of the course, can not be copied, and must be returned upon completion of the project. Click here for a list of films sorted by topic or an alphabetized list.
Grades will be based primarily on students’ contributions to classmates’ understanding of the historical issues examined in their films.
1. Regular class attendance and participation are essential and will account for 25% of a student’s grade. After two absences, each class missed will lower the attendance/participation grade by half a letter grade. Under extraordinary circumstances, a student may be allowed to make up for a missed class by viewing one of the films featured in the missed class and submitting a 1-2 page reaction to the film.
2. Each student will be required to present scenes from and analysis of three films. Students will select films from topics agreed upon by the class. (For films, listed by topic or alphabetically, available for loan, click here.) Presentations should be 10-12 minutes long, with 2-3 minutes devoted to a clip or clips from the film, 4-5 minutes to analysis, and 4-5 minutes to class discussion. Discretion must be used in choosing clips from films with explicit material. Within a week of their presentations, students will submit, in a web-ready attachment to an email, a version of their presentations, summarizing their and/or critics’ reactions to their films and, most importantly, analysis of their films' historical accuracy and value. The preferred format for the web submission is a website created using the free and very user friendly tools at www.wix.com, although students are encouraged to be creative in their presentations and web submissions, which should include links to trailers and/or short video excerpts from such sites as YouTube. These submissions will be placed on the course website. Each of the three projects will be worth 25% of the final grade (12.5% for the class presentation, 12.5% for the web submission).
Although there is no text for the course, articles on relevant film and historical topics will be assigned, and students are required to search out critiques of their films. A bibliography of written sources is available by clicking here. (Books placed on reserve or in the reference section of our campus library are marked with an asterisk.)
Recommended internet sources include:
Independent Movie Database - http://www.imdb.com
Movie Review Query Engine - http://www.mrqe.com/
Rotten Tomatoes – http://www.rottentomatoes.com
Because our schedule will be tight, students who fail to present their films when scheduled without giving the instructor at least 24 hours notice will suffer a five point (half-letter grade) penalty. The Digital Millenium Copyright Act, Section 1201, prohibits copying or excerpting films for any purpose other than use in media studies classrooms. Excerpts shared with the class must be no longer than three minutes. Students who fail to return a borrowed film will have their grades held until it is relaced, at their expense.