U/M Screen Arts and Cultures

The Screen Arts & Cultures undergraduate concentration is an integrated major in screen studies and production. This type of undergraduate education gives a student a balance curriculum between screen history and theory plus the study of the current industry's creative work domestically and internationally while the student receives creative hands-on production coursework. This integrated approach allows the student to "make the connection" between history, theory, and production in the most fundamental practical way through their creative projects.

Required prerequisites to the Concentration:

SAC 236 The Art of Film

SAC 272 Classical Film Theory

plus one History course:

SAC 351 Film History, origins to 1929

or SAC 352 Film History, 1930-1959

or SAC 353 Film History, 1960-present

or SAC 355 History of American Television

The student must have grades of C or above in each of these three courses in order to declare the concentration.

Core required courses

General concentration requirements (18 credit hours)

ONE COURSE IN HISTORY FROM THE FOLLOWING (cannot duplicate the course chosen for the prerequisite):

SAC 351 Film History, origins to 1929

SAC 352 Film History, 1930-1959

SAC 353 Film History, 1960-present

SAC 355 History of American Television

ONE COURSE IN FILM THEORY FROM THE FOLLOWING:

SAC 372 Contemporary Film Theory

SAC 375 Television Theory

SAC 376 Digital Media Theory

SAC 461 Explorations in Feminist Film Theory

ONE COURSE IN NATIONAL, REGIONAL, OR TRANSNATIONAL CINEMA FROM THE FOLLOWING

SAC 380/Spanish 380/AmCult 380 Studies in Transnational Media

SAC 381/381 AmCult Latina/os and the Media

SAC 440/CAAS 440 African Cinema

SAC 441 National Cinema

SAC 442/CAAS 442 Third World Cinema

SAC 470/CAAS 470 Cultural Issues in Cinema

SAC 485 The Global Screen

Production component requirements:

SAC 290 Introduction to Film and Video production

TWO OF THE FOLLOWING:

SAC 300 Filmmaking I

SAC 301 Video Art

SAC 302 Television Studio

SAC 306 Animation I

SAC 310 Screenwriting (required for screenwriting subconcentrators)

SAC 311 Screenwriting for Television

ELECTIVES totalling 12 hours with no more than one class in production or screenwriting from the following: (P = Production or Screenwriting Courses & Waitlisted)*

Screen Arts and Cultures (SAC) Waitlist Policy:

1. Students who wish to obtain an override, must get permission
from the instructor of the course.

2. Screen Arts and Cultures (SAC) concentrators will be given
preference on the waitlist over non-SAC students.

3. Waitlist priority will be at the discretion of the instructor.

Once a permission is issued, students will have 3 business days to register for the course. If a student does not use the class permission before it expires, the next student chosen by the instructor will be given permission..

It is critical that students attend classes from the beginning of the term. The department may drop a student from a course if the student does not attend the first course meeting. If a student plans to miss the first course meeting, arrangements must be APPROVED by the instructor in ADVANCE.

SAC 309 Screenwriting as Literature (Studies elective that is required for Screenwriting Sub-Concentration.)

SAC 320 Documentary Film

SAC 330/English 330 Major Director (rotating topics)

SAC 331/English 331 Film Genres and Types (rotating topics)

SAC 340 Writing Film Criticism

SAC 361/WS 361 Women and Film

SAC 365 Race and Ethnicity in Contemporary AmericaTelevision

SAC 366 Film, Television and Popular Culture (rotating topics)

SAC 367 Introduction to Digital Media Studies

SAC 368 Topics in Digital Media Studies (rotating topics)

SAC 380 FV 380/Spanish 380/Am Cult - Studies in Transnational Media

SAC 381 Latinas/os and the Media

SAC 400 Filmmaking II (P)

SAC 401 Video Art II (P)

SAC 402 Television Studio II (P)

SAC 404 Interdisciplinary Collaborations in Visual Media (P)

SAC 405 Computer Animation I (P)

SAC 406 Computer Animation II (P)

SAC 410 Screenwriting II (P)

SAC 417 Screenwriting Master Class

SAC 422 Topics in Avant-Garde Film

SAC 423 Practicum for the Screenwriter (P)

SAC 427 Screenwriting III (P)

SAC 440/CAAS 400 African Cinema

SAC 441 National Cinemas (rotating topics)

SAC 442 Third World Cinema

SAC 451/AC 490 American Film Genres

SAC 455 Topics in Film (rotating)

SAC 460 Technology and the Moving Image

SAC 461/WS 461 Exporations in Feminist Film Theory

SAC 470/CAAS 470 Cultural Issues in Cinema

SAC 485 The Global Screen

With the exception of those cross-listed classes noted above, other film, digital media, and television courses offered outside of Screen Arts & Cultures will be considered for elective credit on a case-by-case basis. Students should consult with their concentration advisor before taking such a course with the intention of using it to fulfill the SAC concentration electives requirement.

TOTAL REQUIRED HOURS WITHIN THE CONCENTRATION = 30

**The concentration requires a minimum of 30 credit hours beyond the prerequisites (10 hours). A Grade of C- or better must be achieved in any course beyond the prerequisites taken to satisfy concentration requirements.

SAC 236 / RC Hums. 236
The Art of the Film
Required Introductory Course
Students must elect this course in order to qualify for entry into the Screen Arts & Cultures concentration program.
This course examines the dramatic and psychological effects of the film elements and techniques ( e.g., camera movement, sound, pacing, lighting, lenses, acting, special effects) while also examining film's artistic and technological history. 4 Credits. top

SAC 272
Classical Film Theory
Required prerequisite to the concentration.
This course is designed to introduce the student to the basic concepts and intellectual preoccupations that dominated what is now known as "classical film theory." Attention will be given to major theorists and theorist/practioners of the first half of the twentieth century such as Sergei Eisenstein, Rudolf Arnheim, Vsevolod Pudovkin, Hugo Munsterberg, Siegfried Kracauer, Andre Bazin, Maya Deren, and others. We will engage with their writings and seek to understand how they theorized the existing function and future possibilities of film as an art, as a phenomenon of mass culture, and as an industry of national and international importance. Emphasis will be given to the application of these ideas to films both contemporary to the theorists studied and more recently produced. top

SAC 351
Film History, Origins to 1929
Students must complete one Film History course in order to qualify for entry into the Screen Arts & Cultures concentration program.
This course is designed to introduce students to the history of silent cinema from its technological and cultural origins in the late nineteenth century to the impact of the development of sound on film ("the talkies"). The objective is to orient students to a wide range of cinema, within the limits of film availability, to establish the relations between films from different aesthetic, industrial, and national contexts, and to illuminate the development of narrative form and film style. Students will develop a sense of how the film industry evolved and the changing historical context of both production and reception. Students will also grapple with some of the issues and debates over how, in the early 21 st century, we frame our historical understanding of cinema's emergence and early development worldwide. 3 Credits. top

SAC 352
Film History, 1930 to 1959
Students must complete one Film History course in order to qualify for entry into the Screen Arts & Cultures concentration program.
This course is examines the history of film during a period of time characterized by the dominance of narrative film and the studio system. Focus will be on technological, institutional, and aesthetic developments evidenced broadly in the international scene, as well as on specific historical and national contexts of production and reception. Considerable attention will be paid to film form and style, as well as to institutions and individuals. Also under consideration will be how the history of film, as a scholarly enterprise, reflects changing attitudes towards historical evidence and modes of inquiry. 3 Credits. top

SAC 353
Film History, 1960 to present
Students must complete one Film History course in order to qualify for entry into the Screen Arts & Cultures concentration program.
This course examines the development of cinema during a period characterized by significant changes in film form and style as well as by important industrial and technological developments. Attention will be paid to the international dimensions of these changes as well as to specific national and institutional contexts for them. the course will also address questions of historical method in film scholarship and the relevance of this particular period of film history to our consideration of current trends in film production and reception. 3 Credits. top

SAC 355
The History of American Television
This course is designed to expand your knowledge of American television, from the 1940's to the present. While television programs will be surveyed in terms of genre (sitcoms, dramas, etc.), this course also endeavors to examine them as cultural artifacts and industrial products that reflect and refract issues of class, consumerism, gender, desire, race, and national identity. This course prioritizes critical thinking and the establishment of a thoughtful intellectual community of learners in all aspects of the course (in-class, at screenings). All students in this course are required to participate in discussion. top

SAC 372
Contemporary Film Theory
An examination of contemporary approaches to film theory. This course will explore how different theories and resulting methods of analysis built on structuralist and post-structuralist presuppositions and paradigms have influenced recent film theory and its consideration of narrative practice, and psychological experience of viewing, the construction of moving image representations, and the impact of technology on aesthetic practice. Although we will concentrate on dominant trends, students will also be encouraged to consider alternative theoretical paradigms (such as phenomenology and cognitive approaches to viewing). top

SAC 375
Television Criticism and Theory
The purpose of this class is to interrogate how we define and understand television -as a medium, an institution, an apparatus, a cultural force, a source of knowledge and pleasure-by looking at several critical and theoretical approaches that attempt to explain its importance as a late 20 th century phenomenon whose impact is still going strong during this new millennium. Most important, this class aims to develop further your televisual literacy by introducing different frameworks that will help you read and engage television from a critical perspective-without attempting to diminish the your enjoyment of TV texts. top

SAC 376
Digital Media Theory
This course surveys the major theories of digital media culture from theories of media convergence to "cyberfeminist" analysis of identity politics and accounts of the formal properties of digital media. Students will read and discuss theories of media from key philosophers like Martin Heidegger, Michel Foucault, Marshall McLahan, Paul Virilio, and jean Baudrillard alongside the work of contemporary theorists and scholars of digital media. Students will develop a functioning lexicon for these forms of mediation and develop the critical tools necessary to understand, critique and respond to digital media. 3 Credits. top

SAC 461
Explorations in Feminist Film Theory
Advisory Prerequisite: WS 240 Junior standing required.
This course offers an in-depth exploration of feminist theories that address film in relation to gender. Discussion focuses on contemporary feminist scholarship that draws upon a variety of viewpoints, including psychoanalysis, cultural theory, postmodernism, historical research and ideological theory. top

SAC 380/Spanish 380/AmCult 380
Studies in Transnational Media
Drawing on writings in cultural and communications theory and criticism in English and Spanish, this course provides a critical introduction to various forms of transnational media: films, videos, and television programs that have been produced for international consumption, and that reflect a cross-cultural dynamic in their content and design. An emphasis is placed on film co-productions, television flows, and popular video in the Spanish-and Portuguese-language world. Topics may include the impact of migration and grass-roots movements (such as pan-indigenism) on the production and distribution of this media; intersections between music, video practice, and television industries; transnational genres, such as reality shows and the soap opera; the effects of international trade agreements (GATT, NAFTA, MERCOSUL) on transnational media flows; and emerging tensions within the Latino/a diaspora between "community" and "nation." Taught in English. Drawing on writings in cultural and communications theory and criticism in English and Spanish, this course provides a critical introduction to various forms of transnational media: films, videos, and television programs that have been produced for international consumption, and that reflect a cross-cultural dynamic in their content and design. An emphasis is placed on film co-productions, television flows, and popular video in the Spanish-and Portuguese-language world. Topics may include the impact of migration and grass-roots movements (such as pan-indigenism) on the production and distribution of this media; intersections between music, video practice, and television industries; transnational genres, such as reality shows and the soap opera; the effects of international trade agreements (GATT, NAFTA, MERCOSUL) on transnational media flows; and emerging tensions within the Latino/a diaspora between "community" and "nation." Taught in English. top

SAC 381 / AC 381
Latinas/os and the Media
This course examines the access and contributions of Latinas/os to the U.S. media from a range of creative positions: producer, performer, director, screenwriter, audience member, and activist. Following an historical overview that focuses on the periods in which Latinas/os were being most actively recuited for participation in, and consumption of, U.S. film and television (such as the early thirties, the forties, and the eighties), there will be a culminating emphasis on the contemporary period, with a survey of the forms taken by Latinas/os participation and key organizations and enterprises involved. The cultural scope is pan-Latino,from New York to Los Angeles, and a range of genres and formats, from documentary to experimental film, and Spanish-language billingual television is covered. Speical topics to be addressed include gender, language, and racial politics, the crossover phenomenon, community media and cultural citizenship, and the growing trend towards transnational production and distribution. The goal is to move beyond issues of stardom and marketing into the interconnected realms of aesthetics, agency, and advocacy. top

SAC 440/CAAS 440
African Cinema
CAAS 200 recommended
This course is a crtical and interdisciplinary look at the development of African Cinema from its inception in the 1960's, at the height of the sociopolitical upheavals experienced by many nations in the transition from colonialism to independence, to the recent phase of introspection and diversification. The relationship of cinematic practices to transformations in the social and economic sphere will be examined, as well as the problematic of creating an indegenous aesthetic based on oral tradition and filmic paradigm that is singularly African and counter-hegemonic. 3 Credits. top

SAC 441
National Cinemas
An in depth exploration of the evolution and forms of a specific national or regional cinema in terms of stylistic, socio-political, economic, and technical dimensions.
Topics rotate and most recently have included:
Italian Cinema
This course will explore key "moments" in Italian cinema, with the goal of understanding neorealist film practice as an alternative to CHC "realism";
the importance of Italian cinema to realist film theory; the importance of Italian cinema as a model for a cinema of political engagement and social criticism;the cultural and intellectual context out of which Italian cinema was produced (and viewed).
The course will focus primarily on neorealist films and "the art film" of the post-1960 period, but we will also look at popular forms such as the commedia all 'Italiana," the spaghetti Western, the "Supercolossi," and the horror genre. Films will include Bicycle Thieves, Ossessione, La Terra Trema, Voyage to Italy, The Easy Life, L'Eclisse, Teorema, Padre Padrone, and others.
British Cinema
This course examines the significant role played by the motion picture in 20th-Century British cultural life as well as the aesthetic contributions made to the art of film by British directors, actors, writers, cinematographers, special effects artists, and various studio complexes. The survey of British cinema begins with early innovation (the Brighton Group, Cecil Hepworth) and ranges from 1920s/1930s Hitchcock and Korda, to Olivier and the Ealing Studios, Carol Reed and into the "kitchen-sink realism" of the 50s and 60s. Joseph Losey, David Lean, and Ken Russell lead into the course’s contemporary period which includes analysis of works by directors such as Ken Loach, Mike Leigh, John Schlesinger, and Kenneth Branagh.
New German Cinema
The "New German Cinema," the West german film movement that extended from the late 1960s to the late 1980, is one of the most self-conscious cinemas, both in terms of politics and film style. This course examines key films and authors of the period in light of the political and cultural background of West germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall. top

SAC 442 / CAAS 442
Third World Cinema
CAAS 202 recommended.
The interrelationship and disruptions between Third World and dominant cinema practices are studied on the levels of aesthetic and production as well as economic, social, and cultural history. The class focuses on the new approaches to film practice sympathetic to the culture of Third World nations. top

SAC 470 / CAAS 470
Cultural Issues in Cinema
A exploration of development in the cross-cultural use of cinema; from Hollywood feature films to ethnographic documentaries, from Caribean liberationist works to African allegories of colonialism, from indigenous use of film and video to black Diaspora "oppositional" film practice. top

SAC 485
The Global Screen
Enforced Prerequisite - Junior standing.
This course explores the impact of global trade and cultural exchange on audiovisual media during different periods in media history. Topics rotate. Possible topics include international film co-productions, censorship and the state regulation, the transnational transmission of television, and translation and the politics of reception. top

SAC 290
Introduction to Film, Video and Television Production
Production course.
This course will provide students with a basic introduction to hands-on production in film, video, and television. Pre-production, production, and post-production (from basic script form to directing to editing) are all covered, and the differences as well as the similarities of these three related media are explored.
SAC 290: Students are able to register on Wolverine Access. top

SAC 300
Filmmaking I
Production course.
Enforced Prerequisite: SAC 290 and SAC Major
Building on previous filmmaking experience, this course examines the technical and creative potentials of the moving image using 16mm film. Students will work in small groups to create short films. Some potential approaches may include narrative, documentary, or experimental forms. top

SAC 301
Video Art I
Production course.
Enforced Prerequisite:
SAC 290: Introduction to Film, Video and Television Production and SAC major.

This course is designed to introduce students to the terminology, aesthetics, and methods of single-camera video production. Using Super-VHS video equipment, students will learn the techniques of single-camera production, including scripting, directing, shooting, and editing. Students work in small groups to design and produce video projects in a variety of styles such as short narrative and experimental documentary. Evaluation will be based on production projects and scripts, production journals, and participation in class discussion and critique. This course is designed to teach students to analyze the relationship between technique and content in video production and to allow students to explore the creative potential of the video medium. Limited to 20 students, with preference given to film and video concentrators. top

SAC 302
Television Studio I
Production course.
Enforced Prerequisite:
SAC 290: Introduction to Film, Video and Television Production and SAC major.

This course is designed to introduce students to the terminology, aesthetics, and methods of multi-camera television studio production. Students will learn the techniques of multi-camera production, including scripting, directing, and practical operation of studio equipment and will gain hands-on experience in all studio crew positions. Students will be assigned a series of directing exercises with increasing complexity and will learn to direct various types of studio productions. Evaluation is based on completion of these studio projects, participation in studio and class critiques, short diagnostic quizzes, and one short paper. The goal of this course is to teach students to analyze the relationship between technique and content in the shaping of television programs. The course will meet in LS&A Television Studio, located at 400 Fourth Street. Students should plan their schedules to allow for travel time. top

SAC 306
Computer Animation I
Production course.
Advisory Prerequisite: SAC 290: Introduction to Film, Video and Television Production or basic working knowledge of the Macintosh platform, Photoshop, and digital video.

This animation course will investigate and exercise the basic concepts of Macromedia Director. It is a hands-on beginning-level course that will explore the mechanics of computer-generated 2-D animation, including the integration of sound, motion, and basic interactive programming. Fundamentals of the perception of motion over time, rotoscoping, storyboarding, and final output options of finished animations. Students should have a basic working knowledge of Macintosh illustration and paint programs. top

SAC 310
Screenwriting I
Prerequisite:
SAC 290: Introduction to Film, Video and Television Production
and college writing requirement

This course teaches the student to write a afeature length screenplay. Students begin with the development of a concept, proceed to write a treatment, and then spend the majority of the semester working on the full script.
(Waitlist)* top

SAC 311
Screenwriting for Television
Production course. Students must apply for admission.
Contact the Film & Video Studies Program at (734) 764-0147 for application information.

Deadline to apply is last day of classes the preceding term.

Prerequisite:
SAC 290: Introduction to Film, Video and Television Production, SAC Major, and college writing requirement

Screenwriting for Television --- This course teaches students to write a full-length “spec script” for an existing television show. Students study episodes of popular programs across a variety of genres as they learn the tools they will need to work in a “writer's room” and ultimately produce professional-quality television scripts.

top

SAC 309
Screenwriting as Literature
SAC 309 is a studies elective that is required for the screenwriting sub-concentration program.
This course is an excellant preparation for SAC Screenwriting 310. It will focus in dramatic structure and the emotions a script elicits in its readers. We'll look at these screenplays from the same perspective as a potential actor, director or producer would, asking the same questions they'd ask about the story and characters. Screenwriting as Literature focuses on developing an appreciation of great film screenplays as dramatic literature and an understanding of what characterizes them as such. The readings will progress from a screenplay adaptations and their source materials to original screenplays, covering a broad range of themes and genres. 3 Credits top

SAC 320
Documentary Film
Advisory prerequisite - SAC 236
The films to be studied in this course will be selected from the full spectrum of documentary film practices from the 1920's to the present, but will concentrate on the specific topics rather than on a historical overview. The developing and shifting conception of documentary film practice, issues of social import, of political and propagandistic values, of documenting the "other" as well as claims to veracity and objectivity will be treated within an analytical framework. top

SAC 330 / ENGL 330 Major Directors
Advisory Prerequisite -SAC 236
A rotating course dealing with various prominent directors.

The various sections of this course are devoted to concentrated analysis of particular directors or of particular schools of filmmaking. Representative films are shown and discussed in terms of their place in the context of film history. General theoretical concepts about film are developed. top

SAC 331
Studies in Film Genre and Types
Advisory Prerequisite - SAC 236
Careful analytical studies of representative films from various film genres. The course concentrates on one particular genre every semester it is offered. Past subjects have included non-narrative film, post-1972 gore, farce, and the American musical. top

SAC 340
Writing Film Criticism
Prerequisite:
Enforced Prerequisite - SAC 236: The Art of the Film
This course is aimed at helping students write illuminating and stylistically engaging film criticism. Students will do this within the context of screening contemporary films and reading various critical writings in popular and academic criticism. top

SAC 361 W/S 361
Women and Film
An examination of films made by, for, and about women. Focus is on how societal norms and film language have constructed the representation of women in film and how women have appropriated the medium for self-representation through both narrative and experimental filmmaking. top

SAC 365
Race and Ethnicity in Contemporary American Television
Advisory Prerequisite: SAC 236: The Art of the Film
A critical examination of race and ethnicity on television from its inception to the present day. This course will analyze television historically, as a dynamic site of struggle and continuing debate over the politics, meaning, and real ramifications of constructions of racial identity and challenges to dominant images in popular media. top

SAC 366
Topics in Film, Television and Popular Culture
Subjects rotate.This course addresses the role of film and television as popular media. It emphasizes the acquisition and use of analytical skills relevant to the given topic and serves as an introduction to cultural studies. Students are taught to read and analyze specific popular films, genres, or figures. At the same time, the course introduces broader issues in cultural studies, such as definitions of popular/mass culture and the 'culture industry', the role of intertextuality, reception or globalization in popular culture, and the function of gender and sexuality in popular culture. Topics may include: James Bond as Popular Hero; Serials in Film and TV; Popular Cinema Beyond Hollywood; Cult Films/Cult Shows. top

SAC 367
Introduction to Digital Media Studies
This course will provide any undergraduate student who enrolls in the course with the analytical tools and lexicon for understanding how computers, the Internet, virtual reality systems, and other forms of digital media are significantly changing cultural experience. Students will study these technologies within the context of larger questions about digital media in relation to the histories of cinema, television, telecommunications, and visuality. The course will also address how the representation of digital media technologies in other media like film or television is symptomatic of broader cultural anxieties and hopes about the power of "new" technologies. Through the course students will be able to critically understand how the tools they use in their daily lives (computers, cell phones, digital music players) are caught up in discourses of virtuality, interactivity, digital realism, and the identity in our "information age." top

AC 368
Topics in Digital media Studies
This course explores topics relevant to film and video studies and emerging entertainment, communications, and computer technologies. Courses methodologically use critical theory, industry studies, media and cultural studies to digital media representations and experiences. Topics include but are not limited to digital media theory, video games, and virtuality and identity. top

SAC 400
Filmmaking II
Production course.
Enforced Prerequisite: SAC 300: Filmmaking I and SAC major.

This is an advanced 16mm motion picture production course. The primary goal of this course is to familiarize students with dramatic film production from interpreting the screenplay through shooting, editing, and post-production. The relationship of these activities to aesthetic development being the fundament of the course, and the basis of its connection to film studies. You will have access to a state-of-the-art Panaflex 16mm camera in addition to standard production equipment. Students work in small groups to produce a substantial sync-sound final project, as well as participating in a large in-class dramatic production (collaboration with Theater and Drama students). Evaluation: participation in in-class projects, production assignments, final project. Text: Pincus and Ascher, Filmmaker's Handbook. top

SAC 401
Video Art II
Production course.
Enforced Prerequisite: SAC 301: Video Art I and SAC major.

This course covers various production strategies and concerns: building rhythm and structure, creative use of sound and its relationship to image, realizing non-linear narrative, experimental use of lighting, conceiving and distributing video in ways other than single-channel, and socio-political issues around representation. It aims to help students realize their own voices in independent videomaking within the historical context of Video Art. A/B roll editing with digital effects and various computer editing software including the AVID and Premiere will be covered. Evaluation is based on projects, reading and writing assignment, and class participation. top

SAC 402
Television Studio II
Production course.
Enforced Prerequisite: SAC 302: Television Studio I and SAC major.

This course is an advanced course in multi-camera television production and a continuation of FV 302. Students will apply concepts developed in FV 302 to produce and direct advanced studio productions, including collaborative projects with acting students from the Department of Theatre and Drama. Evaluation is based on completion of projects, participation in studio and class critique, and short papers. The course will continue to explore the relationship between technique and content in the creation of media programs and will give students the opportunity to develop their own creative projects in the studio context. The course will meet in the LS&A Television Studio, located at 400 Fourth Street. Students should plan their schedules to allow for travel time. top

SAC 404
Interdisciplinary Collaborations in Visual Media
Production course.

Prerequisite 1-3 courses and permission of instructor:
SAC 300- or 400-level production course in the relevant emphasized area:
SAC 300: Filmmaking I or
SAC 301: Video Art I or
SAC 302: Television Studio I or
SAC 405: Computer Animation I

This course provides an advanced experience in special production topics. Film, video, TV, digital production (or some combination of these) is focused upon a particular topical subject area or approach to the medium. Collaborations with other courses or units may also provide the cours's focus. top

SAC 405
Computer Animation I
Production course.

Students must apply for admission.
Contact the Film & Video Studies Program at (734) 764-0147 for application information.
Deadline to apply is last day of classes the preceding term.

Prerequisite: SAC 200: Introduction to Film, Video and Television Production or
permission of the instructor

This animation course will investigate and exercise the basic concepts of Macromedia Director. It is a hands-on beginning-level course that will explore the mechanics of computer-generated 2-D animation, including the integration of sound, motion, and basic interactive programming. Fundamentals of the perception of motion over time, rotoscoping, storyboarding, and final output options of finished animations. Students should have a basic working knowledge of Macintosh illustration and paint programs. (Waitlisted)* top

SAC 406
Computer Animation II
Production course.
Advisory Prerequisite: SAC 306: Computer Animation I or equivalent experience.

This advanced class explores the theories and applications of interactive animation design. Individual student projects are developed using Macromedia Director and Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia SoundEdit 16. Graphics, sound, and interactivity are utilized to create highly conceptual non-linear environments. Through critical analysis of both student assignments, and professional works, we will investigate the successes and failures of various types of interactivity to communicate with an audience. top

SAC 410
Screenwriting II
Production course. Students must apply for admission. Contact the Film & Video Studies Program at (734) 764-0147 for application information.Deadline to apply is last day of classes the preceding term.

Prerequisite:SAC 310: Screenwriting I or permission of the instructor

Students will learn to cast a critical eye on their own first drafts by analyzing other class members' screenplays. Working in teams, students will break down screenplays in terms of structure, story logic, character development, character relationships, dialogue, visuals, and theme. Using feedback from their fellow students and instructor, students will strive to fix the problems in their own individual screenplays. A major rewrite and polish will be required.
Please note: A maximum of twenty students will be admitted to this course. Students will be selected based on the quality of their original screenplays and/or their Screenwriting I instructor's recommendation. Other factors being equal, preference will be given to senior concentrators in film and video. top

SAC 417
Screenwriting Master Class
Master Class seminar with distinguished screenwriters. Course may vary in number of weeks, hours of commitment, and credit. Students recieve one on one and small group instruction in screenwriting. Topics vary depending upon interests of visiting artists.Prerequisite:
SAC 310: Screenwriting I
SAC 410: Screenwriting II
Selection is based on student's performance in 410. top

SAC 422
Topics in Avant-Garde Film
Topics in Avant-Garde covers historical and theoretical study of specific topics in avant-garde film and video. Examination of modes of producing cutting-edge films in relation to the films' socio-political context and consideration of the formal innovation these films create in relation to other art forms. top

SAC 423
Practicum for the Screenwriter
This class is a writing practicum where the students learn the role of the screenwriter in the greater process of the production media. Each student participates in the various creative steps involved in bringing a narrative script to the screen. (3 credits) top

SAC 427
Screenwriting III
Students must apply for admission.
Deadline to apply is last day of classes the preceding term.
Prerequisites: SAC 310: Screenwriting I and SAC 410: Screenwriting II
Selection is based on student's performance in 410.

Limited to students whose work is judged as showing outstanding potential. Advanced individual and small group instruction in screenwriting for select students who have completed basic screening (SAC 310) and intermediate screenwriting (SAC 410). Students will write a final draft of their revised original screenplay from SAC 410 and complete a first draft of a new feature-length screenplay. The course will include staged readings of creative work and group discussions of same. This course is designed for students whose work has shown outstanding potential in the art of writing for the screen. As part of this course, it features master classes with top Hollywood screenwriter's through the James Gindin Visiting Artists Series. top

AC 442 / CAAS 442
Third World Cinema
CAAS 202 recommended.
The interrelationship and disruptions between Third World and dominant cinema practices are studied on the levels of aesthetic and production as well as economic, social, and cultural history. The class focuses on the new approaches to film practice sympathetic to the culture of Third World nations. top

SAC 451/AC 490
American Film Genres
Prerequisite - Junior standing. (4 credits)
This course devotes concentrated attention to the origins of the Hollywood genre system and the history and development of several of our film culture's most enduring genres (the Western, the Musical, the Gangster Film, the Melodrama, the "Film-Noir" Thriller) from the century's early decades to the present day. In a given semester, the course deals with four of these genres. It explores how the underlying semantics of each genre (created not only through the narrative, but through specialized stylistic structures) relates to problems in the culture and society (particularly, to problems of race, gender, economics, and the rule of law).
top

SAC 455
Topics in Film Studies
Studies various film topics: includes the study of films of specific historical periods (such as early cinema or films of World War II) or study of specific issues (such as the studio system, the star system or film censorship) or historical events (the Hollywood Blacklist).
Recent examples include:
The Godfather and other Great Trilogies
For reasons we will explore, many giants of filmmaking have created film trilogies. Containing some of the most provocative and affective films ever made, this unusual artistic form raises unique dramatic and aesthetic questions. Thematically, the films that make up these trilogies range across human experience – e.g., murder and the ruthless acquisition of power (Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather trilogy), personal combat and war (Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai trilogy and Andrzej Wajda's War [WWII] Trilogy), questioning God's nature and justice (Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Night. Other trilogies include Korda's Pagnol trilogy, Antonioni's L'Aventura, La Notte, and L'Eclisse, and Mark Donskoy's Gorky trilogy. Additional trilogies can be selected from Sayajit Ray, Sergio Leone, and Krzyztof Kieslowski.
From Kabuki to Kitano: Japanese Cinema History
(Also Japanese 475.001)
From kabuki films to Kitano Takeshi, Japanese cinema has come a long way in the past 100 years. This course traces the history of Japanese cinema from the silent films, with their extraordinary benshi performances, to recent Japanese cinema as shown at international film festivals. Along the way, we will take in avant-garde and social protest films, fascist entertainments, rock and roll youth films, animations, and trendy idol dramas. We’ll even see the occasional tea ceremony! Most importantly, we will learn to see Japanese cinema as more than a pictoral version of famous novels, or an expression of artistic sensibility; it is a vibrant strand within the ongoing history of Japanese popular culture. top

SAC 460
Technology & Moving Image: Sound on Film
Enforced Prerequisite: SAC 236: The Art of the Film
This course traces the impact of such technological innovations as sound, color, and wide screen on the history of the motion picture and the evolution beyond cinema of the new digital technology, virtual reality, and multi-media performances. This class examines the aesthetics of technology and the ways in which technology through art influences individual psychology and society at large. top