MDIA-ENG 451


texts - goals - schedule - requirements - policies - bibliography - notes - gallery
	Dr. Glen Johnson 107 McMahon Hall - 202-319-5114 JohnsonG@cua.edu email for appointment: I am generally available 10-12 and 1-2 MWF
		Required texts: A Hitchcock Reader, 2nd ed., ed. Marshall Deutelbaum and Leland Poague (Blackwell, 2009) Philip J. Skerry, Psycho in the Shower (Continuum, 2009) Instructional method: Film screenings, lecture and discussion, audio-visual examples. Course goals: The course provides students with a survey in depth of the works of a single major film auteur. Contexts include history and aesthetics of film narrative, cultural background, critical theory, and analytical methods. By the end of the course, the student should be familiar with a dozen major works and be able to discuss in depth Hitchcock's approach to film making and contribution to film history. In addition, the student should have a working knowledge of basic film vocabulary as well as of major theoretical approaches and analytical tools in the study of film and narrative.
		Course schedule: [This schedule will develop through the course and is subject to change; check it prior to each scheduled class meeting.] - class meets MWF 12:10-1 pm in McMahon 200 - film screenings are at 6:10 Mondays in McMahon 200 Mon, Aug 31 introduction to the course Film screening (6:10): Strangers on a Train (1951; 1 hour 41 minutes) Wed, Sep 2 read before class: essay by Wood on Strangers on a Train (Hitchcock Reader, pp. 172-181) the MacGuffin Fri, Sep 4 Doppelgangers and doubles Hitchcock & psychanalysis: The Oedipus complex & Momism Homosexuality in Hitchcock movies Mon, Sep 7 Labor Day holiday, no class or screening today Wed, Sep 9 read before class: ""Retrospective" by Wood (Hitchcock Reader, pp. 35-46) in class: Expressionism Fri, Sep 11 read before class: first part of essay by Yacowar (Hitchcock Reader, pp. 25-30 only) In class: montage theory and practice Mon, Sep 14 read before class: opening of essay by Doucet (Hitchcock Reader, pp. 17-19 only) in class: "Lamb to the Slaughter" (1958) from Alfred Hitchcock Presents Film screening (6:10): Psycho (1960; 1 hour 49 min) Wed, Sep 16 read before class: chapter 5 in Skerry book on Psycho (pp. 73-121) Fri, Sep 18 read before class: chapter 7 in Skerry book (pp. 138-77) Mon, Sep 21 read before class: Skerry book, interviews with Joseph Stefano, Hilton Green, & Terry Wiliams (pp. 51-72, 123-37, 210-18) in class: Ed Gein, Robert Bloch, and backgrounds to Psycho Psycho influences, sequels, homages Film screening (6:10): excerpts from films related to Psycho: the remake directed by Gus Van Sant (1999); Psycho II, III, IV; Dressed to Kill, directed by Brian De Palma (1980). Wed, Sep 23 read before class: chapter 11 in Skerry book (pp. 219-60) Fri, Sep 25 read before class: chapter 9 in Skerry book (pp. 188-208) notes on Skerry book Mon, Sep 28 EXAM 1 review notes for exam Film screening (6:10): Frenzy (1972; 1 hour 56 min) Wed, Sep 30 read before class: essay on Frenzy by Modleski (Hitchcock Reader, pp. 312-25) Fri, Oct 2 Mon, Oct 5 Film screening (6:10): Rear Window (1954; 1 hour 52 min) Wed, Oct 7 Fri, Oct 9 read before class: essay on Rear Window by Stam & Pearson (Hitchcock Reader, pp. 199-211) Mon, Oct 12 Columbus Day Holiday, no class or screening today Wed, Oct 14 continued discussion from Stam-Pearson essay feminist film concepts Fri, Oct 16 Mon, Oct 19 Film screening (6:10): Shadow of a Doubt (1943; 1 hour 48 minutes Wed, Oct 21 read before class: essay on Shadow of a Doubt by McLaughlin (Hitchcock Reader, pp. 145-55) Fri, Oct 23 Mon, Oct 26 Film screening (6:10): The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935; 1 hour 26 minutes) Wed, Oct 28 read before class: essay on The Thirty-Nine Steps by Silet (Hitchcock Reader, pp. 114-25) Fri, Oct 30 Mon, Nov 2 Film screening (6:10): North by Northwest (1958; 2 hours 16 min). Herzfeld Auditorium, location for screening this week only. Wed, Nov 4 read before class: essay on North by Northwest by Cavell (Hitchcock Reader, pp. 250-63) Fri, Nov 6 assignment for Essay Mon, Nov 9 EXAM 2: review notes for exam Film screening (6:10 in 200 McMahon): Notorious (1946; 1 hour 41 min) Wed, Nov 11 read before class: essay on Notorious by Abel (Hitchcock Reader, pp. 164-71) Fri, Nov 13 Mon, Nov 16 Essay due Film screening: The Wrong Man (1957; 1 hour 45 minutes) You have two times to choose from; attend either showing: - 4:10 pm in Hannan Hall 106 (next to Herzfeld Auditorium) - 6:10 pm in Hannan Hall 108 (Herzfeld Auditorium) Wed, Nov 18 read before class: essay on The Wrong Man by Deutelbaum (Hitchcock Reader, pp. 212-22) Fri, Nov 20 Mon, Nov 23 Film Screening (6:10): I Confess (1953; 1 hour 35 min) Wed, Nov 25 Fri, Nov 27 Thanksgiving holiday Mon, Nov 30 File screening (6:10): Vertigo (1958; 2 hours 8 min) Wed, Dec 2 read before class: essay on Vertigo by Wood (Hitchcock Reader, pp. 223-233) Fri, Dec 4 read before class: essay on Vertigo by Keane (Hitchcock Reader, pp. 234-49) Mon, Dec 7 Film screening (6:10): Suzhou River, directed by Ye Lou (China, 2000; 1 hour 23 min) Wed, Dec 9 Fri, Dec 11 Mon, Dec 14 last class Film screening (6:10): Obsession, directed by Brian De Palma (1976; 1 hour 38 min) Wed, Dec 16, 6-8 pm Exam 3 and summary essay
		Expectations and Policies: Course work and grading: - 3 exams (20% each) - critical essay (20%) - summary essay, written during the final exam period (10%) - quizzes on readings (10%) - poor attendance will affect your grade negatively; see below. The 6 factors (3 exams, 2 essays, quizzes + attendance) count approximately equally in determining final grade. Attendance: You are expected to be present at all class sessions including film showings. Attendance will be taken. More than three absence from lecture sessions or more than one absence from film screenings can affect your grade negatively. If anything is interfering with your ability to attend class, inform me immediately. We can seek help, but the end of the semester will be too late. Film screenings are mandatory. You may not skip a showing by claiming you have seen the film previously or by promising that you will watch it on your own. If you miss a film showing, you are still responsible for seeing the film. Note: I do not lend DVDs. Classroom decorum including screenings: You are expected to be on time for each screening, to stay to the end, and to go in and out of the room only in emergencies. No cell-phones or texting, period; if you bring a laptop to class, you are to use it only to take notes. If I see you texting or using a laptop for something other than class, I will say nothing but will mark you absent for that entire class. CUA policy on attendance: "Good scholarship requires the presence of students at all class and laboratory meetings. The responsibility for prompt and regular class attendance rests upon the individual student. If, for any reason, a student is absent too frequently from class, it may become impossible for that student to receive a passing grade. Authority for excusing absences rests with the teacher who may request that the student obtain authentication of absences considered unavoidable" (from http://policies.cua.edu/academicundergrad//acregsfull.cfm#XII). Excused absence or make-up require a verifiable excuse such as a letter from a doctor. Please note that the Dean of Students does not provide excuses for absence. Although I appreciate emails or calls telling me you will not be in class, this alone does not excuse an absence. Students who miss class to represent the university in athletic events or other sanctioned performances should consult http://policies.cua.edu/academicundergrad/classabsenceintercollegiateevents.cfm. Academic honesty: Academic honesty is expected of all CUA students. Faculty are required to initiate the imposition of sanctions when they find violations of academic honesty, such as plagiarism, improper use of a student’s own work, cheating, and fabrication. The following sanctions are presented in the University procedures related to Student Academic Dishonesty (from http://policies.cua.edu/academicundergrad/integrity.cfm): “The presumed sanction for undergraduate students for academic dishonesty will be failure for the course. There may be circumstances, however, where, perhaps because of an undergraduate student’s past record, a more serious sanction, such as suspension or expulsion, would be appropriate. . . . In the more unusual case, mitigating circumstances may exist that would warrant a lesser sanction than the presumed sanction.” Please review the complete texts of the University policy and procedures regarding Student Academic Dishonesty, including requirements for appeals, at http://policies.cua.edu/academicundergrad/integrityprocedures.cfm.