Students
MAS 304 – Screens, Images, Ideas
2017 – S2 Day
General Information
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| Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Convenor/Lecturer
Intan Paramaditha
Y3A 261
By appointment
Convenor/Lecturer
Ilona Hongisto
Y3A 193F
By appointment
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|---|---|
| Credit points |
Credit points
3
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| Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
39cp at 100 level or above
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| Corequisites |
Corequisites
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| Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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| Unit description |
Unit description
This unit analyses issues in film culture by screenings and discussion of fictional and non-fictional media including films, television and online content from a range of countries. The unit examines contemporary and historical examples and their relation of philosophical concepts, critical and genre theory and cultural contexts.
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Important Academic Dates
Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Understand the main debates relevant to a specific sub-region of film studies
- Develop an expanded historical knowledge of genre film and theory
- Develop skills in film-critical research and film-textual analysis
- Evaluate and appreciate different stylistic modes of writing about films
- Produce and communicate work in a manner consistent with accepted academic standards
Assessment Tasks
| Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active Participation | 20% | No | Weeks 1-13 |
| In-class Presentation | 20% | No | Weeks 2-13 |
| Short Essay 1 | 30% | No | 15 Sep 2017 (11:59 PM) |
| Short Essay 2 | 30% | No | 15 Nov 2017 (11:59 PM) |
Active Participation
Due: Weeks 1-13
Weighting: 20%
Students are expected to attend all lectures and tutorials. Attendance at tutorials is compulsory and any missed tutorial must be accompanied by appropriate documentation. Marks are awarded through a point-system, where students can achieve two points per week (one for attendance, one for active participation).
As tutorial attendance is required for the active participation component of unit assessment, please apply for Disruption to Studies if you are unable to attend a tutorial.
Assessment criteria:
Attendance: Regular attendance at tutorials.
Active participation: Evidence of engagement with the unit readings, active participation in class activities, thoughtful contribution to class discussions.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Understand the main debates relevant to a specific sub-region of film studies
- Develop an expanded historical knowledge of genre film and theory
- Develop skills in film-critical research and film-textual analysis
In-class Presentation
Due: Weeks 2-13
Weighting: 20%
Students will prepare a 10-minute individual presentation where they link an assigned reading to the week’s screening. Each student is assigned a specific week, film and a reading for the presentation. The presentation is not a summary of the arguments made in the readings, but a reflection on how those ideas apply to the film of the week.
The aim of the presentation is to:
1. Analyse the screened film from a theoretical point of view.
2. Explicate the connections between the assigned film and reading.
3. Identify and use appropriate academic arguments in relation to screen media.
The presentation consists of:
1. 10 minutes of time. Pay extra attention to the timing of your presentation. You will be cut off after 10 minutes.
2. A visual aid - such as powerpoint - with which you present your findings to the class.
3. A structure. Do not try and say everything there is to say about your chosen case. Choose key ideas and structure your presentation around them. Remember to introduce the media example properly and provide concluding remarks.
Assessment criteria:
Reading and argument. Students will be assessed based on their ability to evaluate, synthesize and explicate the key ideas of the assigned reading.
Film analysis. Students will be assessed based on their ability to analyse the details and scope of the assigned film. Assessment will also focus on the application of the key ideas of the assigned reading to the film.
Clarity of the presentation. The presentation will be assessed based on the clarity of its delivery. This includes the structure of the presentation, legibility of powerpoint slides and other (audio-)visual support as well as keeping to the timeframe. Students must submit their powerpoint slides to their tutor in class or via email on the day of presentation.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Understand the main debates relevant to a specific sub-region of film studies
- Develop an expanded historical knowledge of genre film and theory
- Develop skills in film-critical research and film-textual analysis
Short Essay 1
Due: 15 Sep 2017 (11:59 PM)
Weighting: 30%
Students will write an academic essay of 1,000 words (not including footnotes or bibliography) that covers unit materials from week 1-7. Students will write about a film that they have seen in class and analyse the representation of travel with regards to a specific theme or concept introduced in the unit. In the essay, social, political, and/ or historical contexts must be discussed in relation to the formal elements of the film. Bibliography must include at least four academic references, and two of them must be from the unit readings.
The short essay is to be submitted electronically via Turnitin on ilearn.
Assessment criteria:
Reading and research: Evidence of critical engagement with key concepts, themes, and social, political, and historical contexts introduced in the unit. Ability to identify key concepts in the readings and apply those concepts to the chosen film. Evidence of independent research outside the unit readings.
Argument and analysis: Ability to formulate a clear and specific thesis about how travel is portrayed in the chosen film. Ability to interpret ideas and support it with examples from the film. Ability to relate formal elements of the film and the larger contexts.
Writing and structure: Logical and coherent structure; clarity of expression; appropriate referencing; length.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Understand the main debates relevant to a specific sub-region of film studies
- Develop an expanded historical knowledge of genre film and theory
- Develop skills in film-critical research and film-textual analysis
- Evaluate and appreciate different stylistic modes of writing about films
- Produce and communicate work in a manner consistent with accepted academic standards
Short Essay 2
Due: 15 Nov 2017 (11:59 PM)
Weighting: 30%
For the second short essay, students will engage with unit materials from weeks 8-13. Students will choose two scenes from two different films and compare the ways in which fact and fiction intertwine in the chosen scenes. Students are expected to analyse the chosen scenes closely, relate their analysis to the academic arguments discussed in weeks 8-13, as well as reflect on the importance of the scenes on the films’ overall meaning. Students must refer to 4 unit readings. The essay length is 1000 words excluding the bibliography. The films screened in weeks 8-13 are accessible online through Macquarie University’s library (Kanopy or EduTV).
The short essay is to be submitted electronically via Turnitin on ilearn.
Assessment criteria:
Reading and research: Evidence of critical engagement with set course materials (unit readings and unit topics). Evidence of independent research on the films the chosen scenes are from. Ability to relate the chosen scenes to larger tendencies in film and to contextualise the films themselves to specific cultural contexts.
Argument and analysis: Evidence of critical thinking in relation to fact and fiction in the documentary. Detailed analysis of the audiovisual strategies used in the chosen examples. Evidence of relational thinking through making connections between key ideas from the course and the analysed scenes, and supporting this position.
Writing and structure: Logical and coherent structure; clarity of expression; appropriate referencing; length.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Understand the main debates relevant to a specific sub-region of film studies
- Develop an expanded historical knowledge of genre film and theory
- Develop skills in film-critical research and film-textual analysis
- Evaluate and appreciate different stylistic modes of writing about films
- Produce and communicate work in a manner consistent with accepted academic standards
Delivery and Resources
Classes
Lectures: Tuesdays, 4:30-5:30, E7B T2 Theatre
Screenings: Tuesdays, 2-4:30pm, E7B T2 Theatre
Tutorials: Please check with MQ Timetables for the time and location of your tutorial.
ATTENDANCE
Students are required to attend each screening and tutorials.
TECHNOLOGIES USED AND REQUIRED
Unit lectures will be delivered as videos online and will be accessible via iLearn. Details on readings, assessments and screenings will be available on iLearn. Students are expected to regularly check iLearn and their MQ email addresses for announcements.
SUBMISSIONS
All written work must be submitted to Turnitin, via the link on iLearn. Please make sure your full name and student number appears on the first page of your document. All written work should be double spaced and justified to the left of the page.
LATE SUBMISSION
Students who submit late work without an extension will receive a penalty of 10% per day. This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for Disruption to Studies is made and approved.
RE-MARKS
The in-session re-mark application form is available at http://www.mq.edu.au/pubstatic/public/ download/?id=167914
UNIT READINGS
Unit readings are available online through the library's multisearch function: http://www.mq.edu.au/about/campus-services-and-facilities/library/multi-search/multisearch
Unit Schedule
Required readings and weekly topics:
Week 1 (Intan) Travel – from exploration to travel to tourism
Screening: The Wizard of Oz (U.S.: dir. Victor Flemming, 1939). 1hr 52m.
Readings:
- Paul Fussell, Abroad: British Literary Traveling between the Wars (New York: Oxford University Press, 1980). Chap. “From Exploration to Travel to Tourism,” pp. 37-64.
- Salman Rushdie, “Out of Kansas,” The New Yorker, May 11, 1992.
Week 2 (Intan) Figures of travelers: the tourist and/ as the flaneur
Screening: Easy Rider (U.S.: dir. Dennis Hopper, 1969). 1hr 35 m.
Readings:
- John Urry, The Tourist Gaze: Leisure and Travel in Contemporary Societies (London: Sage Publications, 1990). Chapter 1 (The Tourist Gaze) and Chapter 7 (Seeing and Theming) .
- Janet Wolff, "The Invisible Flaneuse: Women and the Literature of Modernity,” Theory, Culture and Society 2 (1985): 37-48.
Week 3 (Intan) Women on the Road
Screening: Thelma and Louise (U.S.; dir. Ridley Scott, 1991). 2hr 10m.
Readings:
- David Laderman, Driving Visions: Exploring the Road Movie (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002). Chapter 1: Paving the Way, pp. 1-42.
- Dargis, Manohla, ‘Thelma and Louise and the Tradition of the Male Road Movie’, in Women and Film: A Sight and Sound Reader, ed. by Pam Cook and Philip Dodd (London: Scarlet Press, 1993), pp. 86-92
Week 4 (Intan) Queer Mobility
Screening: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Australia; dir. Stephan Elliott, 1994). 1hr 44m.
Readings:
- Pamela Robertson, “Home and Away: Friends of Dorothy in the Land of Oz,” in The Road Movie Book, pp. 271-296.
- Philip Butterss "Australian masculinity on the road." Media International Australia incorporating Culture and Policy 95.1 (2000): 227-236.
Week 5 (Intan) Travel and Empire
Screening: The Black Narcissus (UK, dir. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1947). 1hr 42m.
Readings:
- Inderpal Grewal, Home and Harem: Nation, Gender, Empire and the Culture of Travel (Duke University Press, 1996). Introduction.
- Ella Shohat, “Gender and Culture of Empire: Toward a Feminist Ethnography of the Cinema,” Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Vol. 13 (1-3), pp. 45-84.
Week 6 (Ilona) – Colonial movements
Screening: Concerning Violence (Sweden, Göran Hugo Olsson, 2014) 1hr 29min.
Readings:
1. Terry Smith “Visual Regimes of Colonization. Aboriginal seeing and European vision in Australia” in Nicholas Mirzoeff (ed.) The Visual Culture Reader. New York: Routledge (2002), 483-494 (chapter 42).
2. Frantz Fanon “The Fact of Blackness” in Black Skins, White Masks. London: Pluto Press (1986), 109-140 (chapter 5).
Week 7 (Intan) Migrant cinema
Screening: My Son the Fanatic (UK; dir. Udayan Prasad, 1997). 1hr 27m.
Readings:
- Hamid Naficy, An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001), pp. 10-39.
- Laura Copier, “Radicalism begins at home: Fundamentalism and the family in My Son the Fanatic,” in Patricia Pisters and Wim Staat, eds. Shooting the Family: Transnational Media and Intercultural Values (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University press, 2005), pp. 89-101.
Recess
Week 8 (Ilona) – Animating a life
Screening: Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008) 1hr 30min
Readings:
1. Vivian Sobchack “Inscribing Ethical Space: Ten Propositions on Death, Representation and Documentary (1984)” in Jonathan Kahana (ed.) The Documentary Film Reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press (2016): 871-888.
2. Janet Walker “Testimony in the umbra of trauma: film and video portraits of survival” in Studies in Documentary Film, 1:2 (2007): 91–104.
Week 9 (Intan) – Discovering a life
Screening: The Act of Killing (Norway, Denmark, UK; dir. Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012). 115 min/ 159 min (extended)
Readings:
- Bill Nichols, "Irony, cruelty, evil (and a wink) in The act of killing," Film Quarterly 67.2 (2013): 25-29.
- Dag Yngvesson, "Jagal/Act of Killing." Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia 15.1 (2015).
Week 10 (Ilona) – Remembering a life
Screening: Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 2012) 1hr 58min
Readings:
1. Bill Nichols: “Documentary re-enactment and the Fantasmatic Subject”, Critical Inquiry 35.1 (2008): 72-89.
2. Malin Wahlberg: “Telling Signs of Loss: Beginnings of Possible Stories” in Documentary Time: Film and Phenomenology. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press (2008): 101-117 (chapter 6).
Week 11 (Ilona) – Inventing a life
Screening: The Wolfpack (Crystal Moselle, 2015) 1hr 30min
Readings:
1. Ivone Margulies “Exemplary bodies: re-enactment in Love in the City, Sons, and Close Up” in Ivone Margulies (ed.) Rites of Realism: Essays on corporeal cinema. Durham: Duke University Press (2003): 217-244.
2. Joram ten Brink “Re-enactment, the history of violence and documentary film” in Joram ten Brink and Joshua Oppenheimer (eds.) Killer Images: Documentary Film, Memory and the Performance of Violence. New York: Columbia University Press/ Wallflower Press (2012): 176–189.
Week 12 (Ilona) – Life in a series
Screening: Love, Lust and Lies (Gillian Armstrong, 2010) 1hr 27min
Readings:
1. Katherine Miller Skillander and Catherine Fowler “From longitudinal studies to longitudinal documentaries: revisiting infra-ordinary lives”, Studies in Documentary Film, 9.2 (2015): 127–142, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17503280.2015.1031569
2. E. Ann Kaplan “Theories and strategies of the feminist documentary (1984)” in Jonathan Kahana (ed.) The Documentary Film Reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press (2016): 680-692.
Week 13 (Ilona) – Celebrating a life
Screening: Amy (Asif Kapadia, 2015) 2hr 8min.
Readings:
1. Sheila Whiteley “Celebrity: The Killing Fields of Popular Music” in Su Holmes and Sean Redmond (eds.) Framing Celebrity: New Directions in Celebrity Culture. London: Routledge (2006): 329-342.
2. Lee Marshall & Isabel Kongsgaard “Representing popular music stardom on screen: the popular music biopic”, Celebrity Studies, 3.3 (2012): 346-361.
Policies and Procedures
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html
Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy_2016.html
Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html
Complaint Management Procedure for Students and Members of the Public http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/complaint_management/procedure.html
Disruption to Studies Policy (in effect until Dec 4th, 2017): http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html
Special Consideration Policy (in effect from Dec 4th, 2017): https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policies/special-consideration
In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.
Student Code of Conduct
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/
Results
Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.
Additional information
MMCCS Session Re-mark Application http://www.mq.edu.au/pubstatic/public/download/?id=167914
Information is correct at the time of publication
Student Support
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Student Services and Support
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
Student Enquiries
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
IT Help
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
Graduate Capabilities
Creative and Innovative
Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
- Develop skills in film-critical research and film-textual analysis
- Evaluate and appreciate different stylistic modes of writing about films
- Produce and communicate work in a manner consistent with accepted academic standards
Assessment task
- In-class Presentation
Capable of Professional and Personal Judgement and Initiative
We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
- Understand the main debates relevant to a specific sub-region of film studies
- Evaluate and appreciate different stylistic modes of writing about films
Assessment tasks
- Active Participation
- In-class Presentation
- Short Essay 1
- Short Essay 2
Commitment to Continuous Learning
Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing - personally, professionally and socially.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
- Understand the main debates relevant to a specific sub-region of film studies
- Develop an expanded historical knowledge of genre film and theory
- Develop skills in film-critical research and film-textual analysis
- Evaluate and appreciate different stylistic modes of writing about films
- Produce and communicate work in a manner consistent with accepted academic standards
Assessment tasks
- Active Participation
- In-class Presentation
- Short Essay 1
- Short Essay 2
Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills
Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
- Understand the main debates relevant to a specific sub-region of film studies
- Develop an expanded historical knowledge of genre film and theory
- Develop skills in film-critical research and film-textual analysis
- Evaluate and appreciate different stylistic modes of writing about films
Assessment tasks
- Active Participation
- In-class Presentation
- Short Essay 1
- Short Essay 2
Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking
We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
- Understand the main debates relevant to a specific sub-region of film studies
- Develop an expanded historical knowledge of genre film and theory
- Develop skills in film-critical research and film-textual analysis
- Evaluate and appreciate different stylistic modes of writing about films
- Produce and communicate work in a manner consistent with accepted academic standards
Assessment tasks
- Active Participation
- In-class Presentation
- Short Essay 1
- Short Essay 2
Problem Solving and Research Capability
Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
- Understand the main debates relevant to a specific sub-region of film studies
- Develop an expanded historical knowledge of genre film and theory
- Develop skills in film-critical research and film-textual analysis
- Evaluate and appreciate different stylistic modes of writing about films
- Produce and communicate work in a manner consistent with accepted academic standards
Assessment tasks
- Active Participation
- In-class Presentation
- Short Essay 1
- Short Essay 2
Effective Communication
We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
- Understand the main debates relevant to a specific sub-region of film studies
- Develop an expanded historical knowledge of genre film and theory
- Develop skills in film-critical research and film-textual analysis
- Evaluate and appreciate different stylistic modes of writing about films
- Produce and communicate work in a manner consistent with accepted academic standards
Assessment tasks
- Active Participation
- In-class Presentation
- Short Essay 1
- Short Essay 2
Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens
As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Learning outcomes
- Understand the main debates relevant to a specific sub-region of film studies
- Develop skills in film-critical research and film-textual analysis
- Evaluate and appreciate different stylistic modes of writing about films
Assessment tasks
- Active Participation
- In-class Presentation
- Short Essay 1
- Short Essay 2
Socially and Environmentally Active and Responsible
We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Assessment task
- In-class Presentation
Changes from Previous Offering
The unit has been developed to reflect a new direction. It examines ‘travel’ and ‘documenting a life’ as two intertwined ideas on screen throughout the history of cinema. New course readings have been developed, and assessment tasks have been modified to ensure that students fully grasp these two major ideas.