Film Genres
Code: 103076 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2501928 Audiovisual Communication | OT | 4 | 0 |
Contact
- Name:
- Elisabet Cabeza
- Email:
- Elisabet.Cabeza@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- english (eng)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Prerequisites
None.
Objectives and Contextualisation
This subject, with 6 ECTS, is part of the Film syllabus of the faculty.
Its goal is to explore the narrative and iconographic structure of genres in film history. The subject is structured around lectures, screenings, class debates and the making of a film essay applying the concepts analysed in class.
Competences
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- Demonstrate a self-learning and self-demanding capacity to ensure an efficient job.
- Develop autonomous learning strategies.
- Develop critical thinking and reasoning and be able to relay ideas effectively in Catalan, Spanish and a third language.
- Differentiate the discipline’s main theories, fields, conceptual developments, as well as their value for professional practice.
- Disseminate the area’s knowledge and innovations.
- Generate innovative and competitive ideas in research and professional practice.
- Manage the different forms of audiovisual programming according to various audiovisual genres.
- Manage time effectively.
- Research, select and arrange in hierarchical order any kind of source and useful document to develop communication products.
- Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Use one’s imagination with flexibility, originality and ease.
- Value diversity and multiculturalism as a foundation for teamwork.
Learning Outcomes
- Apply theories learned to the analysis of the media reality and the development of audiovisual products.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- Demonstrate a self-learning and self-demanding capacity to ensure an efficient job.
- Develop autonomous learning strategies.
- Develop critical thinking and reasoning and be able to relay ideas effectively in Catalan, Spanish and a third language.
- Disseminate the area’s knowledge and innovations.
- Generate innovative and competitive ideas in research and professional practice.
- Implement presentation, discursive and argumentative techniques to adapt them to audiovisual genres.
- Innovate by means of production and audiovisual programming.
- Manage time effectively.
- Promote innovations in product building.
- Research, select and arrange in hierarchical order any kind of source and useful document to develop communication products.
- Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Use one’s imagination with flexibility, originality and ease.
- Value diversity and multiculturalism as a foundation for teamwork.
Content
1. Introduction to film genre theory.
2. Birth of the concept in the context of classic Hollywood.
3. Types of genres, with a semantic and syntactic approach to their study.
4. Selected genre criticism - Western: genre and history; film noir: genre and society; melodrama: genre and film language.
5. From slapstick to blockbusters - how labels evolve.
6. Film genre hybrids and the impact on other formats.
Methodology
The course is structured round:
1. Lectures, debates, case studies and readings.
2. The making of a film essay to apply the theoretical concepts analysed in class.
The calendar will be available on the first day of class. Students will find all information on the Virtual Campus: the description of the activities, teaching materials, and any necessary information for the proper follow-up of the subject. In case of a change of teaching modality for health reasons, teachers will make readjustments in the schedule and methodologies.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Contribution to the seminar debates | 15 | 0.6 | 14, 1, 3, 5, 8, 13, 15 |
| Lectures | 15 | 0.6 | 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 |
| Shooting and editing of the visual essay | 22.5 | 0.9 | 14, 12, 3, 4, 2, 6, 7, 10, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials | 7.5 | 0.3 | 14, 12, 3, 2, 7, 10, 11 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Readings and the making of a visual essay | 82.5 | 3.3 | 14, 1, 12, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15 |
Assessment
To pass the course, the student needs to get 5 over 10 or higher in the written exam and 5 over 10 or higher in at least two of the sections listed above.
The student can ask to undergo re-examination if the marks obtained in the written exam and the paper outlining the theoretical background of the visual essay are at least 3,5 over 10.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contribution to the seminar debates | 10% | 2 | 0.08 | 14, 1, 12, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6, 10, 8, 11, 13 |
| Paper outlining the theoretical background of the visual essay | 15% | 0 | 0 | 14, 1, 12, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15 |
| Visual essay | 40% | 3.5 | 0.14 | 14, 1, 12, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15 |
| Written exam | 35% | 2 | 0.08 | 1, 12, 4, 2, 5, 6, 8 |
Bibliography
ALTMAN, Rick (2000): Los géneros cinematográficos. Barcelona: Paidós.
GRANT, Barry Keith (2013): Film Genre Reader IV. Austin: University of Texas Press.
KITSES, Jim (2004): Horizons West. Directing the Western from John Ford to Clint Eastwood. London: British Film Institute.
LANGFORD, Barry (2005): Film Genre: Hollywood and Beyond. Edinburgh: Endinburgh University Press.
MERCER, John; SHINGLER, Martin (2004): Melodrama, Genre, Style, Sensibility. London: Wallflower Press.