Theory and Language of Cinema
Code: 100544 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Art History | OB | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Maria Rosa Gutierrez Herranz
- Email:
- mariarosa.gutierrez@uab.cat
Teachers
- Maria Rosa Gutierrez Herranz
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites are required
Objectives and Contextualisation
- Learning the basic vocabulary of cinematic language
- Knowing the main film schools in the history of cinema
- Knowing the main theoretical and methodological approaches in film historiography
Competences
- Applying the specific scientific methodologies of the discipline of Art History.
- Demonstrating they know the history of the artistic ideas and the main theoretical currents that inspired the reflection about art, cinema, its creators and its audience through history.
- Recognising the fundamental problems, vocabulary and concepts of the Theory of Art and Cinema.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
Learning Outcomes
- Analysing ideas about an artistic phenomenon, and its creators and recipients in a given cultural context.
- Analysing ideas about an artistic phenomenon in a given cultural context.
- Analysing the creators of an artistic phenomenon in a specific cultural context.
- Analysing the recipients of an artistic phenomenon in a specific cultural context.
- Applying the iconographic knowledge to the reading of artistic imagery.
- Critically analysing basic concepts of artistic and cinematographic theory and its evolution through history.
- Demonstrating the knowledge of scientific methodology, sources and Art Theory in the reading, criticism and formal, iconographic and symbolic interpretation of any artistic or cinematographic imagery.
- Differentiating artistic theories about an artistic phenomenon, its creators and recipients in a given cultural context.
- Engaging in debates about historical facts respecting the other participants' opinions.
- Interpreting and communicating the contents of a text about theory of art and cinema.
- Using knowledge about aesthetic ideas and art theory to analyse the cinematographic imagery.
Content
I. Early cinema
1. Historical context
2. Pre-cinematic devices
3. Cinema as a science, entertainment and industry
4. Cinematographic genres: high and low culture
5. Early cinema language
II. Classic cinema
1. Hollywood Golden Age
2. Film as an industry: Studio System and Star System
3. The grammar of classic cinema
4. Film genre codes
III. Avant-garde, underground and experimental cinema
1. Avant-garde film: Impressionism, Expressionism, Kammerspielfilm, New Objectivity, Soviet montage films and kino-glaz
2. Artistic film: experimental and underground film
3. Cinema as an art: language and specificity
4. Formal, psichologycal and psichoanalytical theories
IV. European realisms
1. French poetic realism and Italian neorealism
2. Phenomenological theories
V. New European film and American alternatives
1. New European film: Nouvelle Vague, Cinema Nuovo, Free Cinema, Neue Deutscher Film
2. American alternatives: New Hollywood and independent cinema
3. Author film vs. industry
VI. Peripheral cinematographies
1. Latin America, Asia and Africa
2. Feminist and postcolonial theories
VII. Overview of contemporary cinema
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL CLASSES | 24 | 0.96 | 6, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| VIEWING AND COMMENTARY OF FILMS | 58 | 2.32 | 5, 7, 10, 9, 11 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| READING AND PERSONAL WORK | 25 | 1 | 6, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 11 |
| STUDY OF THE CONTENTS | 25 | 1 | 6, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11 |
- Theoretical and practical classes directed by the professor
- Viewing and commentiary of films
- Study, readings and personal work
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXAM ON CONTENTS I | 35% | 1.5 | 0.06 | 6, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 9, 11 |
| EXAM ON CONTENTS II | 35% | 1.5 | 0.06 | 6, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 9, 11 |
| ORAL PRESENTATION: FILM ANALYSIS | 20% | 1 | 0.04 | 6, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 9, 11 |
| VIEWING AND COMMENTARY OF FILMS | 10% | 14 | 0.56 | 6, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 9, 11 |
- Exam on contents I (35%)
- Exam on contents II (35%)
- Oral presentation about a contemporary filmmaker (20%)
- Viewing and commentary of films (10%)
Observations:
- Single evaluation: essay about filmmaker (35%), exam of the contents I (35%) and II (35%). The same assessment method for recovery as continuous assement will be used.
- Review: on carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.
- Recovery: to participate in recovery, students must have previously been evaluated in a set of activities whose weight equals a minimum of 2/3 of the total grade (continuous evaluation) or the whole activities (single evaluation). The activity of viewing and commentary of films and the oral presentation about a filmmaker will not be recoverable. For recovery the maximum grade will be 5.
- Not assessed/Not submitted: students will obtain a “Not assessed/Not submitted” course grade unless they have submitted more than 30% of the assessment items.
- The schedule of assessment tests cannot be modified (except in exceptional, justified cases). Erasmus students requesting to advance an exam must submit a document from their home university to the professor justifying their request.
- Plagiarism: in the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for thisactivity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.
- IA: This subject entirely prohibits the use of AI technologies in all of its activities. Any submitted work that contains content generated using AI will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade will be awarded a zero, without the possibility of reassessment. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.
Bibliography
Film history
- Bordwell, David; Staiger, Janet; Thompson, Kristin, El cine clásico de Hollywood, Paidos, Barcelona, 1997
- Burch, Noël, El tragaluz del infinito, Cátedra, Madrid, 1995
- Elena, Alberto, Los cines periféricos: África, Oriente Medio, India, Paidos, Barcelona, 1999
- Quintana, Àngel, Fábulas de lo visible, El Acantilado, Barcelona, 2003
- Quintana, Àngel, Después del cine. Imagen y realidad en la era diglital, El Acantilado, Barcelona, 2011
- Sánchez-Biosca, Vicente, Cine y vanguardias artísticas, Paidos, Barcelona, 2004
- Torreiro, Casimiro; Riambau, Esteve; Monterde, José Enrique, Los “Nuevos Cines” europeos (1955-1970), Lerna, Barcelona, 1987
Film analysis and cinematic language
- Aumont, Jacques; Marie, Michel, Análisis del film, Paidos, Barcelona, 1993
- Bordwell, David; Thompson, Kristin, El arte cinematográfico, Paidos, Barcelona, 2002
- Magny, Joël, Vocabularios del cine, Paidos, Barcelona, 2005
Film theory
- Arheim, Rudolf, El cine como arte, Paidos, Barcelona, 1996
- Aumont, Jacques, Las teorías de los cineastas, Paidos, Barcelona, 2004
- Bazin, André, ¿Qué es el cine?, RIALP, Madrid, 2004
- Deleuze, Gilles, La imagen-tiempo, Paidos, Barcelona, 1986
- Deleuze, Gilles, La imagen-movimiento, Paidos, Barcelona, 1984
- Kracauer, Siegfried, Teoría del cine, Paidos, Barcelona, 1999
- Metz, Christian, El significante imaginario, Paidos, Barcelona, 2001
- Mitry, Jean, Estética y psicología del cine, Siglo XXI, Madrid, 2002
- Morin, Edgar, El cine o el hombre imaginario, Paidos, Barcelona, 2001
- Mulvey, Laura, Placer visual y cine narrativo, Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, 1988
- Sorlin, Pierre, Sociología del cine, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, 1992
- Stam, Robert, Teorías del cine, Paidos, Barcelona, 2001
Software
- Moodle
- Teams
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | Catalan/Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |