Film Theory

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• Identify and explain the major schools and theorists in film theory and their historical development.
• Apply multiple theoretical frameworks to analyze narrative, style, ideology, spectatorship, and cinematic meaning.
• Compare and evaluate differing theoretical approaches and explain how each produces distinct interpretations of the same film.
• Produce original scholarly film analyses that integrate theoretical concepts, close textual analysis, and academic research.

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
Attendance & Participation	15%
Weekly Discussion Responses (10)	20%
Short Film Analysis Assignments	20%
Midterm Examination	20%
Final Film Theory Project and Presentation	25%

Grades will be tabulated using the standard 10-point scale.

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
93% and above	A
92% - 90%	A-
89% - 87%	B+
86% - 83%	B
82% - 80%	B-
79% - 77%	C+
76% - 73%	C
72% - 70%	C-
69% - 67%	D+
66% - 63%	D
62% - 60%	D-
59% - 0%	F

Attendance/Participation:

Regular class attendance is a responsibility and a privilege of university education. It is fundamental to the orderly acquisition of knowledge. Students should recognize the advantages of regular class attendance, accept it as a personal responsibility, and apprise themselves of the consequences of poor attendance.

Student-athletes must make prior arrangements in advance for any conflicts with their schedule and due dates for this course.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

Film Theory: The Basics. 2nd Edition. Kevin McDonald. Routledge, 2022.