Syllabus

MCOM 2320: Introduction to Television and Video Production
Fall 2012 Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00-2:15 p.m., UC323 Professor Drew Morton E-
mail: DMorton@tamut.edu Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays (2:30-5 p.m.) and
Wednesday (9:15 a.m.-2:15 p.m.).

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES:
The worlds of television, video, and film production have all begun to converge in the
contemporary moment. The American film industry is increasingly embracing digital
distribution to cut down on analog 35mm print costs. American television is often shot on
film studio backlots, using single-camera production methods that have been steadily
established through Hollywood. Moreover, in another cost-cutting move, more and more
studios and filmmakers are embracing digital video as an economic and malleable means
to produce both film and television content. With this technological and industrial
convergence noted, this course is designed to give you an overview of international film
history (silent film, Russian Formalism, Classical Hollywood Cinema, German
Expressionism, French Impressionism and Surrealism, Italian Neorealism, the French
New Wave, and American Independent Cinema), the film industry (production,
distribution, and exhibition), and critical concepts in film production (film form, genres
of film, and film style). Moreover, you will be asked to apply these historical and critical
concepts towards the production of four short film exercises by utilizing the foundational
hardware (the DV camera) and software (Final Cut Express) that currently film,
television, and video production.
Before the conclusion of this course, students should be able to:
1. Understand the fundamental events in the history of film.
2. Describe the principles of film form and various elements of film and
production.
3. Mobilize the principles of film form and elements of film production.
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the video camera.
5. Demonstrate an understanding of Final Cut.

REQUIRED TEXTS/MATERIALS:
Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson. Film Art: An Introduction (McGraw
Hill, 10th edition). Weynand, Diana. Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut
Express 4 (Peachpit Press, 2007).
Other required readings will be distributed in PDF format (via electronic
distribution) or in photocopy form.
You will also need to be able to secure the films being assigned for a given
day. You can do this through Netflix or Amazon Streaming most easily.
You will also need 4 mini-DV tapes for your production work.
SCHEDULE

WEEK ONE

08.28: Introduction to Course Material and American Movie Reading: In-
class handout regarding film terminology. In-Class Screening: American
Movie (Chris Smith and Sarah Price, 1999).

08.30: American Movie, Continued.

WEEK TWO

09.04: Film Production, Distribution, and Exhibition
Reading: Bordwell and Thompson, Chapter One and pgs. 457-469.
09.06: Early Cinema
In-Class Screenings: Short films by the Lumière Brothers, Méliès, Porter, and
Griffith.

WEEK THREE
09.11: Introduction to Production: The Camera
Reading: Bordwell and Thompson, Chapters Four and Five.
09.13: Lab Time for Assignment #1
Reading: Apple Pro Training Series, pgs. 1-113 and 281-315. Assignment #1:
Introduction to Camera Movement

WEEK FOUR
09.18: Film Form and the Russian Formalists
Reading: Bordwell and Thompson, Chapter Six and pgs. 476-479, and
Eisenstein [PDF or Handout]. Outside of Class Screening: Battleship
Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925). Assignment #1 Due
09.20: Introduction to Production: Editing
Reading: Bordwell and Thompson, Chapter Eight, Apple Pro Training Series,
pgs. 113-247. In-Class Lab Workshop on Production Hardware and Software
Assignment #2: Make a Russian Montage Film

WEEK FIVE
09.25: Lab Time for Assignment #2
09.27: Lab Time for Assignment #2
WEEK SIX
10.02: Film Narrative, Style, and the Classical Hollywood Cinema
Reading: Bordwell and Thompson, Chapters Two and Three and pgs. 480483.
Outside of Class Screening: Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941).
Assignment #2 Due.
10.04: Film Narrative, Style, and the Classical Hollywood Cinema
Reading: Bordwell and Thompson, pgs. 406-410. Outside of Class Screening:
North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959).

WEEK SEVEN
10.09: MIDTERM EXAM
10.11: Film Genre
Reading: Bordwell and Thompson, Chapter Nine. Outside of Class Screening:
Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944).
WEEK EIGHT
10.16: Types of Filmmaking
Reading: Bordwell and Thompson, Chapter Ten, pgs. 433-438. Outside of
Class Screening: The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris, 1988).
10.18: Screenwriting and Storyboarding
Reading: Apple Pro Training Series, pgs. 315-399. Assignment #3: Re-create
a scene from Citizen Kane, North by Northwest, or Double Indemnity (include
a script transcription and storyboard!) in order to understand the Classical
Hollywood Film Style.

WEEK NINE
10.23: Lab Time for Assignment #3
Reading: Apple Pro Training Series, pg. 399-468. 10.25: Lab Time for
Assignment #3
WEEK TEN
10.30: Lab Time for Assignment #3
11.01: Film Sound
Reading: Bordwell and Thompson, Chapter Seven. Outside of Class
Screening: The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974). Assignment #3
Due.
WEEK ELEVEN
11.06: Alternatives to Hollywood: German Expressionism
Reading: Bordwell and Thompson, pgs. 469-472. Outside of Class Screening:
Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922).
11.08: Alternatives to Hollywood: French Surrealism
Reading: Bordwell and Thompson, pgs. 472-476. In-Class Screening: Un
Chien Andalou (Bunuel and Dali, 1928).
WEEK TWELVE
11.13: Alternatives to Hollywood: Italian Neorealism
Reading: Bordwell and Thompson, pgs. 483-485 and Bazin (PDF or handout].
Outside of Class Screening: Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948).
11.15: Alternatives to Hollywood: The French New Wave
Reading: Bordwell and Thompson, pgs. 485-488 and 415-420. Outside of
Class Screenings: Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960).

WEEK THIRTEEN
11.20: Alternatives to Hollywood: American Independent Cinema
Reading: Bordwell and Thompson, pgs. 488-494, 410-415. Outside of Class
Screening: Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989) AND one of the following
films: Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000), A Serious Man (The Coen
Brothers, 2009), or Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011). Assignment #4:
Script, storyboard, shoot, and edit a 3-4 minute short film in one of the five
alternative styles discussed in weeks eleven through thirteen.
11.22: THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
WEEK FOURTEEN
11.27: Lab Time for Assignment #4
Screening Journals Due: Pick nine films seen in class and write a one page,
single spaced, response paper for each. For your tenth entry, pick one film from the 2012
Sight and Sound poll NOT SEEN IN CLASS. Choices include Vertigo
(Hitchcock, 1958), Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1941), The Rules of the Game (Renoir,
1939), Sunrise: A Song for Two Humans (Murnau, 1927), 2001: A Space
Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968), The Searchers (Ford, 1956), Man with a Movie
Camera (Vertov, 1929), The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer, 1927), 8 1/2
(Fellini, 1963), Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976), Apocalypse Now (Coppola,
1979), The Godfather (Coppola, 1972), or Mirror (Tarkovsky, 1974). OR, you
may select a film from the Tuesday screening series (see below).
11.29: Lab Time for Assignment #4
WEEK FIFTEEN
12.04: Lab Time for Assignment #4
12.06: In-Class Compression and Presentation for the Web, Upload to
TAMUT Blog.
Assignment #4 due.
WEEK SIXTEEN
12.11: Presentation of the Projects via the TAMUT Blog, Evaluations
GRADE BREAKDOWN:

Attendance/Participation/Quizzes: 20% Screening Journal: 10% Assignment
#1: 10% Assignment #2: 10%
Midterm Exam: 20% Assignment #3: 15% Assignment #4: 15%
OPTIONAL TUESDAY SCREENING SCHEDULE (11 a.m.-1 p.m.
every Tuesday)
Numerous classes are screening films this quarter and Prof. Julien and I have
begun to put together a TAMUT Film Club to bring them all together. Thus,
some of the films assigned for this course will be screened on campus, each
Tuesday, from 11 a.m. to roughly 1 p.m. (depending on running length of
course). You are encouraged – if you have the time available – to use this as
an alternative to Netflix or Amazon when applicable (it’s free and you get to
watch some of these amazing movies – and more! – with friends and
colleagues!). Screenings with an asterisk have been assigned for this class.
08.28.12: Casablanca

09.04.12: The Conformist
09.11.12: Battleship Potemkin*
09.18.12: Rear Window
09.25.12: Fight Club
10.02.12: Citizen Kane*
10.09.12: The Thin Blue Line*
10.16.12: Crimes and Misdemeanors
10.23.12: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
10.30.12: Nosferatu*
11.06.12: Modern Times
11.13.12: Breathless*
11.20.12: Monty Python and the Holy Grail
11.27.12: Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love
the Bomb
12.04.12: Twelve Angry Men
12.11.12: Hugo
COURSE POLICIES:
Be sure to complete your reading and assignments on the date they are scheduled
on the syllabus. Late assignments are docked 1/3rd of a letter grade each day they are late.
Excessive absences will affect your final grade in the course (see the grade breakdown
above). If you miss more than eight meetings, you will be terminated from the course.

Cell phones are to be set on vibrate and not to be used during class.


Be sure to bring all your course materials to class each day we meet (this includes the
textbook, your films, etc.).
This is a lab-intensive course. That means that attendance and participation are especially
important.
You will be asked to share and critique one another’s creative work (constructively and
kindly!).
Please see me if you have any reservations about this.
You are not required to buy any software for this course. Supervised, in-class, lab time
will be provided to you.
If you should you need access to the lab’s resources outside of class, let me know.
This class involves film theory and practice.
I ask is that you approach everything with a patient and open mind. Do not admit defeat
in the face of these new technological and creative challenges. If I can do it, you can do it
(and that is meant to be self-effacing towards me, not you)!
Finally, please allow a 24-48 hour turn-around time for any e-mails. Due to this policy,
be sure not to leave any major concerns/questions about assignments for the last minute!
I reserve the right to alter this syllabus.
TAMUT POLICIES:
Disability Accommodations: Students with disabilities may request reasonable
accommodations through the A&M-Texarkana Disability Services Office by calling 903223-
3062.
Academic Integrity: Academic honesty is expected of students enrolled in this course.
Cheating on examinations, unauthorized collaboration, falsification of research data,
plagiarism, and undocumented use of materials from any source constitute academic
dishonesty and may be grounds for a grade of ‘F’ in the course and/or disciplinary
actions. For additional information, see the university catalog.
A&M-Texarkana Email Address: Upon application to Texas A&M University-
Texarkana an individual will be assigned an A&M-Texarkana email account. This email
account will be used to deliver official university correspondence. Each individual is
responsible for information sent and received via the university email account and is
expected to check the official A&M-Texarkana email account on a frequent and
consistent basis. Faculty and students are required to utilize the university email account
when communicating about coursework.
Drop Policy: To drop this course after the census date (see semester calendar), a student
must complete the Drop/Withdrawal Request Form, located on the University website

http:// tamut.edu/Registrar/droppingwithdrawing-from-classes.html) or obtained in the
Registrar’s Office. The student must submit the signed and completed form to the
instructor of each course indicated on the form to be dropped for his/her signature. The
signature is not an “approval” to drop, but rather confirmation that the student has
discussed the drop/withdrawal with the faculty member. The form must be submitted to
the Registrar’s office for processing in person, email Registrar@tamut.edu, mail (7101
University Ave., Texarkana, TX 75503) or fax (903-223-3140). Drop/withdraw forms
missing any of the required information will not be accepted by the Registrar’s Office for
processing. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that the form is completed properly
before submission. If a student stops participating in class (attending and submitting
assignments) but does not complete and submit the drop/withdrawal form, a final grade
based on work completed as outlined in the syllabus will be assigned.