JK36001Introduction-Focus I Seminar (VMC) B
| Numbering Code | G-LET36 7JK36 SE36 | Year/Term | 2022 ・ First semester | |
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| Number of Credits | 2 | Course Type | Seminar | |
| Target Year | Target Student | |||
| Language | English | Day/Period | Tue.4・5 | |
| Instructor name | Ｍｉｔｓｕｙｏ Ｗａｄａ－Ｍａｒｃｉａｎｏ (Graduate School of Letters Professor) | |||
| Outline and Purpose of the Course | In this lecture, we will study multiple traditions of documentary film. The first half of the course will focus on Patricia Aufderheide's booklet on common practices and subgenres in documentary film. The second half will focus on Japanese documentary film, using the textbook Developments in the Japanese Documentary Mode as a foundation. Students will be required to purchase/hold the two textbooks listed below before the class begins. | |||
| Course Goals |
The students in this course will learn the following three points. 1) To absorb new knowledge on documentary film while reading texts. -- There are few appropriate texts that can provide an overview of documentary film. In addition to the two textbooks listed below, many other reading materials will be introduced in the class to make students aware of the richness of documentary film. 2) To look at the documentary’s transcultural traditions from both the English-speaking perspective and the perspective of Japanese film history. -- Documentary films are not always produced in the same way around the world, and documentary film is a medium that reflect the social and political nature of a region as well as the needs of its people. We will consider this multilayeredness and flexibility by using different texts in the first and second halves of this paper. 3) To talk about film, and to practice it in class. -- In this course, the emphasis will not be on finding any one right answer, but on discussing what you think about the films, or about the readings for each week. Through these discussions, students will hone their skills on how to communicate their thoughts to others. |
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| Schedule and Contents |
Class 1 and 2 Introduction Screening: Nanook of the North (1922, dir. Robert. J. Flaherty), 1h 18min. Class 3 and 4 Defining the Documentary 1 Naming Form Founders Screening: Drifters (1929, dir. John Grierson), 49min. The Man with a Movie Camera (1929, dir. Dziga Vertov), 1h 8min. Class 5 and 6 Defining the Documentary 2 Cinema verite Screening: Salesman (1969, Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin), 1h 31min.excerpt Sisters in Law (2005, dir. Kim Longinotto), 1h 44min. Class 7 and 8 Subgenres 1 Public Affairs Government Propaganda Screening: Triumph of the Will (1935, dir. Leni Riefenstahl), 1h 54min. The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993, dir. Ray Müller), 3h 3min.—excerpt Class 9 and 10 Subgenres 2 Advocacy Historical Screening: Night and Fog (1956, dir. Alain Resnais), 32min. Class 11 and 12 Subgenres 3 Ethnographic Nature Screening: Moi, un noir (I, a Negro, 1957, dir. Jean Rouch), 1h 10min. Class 13 and 14 Documentary Traditions in Japan Marcos P. Centeno-Martin and Michael Raine. “Tracing Tendencies in the Japanese Documentary Mode.” Developments in the Japanese Documentary Mode, ed. Marcos P. Centeno-Martin and Michael Raine. (MDPi, 2020): 1-15. Marco P. Centeno-Martin. “Legacies of Hani Susumu’s Documentary School.” Developments in the Japanese Documentary Mode, ed. Marcos P. Centeno-Martin and Michael Raine. (MDPi, 2020): 53-64. Screening: Children in the Classroom (Kyoshitus no kodomotachi, 1954, dir. Hani Susumu), 30min. A Japanese Village (Nipponkoku furuyashiki-mura, 1984, dir. Ogawa Shinsuke), 3h 30min. Class 15 Student Presentations Students submit their final papers to me on June 21st. |
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| Evaluation Methods and Policy |
Attendance and Participation in discussions 10% Leading discussion (on readings) 30% Presentation 20% Final paper 30% (An explanation of each of these items will be explained in class at the beginning of the semester.) |
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| Course Requirements | None | |||
| Study outside of Class (preparation and review) |
All students must come to each class after reading reading materials. I might be assigning students to go to movie theater and view one or two documentary films during the semester. |
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| Textbooks | Textbooks/References |
Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction, Patricia Aufderheide, (Oxford University Press, 2007) Developments in the Japanese Documentary Mode--This is an open access book, Marcos Centeno and Michael Raine, eds., (MDPI, 2020) Please purchase Aufderheide's book prior to the beginning of our course via online. The second book, edited by Marcos Centeno and Michael Raine, is an open access book, so you can read the chapters online; no need to purchase this one. |
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