UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS
B.Sc. DEGREE COURSE IN Visual Communication
SEMESTER SYSTEM WITH CREDITS
(Effective from the Academic Year 2003-2004)

SYLLABUS

Paper VII - Elements of Film

Duration of Examination: 3 hrs
Maximum Marks: 100
Credits: 4

Unit I

Indian (Hindi, Tamil & other languages), Film form and film History: Early Cinema (1893-1903). Development of Classical Hollywood cinema (1903-1927). German expressionism (1919-1924). French Impressionism and Surrealism (1917-1930). Soviet Montage (1924-1930). The Classical Hollywood Cinema after the coming of sound. Italian neo-realism (1942-1951). The French New wave (1959-1964). Japanese cinema. Cinema in the third world. Contemporary trends.

Unit II

Planning, pre-production- Concept / Story development, Scripting / Screen play writing, Budgeting, Casting, Locations, Financing. Production-Shooting, Direction & Cinematography. Post production- Editing, Sound recording, Dubbing, Special effects, Graphics & Final mixing. Distribution & Exhibition.

Unit III

Mise-en-scene-Realism, the power ofmise-en-scene, aspects of mise-en-scene. space and time, narrative functions of mise-en-scene. Cinematographer properties-the photographic image, framing, duration of the image, montage and long take. Editing- dimensions of film editing, continuity editing, alternative to continuity editing. Sound-the powers of sound, fundamentals of film sound, dimensions of film sound, functions of film sound.

Unit IV

The concept of form in films, principles of film, narrative form, non-narrative form, dividing a film into parts and Genres (language, style, grammar, syntax.)

Unit V

Style as a formal system, narrative unity, ambiguity, a non-classical approach to narrative films, space and time, disunity, form, style and ideology.

REFERENCES