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CMNS 425 Course Web site

Communication Studies (CMNS) 425
Film and Genre (Revision 1)

Revision 1 is closed for registrations, replaced by current version

Delivery mode: Individualized study with video component.* Online-enhanced.
*Overseas students, please contact the University Library before registering in a course that has an audio/visual component.

Credits: 3 - Humanities.

Prerequisite: None. CMNS 301 and CMNS 302 are recommended.

Centre: Centre for State and Legal Studies

CMNS 425 has a Challenge for Credit option

Course Web site

**Note: Students registering in grouped study, or grouped study international mode are advised that there may be some differences in the evaluation and course materials information indicated below. To obtain the most up-to-date information, contact the School of Business Call Centre at 1-800-468-6531.

Overview

Film and Genre looks at the historical, economic, political and social factors that influence filmmaking, particularly genre films. The course explores the possibilities and the limitations of genres, and looks at some of the criticism that has dealt with the area over the years. Two of the primary questions that recur throughout the course are, “What constitutes a film genre?” and “How do we identify genres, and how does this identification influence what we see on the screen?”. The course concludes by examining specific genres that illustrate the complex issues that arise when we look at so-called escapist films.

Outline

Unit 1: The Usefulness of Genre

Unit 2: Genre History and Literary Precedents

Unit 3: The Effects of Economics and Social Change on Genre

Unit 4: Genre Development and Instability

Note: A short paper is due after Unit 2.

Choose two units from Units 5 through 8

Unit 5: The Role of the Individual Artist in Genres

Unit 6: International Variations in Genre

Unit 7: Transcendence and Failure: Nongenre and Cult Films

Unit 8: Against Grains: Experimental and Cross-genre Films

Note: A major essay is due after completion of the fifth unit.

Choose two units from Units 9 through 12

Unit 9: Possibilities and Parameters in Science Fiction

Unit 10: Possibilities and Parameters in Mystery/Suspense

Unit 11: Possibilities and Parameters in Horror

Unit 12: Possibilities and Parameters in Comedy

Note: A major essay is due after the eighth completed unit.

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Evaluation

To receive credit for CMNS 425, you must complete all of the assignments, achieve a minimum mark of 50 percent on assignment number three, and obtain a course composite grade of at least “D” (50 percent).  There is no final examination for this course. The weighting of the composite mark is as follows:

Short Paper
(due after Unit 2)		 Major Essay
(due after fifth completed unit)		 Major Essay
(due after eighth completed unit)		 Total
20% 35% 45% 100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbook

Grant, Barry K., ed. 1997. Film Genre Reader 11. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Other materials

The course materials package also includes a student manual, study guide, and a reading file. The articles and book chapters in the reading file, together with selections from the course textbook, make up the assigned readings for the course.

Special Course Feature

Students registered in this course may take part in computer conferencing.

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