COURSE: FILM STUDIES (MSA

302)

Program BBA II
Credit Hours 3 CHs

Duration 16 Weeks
Instructor Ms. Mira Hashmi
Office & Ext. FH 4 - Room #56, Ext.177

Office Hours Available upon request Mon-Fri; email for appointment

E-mail mirahashmi@hotmail.com; mira@lahoreschool.edu.pk

Teaching Assistant MS. AFIA ASLAM

(afia.aslam16@gmail.com)

Course: Film Studies

 Lahore School of Economics
BBA II
Spring Term 2021

SYLLABUS

1. Introduction to film aesthetics

2. Cinematic language; what is subtext?
3. Components of film form
4. Reading film form
5. Film analysis and interpretation
 Course Introduction

The discipline of Film Studies introduces students to the notion of film viewing as an act of
being intellectually, emotionally and viscerally engaged with a cinematic text, rather than
as a passive activity in which the audience merely receives and does not participate. This is
done by envisioning and studying the individual elements that constitute the film form, and
using the material gathered to formulate analytical interpretations, and to find connections
between reel and real worlds.
The primary objective of this course is to provide the students with the basic tools and
analytical skills required for ‘reading’ films, i.e. to analyse and interpret visual and aural
material to locate the subtext of the film and to place that both in its own time and place,
and our own.

Course Learning Objectives

The course has been designed to achieve the following objectives:
CLO 1. Get an overview of the origins of cinema and the historical trajectory of the
medium;
CLO 2. Understand the related concepts of film form and narrative subtext;
CLO 3. Develop the skills necessary for film analysis that can be applied to a
variety of cinematic texts;
CLO 4. Learn to make connections between cinematic texts and real-world socio-
political concerns and events;
CLO 5. Develop the foundational skills for applying learned concepts to future
academic and/or film practice.

Program Learning Objectives

To develop Marketing competencies and Media skills with creative and innovative
thinking emphasizing on domestic and global business ethics to become leaders and
role models in competitive business environment.

Pedagogy
In any given academic and/or professional environment, analytical capabilities are a
valuable, even crucial, asset. It is an asset that enables individuals to read beyond the
surface and identify and harness the veiled or implied nuances of people, situations, and
verbiage.
The pedagogy of this course will be highly interactive, with a discussion-based core that
encourages free exchange of ideas and opinions. This ensures that rather than students
being ‘tested’ on their ability to memorise texts, they will be given the opportunity to find
and articulate their intellectual and visceral responses to the instigations of those texts. The
aim will be to help them to grasp concepts and see their practical utilization in a cinematic
context, which they can then apply to both discussion and practice.
The teaching methodology will include classroom lectures (utilizing a wide range of audio-
video material), film screenings that will serve as texts to be investigated, and extensive
discussion sessions that will provide students the platform necessary for critical
engagement in a communal environment.

Class Discipline:
 NO CELL PHONE ACTIVITY ALLOWED IN CLASS - cell phones must be switched off
or set to silent
 If you arrive more than 10 minutes late to class, or leave before class is officially
declared over, you may be marked absent
 You are required to do pre-emptive research on the topics being covered in each
week’s classes; this will count towards your CP
 All written work must be typed, and proof-read for errors
 I DO NOT ACCEPT LATE ASSIGNMENTS
 If you are absent for more than 8 classes in a semester (including those allowed
upon provision of duly verified leave applications), your name will be dropped
from the course and you will be given an Incomplete (I) on your transcript. TAKE
THIS SERIOUSLY; HABITUAL ABSENTEEISM WILL NOT BE TOLERATED
 Written applications must be submitted in case of any absences
 Any action which disturbs the class is prohibited
 Please remember: I don’t AWARD you your grade, you EARN your grade.

Readings and Class Participation:

In addition to the basic research noted above that you are expected to undertake on your
own, you will also periodically be assigned specific readings related to particular topics of
study. Your contribution to ensuing discussions in class based on these readings and
research are crucial to your marks for CP. Positive, healthy and constructive class
participation will be monitored for each class.

LAHORE SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS PLAGIARISM POLICY

Lahore School adheres to HEC plagiarism policies, which are available on the HEC website
and Lahore School handbook on plagiarism policy.
The policy can be found at
http://hec.gov.pk/english/services/faculty/documents/plagiarism/plagiarism
%20policy.pdf

Plagiarism in assignment/presentation or cheating during exam will result in an F grade

for the course. The students must note that plagiarism include the
submission/presentation of a report/article that has been previously used for another
course (even by the same author) or using the graded material of this course for some
other course.

Assessments
The final grading criteria will be as follows:

CP 10%
Quiz 5%
Assignments 25%
Webinar Attendance 10%
Project 25%
Mid-Term 10%
Final exam 15%
Total 100%

Quiz:
There will be one in-class quiz, to be conducted in the fourth week of the semester. This
will be based on assigned readings and material covered in the lecture sessions, and will
consist primarily of objective questions.

Assignments and Project:

The class will be given three written assignments and one main practical/creative project
to do over the course of the semester. For the purposes of the latter (which is to be
submitted at the end of the semester), the students will form themselves into groups of 3-6
each by the second week of classes.

Webinar:
The instructor will conduct a special 2-hour webinar during the semester, on the topic ‘The
Art and Evolution of the Music Video,’ attendance for which is compulsory. It will be
conducted twice, so students will have a choice as to which session they want to attend.

Core Reading List:

 David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film History - Chpt. 1:The Invention and
Early Years of the Cinema
 Bordwell and Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction - selected chapters
 Cinematic Terms
 CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES
Weeks
Lecture Sessions Readings Assessment
Intro to Film Studies; cinematic language;
1
form/content/subtext
Contd.
Independent
2 Title design: the work of Saul Bass research

Cinematic
Cinematic terms
terms
3 The art of editing BT: Chpt.6

The long take

Diegetic & non-diegetic music Independent QUIZ

4
research
Sound design

5 Screening: Baby Driver (Edgar Wright - 2017) ASSIGNMENT 01

Contd.

6 Intro to mise-en-scène BT: Chpt.4

Independent
Seeing in colour
research
7 Screening: The Fall (Tarsem - 2006)

Contd.

8 MID-TERM EXAM

Screening: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock – 1960) Independent

9
research
Contd.

10 Poster art

Contd.

11 The moving camera aesthetic BT: Chpt.5 ASSIGNMENT 02

Contd.

12 Screening: Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson – 2012)

Contd.

Screening: Under The Shadow (Babak Anvari – 2016) Independent

13
research
 Contd.

Screening: Jaws (1975 – Steven Spielberg) Independent

14
research
Contd.

15 Project presentations ASSIGNMENT 03

Contd.

FINAL EXAM
16