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Film Theory
Teaching Assistant | UC Santa Barbara
Upper Division Lecture, 40–55 students across 3 sections
Brief Course Description
This course is a survey of major film theories and their applications to film analysis. Traversing topics like the oppositional gaze, feminist film theory, Soviet montage, realism, semiotics, and Third Cinema, students learn to compare and contrast different film theories and understand them through films screened in class. One of the biggest skills developed throughout this course is learning how to closely read film theoretical texts, and students are asked to write a final paper relating to their own investments in film theoretical concepts.
Highlighted Assignments
A selection of section assignments for Film Theory designed to incrementally introduce archival research skills
Click on assignments below to see more!
Collaborative Spreadsheet of Film Theorists &
Throughout the quarter, students were assigned different theorists to cover in a collaborative spreadsheet baed on the guide provided at the start of the term. The guide encouraged students to consider keywords, major arguments, historical context, and interlocutors as they presented an overview of the material to the rest of the class.
As a way of teaching students how to thoroughly annotate their readings and hone in on key passages in film theoretical writings, I provided them with two pages from three different readings to closely analyze together as a class.
