FAVBKa010 Introduction to Film Studies

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
4/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Taught in person.
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Radomír D. Kokeš, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Radomír D. Kokeš, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites (in Czech)
SEMESTR ( 1 )
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The lecture is structured as an introduction to the film analysis as an art form and dynamic system, narrative and non-narrative.
It focuses predominantly on the narrative film system as a) narrative structure, narrative process, the fictional world arrangement and the dynamics of the fictional world, as well as b) the stylistic system on the other hand.
Film production and analysis is conceived as a process of solving problems, artistic on the part of filmmakers and research ones on the part of analysts.
The lecture is the basis for the understanding of the film work, the film making process and the possibilities of systemic film analysis, developing the intellectual tradition of Russian formalism, Czech structuralism, neo/formalistic film theories and the historical poetics of the cinema.
Learning outcomes
After finishing this course, students will have got familiar with :
- the basic tools of cinema as an aesthetic phenomenon, based on a particular filmmaking practice;
- basic tools for system analysis of the film work as artistic form;
- tool for a thorough outward analysis of a narrative work, both with regard to the specific aspects of its structure (narrative, fictional world, style), and their mutual functional relationships;
- tools for inward analysis of the narrative work in relation to the wider context of production practice, genre or tradition;
- ability to read and structure a professional text.
Syllabus
  • - Film system
  • - Film narrative
  • - Fictional world
  • - Film style
  • - Film production, various traditions of film practice, ways of classifying films
  • Contact lectures will be devoted to the introduction to the topic and selected topics that are not supported by the obligatory and recommended literature.
  • Instructions for combined students: Classes are held concurrently with full-time students on Friday afternoons so that you can also take classes. It is mandatory for combined students to attend six lectures per semester, and the choice of these dates is theirs - and I will be available to answer any questions about lectures where they were not present in person. They will not miss any lectures in doing so, as an audio-visual recording is made of the face-to-face lectures and made available to them. The recordings are divided into the number of the lecture and then into the thematic blocks of the lecture in alphabetical order, with the order of the lectures following the following scheme: Introduction to the Analytical Poetics of Film, Principles of Film as a System, Narrative Outline: plot outline, Narrative Outline: audiovisual outline, Narrative Process: internalized narrative model, Narrative Process: externalized interrogative model, Static of the Fictional World, Dynamics of the Fictional World, Film Production and Distribution. Students also have the book ROZBOR FILMU in their materials to which they can turn for explanations of some key concepts.
Literature
    required literature
  • KOKEŠ, Radomír. Rozbor filmu. 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita. 264 pp. Spisy Masarykovy univerzity v Brně, Filozofická fakulta, sv. 430. ISBN 978-80-210-7756-0. 2015. Munishop info
  • BORDWELL, David and Kristin THOMPSON. Umění filmu : úvod do studia formy a stylu. Translated by Petra Dominková - Jan Hanzlík - Václav Kofroň. 1. vydání. Praha: Akademie múzických umění v Praze. 639 stran. ISBN 9788073312176. 2011. info
    recommended literature
  • BORDWELL, David. Poetics of cinema. New York: Routledge. xii, 499. ISBN 9780415977784. 2008. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, lecture recordings, home reading.
Assessment methods
Oral final exam on topics discussed during the semester.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: in blocks.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Přednáška je určena pouze studentům prvního ročníku.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2023/FAVBKa010