To investigate the variety of ways in which filmmakers have constructed narratives, both fiction and non-fiction, and to explore the principles of narrative construction in cinema;
To explore genre as a critical tool within Film Studies, suggesting why the concept became important in developing the subject area and exploring its application in contemporary work. (Two contrasting genres - in terms of themes, formal characteristics, ideologies etc - will be compared across Hollywood, European or World cinemas).
Outline Syllabus
Key theoretical ideas about film narrative.
The development of the narrative feature film in early cinema.
Narrative in Classical Hollywood production.
Modernist and Postmodernist narratives.
Concepts of the avant garde and anti-narrative/non-narrative.
Some definitions of 'genre'.
The importance of genre in the history of film studies.
Detailed examination of genre texts from different cinemas.
Examples of the development of genres over time and of inflections and generic hybrids.
Discussion of the current state of genre cinema in Hollywood and elsewhere.