 BA
in English with Motion Picture Studies Concentration (39
hours in major)
Undergraduate MPS majors take beginning and advanced courses
in film studies, history, theory and screenwriting. They combine
these courses with the study of literature and a foreign language,
and electives in communication and philosophy.
Minor in Motion Picture Studies (18 hours)
Combining a minor in Motion Picture Studies with Business, Art,
Education, Communications or another major will expand your creative
and critical abilities.
Motion Picture Studies Courses
ENGL 278 - Introduction to Film Studies
An introduction to the study of film as a means of artistic
expression and as a mirror of cultural values in the twentieth
century. Credits: (3)
ENGL 310 - Introduction to Screenwriting
Introduction to writing teleplays and screenplays; preparation
of original manuscripts for agents. PREQ: 101 and 102. Credits:
(3)
ENGL 368 - Film Genres
An introduction to several film genres or an intensive exploration
of one film genre—such as comedy, horror, science fiction,
documentary, or musical. (P4) Credits: (3, R6)
ENGL 378 - Motion Picture Histories
An examination of key periods in the history of film and television
that are important to their development as artistic and cultural
phenomena in the twentieth century. PREQ: 278. Credits: 3
ENGL 394 - Film Studies
Focus on a narrower area of film study, such as a specific direction,
period of film history, or nationality of filmmakers. PREQ: 278.
Credits: (3, R6)
ENGL 406 - Screenwriting II
Outline a complete feature-length screenplay and write the first
act of that screenplay. PREQ: 310. Credits: 3
ENGL 407 - Screenwriting III
Complete and rewrite the screenplay begun in English 406. PREQ:
406 and permission of instructor. Credits: 3
ENGL 469 - Directors/Screenwriters/Stars
Focus on specific director, screenwriter, or celebrity important
to the development of film and television as artistic and cultural
phenomena in the twentieth century. PREQ: 278. Credits: 3, R6
ENGL 478 - Film Theory
A focused study of classical and contemporary film theory and
debates, such as montage, apparatus theory, historiography, realism,
and the gaze. PREQ: 278 Credits: (3)
Spring 2007 Courses
ENGL 278.01 Introduction to Film Studies
Heffelfinger
T/TH 12:35-1:50
This course focuses on the Hollywood film with an emphasis on
the "studio era,” 1920-1950. Organized more or less
historically, beginning with early films by Méliès,
Porter, and the Lumière brothers, we’ll check out
the development of different cinematic styles in European and
American silent features, and then move into the sound era. The
course will conclude with more recent Hollywood films. Requirements
include short papers, a midterm and final exams.
ENGL 378.01 Film History: Cold War Hollywood
Heffelfinger
W 6-8:50 pm
From feature films to instructional and educational civil defense
films (like Duck and Cover) that explained how to “survive”
nuclear disaster, to the new series, Jericho, about a small town
in Kansas that is dealing with a nuclear attack, the “Cold
War” defines the period we will explore in this course.
We will watch films from multiple genres, investigate the effects
of the blacklist on American culture and film production, discuss
the broader culture of the postwar Cold War period.
ENGL 394.01 Film Studies: America on Film
Heffelfinger
MW 4-5:15
In this upper-level course in film studies, “America on
Film” will be the object of our analysis and we’ll
watch popular favorites like The Lion King and Pretty Woman. While
we will begin with a cultural studies approach to film—focusing
on representations of race, class and gender—we will also
explore theoretical issues important to film studies, including
psychoanalysis, auteur theory and genre studies.
ENGL 368 Film Genres: The First Season
Fox
T/Th 3:35 – 4:50
In the course, we shall examine the first season of an episodic
television drama.We shall chart the course of the series from
its pilot to the final episode of the drama’s first year.In
particular, we shall examine how a television series finds its
“voice,” how multiple writers mesh into a single staff,
how characters are developed over time, and how the style of show
evolves. Among the other issues we shall investigate are the notion
of “memory” within a television series and the use
of a four-act structure.
Through this examination, we shall investigate the art and craft
of dramatic episodic television, including how dramatic television
writing differs from dramatic feature writing.Although this is
intended as a course of critical analysis, the instructor encourages
those students contemplating film writing to enroll. Television
is a major (and early) employer of screenwriters and familiarity
with the episodic form can vastly aid in a young writer’s
success.
ENGL 407 Screenwriting III
Fox
T/TH 2:05-3:20
In this course, students will continue to work on the screenplays
they have been writing in ENGL 406.
Using their outlines and already completed first acts, students
shall complete the writing of the rough draft of a feature-length
motion picture. Then, with the help of the instructor and the
class, they shall proceed to revise that script towards the creation
of a first, writer’s draft. If time permits, students will
continue to do a “polish” of their screenplay in a
professional manner. Written material will be due on a weekly
basis. Students shall be expected to read all their fellow students’
materials and provide constructive criticism. As in the intermediate
class, emphasis shall be placed on character, the dramatic presentation
of information, and how ideas and emotions are conveyed in cinematic
form. We shall also be dealing with such issues as character development,
minor characters, subplots, dialogue, and pacing.
In addition, the class will read and discuss professional screenplays
selected by the instructor.
Prerequisite: ENGL 406 with a B or better grade.
ENGL 493 Adapting the Short Story
Fox
T/Th 11 – 12:15
During the course of the semester, students will choose a short
story and adapt it into a thirty to forty-five minute dramatic
script. We shall look at literary material with an eye to discovering
its cinematic potential. Emphasis will be placed on how to dramatize
a literary work, how to make it visual, how to condense and expand
material which exists in another form on the page. We shall discuss
the issue of “fidelity” in an adaptation as well as
explore how material is transformed by the screenwriter. A major
emphasis will be on taking the source material and making it the
writer’s own.
Students will be expected to find a short story they wish to
adapt, discuss an approach to the adaptation with the instructor
and classmates, prepare and revise a professional outline of the
adaptation, and write and revise a script. In addition, the class
will read several literary works which have been adapted into
films and then examine the films which have been made from them.
Students shall be expected to read all their fellow students’
materials and provide constructive criticism. This is an intensive
seminar requiring a substantial amount of writing.
Prerequisite: ENGL 310 or permission of instructor.
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