
COMMUNICATION 793E: Film/Video Makers as Historians       Spring 2001

Prof. Marty Norden
409 Machmer Hall, 545-0598, 545-1311
norden(at)comm.umass.edu
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~norden/793Esyll.html

"But of course history is not reality, it is merely fiction badly written." --C. K. Stead

In this seminar, we will grapple with the myriad issues that arise whenever film/TV practitioners attempt to construct the past. The moving-image commodification of history is as old as the film medium itself, and, as a number of scholars have observed, it reached a peak during the last three decades of the twentieth century -- a time when the seemingly apolitical meta-narrative and "great person" approaches to history were giving way to expressly ideological contestations and recontextualizations of the past. Abetted by a vastly improved representational technology (particularly digital imagery) and frequently displaying the postmodern impulse to recycle the past through pastiche, filmmakers and video producers "packaged" history as never before. We will pay particular attention to this period but will also examine earlier constructions of the past (notably, D. W. Griffith's vision of the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era as represented in the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation). I hope that we will be able to cover a wide range of nationalities and kinds of productions (e.g., documentary films, "Biography"-type programs, mainstream films), with many of the specific productions to be determined by student interests.

REQUIRED TEXTS (available at the Jeffrey Amherst College Store, 26 S. Prospect St., downtown Amherst):

Carnes, Mark C. (ed.) Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies. New York: Henry Holt, 1996.
Custen, George F. Bio/Pics: How Hollywood Constructed Public History. New Brunswick: Rutgers U. Press, 1992.

REQUIREMENTS:
One "research review" is required for this seminar. For this requirement, you will examine and report on a coherent body of literature related to our seminar. Most likely, it will be a single major text (click here for a list of possibilities), but it could also be a grouping of related lesser texts. The review must be presented both orally and in written form (5-6 pages, maximum). The written version of the review is due the same day as the oral presentation. (But *please* don't plan merely to read your review, unless you have a degree from the Orson Welles School of Intonation.) In addition, please prepare a one or two page abstract/outline of the review for distribution to your seminar-mates on the day of your presentation. The review will be worth approximately 25 per cent of your final grade.

An original research project focusing on one film or TV program (or a small group of related productions) is also required. As with the review, it must be presented both orally and in written form on the same day. This project will be worth approximately 30 per cent of your final grade.

A second original project is also required and will be due during Finals week (a specific date will be announced later). It may be a second analysis of one or more films/TV programs *or* an audience-centered project *or* a more general/theoretical kind of piece on the variant of historiography that we have been studying. It will be worth approximately 30 per cent of your final grade. Be prepared to give an oral report on this in-progress project during one of the last class periods of the semester.

Regular attendance and informed participation will be cherished dearly, and will be worth approximately 15 per cent of your final grade.

For your protection, I would advise you to make and keep a copy of each project (whether a photocopy, a computer print-out, or stored as a computer file) until you receive the original back from me.

GENERAL SEMINAR SCHEDULE (quite subject to change): Jan. 30 Introduction Screening: The Birth of a Nation (1915) Feb. 6 The Birth of a Nation and "Griffith in Context" CD-ROM Reading: Carnes Feb. 13 Studio-era "biopics" Screening: Night and Day (1946) Reading: Custen Feb. 20 (Monday schedule) Feb. 27 Reviews Mar. 6 Reviews Mar. 13 Reviews Mar. 20 SPRING BREAK Mar. 27 Research presentations Apr. 3 Research presentations Apr. 10 Research presentations Apr. 17 Research presentations Apr. 24 Research presentations May 1 Research presentations May 8 Oral reports on final projects May 15 Oral reports on final projects

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