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RTVF 220-0 : Analyzing Media Texts

Description

This course is an introduction to the formal and industrial structures of film, television, and other audiovisual media. Examining moving images from an array of historical and global contexts, students will define basic elements of narrative, cinematography, mise-en-scène, editing, and sound, using those concepts to break apart the style and form of media texts. Students will also survey the ways texts are and have been produced and distributed in network television, Hollywood studio systems, and streaming. Throughout, we will discuss various theoretical frameworks for studying media, debating and applying those ideas to analyzing texts in their respective cultural, ideological, and economic contexts.

Finally, while a key objective of this course is to survey introductory concepts of media like film and TV, students will also analyze experimental, non-narrative, and other kinds of texts like video games and social media posts. Students will read textbook chapters and scholarly articles, watch required asynchronous screenings on Canvas, and attend synchronous lectures and discussions on Zoom. At the end of the course, students will 1) be acquainted with stylistic and formal grammars of moving images and 2) be able to critically reflect on how those elements change within cultural and economic contexts.