SCRN20014: Film Genres and Auteurs

Close Analysis Task (1000 words) 40%, Participation 10%, Final Research Essay (2500 words) 50%

As an engineering student who has always been interested in film (my highest score for VCE was Media) I chose this as breadth and am very happy that I did.

The subject concentrates of the films of Martin Scorsese as the auteur in question. Each week you watch a different Scorsese film and have a lecture on it. Films include Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, Raging Bull and Last Temptation of Christ among others.

Mark is a really good lecturer. He rarely provides lecture slides and lectures are not recorded, but he is extremely passionate and somewhat obsessed with Scorsese. Though a little hap-hazard, his lectures are candid, demonstrative on the subject and invite discussion.

In the same sense, Kate is a fantastic tutor. She leads discussion very well, respects opinions is very knowledgeable on Scorsese and film in general and is quick to answer emails. The tutes are enjoyable and really important for a full understanding of the subject.

The first major assessment task is to do a close analysis (i.e. shot by shot analysis) of one specific scene of Taxi Driver. This is made easy as there is essentially practice for each of the first 6 weeks of semester as you are required to analysis the film in 20 minute segments. So the assignment is basically writing up any scene that you found interesting and providing screen shots to illustrate your analysis.

In the first 6 weeks, the reading is not really essential. Most of the time in the tutes is taken up with talking about the close analysis. After this is done however, the discussion of the tutes is mainly focussed on the readings. The readings can be quite lengthy and are a bit of a chore (usually between 30-60 A4 pages a week). However, most of them are quite interesting and valuable.

The second assignment is the final essay. It is due on the first day of exams and involves comparing and contrasting two films either watched in screenings or in the "recommended supplemental viewing" in relation to the key themes of the course. The essay does have a question, but it is pretty broad and can be changed and manipulated as you need it.

Each of the assessment tasks were enjoyable to do but also the source of my only complaint of the subject. They are far too poorly defined. A rubric is non-existent and the criteria is somewhat hazy. As it was my first time doing and Arts subject, I found it a bit difficult to know what was expected of me. However, this is inviting of creative freedom and a welcome change to the sometimes overly defined criteria of an engineering subjects, where the assignments of a 200 student cohort can often be indistinguishable.

This, and the lack of lecture recording or slides, were the only things that pulled my rating of this subject from a 5 to a 4.

But overall, the subject was very enjoyable and has me looking for another SCRN/CULS breadth to do next year.
For those thinking of taking the subject next year (i.e. 2014), I believe Mark is taking a year off, so I'm unsure how this will affect the subject.

No

Mark Nicholls, Kate Stevenson

N/A

4 out of 5

Bound book of readings (massive)

1x1.5 hour lecture, 1x~2.5 hour screening, 1x 1 hour seminar

Sem 2, 2013

H1