Lang and Hitchcock

Required Books:

Patricia Allmer, et al. Johan Grimonprez: Looking for Alfred: The Hitchcock Castings (2007)

David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction

Slavoj Zizek, Everything You Wanted to Know About Lacan, But Were Afraid to Ask Hitchcock

Tom Gunning, The Films of Fritz Lang

Tom Cohen, Cryptonomies, Vols. 1 and 2.

All books may be purchased at Goering's Bookstore 1717 NW 1st Avenue
Tel. 352-377-3703 http://www.goerings.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp

Please email me only to send me class assignments. Otherwise, please talk to me after class or during office hours.

ALL WRITTEN WORK YOU SEND ME BY EMAIL MUST BE MICROSOFT WORD DOCUMENTS.

All assigned work for the course must be completed and be of passing quality to pass the course. This is not a course where you can do 70 percent of the work and expect to get a C in the course. To get a C in the course, you need to do 100 percent of the work at C level. Because of the number of students in the class, I may not notice that you have not been completing the work until the end of the term. In that case, you will receive an E. I have given Es to seniors in their last semester who didn't do the work (in some cases, they missed discussion questions). I guess they didn't graduate that semester.

If you have any questions about the course, please ask them of me in class or during office hours. Contact me by email only to send me your assignments. Also, put your last name first in the title of any attached document you send me and put you name in the word documents.

Please rent or purchase DVDs of the films on which you will do your take home exams and lead class discussion . You'll need to order these DVDs online or buy them at a local store. Online is usually cheaper. I recommend using http://dvdpricesearch.com/. Enter the DVD title, left click your mouse on "go," and all retail outlets selling it will appear, with the lowest price at the top. URGENT: Please order the DVDs asap. You will need to have the DVD on which you lead class at least a week in advance.

LATE WORK IS NOT ACCEPTED.

We will be watching the extended director's cut 4 disc DVD edition of Kingdom of Heaven, not the theatrical release 2 disc version.

NB: When you lead class on a given film, you will need to see that film at least twice. When watching it the second time, you can take notes, pausing the DVD to do so as you will. I usually end up with about forty pages of handwritten notes on a two hour film when I take notes.

Email me at [email protected] a word document with your name on it and a DVD image capture inserted as an attachment by midnight, Tuesday, January 15. Please put your last name in the title of all word documents you email me (example: Burt.doc) . Be sure to put your name in the word document too!

NB: When doing your research paper, I expect you to be able to "quote" images from the film. By "quote" I mean capture images and insert them into you word documents. In other words, you must be able to capture a image from the DVD of each shot and insert it into your text. I require screen captures because they actually help you "read" the film as well as give your reader more information. It's like writing about a poem from memory without being able to quote any lines versus having the poem in front of you and being able to quote lines from it.

I don't offer technical assistance on how to capture DVD images and insert them into word documents, so please do not contact me to help you with technical issues. Also, I don't lend DVDs, so please don't ask to borrow them.

Here is all the technical help I can offer:

To capture images from DVDs for your film clip and research papers, you may download a VLC player that does this for free at

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
If you want to fork out the cash (around 40 dollars), you can get windvd. There's a free trial at

http://www.intervideo.com/WinDVD/

If you don't think you can do this, I recommend you seek technical support on campus or drop the class. Again, I do not provide technical support.

Selected articles and book chapters will be available on the UF e-course reserve webpage for this course. Always bring the assignned book or print out copies and bring them to class (so we may read them closely as we discuss them). If you don't bring the reading(s) with you, I count you as absent.

Class attendance and participation are crucial to the success of this course. You will not receive better than a "C" in the course if you do not participate in class. (By participate, I mean attend class, do the discussion questions, and speak up usefully in class so that a given conversation moves forward. You can bring up a topic, add to someone else's point, or disagree. Just making random comments that lead us nowhere does not count as participation. If, in addition to not participating, you don't turn in written work either, you will not pass the course. I take attendance, and late arrivals will be counted as absent. If you don't bring the reading with you, I count you as absent.

SCREENINGS: Many of the films we will see are not available for rent or at the UF library. Attendance at screenings of these films is required. All films must be seen either at the screening (all screenings are free). All screenings will be on Mondays periods 9-11 (4:05-7:05) in TUR 2332.

PLEASE NOTE that the schedule webpage for this course is tentative and may be frequently revised during the semester. You may wish to print out a copy, but do check the website before each class to double check for any changes. The current version of this website is the binding one.

Please download all online readings now at the UF e-course reserve webpage. Create a folder on your computer and put them in it. If you are unable to access the readings, I don't consider that a valid excuse for not reading them, turning in discussion questions on them, printing them out, and and bringing them to class.

All documents should be formatted using Ariel 12 point font.

1. Leading class. Though this class is relatively large, I will not run it as a lecture. Instead, I will ask 2-3 of you, in consultation with me, to lead class once during the term. You will lead class discussions of a film and teh readings on a given Tuesday. I will talk with you in advance about how to prepare and I will of course also participate in discussion. I'll ask you to read two articles on the film you'll report on as as well as two articles on the film you will co-led discussion on. I will ask each one of you to prepare a close analysis of one scene from the film (see iii, film clip assignment below) of your choice. You need to let each other know which scene you want to do so that you don't duplicate each other's efforts. Also, please cc me in your email correspondence. Thanks. To get credit for this part of the course, you must email me and the other students leading discussion your notes and questions (at least two pages) 24 hours before the class you'll lead. Be sure to talk to me at least a week in advance.

2. Discussion Questions. Two discussion questions on each film will be due by noon the Wednesday after they are screened. Two discussion questions on any of assigned readings for Tuesdays are due by noon Monday before. Just make sure your questions are from a different book each week. Email me the questions as an attached micorosft word document at [email protected] . Please put your name at the end of the questions you email me (at [email protected]) This format can work extremely well, but it can only work and work well if all of you are equally prepared for discussion and only if you in fact do participate in class. You should be just as prepared to discuss on days you are not leading discussion as on days you are. The point of the questions is (a) that you do the readings and watch the films carefully (analytically); (b) that you come prepared to class to talk about the reading or film concretely; and (c) that you get practice for writing your papers and flim clip exercise (your papers will depend on your noticing the kinds of things in the readings and film that draw you to formulate questions about them. To this end, I will ask all of you email me two discussion topics (3-4 sentences) and discussion questions (at least one) about each reading and each film assigned for each class. I will then post these questions with your names on the course website or email them to you via the class email listerv before class. The day you lead class, you need not do the discussion questions. Please put the name of the class in your email title, and please put your name in your emailed topic / discussion discussions after your questions. (It just makes it easier for me to copy them on to this page.) . Please email your questions as a microsoft word document attachment. Please make sure the questions are your own (taking them from imdb, wikipedia, or any other uncredited source is plagiarism), and please make them as concrete as possible (addressed to a specific aspect of the reading or film). Please limit your question to the film itself (don't bother with production or reception histories) and text itself. Your questions should arise from a close reading of the film or assigned reading. Your questions may or may not come up in class, but all students should read all of them.

Be sure to bring the assigned book or a print copy of all assigned eletronic readings and bring it with you to class. If you don't bring the reading(s) with you, I count you as absent.

3. No unexcused late work will be accepted.

4. All assignments (double spaced, and that includes indented quotations) in Ariel 12 point font must be electronically delivered to me via email in a Microsoft Word document at [email protected].

5. Attendance. This includes completing the assigned work for each class and being to class on time. (If you don't do the discussion questions, for example, you are counted as absent.) Your physical presence in class is not enough for you to be counted as present. If you come to class late or if you come to class without having completed the assignment for that class, I will count you as absent. After the first few classes, when I have learned your name, I will take roll silently in class. You may miss one class for whatever reason without offering an explanation to me. Funerals, colds, weddings, etc., are all covered by the two absences. Be sure to bring the assigned book or print copies of all assigned electronic readings and bring it with you to class. If you don't bring the reading(s) with you, I count you as absent. You will not receive better than a "C" in the course if you do not participate.

6. Please arrive to class on time. It's just a common courtesy to me and to your fellow students. In addition to being irritating, lateness is not excused, and late arrivals will be counted as absent.

7. Please be sure to bring the assigned reading(s) to class the day we are discussing it or them. We'll be reading a lot of often difficult material very closely, and it will be essential that you have the text open in front of you.

8. All films will be screened Tuesday evenings, periods E1-E3 (7:00-10:00) in TUR 2334.

9. Please put your last name in the title of all word documents you email me. Be sure to put your name in the word document too! I don't grade papers that don't have names or titles.

10. It is your responsibility to check the schedule webpage before each class and complete all assignments on time. If you miss work and do not contact me to ask about an excuse, you will not receive credit, nor will I notify you. It is your responsibility to be aware of any assignments and either complete them or notify me and explain why you could not complete them should you have a valid excuse.

11. UF policy mandates that all students have access to a computer. You will need to access a computer and your email daily, and if you have a problem doing so on a particular day, it is responsibility to let me know in class and turn in any assigned work due on paper at the beginning of the class it is due.

12. Extra credit work is not an option, nor is make up work for unexcused classes.

13. If you miss a conference or other appointment to see me in person and then miss it without having cancelled at least 24 hours in advance, I won't reschedule the appointment.

14. To receive a "C" or above on your written work, your written prose must be free of grammatical errors, spelling errors, and typos.

16. There will be a number of unannounced pop quizzes in class. If you fail a quiz, I will count you as absent that day.

15. Final Grades:

Your final grade for the course will be based on the how you meet the following criteria:

i. Participation, including in class pop quizzes: 30 percent. You must participate in class disussion to get better than a "C" grade in this course. In addition to talking in class (5 percent), participation breaks down into three other components. (A) Leading classes: 10 percent . (The days you lead class, you need not do the discussion questions.) To get credit for this part of the course, you must email me and the other students leading discussion your notes and questions (at least two pages) 24 hours before the class you'll lead or give a report; (B) discussion questions for each class: 10 percent (pass / fail). and (C) pass pop quizzes in class (5 percent). If you fail a quiz, I will count you as absent that day. Passing this part of the course requires that you complete all of the discussion questions; moreover, each set of discussion questions must be thoughtful contributions, not perfunctory exercises, in order to receive passing credit. Do the two questions for each of the assigned readings and / or film on the schedule page and email them to me at [email protected] by midnight the day before the class during which we'll discuss the reading(s) and / or film. Please remember to put your name at the bottom of the email, after the three (or more, depending on the number of readings) questions. (The day you lead class, you need not do the discussion questions.) Print out copies of all assigned online readings and bring them to class. If you don't have copies of these readings with you in class, I will mark you as absent.

ii. (email to me at [email protected]). If your document is too large to send as an email attachment, send it to me through pando.Please put your last name first in the microsoft word documents you email or pando me. Example: Bush.doc

iii. Pass a film analysis quiz in class (Thursday, January 17). Failing it means your final course grade will drop a grade.

iv. 25 percent: A film clip analysis and plot segmentation analysis due February 1 by 8 p.m. Send both together as one document. The film clip and plot segmentation must be from films on which you have not co-led discussion or on which you have given a report. You'll need to include a screen capture of each of the shots (15-20). Email or pando them to me at [email protected]

Put your name and your title at the top of your film analysis paper and your plot segmentation. If you don't do this, I will stop reading it and will not record a grade.

v. 5 percent. Every two weeks, starting Friday, January 18 (by p.m.) turn in a response (500k words) on any 30 pages from one of the five required books. Choose a different book each time. Talk about why you chose those pages, what you got out of them, and how you might connect them to the films and other readings of the course. Email it to me at [email protected] . Due dates for responses are January 18, February 1, 15, 29, March 14, 28, April 11.

vi.30 percent: Two papers of 3k each. The first paper due Friday, February 15 by 8 p.m. and the second paper is due Friday, April 18 by 8 p.m.

vii. 10 precent: Report in class on a film.

All parts of the course (i-vii above) must be completed and turned in on time to pass the course.

Class attendance and participation are crucial to the success of this course. You will not receive better than a "C" in the course if you do not participate. (By participate, I mean attend class, do the discussion questions, and speak up usefully in class so that a conversation moves forward. Just making random comments that lead us nowehere does not count as participartion. If, in addition to not partiicpating, you don't turn in written work either, you will not pass the course.)

Plagiarism. I expect that all written work turned in by you will be your own. Be sure to cite all outside sources, if you use any, and to attribute any quotations you use to their source(s). To learn how to reference source material properly, go to Diana Hacker's online Research and Documentation guide (Bedford Books/St. Martin's Press), which includes a section on citing electronic sources. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism, a violation of the University's policies on academic honesty, and will result in an "F" for the course. If you have any questions about how to cite or quote secondary works or about what is or is not plagiarism, please ask me for clarification BEFORE you turn in your written work. You will not be penalized for asking, and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Email Ettiquette: UF NO LONGER SENDS EMAIL TO HOTMAIL OR AOL ACCOUNTS. Many students use email addresses that give no indication of their names. If your email address does not indicate your name, please be sure to give your name in the subject heading of all your email messages to me, and please also indicate that you are taking English 4133 (unless the subject heading of your message makes this clear). (I teach other courses as well.)

Also, and this is VERY IMPORTANT, please be aware that this class will make extensive use of the course website and email. The current version of the website is the binding one. Please make sure that if you have you do not currently access your gatorlink email account that you have all email from that account forwarded to your current email acount. I will be emailing you all through a class listserv, and this listserv uses your "@ufl.edu" gatorlink email address. Typically, I will be sending you several emails a week, so make sure that you are able to get them.