- 2023–2024 Courses:
- Browse by Course Number
- Browse by Term
Fall 2023
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CAMS 100: American Film Genres
In this course we survey a number of popular American film genres, including but not limited to the western, the musical, the woman’s film, the war film, horror and science-fiction. Who defines genres? What are the conventions and expectations associated with various genres? What is the cultural function of genre storytelling? Do genres change over time? Assignments aim to develop skills in film analysis, research and writing. Requirements include two screenings per week.
6 credits; Argument and Inquiry Seminar, Intercultural Domestic Studies, Writing Requirement; offered Fall 2023 · Carol Donelan -
CAMS 110: Introduction to Cinema and Media Studies
This course introduces students to the basic terms, concepts and methods used in cinema studies and helps build critical skills for analyzing films, technologies, industries, styles and genres, narrative strategies and ideologies. Students will develop skills in critical viewing and careful writing via assignments such as a short response essay, a plot segmentation, a shot breakdown, and various narrative and stylistic analysis papers. Classroom discussion focuses on applying critical concepts to a wide range of films. Requirements include two screenings per week. Extra time.
6 credits; Literary/Artistic Analysis, Writing Requirement; offered Fall 2023, Winter 2024 · Carol Donelan -
CAMS 111: Digital Foundations
This class introduces students to the full range of production tools and forms, building both the technical and conceptual skills needed to continue at more advanced levels. We will explore the aesthetics and mechanics of shooting digital video, the role of sound and how to record and mix it, field and studio production, lighting, and editing with Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Course work will include individual and group production projects, readings, and writing. This is an essential foundation for anyone interested in moving-image production and learning the specifics of CAMS’ studios, cameras, and lighting equipment.
6 credits; Arts Practice; offered Fall 2023, Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Spring 2024, Spring 2024 · Laska Jimsen, Noah Schamus, Cecilia Cornejo -
CAMS 111: Digital Foundations
This class introduces students to the full range of production tools and forms, building both the technical and conceptual skills needed to continue at more advanced levels. We will explore the aesthetics and mechanics of shooting digital video, the role of sound and how to record and mix it, field and studio production, lighting, and editing with Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Course work will include individual and group production projects, readings, and writing. This is an essential foundation for anyone interested in moving-image production and learning the specifics of CAMS’ studios, cameras, and lighting equipment.
6 credits; Arts Practice; offered Fall 2023, Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Spring 2024, Spring 2024 · Laska Jimsen, Noah Schamus, Cecilia Cornejo -
CAMS 215: American Television History
This course offers a historical survey of American television from the late 1940s to today, focusing on early television and the classical network era. Taking a cultural approach to the subject, this course examines shifts in television portrayals, genres, narrative structures, and aesthetics in relation to social and cultural trends as well as changing industrial practices. Reading television programs from the past eight decades critically, we interrogate various representations of consumerism, class, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, lifestyle, and nation in the smaller screen while also tracing issues surrounding broadcasting policy, censorship, sponsorship, business, and programming.
6 credits; Intercultural Domestic Studies, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Fall 2023 · Candace Moore -
CAMS 222: Collaborative Narrative Filmmaking
Narrative films are the product of many specialized artists working in concert toward a shared artistic vision. In this course, students will explore the essential crew roles on narrative films and choose an area in which they would like to specialize during the making of a collaborative project. Through the term, we will move through film development, pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution with each student taking on a specific role in a group project. The term culminates in the exhibition of films that were made over the previous 10 weeks.
Prerequisites: Cinema and Media Studies 111 6 credits; Arts Practice; offered Fall 2023 · Catherine Licata -
CAMS 254: Cinematic Spectacle
This course traces developments in film technology from the nineteenth century to the present-day information age. Individual units will consider the ways in which technical and aesthetic innovations have further bolstered cinema’s status as a medium of mass entertainment. Particular attention will be given to immersive formats that have inaugurated seismic shifts in cinematic storytelling. Topics will include special effects, CinemaScope, Cinerama, Technicolor, World’s Fairs, theme parks, 3-D cinema, the emergence of the Hollywood blockbuster, IMAX, expanded cinema, digital cinematography, and computer-generated imagery. Requirements include attendance and participation, weekly screenings, readings, and various written assignments.
6 credits; Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Fall 2023 · Andrew Vielkind -
CAMS 270: Nonfiction
This course addresses nonfiction media as both art form and historical practice by exploring the expressive, rhetorical, and political possibilities of nonfiction production. A focus on relationships between form and content and between makers, subjects, and viewers will inform our approach. Throughout the course we will pay special attention to the ethical concerns that arise from making media about others’ lives. We will engage with diverse modes of nonfiction production including essayistic, experimental, and participatory forms and create community videos in partnership with Carleton’s Center for Community and Civic Engagement and local organizations. The class culminates in the production of a significant independent nonfiction media project.
Prerequisites: Cinema and Media Studies 111 or instructor consent 6 credits; Arts Practice, Intercultural Domestic Studies; offered Fall 2023 · Laska Jimsen -
CAMS 370: Advanced Production Workshop I
In this course, students will develop a concept and complete pre-production for their CAMS production comps. Students will draw inspiration from a variety of sources that are personal, cultural, and observational, and in doing so, develop confidence in their own artistic practice and perspective. We will refine technical and formal strategies, consider audience reception, and practice giving and receiving constructive critique. Prior to registering for the course, students must submit a project proposal to the instructor. Final enrollment is based on the quality of the proposal. Note: This course is intended to prepare students for a Comps production project in winter term and it is the first in a two part sequence with CAMS 371. If you have any questions about enrolling in this course, please email the instructor.
Prerequisites: Cinema and Media Studies 111, and either Cinema and Media Studies 270 or 271 or instructor consent 6 credits; Arts Practice; offered Fall 2023 · Catherine Licata -
CAMS 400: Integrative Exercise
6 credits; S/NC; offered Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Winter 2024 · Noah Schamus, Laska Jimsen, Candace Moore, Andrew Vielkind
Winter 2024
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CAMS 110: Introduction to Cinema and Media Studies
This course introduces students to the basic terms, concepts and methods used in cinema studies and helps build critical skills for analyzing films, technologies, industries, styles and genres, narrative strategies and ideologies. Students will develop skills in critical viewing and careful writing via assignments such as a short response essay, a plot segmentation, a shot breakdown, and various narrative and stylistic analysis papers. Classroom discussion focuses on applying critical concepts to a wide range of films. Requirements include two screenings per week. Extra time.
6 credits; Literary/Artistic Analysis, Writing Requirement; offered Fall 2023, Winter 2024 · Carol Donelan -
CAMS 111: Digital Foundations
This class introduces students to the full range of production tools and forms, building both the technical and conceptual skills needed to continue at more advanced levels. We will explore the aesthetics and mechanics of shooting digital video, the role of sound and how to record and mix it, field and studio production, lighting, and editing with Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Course work will include individual and group production projects, readings, and writing. This is an essential foundation for anyone interested in moving-image production and learning the specifics of CAMS’ studios, cameras, and lighting equipment.
6 credits; Arts Practice; offered Fall 2023, Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Spring 2024, Spring 2024 · Laska Jimsen, Noah Schamus, Cecilia Cornejo -
CAMS 111: Digital Foundations
This class introduces students to the full range of production tools and forms, building both the technical and conceptual skills needed to continue at more advanced levels. We will explore the aesthetics and mechanics of shooting digital video, the role of sound and how to record and mix it, field and studio production, lighting, and editing with Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Course work will include individual and group production projects, readings, and writing. This is an essential foundation for anyone interested in moving-image production and learning the specifics of CAMS’ studios, cameras, and lighting equipment.
6 credits; Arts Practice; offered Fall 2023, Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Spring 2024, Spring 2024 · Laska Jimsen, Noah Schamus, Cecilia Cornejo -
CAMS 186: Film Genres
In this course we survey four or more Hollywood film genres, including but not limited to the Western, musical, horror film, comedy, and science-fiction film. What criteria are used to place a film in a particular genre? What role do audiences and studios play in the creation and definition of film genres? Where do genres come from? How do genres change over time? What roles do genres play in the viewing experience? What are hybrid genres and subgenres? What can genres teach us about society? Assignments aim to develop skills in critical analysis, research and writing.
6 credits; Literary/Artistic Analysis, Writing Requirement; offered Winter 2024 · Carol Donelan -
CAMS 211: Film History II
This course charts the continued rise and development of cinema 1948-1968, focusing on monuments of world cinema and their industrial, cultural, aesthetic and political contexts. Topics include postwar Hollywood, melodrama, authorship, film style, labor strikes, runaway production, censorship, communist paranoia and the blacklist, film noir, Italian neorealism, widescreen aesthetics, the French New Wave, art cinema, Fellini, Bergman, the Polish School, the Czech New Wave, Japanese and Indian cinema, political filmmaking in the Third World, and the New Hollywood Cinema. Requirements include class attendance and participation, readings, evening film screenings, and various written assignments and exams.
6 credits; International Studies, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Winter 2024 · Andrew Vielkind -
CAMS 228: Avant-Garde and Experimental Cinema
This course examines the history and theory of avant-garde and experimental cinema practices from the 1920s to the present, focusing upon radical innovations in style and technique. The course places particular emphasis on the social and historical contexts that have shaped alternative and underground film movements. Attention will be paid not only to the influence of parallel modern art movements, but the ways in which filmmakers have challenged conventional means of production, exhibition, and distribution. Topics include city symphonies, abstraction, found footage, seriality, Surrealism, psychedelia, experimental documentaries, video art, essay films, feminist critiques, and the transition from analogue to digital. Requirements include class attendance and participation, readings, evening film screenings, and various written assignments.
6 credits; International Studies, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Winter 2024 · Andrew Vielkind -
CAMS 231: Film, Literature, and Culture in Mumbai and Seoul Program: Korean Cinema
In recent decades, Korean cinema has emerged from the shadow of Japanese and Hong Kong cinema to become a globally significant and influential force. In this class students will study the history and aesthetics of Korean cinema, its global circulation, and its place in the imagining, representation and critique of Korean identity.
Prerequisites: Participation in the Film, Literature and Culture in Mumbai and Seoul OCS program 3 credits; International Studies, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Winter 2024 · Arnab Chakladar -
CAMS 233: Film, Literature, and Culture in Mumbai and Seoul Program: K-Drama
The mass appeal of Korean television dramas, or K-Drama, now radiates well beyond the borders of the Korean peninsula. Korean dramas are among the most popular offerings on streaming networks around the world. In this class students will learn about the history, social contexts and major genres of these forms of popular culture and the interplay of their popularity in Korea and beyond.
Prerequisites: Participation in the Film, Literature and Culture in Mumbai and Seoul OCS program 3 credits; International Studies, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Winter 2024 · Arnab Chakladar -
CAMS 273: Digital Editing Workshop
This course introduces students to the art of motion picture editing by combining theoretical and aesthetic study with hands-on work using the non-linear digital video editing software Adobe Premiere. We explore graphic, temporal, spatial, rhythmic and aural relationships in a variety of moving image forms including classical narrative continuity and documentary storytelling. Underscoring the strong links between concept, direction, shooting, and editing, this course examines the close ties between production and post-production. Through editing assignments and class critique, students develop expressive techniques and proficiency in basic video and sound editing and post-production workflow.
6 credits; Arts Practice; offered Winter 2024 · Noah Schamus -
CAMS 278: Writing for Television
TV is a very specific, time-driven medium. Using examples from scripts and DVDs, students will learn how to write for an existing TV show, keeping in mind character consistency, pacing, tone, and compelling storylines. Students will also get a taste of what it’s like to be part of a writing staff as the class itself creates an episode from scratch. Topics such as creating the TV pilot, marketing, agents, managers, and more will be discussed. Finally, general storytelling tools such as creating better dialogue, developing fully-rounded characters, making scene work more exciting, etc., will also be addressed.
Prerequisites: Cinema and Media Studies 110 or 111 or instructor permission 6 credits; Arts Practice, Writing Requirement; offered Winter 2024 · Andrew Rosendorf -
CAMS 371: Advanced Production Workshop II
Advanced Production Workshop II is taken in conjunction with CAMS 400 for students completing production comps. Production projects are inherently collaborative; this course supports collaboration through workshops, crewing, and informed critique. This course is the second in the advanced production workshop sequence with a focus on production and post-production. Please contact instructor for further information.
Prerequisites: Cinema and Media Studies 370 or instructor consent 6 credits; Arts Practice; offered Winter 2024 · Laska Jimsen -
CAMS 400: Integrative Exercise
6 credits; S/NC; offered Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Winter 2024 · Noah Schamus, Laska Jimsen, Candace Moore, Andrew Vielkind -
CAMS 400: Integrative Exercise
6 credits; S/NC; offered Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Winter 2024 · Noah Schamus, Laska Jimsen, Candace Moore, Andrew Vielkind -
CAMS 400: Integrative Exercise
6 credits; S/NC; offered Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Winter 2024 · Noah Schamus, Laska Jimsen, Candace Moore, Andrew Vielkind -
CAMS 400: Integrative Exercise
6 credits; S/NC; offered Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Winter 2024 · Noah Schamus, Laska Jimsen, Candace Moore, Andrew Vielkind
Spring 2024
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CAMS 111: Digital Foundations
This class introduces students to the full range of production tools and forms, building both the technical and conceptual skills needed to continue at more advanced levels. We will explore the aesthetics and mechanics of shooting digital video, the role of sound and how to record and mix it, field and studio production, lighting, and editing with Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Course work will include individual and group production projects, readings, and writing. This is an essential foundation for anyone interested in moving-image production and learning the specifics of CAMS’ studios, cameras, and lighting equipment.
6 credits; Arts Practice; offered Fall 2023, Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Spring 2024, Spring 2024 · Laska Jimsen, Noah Schamus, Cecilia Cornejo -
CAMS 111: Digital Foundations
This class introduces students to the full range of production tools and forms, building both the technical and conceptual skills needed to continue at more advanced levels. We will explore the aesthetics and mechanics of shooting digital video, the role of sound and how to record and mix it, field and studio production, lighting, and editing with Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Course work will include individual and group production projects, readings, and writing. This is an essential foundation for anyone interested in moving-image production and learning the specifics of CAMS’ studios, cameras, and lighting equipment.
6 credits; Arts Practice; offered Fall 2023, Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Winter 2024, Spring 2024, Spring 2024 · Laska Jimsen, Noah Schamus, Cecilia Cornejo -
CAMS 175: Studio Filmmaking
This course will explore the techniques and formal filmmaking strategies that can be employed when working on a soundstage, as well as a grounding in the historical uses of studio filmmaking. Topics will include lighting, set design, blocking/performance, and cinematography with an eye towards how these tools can be deployed in a controlled environment. Students will gain an understanding of the technical and creative tools at their disposal in a studio setting, as well as the ways these tools may be applied for a broader filmmaking practice.
6 credits; Arts Practice; offered Spring 2024 · Noah Schamus -
CAMS 214: Film History III
This course is designed to introduce students to recent film history, 1970-present, and the multiple permutations of cinema around the globe. The course charts the development of national cinemas since the 1970s while considering the effects of media consolidation and digital convergence. Moreover, the course examines how global cinemas have reacted to and dealt with the formal influence and economic domination of Hollywood on international audiences. Class lectures, screenings, and discussions will consider how cinema has changed from a primarily national phenomenon to a transnational form in the twenty-first century.
6 credits; International Studies, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Spring 2024 · Andrew Vielkind -
CAMS 219: African Cinema: A Quest for Identity and Self-Definition
Born as a response to the colonial gaze and discourse, African cinema has been a deliberate effort to affirm and express an African personality and consciousness. Focusing on the film production from West and Southern Africa since the early fifties, this course will entail a discussion of major themes such as colonialism, nationalism and independence, and the analysis of African symbolisms, world-views, and their links to narrative techniques. In this overview, particular attention will be given to the films of Ousmane Sembène, Souleymane Cissé, Mweze Ngangura, Zola Maseko, Oliver Schmitz, Abderrahmane Sissako and many others.
6 credits; International Studies, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Spring 2024 · Cherif Keita -
CAMS 225: Film Noir: The Dark Side of the American Dream
After Americans grasped the enormity of the Depression and World War II, the glossy fantasies of 1930s cinema seemed hollow indeed. During the 1940s, the movies, our true national pastime, took a nosedive into pessimism. The result? A collection of exceptional films populated with tough guys and dangerous women lurking in the shadows of nasty urban landscapes. This course focuses on classic American noir as well as neo-noir from a variety of perspectives, including mode and genre, visual style and narrative structure, postwar culture and politics, and race, gender, and sexuality. Requirements include two screenings per week and several short papers.
6 credits; Intercultural Domestic Studies, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Spring 2024 · Carol Donelan -
CAMS 245: The Essay Film
This course explores a hybrid cinematic genre whose critical and creative energies spring from the collision of traditionally separated spheres: documentary and fiction, text and image, private and public, reason and intuition. We focus on the intersection where creative practice and intellectual inquiry meet through theoretical readings, film screenings, and the fulfillment of various production exercises aimed at the production of original film work. Screenings include works by Carmen Castillo, Chris Marker, Ignacio Agüero, Jem Cohen, Agnés Varda, Harun Farocki, Jonas Mekas, and other filmmakers who have explored this hybrid form.
Prerequisites: Cinema and Media Studies 111 6 credits; Arts Practice; offered Spring 2024 · Cecilia Cornejo -
CAMS 252: Media Archaeology: History and Theory of New Media
This course offers a historical survey of developments in media technology from the nineteenth century to the present day. Particular attention will be given to the ways in which moving images, video games, computers, tape recorders, videocassettes, photography, the internet, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence have been instrumental in shaping human interaction and augmenting the senses. Individual units will examine how the origins of our contemporary media culture can be traced back to earlier—often obsolete—formats and technologies. Weekly screenings will demonstrate how filmmakers have grappled with the cultural and social impacts of emerging technologies. Requirements include attendance and participation, readings, and various written assignments.
6 credits; International Studies, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Spring 2024 · Andrew Vielkind -
CAMS 271: Fiction
Through a series of exercises, students will explore the fundamentals of making narrative films. Areas of focus in this course include visual storytelling and cinematography, working with actors, and story structure. Through readings, screenings, and writing exercises, we will analyze how mood, tone, and themes are constructed through formal techniques. Course work includes individual and group exercise, and culminates in individual short narrative projects.
Prerequisites: Cinema and Media Studies 111 and one additional Cinema and Media Studies course, or instructor permission 6 credits; Arts Practice; offered Spring 2024 · Noah Schamus -
CAMS 340: Television Studies Seminar
This seminar aims to develop students into savvy critical theorists of television, knowledgeable about the field, and capable of challenging previous scholarship to invent new paradigms. The first half of the course surveys texts foundational to television studies while the second half focuses primarily on television theory and criticism produced over the last two decades. Television Studies covers a spectrum of approaches to thinking and writing critically about television, including: semiotics; ideological critique; cultural studies; genre and narrative theories; audience studies; production studies; and scholarship positioning post-network television within the contexts of media convergence and digital media.
Prerequisites: Cinema and Media Studies 110 or instructor permission 6 credits; Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Spring 2024 · Candace Moore