Courses
Here is the list of the courses that make up my major:
Group 1: These first courses looked at some of the practicalities of the filmmaking process; specifically the direction of actors and the adaptation process. They helped me understand certain ways that films and filmmakers can produce meaning.
Theatre 232 Intro to Directing
The first part of a two part course gave hands on experience with dramatic performance, most specifically direction. We focused on developing a point of view and understanding the relationship of the director to the work being directed.
Theater 338 Intermediate Directing
In the second semester I staged a one-act play, which helped me gain a much deeper understanding of how a director works to adapt their individual vision onto a dramatic work. I also learned how to work with actors on a much deeper level.
English 275 Literature and Film
This course looked at the adaptation of literature to the film medium. It was one of the first film classes I took at Saint Olaf, and was a great resource for a lot of the basics; we had to learn the film terms as well as the literary terms that they oftentimes matched up with. It was also the class in which I really started to learn how to read a film as a text: it’s signs and signifiers, it’s language, even it’s clichés.
History 290 Reel America
This class examined the unique interplay between American History and American film. We discussed how history and culture shape film and filmmakers, and also film in turn shapes culture and our understanding of our history. This was a great opportunity to get into some very specific film theory.
Group 2: Perhaps more than any others, these next two classes showed me how to distance myself from films. To look at them as contemporary primary sources.
Media 160
This course studied the relationship of media to culture and vice versa. Film was looked at more as a cultural document than a work of art. This provided an interesting new way to look at movies.
Media 260
This course will look even more in depth at film as a cultural document: how it shapes our worldview, how it can be used to manipulate the viewer, how it reflects the greater culture from which it is emerging.
Group 3: These classes have all enriched my understanding of world cinema. They’ve enlightened me on the role of films worldwide as well as the ramifications of the worldwide reach of Hollywood.
Norwegian 130 Nordic Film Today
This course taught me how we can use film to gain a deeper understanding about other cultures through analysis of contemporary foreign films. It examined a region of the world whose filmmaking has come to very closely resemble Hollywood’s mode of production in some ways, but in others are radically different. I gained a deeper understanding of the degree to which Hollywood cinema influences world cinema and culture.
Asian 124 Intro to Japanese Film
During this interim course we looked at the historical development of Japanese film over the last 100+ years. It was fascinating to study the way this art form is used. We discussed the differences in storytelling styles and aesthetics and gained a deeper appreciation for the role of national art history on the films of a specific country.
Integrative Studies 214 American Film History
This class taught me a great deal about the evolution of storytelling styles and modes of production that are still widely used in the American film industry today. This helped me gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of where film has been in this country as well as where it may be going.
Media 240: World Cinema
This course has enriched my knowledge of international cinema history and broadened my appreciation for world film.
Group 4: These courses focused what has become a real passion of mine, auteur criticism. My understanding of the cinema has been greatly enriched through the study of the bodies of work of specific directors; how they’ve evolved over time and what themes remain constant through out their work. I’ve loved these courses.
IS 398: Auteur Theory
This Independent Research looked at the auteur theory’s development and it’s application with regards to one of its developers: Jean-Luc Godard. It moved fluidly into my second semester senior project looking at Godard as critic, theoretician, philosopher and filmmaker.
Religion 298 God and Death in Ingmar Bergman
This independent study focused on the films of Ingmar Bergman throughout his career. It helped me develop an understanding of the role of the writer/director as well as a deeper understanding of one of the giants of 20 th century film.
