College of Marin
Spring 2008 Schedule of Classes
FILM
Directed study courses are offered at the KTD campus.
CINEMA STUDIES
COMM 108AD 1.0 unit
Film: Pre-Code Film-Complicated Women
"Before the Code, women on screen took lovers, had babies out of wedlock,
got rid of cheating husbands, enjoyed their sexuality, and held down
professional positions without apologizing for their self-sufficiency."
(Mick LaSalle) In 1934, Hollywood responded to threats of boycotts by
outraged moralists by instituting strict regulations on their own films.
The Hollywood Production Code limited how films could treat sexuality,
crimes against the law, language and costumes. We will screen the best
pre-code films, looking at the history of the pre-code period, how
characters and their actions changed, and how the movies influenced
behavior. Transfer Credit: CSU
1752 One Sat/Sun: 3/8 & 3/9
Handsher S
Sat/Sun 9:10-6pm, KTD/FA72
COMM 108H 1.0 unit
Film: Film Noir
A close look at dark America. Considered by many one of the peak creative
periods of American film history, film noir comprises those bleak, post-
WWII crime melodramas and private eye films, marked by dark shadows and a
pessimistic tone, wherein the American Dream turns into a nightmare. These
films are characterized by sudden violence, tough romantic intensity,
deceptive surfaces and emblematic reflections, unsentimental melodrama,
narrative complexity, low-key lighting, and themes of entrapment,
corruption, obsession, and betrayal. Classic noir films will be screened.
Transfer Credit: CSU
1753 One Sat/Sun: 3/29 & 3/30
Crosby F
Sat/Sun 9:10-6pm, KTD/FA72
COMM 108M 1.0 unit
Film: Great Screenplays
"With great screenplay, even a mediocre director can manage to make a
great film" -- Japanese auteur director-writer Akira Kurosawa. This class
is for those interested in writing for film or for those intrigued by how
much of the final film comes from the director and how much from its
original source -- the writer. We will view films looking at how they are
written. Issues of plot structure and character transformation will figure
importantly in our investigation, but so will how great screenplays shape
a viewer's emotional and intellectual experience. Transfer Credit: CSU
1754 One Sat/Sun: 2/23 & 2/24
Crosby F
Sat/Sun 9:10-6pm, KTD/FA72
COMM 108Y 1.0 unit
Film: Iranian Cinema
This class takes a close look at the vibrant Iranian film industry only
recently noticed in the West. Before the 1979 revolution that overthrew
the Shah, Iran had produced a total of only 1,300 films. Since 1984, Iran
has produced at least 50 "Superior Iranian Films" every year. We will see
how Iranian directors - both male and female - bring a fresh approach to
the look, the sound, and the pacing of film. Working within the heavy-
handed parameters set by the fundamentalist Islamic government, Iranian
filmmakers have revived Neorealism, the fable, and children's films all at
once, without portraying violence or sexual activity, let alone a woman's
uncovered head. Students will see how a simple story can engage the
audience, stories which take children more seriously than adults, stories
about an ordinary person with a single big problem, and more formal
stories about the meaning of Iranian traditions. Transfer Credit: CSU
1755 One Sat/Sun: 4/19 & 4/20
Handsher S
Sat/Sun 9:10-6pm, KTD/FA72
Note: Date changed from 4/8, 9 & 10 to 4/19 & 4/20
Day and time changed from TWTh 10:30-4:30pm to Sat/Sun 9:10-6pm
COMM 109A 4.0 units
History of Film: Beginning to 1950
This course offers a chronological survey of narrative film as art,
business, technology, and politics from the beginning of the movies in the
1890s to post World War II. Classroom screenings of representative films.
Taught concurrently with HUM 109A. Students may register for COMM 109A or
HUM 109A and receive credit for only one course. Transfer Credit: CSU/UC
1756 Crosby F
M 6:40-10:30pm, KTD/OH96
Note: Room changed from FA72 to OH96
COMM 109B 4.0 units
History of Film: 1950 to the Present
This course offers a chronological survey of narrative film as art,
business, technology, and politics from post World War II to the present.
Classroom screenings of representative films. for COMM 109B or HUM 109B
and receive credit for only one course. Transfer Credit: CSU/UC
1757 Crosby F
B T 1:40-5:30pm, KTD/FA72
FILM PRODUCTION
COMM 150 4.0 units
Intro to Filmmaking
In this class students learn the basics of film production. This
introductory class is appropriate for anyone who is considering a career
in cinema or who wants to take a filmmaking class for fun and personal
enrichment. ($7 material fee) Transfer Credit: CSU/UC
1759 Crosby F, Kennell G
M MW 10:10-1pm, KTD/LC86
COMM 182 1.0 unit
Sync-Sound Production Workshop
Prerequisite: COMM 150
Using 16mm cameras, digital and analog sound recording equipment, and
computers, students will learn the basics of sync-sound preproduction
planning, production, and the prep for editing a sync-sound film.
1765 3/08-3/15 Kennell G
Sat 9:10-6pm, KTD/LC86
COMM 183 2.0 units
Microphone Use and Technique for Film and Video
This class is appropriate for anyone who needs to learn how microphones
work, how to select the correct microphone for a project, how and where to
set up the microphone to capture the best sound and ways to change a
location or studio into a sound-friendly environment. The focus of the
course is to give students the knowledge and skills to design and create
effective sound for documentary, multimedia, narrative, experimental, and
promotional film and video projects. Transfer Credit: CSU
1766 CANCELLED 01/22/08 2/06-4/16 Crosby F
W 1:30-4:45pm, KTD/LC86
Meets Wed 2/6, 13, 20, 27; 3/5, 12, 19, 26; 4/2, and 4/16.
COMM 240 3.0 units
Advanced Production Projects
Prerequisite: PLEASE SEE CATALOG
This class is an advanced level production workshop where students,
working in groups or individually, complete their second-year films. In
addition, students have the option of working as crew or in some area of
postproduction on another students' project in lieu of a project of their
own.
1767 Kennell G
Th 6:40-9:30pm, KTD/LC86
SCREENWRITING
COMM 161 3.0 units
Film and Television Writing
Fundamentals of plotting and structuring stories for TV and feature films
from story idea to finished screenplay. ($5 material fee) Transfer Credit:
CSU
1762 Crosby F
L M 1:40-4:30pm, KTD/LC86
COMM 162 3.0 units
Advanced Film and Television Writing
Prerequisite: COMM 161
Pacing action, tightening sequences, writing crisp dialogue. Students work
from finished treatment to first draft screenplay of original story idea.
($5 material fee) Transfer Credit: CSU
1763 Crosby F
W 6:40-9:30pm, KTD/LC86
COMM 163 3.0 units
Screenplay Projects
Prerequisite: COMM 162
The course assumes the student has already taken five semesters of Writing
for Television and Film and is working on either a continuing screenplay
or teleplay project or is starting a new project. Class is a workshop-
seminar format; students present original works-in-progress for rewrite
suggestions. Transfer Credit: CSU
1764 Crosby F
W 6:40-9:30pm, KTD/LC86
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