SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

CMNS 487-4

 

Gary McCarron	Spring 2003
RCB 6151; 604-291-3860	Burnaby Day
Email: gmccarro@sfu.ca

(Special Topics)
RE-VIEWING HITCHCOCK’S FILMS

Prerequisite:

Permission of the instructor.

Brian De Palma once commented, “Hitchcock is the grammar of cinema,” an observation subsequently echoed by other filmmakers including Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. Though popularly described as “the master of suspense” Hitchcock produced acclaimed films in several genres, and his works remain among the most widely discussed and analyzed by historians of the cinema. When he died in 1980, he had made fifty-three feature films several of which (Rear Window, Psycho, The Birds) have been incorporated into the discourse of popular culture. As Robert Kapsis has claimed, Hitchcock’s films illuminate “the conditions that are crucial in shaping the historical reception of films and other artifacts of culture.” That the word “Hitchcockian” is found in several dictionaries suggests something of the range of Hitchcock’s accomplishments.

In this course we will re-view a number of Hitchcock’s films paying particular attention to the visual style and thematic obsessions that are considered characteristic of his work. We will also consider Hitchcock’s experimentation with film language, his innovations in cinematic technique, and his talent for manipulating narrative, genre, and performance in ways often said to distinguish him as an auteur.

Course Texts (Required):

Turner, Graeme. Film as Social Practice (third edition). Routledge, 1999.
A Courseware package will be available from the bookstore.

Course Requirements:

Short Assignment 20%
Term Paper 40%
Take-home final exam 30%
Participation 10%

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices with respect to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will follow Policy T10.02 with respect to “Intellectual Honesty”, and “Academic Discipline” (see the current Calendar, General Regulations Section).