Film Studies Learning Goals

• Students will learn to identify the elements of film language -- images, sounds, and words -- that tell stories and express ideas. They will interpret and analyze how these elements function in films. They will understand the relation of film to the social sciences, arts, and humanities.
• Students will reflect on how they have learned film communication and the role of film in influencing and representing their ideas and their culture. They will evaluate their own ideas of how to use film creatively .
• Students will discuss their analyses of films as an essential tool in developing their understanding of the many ways films affect individuals and groups.
• Students will write critical and historical essays on films, filmmakers, and their relations to cultural, philosophical, and artistic traditions.
• Students will understand the elements of film, the relation of film to cultural and historical development, and the history of film nationally and internationally. They will understand the relations between developments in film and those in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
• Students will become aware of the perspectives of other cultures from their films and understand their social, economic, and political values.