AJ17053 Americký vědecko-fantastický film

Filozofická fakulta
jaro 2000
Rozsah
0/2/0. 3 kr. Ukončení: zk.
Vyučující
doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Ph.D. (přednášející)
Garance
Ing. Mgr. Jiří Rambousek, Ph.D.
Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky – Filozofická fakulta
Kontaktní osoba: Mgr. Michaela Hrazdílková
Omezení zápisu do předmětu
Předmět je nabízen i studentům mimo mateřské obory.
Předmět si smí zapsat nejvýše 15 stud.
Momentální stav registrace a zápisu: zapsáno: 0/15, pouze zareg.: 0/15, pouze zareg. s předností (mateřské obory): 0/15
Mateřské obory/plány
Osnova
  • The aim of the course is to study critically one area of cultural production in the United States, following its transformation in its interplay with the development of the society. The participants will be asked to define dominant themes of the genre and focus on its typical roles and character types in any given period. The participants will get acquainted with notable genre classics such as Lang's Metropolis, Kubrick's 2001, A Space Odyssey, and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. The course's reading centers on Per Schelde's study Humanoids, Androids and Other Science Fiction Monsters and the collection of essays Alien Zone (edited by Amette Kuhn). The secondary aim of the course is to provide the students with a general introduction to a better appreciation of the film medium (i.e. some basic concepts for a better understanding of a movie).
Metody hodnocení
Seminar; Assessment: an essay, in-class quizzes based on the reading, a presentation and active participation.
Vyučovací jazyk
Angličtina
Informace učitele
Spring Semester 2000 instructor: Tomáš Pospíšil First Cycle The Development of a Genre: The (American) Science-Fiction Film Since the early days of cinema, science-fiction films have established themselves as one of Hollywood's most popular genres. Beginning with such notable classics as Frankenstein or Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, through a major boom of b-movies in the 1950s, to the cinematic masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, well into the blockbuster age, when some notable features, e.g. The Star Wars trilogy, Spielberg's E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or more recently Independence Day, or the most recent Star Wars' "prequel" landed among the top grossing films ever made in the United States, one thing has always remained unchanged in the world of sci-fi, in spite of its varied look, style and quality: this genre has never lacked audience. It is exactly its lasting appeal that made me select it as a material for a kind of case study about the mutual interaction between the cultural and historical conditions a society finds itself in on the one hand and one specific area of its cultural production on the other hand. Naturally, such an undertaking would be incomplete without an attempt to define the genre in the first place - a no easy project to accomplish as we are going to see soon. Yet I do hope that throughout the semester we will be able to arrive at a satisfactory, if only partial, answer to the question of what properties must a movie have in order to pass for sci-fi. What would be the specific steps to take? As in any other genre, sci-fi movies, also, have certain recurrent themes, and some kind of stock repertoire: relation between humanity and its intelligent machines (robots); the question of human identity; the responsibility of science, its dangers and potential; the role of society and the media in our lives; our responsibility for the future; contacts between civilizations. The questions I would like for us to explore in the course of the seminar are how these themes develop in the course of time? If they develop at all, what is changing? Is it just the film technology and fashions in the movies - or something more? Are there any developments in the films' messages and underlying ideologies? If it is the case, to what extent are the themes determined by the period of their creation? What happens to the characters? Will their construction and casting differ from the 20's to the 50's or 80's? (It is a matter of course that the list of these random suggestions in no way excludes many other, equally relevant, ways of approaching this problem.) To ensure the possibility of a meaningful diachronical comparison, major stress has been put on films that rest safely in the cinematic mainstream, films that are reasonably well-known and at one point or another appealed to a similar kind of audience. On the other hand, the final sessions of the seminar will be devoted to movies that make use of some of the genre elements to create more alternative cinematic works, thus testing the traditional boundaries that usually define the sci-fi genre. To sum up, once again: the aim of the course is to study critically one area of cultural production in the United States, follow its development in its interplay with the development of the society. The secondary aim is to provide you with a general introduction into a better appreciation of the film medium, and get you acquainted with some basic concepts that might be useful when you start writing the five-page essay at the end of the semester (but necessarily not only then). I look forward to an interesting and stimulating course. List of Films Week 1 Introduction to the Course Metropolis (1926) Week 2 Frankenstein (1931) Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde (1932) Week 3 The Thing (From Another World) a brief extract The Invasion of the Body-Snatchers (1956) Week 4 The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) Week 5 Forbidden Planet (1956) Week 6 Dr. Strangelove (1964) Week 7 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Week 9 Clockwork Orange (1971) Week 10 Planet of the Apes (1974) (an extract) Star Wars (1977) Week 11 Alien (1979) Week 12 Repo Man (1984) Blade Runner (1982) Week 13 E.T.: The Extraterrestrial (1982) Brother from another Planet (1983) Week 14 Sleeper (1973) Assessment: There will be one film showing and one seminar per week. You are strongly recommended not to miss more than two seminars and/or showings per semester. Please come to the seminars having read the assigned reading and having seen the respective film. Your active involvement in discussions will be appreciated. Your evaluation will be based on your essay (50%), on your presentation of a movie (25%) and on your in-class activity (25%). Your essays should be approx. 4-5 pages long and should deal with some aspect of the films on the syllabus, preferably in connection with the related critical texts. The theme of your essay should NOT coincide with the topic of your presentation. Please make sure you hand in your essay in accordance with the general English Department deadline. Other films available and/or recommended: -Rollerball -Sleeper -Slaughterhouse 5 -Close Encounters of the Third Kind -The Terminator -Brazil -Independence Day - Men in Black - Mars Attacks - It Came from Outer Space
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Předmět je vyučován jednou za dva roky.
Výuka probíhá každý týden.
Předmět je zařazen také v obdobích podzim 2001, podzim 2002, podzim 2003, podzim 2006, jaro 2009, jaro 2010, podzim 2011, podzim 2016, podzim 2018, podzim 2020.