I have discussed offering this course with both the chair of Performing and Visual Arts and with the chair of Humanities (English) in order to avoid overlapping the offerings and the approach of film classes offered in the English curriculum. Instead of focusing on the literary analysis, the aim is on a more theatrical/cinematic analysis of the movie based on my background as a theatre director, which I believe makes it appropriate to be a Topics in Theatre course.
The course focuses on the learning outcome of critical analysis by reading Shakespeare’s plays and analyzing a variety of films based on the same script. In looking at the movies, we analyze the interpretation and concept presented, what theatrical and cinematic techniques the director and artists used to convey that message, and how that message meets the cultural philosophy of the time and the intended audience. For example, one script we look at is Henry V and we examine the 1944 Olivier film made near the end of World War II (and released in 1946) and how it glorifies war through various script, directorial and cinematic choices, raising the morale of the audiences. We then compare that to the very different political message about war for a very different audience in the 1989 Branagh movie of the same play. We look at interpretation of characters and scenes, costume and set decisions, camera angles, focus, and movement, color choices, editing of the script and the film, lighting and sound choices, and so on, that create the message unique to that particular movie version. As you can see in the sample syllabus, we also compare movies based on Romeo and Juliet (including Shakespeare in Love) and Taming of the Shrew. Because the course meets the learning outcomes required, I am asking for this special topics course to be designated as fulfilling a Humanities requirement. I have spoken with Shane Drefcinski, the Chair of Humanities, to ensure he supports this request. [Note: the syllabus was attached to the original email request. I don't see where to attach it in CIM.]