Cinema Landscapes from NYC to Jupiter
Sharpen your artistic pursuits in New York City and develop your artistic eye in multiple art media with New York City as your framework. These two-course packages are designed to combine one in-depth course with a more general conceptual course so that your study of art combines a solid foundation with a specialized study that matches your interests.
What better way to hone your artistic style by devoting 6 weeks to the study of art and film at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan! Now one of the hottest neighborhoods in New York City (Historic South Street Seaport) with the new Gehry Building and the rising Freedom Tower and Zuccotti Park nearby, Pace University is the place to be for the arts and is at the center of growth and revitalization in New York City.
Our courses utilize the artistic and cultural resources of New York, incorporating visits to museums, galleries, and artists’ studios.
Cinematic Spaces FSS296G -- 3 credits, CRN: 50428 ONLINE
July 9-August 17
This analytical course examines how various locations are represented and experienced in film and what stories are built within these spaces. The class will discuss how cinema constructs urban space, domestic space, natural landscapes, outer space, and even virtual reality. Focusing on both the technical elements of these films and the narratives around them, the course will explore some of the broader social and political implications of the manner in which differing spaces are represented and experienced onscreen.
Cinema has often been said to provide a “space” of escape and imagination, but it has also been called our most accurate representation of reality. Though spectators are gazing at a two-dimensional screen, the sense they are offered of a three-dimensional world has allowed audiences entrance into spaces ranging from the density of New York City to the expanse of the American southwest and on to the far reaches of outer space.
Instructor: Catherine Zimmer, Ph.D., an Professor of Film and Screen Studies and English. She received her PhD in Rhetoric, with an emphasis in Film Studies, from the University of California at Berkeley in 2002, and has since published widely on film in scholarly journals and film studies anthologies. She has taught film courses at Pace on topics ranging from cinematic aesthetics to the cultural significance of horror film and the biology of science fiction film.
Film Auteurs of NY -- 3 credits, FSS296H CRN: 50429
Four weeks: July 24—August 16, 2012, Meets every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 10:10 a.m.—11:40 a.m. and 1:25 p.m.—3:55 p.m.
Class will also meet on 8/16 from 10:10 a.m.—11:40 a.m. and 1:25 p.m.—2:55 p.m.
Ever since the invention of the very first motion picture camera in the United States by New Yorker Thomas Edison in 1893, New York City has remained a center of motion picture production, distribution, and exhibition. This course will chart the journey of cinema in NYC over the past 119 years by focusing on several New York film artists who have made significant contributions to filmmaking in the Big Apple. Through lectures, readings, screenings and discussion the course will highlight the work of NYC auteurs, including Elia Kazan, John Cassavetes, Sydney Lumet, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Ken and Ric Burns, and Christine Vachon.
The class will also explore New York City as one of the world`s most exciting living film studios. We will explore the unique challenges that these auteurs have faced producing films in New York City and what young filmmakers face today. We will chart how NYC has contributed to cinema, not only its unique landscapes and architecture, but also its great energy, electricity, complexity, chaos and magic.
The class will visit several famous NYC film production locations and studios, including Chelsea Studios (opened in 1914) and Silvercup Studios (location for many films and TV shows shot on film, including The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and 30 Rock). The class will also visit other NYC film shrines, including the Anthology Film Archives and the landmark Ziegfeld Theater.
Through readings, screenings, discussion, and written assignments, students will develop skills in film analysis and criticism. They will also explore the relationship of art and industry by studying the evolution of production, distribution, exhibition, and marketing of film in NYC.
Instructor: Frank M. Martinelli, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Film and Screen Studies and English, was born and raised in NYC. He earned a dual degree in Psychology and Theatre/Cinema Arts at Cornell University, He split his time as a behavior therapist working with adolescents with autism and as an assistant director at several Off-Broadway theatres before completing his Masters of Fine Arts in Film and Video Production at Columbia College Chicago. Over the last several years he has worked in feature film production, has produced videos and events for non profit social service organizations and NGO's, and has directed short narrative, documentary and experimental films. He recently completed "Georgy" a screen adaptation of a modern dance and is currently finishing a film noir entitled, "Unscheduled Stops". Frank teaches both film production and film studies at Pace and is also adjunct faculty at CUNY-Hunter College and Hofstra University.