AAST 375 — AFRICAN AMERICAN CINEMA: THE CREATION, POWER, & MEANING OF BLACK INDEPENDENT FILM
Learning Objectives & Matches
Much emphasis will be given to films as cultural products that reflect the hopes, dreams, fears and attitudes of people living within complex societies. African American films will be viewed as vehicles for establishing identity, awareness, and self- expression. Students will gain an understanding of how filmic representations of African Americans reflect cultural myths as well as fulfill social needs. Students will also examine independently produced African American films which seek to challenge Hollywood’s representations of blacks by creating images and highlighting themes reflective of an Afrocentric worldview and reality.
Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as race and ethnic relations, gender studies, and cross-cultural perspectives.
Portray and interpret roles, using speech, gestures, and body movements, to entertain, inform, or instruct radio, film, television, or live audiences.
Confer with producers and directors to define the nature and placement of film or television music.
Seek influences from other art forms, such as theatre, the visual arts, and architecture.
Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as research methods, urban anthropology, and language and culture.
Apply makeup to enhance or alter the appearance of people appearing in productions such as movies.
Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as acting techniques, fundamentals of music, and art history.
Design sets, lighting, costumes, and other artistic elements of productions, in collaboration with cast members.
Study films or scripts to determine how musical scores can be used to create desired effects or moods.
Display students' work in schools, galleries, and exhibitions.
1) To promote a perceptive, sensitive viewing of how African Americans are portrayed in films
Portray and interpret roles, using speech, gestures, and body movements, to entertain, inform, or instruct radio, film, television, or live audiences.
Confer with producers and directors to define the nature and placement of film or television music.
Promote productions using means such as interviews about plays or movies.
Attend or view productions to maintain knowledge of available actors.
Conduct taped or filmed interviews or narratives.
Apply makeup to enhance or alter the appearance of people appearing in productions such as movies.
Review film, recordings, or rehearsals to ensure conformance to production and broadcast standards.
Write about and present research findings for a variety of specialized and general audiences.
Edit films and videotapes to insert music, dialogue, and sound effects, to arrange films into sequences, and to correct errors, using editing equipment.
Study films or scripts to determine how musical scores can be used to create desired effects or moods.
2) To critically analyze the impact of Eurocentric values and culture in the portrayal of African Americans in films
Confer with producers and directors to define the nature and placement of film or television music.
Study films or scripts to determine how musical scores can be used to create desired effects or moods.
Write about and present research findings for a variety of specialized and general audiences.
Develop factors such as themes, plots, characterizations, psychological analyses, historical environments, action, and dialogue to create material.
Portray and interpret roles, using speech, gestures, and body movements, to entertain, inform, or instruct radio, film, television, or live audiences.
Review film, recordings, or rehearsals to ensure conformance to production and broadcast standards.
Work closely with directors, other actors, and playwrights to find the interpretation most suited to the role.
Study the economic, political, and cultural characteristics of a specific region's population.
Apply makeup to enhance or alter the appearance of people appearing in productions such as movies.
Seek influences from other art forms, such as theatre, the visual arts, and architecture.
3) To develop an awareness of the need for African Americans to define themselves in films and the struggle for blacks to claim and tell their own stories.
Conduct taped or filmed interviews or narratives.
Develop factors such as themes, plots, characterizations, psychological analyses, historical environments, action, and dialogue to create material.
Portray and interpret roles, using speech, gestures, and body movements, to entertain, inform, or instruct radio, film, television, or live audiences.
Write about and present research findings for a variety of specialized and general audiences.
Confer with producers and directors to define the nature and placement of film or television music.
Review film, recordings, or rehearsals to ensure conformance to production and broadcast standards.
Confer with directors, sound and lighting technicians, electricians, and other crew members to discuss assignments and determine filming sequences, desired effects, camera movements, and lighting requirements.
Make or participate in recordings.
Write speeches, press releases, or other promotional materials to increase awareness of the causes, missions, or goals of organizations seeking funds.
Edit films and videotapes to insert music, dialogue, and sound effects, to arrange films into sequences, and to correct errors, using editing equipment.
4) To develop an Afrocentric perspective in respect to the critical analysis of blacks in film
Review film, recordings, or rehearsals to ensure conformance to production and broadcast standards.
Confer with producers and directors to define the nature and placement of film or television music.
Compose and frame each shot, applying the technical aspects of light, lenses, film, filters, and camera settings to achieve the effects sought by directors.
Develop factors such as themes, plots, characterizations, psychological analyses, historical environments, action, and dialogue to create material.
Work closely with directors, other actors, and playwrights to find the interpretation most suited to the role.
Conduct taped or filmed interviews or narratives.
Write about and present research findings for a variety of specialized and general audiences.
Portray and interpret roles, using speech, gestures, and body movements, to entertain, inform, or instruct radio, film, television, or live audiences.
Edit films and videotapes to insert music, dialogue, and sound effects, to arrange films into sequences, and to correct errors, using editing equipment.
Seek influences from other art forms, such as theatre, the visual arts, and architecture.
5) To express a knowledge and understanding of the definition and expression of black film
Confer with producers and directors to define the nature and placement of film or television music.
Produce color or black-and-white photographs, negatives, or slides, applying standard photographic reproduction techniques and procedures.
Compose and frame each shot, applying the technical aspects of light, lenses, film, filters, and camera settings to achieve the effects sought by directors.
Edit films and videotapes to insert music, dialogue, and sound effects, to arrange films into sequences, and to correct errors, using editing equipment.
Process film and prints from crime or accident scenes.
Review film, recordings, or rehearsals to ensure conformance to production and broadcast standards.
Produce images of objects on film, using radiographic techniques.
Trim film segments to specified lengths and reassemble segments in sequences that present stories with maximum effect.
Operate special equipment to perform tasks such as transferring film to videotape or producing photographic enlargements.
Promote productions using means such as interviews about plays or movies.