Brooklyn College Film Department John Beatty
Film Genres: Crime Films Syllabus SSI 2012


Requirements

Books

Required:

Clarens, Carlos; 1997; Crime Movies Da Capo Press, NY 373 pp

And One of the following

Rafter, Nicole, Michelle Brown; 2011; Criminology Goes to the Movies Crime Theory and Popular Culture NYU Press NY 256 pp 162

Thompson, Kirsten Moana; 2007 Crime Films: Investigating the Scene Walflower, London and New York

Also on electronic resource materials in the library:

Nicol , Bran and Eugene McNulty and Patricia Pulham; Crime culture [electronic resource] : figuring criminality in fiction and film / edited by.

(How to get there from home)

Go to:

http://library.brooklyn.cuny.edu/
On the top of the page (Right next to BROOKLYN COLLEGE) it says
“Search Our Collections”
Catalog (books, films, etc.) [login]
Click on “Login” and enter your BC email address and your password.
Then enter this web site.
http://site.ebrary.com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/lib/brooklyn/docDetail.action?docID=10488116

ASSIGNMENTS

SHORT ASSIGNMENT (for next Tuesday) (5%)

Make a list of at least 5 sub genres of the “crime film” and 5 mixed genres. List as many as 10 films for each subgenre and mixed genre you can. I want you to think about the problem of what constitutes a crime film.

TERM PAPER (45%)

Term paper is due no later than JULY 3 2012.

1. One possible paper for the course, will be to take one of the following films and try to define what constitutes a crime film and whether that particular film fits the definition.

Sudden Fear Exorcism of Emily Rose
Bad Seed I, Robot
The Wrong Man Inherit the Wind

Check with me about any other film

There is no correct answer to this. The question is how useful is the definition and how well does the film fit the definition. The paper should make reference to other films that might be problems to the definition

2. Choose a particular crime film we have not seen in class, and analyze the film relative to its text and sub-text discussing the way in which the film deals with the particular kind of criminality involved, how it is presented, its subtext and especially the way the film is handled visually. Remember this is not a class in radio. Text is important, but ignoring the filmic aspects will definitely get you into trouble in terms of a grade!

3. If you have an idea for another topic, discuss it with me first!

CHECK WITH ME ABOUT BOTH TOPIC AND FILM YOU WANT TO USE

FINAL EXAM (45%)

The final will be from 8 am to 10 am and is in essay format. There will be several questions and you will have a choice.

CLASS PARTICIPATION (5%)

NOTICE!!!!!!!!!!

TURN OF YOUR ELECTRONIC DEVICES. A CELL PHONE GOING OFF IN CLASS IS AN AUTOMATIC “F” PLUS YOUR CELL PHONE WILL BE DESTROYED

THE DEPARTMENT REGULATIONS REQUIRE ATTENDANCE RECORDS TO BE KEPT. IF YOU MISS MORE THAN 2 CLASSES YOU WILL FAIL THE COURSE AUTOMATICALLY

A LATENESS OF MORE THAN 15 MINUTES COUNTS AS AN ABSENCE