20710397 - Contemporary cinema and television series

The course of Contemporary Cinema and Serial Television is part of the activities that each student of the DAMS BA can choose in the free section of his/her study plan and is taught explicitly for the Film and Media Studies program. If the program generally gives the historical and theoretical background to understand all audiovisual forms, the aim of this class is the analysis of audiovisual fiction narratives produced after 1989 in Europe and the US and of their contexts. The course is dedicated to students that have already passed the classes of film and media history and analysis, and it focuses upon the most significant changes within the cultural scenario of media industries and uses, and how such transformation falls upon narratives and the experience configuration. The course aims to give to its students the framework needed to analyze the complexity of contemporary production, also considering the cultural and socio-economic context of globalization, the configuration of subjects, and the main aesthetics and theoretical tendencies.
teacher profile | teaching materials

Programme

The course aims to pinpoint and analyze the main tendencies of the contemporary audiovisual fiction narrative, addressing hegemonic imaginaries as well as the subversive trajectories delineated by film and television series in Europe and the United States.
The course addresses in particular transnational narratives in film and postcolonialism/globalization; audiovisual aesthetics, subjectivity and gender identity; complex television, serial narratives, and transmedia storytelling.
The final syllabus is online at https://ilariaadepascalis.wordpress.com/informazioni-generali/

Core Documentation

Ilaria A. De Pascalis, "Il cinema europeo contemporaneo: scenari transnazionali, immaginari globali", Bulzoni, Roma 2015.
Collection of essays.
The final syllabus will be available online on the teacher's website https://ilariaadepascalis.wordpress.com/

Reference Bibliography

Ilaria A. De Pascalis, Il cinema europeo contemporaneo: scenari transnazionali, immaginari globali, Bulzoni, Roma 2015. Collection of essays:  Paolo Bertetto, La macchina del cinema, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2010, capp. 4 e 5, pp. 90-134.  Paola Brembilla e Guglielmo Pescatore, “La serialità televisiva americana: produzione, consumo e tipologie di prodotto”, in America oggi. Cinema, media, narrazioni del nuovo secolo, a cura di G. Carluccio, Kaplan, Torino 2014, pp. 275-290.  Stefania Carini, “Quality TV. Narrazione e stile del telefilm nell’età della convergenza”, in Ácoma. Rivista internazionale di Studi Nordamericani, anno XV, numero 36, estate 2008, pp. 14-24, disponibile al link http://www.acoma.it/content/i-soprano-e-gli-altri  Paolo Bertetto, “L’analisi interpretativa. Mulholland Drive”, in Metodologie di analisi del film, a cura di Id., Laterza, Roma-Bari 2006, pp. 223-255.  Lorenzo Marmo, “Tornando a casa. Desiderio spettatoriale e dispersione narrativa in Twin Peaks: The Return di David Lynch”, in SigMa – Rivista di Letterature comparate, Teatro e Arti dello spettacolo, vol. 1, 2017, pp. 537-561, disponibile al link http://www.serena.unina.it/index.php/sigma/article/view/5525/6168  Stuart Hall, “Codificazione/decodificazione” (1980), in Id., Politiche del quotidiano. Culture, identità e senso comune, Il Saggiatore, Milano 2006, pp. 43-56.  Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford e Joshua Green, Spreadable media. I media tra condivisione, circolazione, partecipazione, Maggioli, Santarcangelo di Romagna 2013, Introduzione e Capitolo 7, pp. 1-49 e 279-310.  Jason Mittell, Complex TV. Teoria e tecnica dello storytelling delle serie TV (2015), Minimum Fax, Roma 2017, cap. 2, pp. 107-155. Essential filmography:  Mulholland Drive (D. Lynch, US 2001)  Breakfast on Pluto (N. Jordan, UK-IE 2005)  Biutiful (A.G. Iñárritu, ES 2010)  Twin Peaks (D. Lynch & M. Frost, ABC, 1990-1991 | Showtime, 2017)  Veronica Mars (R. Thomas, UPN 2004-2006, The CW 2007; R. Thomas, US 2014) Other sequences and fragments will be screened in class. All the details will be published on the teacher's personal website.

Type of delivery of the course

12 frontal lessons, for 3h each.

Attendance

Students who cannot attend classes can be updated on the contents on the teacher's personal website.

Type of evaluation

Students will have to write a paper, according to the indications given during classes. The paper has to be sent in attachment one week before the oral exam, and will be discussed with the teacher during the exam.