Film Engagement

This course will provide students with the tools to engage critically with popular films and offer intelligent feedback on their technical, moral, and cultural value. Coursework includes the following:

• Watching the assigned films
• Reading film reviews and analyses
• Attending weekly lectures on film structure, worldview summaries, and critical thinking
• Writing weekly film reviews and participating in weekly discussions
• Preparing a final project in which students select a movie from an approved list, find and compare reviews from both Christian and secular sources, conduct research on its creators and their worldviews, and write a critical film review.

Note: One of the assigned movies is rated R for violence or disturbing images, and students under 17 should watch it with a parent or guardian. Mrs. Howell is happy to provide parents with a summary of the movie and her reasons for including it in the assignments upon request.

Course Objectives:

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

1. Outline potential problems with conventional approaches to movie viewing and engagement from a Christian perspective (passivity, relativism, subjectivism, etc.)
2. Provide instant feedback on both a movie’s technical quality (acting, screenwriting, effects, etc.) and moral quality (what philosophy it is assuming and how it lines up, or fails to line up, with a Biblical worldview)
3. Find and engage with quality film reviews from both secular and Christian sources Identify and describe basic plot/structure points

Texts:

• Super Structure, by James Scott Bell
• Meaning at the Movies, by Grant Horner