This document outlines the syllabus for a college introductory film course. It introduces the professor and their background in media production and education. It provides an overview of course materials that will be available on the Blackboard online platform and assigns an introductory reading from the textbook on narrative structure. In the first class, students will introduce themselves and share their favorite film and what elements make it appealing, and the class will view part one of a documentary on American film history featuring Martin Scorsese.

1. FILM 100:
INTRODUCTIONTO FILM
Professor Eric Luther
■ TX Community College transfer student
■ SMU: Dallas,TX – Bachelors of Humanities
■ NYU: NewYork, NY – Masters in Arts & Humanities Education
■ 10 years in media production (mainlyTV news)
■ Taught communications and media courses as adjunct at
other community colleges, but came full-time toWCC as of
Fall 2010
■ CurriculumChair, Communication & Media Arts
■ Department Chair, Communication, Journalism & Media Arts

2. FILM 100:
INTRODUCTIONTO FILM
STUDENT INTRODUCTIONS
- Tell us your name and…
- What brings you to this class?
- What is one of your favorite films and why?
What elements of film contribute to making
it one of your favorites? Is it…
- The Narrative/Story/Script?
- A Specific Performance(s)?
- The Cinematography/Editing?
- A Specific Scene?
- The Special Effects?

3. FILM 100:
INTRODUCTIONTO FILM
- What is one of your
favorite films and
why?What elements
of film contribute to
making it one of your
favorites? Is it…
- The Narrative/Story/Script?
- A Specific Performance(s)?
- The Cinematography/Editing?
- A Specific Scene?
- The Special Effects?

4. FILM 100:
INTRODUCTIONTO FILM
TODAY’S OVERVIEW:
■ Go over Class Outline +
Blackboard + Book/First
Assignment +Watch Short
Documentary

5. FILM 100:
USING BLACKBOARD
– All assigned class work and materials can be found in
the corresponding WEEKLY CLASS MATERIAL &
ASSIGNMENTS area of the course blackboard shell:

6. FILM 100:
USING BLACKBOARD
– Click into the appropriate week by date of
class meeting:

7. FILM 100:
USING BLACKBOARD
– There you will see class material &
assignments for that week:

8. What is “FILM 100: Introduction to Film”?
■100 level = Introductory
College Class
■The beginning of a course of
study; the basics

9. What is “FILM 100: Introduction to Film”?
■Why is this class important?
– Film is a wonderfully expressive and
collaborative art form that allow filmmakers
to comment and reflect on the human
condition.To be able to critically appreciate
cinema on a deeper level will only make you
love movies more, as well as provide
meaningful insight into the creative process
that brings them to us.

10. In-Class Screening
■ A PERSONAL JOURNEY WITH MARTIN
SCORSESETHROUGH AMERICAN MOVIES
■ Featuring a wealth of extracts from famous and
infamous American movies, Scorsese offers a
provocative multifaceted portrait of Hollywood film
directors as he charts a comprehensive course through
the rich history of the American cinema – we’ll watch in
sections throughout the semester
■ PART #1TODAY: Part I
■ The director's dilemma
■ The director as storyteller
– TheWestern
– The Gangster film
– The Musical
■ A great intro/primer for a FILM 100 course

11. In-Class Screening
■ #1. In Part #1 of the documentary we watched today,
legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese addresses many
things about film, including the dynamic/conflict between
a film’s director’s “vision” and the producer’s “bottom line”,
his own personal passion for movies, and different types of
“genre” films includingTheWestern,The Gangster, andThe
Musical. In the space below simply briefly relate at least
three things he shared that struck you as memorable
and/or interesting.This can be something he or someone
else said in documentary, an interesting film clip he
showed that made you want to see that film specifically, or
an idea about films that was raised – literally anything from
the documentary that you found noteworthy. I am not
looking for anything other than your personal reflections –
there are no “right” answers.

12. Assigned Reading
■TEXTBOOK CHAPTER 1:
NARRATIVE
– We will hit the ground running next
class and jump into Chapter One
material so please be prepared…