Introduction to analysis of film, television, new media and other related forms of contemporary culture. Includes classical and contemporary Hollywood cinema, Canadian film and television, and alternatives in international cinema. Course requirements include both written work and elementary projects on videotape.

This course offers an introduction to global time-based media starting with the emergence of film in 1895, through the development of television, video, digital and online technologies, accounting for the historical, political, and technological contexts in which each medium emerged. In doing so, students will learn to recognize the aesthetics associated with each medium. From large visual landscapes in 70mm film to small interiors in TV sitcoms, to artificial worlds in video games - each medium develops an arsenal of forms and aesthetic norms capable of capturing the imagination.
NOTE FILM 111 and FILM 112 together, are equivalent to FILM 110.

This course offers an introduction to theoretical and critical approaches to global time-based media, focusing on the theories of film and media. Students will learn to identify an array of interpretive approaches (auteurism, structuralism, psychoanalysis, affect, postcolonialism, reception, algorithmic theory, material cultures) and apply such theories to the analysis of global time-based media. Students will pair these conversations with the process of creation, learning the production and circulation of time based-media in order to strengthen their own creative visual storytelling skills.
NOTE FILM 111 and FILM 112 together, are equivalent to FILM 110.

A survey course acquainting students with key concepts in video game studies and the basic methods of analysis. Exemplary works from the history of video games will be studied to introduce students to a series of themes pertinent to the ongoing theoretical and methodological development of video game studies.

This course examines transnational media practices and routes of circulation. The course shall examine the political, social, aesthetic, cultural, and economic natures of transnational media and their relationship to questions of globalization from a media studies approach.

A broad introduction and overview of different creative sectors with a focus on the current state of industry and future projections, presented through a specially curated series of in-depth discussions with key professionals.

A series of interactive presentations and lectures instructing students in research methods, argumentative writing, and the design of effective audio-visual presentations.

This course cultivates effective reading, writing and presentation practices with an emphasis on writing strategies for students with English as an additional language, providing students with the necessary knowledge to navigate film and media studies at a Canadian University.

This course examines the emergence and continuing popularity of the horror film from a global perspective. It explores the history and transformations of the genre and the ways in which the horror film has been mobilized in popular media to address larger cultural, political, and sociological issues.

This course involves both media studies and production. Students will use their own mobile devices to complete a series of creative projects, while learning theoretical and practical aspects of mobile media communications.

This course examines the emergence and continuing popularity of the science fiction film from a global perspective. It explores the history and transformations of the genre and the ways in which science fiction film has been mobilized in popular media to address larger cultural, political, and sociological issues.

Introduction to historical research and analysis of narrative and other films. Examines works, from a range of periods and settings, and the conditions that shaped their production, circulation and reception.

This course offers an overview of the early history and theories associated with film and media, including studies of German Expressionism, Film Noir, Italian Neorealism, the Western, Experimental and Surrealist cinemas. The course also examines the rise of related media, such as radio and television.

This course offers an overview of film and media histories and theories after 1960, including key cinematic movements such as la nouvelle vague, Yugoslav Black Cinema, New German Cinema, Third cinema, Bollywood, Fifth Generation cinema. The course also examines related media, such as gaming, television, video art, and digital media.

This course offers a historical, sociological, and theoretical framing and analysis of animated feature films produced by animation studios. The course will examine these beloved childhood classics as texts that are rich with ideological and political concerns.

This course examines the emergence and continuing popularity of the comedy film from a global perspective. It explores the history and transformations of the genre and the ways in which comedy has been mobilized as a popular media to address larger cultural, political, and sociological issues.

Textual analysis of narrative and other films, including examination of formal, aesthetic, and narrative techniques and conventions, and their production of meaning in social and political contexts.

Introduction to cultural and social theory of film and other media as it relates to the tension between citizenship and consumerism. Examines roles, functions, and impact of mass media technologies, institutions, and practices in both scholarly and practical forms.
NOTE Also offered online, consult Arts and Science Online (Learning Hours may vary).

This course on the dynamics between media and popular culture takes an interrogative approach. It is organized around a series of questions that will introduce students to a range of key concepts in media and mass communication studies, with the goal of providing a theoretical structure to support critical analysis of contemporary cultural trends.
NOTE Also offered online, consult Arts and Science Online (Learning Hours may vary).

A foundation in media production techniques relevant to graphic, sound, and moving-image formats. Topics include project design, technical workflow, and the aesthetic and social aspects of screen-based media. Students undertake several group projects in the first term and a major video production in the second term.
NOTE Production Supplies: estimated cost $325.

This course will explore the methods of film/media-related work that precedes pre-production, including the elaboration of primary concepts and ideas, research, and script development. The student will learn how to engage in research which is relevant, and how to develop primary concepts into workable scripts or project designs.
NOTE This course is the prerequisite for FILM 312: Screenwriting.

Survey of digital media theories and online mass communication practices, with emphasis on social and mobile technologies. Course considers the impact of digitalization on the creative and culture industries.
NOTE Only offered online. Consult Arts and Science Online.

This is a production course focussed intensely on the frame, thinking through aesthetic choices, formal elements, and eventually storytelling. This course will allow students to focus their attention on the elements of the frame, mise-en-scène, lighting, exposure, and composition as they build content (mood, power dynamics, stories).

This course examines Classical Hollywood Cinema from the early 1940s until its demise at the end of the 1950s.
NOTE Also offered online, consult Arts and Science Online (Learning Hours may vary).

This course studies the cinemas of the Americas from critical and historical perspectives. It traces the aesthetic, technological and political changes in various film practices, and places those changes in the context of social and cultural histories.

Intermediate examination of generic convention, iconography, relations to modes of production and to audience, and historical dimensions, using as examples films or video productions in one or more genre. 

This course offers an overview of recent filmmaking practices from various continents. Transnational cinemas explore how intimate, personal styles of filmmaking converge with theories of globalization, hybridity and remediation.
NOTE Also offered online. Consult Arts and Science Online. Learning Hours may vary.

Students will study the creative industries in global context. Course includes theoretical readings, field trips, guest lectures, and creative assignments to understand contemporary creative economies.
NOTE Field Trip: estimated cost $70 (consult the Department of Film and Media for more information).

Intermediate critical and historical study, through a selection of narrative films from one or more European nations. Examines cinema industries and art within national and continental culture.

Intermediate study of thematic and stylistic trends in recent European cinema, with reference to social and political changes.

Intermediate study of some of the most significant films made in Europe from the early 20th century to today. Considers historical, technological, and aesthetic determinants and influence.

Students will examine recent popular culture trends, practices, styles, theories, and artifacts. Through creative assignments, online discussion, online research and readings, students will engage in creative critique of the power of the popular to shape our identities, ideologies, and cultural arrangements.

This course examines contemporary media works which address the climate crisis. We examine a range of activist media, documentaries, experimental media, Indigenous media, and fiction films to consider both how the climate crisis is portrayed, and the successes and failures of the representational strategies deployed.

This advanced-level course trains students and examines cutting-edge restoration processes in time-based media, particularly as it pertains to film and video. Using scanning and software technologies within the Vulnerable Media Lab, students will learn to restore and package archival media for archival, theatrical, and broadcast standards.

This course critically evaluates narratives foregrounding the role of social media in the spread of disinformation. In contrast to claims that "fake news" is a product of new media, this course historicizes problematic information in the West as a perennial tool for maintaining existing power hierarchies.

Approaches to dramatic storytelling for the screen. Students analyze examples from existing works and, through practical exercises, prepare a short, original screenplay.

This course offers students an opportunity to explore diverse writing strategies for engaging a public, scholarly, or artistic audience with respect to moving images and media cultures. Topics of consideration include but are not limited to: the essay or article format; popular culture criticism; abstract or proposal submissions; grant applications.

This course examines media from one or more of the following geographic areas: Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Oceania. The course deploys transcultural approaches that open representational practices, histories, and theoretical frameworks to unsettle rigid hemispheric binaries from a media studies approach.

This course explores in greater depth the history of video games from their earlier inception to the present day. It also examines a series of key issues and themes pertinent to the ongoing theoretical and methodological development of video game studies, from technological and formal aspects (such as controllers, interface, colour, and sound) to cultural and sociological aspects (such as casualness, cheating, and retrogaming).

This course draws references from critical and media theory in order to explore the material and systemic dimension of artistic practices and the artwork, underscoring the role of the art worker as a relevant historical actor.

This engages students with a broad sphere of curatorial activities within and beyond the film industry and contemporary visual arts. Students will explore the role of curatorial practices in media, science, and culture through class discussions, field trips to various exhibition sites and events, and the organization of a final exhibition project.

The form of storytelling is a practical and theoretical course that aims to create interpret and explore a meaningful connection between content and form in both non-fiction, fiction, experimental and immersive visual experiences. The course practices non-normative ways of storytelling with an emphasis on questioning binary norms and forms of storytelling and their oppressive legacies.

Intermediate study in relations between moving-image media and other visual or performing arts.

This course examines three central forms of film- and video-making in Canada: documentary works, experimental film and media and animation. Beginning with the work of the NFB/ONF, the course traces aspects of the development of these areas from the late 1930s to the 21st century.

This course examines fiction filmmaking from Anglo-Canadian, Quebecois(e), and Indigenous filmmakers, examining a variety of works produced from the 1950s onwards. We pay special attention to questions of experimental narrative form (such as documentary/fiction hybrids), national and Indigenous identities, and the role of various funding programs.

This course examines the figurative role that media plays in the cultural and social construction of gender. Students will assess mass and digital media using feminist and queer theories of representation as well as scholarship in new media studies.

Intermediate study in feminist approaches to the cinema and to films produced by women. Critical examination of critical and theoretical literature, and examples of narrative, documentary, and experimental cinemas.

This course will examine the development of queer filmmaking practices in Hollywood and beyond. It will also introduce the field of queer cinema studies, attending to questions of identity, representation, authorship, and spectatorship. Students will cover a diverse array of topics, with a focus on historical, artistic, and industry contexts.

Research and studies in relations of media, technology, and culture. Critical examination of cultural and communication technologies and the employment of technology within selected examples from film, television, and digital media.
NOTE Also offered online. Consult Arts and Science Online. Learning Hours may vary.

Intermediate examination of the historical and critical relation between film and politics or political ideologies. Examples will be drawn from both narrative and non-narrative traditions.

An intermediate study of representations of the city in cinema and visual culture, the social histories from which these representations emerge, and the changing environments in which cinema is viewed.
NOTE Also offered at the Bader International Studies Centre, Herstmonceux. Learning Hours may vary.

An intermediate study of key concepts in cultural studies investigated through cultural practices and/or national contexts from the 1960s to the present.
NOTE Students will be required to attend a limited number of Kingston-based cultural productions over the course of the term.

This course will focus on the rapid technological changes of the 1990s and their effects on media, including cinema, advertising, music, and television. Topics may include: teen markets and popular culture; the rise of specialty channel television; racial diversity and the family sitcom; changing music videos aesthetics; New Queer Cinema; etc.

This course examines advertising strategies across a range of different media to understand the construction and functions of consumerism and promotional culture in politics, art, material culture, and everyday life. Throughout the course, we consider a range of theoretical approaches and case studies to study the ways consumer culture intersects with identity, citizenship, and aesthetics. Assignments include online and/or on-campus exams, online discussion forum participation requirement, short reflective essays, and some creative design work.
NOTE Also offered online. Consult Arts and Science Online. Learning hours may vary.
NOTE Also offered at the Bader International Studies Centre, Herstmonceux. Learning Hours may vary.

An introduction to key concepts in media studies, with specific historical, contemporary, and/or thematic case studies each year. Topics will range from critical race studies and the media; television and media studies; gaming; the culture industry; mass audiences; digital economies and streaming; to advertising and commodification.

An introduction to key concepts in media studies, with specific historical, contemporary, and/or thematic case studies each year. Topics will range from gender studies and LGBTQ2S studies and the media; expanded media; globalization; media and popular music; social media; media and the public sphere; or media activism.

A survey of speculative media, working around three organizing themes (fictions, fans, and franchises), this class will introduce key issues in speculative media studies . Students will explore various sub-cultural and popular SF or speculative genres, including science-fiction, fantasy, alternative history, and speculative futures.

Intermediate examination of television and the development of the medium as a distinctive cultural form, through a range of programs and programming formats, issues of audience, and television broadcasting in Canada.

This course examines various forms of televisual seriality, from historical and theoretical perspectives. The course shall examine it emergence as the dominant form of the soap opera, to contemporary web television platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Crave.

This course will introduce the history, procedures, and policies of audiovisual archives. Topics may include: the history of film archives (e.g. the National Film Board Archives); best practices in preservation and digitization; procedure and politics of digitization; and challenges in the preservation of born-digital art and video.

Advanced motion picture production course. Each student produces a short documentary using video and/or 16mm film. Emphasis will be placed on unconventional approaches and techniques.

Advanced practical course in film and video aesthetics. Starting with the screening and analysis of selected works, each student will script, produce and edit a short video or 16mm work that explores particular formal questions. Emphasis will be placed on unconventional approaches and techniques.

A combined study of the theory of film animation with animation production techniques. Requirements will include the production of short animation exercises.

Intermediate critical and historical study in non-fiction film and television, based on selected examples from Canada, including productions of the National Film Board and the CBC, and international documentary cinemas.

A course on the history, theory, and practice of animated films. Requirements include a series of screenings, writings, and a practice based critical project.

This course covers a variety of advanced animation techniques and allows students to explore physical materials and digital tools. Students conceptualize and create an animated short film.

Intermediate critical and historical study in the avant-garde of the international cinema, based on selected examples principally from Europe, the United States and Canada.

This course covers the creation and animation of simple 3D objects. Students will have an overview of modelling, rigging, texturing, animating characters, and creating virtual 3D environments.
NOTE Animation Software: estimated cost $100.

This course explores new forms of filmmaking reliant on computer vision and information processing, from early computer-generated imagery to more recent uses of depth cameras and game engines in commercial and experimental productions.

This course covers the development of augmented reality apps, filters, and virtual reality environments, using accessible software to generate, import, and rig characters. Students will have an overview of different applications to build and share interactive, 3D content on mobile devices.

This course examines the changing role of audience reception in live performance and media-based work. Students will explore theories and engage methods that explore how meaning is made from the vast range of digital media and live events that constitute the contemporary experience of spectatorship.

Advanced practical course in cinematography and visual aesthetics. Through a series of lectures, practical exercises, and screenings; students will explore visual aesthetics and the techniques employed to author motion picture images with intent and consistency.

This course offers a journey into Indigenous and Inuit film, produced by Indigenous filmmakers from the Americas, Northern Europe, and Australia. Topics such as Indigenous methodologies and aesthetics, Indigenous feminism, decolonization, self-recognition, language revitalization, and cultural reappropriation will be explored.

Music videos can speak to the politics, technology, and art of a given time and place. A survey of music videos and related pop cultural phenomena from the 1940s to the present will help students appreciate the broader cultural impact of the music video.

In this course, students create projects around research topics using a variety of media, which may include video, sound, graphics, performance, and interactive media. Students might produce podcasts, print media, games, etc.

This course allows students to explore independent research projects using a variety of media, with the aim of creating a portfolio-ready piece to present publicly at the end of the semester.

This course covers production techniques, including planning, production, and postproduction topics. Students can explore a variety of genres and forms and will undertake a series of short exercises aimed at building technical skills. Specific themes covered will depend on the instructor.

This course builds on material covered in Video Production and introduces advanced techniques for conceptualizing, planning, producing, and editing short film/video projects. Student projects will be exhibited/screened publicly at the end of the semester.

This course covers moving-image post-production techniques, including workflow planning, stages of editing, sound mixing, colour correction, special effects and media management.

Students can apply to undertake a practical internship in media production, criticism or curatorship. All internships must be approved in advance by application to the Undergraduate Coordinator. Approval will depend on the quality of the proposal and the academic record of the applicant. Students are required to write a report about their experience and are evaluated jointly by their employer and a faculty member from Film and Media. It is the responsibility of students, not the Department of Film and Media, to arrange internships.
NOTE Students will be given a grade of Pass/Fail for work done.

An advanced course in developing expertise in research and critical writing concerning contemporary world cinema, media arts, and other cultural phenomena.
NOTE Students will be asked to view material and visit exhibitions outside of class time.

This course focuses on special effects for moving-image media, from early optical illusions to film tricks to emerging tools. The course considers the historical and social context of special effects through a critical, intersectional feminist and decolonial lens, and offers hands-on experimentation with historical and contemporary special effects.

This course examines the role of contemporary diasporic media (from art and activist media, to film, television, and digital born modalities) and the emergence of the variety of communities, networks, media practices, modes of circulation, performance, and production that take place within, across and beyond national borders.

Advanced seminar on one or more approaches to cinema and culture, based on a selection of writings and related screenings.

This course examines media from a perspective of materiality. Counter to popular sentiments about the immateriality of the internet or the virtual as absent of physical bodies, this class looks to objects, environments , experiences, and sensations associated with media. The course will introduce material media studies concepts.

Advanced course in media theory, focusing on a special topic in the field each year. In particular, the course will examine contemporary political debates through the lens of media theory and studies.

Advanced seminar on specific area of research and study selected by the instructor. Subjects have included Québécois cinema, film and mass culture in Canada.

Research seminar that draws on students' previous work to enhance advanced writing and research in film criticism. Topics from theory, criticism, and history will be addressed to suit individual students' projects.

Advanced seminar on authorship and analysis, usually concerning the work of one or two filmmakers.

Advanced seminar on relations between societies and their expression in culture, with particular reference to film, television, and comparable media. Subjects have included interdisciplinary approaches and cultural studies; third cinema in the Third World.

Advanced seminar on selected areas of documentary or experimental cinemas. Subjects have included politically committed documentary in Canada; the anti-documentary.

Advanced seminar on an area of narrative cinema, generally concerning a selection of feature-length films. Subjects have included international films of the 1990s.

An advanced-level course that focuses on a comparative exploration of festival contexts. In addition to case studies and critical readings, the seminar will treat festivals as course texts through field trips and engagement in the local Kingston Canadian Film Festival and Reelout Queer Film and Video Festival.

A 12-week course that serves as a general primer on the current business of media in Canada as it pertains to narrative storytelling. Students explore business considerations throughout the production cycle, from development to production to distribution and marketing, as well as examine various different career paths in media.
NOTE Field Trip: estimated cost $50.

Advanced seminar/workshop in an area of film or video production, generally involving intensive analysis of existing work and practical assignments.

A practical special topic course that explores how a single story can be told across different popular media with special attention to emerging platforms and technologies, from graphic novels to video games, augmented reality to virtual reality.

This course will introduce students to the "Video Essay", a form of film and media study which combines textual or language based elements of conventional scholarly analysis with relevant audio-visual materials. Student video essay productions will use the essential component parts of media work directly in the analytical and production process.

This course enables students to complete 100 hours of industry-focused practical experience, combined with various hands-on production opportunities or short work placements.
NOTE Students will be given a grade of Pass/Fail for work done.

This advanced course enables students to complete 100 hours of industry-focused practical experience, combined with various hands-on production opportunities or short work placements, building on previous experience in FILM 457.
NOTE Students will be given a grade of Pass/Fail for work done.

This course enables students to complete 100 hours of industry-focused practical experience, combined with various hands-on production opportunities or short work placements.

Seminar that draws on students' previous work to enhance advanced research, production and writing for final project in creative writing, criticism, journalism, production and/or curating and programming film, media, and digital culture. Topics from theory, criticism, and history of film, media, digital culture, film festivals, media arts exhibitions and museums will be addressed to suit individuals. Examples from narrative, documentary, experimental film or digital media art will be analyzed. Student projects will be published online and/or exhibited at the new Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts.

This course covers the history of the documentary form on Latin America, from its origins to the latest forms of digital activism and transmedia strategies in these countries.

This course is a survey of Black aesthetics and politics as entwined and sometimes divergent categories. Race, culture, and art in context will frame the conversations around how media are created and experienced as well as how media content and forms persist through social norms and repetitions.

Open to students completing an Honours concentration in Film and Media, or Stage and Screen Studies. May be an essay or a film or video project. Apply for FILM 500 or FILM 501, but not both, to the Undergraduate Coordinator by end of Level 3.
NOTE To use Film and Media video equipment the student must have completed FILM 250.

Open to students completing an Honours concentration in Film and Media, or Stage and Screen Studies. May be an essay or a film or video project. Apply for FILM 500 or FILM 501, but not both, to the Undergraduate Coordinator by end of Level 3.
NOTE To use Film and Media video equipment the student must have completed FILM 250.

Open to students completing an Honours concentration in Film and Media, or Stage and Screen Studies. Enables a student to pursue an area of study not covered in regularly offered courses. Applicants must obtain approval of the Undergraduate Coordinator and supervising instructor.
NOTE To use Film and Media video equipment the student must have completed FILM 250.

Open to students completing an Honours concentration in Film and Media, or Stage and Screen Studies. Enables a student to pursue an area of study not covered in regularly offered courses. Applicants must obtain approval of the Undergraduate Coordinator and supervising instructor.
NOTE To use Film and Media video equipment the student must have completed FILM 250.

Exceptionally qualified students entering their third- or fourth-year may take a program of independent study provided it has been approved by the Department or Departments principally involved. The Department may approve an independent study program without permitting it to be counted toward a concentration in that Department. It is, consequently, the responsibility of students taking such programs to ensure that the concentration requirements for their degree will be met.
NOTE Requests for such a program must be received one month before the start of the first term in which the student intends to undertake the program.
NOTE Also offered at Bader College, UK.

Exceptionally qualified students entering their third- or fourth-year may take a program of independent study provided it has been approved by the Department or Departments principally involved. The Department may approve an independent study program without permitting it to be counted toward a concentration in that Department. It is, consequently, the responsibility of students taking such programs to ensure that the concentration requirements for their degree will be met.
NOTE Requests for such a program must be received one month before the start of the first term in which the student intends to undertake the program.

Exceptionally qualified students entering their third- or fourth-year may take a program of independent study provided it has been approved by the Department or Departments principally involved. The Department may approve an independent study program without permitting it to be counted toward a concentration in that Department. It is, consequently, the responsibility of students taking such programs to ensure that the concentration requirements for their degree will be met.
NOTE Requests for such a program must be received one month before the start of the first term in which the student intends to undertake the program.

Exceptionally qualified students entering their third- or fourth-year may take a program of independent study provided it has been approved by the Department or Departments principally involved. The Department may approve an independent study program without permitting it to be counted toward a concentration in that Department. It is, consequently, the responsibility of students taking such programs to ensure that the concentration requirements for their degree will be met.
NOTE Requests for such a program must be received one month before the start of the first term in which the student intends to undertake the program.