Film & Media Studies

“Behold, I teach you the superman: He is this lightning, he is this madness!” thus spoke Friedrich Nietzsche. This course defines superheroes as the contemporary incarnation of Nietzsche’s Übermensch that calls for self-becoming and self overcoming. It traces the development of this enduring pop culture artifact, from immortal bodies of classical heroes to fantasies of the perfectible human through technoscience. With reference to cross-cultural expressions of the genre, the course dissects the concept of superheroes: What are they? Where do they come from? How can they help us change the way we think about ourselves, our environment, and the multiverse of possibilities that surrounds us? It discusses how the origins and evolution of these characters are shaped by sociohistorical factors, such as gender and sexuality, race, and society. Topics covered include good and evil, power and identity, and justice and responsibility. Students design their own superheroes and develop new ways of reading superheroes as modern myths about fears, longings, and aspirations.

This lecture course provides a primer in visual literacy across media, introducing key terms and methods for critically reading the visual world including iconology, formal analysis, art history, ideological analysis, and semiotics. Students gain fluency in understanding how images work in cultural context to communicate meaning, to express a sense of self, to convey pleasure, to sell things, and to distribute power. Questions of the effect of specific visual technologies are also engaged, particularly their impact on perception and conduct. Examples are drawn from fine arts, advertising, film, popular culture, and new media. This is an introductory course that fosters creative, conceptual, analytical and critical thinking with regards to visual communication. The course provides the primary references of the visual arts and graphic design fields as well as its corresponding terminology. It also introduces different creative practices and to contextual dynamics that have shaped the history of visual media from prehistoric times to the present day. Finally, the course gives a glimpse into contemporary theoretical approaches that address issues such as sustainability, social impact, diversity, inclusion and heritage. How do images convey meaning? How can they mislead us? What is the difference between seeing and looking? In other words, does sight guarantee insight? This course delves deep into visual strategies, contexts of viewership, and the ways in which to critically navigate the world around us with the tools.

This course examines the rich tradition of critical film theory and provides students with an understanding of its main concerns and debates, concerning “minority” identities and subalternity. Addressing key discussions about media representations of “minority”, the course looks at the politics of representation and its impacts, both on- and off-screen. It looks at how media works to construct “the Other” in different contexts and delve into important work which have inspired minority cinema, subaltern cinema, avant-garde cinema, local cinema, and independent cinema among other counter-movements, as well as recent re-conceptualizations and exploration of representations marginalized identities, positions, and experiences, local and abroad. Special focus is placed on important works in Hong Kong and Asia for critical examination and comparative studies. Through critical exercise and reflection on notions such as power, diversity, equality, and freedom, the course aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 by engaging directly with the SDGs 5 (Gender Equality) and 10 (Reduced Inequalities). Same course as UGEC3215.

This course examines the basic aesthetic, economic, sociological, and technological aspects of film.

This course offers a study of fictional and non-fictional audiovisual narratives, considering both content and expression across the various media, formats, genres, and platforms in which they appear. It explores the most relevant models of audiovisual narrative, as well as the tools to apply this knowledge to the analysis, construction, and evaluation of narrative discourses.

This course analyzes the symbiotic relationship between the two arts of literature and cinema. The objective is to distinguish the literary and artistic components of cinema within their complex interdependent relationship, to conduct a comparative analysis of films by identifying their literary elements, and to relate both discourses through connections considering 20th-century film theories. Additionally, the course introduces key bridging elements between the two, such as adaptation and screenwriting. This course strengthens comparative methodology by articulating discourses that range from linguistic to audiovisual and prepares students for the analysis of texts that lie at the intersection of both disciplines, while also offering insight into the historical audiovisual tradition rooted in literature.

This course focuses on a variety of film genres, such as detective and gangster film, musicals, comedies, family dramas and westerns. Genres have been popular since the beginning of the film medium and remain quite popular today. This class examines the cultural and economic reasons for their continuing popularity. Film showings and film clips demonstrate how genres evolve over time and how some of the great film directors have made genre films of lasting impact. This class assumes no prior knowledge of film. Students are assessed on the basis of a paper and an examination.

This course examines how images enter and circulate in the public sphere of news and discussion, analyze how images of current events are made, and study the meanings these images create and the purposes they serve. It looks at the past and present of photojournalism, from its origins in the 19th century to its contemporary forms, at a time when it is being impacted by rapidly changing technologies, media structures and cultural values. In addition to reading about the history and contemporary forms of photojournalism, students study a wide range of photographic images and learn to write and think clearly and incisively about them. The class pays particular attention to the photojournalistic traditions of the host country. The history of photojournalism is inseparable from the representation of violence, which is its dominant subject. This course requires students to look at graphic, disturbing and shocking images and to think seriously about the questions they raise.

This course is a hands-on introduction to film and multi/new media production, focusing on fundamental techniques for creating effective presentations.

In this course, students examine new aesthetic forms of expression that seek innovation, differentiation and novelty. Students analyze the expressive forms of each medium and propose suitable alternatives to each audience. Topics include the processes for preparing and analyzing advertising messages and their codes; understanding how creative departments work: writing, art direction and production; create, design and develop graphic elements, images, symbols and text; and learn the resources and skills needed to design commercial and non-commercial campaigns and promotional activities.