Deconstructing the cinematic code

What is the cinematic code behind the canon of feature cinema and can it be dismantled? The course will deal with the language of cinema, will present the system of signs and codes that make up the classic feature film and offer a mapping of this system, as well as different ways of interpreting, criticizing and finding meaning in these codes. The course will acquire basic tools in semiotics and film theories for analyzing works and deconstructing the cultural-aesthetic code of narrative cinema from a variety of perspectives: historical, gender, political, ideological, and more. We will discuss concepts such as point of view, mise-en-scene, iconography and subtext. The course will emphasize differences between classical, realist and formalist cinema and will refer to canonical cinematic texts as well as works that remain outside the canon and cinema of resistance. We will examine how the films at the center of the canon influenced hybrid cinema and video art? The students in the course will prepare presentations on cinematic icons every semester.